CN112105108B

CN112105108B - User interface of household appliance, household appliance and control method of user interface

Info

Publication number: CN112105108B
Application number: CN201910472094.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 房锡波; 郑文进
Original assignee: Qingdao Haier Co Ltd; Qingdao Lejia Electric Appliance Co Ltd
Current assignee: Qingdao Haier Co Ltd; Qingdao Lejia Electric Appliance Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-05-31
Filing date: 2019-05-31
Publication date: 2022-10-25
Anticipated expiration: 2039-05-31
Also published as: CN112105108A

Abstract

The invention discloses a user interface of a household appliance, which comprises: a user operation module, the user operation module comprising: the trigger control is used for receiving user input and generating a trigger instruction; and the control module receives the trigger instruction and selectively lights the path navigation light beams arranged between the trigger controls according to the received trigger instruction. A household appliance and a control method of a user interface are also provided. The invention provides a control mode of an optical navigation mode, and a user can synchronously operate according to guidance in each step of operation process in an operation project, is simple and intuitive, and can help the user to quickly and accurately complete related operations.

Description

User interface of household appliance, household appliance and control method of user interface

Technical Field

The invention belongs to the technical field of household appliances, and particularly relates to a user interface of a household appliance, the household appliance adopting the user interface, and a control method of the user interface.

Background

Microwave ovens are cooking appliances that heat themselves by absorbing microwave energy in a microwave field. In a microwave oven, a power supply supplies a high voltage of about 4000V to a magnetron, which continuously generates microwaves under the excitation of the power supply. When microwave is radiated on food, polar molecules in water move along with the change of the microwave field due to a certain amount of moisture contained in the food, and a phenomenon similar to friction is generated to increase the temperature, thereby realizing the aim of heating the food.

With the continuous development of the technology, the microwave oven gradually develops various functions besides heating, such as baking, steam cooking, thawing and the like. Commercially available microwave oven products are generally provided with specifications or instructions for performing specific operations for each function, or providing recommended menus. The user needs to set gradually according to the instruction book and press the corresponding key. Since the design of the current products tends to be flat and simple, the keys are usually designed into different signs in an abstract way. When the key is used, a user firstly needs to identify different keys and then carries out different operations. If the operation steps are complex, invalid operation due to recognition errors is easy to occur, and the actual experience of a user is seriously influenced; especially, it is inconvenient for the elderly or users with poor eyesight.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a user interface of a household appliance, aiming at the problems that in the prior art, the operation steps of the household appliances such as a microwave oven are complex, and invalid operation is easily caused by wrong recognition.

In order to realize the purpose of the invention, the invention adopts the following technical scheme to realize:

a home appliance user interface, the user interface comprising:

a user operation module, the user operation module comprising:

the trigger control is used for receiving user input and generating a trigger instruction;

and the control module receives the trigger instruction and selectively lights the path navigation light beams arranged between the trigger controls according to the received trigger instruction.

In another aspect, the present invention further provides a home appliance, including a home appliance user interface, the user interface including:

a user operation module, the user operation module comprising:

On the other hand, the invention also provides a control method of the user interface, which comprises the following steps:

judging whether a function control instruction output by the function control is received;

if the function control instruction is received, controlling to light a first path navigation light beam arranged between a function control and a parameter setting control and lighting a backlight lamp of the function control generating the function control instruction;

after the first path navigation light beam is lightened, judging whether a parameter setting instruction output by a parameter setting control is received or not;

if the parameter setting instruction is received, controlling to light a second path navigation light beam arranged between a parameter setting control and a switch control, and simultaneously lighting a backlight lamp of the parameter setting control generating the parameter setting instruction and extinguishing the first path navigation light beam;

after the second path navigation light beam is lightened, judging whether a switch control instruction output by the switch control is received or not;

if the switch control instruction is received, controlling to light a third path navigation light beam arranged between the switch controls operable in the working state in the third region and light a backlight of the switch control generating the switch control instruction, and simultaneously turning off the second path guide light beam and lighting backlights of all the switch controls operable in the working state in the third region;

judging whether the timing of the current working process reaches the set time or not;

and if the set time is reached, controlling the third path navigation light beam and the backlight lamp of the switch control to be turned off.

Compared with the prior art, the invention has the advantages and positive effects that: the invention provides a control mode of an optical navigation mode, and a user can synchronously operate according to guidance in each step of operation process in an operation project, so that the control mode is simple and intuitive and can help the user to quickly and accurately complete related operations.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings required to be used in the embodiments are briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings based on the drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of a microwave oven incorporating a user interface for a home appliance disclosed in the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a user interface when illuminating a first path navigation beam;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a user interface when illuminating a second path navigation beam;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a user interface when illuminating a third path navigation beam;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a method for controlling a user interface according to the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples.

The terms "first," "second," "third," and the like in the description and claims of the present invention and in the accompanying drawings are used for distinguishing between different elements and not for describing a particular sequential order. Furthermore, the terms "comprising" and "having," as well as any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not limited to the listed steps or elements. But may optionally also include other steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article of manufacture, or apparatus.

Reference throughout this specification to "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the present application. The appearances of the phrase in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments described herein can be combined with other embodiments.

The present invention is described in relation to a user interface for a household appliance, taking a microwave oven as an example. It is clearly understood by those skilled in the art that the user operation interface provided by the present invention can be applied to other similar home appliances operating in sequence according to the set steps, in addition to the microwave oven. Especially in kitchen appliances. The home appliances include, but are not limited to, an oven, a coffee maker, a bread maker, etc., or a comprehensive kitchen appliance integrating functions of baking, heating, etc.

The microwave oven comprises one or more chambers or cavities for cooking, hereinafter referred to as "cooking cavities" for convenience of description, accommodated in a casing or housing 1. The opening of the cooking chamber is preferably provided on the front end surface of the housing 1, a door frame is formed around the opening of the cooking chamber, and the door 3 pivotally connected to the cooking chamber is in contact with the door frame to effect sealing of the cooking chamber. The door 3 is provided with an observation window 2. The observation window 2 is in a transparent or semi-transparent state, and a user can observe the cooking state of food in the cooking cavity through the observation window.

The user interface 10 includes a display module 11, and the display module 11 is disposed at a side of the door frame. When the door 3 is in the closed state, the display module 11 is maintained flush with the door 3, so that the appearance of the microwave oven is more concise and beautiful. The display module 11 may be an LCD display screen or an LED display screen. When the microwave oven is started and in the working state, the display module 11 may display the remaining time of the current working process in a countdown manner and display the function currently performed by the microwave oven in an icon manner. When the microwave oven is in a non-operating state, the display module 11 may be used to display a corresponding setting operation code.

The user interface 10 further includes a user operating module, which is also provided at one side of the door frame. The user operation module is disposed below the display module 11 in consideration of the usage habits of the user. The user operation module is provided with a plurality of trigger controls. The trigger control may be a key or knob, or other electronic component that can perform signal input. The keys may be mechanical keys, membrane keys, knobs, or may be virtual keys formed on a touch screen. Each trigger control is provided with a backlight lamp corresponding to the trigger control. When the trigger control is actuated and a trigger instruction is input, the backlight lamp corresponding to the trigger control is controlled to be turned on. Taking the film keys as an example, when the microwave oven is in a standby non-activated state, the backlight lamps corresponding to all the trigger controls are in a complete closed state, and when one film key is pressed, the corresponding backlight lamp is lightened.

The display module 11 and the user operation module are connected with the I/O interface of the control module. On one hand, the user operation module generates an operation instruction and outputs the operation instruction to the control module, and the control module receives the operation instruction to control the actions of the magnetron, the electric heating element, the fan motor, the turntable motor and other components. On the other hand, the control module generates a corresponding operation instruction code or operation parameter according to the operation instruction generated by the user operation module or the operating state of the microwave oven, and displays the operation instruction code or operation parameter through the display module 11. The control module may be implemented by one MCU chip, such as a commercially available single chip or other integrated circuits that can achieve the same effect, and the model of the MCU chip is not specifically limited herein.

Specifically, in the present embodiment, the trigger controls include a function control 12, a parameter setting control 13, and a switch control 14. It should be noted that the function control 12, the parameter setting control 13, and the switch control 14 may be implemented by independent thin film keys; or by a combination of membrane keys and knobs, for example, the function control 12 is a membrane key, and the parameter setting control 13 is a knob.

The function control 12 is used for receiving user input and generating a function setting instruction to control at least one cooking element in the microwave oven. The cooking element is a component capable of heating food, such as a magnetron, an electric heating element, and the like. The function control 12 can set specific functions of the microwave oven, and each specific function is provided with a function control 12, such as a 'microwave' function control, a 'baking' function control, and the like. In addition, the function control 12 is also used to control the output power of the cooking element. For the "microwave" function, its output power is regulated: namely, the magnetron is controlled to work according to the cycle state of working set time-stop set time until the work is finished. The microwave function control can be matched with a firepower function control to adjust the output power of the microwave function control, and the microwave function control and the firepower function control can also be combined into a microwave/firepower function control. For example, if the magnetron is set to operate for a set time Tw and to stop for a set time Ts in one cycle, the cycle T = Tw + Ts. The cycle period may be set to 30-40s. Assuming that the cycle period is 30s, corresponding to different output power gears, the operation setting time can be set to 5s,10s,15s,20s,25s and 30s in a gradient manner, corresponding to the lowest output power when the operation setting time is 5s, and corresponding to the highest output power when the operation setting time is 30s, the operation setting time is similar to the highest output power, and the "baking" function control may also be provided with a "fire" function control to adjust the output power, or the two functions may be combined into a "baking/fire" function control. For example, the electric heating element is used to perform a baking function, and the electric heating element is set to have power corresponding to different gears, such as 500W,1000W,1500W, etc. When the power is 500W, the lowest output power is corresponded, and when the power is 1500W, the highest output power is corresponded. If the microwave function control, the baking function control and the firepower function control are respectively and independently arranged, the control module respectively reads the function setting instructions of the microwave function control, the baking function control and the firepower function control and executes corresponding control. If the microwave/fire function control and the baking/fire function control are combined into a whole, the control module defaults to the first operation as a function selection instruction, and the continuous operation after the first operation is output power selection. The control module judges that the function setting instruction is received after receiving the function selection instruction and the output power selection. For a microwave oven with extended functionality, the functionality control 12 may also include a "cooking" functionality control, a "light wave" functionality control, and the like. The functionality control 12 is preferably disposed within a first region 31 of the user-operated module. As shown, the plurality of function controls 12 are uniformly distributed in a matrix, and the opposite edges of any two function controls 12 are kept parallel.

After setting the specific functions of the microwave oven, the parameter setting control 13 is configured to receive user input and generate a parameter setting instruction for setting a current cooking process of the microwave oven, where a main control parameter in the cooking process is set process time. Thus, the parameter setting controls 13 include a "time" setting control. Generally, food with a large weight needs to be processed for a longer time, so a preferable mode is to store a data table with one-to-one correspondence between time and weight in the control module. The data sheet for one-to-one correspondence between time and weight was obtained by testing different food materials with different cooking conditions by an experienced technician before shipment. The weight is preferably divided into a plurality of weight steps, each weight step corresponding to a cooking time, the cooking time being a preferred time. The time setting control and the weight setting control can be respectively and independently controlled, and the control module respectively reads the trigger instructions of the time setting control and the weight setting control. And after the control module receives the trigger instruction of the time setting control, switching between different time gears according to the number of times of receiving the trigger signal of the time setting control. After the control module receives the trigger instruction of the weight setting control, corresponding time gears are called and switched among different time gears according to different times of receiving the trigger signal of the weight setting control, and therefore the running time of the current function process is obtained. The time setting control and the weight setting control can be combined into a whole, the time setting control and the weight setting control are time/weight plus and time/weight minus, and when the control module receives a trigger instruction of the time/weight setting control, the default is to adjust the time parameter. If the time/weight setting control outputs a switching instruction, the time parameter is adjusted according to the weight. The switching instruction can be that the key is pressed for a set time, or the key is pressed for a plurality of times within the set time, and the like. After the setting time is received, the control module judges that a parameter setting instruction is received. The parameter setting control 13 is preferably arranged in the second area 32 of the user operated module. As shown in the figure, the parameter setting controls 13 are uniformly distributed in a matrix form, and the distance between the opposite edges of any two parameter setting controls 13 is the same.

The switch control 14 is used for receiving user input to generate a switch control instruction. The switch controls 14 are divided into "activate" and "deactivate" switch controls. After receiving the trigger instructions of the function control 12 and the parameter setting control 13, the control module receives a switch control instruction generated by the switch control 14. When the start switch control is pressed, the main control relay of the microwave oven is closed, and the microwave oven starts to work. When the cancel switch control is pressed, the main control relay of the microwave oven is disconnected, and the microwave oven stops working. The opening Guan Kongjian 14 is preferably provided in the third area 33 of the user operated module. As shown, the plurality of switch controls 14 are uniformly distributed in a matrix, and the distance between the opposite edges of any two switch controls 14 is the same.

In this embodiment, a path navigation beam is also included in the user interface 10. The path navigation light beam is connected with the control module and receives the control instruction output by the control module. And after the control module receives a trigger instruction from the trigger control, lightening the path navigation light beam to guide the user to perform the next operation.

Specifically, the path-navigation light beam is disposed between the first region 31 and the second region 32, between the second region 32 and the third region 33, or within the third region 33, respectively. The control module firstly judges whether a function control instruction output from any one of the function controls 12 is received; if the control module receives the function control instruction, a first guide signal is output to control and light the first path navigation light beam 20 between the first area 31 and the second area 32, and simultaneously, a backlight lamp of the function control 12 generating the function control instruction is lightened to guide a user to set the current cooking process of the microwave oven through the parameter setting control 13.

The control module continuously judges whether a parameter setting instruction output from any one of the parameter setting controls 13 is received; if the control module receives the parameter setting instruction, a second guide signal is output, the second path navigation light beam 21 between the second area 32 and the third area 33 is controlled to be lightened, the first path navigation light beam 20 between the first area 31 and the second area 32 is lightened, a backlight of the parameter setting control 13 generating the parameter setting instruction is lightened, and a user is guided to generate a switch control instruction through the switch control 14.

The control module continues to determine whether a start control instruction from a "start" switch control in the switch controls 14 is received; if the control module receives the starting control instruction, a third guide signal is output, the third path navigation light beam 22 in the third area 33 is controlled to be lightened, the second path navigation light beam 21 between the second area 32 and the third area 33 is simultaneously extinguished, and meanwhile, the backlight of the 'starting' switch control is lightened. After the control module receives the 'starting' control instruction, the microwave oven starts to work, and the illuminating element and the heat radiating element arranged in the cooking cavity start to work simultaneously.

Preferably, during the operation of the microwave oven, the third path navigation light beam 22 remains on, and the backlight corresponding to the "cancel" switch control is also on. The user is prompted for the allowed operations during use, while the display module 11 displays the countdown to the current work progress.

The control module further judges whether the current working process is finished or not, namely whether the timing reaches the set time or not. If the work process is over, the backlights of the third path navigation light beam 22, the "start" switch control, and the "cancel" switch control are extinguished. The microwave oven enters a standby state until a function control instruction is received next time.

To conform to the usage habits of the user, the function controls 12 are collectively disposed in a first region 31 of the user operation module, the first region 31 being formed at the uppermost end of the user operation module. The plurality of function control pieces 12 are uniformly distributed in a matrix form. The parameter setting controls 13 are intensively arranged in a second area 32 of the user operation module, the second area 32 is formed in the middle of the user operation module, and the plurality of parameter setting controls 13 are uniformly distributed in a matrix form. The switch controls 14 are arranged centrally within a third region 33 of the user operated module, the third region 33 being formed in the lower part of the user operated module. The first path navigation beam 20 is formed by a first light source assembly. The first light source assembly is disposed at an edge of each of the function controls 12 proximate the second region 32. Alternatively, the first light source module comprises light-emitting elements and at least one angularly adjustable light guide plate, the light emitted by the light-emitting elements being directed by the light guide plate towards the second region 32. A bead surface lens is preferably arranged on the light beam emitting element, a plurality of bumps are arranged on the surface of the bead surface lens, and the bumps are the same in size and uniform in distribution density; the bumps may be equilateral polygons or circles. The light formed by the light beam emitting element is scattered by the bump, so that the formed first path navigation light beam 20 is uniform and soft, and a better display effect is achieved. The light beam emitting element can be an LED lamp bead. Alternatively, the first light source assembly may comprise only an angularly adjustable light guide plate, and the light scattered by the light emitting elements at the edge of each of the function controls 12 is guided by the light guide plate to be projected toward the second region 32 to form the first path navigation light beam 20, using the light emitting elements in the backlight of each of the function controls 12 as a light source. The light guide plate can be manually driven or driven by a micro motor to adjust the angle, and the control of the micro motor can be realized by a control module. Similarly, the second path navigation beam 21 is formed by a second light source assembly disposed at an edge of each parameter setting control 13 proximate the third region 33. The second light source assembly can also adopt the basic structure of the first light source assembly, and the description is omitted here. The third path navigation light beam 22 is formed by a third light source assembly disposed at an edge of the "start" switch control near the "cancel" switch control, which directs the light beam to project from the "start" switch control to the "cancel" switch control.

The first path navigation light beam 20, the second path navigation light beam 21 and the third path navigation light beam 22 can also be realized by a lamp strip formed by LED lamp beads. If the LED lamp beads are adopted to form a path to guide the light beam, a plurality of lamp beads are preset in the user operation module. The first path navigation beam 20 comprises uniformly distributed beads distributed between each of the functionality controls 12 and the continuously operable parameter setting control 13. In this embodiment, the function control 12, the parameter setting control 13, and the switch control 14 all adopt the same key form and have the same size. If the function control 12 and the parameter setting control 13 are aligned, the lamp bead extends from the edge of the function control 12 to the edge of the same side of the corresponding parameter setting control 13. If the functional control 12 and the parameter setting control 13 are arranged in a staggered manner, the lamp beads extend downwards from the edge of the functional control 12 to the central position of the interval between the functional control 12 and the parameter setting control 13 to form an inflection point, further extend to the upper part of the parameter setting control 13 to form the inflection point again, and continue to be distributed until the edge of the parameter setting control 13 is reached. Similar to the first path navigation beam 20, the second path navigation beam 21 includes evenly distributed beads distributed between each of the parameter setting controls 13 and the "on" control. If the parameter setting control 13 and the "start" control are aligned, the lamp bead extends from the edge of the parameter setting control 13 to the edge of the same side of the "start" control. If the parameter setting control 13 and the starting control are arranged in a staggered mode, the lamp beads extend downwards from the edge of the parameter setting control 13 to the central position between the parameter setting control 13 and the starting control to form an inflection point, further extend to the position above the starting control, form the inflection point again, and continue to be distributed until the edge of the starting control is reached. And the third path navigation light beam 22 comprises uniformly distributed lamp beads arranged between the start control and the cancel control, and the lamp beads are arranged on a central line between the start control and the cancel control. The display effect of the path navigation light beams can be ensured by adopting the lamp belt, and particularly, the display effect is more clear in a dark use environment.

The operation interface of the household appliance disclosed in the embodiment of the invention provides a control mode of an optical navigation mode, and a user can synchronously operate according to guidance in each step of operation process in an operation project, so that the operation interface is simple and intuitive and can help the user to quickly and accurately complete related operations.

The invention also discloses a household appliance comprising the household appliance user interface. Please refer to the detailed description of the above embodiments for a specific configuration manner of the user interface of the home appliance, which is not described herein again. The household appliance provided with the user interface can achieve the same technical effect.

Meanwhile, a control method of the user interface is also disclosed, which comprises the following steps:

and if the set time is reached, controlling the third path navigation light beam and a backlight lamp of the switch control to be extinguished.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer storage medium, wherein the computer storage medium stores a computer program for electronic data exchange, and the computer program enables an apparatus to perform part or all of the steps of any one of the methods as described in the above method embodiments.

In the above embodiments, the descriptions of the respective embodiments have respective emphasis, and for parts that are not described in detail in a certain embodiment, reference may be made to related descriptions of other embodiments.

In the embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus may be implemented in other manners. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the above-described units or modules is only one type of logical function division, and other division manners may be available in actual implementation, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be an electrical or other form.

The units described as the separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components displayed as the units may or may not be physical units, that is, may be located in one physical space, or may also be distributed on a plurality of network units, and some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the embodiment.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit. The integrated unit can be realized in a form of hardware, and can also be realized in a form of a software functional unit.

The above examples are only intended to illustrate the technical solution of the present invention, but not to limit it; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof; and such modifications or substitutions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the corresponding technical solutions.

Claims

1. A home appliance user interface, the user interface comprising:

a user operation module, the user operation module comprising:

and

the control module receives the trigger instruction and selectively lights the path navigation light beams arranged between the trigger controls according to the received trigger instruction;

wherein the trigger control comprises:

the cooking device comprises a function control, a plurality of cooking elements and a control module, wherein the function control is used for receiving user input and generating a function setting instruction for controlling at least one cooking element, the function control is set in a first area, the function controls are distributed in a matrix form, and the first area is formed at the uppermost end of a user operation module; the function control includes a backlight including a plurality of light-emitting elements serving as a light source; a first light source assembly is arranged at the edge of each function control close to the second area, the first light source assembly comprises a light beam emitting element and at least one light guide plate with adjustable angle, light emitted by the light beam emitting element is guided by the light guide plate to project towards the second area, and the second area is formed in the middle of the user operation module;

and

the parameter setting control is used for receiving user input and generating a parameter setting instruction for setting current cooking process parameters, the parameter setting control is set in a second area, and the parameter setting controls are distributed in a matrix form;

the control module receives a function control instruction output by the function control, outputs a first guide signal and controls to light a first path navigation light beam arranged between the first area and the second area; the first path navigation light beam is composed of a first light source, and light emitted by the light beam light-emitting element is projected towards the second area through the guide of the light guide plate; or the light rays scattered by the plurality of light-emitting elements in the backlight at the edge of the function control are guided by the light guide plate to be projected towards the second area to form the first path navigation light beam.

2. Home appliance user interface according to claim 1,

the trigger control further comprises:

the switch control is used for receiving user input and generating a switch control instruction;

the control module selectively lights the path navigation light beams between the function control and the parameter setting control, the path navigation light beams between the parameter setting control and the switch control, or the path navigation light beams between the switch controls according to the sequence of receiving the function setting instruction, the parameter setting instruction and the switch control instruction.

3. Home appliance user interface according to claim 2,

the switch control is set in a third region, and the path navigation light beam comprises a second path navigation light beam arranged between the second region and the third region;

the control module receives a parameter setting instruction output by the parameter setting control, outputs a second guide signal, controls to lighten the second path navigation light beam and lightens a backlight of the parameter setting control generating the parameter setting instruction; and simultaneously extinguishing the first path navigation light beam.

4. Home appliance user interface according to claim 3,

the path navigation light beam further comprises a third path navigation light beam arranged between switch controls operable in a third operating state within a third region;

the control module receives a switch control instruction output by the switch control, outputs a third guide signal, controls to lighten the third path navigation light beam and the backlight lamp of the switch control generating the switch control instruction, and simultaneously extinguishes the second path navigation light beam.

5. Home appliance user interface according to claim 4,

the control module outputs a third guide signal and controls to light up the backlight lamps of all the switch controls which are operable in the working state in the third region.

6. Home appliance user interface according to claim 5,

the system also comprises a display module which is used for displaying the work process or the executed function.

7. A household appliance comprising a household appliance user interface as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. The household appliance according to claim 7, wherein the household appliance is a microwave oven.

9. A method of controlling a user interface, comprising the steps of:

judging whether a function control instruction output by the function control is received; the function control is used for receiving user input and generating a function setting instruction for controlling at least one cooking element, the function control is set in a first area, and the function controls are distributed in a matrix form; a first light source assembly is arranged at the edge of each function control close to the second area, the first light source assembly comprises a light beam emitting element and at least one light guide plate with adjustable angle, and light emitted by the light beam emitting element is projected towards the second area through the guide of the light guide plate; the parameter setting control is set in the second area, and the plurality of parameter setting controls are distributed in a matrix form; the first region is formed at the uppermost end of the user operation module, and the second region is formed at the middle part of the user operation module; the functionality control further comprises a backlight comprising a plurality of light emitting elements;

if the function control instruction is received, controlling to lighten a first path navigation light beam arranged between the function control and the parameter setting control; the first path navigation light beam consists of a first light source, and light emitted by the light beam light-emitting element is projected towards the second area through the guide of the light guide plate; or the light rays scattered by the plurality of light-emitting elements in the backlight lamp at the edge of the function control are guided by the light guide plate to be projected towards the second area so as to form a first path navigation light beam;

if the switch control instruction is received, controlling to light a third path navigation light beam arranged between the switch controls operable in the working state in the third region and to light a backlight of the switch control generating the switch control instruction, and simultaneously turning off the second path navigation light beam and lighting backlights of all the switch controls operable in the working state in the third region;