EP2591711A1

EP2591711A1 - Virtual buttons

Info

Publication number: EP2591711A1
Application number: EP11188451.6A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Johan Petersson
Original assignee: Electrolux Home Products Corp NV
Current assignee: Electrolux Home Products Corp NV
Priority date: 2011-11-09
Filing date: 2011-11-09
Publication date: 2013-05-15
Also published as: WO2013068508A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a dishwasher (10) comprising: a cabinet (11); a washing chamber (20) arranged within the cabinet (11) and provided with an opening (24) for access to the washing chamber; a door (12) turnably attached to the cabinet (11) in order to open and close the opening, said door (12) having an inside surface (14) facing the washing chamber and a front surface (13); and control means for program selection and/or activation of the dishwasher (10). The invention is characterised in that said control means comprises projecting means (30) arranged in the cabinet (11) to generate one, or more, projections (17) on the inside surface (14) of the door (12), said one or more projections (17) are used for displaying information, program selection and/or activation of the dishwasher (10).

Description

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to a dishwasher.

Background of the invention

Dishwashers are frequently used household machines in order to facilitate the daily work in private homes and restaurants. Dishwasher for use in households comprises a washing chamber that is accessed via an opening in the front side of the dishwasher. The opening is closed by a door. Dirty items are arranged in the washing chamber, for example in baskets, and when the dishwasher is activated sprayed by water that is circulated in the washing chamber. Since the door that is closing the washing chamber constitutes the front side of the dishwasher, the user interface, control levers and/or buttons are arranged either on the front side of the door, alternatively along the top edge of the door, in order to be reachable for the operator. Unfortunately, the user interface, levers, buttons, and the required cables and wires to connect the levers and/or buttons with the control and drive means of the dishwasher, requires a considerably space that must be provided in the door which reduces the overall volume of the dish space within the washing chamber, and consequently the amount of dirty items that could be arranged in the washing chamber. Furthermore the user interface, levers, buttons, and the required cables and wires reduce the possibilities to modify the dishwasher door design considerably.
One alternative configuration of the user interface is disclosed in W006013009 . The disclosed dishwasher is provided with a projecting device that is projecting operation information on the floor in front of the dishwasher. Another alternative configuration for a dishwasher is disclosed in W02006/069831 . The dishwasher is provided with a light source arranged in the door to create a projection in a handle cavity in order to indicate the status of the operation of the dishwasher. However, the disclosed alternative configurations still requires control levers arranged in the dishwasher door.
There is consequently a need for a dishwasher in which the required space for the control means is reduced and the freedom to modify the design of the dishwasher door is increased.

Summary of the invention

The present invention, defined in the appended claims, provides a dishwasher that, to at least some extent, fulfils the needs defined above.
The dishwasher according to the invention comprises: a cabinet; a washing chamber arranged within the cabinet and provided with an opening for access to the washing chamber; a door turnably attached to the cabinet in order to open and close the opening, said door having an inside surface facing the washing chamber and a front surface; and control means for program selection and/or activation of the dishwasher, wherein said control means comprises projecting means arranged in the cabinet in order to generate one or more projections on the inside surface of the door, said one or more projections are used for displaying information, program selection and/or activation of the dishwasher.
The claimed invention fulfils the needs defined above since the control means for the dishwasher are moved from the door into the dishwasher cabinet. This means that the thickness/volume of the door could be reduced considerably and the volume of the washing chamber increased significantly since no control means, buttons, cables etc are fitted in the dishwasher door.
Furthermore the manufacturing of the dishwasher is facilitated since the control means and thereto are moved more close to the different components of the dishwasher machinery.
Furthermore the design of the dishwasher door could be modified without taking the user interface, levers or buttons in consideration which is an important advantage since the desire to personalize the kitchen design is increasing.
The number of projections displayed on the inside of the door depends on the number of different programs and functions that the dishwasher is provided with, as well as the desired user interface for the dishwasher. The projections could for example be shaped like virtual buttons and/or symbols with different shapes, colour and/or text in order to improve the user interface and facilitate the program selection and activation of the dishwasher for the operator.
Furthermore the virtual user interface, with the different projections, could more easily be adapted and specified for the requirements of different users. Examples of adaption is the symbols and/or language of the displayed information.
In one embodiment of the invention, said projecting means are arranged around the washing chamber opening. This arrangement is favourable since the projections will be positioned close to the surrounding edge of the door were they are easily visible for the operator. Furthermore the positioning of the projecting means around the opening ensures that the projecting means not are interfered by the baskets in the washing chamber.
In one embodiment of the invention, the opening has a substantially rectangular shape with a horizontal upper side along which said projecting means are arranged. This embodiment is favourable if the dishwasher is positioned on the floor since the projections will be arranged along the top edge of the door where they are easily visible for the operator from above.
In one embodiment of the invention, said projecting means are turned off when the door is closed and activated when the door is opened to a predetermined position. This embodiment saves energy and increases the life time of the projecting means and control means since they are only activated when the door is opened by the operator.
In one embodiment of the invention, said control means furthermore comprises a control unit and wires and/or cables arranged in a space defined between the washing chamber and the cabinet. The possibility to arrange the control means and thereto related components within the cabinet instead of the door facilitates the design and manufacturing of the dishwasher, and reduces the amount of cables that extends within the dishwasher. The present invention completely eliminates the need for cables and wires in the door. Consequently the thickness of the door could be reduced considerably which will allow for modified design of the dishwasher.
In one embodiment of the invention, the projections on the inside surface of the door are projected on a projections surface arranged in an angle in relation to the inside surface of the door in order to improve the visibility of the projections. The projection surface is preferably angled in order to make the projections easily visible for the operator. The angle is selected depending on the intended position of the dishwasher.
In one embodiment of the invention, the area of the projections on the inside surface of door is a substantially flat surface. The flat projection surface ensures high quality of the projections.
In one embodiment of the invention, the projections are shaped as virtual buttons or symbols. The virtual buttons or symbols facilitates for the operator to select the desired dishing program and activate the dishwasher.
In one embodiment of the invention, the projections have different colours and shape in order to improve the user interface and consequently the program selection and activation of the dishwasher.
In one embodiment of the invention, the projecting means comprises a projection generator that is emitting projection beams in order to generate the projections, and a projection sensor that detects the selection made by an operator.
In one embodiment of the invention, the projection sensor comprises a laser diode that is able to detect the presence of a user in the area of one or more of the projections.
The different embodiment described above could of course be combined and modified in different ways without departing from the scope of the invention that will be described more in detail in the detailed description.

Brief description of the drawings

Two embodiments of dishwashers according to the present invention are schematically illustrated in the appended figures.

Figure 1a illustrates a top view of a first embodiment dishwasher.
Figure 1b illustrates a top view of the dishwasher in figure 1 with the door opened.
Figure 1c illustrates a top view of the dishwasher in figure 1 with the door opened.
Figure 2 illustrated a side view of the dishwasher.
Figure 3 illustrates a front view of the dishwasher with the door excluded.
Figure 4 illustrates a schematic illustration of the control means.

Detailed description

In the figures, different views of schematic dishwashers 10 are illustrated. The dishwashers comprise a washing chamber 20 surrounded by a substantially rectangular cabinet 11 with a front side 21, a back side 22 and two flat sides 23. The dishwasher 10 is normally built in together with the surrounding kitchen furniture with only the front side 21 visible from the outside. The washing chamber 20 comprises an opening 24 in the front side of the dishwasher in order to make the washing chamber 20 accessible during loading and unloading of the washing chamber.
The dishwasher 10 furthermore comprises a door 12 in order to make it possible to access, and close, the opening 24 in the washing chamber 20. In the washing chamber 20, one, or more, baskets 25 for dirty items is arranged. During use, heated water is circulating in the washing chamber 20 by a water circulating system in order to clean the dirty items in the basket, or baskets 25.
The dishwasher furthermore comprises control means for displaying information, selection of programs and activation of the dishwasher. The control means are arranged within the cabinet in the space defined between the washing chamber 20 and the cabinet. The control means, schematically illustrated in figure 4, furthermore controls the operation of the dishwasher and regulates, for example, the water temperature, supply of water and detergent into the washing chamber as well as the different steps of the selected program such as the length of each program cycle and the termination of the program when the program is completed. The control means are more thoroughly described in relation to the illustration in figure 4 in the end of the detailed description.
Furthermore, the dishwasher comprises an insulation layer that is arranged between the washing chamber and the cabinet 11. The layer of insulation reduces the amount of noise transmitted from the dishwasher, as well as the outside temperature of the cabinet 11 to avoid damages to the dishwasher and adjacent appliances or structures. The control means, and thereto related components, could be arranged within the layer of insulation.
The opening 24, illustrated in figure 3, has a substantially horizontal upper side 26 and vertical first and second sides 27. The opening 24 is slightly smaller than the front side of the cabinet. The opening 24 is surrounded by a substantially flat front edge 28 that is facing the door 12. Preferably an elastic sealing 29 is arranged around the opening 24 between the flat front edge and the door in order to prevent water leaking from the washing chamber.
The opening 24 is closed by a substantially rectangular flat door 12. The door comprises a door front surface 13, an inside surface 14 and a top edge 15. The design of the door could however be modified in many different ways as long as it corresponds to the shape of the cabinet and the opening in the washing chamber.
The door 12 is turnably secured in the lower part of the cabinet 11 front side 21. The door is turnable around a horizontal axis substantially parallel to the front side 21 of the cabinet 11 so that the top edge 15 of the door 12 is moved outwards from the cabinet 11 when the door 12 is opened. The door 12 could however also be turned around a vertical axis and opened sideways.
In figure 1 b, the dishwasher 10 is illustrated with the door 12 open. In the top part of the cabinet 11, in the flat edge 28, a number of projecting means 30, are arranged. The projecting means 30 could alternatively be arranged in the washing chamber along the top side of the opening or along one, or both, of the vertical sides of the opening 20. The projecting means are facing the inside surface of the door 12. Beams 16 from the projecting means are directed towards the inside surface 14 of the door 12 where they form projections 17 on the inside surface 14 of the door 12. The projections 17 could for example have the shape of virtual buttons, or symbols, that appear on the inside surface 14 of the door 12. Alternatively be shaped as symbols or text in order to display information regarding for example the general settings for the dishwasher on the inside surface 14 of the door 12.
The number of projections displayed on the inside of the door depends on the number of different programs and functions that the dishwasher is provided with, and the desired user interface for the dishwasher. The virtual buttons 17 or symbols could have different shapes, colour and/or text in order to improve the user interface and facilitate the program selection and activation of the dishwasher for the operator. Preferably the user interface could be adapted to the specific needs of the user.
The operator selects the desired program or function by breaking the projected beam 16 corresponding to the desired program or function, i.e. press the virtual button 17 or symbol projected on the inside surface of the door, before the door 12 is closed and the selected program of the dishwasher starts. When the operator breaks the beam 16 of the selected program or function, the projecting means detect the selection and forward the information to the control means that controls and monitors the different parameters of the dishwasher programs. Similar projecting means are for example used in virtual keyboards for computers etc.
The selected program and/or function could for example be displayed by changing the colour, shape or text of the projections, alternatively displayed on a separate display arranged somewhere in the cabinet 11, or the flat edge surrounding the opening, of the washing chamber where the information could be easily detected.
The dishwasher according to the present invention has several advantages compared to conventional dishwashers. First, the volume of the door could be reduced significantly since no control means, or thereto related components, are arranged in the door. The available dishing space is consequently increased and the door will only comprise an inner layer facing the washing chamber layer, normally made of stainless steel, an layer of insulation to reduce the amount of sound emitted from the dishwasher and reduce the temperature on the front surface of the dishwasher and a surface layer that provides the desired appearance of the appliance. Alternatively the door is made of a solid material with the required characteristics. Secondly, the manufacturing of the dishwasher will be facilitated since the control means are arranged within the cabinet instead of the conventional arrangement where the user interface is arranged in the door. This is a very important aspect of the invention since the claimed invention makes it possible to use the same cabinets and doors for different types of dishwashers and only adapt the control means to the desired features of the different types of dishwashers. Furthermore the claimed invention makes it possible to design the dishwasher front side in any possible way without taking the control levers and/or buttons in consideration.
In figure 2, a side view of the schematically illustrated dishwasher in figure 1 is illustrated. In order to improve the visibility of the projections for the operator, the beams 16 from the projecting means 30 are directed towards a projection surface 18 on the inside surface 14 of the door 12. The projection surface 18 is angled in relation to the inside surface of the door 12 towards the operator. The intended position of the operator is indicated by an eye 19. The angle α between the projection surface 18 and the inside surface 14 of the door 12 is adapted to the intended position and design of the dishwasher in relation to the intended position of the operator. The angle α is for example between 20° and 40°.
In figure 4, a schematic illustration of the control means are disclosed. The control means comprises a control unit 31 connected to projecting means 30 by wires/cables 32. The projecting means 30 comprises a projection generator that is emitting projection beams 16 in order to generate the desired projections on the inside surface of the door.
The projecting means 30 furthermore comprises a projection sensor that is able to detect the selection made by the operator. Information about the projections from the projection generator and the detected selection from the projection sensor are communicated to the control unit where the information is processed in order to establish which one of the different projections from the projection generator that is selected by the operator before the selected program and/or parameter is activated.
Different embodiments of the projecting means are possible. For example, a laser diode or conventional diode in combination with the required optical components could be used as the projection generator. The diode is illuminating the projection surface of the virtual user interface in order to generate projections with the desired shape, colour, text and/or symbols. Furthermore, laser diodes or different types of cameras that are able to detect the presence of the operators finger on one, or more, of the projections generated could be used as the projection sensor.
The projection generator and the projection sensor are either arranged close together or integrated into one single unit, alternatively arranged separately from each other in the flat edge in the top part of the dishwasher.
The control means furthermore comprises means 33 for detecting if the door is moved to and from the closed position. This information is communicated to the control unit 31 via wires/cables 34 in order to turn off the projecting means 30 when the door 12 is closed, and activate the projecting means 30 when the door 12 is opened. The means 33 for detecting the position of the door are for example arranged somewhere along the flat edge 28 facing the inside surface 14 of the door 12. This feature extends the lifetime of the projecting means and reduces the energy consumption of the dishwasher. The control unit 31 comprises programs that are used in order to control and monitor the program cycles of the dishwasher. The control unit 31 is consequently connected to several different components/functions within the dishwasher via cables/wires 35.
The different embodiments described above could all be combined and modified in different ways without departing from the scope of the invention that is defined by the appended claims. The claimed and described technology could also be used in other types of household appliances comprising an openable door, such as for example refrigerators, freezers, ovens or microwave ovens.

Claims

Dishwasher (10) comprising:
a cabinet (11);

a washing chamber (20) arranged within the cabinet (11) and provided with an opening (24) for access to the washing chamber;

a door (12) turnably attached to the cabinet (11) in order to open and close the opening, said door (12) having an inside surface (14) facing the washing chamber and a front surface (13); and

control means for program selection and/or activation of the dishwasher (10), wherein said control means comprises projecting means (30) arranged in the cabinet (11) to generate one, or more, projections (17) on the inside surface (14) of the door (12), said one or more projections (17) are used for displaying information, program selection and/or activation of the dishwasher (10).
Dishwasher (10) according to claim 1, wherein said projecting means (30) are arranged around the opening (24).
Dishwasher (10) according to claim 1, wherein the opening (24) has a substantially rectangular shape with a horizontal upper side (26) along which said projecting means (30) are arranged.
Dishwasher (10) according to anyone of the previous claims, wherein said control means furthermore comprises a control unit (31) and wires and/or cables (32, 34, 35) arranged in a space defined between the washing chamber (20) and the cabinet (11).
Dishwasher (10) according to anyone of the previous claims, wherein said projecting means (30) are turned off when the door (12) is closed and activated when the door (12) is opened to a predetermined position.
Dishwasher (10) according to anyone of the previous claims, wherein the projections (17) on the inside surface (14) of the door (12) are projected on a projection surface (18) arranged in an angle (α) in relation to the inside surface (14) of the door (12) in order to improve the visibility of the projections (17).
Dishwasher (10) according to anyone of the previous claims, wherein the area (18) of the projections (17) on the inside surface (14) of door is a substantially flat surface (18).
Dishwasher (10) according to anyone of the previous claims, wherein the projections (17) are shaped as virtual buttons or symbols.
Dishwasher (10) according to anyone of the previous claims, wherein the projections (17) have different colours and shape.
Dishwasher (10) according to anyone of the previous claims, wherein the projecting means comprises a projection generator that is emitting projecting beams (16) in order to generate the projections, and a projection sensor that detects the selection made by an operator.
Dishwasher (10) according to claim 1, wherein the projection sensor comprises a laser diode that is able to detect the presence of user in the area of one or more of the projections.