Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
  • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • F25D29/00—Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices
  • F25D29/005—Mounting of control devices
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
  • F24C—DOMESTIC STOVES OR RANGES ; DETAILS OF DOMESTIC STOVES OR RANGES, OF GENERAL APPLICATION
  • F24C7/00—Stoves or ranges heated by electric energy
  • F24C7/08—Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
  • F25B—REFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
  • F25B2600/00—Control issues
  • F25B2600/07—Remote controls

Definitions

• the invention relates to a household appliance, which comprises a control device for controlling operating processes of the household appliance and an internal communication bus, with which the control device is coupled for communication with at least one other component of the household appliance.
• the household appliance also has a USB device with a USB port, via which an external device to the household appliance - reversible - can be connected.
• the invention also relates to a method for operating a household appliance.
• the document DE 20 2008 001 273 U1 describes a refrigerator and freezer, namely a refrigerator, which has a color display and a memory associated with the display.
• This podcasts are stored in the memory, which can be displayed on the running as a touchscreen display.
• the podcasts can be downloaded via the Internet, with the podcasts offered on the Internet, for example, provided by news channels that run on the Internet management programs.
• Via a USB interface the user can connect their MP3 player to the refrigerator and thus update. This means that the user can connect their MP3 player to the USB ports of the refrigerator and transfer the podcast stored in the refrigerator's memory to their MP3 player.
• a menu that automatically pops up in the color display can be used to determine how the data exchange should be carried out.
• a refrigerator with a USB port is also known from document CN 200986359 Y. It is an object of the invention to provide a solution, as in a household appliance of the type mentioned the functionality of the USB device can be extended in comparison to the prior art. This object is achieved by a household appliance and by a method having the features according to the respective independent claims. Advantageous embodiments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims, the description and the figures.
• An inventive household appliance includes a control device, which is designed to control operating processes of the household appliance.
• the home appliance also includes a communication bus to which the controller is electrically coupled to communicate with at least one other component of the home appliance.
• the household appliance also has a USB device with a USB port, via which an external device can be reversibly connected to the household appliance.
• the USB device is coupled to the internal communication bus. The invention thus goes the way to connect the USB device or the USB port with the internal communication bus of the household appliance. This ensures that in principle all the data present on the communication bus can also be transmitted via the USB device, so that new functionalities can be provided via the USB device.
• a Wi-Fi stick can be connected to the USB port to allow wireless communication between the home device and another device, via the USB device.
• the connection of the USB device to the internal communication bus also allows a simplified programming of the household appliance in the manufacturing process; Namely, the home appliance can be programmed via the USB device in the manufacturing process, so that the programming can be made even with a closed housing of the household appliance.
• the functionality of the USB device is improved compared to the prior art by the household appliance according to the invention.
• a domestic appliance is understood as meaning a device which is used for household management.
• This may be a large household appliance, such as a washing machine, a tumble dryer, a dishwasher, a cooking appliance, a cooker hood, a refrigerator, a fridge-freezer or an air conditioner. But this can also be a small household appliance, such as a coffee machine or a food processor.
• the household appliance may thus be a device for the care of laundry or a device for preparing food or a dishwasher or a device for storing food.
• a communication bus is understood to mean, in particular, an electrical line via which the bus subscribers (components of the household appliance) connected to the communication bus can communicate with one another in accordance with a standardized communication protocol.
• the communication bus is, for example, the so-called D-Bus.
• the invention is not limited to a specific communication bus.
• the USB device can be controlled via the communication bus, such as by means of the control device of the household appliance.
• the USB device may also include a gateway which takes over the function of a USB master and / or a USB slave (peripheral device) and on the other hand translates the data stream between the communication bus on the one hand and the external device.
• the USB device can be used to transfer data in a variety of formats. In one embodiment, it is provided that data can be transmitted via the USB device in the txt format and / or in the pdf format and / or in the jpg format.
• the USB device can be designed in the form of an integrally formed module. Such a USB module is particularly compact and takes up relatively little space. With such a USB module, the household appliance can also be retrofitted. So z. For example, it is possible to retrofit existing household appliances that have an internal communication bus with such a USB module and thus to enable the provision of additional functionalities.
• the household appliance can take over the role or the function of a master device (host device). In addition or alternatively can It may also be provided that the household appliance assumes the function of a peripheral device (slave), so that the external device is a master device.
• the household appliance in a data transmission via the USB device, is a master device (host), so that a peripheral device is connected as an external device to the USB device of the household appliance.
• a peripheral device is connected as an external device to the USB device of the household appliance.
• the USB device takes over the function of controlling the data transfer.
• various functional devices can be connected to the USB port, which extend the functionality of the household appliance and possibly also improve the user-friendliness of the household appliance.
• appropriate software components are stored, which make it possible to communicate with an external peripheral device.
• drivers are needed, which can be installed in the home appliance for different types of peripherals, whereby the USB standard defines so-called device classes so that the peripherals are categorized according to their type and function, thus using generic standard drivers Often the peripherals also combine several functionalities, and for a particular peripheral device, multiple drivers from different classes are required, and the home device prefers to store drivers for all classes of peripherals.
• USB data storage device USB stick
• USB stick USB device
• data stored in this data memory can be transferred to the household appliance and stored in a data memory of the household appliance.
• This data transmission can be completely automated or automatic or menu-driven on the basis of input from the user.
• the possibility of transmitting the data from an external data memory has various advantages: For example, new operating programs can be stored in the data memory of the household appliance and / or an updating of the operating software or the operating system of the household appliance can be carried out.
• the home appliance is a master device, the following functionalities can be provided by means of the USB device: As already stated, an update of the operating software of the household appliance can be carried out.
• the user can then connect his USB stick to the USB device of the household appliance, and the update of the operating software can then be done automatically - so alone due to the connected of the USB stick - or menu driven based on input from the user.
• the household appliance can always be kept up to date.
• new operating programs for the household appliance can also be transmitted via the USB device and stored in a data memory of the household appliance connected to the internal communication bus and / or operating programs already stored in the data memory can be updated.
• the provision of new operating programs can also be such that the user first downloads the corresponding data from the Internet and stores them on his USB stick, and then connects his USB stick to the USB device of the household appliance. The data transfer is then automated or menu-driven.
• the provision of new operating programs improves the user-friendliness of the household appliance and provides the user with further functions of the household appliance.
• the user can transmit his personal settings into the internal data memory of the household appliance via the USB device.
• the user can design his own operating program and initially save this program on his USB stick.
• This USB stick can then be connected to the USB device again with another or the same household appliance, and the data stored in the portable memory relating to the personal settings of the user can be stored in the internal data memory of the household appliance (eg temporarily). be stored.
• the user does not have to completely define the personal settings of the new, but can take over the settings already made once.
• connection of the USB device to the internal communication bus of the household appliance is used to the effect that a communication stick for wireless communication - in particular a WLAN stick - is connected to the USB device as a peripheral device.
• the household appliance can be set up in such a way that it communicates wirelessly via the communication stick with an external appliance, for example with another household appliance.
• a plurality of household appliances can be networked with one another in terms of communication, so that the domestic appliances can also "deny each other" when carrying out the respective operating processes
• a communication interface for wireless communication it is sufficient only the USB device, as well as a communication stick, such as a WLAN stick.There is therefore unnecessary the use of expensive communication equipment, as they usually Communication between different household appliances are used.
• the USB device can also be connected to a printer as a peripheral device.
• the household appliance may be set up such that error data stored in a fault memory of the household appliance-this fault data may contain information about errors of the household appliance that have occurred-are transmitted to the printers via the USB device.
• the printer is thus driven by the household appliance to print error information of the household appliance.
• This embodiment enables a novel communication of the user with the customer service. Namely, the user can connect the printer to the home appliance himself and print out the error information. He can then send the error information to the customer service, for example by fax, so that the customer service is given the opportunity to check the error data without having to visit the customer on site.
• the household appliance in the data transfer via the USB device also - as already stated - be a peripheral device.
• Master device in particular an external computer to be connected as an external device to the USB device, and the data transfer can be controlled by means of the external master device.
• This embodiment proves to be especially advantageous for customer service:
• the technician can connect his computer to the USB port and make a study of the household appliance without having to open the housing of the household appliance.
• the user can take advantage of this embodiment; he can, for example, connect his personal computer, his notebook or his mobile phone to the USB device of the household appliance to z. B. make a control of the household appliance via the USB device.
• fault data from the internal fault memory of the household appliance can be transmitted to the master device via the USB device.
• the master device can be here, for example, a computer of customer service. But it can also be the user who connects his computer to the household appliance and then the error data - for example, by e-mail - sent to the customer service.
• the household appliance is a peripheral device
• the household appliance is programmed in the manufacturing process via the USB device.
• This has the advantage that the programming of the household appliance - that is, the over-playing of the software and the like - can be made at the end of the manufacturing process, without the housing of the household appliance must be opened.
• a computer can be connected to the USB device, and the programming can be done via the USB device as well as via the communication bus. If tests (so-called tape end tests) are carried out in the production process, these can also be performed via the USB device. These tests can thus be made in a closed housing of the household appliance.
• the USB device is designed according to the "on-the-go" specification, in which case the household appliance can communicate with an external device by having one of the two devices, such as the household device, the host device. Functionality takes over. It can thus be dispensed with a special computer that works as a host device.
• USB device of the household appliance has a USB port.
• This may include at least one of the following sockets:
• USB-A socket to connect a USB-A plug and / or
• USB-B socket for connecting a USB-B connector and / or
• the invention also relates to a method for operating a domestic appliance whose operating processes are controlled by means of a control device of the household appliance via an internal communication bus of the household appliance communicates with at least one other component of the household appliance, wherein an external device is connected to the household appliance via a USB device of the household appliance
• the preferred embodiments presented with reference to the domestic appliance according to the invention and their advantages apply correspondingly to the method according to the invention.
• FIG. 1 in a schematic representation of a household appliance according to a
• FIG. 5 to 9 in a schematic representation of household appliances according to different
• a illustrated in Fig. 1 home appliance 1 may, for. B. a device for the care of laundry, a device for food preparation, a coffee machine or any other household appliance.
• the household appliance 1 includes an internal control device 2, which serves for controlling operating processes of the household appliance 1, that is to say, for example, for controlling washing processes, drying processes or the like.
• the control device 2 may comprise a microcontroller and / or an internal data memory and / or a digital signal processor.
• the control device 2 is coupled to an internal communication bus 3 of the household appliance 1, which serves for data transmission in the household appliance 1. Data can be transmitted between the most diverse components of the household appliance 1 via the communication bus 3.
• the communication bus 3 is a D-bus.
• a fault memory 4 is also coupled, which is used for storing error data of the household appliance 1.
• error memory 4 so error information is stored in the operation of the household appliance 1, which the describe any errors that may have occurred in the internal components of the household appliance 1.
• a multiplicity of other components or bus subscribers 5 can also be coupled to the communication bus 3, for example further control devices or the like.
• the household appliance 1 has a USB device 6 or USB interface, which has a USB connection 7.
• the USB device 6 is coupled to the communication bus 3 and thus connected to the control device 2 and the other bus subscribers.
• An external device 8 can be connected to the household appliance 1 via the USB connection 7, specifically by means of a USB plug 9 shown schematically in FIG. 1.
• the abbreviation "USB" designates a serial bus system (Universal Serial Bus) for connecting the household appliance 1 to external devices 8.
• USB Universal Serial Bus
• a very wide variety of data structures (up to approximately 1 MB) can be transmitted between the USB device 6 and the communication bus 3.
• the following file formats are provided, for example: txt format, pdt format, jpg format and the like.
• the USB device 6 includes a gateway module 10 which, in the data transfer, performs the function of a host device, that is, the function of a master. This means that the data transmission is controlled by the gateway module 10.
• the gateway module 10 translates the data stream into the format of the communication bus 3 or into the USB format.
• the gateway module 10 additionally assumes the function of a slave, ie a USB peripheral device.
• the USB device 6 is thus integrated as a module in the household appliance 1; remains accessible only the USB port 8, which may have at least one USB socket.
• the USB port 7 may optionally be arranged accessible under a flap or a lid.
• the gateway module 10 is shown according to a first embodiment in FIG. As is apparent from Fig.
• the gateway module 10 includes both software components 1 1 and a microcontroller 12 including a USB controller.
• the USB port 7 has two separate USB jacks, namely a first USB port for an external peripheral device and a second USB port for an external host device (master).
• both peripheral devices and host devices can be connected to the USB port 7.
• a USB-B socket can be provided for the host devices a USB-A socket.
• software components 1 1 a variety of drivers can be stored, which allow a USB data transfer with a variety of different peripherals or even with a host device.
• FIG. 5 An alternative embodiment of the gateway module 10 is shown in FIG.
• a separate microcontroller is dispensed with, and the existing hardware (eg, TFT platform, Jupiter, and the like) is used, but it must have a USB controller.
• the gateway module 10 can be used as a peripheral device and / or as a host master.
• FIGS. 5 to 9 a plurality of household appliances according to a different embodiment of the invention will be explained in more detail below.
• An illustrated in Fig. 5 home appliance 1 is a coffee machine.
• the external device 8 can be connected, which is designed here as a USB stick 8a or USB memory.
• the external device 8 is here a peripheral device, while the household appliance 1 takes over the function of the master.
• USB stick 8a On the USB stick 8a a variety of data can be stored, such as new operating programs for the household appliance 1 and / or personal settings of the user. This data can then be transmitted to a data memory of the control device 2, namely via the communication bus 3. The data transmission is controlled here by the USB device 6 of the household appliance 1.
• FIG. 6 essentially corresponds to that according to FIG. 5, wherein a printer 8b can be connected to the USB device 6 as a further peripheral device.
• the USB device 6 recognizes the printer 8b and causes the error data stored in the error memory 4 to be transmitted to the printer 8b.
• the error information can then be printed out by means of the printer 8b.
• FIG. 7 another embodiment is shown, in which the household appliance 1 is a washing machine. Data with an updated operating software for the household appliance 1 is now stored on the USB stick 8a. If the USB stick 8a is now connected to the household appliance 1, the operating software stored in the control device 2 of the household appliance 1 is automatically automated or menu-guided or menu-controlled.
• FIG. 8 home appliance 1 An illustrated in Fig. 8 home appliance 1 is an oven.
• the household appliance 1 assumes the function of a peripheral device for an external notebook 8c during data transmission.
• the notebook 8c is a host device or master.
• the notebook 8c may in particular be a computer of customer service, by means of which the error data stored in the error memory 4 can be read out.
• the technician can namely connect his notebook 8 c to the USB device 6 of the household appliance 1 and read the error data from the error memory 4.
• the technician does not need to open the housing of the household appliance.
• the household appliance 1 is a peripheral device
• the updating of the operating software of the household appliance 1 can be performed.
• FIG. 9 essentially corresponds to that according to FIG.
• USB stick 8a can be connected to the household appliance 1 as a further external device in order, for example, to store new operating programs in the control device 2.
• the household appliance 1 takes over the function of the host device or else the function of a peripheral device.
• the household appliance 1 is a master, while the notebook 8c, the household appliance 1 is a peripheral device.
• a USB communication stick can be connected to the USB device 6, via which the control device 2 can then communicate wirelessly with other devices.
• a communication stick can z. B. a Wifi stick. Then a wireless communication between the household appliance 1 and other household appliances and / or with an energy provider is possible.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Thermal Sciences (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Selective Calling Equipment (AREA)
• Apparatus For Making Beverages (AREA)

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• 2011
  • 2011-12-06 DE DE102011087777A patent/DE102011087777A1/de not_active Ceased
• 2012
  • 2012-11-28 CN CN201280060260.7A patent/CN103998880B/zh active Active
  • 2012-11-28 EP EP12794307.4A patent/EP2788698A2/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2012-11-28 WO PCT/EP2012/073767 patent/WO2013083448A2/de active Application Filing

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