KR101629643B1 - Home appliance and home appliance system - Google Patents

Abstract

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a home appliance and a home appliance system, wherein the appliance converts product information into an acoustic signal and outputs the sound signal to the outside. In addition, the home appliance system converts the sound into the sound signal, converts the sound into the product information, and then reads the sound signal. Therefore, the home appliance can output the sound signal to the outside so that the user can easily recognize the sound signal. Also, since the home appliance system receives the sound through the communication network, it can easily transmit the sound to the management device to read the product information.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a home appliance and a home appliance system including a home appliance and a home appliance,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a home appliance system including home appliances and home appliances, and more particularly to home appliances that output product information of the home appliances to the outside through a sound and a home appliance system including the home appliances will be.

In the past, it was common to contact a service center in case of a malfunction of a home appliance and to visit a repairer directly. However, in the past, a visit by a repair person was too costly, and there was no advance information, so that it was not easy to deal with repairs. Since then, with the development of technology, it has developed into a technology to remotely diagnose fault information remotely by using a telephone network.

On the other hand, application No. EP0510519 discloses a technique of transmitting failure information of home appliances to a service center by using a telephone network through a modem connected to the home appliances. However, in this case, there is a problem in that the home appliances must always be connected to a modem there was. Particularly, household appliances such as laundry processing apparatuses are generally installed outdoors, and there is a limitation in terms of places to connect the laundry processing apparatuses to the telephone network.

Patent No. US Pat. No. 5,987,105 describes a technique of converting malfunction information of household appliances into sounds of an audible frequency band using a telephone network, and transmitting the malfunction information to a service center through a telephone. In the process of transmitting failure information of the home appliance to the sound of the audible frequency band and then transmitting it back to the receiver of the telephone, signal interference may occur depending on the surrounding environment, and in the process of transmitting the sound through the telephone network, There is a problem that loss of data may occur depending on the characteristics of the telephone network. In addition, the conventional home appliance does not inform the user of the time at which the failure information is outputted, and thus the failure information can not be accurately transmitted.

In addition, in the conventional home appliance system, when the product information that read the sound is damaged, the product information can not be retransmitted due to the input of the external command signal.

The present invention relates to a home appliance and a home appliance system, and an object of the present invention is to provide a home appliance and a home appliance system that convert product information into an acoustic signal and output the sound corresponding to the acoustic signal to the outside effectively.

A home appliance of the present invention includes a selector for receiving a predetermined external command signal from a user, a storage unit for storing product information composed of a combination of different first and second unit signals, A sound output section for outputting sound in accordance with the frequency and the output time of each sound signal; and a sound output section for outputting sound according to the conversion Wherein the control unit controls the conversion unit to convert the product information into the plurality of sound signals so that the output time of the sound signal corresponding to the first unit signal constituting the product information and the output time of the sound signal corresponding to the second unit signal And a control unit for controlling the differently.

The home appliance system of the present invention includes a home appliance and a management device that receives the sound output from the sound output unit of the home appliance and inversely converts the received sound into the product information.

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The home appliance and the household appliance system according to the present invention can accurately transmit the product information of the household appliance to the outside by changing the unit conversion time of the acoustic signal emitted from the household appliance. Further, by changing the unit conversion time of the sound signal, the product information can be effectively separated and transmitted.

The present invention relates to a home appliance and a household appliance system. Hereinafter, the washing machine will be mainly described as an example of the household appliance. In the following, a laundry processing equipment system will be described as an embodiment of the household appliance system.

1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a laundry processing apparatus 100, which is an embodiment of a home electric appliance of the present invention. The present invention is not limited to the laundry processing apparatus 100 and can be applied to all home appliances. Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, the laundry processing device 100 will be described as an embodiment.

1, the laundry processing apparatus 110 includes a cabinet 111, a tub 122 disposed inside the cabinet 111 for washing laundry, a motor (not shown) for driving the tub 122, A washing water supply device (not shown) for supplying the washing water of the tub 122, and a drain device (not shown) for discharging the washing water to the outside after the washing is finished. The cabinet 111 includes a cabinet body 112 and a cabinet cover 113 disposed on the upper side of the cabinet body 112 to be coupled to the cabinet body 114. The cabinet cover 113 is disposed above the cabinet cover 114, And a top plate 115 disposed above the control panel 116 and coupled to the cabinet main body 112. The control panel 116 includes a control panel 116, The cabinet cover 113 includes a hole (not shown) through which the laundry enters and exits, and a door 114 that rotates to open and close the hole.

2 is a block diagram showing the control flow of the laundry processing apparatus 100 shown in FIG.

2, the laundry processing apparatus 100 includes a selection unit 160 for receiving an external command signal for a user to diagnose a failure, a conversion unit 180 for converting product information into at least one sound signal, An acoustic output unit 181 for externally outputting a signal sound corresponding to the acoustic signal output from the converting unit 180 when an external command signal is inputted from the selecting unit 160, And a storage unit 140 for storing the product information of the device 100. When the failure diagnosis through the selection unit 160 is selected, the product information stored in the storage unit 140 is loaded into the conversion unit 180 And a controller 170 for controlling the unit conversion time of the product information output from the converting unit 180 as the sound signal when the sound signal is output to the sound output unit 181.

On the other hand, when the laundry processing apparatus (not shown) is operated, the product information of the laundry processing apparatus is generated. The product information is transmitted to the controller 170. The product information consists of unit signals. In addition, the product information includes at least one of operation information or failure information of the laundry processing apparatus 100. The operation information includes information necessary for the operation of the laundry processing apparatus 100, such as information on the laundry process of the laundry processing apparatus 100, information on the dehydration process, information on the rushing process, and the like. In addition, when the laundry processing apparatus 100 is operated, the failure information may be selected in various ways, such as failure information generated during each operation, and failure information on the apparatus of the laundry processing apparatus 100.

The control unit 170 transmits the product information to the conversion unit 180. The transmitted product information is converted into at least one acoustic signal by the converting unit 180. [ The conversion unit 180 converts the product information into the at least one sound signal and outputs the at least one sound signal to the sound output unit 181. Meanwhile, the sound output unit 181 may include various means such as a speaker, a buzzer output unit, and the like, and may include any means for outputting the sound to the outside. The user can input an operation external command signal through the selection unit 160. [ When the operation external command signal is input, the control unit 170 controls the at least one sound signal converted and outputted by the conversion unit 180 so that the user recognizes the sound output. The configuration of the at least one acoustic signal will be described in detail below.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing unit signals S1 and S2 of the product information of the laundry processing apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 4 is a graph showing an embodiment of an acoustic signal converted from the product information shown in FIG. The same reference numerals as those in Fig. 3 denote the same members.

Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the product order consists of unit signals S1 and S2. The unit signals S1 and S2 include a first unit signal S1 and a second unit signal S2 different from the first unit signal S1. Meanwhile, the product information may be formed of a combination of a plurality of unit signals S1 and S2. The control unit 170 outputs the sound signal F1 corresponding to the first unit signal S1 during the first unit conversion time T1 in the changing unit 180 and outputs the sound signal F1 corresponding to the first unit conversion time T1, And outputs the sound signal F2 corresponding to the second unit signal S2 in the converting unit 180 during the second unit conversion time T2. On the other hand, the sound signal F1 corresponding to the first unit time S1 and the sound signal F2 corresponding to the second unit signal S2 may include the same frequency.

That is, when the first unit signal S1 of the product signal is input to the conversion unit 180, the control unit 170 generates the sound signal F1 corresponding to the first unit signal S1 including at least one frequency, And outputs it. When the second unit signal S2 of the product signal is input to the conversion unit 180, the controller 170 generates a second unit signal S2 including at least one frequency. Since the at least one frequency is the same, the controller 170 outputs the first unit conversion time T1 and the second unit signal S2 at which the acoustic signal F1 corresponding to the first unit signal S1 is output, And the second unit conversion time T2 in which the sound signal F2 corresponding to the sound signal F2 is outputted are different from each other. The output sound is output to the outside for a different time period. Therefore, the product information is converted and the product information can be collected from the outside with the sound outputted to the outside.

Meanwhile, the controller 170 may control the unit conversion times T1 and T2 according to the operation external command signal input by the user from the selection unit 160. [ That is, when the user inputs the operation external command signal through the selection unit 160, the controller 170 forms the first unit conversion time T1 different from the second unit conversion time T2. Accordingly, the converting unit 180 outputs the sound signal through the above-described process.

5 is a graph showing a modification of the acoustic signals F1 and F2 shown in FIG. The same reference numerals as those of the above-described embodiment denote the same contents, and the following description will focus on the differences from the above-described embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 5, the controller 170 generates the sound signal F1 corresponding to the first unit signal S1 and the sound signal F1 corresponding to the second unit signal S1 between the first unit conversion time T1 and the second unit conversion time T2. And controls the conversion unit 180 to output the separation signal F3 during the separation time T3 in order to distinguish the sound signal F2 corresponding to the separation signal S2. That is, when the first unit signal S1 is input to the conversion unit 180, the conversion unit 180 converts the first unit signal S1 into the audio signal F1 corresponding to the first unit signal S1 And outputs it during the first unit conversion time T1. Also, when the conversion of the first unit signal S1 is completed, the conversion unit 180 outputs the separation signal F3 during the separation time T3. The conversion unit 180 converts the second unit signal S2 into the sound signal F2 corresponding to the second unit signal S2 and outputs the second unit conversion time T2 ). Also, the first unit conversion time T1 and the second unit conversion time T2 are controlled to be different from each other. Therefore, although the converting unit 180 generates the dividing signal F3 even though the sound signal F1 corresponding to the first unit signal S1 and the sound signal F2 corresponding to the second unit signal S2 include the same frequency, . ≪ / RTI > Also, since the first unit conversion time T1 and the second unit conversion time T2 are different from each other, the acoustic signals F1 and F2 can be distinguished from the outside.

On the other hand, the division signal F3 may not include at least one frequency. That is, the note corresponding to the division signal F3 may be silent.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing another embodiment of the acoustic signals F1 and F2 shown in FIG. The same reference numerals as those of the above embodiments indicate the same contents, and the following description will focus on the differences from the above embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 6, the at least one frequency includes a plurality of frequencies. The plurality of frequencies include a first frequency corresponding to the first unit signal S1 and a second frequency different from the first frequency and corresponding to the second unit signal S2. That is, when the first unit signal S1 is input, the control unit 170 controls the conversion unit 180 to convert the sound signal F4 corresponding to the first unit signal S1, including the first frequency, do. On the other hand, when the second unit signal S2 is input, the controller 180 controls the conversion unit 180 to convert the sound signal F5 corresponding to the second unit signal S2, including the second frequency, do. In addition, the controller 170 controls the sound signal F4 corresponding to the first unit signal to include the first frequency and output during the first unit conversion time T4. The control unit 170 controls the sound signal F5 corresponding to the second unit signal S2 to include the second frequency and output it during the second unit conversion time T5. Also, the controller 170 controls the first unit conversion time T5 and the second unit conversion time T5 to be different from each other. Therefore, the sounds corresponding to the sound signals F4 and F5 of the laundry processing apparatus 100 include different frequencies, and are output to the outside for different times. That is, since the sounds are output to the outside for different times, the sounds can be distinguished based on the unit conversion times T4 and T5 even if the first frequency and the second frequency are not easily distinguished. Therefore, the sound is effectively transmitted.

FIG. 7 is a graph showing a modification of the acoustic signals F4 and F5 shown in FIG. The same reference numerals as those of the above-described embodiment denote the same contents, and the following description will focus on the differences from the above-described embodiments.

7, the controller 170 controls the controller 170 to switch between the sound signal F4 corresponding to the first unit signal S1 and the sound signal F5 corresponding to the second unit signal S2 In order to distinguish the sound signal F4 corresponding to the first unit signal S1 from the sound signal F5 corresponding to the second unit signal S2, 180 to output the division signal F6. That is, when the first unit signal S1 is input to the conversion unit 180, the control unit 170 controls the conversion unit 180 to output the sound signal F4 including the first frequency. When the output of the acoustic signal F4 including the first frequency is terminated, the control unit 170 controls the conversion unit 180 to output the separation signal F6 during the separation time T6. In addition, the control unit 170 controls to output the acoustic signal F5 including the second frequency when the classification signal F6 ends. Therefore, the sound signals F4 and F5 are outputted as the unit conversion times T4 and T5, which are different from each other, and are distinguished by the separation signal F6, thereby effectively distinguishing sounds corresponding to the sound signals F4 and F5 .

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a laundry processing equipment system W1, which is an embodiment of the household appliance system of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the control flow of the laundry processing equipment system W1 shown in FIG. The present invention is not limited to the laundry processing equipment system W1 and it is possible to construct the following system in all the home appliances and the laundry processing equipment system W1 will be described below as an embodiment of the present invention .

8 and 9, the laundry processing equipment system W1 includes a laundry processing device 200 and a selection unit 260 for receiving an external command signal for performing a trouble diagnosis of the user, A conversion unit 280 for converting an acoustic signal output from the conversion unit 280 into an acoustic signal and an acoustic signal outputting a signal corresponding to the acoustic signal output from the conversion unit 280 when the external command signal is input from the selection unit 260; And a storage unit 240 for storing the product information of the laundry processing apparatus 100 for the diagnosis of the malfunction. When the failure diagnosis through the selection unit 260 is selected, the storage unit 240, And outputs the product information to the conversion unit 280. When the product information is output to the conversion unit 280, the conversion unit 280 converts the product information into the unit conversion time A control unit 270 for controlling the control unit 270, And a management device 290 that performs inverse conversion to the product information. The converting unit 280, the selecting unit 260, the sound output unit 281 and the control unit 270 may be formed separately from the laundry processing apparatus 200 and may be formed to be included in the laundry processing apparatus 200 .

The laundry processing apparatus 200 includes the same or similar components as those described in FIGS. 1 and 2. The management device 290 includes a transmission and reception section 291 for transmitting and receiving the sound outputted from the sound output section 281 of the laundry processing apparatus 200 to the outside and a sound reception section 291 for receiving the sound received from the transmission and reception section 291 A signal converter 292 for converting the product information back to the product information on the basis of the converted product information, a management device controller 293 for reading the converted product information, and a management device storage And a repair terminal 295 for transferring the product information read by the management device control unit 293 to the repairer.

On the other hand, a method and a control flow for converting the product information of the laundry processing apparatus 200 into the acoustic signal and outputting it and outputting the sound corresponding to the acoustic signal are the same as or similar to those described with reference to FIG. Also, the method of converting the product information into the acoustic signal is the same as or similar to that described with reference to FIG. 3 to FIG.

On the other hand, the sound output from the sound output unit 281 is transmitted to the management apparatus 290 through the communication network. The laundry processing equipment system W1 may further include a management device 290 and an external terminal 230 connected to the communication network. The external terminal 230 includes all devices capable of transmitting the sound output from the sound output unit 281 to the management apparatus 290, such as a wire telephone, a wireless telephone, and a mobile phone. The user inputs the sound output from the sound output unit 281 to the external terminal 230. The sound received from the external terminal 230 converts the sound into the voice signal and inversely converts the voice signal into the product information as in the case of FIG. The inversely converted product information is compared with pre-inputted data and the product information is connected to a repairer.

3 to 7, the sound output unit 281 outputs the sound signals corresponding to the sound signals corresponding to the sound signals corresponding to the sound signals And outputs the sound to the outside. The output sound is transmitted to the management apparatus 290 through the external terminal 230 by the user. The transmitted sound is received by the transmission / reception unit 291. Meanwhile, the transceiver 291 not only receives the sound but also outputs the sound generated from the management device 290 to the outside. The received sound is transmitted to the signal converting unit 292. In the transmission process, the sound is converted into a sound signal and transmitted. The transmitted sound signal is converted into the product information by the signal converter 292. The process of converting the transmitted sound signal into the product information is converted in reverse to that described with reference to FIG. 3 to FIG. The converted product information is transmitted to the management apparatus control unit 293. The management apparatus control section 293 stores predetermined data. Therefore, the management apparatus control unit 293 compares the pre-set data with the converted product information to determine it. If it is determined that the converted product information is different from the preset data, the management apparatus control unit 293 transmits the converted product information to the external repairer through the repair terminal 295. [ In addition, the management apparatus control section 293 stores the converted product information in the management apparatus storage section 294. Therefore, it is possible to store the failure history and operation information of the laundry processing apparatus 200 that the user is using.

On the other hand, the management apparatus control unit 294 not only compares the converted product information with predetermined data, but also determines whether the converted product information has been transmitted correctly. The converted product information may be transmitted to the management apparatus control unit 294 and may be damaged by external disturbance factors. If the management apparatus control unit 294 determines that the converted product information is damaged, the management apparatus control unit 294 transmits an external command signal indicating that the converted product information is damaged to the signal conversion unit 293. The transmitted external command signal is converted into a management device sound signal corresponding to the external command signal in the signal converter 293. [ The converted management device sound signals are transmitted to the transmission / reception unit 291. The transmitted management apparatus sound signal is transmitted to the laundry processing apparatus 200 through the external terminal 230 as a sound corresponding to the management apparatus sound signal in the transmission / reception unit 291. The transmitted sound is transmitted to the sound input unit 253, and the external command signal is converted through the inverse transform unit 251 and transmitted to the controller 270. When receiving the external command signal, the control unit 270 retransmits the product information to the conversion unit 280 again. The retransmitted product information is output to the outside through the sound output unit 281 through the process described in FIG. 3 to FIG. Accordingly, even when the laundry processing apparatus system W1 transmits damaged product information to the management apparatus 290, the laundry processing apparatus system W1 can receive the external command signal and transmit the correct product information repeatedly. In addition, the laundry processing equipment system W1 accurately sends the product information, so that the laundry processing equipment 200 can be accurately repaired.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a laundry processing apparatus, which is an embodiment of the household electric appliance of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control flow of the laundry processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

3 is a graph showing unit signals of product information of the laundry processing apparatus shown in FIG.

4 is a graph showing an embodiment of an acoustic signal converted from the product information shown in FIG.

5 is a graph showing a modified example of the acoustic signal shown in FIG.

6 is a graph showing another embodiment of the acoustic signal shown in FIG.

7 is a graph showing a modified example of the acoustic signal shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a laundry processing equipment system, which is an embodiment of the household appliance system of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a control flow of the laundry processing equipment system shown in FIG.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.

100: laundry processing device 170:

111: cabinet 180: conversion section

112: cabinet body 181: acoustic output section

113: cabinet cover 190: management device

114: Door 291: Transmitting /

115: Control panel 292: Signal conversion section

160:

Claims (26)

A selector for receiving an external command signal for performing a fault diagnosis from a user; A storage unit for storing product information including a combination of different first unit signals and second unit signals; A conversion unit for converting the product information into a plurality of acoustic signals having frequencies, An acoustic output unit for outputting sound according to a frequency and an output time of each acoustic signal; The converting unit controls the converting unit to convert the product information into the plurality of sound signals according to the external command signal, To output an acoustic signal corresponding to the first unit signal during a first unit conversion time and to output an acoustic signal corresponding to the second unit signal during a second unit conversion time different from the first unit conversion time, And And a control unit for controlling the sound output unit to output the sound based on the first unit signal and the sound based on the second unit signal to the outside through the sound output unit, Wherein, And controls the first unit conversion time and the second unit conversion time according to an operation external command signal received through the selection unit. The method according to claim 1, Wherein, Wherein the converting unit controls the converting unit to output the separation signal between the sound signal corresponding to the first unit signal and the sound signal corresponding to the second unit signal. The method of claim 2, Wherein the acoustic signal corresponding to the first unit signal and the acoustic signal corresponding to the second unit signal have the same frequency. The method according to claim 1, Wherein the acoustic signal corresponding to the first unit signal and the acoustic signal corresponding to the second unit signal have different frequencies. The method according to claim 1, Further comprising an acoustic input section for receiving an external command signal from outside, Wherein, And when the operating external command signal is inputted through the sound input unit, the converting unit converts the product information into the plurality of sound signals and outputs the converted product signals. The method according to claim 1, The product information includes: And at least one of operation information and failure information of the home appliance. A household appliance according to any one of claims 1 to 6, And a management device that receives the sound output from the sound output unit and inversely converts the received sound into the product information. The method of claim 7, The management apparatus includes: A transmission / reception unit for receiving the sound output from the sound output unit through a wired / wireless communication network; A signal converter for inversely converting the sound received by the transceiver into the product information, And a management device control unit for reading product information obtained by inverse conversion of the signal conversion unit. The method of claim 8, The management apparatus includes: And a management device storage unit for storing the product information read by the management device control unit. The method of claim 8, The management apparatus includes: And a repair terminal for transmitting the product information read by the management device control unit to a repairer. The method of claim 7, And the sound output from the sound output unit is transmitted to the management apparatus via a communication network. The method of claim 11, Further comprising an external terminal connected to the management apparatus through the communication network, Wherein the sound output through the sound output unit is input to the external terminal through the vibration of the air. The method of claim 12, Wherein the management device compares the sound input from the external terminal with the input data to confirm the product information and transmits the product information to a repairer. delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete

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