WO2014001213A1

WO2014001213A1 - Communication to and from a household appliance

Info

Publication number: WO2014001213A1
Application number: PCT/EP2013/062972
Authority: WO
Inventors: Wolfgang Beifuss; Matthias Sippel
Original assignee: BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH
Priority date: 2012-06-26
Filing date: 2013-06-21
Publication date: 2014-01-03
Also published as: EP2865137A1; DE102012210848A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and a device for communication to and from a household appliance, in which information is sent from the household appliance using a communications interface to a communications platform or in which a message is sent by means of the communications platform and the communications interface to the household appliance.

Description

Communication of a household appliance

The invention relates to a method and a device for communication of a domestic appliance or with a domestic appliance.

Various social networks are known, e.g. Facebook, MySpace,

SchülerVZ, StudiVZ, MeinVZ, Twitter, XING, LinkedIn or who-knows-who.

For example, Facebook's Facebook Places feature allows a user to tell other users where they are and who they are with in that location. You can also see which friends have shared their location.

The object of the invention is to extend the social networks with additional functions.

This object is achieved according to the features of the independent claims. Further developments of the invention will become apparent from the dependent claims. To achieve the object, a method for communication of a household appliance is specified,

- In the case of the household appliance information based on a

Communication interface is transmitted to a communication platform or

- in which a message by means of the communication platform and the

Communication interface is transmitted to the household appliance.

With the communications platform, including e.g. a social network that can be accessed from any device, it is possible

To integrate household appliances and use them as sources of information or sinks. Thus, household appliances become part of the structures existing in the social network.

A further development is that the information is status information of the

Domestic appliance and / or an instruction for a user. Another development is that based on the message, a predetermined action is performed or initiated by the household appliance.

The default action applies e.g. possible settings of the household appliance: For example, a cooking appliance can start, change or interrupt a cooking process, a coffee machine can e.g. be switched off or on.

In particular, it is a development that additionally a code is queried before the household appliance performs or causes the predetermined action.

The code may e.g. Be part of the message or transmitted in the form of a separate message to the household appliance. By means of the code, the security against unwanted actions or incorrect operation of the domestic appliance is increased.

Also, it is a development that the communication platform as well as the

Household appliance connected to each other via the Internet.

Thus, the household appliance can have a connection to the Internet, whereby the connection to the communication platform is made via the Internet.

Furthermore, it is a development that the communication platform is a social network. For example, the social network is one

Network communities or web applications, the network communities

accommodate. For example, social networks are a form of

Net communities (so-called online communities), which technically by

Web applications or portals. In English, the more precise term of "social network service" (SNS) exists. The German terms

"Community Portal" or "Online Contact Network" are also known. Well-known social networks are: Facebook, myspace, schülerVZ / studiVZ / meinVZ, Twitter, XING, Google+, LinkedIn, ResearchGate and who-knows-who. In the context of an additional development, the communication interface comprises a wireless and / or a wired communication interface. For example, the household appliance may have an Ethernet connection and be connected via a cable to the Internet and thus to the communication platform. The household appliance can also be connected to the communication platform via a mobile radio network, via a WLAN connection and / or via a Bluetooth connection.

A next development is that the household appliance is assigned to at least one user account of the communication platform. For example, the user account corresponds to the user's access

Household appliance. The user account can manage a variety of home appliances. In particular, a contact type "home appliance" similar to a contact type "friend" can be managed by the user via his user account. One embodiment is that the assignment of the at least one user account to the household appliance comprises an authentication.

The authentication can be initiated by the home appliance or by the user account. In particular, in the context of a registration of the

Home appliance at the communication platform and / or in the assignment to the user account authentication. It may be agreed that the household appliance must be assigned to a user account. Optionally, the household appliance can also be assigned to multiple user accounts. An alternative embodiment is that

- the home appliance on the communication platform with a

ID logs in;

- the user account is linked to the identification by a

Identifier is entered.

The identifier may e.g. be displayed by the home appliance or in the

Be described description of the household appliance. By entering the identifier, the household appliance can be linked or coupled with the user account. This ensures that this user account acts as the "owner" of the household appliance and can access it accordingly by means of the communication platform.

Based on such a coupling may have more rights for others User accounts are assigned, for example, to receive the information from the household appliance and / or to send messages to this appliance.

A next embodiment is that several household appliances exchange information and / or messages via the communication platform.

It is also an embodiment that the household appliance executes a predetermined action depending on available information or provides a predetermined information.

For example, a home appliance may provide a status message in a blog or on a user's electronic bulletin board if a predetermined condition is met. Also, the home appliance (the Internet in general and / or) may examine the communication platform for particular given information or messages, and may respond accordingly. Furthermore, it is possible for the home appliance to use different sources of information, e.g. of the Internet, analyzes (interrogates and parses) and reacts according to given rules, i. e.g. provides information and / or performs a predetermined action. A development is that the household appliance is one of the following devices:

- a cooking appliance;

- a laundry treatment appliance;

- a small household appliance;

- a coffee machine;

- a food processor;

- a cleaning machine;

- a dishwashing appliance;

- a refrigeration device.

In particular, the cooking appliance may comprise a hob, an oven (oven and / or microwave oven), a steamer or a vacuum cooker. The

Laundry treating appliance may include a washing machine or a dryer. The household small appliance can be a coffee machine or a food processor. The utensil treatment device may be a dishwasher and / or a disinfection device. The refrigerator may include a refrigerator and / or a freezer (or a freezer). Furthermore, combinations of the household appliances mentioned here are possible.

The above object is also achieved by a household appliance with a processing unit which is set up such that

- From the household appliance information based on a

Communication interface to a communication platform

is transmittable or

a message by means of the communication platform and the

Communication interface of the household appliance is receivable.

The processing unit mentioned here may in particular be embodied as a processor unit and / or an at least partially hard-wired or logical circuit arrangement, which is set up, for example, in such a way that the method can be carried out as described herein. Said processing unit may be or include any type of processor or computer or computer with correspondingly necessary peripherals (memory, input / output interfaces, input / output devices, etc.).

The above explanations regarding the method apply to the device accordingly. The device may be implemented in one component or distributed in several components.

The solution presented herein further includes a computer program product directly loadable into a memory of a digital computer, comprising

Program code parts adapted to perform steps of the type described herein

Procedure to perform.

Furthermore, the above problem is solved by means of a computer-readable storage medium, e.g. any memory comprising computer-executable instructions (e.g., in the form of program code) adapted for the computer to perform steps of the method described herein.

Embodiments of the invention are illustrated and explained below with reference to the drawing.

It shows: 1 shows a schematic block diagram with several household appliances, which are connected via the Internet with a communication platform.

It is proposed to integrate household appliances into a social network.

For example, profiles of household appliances of individual users can be customized and managed. The home appliance may have a communication interface to the social network and provide different information to it. The provision of the information can be automated based on predetermined rules. Furthermore, it is possible for a household appliance to transmit a message via the social network and for the household appliance to implement this message accordingly, e.g. performs a predetermined action initiated with the message. Thus, a communication with the household appliance via the social network can be done. This has u.a. the advantage that also for the household appliance, the social network can be used as a communication platform and so a simple, inexpensive and extremely flexible way is created to receive information from the home appliance and / or send messages to the home appliance.

It should be noted that preferably suitable safety and

Authentication measures are provided, for. only allow authorized users to access a household appliance. In particular, those of the

Household appliance provided information only authorized or shared users are displayed. For example, the home appliance has a way to connect to the Internet. This can e.g. via a wired or a wireless connection. The household appliance may e.g. be connected to a wireless router. One possibility is for the household appliance to connect to a predefinable social network and to have a user account under one at the first start-up with the confirmation of the responsible user (for example, the purchaser of the household appliance or the tenant of an apartment)

Identification number of the household appliance (for example, the serial number) creates. The user can log in to the social network himself and after the

Search for the identification number of the household appliance. For example, after entering a personal identification number (PIN) on the household appliance, he can add the household appliance to his profile in the social network and then (possibly with or without input of the PIN) to the household appliance via the social network access, eg make settings, query information, etc. For example, the user can include the household appliance in the list of his friends.

The home appliance provides (e.g., upon successful configuration) the ability to receive information or messages from the user or from (authorized) friends and, if appropriate, predetermined actions according to the information

perform. Alternatively or additionally, the home appliance may provide information, e.g. in the form of sending messages. Such messages may convey information to different addressees, e.g. be the friends of the user of the household appliance or (only) the user of the household appliance: For example, the following messages can be sent from the household appliance:

- "I'm cooking / baking right now."

- "My pizza / roast / cake / etc is ready soon."

- "I invite you to a spontaneous party."

- "Your dish is ready."

- "Please come to the kitchen appliance and carry out the specified steps there."

The user of the household appliance can receive the message e.g. receive on his smartphone and respond accordingly (quickly). This increases in particular the

Flexibility of the user who does not need to be in the vicinity of the household appliance, not even the house, in order to know the condition of household appliances (e.g.

Washing machine, fridge, freezer, stove, etc.) to be informed.

For example, the user can initiate repair measures for a defective household appliance, even if he is on his own.

Another option is for household appliances to communicate with each other via the social network, eg exchange messages (networking of household appliances). For example, users of several household appliances can add them to their profile. Status messages of the household appliances can be published via a pinboard or blog function of the social network, according to certain rules, the household appliances themselves investigate the pin board and the blog and possibly perform predetermined actions. Thus, a state machine can be realized for a plurality of interacting home appliances whose messaging interface is the social network. Accordingly, a remote control and / or monitoring of

Household appliance using the social network done. For example, control functions or monitoring instructions (parameters to be monitored) can be transmitted via the social network to the household appliance, which then provides the requested information via the social network. Thus, a user could query the status of a cooking appliance and receives in response a text message "cooking place one is at level three". Also, the user could instruct the cooking appliance to completely switch off the hob. 1 shows a schematic block diagram with a plurality of household appliances 102 to 105, which are connected via the Internet 101 to a communication platform 106. For this purpose, the household appliances 102 to 105 have wireless or wired communication connections, wherein the communication platform 106

Information 109 can be provided and messages 108 can be transmitted via the communication platform 106 to the household appliances 102 to 105. The messages 108 can be converted into predetermined actions in the home appliances 102 to 105.

A smartphone 107 may also be connected to the Internet via the 101

Communication platform 106 access and possibly information 1 1 1 of the

Receive home appliances 102 to 105 or send messages 1 10 to these appliances 102 to 105. Here, the information 1 1 1 of the

Communication platform 106 provided and the messages 1 10 of the

Smartphone 107 transmitted to the communication platform 106. The

Communication platform accordingly converts the information 109 into information 1 1 1 or the messages 1 10 in messages 108. In other words, the communication between the smartphone 107 and the household appliances 102 to 105 takes place via the communication platform 106. The smartphone 107 can be any device with a corresponding possibility for connection to the Internet 101.

For example, the home appliances 102 to 105 shown in Fig. 1 are: A

Refrigerator 102, a washing machine 103, a coffee machine 104 and a cooking appliance 105.

An advantage of this approach is to use an existing server infrastructure to integrate home appliances and possibly with users or among themselves network. The control of the household appliances and / or the information provided by the household appliances results in a multiplicity of application scenarios.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

101 Internet

102 home appliance

103 home appliance

104 home appliance

105 home appliance

106 communication platform

107 smartphone

108 message (from communication platform 106 to home appliance 102 to

105)

109 Information (from home appliance 102 to 105 to communication platform

106)

1 10 message (from smartphone 107 to communication platform 106) 1 1 1 information (from communication platform 106 to smartphone 107)

Claims

claims

Method for communicating a household appliance (102-105),

- In which of the household appliance (102-105) information (109) is transmitted by means of a communication interface to a communication platform (106) or

- In which a message (108) by means of the communication platform (106) and the communication interface to the household appliance (102-105) is transmitted.

The method of claim 1, wherein the information comprises status information or an instruction for a user.

Method according to one of the preceding claims, in which a predetermined action is executed or initiated by the household appliance on the basis of the message.

The method of claim 3, wherein additionally a code is queried before the home appliance performs or causes the predetermined action.

Method according to one of the preceding claims, in which the

Communication platform and the home appliance via the Internet are connected.

Method according to one of the preceding claims, in which the

Communication platform is a social network.

Method according to one of the preceding claims, in which the

Communication interface a wireless or a wired

Communication interface includes.

Method according to one of the preceding claims, in which the

Domestic appliance is assigned at least one user account of the communication platform.

The method of claim 8, wherein the assignment of the at least one user account to the household appliance comprises an authentication. Method according to one of claims 8 or 9,

- in which the household appliance logs on to the communication platform with an identification;

- In which the user account is linked to the identification by an ID is entered.

Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein a plurality of household appliances information and / or messages about the

Exchange communication platform.

Method according to one of the preceding claims, in which the

Appliance performs a predetermined action depending on available information or provides a predetermined information.

Method according to one of the preceding claims, in which the

Household appliance is one of the following appliances:

- a cooking appliance;

- a laundry treatment appliance;

- a small household appliance;

- a coffee machine;

- a food processor;

- a cleaning machine;

- a dishwashing appliance;

- a refrigeration device.

Household appliance with a processing unit that is set up so that

- From the household appliance information based on a

Communication interface to a communication platform

is transmittable or

a message by means of the communication platform and the

Communication interface of the household appliance is receivable.