WO2015188857A1

WO2015188857A1 - Selector for household appliance

Info

Publication number: WO2015188857A1
Application number: PCT/EP2014/062095
Authority: WO
Inventors: Antonio Aguilar
Original assignee: Electrolux Appliances AB
Current assignee: Electrolux Appliances AB
Priority date: 2014-06-11
Filing date: 2014-06-11
Publication date: 2015-12-17
Anticipated expiration: 2016-12-11

Abstract

Described are, among other things, a household appliance (200) comprising a control panel (100). The control panel (100) has a selector for selecting a program for the household appliance. The selector has a touch panel (110) with at least two positions selectable by a user. A selected position of the touch panel (110) at least partly defines the program selected by the user, and the touch panel (110) is positioned in a groove or on a ridge of the control panel (100).

Description

Selector for household appliance

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a selector for a household appliance. In particular the present disclosure relates to a household appliance such as a dishwasher having a selector for selecting a program for the household appliance.

BACKGROUND

Household appliances, sometimes termed domestic appliances, can in many instances be provided with a program selector. The program selector provides an interface to a user enabling the user to set a program to be followed by the domestic appliance. For example, when running a dishwasher the user can set the program that the dishwasher is to execute by selecting a program of the dishwasher. Other household appliances that typically make use of programs include washing machines and tumble dryers. The method by means of which the program in the household appliance is selected can vary. For example a knob, buttons or a touch panel can be used when selecting the program.

When selecting the program for the household appliance it is desired that the selection is easy to understand, that the selection can be made fast and with few interactions with the machine that is to run the program. A number of different solutions for improving the program selection in appliances have been proposed. For example, United States patent application US 2014/062278 describes a control panel where the control element used for selection of the program is located in close vicinity to the handle of the door of the household appliance. Also US 2014/016046 describes a control panel with translucent operating elements. Other program selector devices are for example described in United States Patents Nos. US 843229 and US 8303726.

There is a constant desire to improve and facilitate the selection of programs for household appliances. Hence, there is a need for an improved selector for a household appliance. SUMMARY

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved control panel for selecting a program to be run by a household appliance.

This object is obtained by the control panel and the household appliance having a control panel as set out in the appended claims.

In accordance with one embodiment, a household appliance comprising a control panel is provided. The control panel has a selector for selecting a program for the household appliance. The selector has a touch panel with at least two positions selectable by a user. A selected position of the touch panel at least partly defines the program selected by the user, and the touch panel is positioned in a groove or on a ridge of the control panel. By positioning the touch panel in a groove or on a ridge it is possible to provide immediate haptic feedback to the user in the program selection process, which improves the speed and accuracy of the program selection.

In accordance with one embodiment, the touch panel is positioned in a groove and the groove has dimensions to fit a fingertip.

In accordance with one embodiment, the program is solely defined by the selected position on the touch panel.

In accordance with one embodiment the control panel comprises a feedback light indicator indicating the selected position of the touch panel.

In accordance with one embodiment the feedback light indicator is located in the control panel on the border of the groove or the ridge. The light indicator can be used to further reinforce the feedback when selecting a program. In accordance with one embodiment, the control panel has at least one display communicating information of a program corresponding to the selected position on the touch panel. Hereby it can be made possible to in an easy manner communicate for example the time and energy consumption associated with a particular program selection during the program selection procedure thereby improving the program selection of the user in that the user can be made aware of these properties during the program selection.

In accordance with one embodiment, the display(s) is located on the side of the groove or ridge in the length direction of the groove or ridge.

In accordance with some embodiments, the groove or ridge is provided with a number of bumps or a number of indentations or texture. In accordance with one embodiment, each bump or indentation corresponds to a different program selection.

In accordance with one embodiment, the touch panel is adapted to receive input in a sliding motion from the user. Because the touch panel is placed in a groove or on a ridge, the user can easily slide along the groove or ridge which even further speeds up the selection process. In accordance with one embodiment, the control panel comprises a feedback light indicator indicating the position of the selector and the feedback light indicator is adapted to follow the sliding motion of the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be described in more detail by way of non-limiting examples and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

- Fig. 1 is a view of a control panel for a household appliance,

- Fig. 2 is a view of a dishwasher, - Figs. 3a and 3b are cross sectional views of a program selector for a household appliance, and

- Fig. 4 is a top view of a control panel for a household appliance. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In Fig. 1 an exemplary view of a control panel 100 for a household appliance is depicted. In Fig. 1 a control panel 100 for a dishwasher is depicted, but the teachings herein are equally applicable to other household appliances running programs such as a washing machine or a tumble dryer. The control panel 100 forms a user interface used by a consumer when interacting with the household appliance. The control panel 100 is generally flat on its surface facing the consumer.

The control panel 100 in accordance with the exemplary implementation depicted in Fig. 1 comprises a circuit board 102 housing electronics for controlling operation of the dishwasher. The circuit board can for example be a printed circuit board with Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) provided thereon. A user can interact with the circuit board 102 via a number of input devices.

In the exemplary embodiment of Fig. 1 the input devices are located in three sections, which can be located on top of the circuit board 102. In a first panel section 104, a program is selectable by a user. The selection of the program to be run by the dishwasher is made using a touch panel 110. In accordance with some embodiments the touch panel 110 is located in a groove formed in the program selection section 104. Hereby it is possible to make the program selection in one movement by sliding along the touch panel 110 in the groove for example using a fingertip. This is facilitated in that the touch panel 110 is located in a groove, which increases the haptic feedback when sliding over the touch panel 110.

In an alternative embodiment the touch panel 110 is located on a ridge formed on the section 104. Again it is possible to make the program selection in one movement by sliding along the touch panel 110 on the ridge for example using a fingertip. This is facilitated in that the touch panel 110 is located on a ridge, which increases the haptic feedback when sliding over the touch panel 110. The shape of the touch panel located on a ridge or in groove can advantageously be any shape suitable for a sliding motion. For example the ridge or groove can be elongated or shaped in a circular or semi-circular shape. Further, the control panel 100 can be mounted on any suitable location on the household appliance. In Fig. 1 the control panel is shown mounted on a door 112 of a household appliance. It is however also possible to mount the control panel on the front or at other locations on the household appliance.

In addition to the program selection section 104 of the control panel there can optionally be other sections for setting control parameters of the household appliance. In Fig. 1 two such other sections 106 and 108 are shown. There can be fewer or more additional sections for input of additional settings. The sections 106 and 108 are shown as covering the top section of the door 112, but can also be designed in an L- shape to cover parts of the sides of the door 112. The material of the sections 106 and 108 can for example be stainless steel or the sections 106 and 108 can be molded in a plastics material. The input in the additional sections 106 and 108 can be any suitable settings and can depend on the application in which the program selector as described herein is implemented. For example if the household appliance is a dishwasher, the settings in section 106 can be an auto-program setting. When the auto program setting is turned on, the dishwasher will automatically select a program and run the automatically selected program without further input from the user. The input in section 108 can for example by settings for automatic door opening and any additional optional settings. When the automatic door opening setting is turned on, the door of the washing machine automatically pops up when the program of the machine has ended.

In Fig. 2, the control panel 100 is depicted mounted on a door 112 of a dishwasher 200. The touch panel 110 can be located in immediate vicinity of the handle 202 of the door 112. In another embodiment, not shown, the control panel 100 is mounted on the front of the dishwasher 200.

In Figs. 3a and 3b a cross section of a control panel 100 along a line 'A' through the program selection section 104 of the control panel is shown. As is seen in Fig. 3b the touch panel 110 can be located in a groove. The groove can for example be molded in a plastics material of the panel section 104. In other embodiments the groove is machined on a glass material or stamped in a stainless steel material. The groove can have curved walls. In some embodiments the depth of the groove is in the range 0.1 - 5 mm, in particular 0.3 - 2mm. Also the width of the groove can in some embodiments be in the range 5 - 20 mm. The length of the groove can be in the range 20 - 150 mm.

Further, as stated above, the touch panel forming the program selector can also be placed on a ridge rather than in a groove. The ridge can then have the same dimensions as the dimension ranges set out above for the groove. The ridge can also have curved walls.

By sliding over the touch panel located in the groove or on the ridge for example using a tip of a finger a user can select the program to be run by the household appliance. To further enhance the haptic feedback and to further facilitate the selection of program, the surface in the groove or on the ridge can be provided with bumps, indentations or texture. In particular the number of bumps and/or indentations can correspond to the number of programs such that there is one bump or indentation for each program selectable by the user when selecting a program.

In addition to the haptic feedback other feedbacks to a user selecting a program for the household appliance can be provided. The other feedback can for example be feedback relating to time and energy consumption of the selected program. In Fig. 4 a top view of the control panel 100 is shown. In accordance with one exemplary embodiment the program time associated with a particular program selection can be displayed on a display 402. The energy consumption can also be displayed on the display 402. In accordance with some embodiments two displays 402 and 404 are provided. In such an embodiment one of the displays 402; 404 can display the program time of the program and the other of the displays 402; 404 can display the energy consumption of the program. In accordance with one embodiment, when a user slides over the touch panel 110 of the program selector panel 104, the program time and /or the program energy consumption of a currently selected program can be displayed to the user via the displays 402; 404 to aid the user in the program selection. The display(s) 402; 404 can also give information on the water consumption and possibly other characteristics of a selected program to further aid a user in the program selection process. The display(s) 402; 404 can for example be LED or Organic LED

(OLED) screens.

In accordance with some embodiments a light indicator 406 is provided on the border of the touch panel 110, in particular on the top/outer side of the touch panel. In some embodiments the light indicator can be provided in the groove or on the ridge where the touch panel is located. The light indicator 406 can further enhance the feedback when the user is selecting a program to be run by the household appliance. For example, when a user slides along the touch panel, for example using a fingertip, the light indicator follows in the sliding motion and lights up along the path of the sliding motion of the user. For example, when the user touches the touch panel to the far left, only a small light to the left is lit or no light at all.

When the user slides to the right along the touch panel the light indicator follows the sliding motion and lights up along the motion of the user so that when the user reaches the far right side of the touch panel the light indicator is fully lit along the touch panel. When the user slides back along the touch screen from right to left, the light indicator is successively switched of so that when the user reaches the far left side of the touch panel no or a very small portion to the very left of the light indicator is lit. If the touch screen is not oriented with the groove or ridge in an essentially left to right direction, the light feedback of the light indicator can be modified to follow the groove or ridge in the corresponding manner to provide the user with a light feedback when sliding along the touch panel located in the groove or on the ridge. The feedback light then follows the path of the sliding motion of the user.

In some embodiments additional parameters, other than a program selection, can be made via the user interface provided by the control panel. In Fig. 4 a button 408 for selecting auto program is depicted. When a user selects auto program the household appliance, such as a dishwasher, automatically selects a program to be run without any additional input from the user. Further, in accordance with some embodiments, additional buttons 410 can be provided for other selections that a user can make. Such selections can for example be, without limitation, automatic door opening when the program is finished. Also lights 412 can be provided to indicate the selections made with the buttons 408 and or 410.

It is to be understood that the features from different embodiments can be combined and that no feature of an embodiment is essential unless explicitly so expressed. Hence, the person skilled in the art can select which features that are deemed to be advantageous for a particular implementation.

Using the program selector for a household appliance as described herein a number of advantages can be obtained. For example the shape of the touch panel provides immediate haptic feedback to the user in the program selection process, which improves the speed and accuracy of the program selection. Also it can be made possible to in an easy manner communicate the time and energy consumption associated with a particular program selection during the program selection procedure thereby improving the program selection of the user in that the user can be made aware of these properties during the program selection. The light indicator can be used to further reinforce the feedback when selecting a program. Further, because the touch panel is placed in a groove or on a ridge, the user can easily slide along the groove or ridge which even further speeds up the selection process.

Claims

1. A household appliance (200) comprising a control panel (100), the control panel (100) having a selector (110) for selecting a program for the household appliance (200),

characterized in that the selector (110) has a touch panel with at least two positions selectable by a user, wherein a selected position of the touch panel at least partly defines the program selected by the user, and wherein the touch panel is positioned in a groove or on a ridge of the control panel (100).

2. The household appliance according to claim 1, wherein the touch panel is positioned in a groove and wherein the groove has dimensions to fit a fingertip.

3. The household appliance according to any of claims 1 or 2, wherein the program is solely defined by the selected position on the touch panel.

4. The household appliance according to any of claims 1 - 3, wherein the control panel comprises a feedback light indicator (406) indicating the selected position on the touch panel.

5. The household appliance according to claim 4, wherein the feedback light indicator is located in the control panel on the border of the groove or the ridge.

6. The household appliance according to any of claims 1 - 5, wherein the control panel has at least one display (402, 404) communicating information of a program corresponding to the selected position on the touch panel.

7. The household appliance according to claim 6, wherein the at least one display is located on the side of the groove or ridge in the length direction of the groove or ridge.

8. The house hold appliance according to any of claims 1 - 7, wherein the groove or ridge is provided with a number of bumps or a number of indentations or texture.

9. The household appliance according to claim 8, wherein each bump or indentation corresponds to a different program selection.

10. The household appliance according to any of claims 1 - 9, wherein the touch panel is adapted to receive input in a sliding motion from the user.

11. The household appliance according to claim 10, wherein the control panel comprises a feedback light indicator indicating the position of the selector and wherein the feedback light indicator is adapted to follow the sliding motion of the user.

12. The household appliance according to any of claims 1 - 11, wherein the household appliance is a dishwasher.

13. A control panel (100) for a household appliance (200), the control panel (100) having a selector (110) for selecting a program for the household appliance (200), characterized in that the selector (110) has a touch panel with at least two positions selectable by a user, wherein a selected position of the touch panel at least partly defines the program selected by the user, and wherein the touch panel is positioned in a groove or on a ridge of the control panel (100).

14. The control panel according to claim 13, wherein the touch panel is positioned in a groove and wherein the groove has dimensions to fit a fingertip.