Laundry treating appliance and method of operation for a laundry treating appliance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10373770-B2
Application number	US-201615262572-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 12, 2016
Priority date	Jun 26, 2013
Publication date	Aug 6, 2019
Grant date	Aug 6, 2019

Abstract

A laundry treating appliance having at least one automatic cycle of operation, a plurality of components selectively operable by a controller to implement the at least one cycle of operation on a load of laundry received within a treating chamber of the appliance with the controller having a user interface for receiving input from a user and a door for closing an open face of the treating chamber.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A laundry treating appliance for treating laundry in accordance with a treating cycle of operation, comprising:
a treating chamber having an opened face;
a door moveable between an opened position and a closed position where the door selectively closes the open face of the treating chamber and having an outer panel;
a user interface located on the outer panel of the door and where the user interface is configured to communicate with a user of the laundry treating appliance including that the user interface is configured to receive user input and provide output; and
a controller for controlling operation of the laundry treating appliance and wherein the controller is configured to determine a position of the door to define a determined position and operate the user interface based on the determined position and wherein the controller is configured to operate the user interface such that the user interface is invisible and inactive when the door is determined to be in the opened position or a partially opened position and the user interface is visible and active when the door is determined to be in the closed position.

2. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 , further comprising a sensor operably coupled with the controller and providing a signal to the controller related to a position of the door.

3. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the user interface comprises a circuit board having a plurality of switches that are accessible to the user and the controller activates the switches when the door is determined to be in the closed position.

4. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the user interface comprises a plurality of lights and where the controller illuminates at least some of the plurality of lights when the door is determined to be in the closed position.

5. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the door further includes a window and the user interface is located on the window of the door.

6. A laundry treating appliance for treating laundry in accordance with a treating cycle of operation, comprising:
a treating chamber having an opened face;
a door moveable between an opened position and a closed position where the door selectively closes the opened face of the treating chamber and having an outer panel located within a frame;
a user interface located on the outer panel of the door and where the user interface is configured to communicate with a user of the laundry treating appliance including that the user interface is configured to receive user input and provide output;
an actuator operably coupled with the door to move the door; and
a controller for controlling operation of the laundry treating appliance and wherein the controller is configured to determine a position or movement of the door based on the actuator and configured to activate the user interface when the door is determined to be in the closed position or moving towards the closed position.

7. The laundry treating appliance of claim 6 , further comprising a sensor operably coupled with the controller and providing a signal to the controller regarding a position of the door.

8. The laundry treating appliance of claim 6 wherein the user interface comprises a circuit board having a plurality of switches that are accessible to the user and the controller activates the switches when the door is determined to be in the closed position.

9. The laundry treating appliance of claim 6 wherein the user interface comprises a plurality of lights and where the controller illuminates at least some of the plurality of lights to activate the user interface when the door is determined to be in the closed position.

10. The laundry treating appliance of claim 6 wherein the outer panel further includes a window and the user interface is located on the window.

11. A laundry treating appliance for treating laundry in accordance with a treating cycle of operation, comprising:
a chassis defining an interior;
a treating chamber located within the interior and having an opened face;
a door for selectively closing the opened face of the treating chamber and having a front face forming an outer window;
a user interface located on the outer window of the front face of the door and configured for communicating with a user of the laundry treating appliance including that the user interface is configured to receive user input and provide output; and
a controller for controlling operation of the user interface.

12. The laundry treating appliance of claim 11 wherein the door is pivotally mounted to the chassis between an opened position and a closed position where the door closes the opened face.

13. The laundry treating appliance of claim 11 wherein the user interface is operated by the controller to be inactive when the door is in an opened position or a partially open position.

14. The laundry treating appliance of claim 13 wherein the user interface is operated by the controller to be active when the door is in a closed position.

15. The laundry treating appliance of claim 11 wherein the user interface is not visible when the door is in an opened position or a partially open position.

16. The laundry treating appliance of claim 15 wherein the user interface is visible and active when the door is in a closed position.

17. The laundry treating appliance of claim 11 wherein the door further includes an inner panel that seals the treating chamber.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Bodine Darryl C
• Erickson Donald E
• Flachs Michelle K
• Litaker Terry K
• Paraskevopoulos Chris W
• Albright Scott
• Blake Robert

Classifications

• D06F37/04

  adapted for rotation or oscillation about a horizontal or inclined axis · CPC title

• A47L15/4257

  Details of the loading door · CPC title

• G05B15/02

  electric · CPC title

• G05B2219/2633

  Washing, laundry · CPC title

• A47L15/4293

  Arrangements for programme selection, e.g. control panels; Indication of the selected programme, programme progress or other parameters of the programme, e.g. by using display panels · CPC title