Laundry treating appliance having a user interface and methods of operating same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11047084-B2
Application number	US-202016866970-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 5, 2020
Priority date	Nov 17, 2017
Publication date	Jun 29, 2021
Grant date	Jun 29, 2021

Abstract

A laundry treating appliance includes a treating chamber provided for receiving laundry for treatment, a controller having a memory in which is stored a set of executable instructions including a set of cycles of operations. The laundry treating appliance also includes a user interface operably coupled with the controller and having a touchscreen configured to provide an input and output function for the controller.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of operating a laundry treating appliance having a dispensing system including a bulk dispenser fluidly coupled with a treating chamber and configured to deliver a charge of treating chemistry from at least one of a set of bulk reservoirs to the treating chamber, a controller having a memory in which is stored a set of executable instructions comprising a cycle of operation, and a user interface operably coupled with the controller and having a touchscreen configured to provide an input and output function for the controller, the method comprising:
determining, via the controller, a status of the at least one of the set of bulk reservoirs;
displaying, on the touchscreen, icons based on the determining to define displayed icons;
receiving a user selection of one of the displayed icons; and
displaying user-selectable parameter selections related to the bulk dispenser on a second screen view of the touchscreen.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising repeating the determining the status of the set of bulk reservoirs and the displaying the icons based on the determining.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the repeating comprises repeating at a beginning of multiple cycles of operation.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining user selected parameter selections.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising operating the laundry treating appliance according to a user selected treating cycle and the determined user selected parameter selections.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising metering a charge or a portion of a charge from the at least one of the set of bulk reservoirs.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the determining the status of the at least one of the set of bulk reservoirs comprises determining a fill level of the at least one of the set of bulk reservoirs based on the metering.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein one of the set of bulk reservoirs comprises a bulk tank that is non-refillable, inaccessible, and not openable to a user.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the displaying comprises displaying an icon to reflect at least one of: reservoir level low, reservoir empty, reservoir level ok, bulk dispensing disabled, or bulk dispensing off.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the receiving comprises receiving a parameter selection from a user including at least one of: deactivate, activate, set detergent concentration, or change detergent concentration.

11. A method of operating a laundry treating appliance having a dispensing system including a bulk dispenser fluidly coupled with a treating chamber and configured to deliver a charge of treating chemistry from at least one of a set of bulk reservoirs to the treating chamber, a controller having a memory in which is stored a set of executable instructions comprising a cycle of operation, and a user interface operably coupled with the controller and having a touchscreen configured to provide an input and output function for the controller, the method comprising:
displaying, on the touchscreen, icons related to each of the set of bulk reservoirs on the user interface to define displayed icons;
receiving input, via the controller, from the user interface or a sensor related to the set of bulk reservoirs;
determining a status of the set of bulk reservoirs based on the receiving input;
updating at least one icon of the displayed icons based on the status to define a dynamic icon; and
receiving a user selection of one of the displayed icons and displaying user-selectable parameter selections related to a corresponding bulk dispenser.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising repeating the determining the status of the set of bulk reservoirs and the updating the at least one icon.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the repeating comprises repeating at a beginning of multiple cycles of operation.

14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising determining user selected parameter selections.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising operating the laundry treating appliance according to a user selected treating cycle and the determined user selected parameter selections.

16. The method of claim 11 , further comprising metering a charge or a portion of a charge from at least one of the set of bulk reservoirs.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the determining the status of the at least one of the set of bulk reservoirs comprises determining a fill level of the at least one of the set of bulk reservoirs based on the metering.

18. The method of claim 11 wherein one of the set of bulk reservoirs comprises a bulk tank that is non-refillable, inaccessible, and not openable to a user.

19. The method of claim 11 wherein the displaying comprises displaying an icon to reflect at least one of: reservoir level low, reservoir empty, reservoir level ok, bulk dispensing disabled, or bulk dispensing off.

20. The method of claim 11 wherein the receiving comprises receiving a parameter selection from a user including at least one of: deactivate, activate, set detergent concentration, or change detergent concentration.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Clayton Megan
• Valenti Ferdinando

Classifications

• D06F39/14

  Doors or covers; Securing means therefor · CPC title

• D06F39/088

  Liquid supply arrangements · CPC title

• D06F39/085

  Arrangements or adaptations of pumps · CPC title

• D06F39/04

  Heating arrangements · CPC title

• D06F39/028 Primary

  Arrangements for selectively supplying water to detergent compartments · CPC title