Household appliance having antennas

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9375125-B2
Application number	US-201213721990-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 20, 2012
Priority date	Dec 20, 2012
Publication date	Jun 28, 2016
Grant date	Jun 28, 2016

Abstract

A household appliance for treating an item according to at least one automatic cycle of operation includes multiple antennas for transmitting and receiving data with an external network. The multiple antennas can be coupled with a radio also located within the appliance.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A household appliance for treating items according to at least one automatic cycle of operation, comprising:
a treating chamber for receiving items for treatment according to the at least one automatic cycle of operation;
a housing supporting the treating chamber and having a front and a rear and having an azimuth plane extending through the front and rear of the housing;
at least one controllable component configured to implement the at least one automatic cycle of operation;
a controller coupled to the at least one controllable component and configured to control the at least one controllable component according to the at least one automatic cycle of operation; and
a radio system in communication with the controller for transmitting and receiving data and having a first antenna with a first radiation pattern and a second antenna with a second radiation pattern, wherein the first and second radiation patterns collectively form a combined radiation pattern;
wherein the first and second antennas are located on the household appliance such that a substantially spherical coverage pattern is provided, with the first antenna providing approximately a first hemisphere of coverage and the second antenna providing approximately a second hemisphere of coverage.

2. The household appliance of claim 1 wherein the first antenna is located proximate the front of the housing and the second antenna is located proximate the rear of the housing.

3. The household appliance of claim 2 wherein the first antenna is located at a higher elevation relative to the household appliance than the second antenna.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Cottrell Nicholas J
• Gries Jason R
• Ireland Vince A
• Lieto Gregory S
• Plach Daniel
• Porter Robert E
• Smith Blayne C

Classifications

• F25B2600/07

  Remote controls · CPC title

• A47L15/46

  Devices for the automatic control of the different phases of cleaning {; Controlling devices (A47L15/449 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• A47L15/4297

  Arrangements for detecting or measuring the condition of the washing water, e.g. turbidity · CPC title

• A47L15/0063 Primary

  using remote monitoring or controlling of the dishwasher operation, e.g. networking systems · 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