Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080287121 | Method and Apparatus for Remote Service of an Appliance - An appliance network has a service key accessory to facilitate remote diagnosis and service of an appliance. | 11-20-2008 |
20090040012 | CONSUMABLE HOLDER WITH A CYCLE STRUCTURE FOR AN APPLIANCE - A consumable holder for use in an appliance configured to perform an operation cycle related to a consumable in the consumable holder, in response to a cycle structure, has or is enabled to acquire information about the cycle structure. The information about the cycle structure can be communicated to the appliance for use by the appliance to change the cycle structure and thereby change the operation cycle related to the consumable. | 02-12-2009 |
20090040013 | CONSUMABLE HOLDER WITH CONVERTER - A consumable holder is provided for use in an appliance configured to perform an operation cycle related to a consumable in the consumable holder. The consumable holder has or is enabled to acquire information associated with itself or the consumable, and further includes a converter configured to transform the information to a cycle structure. Thus, the consumable holder can communicate with a cycle engine to create or modify a cycle structure for use by the appliance to perform an operation cycle related to the consumable. | 02-12-2009 |
20090040066 | CONSUMABLE HOLDER WITH ROUTABLE DATA PACKET FOR AN APPLIANCE - An appliance configured to perform an operation cycle to effect a physical operation on an article, the appliance includes at least one component configured to effect the physical operation, and a cycle engine on the component. The cycle engine can access a structure for the operation cycle to enable the component to perform the physical operation. | 02-12-2009 |
20090044129 | GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE TO CONTROL INTERACTIONS BETWEEN AN APPLIANCE AND A CONSUMABLE HOLDER - A graphical user interface has software configured to communicate with an appliance adapted to perform a physical cycle of operation on an article and to communicate with a consumable holder for use with the appliance where the operation cycle is related to a consumable in the consumable holder. The software is configured to cause the graphical user interface to communicate to a user information associated with an appliance, a cycle of operation, a consumable holder, or a consumable. The software also causes the graphical user interface to communicate to an appliance or to a consumable holder information from a user. | 02-12-2009 |
20090045926 | CONSUMABLE HOLDER WITH TAXONOMY - A consumable holder is provided for use with the appliance configured to perform a physical cycle of operation on an article. The consumable holder is configured to communicate with the appliance using a well formed command according to a taxonomy dataset. | 02-19-2009 |
20090100132 | COLLECTOR FOR MONITORING AND RECORDING APPLIANCE DATA - A central collector has appliance communication links to communicate with multiple appliances, and removable memory to store operational data retrieved from the appliances. When the memory is removed from the central collector and installed in a device capable of communication, the operational data can be communicated from the removable memory to a remote service center or a portable computing device. | 04-16-2009 |
20090100153 | METHOD OF SELF SERVICING AN APPLIANCE - A method of self servicing an appliance includes connecting a service accessory to an appliance, recording diagnostics data associated with the appliance onto the service accessory, removing the service accessory from the appliance, coupling the service accessory to a personal computer, and uploading the diagnostics data to an automated service system. Another embodiment includes coupling a service accessory to a computer having a test script, transferring a test script from the computer to the service accessory, connecting the service accessory to the communication network of the appliance, establishing communications between the service accessory and the appliance using the communication network; and executing the test script over the communication network. | 04-16-2009 |
20090103535 | Software Architecture System And Method For Communication With, And Management Of, Components Within An Appliance Utilizing Functionality Identifiers - A network system comprising a system of devices having a plurality of nodes defining a communications network. At least one identifier from a pre-determined group of identifiers is associated with each of the nodes and identifies the functionalities that are applicable to that node or device associated with that node. In one embodiment, at least one of the nodes can transmit the at least one identifier by a message sent over the communications network for receipt by at least one of the nodes to thereby publish the functionalities over the communications network. | 04-23-2009 |
20090132070 | CLIENT FOR AN APPLIANCE NETWORK - A client having at least one memory location is provided for use with an appliance network. The client includes an arbitrary software component for performing a useful function, a software architecture or a software architecture driver configured to generate or enable transmission of messages, and means to communicate by message over a network. Thus, the client can have full capability to act as an accessory to an appliance to communicate with and to enhance or alter the operation of the appliance. | 05-21-2009 |
20090327932 | APPLIANCE DEVELOPMENT TOOLKIT FOR CREATING A DYNAMIC USER INTERFACE FOR AN APPLIANCE - An appliance development toolkit includes access to a user interface domain data model, access to an appliance user domain data model, a model instance editor configured to create one or more instances of user interface domain data derived from the user interface domain data model, to create one or more instances of appliance user domain data derived from the appliance user domain data model, and to associate one or more user interface elements with one or more appliance user elements. The toolkit also has a model instance converter for creating content including portions of the instances of user interface domain data, instances of appliance user domain data, and a map of the association. The content is in a builder file. An appliance can use the builder file at runtime to dynamically render its graphical user interface. | 12-31-2009 |
20100004764 | APPLIANCE WITH ANIMATION FRAMEWORK - An appliance includes one or more control boards having control software to control a cycle of operation, access to memory, a graphical user interface in communication with the control boards for allowing a user to observe and interact with the appliance regarding the cycle of operation, and a software framework in communication with the graphical user interface and the memory access. The software framework has animation definitions and access to builder content containing instance information with which it can create at least one instance of a user interface control and can associate one or more animation definitions with memory information associated with at least two locations in the memory. With this structure, the software framework dynamically renders animation in the graphical user interface at runtime using the animation definitions, and the rendering of the graphical user interface is dynamically affected by association of the animation definitions and the memory information. | 01-07-2010 |
20100005445 | APPLIANCE DEVELOPMENT TOOLKIT WITH MULTIPLE CONVERTERS - An appliance development toolkit according to the invention is provided to enable creation of content associated with appliance control functionality for two or more content targets. The toolkit includes an editor for creating data associated with appliance control functionality, and at least two converters for creating content from the data for each of the content targets, respectively. The content for each of the content targets is different. Thus, different content can be created for different content targets from a single data creation, and multiple contents can be updated by the converters with a single change to the data. | 01-07-2010 |
20100087932 | SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OPERATING AN APPLIANCE IN MULTIPLE OPERATING MODES - In one embodiment, a system for controlling a plurality of devices having at least two operating modes comprises a first software operating layer configured to control the operation of at least one of the devices in a first operational mode and a second software operating layer configured to control the operation of at least one of the devices in a second operational mode. In another embodiment, a control system for controlling a plurality of devices connected by a communications network comprises a user interface configured to receive the selection of a cycle of operation; a first system element isolated from the network and configured to implement the selected cycle of operation to define a first control state; and a second system element exposed to the network and configured to implement the selected cycle of operation to define a second control state. | 04-08-2010 |
20100102051 | CONSUMABLE HOLDER WITH ELECTRONICS TO COMMUNICATE WITH AN APPLIANCE - A consumable holder includes a source of a consumable, at least one appliance coupling point configured to convey the consumable to an appliance configured to use the consumable in a cycle of operation on an article, and electronics adapted to connect to a process control apparatus in the appliance. The electronics can thus cause a consumable to affect a resource or an article in an appliance using the process control apparatus when the consumable holder is coupled to the appliance. | 04-29-2010 |
20100102082 | CONSUMABLE HOLDER WITH PROCESS CONTROL APPARATUS - A consumable holder has a source of a consumable, a first appliance coupling point configured to receive a resource from and convey the resource or consumable to an appliance configured to use the consumable and the resource in a physical operation on an article, a process control apparatus to control conveyance of the resource or consumable to and from the consumable holder, and a second appliance coupling point in communication with the process control apparatus and configured to connect to an appliance. Thus, an appliance coupled to the consumable holder can communicate with the process control apparatus via the second coupling point. | 04-29-2010 |
20100106265 | SMART FILTER FOR AN APPLIANCE - A filter assembly is provided for an appliance that performs a useful cycle of operation on a physical article and uses a resource that passes through the filter assembly. The filter assembly includes at least one replaceable filter mounted in a filter holder. The filter holder has at least one control board having software architecture configured for communication on a network including other control boards or clients. The control board has at least one functionality of a universe of functionalities, and the functionality has a unique identifier, where the unique identifier can be communicated by the software architecture over the network. The filter assembly has at least one node in communication with the network, so that the filter assembly can monitor and record events, communicate, or affect the cycle of operation of the appliance. | 04-29-2010 |
20100125364 | CONFIGURABLE CONSUMABLE HOLDER FOR AN APPLIANCE - A removably coupled consumable holder for an appliance configured to perform a cycle of operation on a physical article comprises a receptacle sized to hold one or more compartments for holding a consumable. The compartments are connected with an array of actuators for controlling the delivery of the consumable from the compartment to the appliance. A controller is connected with the array of actuators for actuation of the actuators during a cycle of operation. The consumable holder is further connected with an internal communications network in the appliance for communication with one or more components of the appliance. | 05-20-2010 |
20100161082 | APPLIANCE WITH A GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE FOR CONFIGURING AN ACCESSORY - An appliance configured to perform a physical cycle of operation on an article includes a controller that controls the cycle of operation, an interface in network communication with the controller and adapted to connect to an accessory configurable to affect the cycle of operation, and a graphical user interface in network communication with the controller and the interface so that an accessory connected to the interface is configurable using the graphical user interface to affect the cycle of operation of the appliance. | 06-24-2010 |
20100287059 | COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEM FOR PRODUCT MANAGEMENT - A comprehensive product management system for a product is provided. The system ( | 11-11-2010 |
20110085287 | MODULAR SYSTEM WITH APPLIANCE AND COVER HAVING ANTENNA - A modular system comprises an appliance having a visible surface, a first service interface positioned on the visible surface, a cover detachably coupled to the visible surface and disposed to overlie the first service interface, a controller configured to selectively provide operational instructions to the appliance and/or the cover, and an antenna provided within the cover and operably connected to the controller. | 04-14-2011 |
20110185342 | APPLIANCE DEVELOPMENT TOOLKIT - An appliance development toolkit ( | 07-28-2011 |
20130235197 | METHOD FOR INITIATING A CONSUMABLE-BASED CYCLE OF OPERATION - A method of initiating a cycle of operation based on a consumable includes providing a consumable reader having a software architecture configured to image data, communicate over a network, and identify functionalities of appliances based on a unique identifier associated with each instance of a functionality, imaging data about the consumable using the consumable reader; retrieving cycle data associated with the consumable based on the imaged data; ascertaining in the software architecture at least one functionality associated with the cycle data; selecting from the plurality of appliances an appliance having the at least one functionality using the unique identifier associated with an instance of the at least one functionality; and communicating the cycle data to the selected appliance over the network of appliances wherein the selected appliance can conduct a cycle of operation associated with the consumable using the cycle data. | 09-12-2013 |
20140362991 | METHOD OF CONNECTING AN APPLIANCE TO A WIFI NETWORK - A method of provisioning an appliance to connect to a Wi-Fi network includes a mobile device having an encryption key to enable secure communication in the network, and a means to wirelessly communicate with the appliance. A wireless communication device and a software protocol in the appliance are configured to operate in an unsecured short range configuration mode by reducing transmission power and in a long range configuration mode where transmission power is not reduced. By placing the wireless communication device into the short range configuration mode and moving the mobile device to a position within the short range to establish communication with the wireless communication device, the encryption key may be transmitted from the mobile device to the appliance via the wireless communication device without security. The wireless communication device may then be placed into the long range mode to securely connect to the Wi-Fi network. | 12-11-2014 |
20150023000 | LIGHTED REFRIGERATOR SHELF WITH OVERMOLD - A shelf for supporting items including but not limited to in refrigerated appliances includes in an integrated fashion a supporting surface and around the perimeter of the supporting surface of similar dimensions. A lighting subassembly is mountable to or integrated in the framing. Electrical power can be through touchless or contact electrical communication. In one form the supporting surface is a single substantially clear plate. In another form the supporting surface is a thin glass top layer and a bottom layer overmolded with the framing to the thin glass top layer. | 01-22-2015 |