DOMESTIC APPLIANCE HAVING A PROXIMITY DETECTOR

Abstract

A household appliance includes a treatment chamber closable by a door for treatment of items to be treated by a plurality of treatment processes, and a proximity detector designed to identify a presence of a person approaching the household appliance. The household appliance is designed to carry out an action in dependence on a state of a treatment process in progress, when identifying an approach of the person.

Claims

1-10. (canceled)

11. A household appliance, comprising: a treatment chamber closable by a door for treatment of items to be treated by a plurality of treatment processes; and a proximity detector designed to identify a presence of a person approaching the household appliance, wherein the household appliance is designed to carry out an action according to a state of a treatment process in progress, when identifying an approach of the person.

12. The household appliance of claim 11, wherein the treatment processes are of a different type, with the household appliance being designed to carry out the action according to the type of treatment process currently being carried out, when the approach is identified.

13. The household appliance of claim 11, wherein the treatment process has a number of process sections of a different type, said household appliance being designed to carry out the action according to the type of process section currently being carried out, when the approach is identified.

14. The household appliance of claim 11, further comprising a number of treatment chamber sensors of a different type, said household appliance being designed to carry out the action in according to a current use of a type of at least one of the treatment chamber sensors, when the approach is identified.

15. The household appliance of claim 11, wherein the household appliance is designed to carry out the action according to a type of items to be treated which is being treated during the treatment process in progress, when the approach is identified.

16. The household appliance of claim 11, wherein the action comprises outputting an indication to a user.

17. The household appliance of claim 16, wherein a type of indication is dependent upon the state of the treatment process in progress.

18. The household appliance of claim 16, wherein the identification of the approach is an identification of an approach to a door handle.

19. The household appliance of claim 11, constructed in the form of a cooking appliance, with the treatment process being a cleaning or food treatment process, said housing appliance being designed to carry out the action according to a state of the cleaning or food treatment process in progress, when the approach is identified.

20. A method for operating a household appliance, said method comprising: identifying with a proximity detector a presence of a person approaching the household appliance; and carrying out an action when identifying the person approaching the household appliance during a treatment process in progress for treatment of an item to be treated in a treatment chamber of the household appliance and when a predetermined state of the treatment process in progress is simultaneously present.

Description

[0052] The afore-described properties, features and advantages of this invention and the manner in which these are achieved will become clearer and more intelligible in conjunction with the following schematic description of an exemplary embodiment which is explained in more detail in conjunction with the drawings.

[0053] FIG. 1 shows an outline of an inventive household appliance in the form of an oven;

[0054] FIG. 2 shows an exemplary embodiment of a flow chart of an inventive method, which can run on the oven shown in FIG. 1.

[0055] FIG. 1 shows an outline of a household cooking appliance in the form of an oven 1. The oven 1 has a cooking chamber 3 which can be closed by means of a front cooking appliance door 2. The door 2 has a door handle 4, into which at least one proximity detector is integrated in the form of a capacitive touch sensor 5. The at least one touch sensor 5 is connected to a data processing facility e.g. in the form of a central control facility 6. The control facility 6 can evaluate the sensor data of the at least one touch sensor 5 and as a result identify contact with the door handle 4 and subsequently identify a person approaching the oven 1, in particular the door handle 4. Alternatively or in addition the presence of a person approaching can be identified by means of a proximity detector in the form of a visual camera and/or IR camera 7, which is integrated into a control panel 8 of the oven 1, for instance.

[0056] The evaluation of the sensor data (possibly including images) to identify the presence of a person approaching the door handle 4 can therefore be carried out by means of the control facility 6. Alternatively or in addition, the identification can be carried out by an entity 9 outside of the appliance which is coupled to the oven 1 via data technology, such as a cloud computer or a network server, inter alia. In order to communicate with the entity 9 outside of the appliance, the oven can have a communication module 10, e.g. a WLAN module, an Ethernet module etc.

[0057] The control facility 6 is further designed to control the oven, for instance in order to carry out a number of treatment processes such as different modes of operation (e.g. grilling mode of operation, bottom heat mode of operation etc.), different automatic programs (e.g. programs for roasting, baking bread etc.). To this end, the control facility 6 can control corresponding functional units, such as heating elements, a microwave generator (if present), an evaporator (if present) etc. In order to carry out the treatment processes, including control programs, the control facility 6 is equipped with one or more cooking chamber sensors, such as here a temperature sensor 11 and an oxygen concentration sensor 12.

[0058] The oven 1 is moreover designed to carry out at least one action according to at least one state of a treatment process in progress if the presence of a person approaching is identified. The action can comprise outputting an indication, dependent on the current state, to a user. The indication can comprise an outputting of a visual indication (e.g. text) on a monitor 13, a generation of an acoustic indication by means of a loudspeaker 14, a color change in lamps, such as LEDs etc.

[0059] FIG. 2 shows a flow chart for operating the oven 1 according to a first possible exemplary embodiment. Here only that part of a treatment process which deals with the state-dependent execution of an action if the presence of a person approaching the door handle 4 is identified is described in more detail.

[0060] In a step S0, the treatment process is started.

[0061] In a step S1, a check is carried out to determine whether a person is approaching the door handle 4. If this is not the case (“N”), the query is carried out again. In particular the query can take place at regular intervals upon identification of the approach, in particular continuously and virtually continuously, e.g. every second.

[0062] If, conversely, the presence of a person approaching the door handle 4 is identified (“Y”), in a step S2 the state of the treatment process is queried or used in order to output an indication attuned thereto. The indication is output for as long as the person is approaching or has approached the door handle 4, and/or as the cooking chamber door 2 has not been opened.

[0063] At the end of the treatment process, when a predetermined time is reached after the treatment process has ended or when the oven 1 is switched off, the method is also ended.

[0064] For instance, the following scenarios may occur:

[0065] In a first scenario, an automatic program for roasting meat has been started in step S0, which has a roasting phase with a high cooking chamber temperature and a subsequent simmering phase with a low cooking chamber temperature. If an approach is identified in step S1, while the roasting section is active, at least one notification is output to a user in step S2, e.g. as the text “Caution: very hot cooking chamber” or the like in the monitor 13, by outputting a warning tone or a spoken text using the loudspeaker 14 and/or by illuminants changing color, flashing etc. If, conversely, in step S1 an approach is identified while the simmering phase is active, none or at least another indication is output to a user.

[0066] In a second scenario, in step S0, a treatment process has been started, which comprises a proving of yeast, namely during the entire treatment process or during a section thereof. The treatment process is then used to bake yeast cakes, for instance. If an approach is identified in step S1 while the yeast is being allowed to prove, in step S2 at least one indication is output to a user, e.g. as a text “Caution! Yeast cakes will collapse”, or the like in the monitor 13, by outputting a warning tone or a spoken text using the loudspeaker 14 and/or by illuminants changing color, flashing etc.

[0067] In a third scenario, in step S0, a treatment process has been started, which comprises a sensor baking using the oxygen concentration sensor 12, and namely during the entire treatment process or during a section thereof. If an approach is identified in step S1 while the sensor baking is active, at least one indication is output to a user in step S2, e.g. as the text “Caution! sensor baking will be terminated if the door is opened” or the like in the monitor 13, by outputting a warning tone or a spoken text by means of the loudspeaker 14 and/or by illuminants changing color, flashing etc.

[0068] In a fourth scenario, the oven 1 is an oven capable of pyrolysis, wherein a pyrolytic self-cleaning process has been started in step S0. The cooking chamber door 2 is also locked here. If an approach is identified in step S1 while the pyrolysis is active, in step S2 at least one indication is output to a user, e.g. as the text “Caution: self-cleaning in operation. For safety reasons the door is locked” or the like in the monitor 13, by outputting a warning tone or a spoken text by means of the loudspeaker 14 and/or by illuminants changing color, flashing etc.

[0069] The present invention is naturally not restricted to the exemplary embodiment shown.

LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS

[0070] 1 Oven

[0071] 2 Cooking chamber door

[0072] 3 Cooking chamber

[0073] 4 Door handle

[0074] 5 Touch sensor

[0075] 6 Control facility

[0076] 7 Camera

[0077] 8 Control panel

[0078] 9 Entity outside of the appliance

[0079] 10 Communications module

[0080] 11 Temperature sensor

[0081] 12 Oxygen concentration sensor

[0082] 13 Monitor

[0083] 14 Loudspeaker

[0084] S1-S2 Method steps