Household appliance comprising an operating device configured as an external or internal touchscreen

Abstract

A household appliance for treating objects has a control device and an operating device being a touchscreen. First and second adjustable control variables are displayed as flat touch-sensitive operating elements that are separated from each other on the touchscreen on at least two screen displays of different hierarchy. First adjustable control variables are treatment programs and second control variables are program parameters associated with the treatment programs. First operating elements are displayed on a hierarchically higher screen display with a hierarchy and are associated with treatment programs which are selected by touching an associated operating element. Second operating elements are displayed on hierarchically lower screen display and enable the program parameters to be adjusted. The hierarchically lower screen display follows the hierarchically higher screen display if a first operating element is selected by touch. The second operating elements have elongated sensor elements for adjusting the associated parameter value by touch.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising: a household appliance for treating objects, the appliance including: a control facility and an operating facility, said operating facility being a touchscreen; said control facility being configured to display on said touchscreen first and second tenable control variables of the household appliance in a form of demarcated, flat, touch-sensitive operating elements on said touchscreen on at least two screen displays B1, B2 of different hierarchy; said first settable control variables being treatment programs for the objects to be treated and second settable control variables being program parameters with changeable parameter values assigned to the treatment programs; wherein first operating elements assigned to treatment programs which are selected by touching an assigned first operating element are displayed on a hierarchically higher screen display B1 with a hierarchy H1 and second operating elements that allow a setting of said program parameters are displayed on at least one hierarchically lower screen display B2 with a hierarchy H2<H1; wherein said hierarchically higher screen display B1 is followed by the hierarchically lower screen display B2 when a first operating element is selected by touching and at least a part of said second operating elements has elongated sensor elements, in a longitudinal direction of which an assigned parameter value changes so that the parameter value can be set by touching the elongated sensor element; said control facility being configured so that touching a first said operating element on screen display B1 results in a screen display B3; on which at least some of the program parameters and their parameter values are displayed on third operating elements, wherein the screen display B2 results when a third operating element assigned to a changeable parameter value on screen display B3 is touched; said control facility being configured to enable a direct start of a treatment program on said screen display B1, when a sub-region of a first operating element provided for the purpose is touched; said control facility configured to use acoustic signals to indicate at least one item selected from the group consisting of a performance of a treatment program and a transition between two program stages wherein the acoustic signals indicating the performance of the treatment program are output during the performance of the treatment program; and said control facility configured such that a frequency or intensity of the acoustic signals is a function of a type of program stage being performed or a transition between two program stages, wherein said control facility has stored therein a relationship between the frequency or intensity of the acoustic signals and the type of program stage being performed or a transition between two program stages.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: said operating facility is an internal touchscreen; said hierarchically higher screen display B1 is followed directly by the hierarchically lower screen display B2 when the first operating element is selected, and the assigned parameter value of the elongated sensor elements changes continuously or non-continuously; the program parameters and their parameter values displayed by said screen display B3 on the third operating elements are changeable or unchangeable parameter values; the screen display B2 results directly when the third operating element assigned to a changeable parameter value is touched.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control facility is configured to use visual signals to indicate at least one item selected from the group consisting of a performance of a treatment program and a transition between two program stages.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a performance of a treatment program is displayed on said touchscreen by an image display that changes over time, and wherein an assignment between the treatment programs and the changing image displays is stored in said control facility.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said control facility is configured such that an intensity of the visual signals is a function of a type of program stage being performed or a transition between two program stages, wherein said control facility has stored therein a relationship between the intensity of the visual signals and the type of program stage being performed or a transition between two program stages.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said operating elements are touch switches with capacitive sensor elements.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a base surface of the household appliance, and wherein said touchscreen is positioned at an angle of 10 to 45 to a vertical axis on said base surface.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said operating facility is an external touchscreen separate from said control facility.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said operating facility is a tablet computer or smartphone designed for controlling the household appliance.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said sound generator and said speaker are configured for generating and playing acoustic signals related to treatment programs.

11. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a light sensor for sensing a brightness level in a room wherein the household appliance is installed and wherein said control facility is configured to control a brightness of said touchscreen as a function of the measured brightness in the room.

12. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control facility is designed to block use of the touchscreen after a time interval t.sub.Block, during which no touch signal generated by an external input unit has been registered, and to thereafter allow a use of the touchscreen only after a security input by a user.

13. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the household appliance is a water-conducting household appliance selected from the group consisting of a washing machine, a washer/dryer, a tumble dryer and a dishwasher.

14. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the household appliance is a washing machine or a washer/dryer.

15. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control facility is configured such that the intensity of the acoustic signals is a function of a type of program stage being performed or a transition between two program stages.

16. A method of operating a household appliance for treating objects, wherein the household appliance has a control facility and an operating facility configured as an external or internal touchscreen; wherein the control facility is configured to display first and second settable control variables of the household appliance as demarcated, flat, touch-sensitive operating elements on the touchscreen on at least two screen displays B1, B2 of different hierarchy, wherein first settable control variables are treatment programs for the objects to be treated and second settable control variables are program parameters with changeable parameter values assigned to the treatment programs; wherein first operating elements assigned to treatment programs which are selected by touching an assigned first operating element are displayed on a hierarchically higher screen display B1 with a hierarchy H1 and second operating elements that allow a setting of the program parameters are displayed on at least one hierarchically lower screen display B2 with a hierarchy H2<H1; wherein the hierarchically higher screen display B1 is followed indirectly or directly by the hierarchically lower screen display B2 when a first operating element is selected by touching and at least a part of the second operating elements has elongated sensor elements, in the longitudinal direction of which an assigned parameter value changes continuously or non-continuously so that the parameter value can be set by touching the elongated sensor element; wherein the control facility is designed in such a manner that touching a first operating element on screen display B1 results in a screen display B3, on which at least some of the program parameters and their unchangeable or changeable parameter values are displayed on third operating elements, wherein the screen display B2 results directly or indirectly when a third operating element assigned to a changeable parameter value on screen display B3 is touched and the control facility is also configured to allow the direct start of a treatment program on the screen display B1, in that a sub-region of a first operating element provided for this purpose is touched; wherein the control facility is configured to use acoustic signals to indicate at least one item selected from the group consisting of a performance of a treatment program and a transition between two program stages, wherein the acoustic signals indicating the performance of the treatment program are output during the performance of the treatment program; and wherein the control facility is configured such that a frequency or intensity of the acoustic signals is a function of a type of program stage being performed or a transition between two program stages, wherein the control facility has stored therein a relationship between the frequency or intensity of the acoustic signals and the type of program stage being performed or a transition between two program stages; and the method comprising: a) displaying the first screen display B1; b) switching to display the second screen display B2, after a treatment program has been selected by touching a first operating element; c) modifying a treatment program stored in the control facility based on the program parameter and parameter value settings by touching second operating elements to define a modified treatment program; and d) performing the modified treatment program.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the household appliance is a washing machine or a washer/dryer.

18. The method according to claim 16, wherein the control facility is configured such that the intensity of the acoustic signals is a function of a type of program stage being performed or a transition between two program stages.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

(1) Further details of the invention will emerge from the description which follows of non-restrictive embodiments. Reference is made here to FIGS. 1 to 6.

(2) FIG. 1 is a plan view onto a touchscreen with a screen display according to the invention;

(3) FIGS. 2 to 6 are similar plan views onto the touchscreen with different screen displays.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(4) FIG. 1 shows a touchscreen 1 of a non-restrictive embodiment of an inventive household appliance, configured as a washing machine in the present embodiment. In the case of the touchscreen 1 in FIG. 1, the entire surface region of the touchscreen 1 is touch-sensitive. FIG. 1 shows a screen display B1 with a high hierarchy, on which three first demarcated, flat, touch-sensitive operating elements 3, 4, 5 are displayed, which are assigned to treatment programs for laundry. Further first operating elements assigned to further treatment programs can be displayed by scrolling left or right. The first operating elements here are all the same size. Symbols 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13 are shown in the first operating elements for the respective treatment program, indicating the type of treatment program. The symbols 8, 11 and 14 indicate the duration of the treatment program. First control variables, in other words treatment programs, shown by the symbols 6-8, 9-11 and 12-14, are assigned to the first operating elements 3, 4 and 5 in the control facility of the washing machine. Examples of first control variables shown here are the wash programs Cotton 6, Sport 9 and Mixed 12, both by the text Cotton 6 and by the image of a cotton plant 7, the text Sport 9, an image of sportswear 10 and the text Mixed 12 and an image indicating mixed laundry items 13. The respective runtime of the treatment program is also displayed for a user by the function elements 8, 11, 14. At the same time in the embodiment illustrated here the symbols 8, 11 and 14 stand for separately activatable sub-regions of the operating elements 3, 4, 5 in that the treatment program in question can be started directly, in other words without further setting of program parameters in further display screens, by touching one of said sub-regions. By touching one of said operating elements 3, 4, 5 away from the respective sub-regions 8, 11, 14 a user can switch for example to a second screen display B2 (not shown here), in which the treatment program can be specified more precisely. Alternatively the standard program can be started from the screen display B2 (not shown).

(5) In FIG. 2 a third screen display B3 15 subdivides the touch-sensitive surface of the touchscreen 1 into four third operating elements 16, 17, 18, 19. The operating element 16 here corresponds to the first operating element 3 from FIG. 1, which is assigned to a treatment program. It uses the symbols text Cotton 6, image cotton plant 7 and runtime 8 to display the standard program Cotton selected by a user in the first screen display B1. In the operating elements 17 and 18 the symbols image thermometer and text 60 C. (operating element 17) and text 1400 and image spiral (operating element 18) show program parameters that can be set in principle by a user, parameter values being set by touching one of said operating elements and switching to a new screen display B2 (see FIG. 3). The touchscreen 1 in FIG. 2 allows a treatment program to be started by touching the sub-region 8 in the operating element 16 or by touching the separate operating element 24, which is an on/off or pause operating element.

(6) FIG. 3 shows a second screen display B2 25, in which the touch-sensitive surface of the touchscreen 1 is subdivided into three second operating elements 26, 27 and 28, the operating elements 27 and 28 allowing more precise setting of the program parameter temperature, in this instance a wash temperature. The settable program parameter Temperature is shown by the text Temperature 30 and the indication of the parameter value 60 C. 20. The value 60 C. here indicates a currently set value. The minimum and/or maximum end value of the temperature can also be displayed in the operating element 28, for example by indicating, in other words displaying, the corresponding numerical values or terms corresponding to said numerical values, for example cold for a minimum temperature end value, even though this is not shown in FIG. 3. The currently set value can be displayed larger than said end values, preferably in the center between the two end values. This display option is of course not limited to the parameter Temperature but also applies to all settable parameters.

(7) In contrast to FIG. 3, FIG. 4 shows a second temperature setting Cold 32 for the temperature 30.

(8) FIG. 5 shows a touchscreen 1 of a non-restrictive embodiment of an inventive household appliance, which is configured as a cooking appliance in the present embodiment. In the case of the touchscreen 1 in FIG. 5 the entire surface region of the touchscreen 1 is touch-sensitive. FIG. 5 shows a second screen display B2 25, in which the touch-sensitive surface of the touchscreen 1 comprises four second operating elements 33, 34, 42 and 43. The second operating elements 33 and 34 here allow more precise setting of the program parameters Food and Size. The program parameters that can be set in each instance are shown to a user by the symbols text Food 35 and text Size 36 below the operating elements 33 and 34. The second operating elements 33 and 34 are configured in their entirety as elongated sensor elements for setting the program parameters, the first elongated sensor element 33 being a bar with visible segments and the second elongated sensor element 34 being a bar with continuous segments. The user can touch a segment of the bar 33 to select the type of food to be cooked, in this instance potatoes. Touching the bar segment and/or dragging to the bar segment also generates a black region 37, which corresponds to the selected food. The selection made is displayed by a symbol image, in this instance potatoes 38, and a symbol text, in this instance Potatoes, 39. In this embodiment a user can touch and/or drag the bar 34 to set the size of the selected food. This generates a black region 40, which corresponds to the selection made. At the same time the selection made is displayed by a symbol text, in this instance Medium, 41. The setting of the higher-order treatment program Food preparation is shown by the symbols image cutlery 44 and text Assist 46. The symbol image vertical line 45 here indicates that it is a screen display of lower hierarchy. The separate operating element 42 is shown by the symbol image < and allows the treatment program to be started. The separate operating element 43 is shown by the symbol X and allows the closing of the screen display B2 25.

(9) FIG. 6 shows a touchscreen 1 of a non-restrictive embodiment of an inventive household appliance, which is configured as a dishwasher in the present embodiment. In the case of the touchscreen 1 in FIG. 6 the entire surface region of the touchscreen 1 is touch-sensitive. FIG. 6 shows a second screen display B2 25, in which the touch-sensitive surface of the touchscreen 1 has four second operating elements 49, 50, 51 and 52. The operating elements are each configured in their entirety as elongated sensor elements and allow a user to set 4 program parameters more precisely. The segmented bar 52 allows energy efficiency to be set, the settable program parameter being displayed by the symbol text Energy efficiency 53. The segmented bar 52 has 3 visible segments, with a setting option assigned to each segment. This is shown to a user by the 3 symbols text Fast 61, text Balanced 62 and text Economy 63. Touching one of said segments generates a black region 60, which displays the selection made. The continuously segmented bar 51 allows the program parameter Soiling to be set. The program parameter is displayed as the symbol text Soiling 54 below the bar 51. A user touches and/or drags the bar to generate a black region 59, which displays the selected setting of the parameter, with a symbol text, in this instance Medium, 48 also displaying the selection. The continuously segmented bar 50 allows the program parameter Load to be set, being displayed by the symbol text Load 55. Here too a user can touch and/or drag the bar to generate a black region 58, which displays the selected setting of the program parameter Load. The setting selected by the user is also displayed by means of the symbol text, in this instance Almost full, 47. The continuously segmented bar 49 allows the program parameter Delayed start to be set. A user touches and/or drags the bar to generate a black region 57, which corresponds to a delayed start of the treatment program. The runtime and selected end time of the treatment program are displayed to the user as the symbol text Runtime, in this instance 2 h, and time, in this instance (11:30), 64. By touching the screen display B2 25 away from the bar, a used can switch to the hierarchy level B1, from which the treatment program can be started.

REFERENCE CHARACTERS

(10) 1 Touchscreen 2 Screen display B1 3 First operating element, treatment program Cotton 4 First operating element, treatment program Sportswear 5 First operating element, treatment program Mixed clothing 6 Symbol text Cotton 7 Symbol image cotton plant 8 Symbol indication text Runtime 9 Symbol text Sport 10 Symbol image sportswear 11 Symbol indication text Runtime 12 Symbol text Mixed for mixed clothing 13 Symbol for treatment program Sport 14 Symbol indication text Runtime 15 Screen display B3 16 Operating element treatment program Cotton 17 Operating element for program parameter Temperature 18 Operating element for program parameter Rotation speed 19 On/off operating element 20 Symbol for temperature, text 60 C. 21 Symbol for temperature, image thermometer 22 Symbol for rotation speed, text 1400 23 Symbol for program parameter Rotation speed, image spiral 24 On/off operating element, touch-sensitive sub-region 25 Screen display B2 26 Operating element treatment program Cotton 27 Operating element with indication of settable program parameter 28 Operating element for setting program parameter Temperature 29 Generated, set temperature value on elongated sensor element 30 Symbol text Temperature 31 Elongated sensor element, bar 32 Symbol text Cold 33 Sensor element bar for setting program parameter Food 34 Sensor element bar for setting program parameter Size 35 Symbol text Food 36 Symbol text Size 37 Generated, set parameter Food 38 Symbol image potatoes 39 Symbol text Potatoes 40 Generated, set parameter Size 41 Symbol text Medium 42 Operating element for starting treatment program with symbol image < 43 Operating element for closing screen display B2 with symbol image X 44 Symbol image cutlery 45 Symbol image vertical line 46 Symbol text Assist 47 Symbol text Almost full 48 Symbol text Medium 49 Sensor element bar for setting program parameter Delayed start 50 Sensor element bar for setting program parameter Load 51 Sensor element bar for setting program parameter Soiling 52 Sensor element bar for setting program parameter Energy efficiency 53 Symbol text Energy efficiency 54 Symbol text Soiling 55 Symbol text Load 56 Symbol text Ready in 57 Generated, set parameter Delayed start 58 Generated, set parameter Load 59 Generated, set parameter Soiling 60 Generated, set parameter Energy efficiency 61 Symbol text Fast 62 Symbol text Balanced 63 Symbol text Economy 64 Symbol text 2 h (11:30)