Communicating operating state of appliance to user

Abstract

A method of communicating an indication of an operational status of an appliance (10) to a user is disclosed. The method comprises: determining, by the appliance (10), an operating state of the appliance, the operating state being one of a plurality of known possible operating states; and modulating an output of a display element (16) of the appliance to produce a dynamic marker (16) representing the determined operating state. The method further comprises capturing the dynamic marker using a capturing device (20) external to the appliance; associating, by the capture device, the captured dynamic indicia with a user indication representing the determined operating state; and transmitting the user indication to the user.

Description

Background Art

[0001] When an appliance is not operating as expected, it is useful to be able to communicate information to the user indicating or representing the operating status. Summary of the Invention

[0002] According to a first aspect, a method for transmitting an indication of an operating state of an appliance to a user is provided, the method comprising: determining, by the appliance, an operating state of the appliance, the operating state being one of a plurality of known possible operating states; modulating an output of a display element of the appliance to produce a dynamic mark representing the determined operating state; capturing the dynamic mark using a capture device external to the appliance; associating, by the capture device, the captured dynamic mark with a user indication representing the determined operating state; and transmitting the user indication to the user.

[0003] This method can allow a user of an appliance to quickly and easily determine the operating status of the appliance. Transmitting a user indication to the user can allow the user to easily determine the operating status of the appliance without having to refer to documentation. By using a capture device to capture a dynamic marker (such as an infrared marker), this can allow the capture device to capture a dynamic marker that might otherwise be invisible to the user.

[0004] The method may include encoding information representing a determined operating state of the appliance into a dynamic marker, and associating the captured dynamic marker with a user indication representing the determined operating state may include decoding the information representing the determined operating state of the appliance from the dynamic marker. Encoding the information representing the determined operating state of the appliance into the dynamic marker may provide a relatively simple signal that can be captured by a capture device. The signal may then be decoded at the capture device, for example without interaction from a user, and used to ascertain the determined operating state of the appliance.

[0005] The dynamic marker may include a visual marker. The visual marker may allow the user and / or the capture device or another device to easily see the dynamic marker. This may make it easier for the user to know where the capture device should be pointed and / or positioned to capture the dynamic marker.

[0006] The display element may include a light source, and modulating the output of the display element may include selectively illuminating the light source in an illumination sequence that represents the determined operational state of the appliance. Each illumination may be a distinct flash of the light source having an illumination period of at least 100 ms, at least 200 ms, at least 300 ms, at least 400 ms, or at least 500 ms, such that it is directly observable by a person. Alternatively, each illumination may have an illumination period such that the illumination pattern is not discernible to a person. The illumination period may be less than 100 ms, such as 75 ms.

[0007] The light source may include a light emitting diode (LED). LEDs may be relatively energy-efficient (require little energy to operate) and may allow for shorter lighting periods (e.g., LEDs may be turned on and off more quickly than other light sources).

[0008] The light source may comprise a multi-purpose light source. The multi-purpose light source may be configured to provide functionality in addition to dynamic marking. The multi-purpose light source may be configured to indicate, for example, whether the appliance is on or off, or may be configured to indicate another state of the appliance, such as a low power state. Such indication may be by a static marking (e.g., a light turns on or off to indicate the corresponding state) or by an alternative dynamic marking (e.g., a low power indication may be given by a light that flashes relatively slowly). Multi-purpose light sources may reduce the cost and complexity of the appliance because additional light sources may not be required. The light source may be configured to emit visible light. The light source may be configured to emit infrared light.

[0009] The method may include selectively illuminating the light source to continuously repeat the lighting sequence. Repeating the lighting sequence can reduce the likelihood that the capture device will miss a portion of the lighting sequence (e.g., the beginning or end). This can make it easier for a user to capture the entire lighting sequence. The capture device can provide an indication, such as an audible or visual indication, when the entire lighting sequence has been captured.

[0010] The light source may include multiple light emitting diodes (LEDs), and the multiple LEDs may be selectively illuminated in an illumination sequence. This may increase the number of illumination patterns that may be created, which may increase the amount of information that may be conveyed by the dynamic marker.

[0011] The light source may include a multi-color LED, and the multi-color LED may be configured to emit light having a first color before and after the lighting sequence, and may be configured to emit light having a second color during the lighting sequence, where the first color is different from the second color. By emitting different colors before and after the lighting sequence than during the lighting sequence, this may allow for easier determination of the start and end of the lighting sequence. This allows the capture device to determine when the lighting sequence is complete and, therefore, when to stop capturing the lighting sequence. The multi-color LED may include, for example, a tri-color LED capable of displaying red, green, and blue light.

[0012] The determined operating state may include a malfunction of the appliance, and the method may include determining, by the capture device, a remedial action to be taken based on the malfunction of the appliance. This may allow for quick and easy determination of a malfunction of the appliance and the action to be taken to resolve the malfunction without having to refer to additional documentation.

[0013] The method may include communicating the determined remedial action to a user. This may allow the user to be informed of the need to take action to repair the appliance malfunction. This may reduce the need to repair the appliance at different locations. Consequently, this may reduce the need to transport the appliance to different locations, which may reduce the environmental impact of such transportation. Furthermore, communicating the remedial action to the user may reduce the chances of the user needlessly disposing of the appliance, as the user is informed of how to repair the malfunction, which may reduce the environmental impact.

[0014] The remedial action delivered to the user may include a link to a web page. The web page may contain instructions on how to resolve / repair the fault. The remedial action may include a series of images or videos illustrating the steps to be taken to resolve / repair the fault.

[0015] Dynamic indicia can include information related to multiple determined operating states of an appliance. This can allow a user to be notified of multiple determined operating states of an appliance simultaneously. A known possible operating state of an appliance can include a malfunction of the appliance, such as a malfunction of a filter in the appliance. The operating state of an appliance can include properties of the appliance's battery, such as the battery's charge level, the battery's state of charge, or the battery's health.

[0016] Transmitting the user indication to the user may include displaying the user indication on the capture device, or in other examples, may include sending a message (such as a text message or email) to the user including the user indication. This allows the user to see the user indication and be quickly and easily informed of the determined operational status of the appliance. The user can then take action based on the determined operational status of the appliance, such as by replacing / cleaning a filter, which may help increase the lifespan and / or efficiency of the appliance.

[0017] The capture device may include a camera, and capturing the dynamic marker may include capturing an image of the dynamic marker with the camera. The capture device may be a mobile phone, such as a smartphone. The camera may be a camera of the mobile phone.

[0018] The method may include determining a region of interest within an image, wherein the region of interest contains a dynamic marker, and determining an average color of the region of interest. This may allow analysis of only the region of interest, which may reduce computational requirements compared to analyzing the entire image. Determining the average color of the region of interest may include averaging color values ​​of all pixels within the region of interest.

[0019] The appliance may include, but is not limited to, a floor care appliance, a personal care appliance (such as a hair care appliance), an environmental care appliance, a lighting appliance, or a wearable appliance.

[0020] According to a second aspect, a system is provided, comprising: an appliance including a display element, wherein the display element is configured to be modulated to produce a dynamic mark representing an operating state of the appliance, wherein the operating state is one of a plurality of known possible operating states; and a capture device external to the appliance, wherein the capture device is configured to capture the dynamic mark, associate the captured dynamic mark with a user indication representing the operating state, and transmit the user indication to a user.

[0021] The display element may include a light source, and the light source may be configured to be selectively illuminated in an illumination sequence that indicates an operational status of the appliance.

[0022] Where appropriate, optional features of one aspect of the invention may be equally applied to other aspects of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a system including an apparatus and a capture device according to an example;

[0024] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the capture device;

[0025] Figure 3 is in use Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a capture device; and

[0026] Figure 4 is a flow chart of a method of communicating an indication of an operating status of an appliance to a user, according to an example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] Figure 1 A system 1 is shown comprising an appliance 10 (in this example a floor care appliance) and a capture device 20 (in this example a mobile phone) external to the appliance 10 .

[0028] The appliance 10 includes a handle unit 12 , an accessory 14 detachably attached to the handle unit 12 , a display element 16 , a battery 18 , and a filter 19 .

[0029] Capture device 20 includes a camera 22 and a screen 24 .

[0030] The display element 16 of the device 10 includes three multi-color light emitting diodes (LEDs) 17 (e.g. Figure 31 ), which is configured to display the charge level of battery 18 of appliance 10. In use, the number of illuminated LEDs 17 indicates the charge level of battery 18. For example, if all three LEDs 17 are illuminated, this indicates that battery 18 is fully (or nearly fully) charged. In other examples, in addition to or in lieu of the charge level of battery 18, LEDs 17 are illuminated to indicate another attribute of device 10, such as whether appliance 10 is powered on or off. In some examples, more or fewer than three LEDs 17 are used, such as one, two, five, or ten LEDs 17. In some examples, LEDs 17 are single-color LEDs and / or are configured to emit infrared light.

[0031] The multi-color LED 17 is multi-purpose, such that the LED 17 has functionality in addition to showing the charge level of the battery 18. In addition to indicating the charge level of the battery 18, the LED 17 is also configured to generate dynamic indicia representing a fault (or other operating condition) of the appliance 10.

[0032] To create a dynamic signature, LED 17 is modulated to produce a sequence of illumination (eg, switching and / or color changes) that indicates a malfunction of fixture 10. This encodes the malfunction into a signal that can then be decoded to determine the malfunction of fixture 10.

[0033] The multicolor LED 17 is configured to emit blue light before and after the lighting sequence and to emit red light during the lighting sequence. In other examples, the LED 17 emits different colors during the lighting sequence. The lighting sequence is also repeated continuously to ensure that no part of the lighting sequence is missed.

[0034] To create the lighting sequence, the LEDs are switched on and off to create different flashes. In one example, each flash has a duration of 75 ms, making the lighting sequence indistinguishable to a user of the system 1 (i.e., the lighting sequence appears to the user as a constant light). Thus, a capture device 20 (which has a higher frame / sampling rate than the human eye) is used to capture the lighting sequence. In other examples, the multi-color LEDs 17 are switched between different colors to create the lighting sequence.

[0035] The camera 22 of the capture device 20 is configured to capture images of the lighting sequence. The images are captured at a rate such that the modulation of the LEDs 17 can be determined from the images. The capture device 20 determines a region of interest within the image that contains the illuminated LEDs 17 and averages the color of the region. Any change in the average color of the region of interest is then used to determine the lighting sequence. In other examples, the intensity of the illuminated LEDs 17 is averaged over the region of interest, and the change in the average intensity is used to determine the lighting sequence. Based on the lighting sequence, the capture device 20 is configured to decode the lighting sequence to determine an associated user indication related to a malfunction of the appliance 10. The capture device 20 is configured to display the user indication on a screen 24 of the capture device 20 so that it is visible to the user.

[0036] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a screen 24 of a capture device 20 is shown. In use, the screen 24 is configured to show a preview of an image captured by the camera 22 in a first portion 26 of the screen 24 (to help the user orient the camera 22) and to display determined user instructions in a second portion 28 of the screen 24. In this example, the first portion 26 of the screen shows a region of interest in the image. The user instructions include information regarding what the fault is and any remedial actions to be taken to resolve the fault with the appliance 10. For example, if the fault is with the filter 19, e.g., the filter needs cleaning, the user instructions include instructions for removing, cleaning, and replacing the filter 19. In some examples, the user instructions include an image or video showing the actions to be taken, a web link indicating where further information is available, and / or a phone number for a help center.

[0037] In use, the LED 17 of the display element 16 is illuminated with a lighting pattern that indicates a fault with the appliance 10. The user then opens the app on the capture device 20, which instructs them to point the camera 22 at the LED 17. Figure 3 As shown in FIG, a user orients camera 22 of capture device 20 so that LED 17 is within the field of view of camera 22 (indicated by dashed line 23). Capture device 20 captures the lighting pattern using camera 22 and determines, based on the lighting pattern, a user indication associated with a malfunction of appliance 10. Capture device 20 then displays the user indication on screen 24 to notify the user of the determined malfunction of appliance 10. In other examples, the capture device sends a message, such as a text or email, containing the user indication to the user. The user indication includes instructions for taking remedial action to resolve the malfunction of appliance 10.

[0038] Figure 4A flow chart of a method 100 for communicating an indication of an operating state of an appliance 10 to a user is shown. Method 100 includes determining 102, by appliance 10, an operating state of appliance 10. The operating state is one of a plurality of known possible operating states, such as a malfunction of appliance 10. A dynamic indicia representing the determined operating state is generated by modulating 104 an output of display element 16. The dynamic indicia is then captured by capturing 106 an image of the dynamic indicia using camera 22 of capture device 20.

[0039] After capturing the dynamic marker, method 100 includes determining 108 a region of interest within the image that includes the digital marker, and determining 110 an average color of the region of interest. The average color is determined by averaging the color values ​​of all pixels within the region of interest. In other examples, the method includes determining an average intensity of the region of interest rather than an average color. In such examples, the average intensity is determined by averaging the intensity values ​​of all pixels within the region of interest.

[0040] The method 100 further includes associating 112, by the capture device 20, the captured dynamic indicia with a user indication representing the determined operating state, and communicating 116 the user indication to the user. In the event that the determined operating state is a malfunction of the appliance 10, the method further includes determining 114 a remedial action to be taken based on the malfunction of the appliance 10 and communicating the remedial action to the user.

[0041] In some examples, the step of determining remedial action to take is omitted, such as when the operating state of appliance 10 is not a failure of appliance 10. Additionally, in some examples, one or more of the steps of determining a region of interest and / or averaging the colors of the region of interest may be omitted.

[0042] The system 1 and method 100 described above may allow a user of the appliance 10 to quickly and easily determine the operating status of the appliance 10. For example, communicating user indications to the user may allow the user to easily determine the operating status of the appliance 10 without having to refer to documentation, and capturing dynamic markers using the capture device 20 may allow the capture device 20 to capture dynamic markers that might otherwise be invisible to the user.

[0043] Although in the examples discussed above, appliance 10 is a floor care appliance, in other examples, appliance 10 may be another suitable appliance, such as a hair care appliance, a headpiece, or a fan. Furthermore, although in the examples discussed above, capture device 20 is a mobile phone, in other examples, capture device 20 may be another suitable device (such as a computer or tablet), and camera 22 may be another suitable capture device (such as a webcam or an infrared receiver).

[0044] In the example discussed above, the operating state of appliance 10 is a malfunction of appliance 10. In other examples, the operating state of appliance 10 is another possible known operating state, such as the health of battery 18 or other information about appliance 10. In some examples, the operating state of appliance 10 includes identification information of appliance 10, which helps to pair appliance 10 to, for example, capture device 20 or a local network. Furthermore, in some examples, the digital tag may relate to multiple operating states of appliance 10.

[0045] While the apparatus 10 described above produces visual digital indicia (eg, using visible light), in some examples, the LEDs 17 comprise infrared LEDs, and the digital indicia are not visible to the human eye.

Claims

1. A method of communicating an indication of an operating status of an appliance to a user, the method comprising: determining, by the appliance, an operating state of the appliance, the operating state being one of a plurality of known possible operating states; modulating an output of a display element of the appliance to produce a dynamic indicia representing the determined operating state; capturing the dynamic marker using a capture device located external to the apparatus; Associating, by the capturing device, the captured dynamic marker with a user indication representing the determined operating state; and The user instruction is transmitted to the user.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The display element includes a light source, and modulating the output of the display element includes selectively illuminating the light source in an illumination sequence representative of the determined operational state of the appliance.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The light source includes a multi-purpose light source.

4. A method according to claim 2 or claim 3, comprising selectively illuminating the light source to continuously repeat the illumination sequence.

5. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein The light source includes a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs), and the plurality of LEDs are selectively illuminated in the illumination sequence.

6. The method of any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the light source comprises a multicolor LED, and the multicolor LED is configured to emit light having a first color before and after the lighting sequence, and to emit light having a second color during the lighting sequence, wherein the first color is different from the second color.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein The determined operating state includes a malfunction of the appliance, and the method includes determining, by the capture device, a remedial action to be taken based on the malfunction of the appliance. The method of claim 7 , comprising communicating the determined remedial action to a user.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein Transmitting the user indication to the user includes displaying the user indication on the capture device.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein The capture device includes a camera, and capturing the dynamic marker includes capturing an image of the dynamic marker with the camera.

11. The method of claim 10, comprising determining a region of interest within the image, wherein the region of interest contains the dynamic marker, and determining an average color of the region of interest.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein The appliance comprises a floor care appliance or a hair care appliance.

13. A system comprising: an appliance comprising a display element configured to be modulated to produce a dynamic indicia representing an operating state of the appliance, the operating state being one of a plurality of known possible operating states; and A capture device is located outside the appliance, wherein the capture device is configured to capture the dynamic indicia, associate the captured dynamic indicia with a user indication representing the operating state, and transmit the user indication to a user.

14. The system according to claim 13, wherein: The display element includes a light source, and the light source is configured to be selectively illuminated in an illumination sequence that indicates an operational status of the appliance.

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