Household appliance and household appliance system

Abstract

The utility model relates to the technical field of household appliances, in particular to a household appliance and a household appliance system. The household appliance comprises a first radar module, a second radar module, a swing assembly and a processor. The processor is in communication connection with the first radar module and the second radar module. The first radar module is used for detecting position information of a user in a first direction and outputting the position information to the processor, and the second radar module is used for detecting position information of the user in a second direction and outputting the position information to the processor; the swing assembly is electrically connected with the processor, and the processor is used for controlling the swing assembly to move according to the position information, detected by the first radar module and the second radar module, of the user; wherein an included angle is formed between the first direction and the second direction. According to the technical scheme, the problem that the wind direction control system of the household appliance is completely invalid due to the failure of part of antennas in the related technology can be avoided, and the use experience of a user can be improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to the field of electrical technology, and more particularly to a household appliance and a household appliance system. Background Technology

[0002] Currently, some home appliances, such as bathroom heaters and air conditioners, have a function that allows the airflow to follow the user's location. This function utilizes Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) microwave radar positioning technology. By setting up a radar module with multiple transmitting and receiving antennas, the system obtains the user's two-dimensional position (x, y) based on the parameters of the electromagnetic waves received by the receiving antennas, and then adjusts the airflow direction of the appliance accordingly.

[0003] The aforementioned radar module, comprising multiple transmitting and receiving antennas, places high demands on the computational performance of its internal processing unit and involves relatively complex circuit design, resulting in high design costs. If some antennas in the radar module fail, the module's calculation of the user's location may become disordered, preventing the output of the user's location information. This can cause home appliances to be unable to adjust wind direction based on the user's location, thus degrading the user experience. Utility Model Content

[0004] To address the aforementioned technical issues, this disclosure provides a household appliance and appliance system that avoids the problem in related technologies where the wind direction control system of a household appliance completely fails due to the failure of some antennas, thereby improving the user experience.

[0005] In a first aspect, this disclosure provides a household appliance, comprising:

[0006] First radar module, second radar module, swing assembly, and processor;

[0007] The processor is communicatively connected to both the first radar module and the second radar module; the first radar module is used to detect the user's location information in a first direction and output it to the processor, and the second radar module is used to detect the user's location information in a second direction and output it to the processor.

[0008] The swing component is electrically connected to the processor, and the processor is used to control the movement of the swing component based on the user's location information detected by the first radar module and the second radar module.

[0009] The first direction and the second direction are set at an angle.

[0010] In some embodiments, the oscillating assembly includes a drive unit and an oscillating unit, the oscillating unit being electrically connected to the processor via the drive unit.

[0011] In some embodiments, the oscillating component includes a first oscillating component and a second oscillating component;

[0012] The first swing component is used to move in the first direction under the control of the processor; the second swing component is used to move in the second direction under the control of the processor.

[0013] In some embodiments, both the first radar module and the second radar module include a first transmitting antenna, a first receiving antenna, and a second receiving antenna.

[0014] In some embodiments, the transmission frequency of the first radar module is a first center frequency, and the transmission frequency of the second radar module is a second center frequency;

[0015] The first center frequency is different from the second center frequency.

[0016] In some embodiments, the absolute value of the difference between the first center frequency and the second center frequency is greater than or equal to 100Hz.

[0017] In some embodiments, the antennas of the first radar module are arranged along the first direction, and the antennas of the second radar module are arranged along the second direction.

[0018] In some embodiments, the household appliance is provided with a first air outlet and a second air outlet;

[0019] The first swing component is disposed at the first air outlet, and the second swing component is disposed at the second air outlet.

[0020] In some embodiments, the household appliance is provided with a third air outlet;

[0021] Both the first swing component and the second swing component are disposed at the third air outlet.

[0022] In a second aspect, this disclosure also provides a home appliance system, including: a wireless control terminal and a home appliance as described in the first aspect;

[0023] The wireless control terminal is used to send control signals to the home appliance to control the home appliance.

[0024] The technical solution provided in this disclosure has the following advantages compared with the prior art:

[0025] The household appliance provided in this embodiment includes: a first radar module, a second radar module, a swing assembly, and a processor; the processor is communicatively connected to both the first radar module and the second radar module; the first radar module is used to detect the user's location information in a first direction and output it to the processor, and the second radar module is used to detect the user's location information in a second direction and output it to the processor; the swing assembly is electrically connected to the processor, and the processor is used to control the movement of the swing assembly according to the user's location information detected by the first radar module and the second radar module; wherein the first direction and the second direction are set at an angle. Therefore, by setting up a first radar module, one-dimensional position information of the user in a first direction, such as the horizontal direction, can be obtained, and by setting up a second radar module, one-dimensional position information of the user in a second direction, such as the vertical direction, can be obtained. This reduces the computational performance requirements of the radar module's processing unit and helps to reduce the complexity of the circuit design. Even if the antenna in the radar module corresponding to one-dimensional position information is contaminated or electrically damaged, the radar module corresponding to the other-dimensional position information can still work normally and can obtain the user's other-dimensional position information. This allows the home appliance to be controlled to blow air towards the user's other-dimensional position, avoiding the problem in related technologies where the radar module cannot output the user's position information due to the failure of some antennas, thus causing the airflow control system of the home appliance to completely fail. This is beneficial to improving the user experience. Attached Figure Description

[0026] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with this disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of this disclosure.

[0027] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this disclosure or the prior art, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0028] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a household appliance provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0029] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the structure of a first radar module provided for the implementation of this disclosure;

[0030] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the structure of a second radar module provided for this disclosure embodiment;

[0031] Figure 4 Another structural schematic diagram of a household appliance provided for the implementation of this disclosure.

[0032] Among them, 10 is the processor; 11 is the first radar module; 12 is the second radar module; 13 is the swing assembly; 131 is the first swing assembly; 132 is the second swing assembly; 14 is the drive unit; 15 is the swing unit; 16 is the first transmitting antenna; 01 is the first receiving antenna; 02 is the second receiving antenna; 17 is the processing unit; 18 is the output interface; and 19 is the control board. Detailed Implementation

[0033] To better understand the above-mentioned objectives, features, and advantages of this disclosure, the solutions disclosed herein will be further described below. It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified, the embodiments and features described herein can be combined with each other.

[0034] Numerous specific details are set forth in the following description in order to provide a full understanding of this disclosure, but this disclosure may also be implemented in other ways different from those described herein; obviously, the embodiments in the specification are only some, and not all, of the embodiments of this disclosure.

[0035] In related technologies, household appliances such as bathroom heaters use radar modules, including multiple transmitting antennas and multiple receiving antennas, to obtain the user's two-dimensional location information (x, y) based on the parameters of the electromagnetic waves received by the receiving antennas. Then, the airflow direction of the household appliance is adjusted based on the user's two-dimensional location information.

[0036] The aforementioned radar module, comprising multiple transmitting and receiving antennas, places high demands on the computational performance of its internal processing unit and involves relatively complex circuit design, resulting in high design costs. If some antennas in the radar module fail, the module's calculation of the user's location may become disordered, preventing the output of the user's location information. This can cause home appliances to be unable to adjust wind direction based on the user's location, thus degrading the user experience.

[0037] To address the technical problems existing in the aforementioned related technologies, this disclosure provides a household appliance. The household appliance provided in this disclosure can acquire one-dimensional position information of the user in a first direction, such as the horizontal direction, by setting a first radar module, and acquire one-dimensional position information of the user in a second direction, such as the vertical direction, by setting a second radar module. This reduces the computational performance requirements of the radar module's processing unit and helps reduce the complexity of the circuit design. Even if the antenna in the radar module corresponding to one-dimensional position information is contaminated or electrically damaged, the radar module corresponding to the other-dimensional position information can still work normally and can normally acquire the user's other-dimensional position information. This allows the household appliance to be controlled to blow air towards the user's other-dimensional position, avoiding the problem in related technologies where the failure of some antennas causes the radar module to be unable to output the user's position information, resulting in the complete failure of the household appliance's wind direction control system. This improves the user experience.

[0038] The following description, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, provides an exemplary description of the household appliances and household appliance systems provided in the embodiments of this disclosure.

[0039] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a household appliance provided in an embodiment of this disclosure. Figure 1 As shown, the household appliance includes: a first radar module 11, a second radar module 12, a swing assembly 13, and a processor 10; the processor 10 is communicatively connected to both the first radar module 11 and the second radar module 12; the first radar module 11 is used to detect the user's position information in a first direction and output it to the processor 10, and the second radar module 12 is used to detect the user's position information in a second direction and output it to the processor 10; the swing assembly is electrically connected to the processor 10, and the processor 10 is used to control the movement of the swing assembly 13 according to the user's position information detected by the first radar module 11 and the second radar module 12; wherein, the first direction and the second direction are set at an angle.

[0040] The first radar module 11 is used to acquire the user's location information in a first direction, and then outputs the user's location information in the first direction to the processor 10. Thus, the processor 10 can control the swing component to move towards the user's location in the first direction based on the user's location information acquired by the first radar module 11, so as to enable a household appliance, such as a bathroom heater, to blow air towards the user's location in the first direction.

[0041] The second radar module 12 is used to acquire the user's location information in the second direction, and then outputs the user's location information in the second direction to the processor 10. Therefore, the processor 10 can control the swing component 13 to move towards the user's location in the second direction based on the user's location information acquired by the second radar module 12, so that a household appliance, such as a bathroom heater, blows air towards the user's location in the second direction.

[0042] For example, the angle between the first direction and the second direction may include a right angle, an acute angle, etc. Taking a right angle as an example, the first direction may be the horizontal direction where the user is located, and the second direction may be the vertical direction where the user is located. Specifically, the first radar module 11 can obtain one-dimensional position information of the user in the horizontal direction, and the second radar module 12 can obtain one-dimensional position information of the user in the vertical direction. Thus, in this embodiment of the present disclosure, by setting the first radar module 11 and the second radar module 12, one-dimensional position information of the user in different directions can be obtained respectively.

[0043] In related technologies, home appliances utilize a radar module to acquire the user's two-dimensional location information and then adjust the appliance's airflow direction accordingly. However, acquiring the user's two-dimensional location information via a radar module requires the module to include multiple transmitting and receiving antennas. Radar modules with multiple transmitting and receiving antennas place high demands on the computational performance of the processing unit and involve relatively complex circuit design, resulting in high design costs. If some antennas in the radar module fail, the module's calculation of the user's location may become incorrect, preventing the output of the user's location information and thus hindering the appliance's ability to adjust the airflow direction.

[0044] Compared to related technologies, the embodiments of this disclosure can acquire one-dimensional position information of the user in a first direction, such as the horizontal direction, by setting a first radar module, and acquire one-dimensional position information of the user in a second direction, such as the vertical direction, by setting a second radar module. Since both the first and second radar modules acquire the user's one-dimensional position information, the computational performance requirements of the processing units in the radar modules are lower, and the complexity of the circuit design is reduced. Even if the antenna in the radar module corresponding to one-dimensional position information is contaminated or electrically damaged, the radar module corresponding to the other-dimensional position information can still function normally and acquire the user's other-dimensional position information. This allows control of household appliances to blow air towards the user's other-dimensional position, avoiding the problem in related technologies where the failure of some antennas causes the radar module to be unable to output the user's position information, resulting in the complete failure of the airflow control system of the household appliances. This improves the user experience.

[0045] The household appliance provided in this embodiment includes: a first radar module, a second radar module, a swing assembly, and a processor; the processor is communicatively connected to both the first radar module and the second radar module; the first radar module is used to detect the user's location information in a first direction and output it to the processor, and the second radar module is used to detect the user's location information in a second direction and output it to the processor; the swing assembly is electrically connected to the processor, and the processor is used to control the movement of the swing assembly according to the user's location information detected by the first radar module and the second radar module; wherein the first direction and the second direction are set at an angle. Therefore, by setting up a first radar module, one-dimensional position information of the user in a first direction, such as the horizontal direction, can be obtained, and by setting up a second radar module, one-dimensional position information of the user in a second direction, such as the vertical direction, can be obtained. This reduces the computational performance requirements of the radar module's processing unit and helps to reduce the complexity of the circuit design. Even if the antenna in the radar module corresponding to one-dimensional position information is contaminated or electrically damaged, the radar module corresponding to the other-dimensional position information can still work normally and can obtain the user's other-dimensional position information. This allows the home appliance to be controlled to blow air towards the user's other-dimensional position, avoiding the problem in related technologies where the radar module cannot output the user's position information due to the failure of some antennas, thus causing the airflow control system of the home appliance to completely fail. This is beneficial to improving the user experience.

[0046] In some embodiments, such as Figure 1 As shown, the swing assembly 13 includes a drive unit 14 and a swing unit 15, and the swing unit 15 is electrically connected to the processor 10 through the drive unit 14.

[0047] Specifically, the drive unit 14 is used to drive the swing unit 15 to swing in the direction of the user's position under the control of the processor 10, so that the household appliance, such as a bathroom heater, blows air to the user.

[0048] For example, the drive unit 14 can be a stepper motor, and the swing unit 15 can be a wind direction transmission structure, such as a swivel structure, thereby changing the one-dimensional wind direction of the air outlet of the household appliance, such as left-right swing or up-down swing, by driving the wind direction transmission structure with a stepper motor.

[0049] In some embodiments, such as Figure 1 As shown, the swing assembly 13 includes a first swing assembly 131 and a second swing assembly 132; the first swing assembly 131 is used to move in a first direction under the control of the processor 10; the second swing assembly 132 is used to move in a second direction under the control of the processor 10.

[0050] The first swing component 131 is used to blow air from the household appliance toward a first directional position where the user is located, such as blowing air toward a horizontal position where the user is located; the second swing component 132 is used to blow air from the household appliance toward a second directional position where the user is located, such as blowing air toward a vertical position where the user is located.

[0051] Compared to related technologies, the embodiments of this disclosure do not require waiting to obtain complete two-dimensional location information of the user before changing the wind direction. One swing component combined with one radar module can control one wind direction, resulting in a faster wind direction response speed.

[0052] In some embodiments, Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the structure of a first radar module provided for this disclosure embodiment. Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the structure of a second radar module provided for embodiments of this disclosure. (See diagram below.) Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown, both the first radar module 11 and the second radar module 12 include a first transmitting antenna 16, a first receiving antenna 01, and a second receiving antenna 02.

[0053] Therefore, each radar module is equipped with one transmitting antenna and two receiving antennas, which enables each radar module to output one-dimensional position information.

[0054] In some embodiments, continue as follows Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown, both the first radar module 11 and the second radar module 12 are equipped with a processing unit 17. The processing unit 17 is electrically connected to the first transmitting antenna 16, the first receiving antenna 01, and the second receiving antenna 02, respectively.

[0055] Specifically, the processing unit 17 in the first radar module 11 can obtain one-dimensional position information of the user in a first direction, such as the horizontal direction, based on the transmitted signal from the transmitting antenna and the received signals from the two receiving antennas, and output it to the output interface 18. Figure 1 The processor 10 in the middle.

[0056] Similarly, the processing unit 17 in the second radar module 12 obtains the user's one-dimensional position information in a second direction, such as the vertical direction, based on the transmitted signal from the transmitting antenna and the received signals from the two receiving antennas, and outputs it to the output interface 18. Figure 1 The processor 10 in the middle.

[0057] It should be noted that the first radar module 11 and the second radar module 12 are identical components. However, when assembling household appliances, the placement of the first radar module 11 and the second radar module 12 differs (e.g., as shown in the image). Figure 4As shown), this enables the first radar module 11 to acquire one-dimensional position information of the user in a first direction, such as the horizontal direction, and the second radar module 12 to acquire one-dimensional position information of the user in a second direction, such as the vertical direction.

[0058] Thus, the processor 10 can obtain one-dimensional position information of the user in a first direction, such as the horizontal direction, and one-dimensional position information of the user in a second direction, such as the vertical direction.

[0059] In some embodiments, Figure 4 Another structural schematic diagram of a household appliance provided for the implementation of this disclosure. (In conjunction with...) Figures 1 to 4 The home appliance may include a control board 19, with a first radar module 11 and a second radar module 12 located on both sides of the control board 19, and a processor 10 may be integrated into the control board 19.

[0060] Specifically, the antenna of the first radar module 11 includes a first transmitting antenna 16, a first receiving antenna 01 and a second receiving antenna 02 arranged along a first direction (shown as X in the figure), and the antenna of the second radar module 12 includes a first transmitting antenna 16, a first receiving antenna 01 and a second receiving antenna 02 arranged along a second direction (shown as Y in the figure).

[0061] Therefore, the receiving antennas of the first radar module 11 and the receiving antennas of the second radar module 12 are arranged perpendicularly and orthogonally in space, which enables the first radar module 11 to obtain one-dimensional position information of the user in the first direction, and enables the second radar module 12 to obtain one-dimensional position information of the user in the second direction.

[0062] In some embodiments, the transmission frequency of the first radar module 11 is a first center frequency, and the transmission frequency of the second radar module 12 is a second center frequency; wherein the first center frequency and the second center frequency are different.

[0063] The center frequencies of the frequency-modulated continuous waves emitted by the two radar modules are not equal. Specifically, the absolute value of the difference between the first and second center frequencies is greater than or equal to 100 Hz.

[0064] For example, the first center frequency and the second center frequency can be 24.01 GHz and 23.9 GHz, respectively. Thus, by placing the two radar modules separately and spacing their center frequencies, mutual interference between the two radar modules can be avoided, so that the two radar modules can output one-dimensional information in independent directions.

[0065] In some embodiments, the household appliance has a first air outlet and a second air outlet; a first swing component 131 is disposed at the first air outlet, and a second swing component 132 is disposed at the second air outlet.

[0066] Specifically, in conjunction with the above embodiments, the processor 10 receives the one-dimensional position information of the user in the first direction, calculates and converts it into an angle, and controls the stepper motor to rotate the angle so that the first swing component 131 blows the air from the first air outlet toward the user's position in the first direction.

[0067] Similarly, the processor 10 receives the one-dimensional position information of the user in the second direction, calculates and converts it into an angle, and controls the stepper motor to rotate by that angle so that the second swing component 132 blows the air from the second air outlet toward the user's position in the second direction.

[0068] For example, a household appliance includes a panel on which a first air outlet and a second air outlet may be provided.

[0069] In some embodiments, the household appliance has a third air outlet; both the first swing component and the second swing component are disposed at the third air outlet. Specifically, by disposing of both the first swing component and the second swing component at the third air outlet, the first swing component can direct the air from the third air outlet toward the user's location in the first direction, and the second swing component can direct the air from the third air outlet toward the user's location in the second direction.

[0070] For example, a household appliance includes a panel on which a third air outlet may be provided.

[0071] Therefore, the household appliances provided in this disclosure can reduce the complexity of the radar module's circuitry and algorithms, while also lowering the performance requirements of the processing unit within the radar module, resulting in lower costs. Each radar module controls a specific wind direction, significantly reducing the computational complexity of the control circuit's processor. It eliminates the need to wait for complete two-dimensional position information before changing the wind direction, leading to faster wind direction response.

[0072] In addition, since each radar module controls a wind direction, even if the antenna in the radar module corresponding to one dimension of position information is contaminated or electrically damaged, the radar module corresponding to the other dimension of position information can still work normally and can obtain the other dimension of position information of the user. It can control household appliances to blow air to the other dimension of position of the user, so as not to cause the wind direction control system to fail completely and the user's perception deviation is small.

[0073] Based on the above embodiments, this disclosure also provides a home appliance system including: a wireless control terminal and the home appliances as described in the above embodiments, thus having the same or similar beneficial effects, which will not be elaborated here.

[0074] The wireless control terminal is used to send control signals to home appliances to control them. For example, the wireless control terminal can be a mobile phone or a remote control, allowing the home appliances to be controlled to be on or off via the mobile phone or remote control.

[0075] It should be noted that, in this document, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used merely to distinguish one entity or operation from another, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Unless otherwise specified, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes the element.

[0076] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of this disclosure, enabling those skilled in the art to understand or implement it. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of this disclosure. Therefore, this disclosure is not to be limited to the embodiments described herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A household appliance, characterized in that, include: First radar module, second radar module, swing assembly, and processor; The processor is communicatively connected to both the first radar module and the second radar module. The first radar module is used to detect the user's location information in a first direction and output it to the processor. The second radar module is used to detect the user's location information in a second direction and output it to the processor. The swing component is electrically connected to the processor, and the processor is used to control the movement of the swing component based on the user's location information detected by the first radar module and the second radar module. The first direction and the second direction are set at an angle.

2. The household appliance according to claim 1, characterized in that, The oscillating assembly includes a driving part and an oscillating part, and the oscillating part is electrically connected to the processor through the driving part.

3. The household appliance according to claim 1, characterized in that, The swing assembly includes a first swing assembly and a second swing assembly; The first swing component is used to move in the first direction under the control of the processor; the second swing component is used to move in the second direction under the control of the processor.

4. The household appliance according to claim 1, characterized in that, Both the first radar module and the second radar module include a first transmitting antenna, a first receiving antenna, and a second receiving antenna.

5. The household appliance according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first radar module transmits at a first center frequency, and the second radar module transmits at a second center frequency. The first center frequency is different from the second center frequency.

6. The household appliance according to claim 5, characterized in that, The absolute value of the difference between the first center frequency and the second center frequency is greater than or equal to 100Hz.

7. The household appliance according to claim 1, characterized in that, The antennas of the first radar module are arranged along the first direction, and the antennas of the second radar module are arranged along the second direction.

8. The household appliance according to claim 3, characterized in that, The household appliance is provided with a first air outlet and a second air outlet; The first swing component is disposed at the first air outlet, and the second swing component is disposed at the second air outlet.

9. The household appliance according to claim 3, characterized in that, The household appliance is equipped with a third air outlet; Both the first swing component and the second swing component are disposed at the third air outlet.

10. A home appliance system, characterized in that, include: The wireless control terminal and the household appliance as described in any one of claims 1-9; The wireless control terminal is used to send control signals to the home appliance to control the home appliance.

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