Method for establishing a control connection, mobile terminal, set comprising a mobile terminal and a household appliance, and method for retrofitting a household appliance

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a method for establishing a control connection between a household appliance and a mobile terminal. The household appliance can be, for example, a coffee machine, such as a fully automatic coffee machine. The mobile terminal can be, for example, a smartphone or a tablet.

[0002] In order to simplify the operation of a household appliance for a user, it is already possible to connect it to mobile devices in order to transmit commands to the household appliance via an easy-to-use user interface using a mobile device.

[0003] US 2019 / 208421 A1 discloses methods for connecting terminal devices. CN 111 487 880 A discloses another method for connecting terminal devices.

[0004] In order to establish a preferably secure control connection between a mobile device and a household appliance, in order to be able to control the household appliance via the mobile device during normal operation, it is necessary for a user to first link their mobile device with the household appliance (this step is also referred to as "pairing" or "onboarding").

[0005] The object is to improve the step of linking a mobile terminal and a household appliance. This object is achieved by a method for establishing a control connection between a household appliance and a mobile terminal, having the features of claim 1.

[0006] In particular, to achieve the object, a method of the type mentioned above is proposed, wherein information that can be read from the outside, preferably without contact, for example information that is not specific to the appliance, is stored on or near the household appliance, characterized by the following steps: Machine reading of the information Checking whether a data connection has already been established for this information in the past and / or whether a machine-specific identifier has already been assigned to this information in the past and, if the result of the check is negative, establishing a preferably direct data connection between the household appliance and the mobile device to obtain a machine-specific identifier from the household appliance and assigning the identifier to the information, or, if the result of the check is positive, using the identifier to establish the control connection.

[0007] If no data connection to the readable information has been established in the past, this information is not yet assigned to the machine-specific identifier of the household appliance and could theoretically also be assigned to a machine-specific indicator of another household appliance. In other words, the readable information can initially be information independent of the machine-specific identifier. This has the advantage that when assigning the readable information to the household appliance, it is not necessary to pay attention to whether the readable information (generally not readable without human assistance) belongs to the household appliance or has been correctly assigned to it.If the readable information were already designed specifically for a household appliance or a particular model of a household appliance, this would create a potential source of error, since such household appliance-specific readable information could be assigned to the wrong household appliance, such as the wrong model and / or the wrong location. This, in turn, could result in a control connection being set up incorrectly and / or in commands transmitted to the household appliance for control via the mobile terminal being incompatible. According to the invention, the readable information can therefore be assigned to the identifier by the initial establishment of a data connection between the mobile terminal and the household appliance. For example, a data connection can preferably be established automatically with a mobile terminal that is locally closest to the household appliance and / or that has the strongest connection signal.Once the readable information has been assigned to the identifier, a control connection, i.e., preferably another data connection for normal operation, can be established between the mobile terminal and the household appliance. In cases where an assignment between the readable information and the identifier has already been made, it is no longer necessary to repeat this assignment step. In this case, the identifier can thus be used directly to establish a control connection. The invention thus makes it possible to obtain information required to establish a control connection between a mobile terminal and a household appliance without the household appliance having to be connected to the Internet or a central instance each time the control connection is established.The invention further allows the use of simple storage means, in particular unchangeable storage means such as printing, for providing the readable information.

[0008] Advantageous further developments of the invention are described below, which can be combined with the features of claim 1 alone or with the features of other further developments described and / or claimed herein.

[0009] According to an advantageous development of the method, when checking whether a data connection has already been established for this information in the past, in particular whether a data connection different from the control connection has been established, it can be checked whether a machine-specific identifier associated with the information is available in the mobile terminal and / or on an external memory, such as a server, and / or in the household appliance. Alternatively or additionally, it can also be verified whether information about a successful check has taken place in the past, for example by reading a corresponding control bit. This can be used, for example, to determine connection data.

[0010] According to one possible embodiment, the association between readable information and identifier can be stored on the mobile device. This has the advantage that the user only needs to link their mobile device to the household appliance once using the described method in order to then be able to access the established control connection for controlling the household appliance using the same mobile device. Furthermore, it is conceivable that by executing the method once, the user can use a control connection with identical household appliances at other locations, if necessary, without having to re-establish the control connection with the identical household appliance. For example, it could be provided that the household appliance reads the mobile device.

[0011] Alternatively or additionally, the assignment of the identifier to the information can also be stored in the household appliance, in particular as part of the readable information.

[0012] According to a further advantageous embodiment, when establishing the data connection, the household appliance can be selected on the mobile device, preferably manually, from a list of available connection participants. This allows the user to independently select which household appliance a control connection should be established with using the described method.

[0013] According to another advantageous embodiment, the assignment of the identifier to the information can be stored in the mobile device. As already described above, this has the advantage that the user only needs to link their mobile device to the household appliance once using the described method in order to subsequently access the established control connection to control the household appliance.

[0014] In order to be able to establish a control connection between the mobile device and the household appliance securely and / or as quickly as possible after initial setup, it may be advantageous for the identifier to contain connection data. For example, this could be a preferably coded identifier for the household appliance.

[0015] Furthermore, it can be advantageous, particularly to establish a secure control connection between the mobile device and the household appliance, if the information contains a unique character string that uniquely identifies it. This character string can, for example, be randomly generated. The unique character string makes it easy to avoid confusion or incorrect assignment.

[0016] It can be particularly advantageous if, after reading the information, an automatic check is performed to determine whether an associated app for operating the control connection is installed. In particular, it can be provided that an internet connection is established to access the app if this is not the case, and / or that the app is called up if it is.

[0017] According to an advantageous development, the information can be selected independently of the identifier. This makes it possible to transmit the information to the mobile device via a variety of different signal transmitters and to read it out by the mobile device. The mobile device essentially only needs to have receiving means to be able to receive and evaluate the information.

[0018] Furthermore, the machine-specific identifier can be stored in the information and / or deposited in advance. It may be preferred that the identifier is or is stored on an NFC tag. Particularly preferably, a user can store the identifier in the information by executing the method for establishing a control connection, as described herein and / or claimed below. Subsequent users who perform machine-based reading of the information for the first time then do not need to perform the entire method for establishing the control connection, but can set up the control connection more quickly, since in this embodiment of the invention, the association of the information with the identifier is stored directly in the information.

[0019] To be able to execute the method as location-independently as possible, the establishment of the data connection and / or the establishment of the control connection can be carried out locally. In particular, the establishment of the data connection and / or the establishment of the control connection can be carried out when the mobile device and / or the household appliance is / are disconnected from the Internet.

[0020] According to an advantageous development, the information can be read mechanically and / or magnetically and / or electromagnetically and / or acoustically and / or optically. Particularly preferably, the information can be stored on an RFID tag (also referred to as an NFC tag) and / or in an optically readable code, in particular in a one-dimensional code or a two-dimensional matrix code.

[0021] According to a further advantageous development, the assignment of the identifier to the information can be stored in a retrievable manner on an external memory, in particular on a server. The assignment can therefore be stored centrally and retrieved from the external memory when the information is read out again. This makes it possible, for example, for the assignment stored on the external memory to also be retrieved and used by new mobile devices, preferably without the described complete method for establishing a control connection having to be executed on this new device itself.

[0022] The invention further relates to a mobile terminal, in particular a smartphone or a tablet, with means for carrying out a method as described and / or claimed herein.

[0023] The invention also relates to a set comprising a mobile terminal as described and / or claimed herein and a household appliance, in particular a coffee machine, wherein information which is preferably usable for carrying out a method as described and / or claimed herein is kept available on the household appliance, in particular in an RFID tag and / or in a two-dimensional matrix code.

[0024] The invention further relates to a method for retrofitting a household appliance with a machine-specific identifier and / or information for carrying out the method, as described herein and / or claimed below. This enables a user to subsequently assign preferably non-specific information to their household appliance and to associate it with a machine-specific identifier of their household appliance. This can be done, for example, using an NFC tag that is attached to the household appliance or at least arranged nearby. This has the advantage that a user can also retrofit their household appliance at a later point in time, for example after it has already been put into operation for the first time, in order to be able to set up a preferably alternative control via the establishment of the control connection.

[0025] The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to several exemplary embodiments, but is not limited to these exemplary embodiments. Further exemplary embodiments result from the combination of the features of one or more claims with one another and / or with one or more features of the exemplary embodiments.

[0026] It shows: Fig. 1 shows a first possible embodiment of a method according to the invention for establishing a control connection between a household appliance and a mobile terminal, wherein an NFC tag is used as the carrier of the readable information in order to establish a data connection, wherein an assignment of the identifier to the information on the mobile terminal is carried out and stored thereon, and wherein a control connection between the household appliance and the mobile terminal is finally established via another, preferably wireless data connection, such as WiFi or BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), Fig.2 a second possible embodiment of a method according to the invention for establishing a control connection between a household appliance and a mobile terminal, wherein an NFC tag is used as the carrier of the readable information in order to establish a data connection, wherein an assignment of the identifier to the information is stored on the external memory, and wherein a control connection between the household appliance and the mobile terminal is finally established via another, preferably wireless data connection, such as WiFi or BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), Fig.3 a third possible embodiment of a method according to the invention for establishing a control connection between a household appliance and a mobile terminal, wherein an NFC tag is used as the carrier of the readable information in order to establish a data connection, wherein an assignment of the identifier to the information is stored on the mobile terminal, and wherein a control connection between the household appliance and the mobile terminal is finally established via another, preferably wireless data connection, such as WiFi or BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy).

[0027] The Fig. 1-3 each show schematically embodiments of a method according to the invention for establishing a control connection 1 between a household appliance 2 and a mobile terminal 3.

[0028] The household appliance 2 can be designed, for example, as a coffee machine, such as preferably as a fully automatic coffee machine.

[0029] The household appliance 2 has at least one data connection device for establishing a data connection 7 in order to be able to connect to a mobile terminal 3, in particular a local terminal, i.e. one located in the reception area of the household appliance, and / or a network and / or the Internet.

[0030] The mobile terminal 3 can be configured, for example, as a smartphone. The mobile terminal 3 has at least one data connection device for establishing a data connection 7 in order to be able to connect to a correspondingly equipped, in particular local, household appliance and / or a network and / or the Internet.

[0031] The Fig. 1-3 show embodiments in which the household appliance 2 and the mobile terminal 3 can be connected to each other via data connection devices using NFC and / or WiFi and / or BLE.

[0032] The method according to the invention serves to establish a control connection 1 between a mobile terminal 3 and a household appliance 2 to be operated by means of the mobile terminal 3.

[0033] For this purpose, information 4, which can preferably be read contactlessly using the mobile terminal 3, is arranged or retrievable on or near the household appliance 2, for example in or on a housing part. The information 4 does not necessarily have to be arranged directly on the household appliance 2; rather, it is only necessary for a user to unambiguously assign the information 4 to a household appliance 2.

[0034] Thus, in this step, information 4 is read in mechanically 5. However, information 4 could also be stored in another form, such as a graphically scannable matrix code. Furthermore, information 4 can be randomly generated information 4, such as a randomly generated character identifier or character sequence.

[0035] In principle, the information 4 can be supplemented with specific connection parameters after the initial establishment of the data connection 7 in order to enable secure and unambiguous identification. However, the aforementioned connection parameters can also be stored together with the assignment 11 of the identifier 10 to the information 4, which will be described in more detail below, preferably without changing the original information 4.

[0036] In the Fig. 1-3 In the embodiments shown, the readable information 4 is stored by an NFC tag (RFID tag) and can, for example, include a randomly generated number or identifier. If NFC is enabled on the mobile terminal 3 and the NFC tag is activated, a data connection 7 can be established between the NFC tag coupled to the household appliance 2 and the mobile terminal 3.

[0037] When establishing the data connection 7, it is possible for a user on the mobile device 3 to be prompted to select the household appliance 2 to be connected. For this purpose, a list of all connection participants, for example, within the reception range of the mobile device 3, can be displayed, from which the user can manually make a selection. It is also conceivable that an automated establishment of a data connection 7 is carried out, for example, if only one connection participant is within the reception range of the mobile device 3.

[0038] Through the previously described step of establishing the data connection 7, a check step 8 is initiated on the mobile terminal 3, preferably automatically, to check whether the software required to control the household appliance 2 using the mobile terminal 3 (in the figures, the app is abbreviated as JOE) is installed. Using the software, it is possible to transmit operating commands to the household appliance 2.

[0039] If the software is not yet installed on the mobile device 3, the user will be prompted to install the software on the mobile device 3 or the software will be installed automatically.

[0040] If the software is already properly installed, the previously described step will start the software on mobile device 3.

[0041] This is followed by a further check step 9, in which it is checked whether a data connection 7 has already been established in the past for the information 4 read in and / or whether a machine-specific identifier 10 has already been assigned to the information 4 in the past.

[0042] If a result of this check 9 is negative, i.e. no data connection 7 has been established in the past with respect to the information 4 read in and / or no machine-specific identifier 10 has been assigned, a preferably direct data connection 7 is first established between the household appliance 2 and the mobile terminal 3 in order to obtain a machine-specific identifier 10 from the household appliance 2.

[0043] In a subsequent assignment step 11, the identifier 10 is then assigned to the information 4 and this assignment 11 is stored.

[0044] According to an optional embodiment variant, it can be provided that the machine-specific identifier 10 and / or its assignment 11 to the information 4 is stored in the information 4 after the method for establishing a control connection 1 has been carried out once. A subsequent reading of the information 4 by another mobile terminal 3 thus allows a direct establishment of the control connection 1 by means of the other mobile terminal 3, without the previously described intermediate step of establishing the data connection 7 for obtaining a machine-specific identifier 10 being necessary.

[0045] However, if the result of the test 9 is positive, i.e. a data connection 4 has already been established in the past, the identifier 10 is used 12 to establish the control connection 1 between the household appliance 2 and the mobile terminal 3. The identifier 10 can contain connection data required to establish the control connection 1, preferably without which the establishment of the control connection 1 would not be possible.

[0046] The previously mentioned information 4 can, in principle, be independent of the identifier 10. Only through the assignment step 11 are these two linked.

[0047] The storage of the association 11 between the read information 4 and the machine-specific identifier 10 can be carried out as in the Fig. 1 and 3shown embodiments are stored locally, i.e. in the household appliance 2 and / or in the mobile terminal 3. This embodiment variant has the advantage that when the information is read in again 6 using the mobile terminal 3, it can be determined based on the test step 9 whether a data connection 7 has already been successfully established in the past. For this test step 9, it is therefore not necessary for the household appliance 2 and / or the mobile terminal 3 to be connected to an external memory 5 and / or the Internet. A local data connection 7 between the two devices is sufficient to ultimately establish a control connection 1.

[0048] Fig. 2 shows a further embodiment in which, in contrast to the embodiments according to the Fig. 1 and 3no local storage of the assignment 11 between information 4 and machine-specific identifier 10 takes place, but the assignment 11 is stored on an external memory 5, such as a server.

[0049] In this case, a check 9 as to whether a data connection 7 has already been established in the past for a piece of information 4 read in can only be carried out if there is a connection between the household appliance 2 and / or the mobile terminal 3 and the external memory 5 or if the assignment 11 is additionally stored locally in the household appliance 2 and / or in the external terminal 3.

[0050] However, storing the assignment 11 on an external memory 5 offers the advantage that new mobile terminals 3 that have not previously read in the assigned information 4 and / or mobile terminals 3 that have not locally stored the assignment 11 still have access to the already stored assignment 11 of the identifier 10 to the information 4 when the information 4 is read in a reading step 6. Thus, reception 15 of the assignment 11 is possible by establishing a connection 14 to the external memory 5, on the basis of which the control connection 1 is then established. List of reference symbols

[0051] 1Control connection 2Household appliance 3Mobile device 4Readable information 5External memory 6Reading the information 7Data connection 8Checking whether an app is installed to operate the control connection and, if necessary, installing the app 9Checking a data connection already established in the past and / or whether a machine-specific identifier has already been assigned to the information in the past 10Retrieving a machine-specific identifier 11Assigning the identifier to the information 12Establishing a control connection 13Saving the assignment of the identifier to the information 14Establishing a connection to the server 15Receiving the assignment of the identifier to the information 16Information is modified

Claims

1. Method for establishing a control connection (1) between a domestic appliance (2), in particular a coffee machine, and a mobile terminal device (3), in particular a smartphone, wherein information (4) that can be read from outside and is independent of a machine-specific identifier (10) is arranged on or near the domestic appliance (2) or can be retrieved from there, wherein the method contains the following steps of: - machine reading (6) of the information (4) using the mobile terminal device (3), - checking whether a data connection has already been established for this information (4) in the past and a machine-specific identifier (10) has been assigned (9), and, - if the result of the check is negative, establishing a preferably direct data connection (7) between the domestic appliance (2) and the mobile terminal device (3) in order to obtain a machine-specific identifier (10) from the domestic appliance (2) and assigning (11) the identifier (10) to the information (4), or, - if the result of the check is positive, using the identifier (10) to establish the control connection (12).

2. Method according to claim 1, wherein during the check (9) as to whether a data connection (7) has already been established to this information (4) in the past, it is checked whether a machine-specific identifier (10) assigned to the information (4) and / or information about a successful check in the past is available in the mobile terminal device (3) and / or on an external memory (5), in particular a server, and / or in the domestic appliance (2).

3. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein, when establishing the data connection (7), the domestic appliance (2) is preferably manually selected on the mobile terminal device (3) from a list of available connection participants.

4. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the assignment (11) of the identifier (10) to the information (4) is stored in the mobile terminal device (3) and / or in the domestic appliance (2), in particular in the contactless readable information (4).

5. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the information (4) contains an individual character string with which it can be uniquely identified.

6. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein after reading in (6) the information (4), it is automatically checked whether an associated app for operating the control connection is installed (8), in particular wherein a connection to the Internet is established to obtain the app if this is not the case, and / or wherein the app is called up if this is the case.

7. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the information (4) can be selected independently of the identifier (10).

8. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the establishment of the data connection (7) and / or the establishment (12) of the control connection (1) can be carried out locally, in particular if the mobile terminal device (3) and / or the domestic appliance (2) is / are disconnected from the Internet.

9. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the information (4) can be read mechanically and / or magnetically and / or electromagnetically and / or acoustically and / or optically, preferably that the information (4) is stored on an RFID tag and / or in a two-dimensional matrix code.

10. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the assignment (11) of the identifier (10) to the information (4) is stored in a retrievable manner on an external memory (5), in particular on a server.

11. Mobile terminal device (3), in particular smartphone, having means for carrying out a method according to one of the preceding claims.

12. Set consisting of a mobile terminal device (3) according to claim 11 and a domestic appliance (2), in particular a coffee machine, wherein information (4) usable preferably for carrying out a method according to one of claims 1 to 10 is provided on the domestic appliance (2), preferably wherein the information (4) is mechanically and / or magnetically and / or electromagnetically and / or acoustically and / or optically readable.

13. Method for retrofitting a domestic appliance (2), wherein information that can be read from the outside and is independent of a machine-specific identifier is arranged on or near the domestic appliance and the method according to one of claims 1 to 10 is carried out.