Dual Channel Reception

Abstract

The system (1) comprises at least one furniture element (2), preferably a furniture drive (3) or furniture lock (4) capable of driving or activating at least one part (5) of a piece of furniture (6), and at least one control device (7) for driving and controlling the at least one furniture element (2) using a control command based on an operation command, wherein the at least one control device (7) comprises at least one transmitting device (8) capable of wirelessly transmitting at least one digital control command to the at least one furniture element (2), at least one first receiving device (9) capable of receiving the at least one digital operation command transmitted according to a first transmission protocol (21), and at least one second receiving device (10) capable of receiving the at least one digital operation command transmitted according to a second transmission protocol (22) different from the first transmission protocol (21).

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a system consisting of at least one furniture element and at least one control device according to the preamble of claim 1. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method for operating such a system. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a computer program product for carrying out such a method. The present invention also relates to a control device for such a system.

[0002] In the prior art, systems consisting of at least one furniture element and at least one control device for actuating or activating the furniture parts, as well as methods for operating such systems, are known. These systems, which can be used for example for actuation-assisted opening of drawers or furniture doors, usually follow rigidly pre-defined procedures in a fixed pre-defined system architecture. The construction of proprietary systems whose configuration and operation are known and which are often highly integrated, can only be achieved with great effort. The operation and functional scale of such systems can often only be expanded or modified using development environments and systems engineering that are pre-defined by the manufacturer. This places strict conditions on the interaction of the various operating elements and parts of the system.

[0003] The object of the present invention is to provide a system, a method, a computer program product and a control device which do not have the above-mentioned drawbacks and which in particular allow a simplified structure, a simplified configuration and a simplified operation.

[0004] This problem is solved by a system consisting of at least one furniture element and at least one control device, a method for operating such a system, a computer program product for carrying out such a method and a control device for such a system according to the preamble of claim 1.

[0005] Preferred embodiments of the invention are defined in the dependent claims.

[0006] The system comprises at least one furniture element, preferably configured in the form of a furniture drive or a furniture lock, by means of which at least one piece of furniture may be driveable or activatable.

[0007] The furniture drive or furniture lock may in particular consist of a step motor or a servo motor.

[0008] In particular, a drawer, a furniture flap or a furniture door can be understood as a piece of furniture. In general, any part that is movable relative to the furniture cabinet or that can be activated, e.g. locked or unlocked, can be understood as a piece of furniture.

[0009] By means of a furniture element configured as a furniture drive, at least one part of a piece of furniture can be driven, i.e. for example a retractable drawer, a pivotable furniture flap or a pivotable furniture door.

[0010] By using a furniture element configured as a furniture lock, at least one part of the furniture, i.e., for example a lockable drawer, a lockable furniture flap or a lockable furniture door, may be actuable, i.e., can be released or locked against access by a user.

[0011] In the case of a furniture element configured as a furniture lock, for example one part of the furniture lock may be actuatable and possibly even driveable, for example a rotating rod or a locking bolt. By making the actuablity of the furniture drive releasable or lockable, it should not be excluded that the furniture lock is provided by a furniture element configured as a furniture drive.

[0012] The system further comprises at least one control device for driving and controlling the at least one furniture element, the at least one furniture element being controllable by means of control commands in response to operation commands from the at least one control device.

[0013] For example, at least one operation command coming from a control device of the system can be received, and depending on the at least one received operation command, at least one control command can be output from the at least one control device which is issued to drive and control at least one furniture element.

[0014] It is envisaged that the at least one control device has at least one transmitting device by means of which a digital signal can be transmitted via a wireless transmission path to the at least one furniture element, the digital signal being a digitally coded control command.

[0015] Here, preferably at least one furniture element comprises a suitable receiving device.

[0016] The wireless transmission of at least one digital control command to at least one furniture element allows the system to be easily adapted to changes in the number of controls and / or furniture elements, and simplifies installation, configuration, and maintenance of the system by eliminating the need to route, allocate, and maintain control lines in a wired connection.

[0017] The control instructions may generally be digitally encoded data packets suitable for controlling the actuation of furniture elements.

[0018] It is further envisaged that the at least one control device has at least one first receiving device by which the at least one digital operating instruction transmitted according to the first transmission protocol can be received, by means of which a digital signal can be received from the control device via a wireless or wired connection transmission section, where the digital signal can be an operating instruction digitally coded according to the first transmission protocol.

[0019] It is further envisaged that the at least one control device has at least one second receiving device by which the at least one digital operating instruction transmitted according to a second transmission protocol different from the first transmission protocol can be received by the second receiving device via a wireless or wired connection transmission section from the control device, where the digital signal can be an operating instruction digitally coded according to the second transmission protocol.

[0020] At least one control device can essentially be used as an interface for networking different input devices and different furniture elements.

[0021] The operating instructions may generally be digitally encoded data packets receivable by a receiving device of the control device.

[0022] The operating instructions may be used generally to operate or may be used to configure the system or a part of the system.

[0023] The digital encoding of the operating instructions and the wireless or wired transmission can be performed according to one or more transmission protocols, without excluding that the transmission protocol can correspond to a known standard.

[0024] The control device has at least first and second receiving devices, in which case the at least two receiving devices are capable of receiving operation instructions transmitted according to different transmission protocols, thereby enabling operation of the system using operation instructions transmitted according to different transmission protocols.

[0025] The presence of at least two receiving devices capable of receiving operating instructions transmitted according to different transmission protocols allows different transmission protocols to be used depending on the requirements for the operation of the system, such as requirements for range, data rate, security, energy requirements, infrastructure, redundancy, latency, or availability that may be relevant for the use or selection of a transmission protocol.

[0026] It should not be excluded that the at least one control device comprises at least one transmitting device configured for the transmission of operating instructions according to the first and / or second transmission protocol, whereby for example operating instructions received by the control device of the system can be forwarded to at least one further control device of the system.

[0027] In a preferred embodiment of the request, at least one transmitting device capable of wirelessly transmitting at least one digital control command to the at least one furniture element transmits the at least one digital control command according to a third transmission protocol different from the first and second transmission protocols.

[0028] This allows a further adaptation to the requirements for operating the system, whereby, for example, a third transmission protocol can be selected for the transmission of the at least one digital control command, which has a particularly low energy requirement and a particularly low latency, but possibly a reduced data rate compared to the first and second transmission protocols.

[0029] By transmitting the at least one digital control command according to a third transmission protocol different from the first and second transmission protocols, the transmission of the control command (and therefore the drive control of the at least one furniture element) can be made independent of the selection of the transmission protocol for receiving the operation command.

[0030] In a preferred embodiment of the system, the first transmission protocol may be a wireless transmission protocol according to the IEEE 802.11 standard and / or a wired transmission protocol according to the Ethernet standard. The IEEE 802.11 standard is a family of standards for wireless local area networks (WLANs). The Ethernet standard is a known technology for wired data networks. The first transmission protocol selected in this way may enable a high data rate for the equipment that can receive the operation command using the first receiving device of the control device and a wide compatibility of the control device.

[0031] In a preferred embodiment of the system, the second transmission protocol is Bluetooth (Registered Trademark) The Bluetooth standard is a wireless transmission protocol. (Registered Trademark) The standard indicated by is an industry standard for data transmission between devices over short distances by wireless technology. The second transmission protocol selected in this way can enable reduced energy consumption and wide compatibility of the control device for devices that can receive operation instructions using the second receiving device of the control device.

[0032] In a preferred embodiment of the system, the digital control instructions may be transmittable according to a third transmission protocol different from the first and second transmission protocols, where this third transmission protocol may be a wireless transmission protocol according to the ShockBurst™ or Enhanced ShockBurst™ standard. ShockBurst™ or Enhanced ShockBurst™ are known wireless transmission protocols and are designed for operation in the global ISM frequency band of 2.4 GHz. The third transmission protocol so selected may enable minimal energy consumption and minimal latency for the drive control of the at least one furniture element.

[0033] The digital operating instructions are generateable by a user via a user interface, where the user interface comprises: -by a touch-sensitive screen of the input device (Touchscreen); and / or -By voice input into a voice recognition device, and / or -by means of an operating element (button, foot switch) of an input device that can be operated manually or by a pedal by the user, and / or It may consist of gesture control of the input device (for example realized using sensors such as infrared or ultrasonic sensors or a camera) that can be performed by the user.

[0034] Essentially, a system can have one or more input devices.

[0035] The input device may essentially be any device operable by a user, such as a computer, a tablet, a smartphone, etc. A configuration of an input device similar to a remote control (e.g. in the form of wireless buttons) or an operating panel should not be excluded.

[0036] The input device may comprise a transmitting device capable of transmitting at least one operating command according to a first and / or a second transmission protocol.

[0037] A user may generate at least one operational command, possibly via a menu-guided user interface, for example by selecting a menu item and / or confirming it by interacting with an input device.

[0038] In a preferred embodiment of the system, the system may include at least one speech recognition device for generating digital operating instructions, wherein the speech recognition device comprises: at least one microphone for detecting voice commands from a user; at least one conversion device for generating digital operating instructions from voice instructions; at least one transmitting device for transmitting digital operating instructions to the control device.

[0039] The individual components of the speech recognition device may be distributed across different devices and services, so that in one embodiment the microphone may be present in the input device, for example in a smartphone, a conversion device for generating digital operating instructions from voice instructions may be present by a computer-assisted service (possibly distributed to a cloud service), and a transmission device for transmitting the digital operating instructions to the control device may also be present in the input device, for example again in a smartphone.

[0040] In a preferred embodiment, the system may have at least one Internet-enabled communication device for connecting the system, in particular the control device, to the Internet, so that the system, in particular the control device, may receive information from the Internet for generating data, operating commands, and / or operating instructions, and an Internet-enabled transmission device of the system may transmit data to Internet-based services and / or to devices having an Internet connection.

[0041] In a preferred embodiment of the system, the control device and the furniture elements may be configured structurally separated from one another and may be arranged or be arranged spatially separated from one another. In such an embodiment, the control device and the furniture elements may be installed independently of one another.

[0042] In a preferred embodiment of the system, the controller has at least a user mode of operation and a configuration mode of operation.

[0043] In the user operation mode, digital operating instructions for driving and controlling at least one furniture element may be receivable by the first and / or second receiving device of the at least one control device. The user operation mode may correspond to the everyday use of the system, e.g. the everyday use of the furniture of the system after configuration of the system has been performed.

[0044] In the configuration operating mode, the first and / or second receiving device of the at least one control device may receive digital operating instructions for configuring the control device. As already mentioned above, the operating instructions can be used for the configuration of the system or of one of its parts. Such operating instructions can, for example, store in the memory of the control device which furniture elements the system includes and how these can be driven and controlled by the control instructions. Providing such a configuration operating mode allows in a simple manner an initial configuration and also a further adaptation of the system to be carried out at a later point in time.

[0045] In the configuration operating mode, the control device can store in the memory by means of digital operating instructions, for example, addresses of the receiving devices of the furniture elements, functional assignments of the furniture elements with regard to their configuration as furniture drives or furniture locks, assignment of the furniture elements to at least one furniture driveable or actuable part of the system, information for configuring the transmission protocol or the general network architecture of the system, etc.

[0046] Protection is also sought for a method for operating a system as described above, said method comprising at least the following method steps:

[0047] At least one control device receives, in a receiving method step, by means of the at least one first receiving device, at least one digital operating command transmitted according to the first transmission protocol.

[0048] Alternatively or in combination, at least one control device receives, in a receiving method step, the at least one digital operating instruction transmitted according to the second transmission protocol by means of the at least one second receiving device.

[0049] In a transmitting method step, at least one control device transmits, by means of at least one transmitting device, at least one digital control command wirelessly to a receiving device of at least one furniture element.

[0050] In such a method, flexible reception of the digital control instructions by at least one receiving device of the control device according to the first and / or second transmission protocol and wireless transmission of the digital control instructions to the furniture elements is advantageous, whereby the operation of the system as described above can be easily adjusted, realized and adapted.

[0051] It should not be excluded that at least one control device of the system, in a first forwarding processing step, forwards the operating instructions received in the receiving method step to further control devices of the system according to the first and / or second transmission protocol.

[0052] It may be advantageous, in a second forwarding method step, for at least one furniture element to wirelessly forward the at least one previously received digital control command to a receiving device of a further furniture element of the system using at least one transmitting device assigned to the furniture element.

[0053] In a preferred embodiment of the method, the digital operating instructions received in the receiving method step and the digital control instructions transmitted in the transmitting method step can be received and transmitted according to different transmission protocols, which allows the adaptation of reception and transmission to different requirements regarding range, data rate, security, energy requirements, infrastructure, redundancy, latency or availability etc.

[0054] In a preferred embodiment of the method, In the reception method step, reception can be performed according to a first transmission protocol according to the IEEE 802.11 standard and / or the Ethernet standard; and / or -In the reception method step, Bluetooth (Registered Trademark) and / or In the transmission method step, the transmission can be performed according to a third transmission protocol different from the first and second transmission protocols, according to the ShockBurst™ or Enhanced ShockBurst™ standard.

[0055] In a preferred embodiment of the method, in the transmitting method step, the transmission of the at least one digital control command to the receiving device of the at least one furniture element can be performed using at least one of the following means: The transmission may be unidirectional between the control device and the receiving device of at least one furniture element. Bidirectional communication should not be excluded, but communication carried out in both directions may contribute to lower latency and power requirements. The transmission can be directly addressed to the receiving device of at least one furniture element, which makes it possible to avoid a "pairing" before each transmission, which can have a positive effect on latency. The addresses of the receiving devices of the furniture elements can be stored, for example, in the memory of the control device in the configuration operating mode. The transmission can take place without acknowledgement by the transmitting device of the furniture element. This makes it possible, for example, to avoid the need to frequently switch from an operating mode in which the furniture element is ready to receive to an operating mode in which the furniture element is ready to transmit. Preferably, the transmission can take place without unsolicited acknowledgement. The transmission can then basically take place without acknowledgement, although in this case there are also optional measures to request an acknowledgement (for example depending on the composition of the control command). The transmission can take place without checking the readiness of the receiving device of the at least one furniture element. In this case, the receiving device of the at least one furniture element can preferably be essentially in a ready-to-receive state and does not have to be first put into a ready-to-receive state during operation. In this case, it should not be excluded that the furniture element can be put into a ready-to-transmit state by a corresponding control command. This can be achieved by means of a fixedly predefined or predefinable routing of the at least one digital control command, so that, for example, the control command transferred in the further second transmission method step can follow a fixedly predefined or predefinable section guidance between the furniture elements of the system.

[0056] In a preferred embodiment of the method, in the first generating method step, the generation of the at least one digital operating instruction can be performed by a user via a user interface. The generation can be performed by a user interacting with the user interface, -via the touch-sensitive screen of an input device; and / or - via speech input into a speech recognition device; and / or via an operating element of an input device that can be operated manually or by a pedal by the user, and / or via gesture control of an input device executable by a user.

[0057] In a preferred embodiment of the method, depending on the operating command received in the receiving method step, - in a second generation method step, different digital control instructions can be generated; and / or In the transmitting method step, different digital control commands can be transmitted.

[0058] For example, depending on the operating command generated by the user, it may be possible to drive different furniture elements and / or to drive the furniture elements differently, which may differ in terms of speed, path section, acceptability or execution.

[0059] In a preferred embodiment of the method, in the activation method step, activation of the furniture element can be effected by the received at least one digital control command. Activation can in particular comprise the driving or activation of at least one piece of furniture by the furniture element.

[0060] Activation of the at least one furniture element using the control command wirelessly received by the receiving device of the at least one furniture element may occur within a period of less than 100 ms, preferably less than 50 ms, from transmission of the digital control command by the control device.

[0061] In a preferred embodiment of the method, the at least one controller may have at least one user mode of operation and a configuration mode of operation.

[0062] In this case, in a user operating mode, the digital operating instructions can be received by a receiving device of the at least one control device for driving and controlling at least one furniture element, and in a configuration operating mode, the digital operating instructions can be received by a receiving device of the at least one control device for configuring the control device.

[0063] As already mentioned above, the operating instructions can be used for the configuration of the system or of one of its parts. With such operating instructions, a configuration method step can, for example, store in a memory of the control device which furniture elements the system contains and how these can be actuated and controlled by the control instructions. By providing such a configuration operating mode, an initial configuration and also a further adaptation of the system carried out at a later point in time can be carried out in a simple manner.

[0064] In the configuration operating mode, in a configuration method step in the control device, digital operating instructions can store in the memory, for example, addresses of the receiving devices of the furniture elements, functional assignments of the furniture elements with regard to their configuration as furniture drives or furniture locks, assignment of the furniture elements to at least one furniture drivable or actuable part of the system, information for configuring the transmission protocol or the general network architecture of the system, etc.

[0065] Digital operating instructions for configuring the system can be generated, transmitted, and received as well as operating instructions for operating the system.

[0066] Protection is also sought for a computer program product, which comprises instructions which, when executed by a computing unit, cause the computing unit to perform a method as described above from a memory unit which forms a data connection with the computing unit or is capable of providing such a data connection.

[0067] The computer program product may, for example, be stored in at least one memory unit of the controller and be executable by at least one computing unit of the controller.

[0068] Protection is also required for the control devices for such systems.

[0069] Preferably, such a control device may include at least one computing unit and at least one memory unit forming or being able to provide a data connection with said computing unit.

[0070] An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0071] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a system. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of an input device. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a further embodiment of the system. [Figure 4a] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of furniture. [Figure 4b] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of furniture. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of furniture. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of furniture. [Figure 7] 1 is a schematic procedure of an embodiment of the method. [Figure 8] 4 is a schematic procedure of a further embodiment of the method.

[0072] 1 shows an embodiment of a system 1 consisting of a furniture element 2, for example a furniture drive 3 or furniture lock 4, capable of driving or activating at least one piece 5 of a piece of furniture 6, and a control device 7 for driving and controlling the at least one furniture element 2 by means of control commands by operation commands. The control device 7 has at least one transmitting device 8 capable of wirelessly transmitting at least one digital control command to a receiving device 11 assigned to the furniture element 2. By means of a first receiving device 9, the digital operating command transmitted according to a first transmission protocol 21 can be received, and by means of a second receiving device 10, the digital operating command transmitted according to a second transmission protocol 22 different from the first transmission protocol 21 can be received.

[0073] By using a transmitting device 8 capable of wirelessly transmitting at least one digital control command to at least one furniture element 2, the at least one digital operating command can be transmitted according to a third transmission protocol 23, which in this embodiment is different from the first transmission protocol 21 and the second transmission protocol 22.

[0074] The first transmission protocol 21 may preferably be a wireless transmission protocol according to the IEEE 802.11 standard and / or a wired transmission protocol according to the Ethernet standard. In the embodiment of the first receiving device 9 shown in Fig. 1, it is configured for data transmission according to the IEEE 802.11 standard and the Ethernet standard. However, it is also conceivable to provide corresponding receiving devices that are configured differently from what is shown, but separately from each other.

[0075] The second transmission protocol 22 is preferably Bluetooth (Registered Trademark) It may be a standard wireless transmission protocol.

[0076] Preferably, the digital control instructions may be transmittable according to a third transmission protocol 23 different from the first and second transmission protocols 21, 22, as shown in this embodiment, where this third transmission protocol 23 may be a wireless transmission protocol according to the ShockBurst™ or Enhanced ShockBurst™ standard.

[0077] Optionally, the furniture element 2 may comprise a transmitting device 34. It is conceivable that by means of this optional transmission device 34 digital control instructions can be transmitted according to the third transmission protocol 23.

[0078] In the illustrated embodiment, the control device 7 comprises a computing unit 25 and a memory unit 26 which forms or can provide a data connection 27 to the computing unit 25. In such an embodiment, the control device 7 may be suitable for a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed by the computing unit 25, cause the computing unit 25 to carry out a method from the memory unit 26 as further described below.

[0079] The control device 7 can have at least one user operating mode and a configuration operating mode, where in a user operating mode, digital operating instructions for driving and controlling at least one furniture element 2 can be received by the first receiving device 9 and / or the second receiving device 10 of the at least one control device 7, and / or In a configuration operating mode, digital operating instructions for configuring the control device 7 are receivable by the first receiving device 9 and / or the second receiving device 10 of the at least one control device 7 .

[0080] In the configuration operating mode, the control device 7 can store in the memory unit by means of digital operating instructions, for example, addresses of the receiving devices 11 of the furniture elements 2, functional assignments of the furniture elements 2 with regard to their configuration as furniture drives 3 or furniture locks 4, assignment of the furniture elements 2 to driveable or actuable parts 5 of at least one piece of furniture 6 of the system 1, information for configuring the transmission protocols 21, 22, 23 or the general network architecture of the system 1, etc.

[0081] In the embodiment shown, the control device 7 and the furniture elements 2 of the system 1 are constructed structurally separated from one another and can be arranged or are arranged spatially separated from one another.

[0082] FIG. 2 shows a particularly preferred embodiment of an input device 14 , which in this case has a different embodiment of the user interface 12 .

[0083] As shown, the user interface 12 includes: by a touch-sensitive screen 13 of an input device 14, and / or by speech input to a speech recognition device 15, and / or by means of an operating element 16 of an input device 14 which can be operated manually or by a pedal by the user, and / or It can be constituted by gesture control of the input device 14 (here for example using the camera 30) which can be performed by the user.

[0084] The input device 14 allows, for example, for generating and transmitting operating commands which allow for the drive control of the furniture elements 2, the configuration of the system 1, in particular the control device 7, and the switching of the control device 7 and the furniture elements 2 into different operating modes.

[0085] Unlike what is shown, the individual user interfaces 12 may be divided into different input devices 14 that are configured separately from one another.

[0086] In the embodiment shown, the input device 14 comprises an associated transceiver device 19, which allows data transmission according to the transmission protocols 21, 22. Alternatively to what is shown, this input device 14 can also comprise more or less separate devices for data transmission.

[0087] The voice recognition device 15 for generating digital operating instructions is, in the illustrated embodiment, at least one microphone 17 for detecting voice commands of a user; at least one conversion device 18 for generating digital operating instructions from voice instructions, in this case the conversion device 18 being configured with instructions from a memory unit 29 executable by a calculation unit 28; at least one transmitting device, which in this embodiment is exemplarily configured as a transmitting / receiving device 19 of the input device 14, for transmitting digital operating instructions to the control device 7;

[0088] Differing from the one shown in the embodiment of Fig. 2, a microphone 17 for the voice recognition device 15 may be present in the input device 14, for example in a smartphone, a conversion device 15 for generating digital operating instructions from voice instructions may be present by means of a computer-assisted service, possibly distributed in a cloud service (see Fig. 3), and a transmission device for transmitting the digital operating instructions to the control device 7 may also be present in the input device 14, for example again in a smartphone.

[0089] Gesture control of the input device 14 executable by the user can likewise be achieved using sensors, in the illustrated embodiment for example a camera 30, to provide instructions executable by the computing unit 28 from a memory unit 29.

[0090] In FIG. 3 a particularly preferred embodiment of the system 1 is shown.

[0091] The system firstly comprises different furniture elements 2 configured as furniture drives 3 for different furniture flaps and furniture doors and as a furniture lock 4. The system 1 further comprises a control device 7 for driving and controlling the furniture elements 2, whereby the control device 7 may essentially be configured according to the embodiment shown in FIG.

[0092] In the illustrated embodiment, the system 1 has different input devices 14, from which at least one digital operating instruction can be transmitted to the control device, each encoded according to a first transmission protocol 21 and / or according to a second transmission protocol 22 different from the first transmission protocol 21. Correspondingly, it may be envisaged that the at least one control device 7 comprises at least one first receiving device 9, from which the at least one digital operating instruction transmitted according to the first transmission protocol 21 can be received, and at least one second receiving device 10, from which the at least one digital operating instruction transmitted according to the second transmission protocol 22 different from the first transmission protocol 21 can be received.

[0093] The different input devices 14 may for example be configured in the form of the embodiment of the input device 14 shown in Fig. 2, in the form of operating elements of kitchen appliances such as a microwave oven or a coffee machine, or in the form of a computer 33, a wireless button 31 or in the form of a smart device such as for example a so-called intelligent personal assistant. Such an input device 14 can basically have the functionality as in the embodiment shown in Fig. 2.

[0094] In the illustrated embodiment, the system 1 comprises at least one Internet-enabled communication device 20 for connecting the system 1, in particular the control device 7, to the Internet 24. Data transmission can take place according to a first transmission protocol 21 and / or according to a second transmission protocol 22 different from the first transmission protocol 21.

[0095] Besides the embodiment of the speech recognition device 15 as described above, the system 1 may alternatively or supplementarily have further embodiments of the speech recognition device 15 for generating digital operating instructions, which further embodiments may comprise at least the following components or component assemblies in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3: at least one microphone 17 for detecting voice commands of a user; at least one conversion device 18 for generating digital operating instructions from the voice instructions, whereby this conversion device 18 may be implemented by a computer-assisted service, for example distributed in a cloud service 32 on the Internet 24 as shown here; at least one transmitting device for transmitting digital operating instructions to the control device 7.

[0096] It is conceivable that the digital control instructions transmitted according to the third transmission protocol 23 and received by the receiving device 11 of the furniture element 2 can be transferred to at least one further furniture element 2 by means of the transmitting device 34 of the furniture element 2. Similarly, this is also conceivable for a further transmission of digital control instructions between at least two control devices 7.

[0097] FIG. 4 a shows an embodiment of a piece of furniture 6 as a top cabinet having a part 5 in the form of a flip-up swivel flap which can be actuated by a furniture element 2 configured as a furniture drive 3 .

[0098] FIG. 4 b shows an embodiment of a piece of furniture 6 as a drawer box having parts 5 in the form of individual drawers which can be locked by furniture elements 2 configured as furniture locks 4 .

[0099] FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of a piece of furniture 6 as a drawer box having parts 5 in the form of individual drawers which can be driven by a furniture element 2 configured as a furniture drive 3 .

[0100] FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of a piece of furniture 6 as a refrigerator having a part 5 in the form of a furniture door which can be driven by a furniture element 2 configured as a furniture drive 3 .

[0101] 7 shows in a block diagram the steps of an embodiment of a method for operating the system 1 as described above, with reference numbers being used to indicate previously described parts of the embodiment of the system 1. For the operation of the system 1, it is not necessary to always execute all the mentioned method steps.

[0102] The method, in the illustrated embodiment, comprises the following method steps: - receiving, by at least one control device 7, in a receiving method step c, at least one digital operating command transmitted according to a first transmission protocol 21 by means of at least one first receiving device 9; and / or - receiving, by at least one control device 7, in a receiving method step c, by means of at least one second receiving device 10, at least one digital operating command transmitted according to a second transmission protocol 22; - the at least one control device 7 transmits, in a transmission method step f, by means of the at least one transmitting device, the at least one digital control command wirelessly to a receiving device 11 of the at least one furniture element 2.

[0103] The digital operating instructions received in receiving method step c and the digital control instructions transmitted in transmitting method step f can be received and transmitted according to different radio transmission protocols 21, 22, 23.

[0104] Here, in a reception method step c, the reception is performed according to a first transmission protocol 21 according to the IEEE 802.11 standard and / or the Ethernet standard, and / or In the reception method step c, the reception is performed by using Bluetooth (Registered Trademark) according to a second transmission protocol 22 according to the standard, and / or In a transmission method step f, the transmission can take place according to a third transmission protocol 23 according to the ShockBurst™ or Enhanced ShockBurst™ standard, which is different from the first transmission protocol 21 and the second transmission protocol 22.

[0105] 8 shows in block diagram form the steps of a particularly preferred embodiment of a method for operating an embodiment of the system 1 as described above, again with reference numbers indicating the previously described parts of the embodiment of the system 1. For the operation of the system 1, it is not necessary to always execute all the mentioned method steps.

[0106] In the illustrated embodiment, the method includes at least the following method steps: -First production method step a - Operation command transmission method step B - Receiving method step C - optional first transfer method step d - second generation method step e -Transmission method step f - second receiving method step g - optional second transfer method step h -Startup Step i - Configuration Step j

[0107] In the first generation method step a), the generation of the at least one digital operating instruction can be performed by a user via a user interface 12, where the generation is performed by a user interacting with the user interface 12, such as by: via a touch-sensitive screen of the input device 14, and / or - via speech input into a speech recognition device; and / or via operating elements of the input device 14 that can be operated manually or by pedals by the user, and / or via gesture controls of the input device 14 that can be performed by the user.

[0108] The transmission of at least one digital operating command to at least one control device 7 can take place in an operating command transmission method step b.

[0109] Receiving at least one digital operating instruction may occur in a receiving method step c in a similar manner to the implementation of the method of FIG.

[0110] In the user operating mode of the control device 7 , reception of digital operating commands takes place by at least one receiving device 9 , 10 of the control device 7 for driving and controlling at least one furniture element 2 .

[0111] In the configuration operating mode of the control device 7, reception of digital operating instructions is performed by at least one receiving device 9, 10 of the control device 7 in order to configure the control device 7, in which case the configuration can be performed in a corresponding configuration method step j.

[0112] Optionally, in a forwarding method step d, the operating instructions received in the receiving method step c can be forwarded to at least one further control device 7, for example to increase the range.

[0113] In a second generating method step e, at least one control instruction can be generated using the at least one operating instruction received in the receiving method step c.

[0114] In a second generating method step e, depending on the operating instructions received in the receiving method step c, - in a generation method step e., different digital control instructions can be generated; and / or In the transmission method step f, different digital control commands can be transmitted.

[0115] The transmission of the at least one digital control instruction can take place in a transmission method step f similarly to the method embodiment of FIG.

[0116] In a second receiving method step g, the reception of the at least one digital control command can take place by a receiving device 11 of the at least one furniture element 2 .

[0117] Optionally, in a second forwarding method step h, the control commands received in the receiving method step c can be forwarded to at least one further furniture element 2, for example to increase the range.

[0118] In the activation method step i, activation of the furniture element 2, in particular the driving or activation of at least one piece 5 of furniture 6 by the furniture element 2, can be effected by at least one received digital control command. [Explanation of symbols]

[0119] 1 System 2 Furniture elements 3 Furniture Drive Unit 4. Furniture Lock 5 parts 6 Furniture 7 Control device 8. Transmitting device of control device 9. First receiving device 10 Second receiving device 11 Receiving device for furniture elements 12 User Interface 13. Touch-sensitive screen 14 Input Devices 15 Voice recognition device 16 Operational elements 17 Microphone 18 Conversion Device 19 Input device transmitter / receiver 20. Communications Equipment 21 First Transmission Protocol 22 Second Transmission Protocol 23 Third Transmission Protocol 24 Internet 25 Computing Units 26 Memory Unit 27 Data Connection 28 Computational Units 29 Memory Unit 30 Camera 31 Wireless button 32 Cloud Services 33 Personal Computers 34 Furniture element transmitter a. First production method step b Operation command transmission method steps c Receiving method steps d. First transfer method step e. second generation method step f Transmission method steps g. Second receiving method step h Second transfer method step i Startup steps j Configuration steps

Claims

1. A system (1) comprising at least one furniture element (2) as a furniture drive (3) or furniture lock (4) by which at least one part (5) of a piece of furniture (6) can be driven or activated, and at least one control device (7) for driving and controlling the at least one furniture element (2) by means of a control command according to an operation command, the at least one control device (7) comprises at least one transmitting device (8) capable of wirelessly transmitting at least one digital control command to the at least one furniture element (2), at least one first receiving device (9) capable of receiving at least one digital operating command transmitted according to a first transmission protocol (21), and at least one second receiving device (10) capable of receiving at least one digital operating command transmitted according to a second transmission protocol (22) different from the first transmission protocol (21), the at least one transmitting device (8) capable of wirelessly transmitting the at least one digital control command to the at least one furniture element (2), transmitting the at least one digital operating command according to a third transmission protocol (23) different from the first transmission protocol (21) and the second transmission protocol (22); said at least one control device (7) transmitting, by means of said at least one transmitting device (8), at least one digital control command wirelessly to a receiving device (11) of at least one furniture element (2); characterised in that the transmission of the at least one digital control command to a receiving device (11) of the at least one furniture element (2) is performed without unsolicited acknowledgement of receipt by a transmitting device of the furniture element (2), System (1).

2. said first transmission protocol (21) being a wireless transmission protocol according to the IEEE 802.11 standard and / or a wired transmission protocol according to the Ethernet standard; and / or said second transmission protocol (22) being a wireless transmission protocol according to the Bluetooth standard; and / or the digital control instructions are transmittable according to a third transmission protocol (23) different from the first transmission protocol (21) and from the second transmission protocol (22), the third transmission protocol (23) being a radio transmission protocol according to the ShockBurst® or Enhanced ShockBurst® standard; The system of claim 1 .

3. The digital operating instructions are generateable by a user via a user interface (12), the user interface (12) comprising: by the touch-sensitive screen (13) of the input device (14), and / or - by voice input into a voice recognition device (15), and / or by means of an operating element (16) of an input device (14) that can be operated manually or by pedal by the user, and / or - constituted by gesture control of the input device (14) executable by the user, 3. The system according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The system (1) includes at least one speech recognition device (15) for generating digital operating instructions, the speech recognition device (15) comprising: at least one microphone (17) for detecting voice commands of a user; at least one conversion device (18) for generating digital operating instructions from said voice instructions; at least one transmitting device (19) for transmitting digital operating instructions to said control device (7); The system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising:

5. The system (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the system (1) comprises at least one Internet-enabled communication device (20) for connecting the system (1) to the Internet (24).

6. The system of claim 5, wherein said at least one Internet-enabled communication device (20) is for connecting said control device (7) to said Internet (24).

7. 7. The system according to claim 1, wherein the control device (7) and the furniture element (2) are constructed structurally separated from one another and can be arranged or are arranged spatially separated from one another.

8. The control device (7) has at least one user operation mode and a configuration operation mode, in said user operating mode, said first receiving device (9) and / or said second receiving device (10) of said at least one control device (7) are capable of receiving digital operating instructions for driving and controlling said at least one furniture element (2); and / or in said configuration operating mode, said first receiving device (9) and / or said second receiving device (10) of said at least one control device (7) are capable of receiving digital operating instructions for configuring said control device (7); A system according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. A method for operating a system (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 8, comprising the steps of: The method comprises the following method steps: at least one control device (7) receiving, in a receiving method step (c), by means of at least one first receiving device (9), at least one digital operating command transmitted according to a first transmission protocol (21); and / or - said at least one control device (7) receiving, in a receiving method step (c), by means of at least one second receiving device (10), at least one digital operating command transmitted according to a second transmission protocol (22); - said at least one control device (7) transmitting, in a transmission method step (f), by means of at least one transmitting device, at least one digital control command wirelessly to a receiving device (11) of at least one furniture element (2); Contains In said transmission method step (f), in which said at least one digital control command can be wirelessly transmitted to said at least one furniture element (2), said at least one digital operating command is transmitted according to a third transmission protocol (23) different from said first transmission protocol (21) and said second transmission protocol (22), characterised in that in said transmission method step (f) the transmission of said at least one digital control command to a receiving device (11) of said at least one furniture element (2) is performed without unsolicited acknowledgement of receipt by the transmitting device of said furniture element (2), method.

10. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the digital operating instructions received in the receiving method step (c) and the digital control instructions transmitted in the transmitting method step (f) are received and transmitted according to different transmission protocols.

11. in said reception method step (c), the reception is performed according to said first transmission protocol (21) according to the IEEE 802.11 standard and / or the Ethernet standard, and / or - in said reception method step (c), the reception is performed according to said second transmission protocol (22) according to the Bluetooth® standard, and / or in said transmission method step (f), the transmission takes place according to a third transmission protocol (23) according to the ShockBurst® or Enhanced ShockBurst® standard, which is different from said first transmission protocol (21) and from said second transmission protocol (22); 11. The method according to claim 9 or 10.

12. In the transmission method step (f), the transmission of the at least one digital control command to a receiving device (11) of the at least one furniture element (2) comprises: - unidirectional between the control device (7) and the receiving device (11) of the at least one furniture element (2), and / or - directly addressed to the receiving device (11) of the at least one furniture element (2), and / or - without checking the reception readiness of the receiving device (11) of the at least one furniture element (2), and / or - by means of a fixedly predefined or predefined routing of said at least one digital control instruction, 12. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 11.

13. In a first generation method step (a), the generation of the at least one digital operating instruction is performed by a user via a user interface (12), the generation being performed by a user interacting with the user interface (12) by: via the touch-sensitive screen of the input device (14), and / or via voice input into a voice recognition device, and / or via operating elements of an input device (14) that can be operated manually or pedaled by the user, and / or via gesture control of the input device (14) executable by the user, 13. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 12.

14. Depending on the operation command received in the receiving method step (c), - in a second generation method step (e), different digital control instructions are generated; and / or In said transmission method step (f) different digital control instructions are transmitted, 14. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 13.

15. 15. The method according to claim 9, wherein in the activation method step (i) activation of the furniture element (2) is effected by the received at least one digital control command, and activation of the at least one furniture element (2) using the control command wirelessly received by the receiving device (11) of the at least one furniture element (2) is effected within a period of less than 100 ms from transmission of the digital control command by the control device (7).

16. 16. The method according to claim 15, wherein in the activation method step (i) the driving or activation of at least one piece (5) of furniture (6) by said furniture element (2) is effected by at least one received digital control command.

17. 17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the activation of the at least one furniture element (2) using a control command wirelessly received by the receiving device (11) of the at least one furniture element (2) is performed within a period of less than 50 ms from the transmission of a digital control command by the control device (7).

18. said at least one control device (7) having at least one user operating mode and a configuration operating mode; in said user operating mode, the reception of digital operating instructions is effected by said receiving device (9, 10) of said at least one control device (7) for driving and controlling said at least one furniture element (2); and / or in said configuration operating mode, reception of digital operating instructions is performed by said receiving device (9, 10) of said at least one control device (7) for configuring said control device (7); 18. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 17.

19. 19. A computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed by a computing unit (25), cause said computing unit (25) to carry out the method according to any one of claims 9 to 18 from a memory unit (26) capable of forming or providing a data connection (27) with said computing unit (25).

20. A control device (7) for a system (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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