Appliance Failure Prediction With Delay-Maintenance Control

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Solution Overview

Problem

There is a need for a method and apparatus to efficiently provide customer visit services for repairing appliance failures and maintain normal operations by considering user usage patterns and schedules based on predicted failures.

Innovation Solution

A system utilizing a managing server with a failure prediction knowledge database to predict appliance failures and generate normal operation maintenance information, allowing appliances to operate in a mode that delays failures and providing home visit repair services to fix both predicted and concurrent failures during a single engineer visit.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If failure prediction and maintenance scheduling are implemented, then appliance reliability is improved, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveappliance reliabilityVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary failure prediction by analyzing appliance data before actual failures occur. The server predicts potential failures and schedules maintenance visits in advance, allowing proactive intervention rather than reactive repair, thus improving reliability while managing complexity through advance planning

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The appliance system automatically monitors its own operational data and transmits it to the server for analysis. The system self-diagnoses potential issues and triggers maintenance requests without human intervention, improving reliability through continuous self-monitoring while reducing the perceived complexity for users

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

2Productivity

If multiple failures are repaired during a single engineer visit, then productivity is improved, but the difficulty of detecting and measuring increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improverepair service productivityVSAvoidfailure detection difficulty
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDifficulty of detecting and measuring

Solution Approach 1:

The server system performs multiple functions: it predicts failures, schedules maintenance visits, coordinates engineer dispatch, and manages repair tracking all through a single unified platform. This multi-functional approach increases productivity by consolidating services while the systematic data management reduces the difficulty of detecting and measuring multiple failures

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The system continuously collects appliance operational data, analyzes it for failure patterns, and uses this feedback to improve prediction accuracy. The feedback loop between data collection, analysis, and prediction refinement makes it easier to detect and measure multiple failure types by establishing baseline patterns for comparison

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

3Duration of action of moving object

If appliances operate in normal operation maintenance mode to delay failures, then duration of action is improved, but loss of energy increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveappliance operational durationVSAvoidenergy consumption
Core Design Contradiction:
Duration of action of moving objectVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The system dynamically adjusts appliance operation modes based on real-time condition monitoring and failure predictions. Instead of maintaining a fixed conservative mode, the appliance operates in optimal performance mode when conditions are good and transitions to maintenance mode when degradation is detected, extending operational duration while minimizing unnecessary energy consumption

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The system changes operational parameters such as temperature thresholds, cycle frequencies, and power levels based on appliance condition and environmental factors. By dynamically adjusting these parameters rather than maintaining fixed conservative settings, the system extends appliance life through controlled stress reduction while minimizing energy loss from overly cautious operation

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentEP4273775B1Method and apparatus for controlling appliance based on failure prediction
Publication Date: 2025.11.12 SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO LTD
  • EP4273775B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP4273775B1 patent drawingFigure 3~4
  • EP4273775B1 patent drawingFigure 5

AI summary

The disclosure provides a method of an appliance, including receiving prediction information indicating a predicted failure of the appliance, obtaining a schedule for which use of a repair service for repairing the predicted failure based on the prediction information is available, transmitting a signal for requesting maintenance information used to delay the predicted failure and maintain a normal operation of the appliance if the obtained schedule is after a predicted failure time point indicated by the prediction information, receiving the maintenance information, and operating based on the maintenance information.