Home appliance and control method for controlling same
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional modular home appliances operate independently when stacked, making it inconvenient for users to control multiple appliances simultaneously.
Innovation Solution
A home appliance with a communicator and processor that identifies and establishes communication connections with adjacent appliances based on received signals, including identification information and arrangement state, allowing for collective control of stacked modules.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If modular home appliances are arranged in a stacked form, then the planar space occupied is reduced, but the user must separately control each appliance which increases operational complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple stacked modular home appliances into a single controllable unit by establishing communication connections between them. The processor identifies adjacent appliances through signal reception and pairs them together, allowing unified control through a single interface rather than requiring separate control for each appliance, thus resolving the operational complexity issue while maintaining space-saving stacked arrangement
Solution Approach 2:
The home appliance is designed with universal control capability that can manage both individual operation and collective control of stacked appliances. The processor can switch between controlling the appliance independently and controlling it as part of a stacked group, providing multi-functional control modes that adapt to different usage scenarios
2Reliability
If modular home appliances operate independently, then each appliance can function autonomously, but user convenience deteriorates due to separate input requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The control system dynamically adapts its operation mode based on the configuration. When appliances are stacked and connected, the system transitions from independent operation to collective control mode. The processor automatically detects the stacked arrangement through signal exchange and adjusts the control interface to enable unified control, while maintaining the ability to switch back to independent operation if needed
3Ease of operation
If communication connection is established between stacked appliances, then collective control is enabled, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The processor acts as an intermediary that manages communication between stacked appliances. It receives signals from adjacent appliances, identifies them through embedded identification information, and establishes pairing relationships. This intermediary approach simplifies the communication architecture by centralizing the connection management function in the processor rather than requiring direct peer-to-peer communication protocols between all appliance pairs
Data Source
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AI summary
A home appliance is disclosed. The home appliance comprises: a communication unit; and a processor for receiving a signal including identification information of external home appliances from at least one external home appliance through the communication unit for a preset amount of time, identifying an external home appliance arranged adjacently to the home appliance on the basis of the received signal, and performing a communication connection with the identified external home appliance, when an event for the communication connection with the at least one external home appliance occurs.