Touch-sensitive operating display for setting a program of a domestic appliance, and corresponding method
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users of household appliances like dishwashers and washing machines often select programs randomly or based on habit due to a lack of awareness about the effects of their selections on parameters such as time, energy consumption, and noise level.
Innovation Solution
A touch-sensitive operating display that visually represents multiple parameters, allowing users to intuitively adjust one parameter while seeing the effects on others, with display areas arranged in shapes like circles or triangles to illustrate trade-offs between parameters like energy, time, and noise level, and incorporating sensors for real-time adjustments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If users select programs based on habit or randomly, then the operation is simple and quick, but the user is unaware of the effects on time, energy consumption, and noise level
Solution Approach 1:
The operating display provides visual feedback by showing multiple parameters (time, energy consumption, noise level) that change in response to user selections. When users interact with the display to select or customize programs, they immediately see how their choices affect different parameters, transforming random selection into informed decision-making without complicating the operation process
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs color-coded display areas to represent different parameters (e.g., blue for time, yellow for energy, red for noise). These visual color indicators provide intuitive information about parameter states and changes, allowing users to quickly understand the effects of their selections without requiring detailed technical knowledge
2Loss of information
If the operating display shows multiple parameters with dependencies, then user awareness and informed selection improve, but the display complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The operating display is segmented into multiple distinct display areas, each dedicated to showing a specific parameter (time, energy consumption, noise level). This segmentation allows complex information to be presented in an organized, manageable way where each parameter is visually separated but interconnected through the program selection process, reducing cognitive load while maintaining comprehensive information display
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms the abstract concept of parameter dependencies into a visual spatial dimension on the display screen. By arranging parameters in separate display areas with visual connections or proportional representations, the complex multidimensional relationships between parameters become intuitively understandable through their spatial arrangement and relative sizing on the two-dimensional display surface
3Ease of operation
If display areas are arranged in shapes like circles or triangles to illustrate trade-offs, then intuitive understanding of parameter interdependencies improves, but the design complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs circular or curved arrangements of display areas to visually represent the cyclical and interdependent nature of program parameters. The curved layout naturally illustrates how adjusting one parameter affects others in a continuous relationship, making the trade-offs intuitively clear while maintaining aesthetic simplicity and avoiding complex geometric designs
Data Source
Figure 1~2b
Figure 2c~3
Figure 4a~5
AI summary
The invention relates to a touch-sensitive operating display (1, 8, 12, 18) for setting a program of a household appliance, to a household appliance (14, 15) comprising such an operating display, to a computer program product, and to a corresponding method (M). The household appliance has multiple different programs, each of which can be defined using multiple parameters that are interdependent. The operating display has multiple display regions (2, 3, 4), each of which represents a parameter. By touching the operating display, the parameters of the display regions (2, 3, 4) can be changed. However, a change of a parameter of one display region leads to the simultaneous change of the parameter of another display region.