Wireless Appliance Display Coupling for Long-Life Smart Functions

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Solution Overview

Problem

Household appliances with additional functions face challenges due to the mismatch between their service life and the service life of the platform providing these functions, leading to unreliable performance and high costs associated with equipping them with powerful processing facilities.

Innovation Solution

Wirelessly couple a household appliance with a mobile device, utilizing the mobile device's processing capabilities to handle additional functions, where the appliance acts as a 'dumb terminal' for output and input, with sensors and communication facilities enabling seamless interaction and control.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If the household appliance is equipped with a powerful processing facility to provide additional functions, then the functionality and versatility of the appliance is improved, but the manufacturing cost and device complexity increase

Engineering Contradiction:

ImprovefunctionalityVSAvoidprocessing facility

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the processing facility from the household appliance and relocates it to an external mobile device. The appliance retains only the minimal processing needed for basic operations, while the mobile device handles additional functions like recipe management, making the system versatile without increasing appliance complexity

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The mobile device serves as a universal platform that can provide multiple different functions (recipes, notifications, control interfaces) to the household appliance. This single universal device replaces what would otherwise require multiple specialized components in the appliance itself

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

2Adaptability or versatility

If the household appliance is equipped with a powerful processing facility to provide additional functions, then the functionality of the appliance is improved, but the manufacturing cost increases

Engineering Contradiction:

ImprovefunctionalityVSAvoidmanufacturing cost

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

By extracting the expensive processing facility from the appliance and placing it in the user's existing mobile device, the patent eliminates the need to manufacture and install costly hardware in every appliance, significantly reducing manufacturing costs while maintaining functionality

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent uses the user's existing mobile device as a copy of a processing platform, eliminating the need to create a new processing facility in the appliance. This leverages already-manufactured devices to provide additional functions without incremental manufacturing cost

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

3Reliability

If the additional function is updated regularly on the household appliance, then the functionality remains current and useful, but the service life of the appliance exceeds the serviceable life of the platform

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvefunction reliabilityVSAvoidservice life

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDuration of action of stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent makes the functional platform dynamic by using the mobile device, which can be easily updated with new functions and content. When the mobile device becomes obsolete, it can be replaced without replacing the entire appliance, allowing the appliance hardware to outlive its software functionality

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The patent segments the system into a long-lived appliance hardware component and a short-lived software/platform component on the mobile device. This allows each component to have its own replacement cycle, with the appliance lasting much longer than the platform providing additional functions

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

4Ease of manufacture

If the household appliance uses a mobile device for additional functions, then the processing costs are reduced, but the dependency on external devices increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemanufacturing costVSAvoidsystem dependency

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a wireless communication interface as an intermediary between the appliance and mobile device. This standardized interface layer manages the dependency relationship, allowing the appliance to work with any compatible mobile device without direct complex integration

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS12563118B2Method of wirelessly coupling a household appliance to a mobile device, household appliance, mobile device and system

Publication Date: 2026.02.24 BSH HAUSGERATE GMBH

AI summary

A method includes wirelessly coupling a household appliance having an output apparatus with a mobile device. The output apparatus includes an optical display having at least two display regions. The processing facility is configured to display information of the household appliance on a first display region and to display the output of the mobile device on a second display region. The information of the household appliance relates to an operating parameter or a working state of the household appliance, so that the household appliance remains controllable independently of a function of the mobile device. A household appliance, a mobile device and a system including a household appliance and a mobile device, are also provided.