US 10,294,600 B2Granted

Remote detection of washer/dryer operation/fault condition

AssigneeEchostar Technologies International Corporation

InventorWilliam Michael Beals

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Abstract

Discussed herein is a system for detecting an operating condition of a clothes washing machine or a clothes drying machine, which can include a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) sensor, the MEMS sensor being physically attached to the clothes washing or drying machine and a computerized controller, such as a home automation controller, can be in communication with the MEMS sensor. The computerized controller can receive signals from the MEMS sensor that indicate the state of the clothes washing or drying machine. After receiving signals indicating the state of the clothes washing or drying machine, the computerized controller can use the signals to determine the operating condition of the clothes washing or drying machine and send a notification to a user device about the clothes washing or drying machine including the operating condition of the clothes washing or drying machine.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A system, comprising:

a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) component, the MEMS component being physically attached to a clothes machine, the MEMS component comprising:
a MEMS sensor, and
an antenna;
and
a computerized controller of a home automation system, the computerized controller being communicatively coupled to the MEMS component, and the computerized controller comprising:
one or more processors, and
a memory device having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
receive a user request from a user device for a status of the clothes machine,
transmit a request for the status of the clothes machine to the antenna of the MEMS component,
receive, in response to the request for the status, a first signal from the antenna of the MEMS component indicating a first state of the clothes machine,
determine a first operating condition of the clothes machine based on the first state,
send a first notification to the user device indicating the first operating condition of the clothes machine,
receive a second signal after the first signal from the antenna of the MEMS component indicating a second state of the clothes machine,
determine a second operating condition of the clothes machine based on the first signal and the second signal, and
send a second notification to the user device indicating the second operating condition of the clothes machine.

12 more elements

A processor readable memory device having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

receive a user request from a user device for a status of a clothes machine,
transmit a request for the status of the clothes machine to an antenna of a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) component physically attached to the clothes machine,
receive, in response to the request for the status, a first signal from the MEMS component indicating a first state of the clothes machine;
determine a first operating condition of the clothes machine based on the first state;
send a first notification to the user device indicating the first operating condition of the clothes machine;
receive a second signal after the first signal from the antenna of the MEMS component indicating a second state of the clothes machine;
determine a second operating condition of the clothes machine based on the first signal and the second signal;
and
send a second notification to the user device indicating the second operating condition of the clothes machine.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 15/230,155Filed 5 Aug 2016
Published: US 2018/0038029 A18 Feb 2018
Granted: 21 May 2019
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification12 codes

H04L 12/2825
Reporting information sensed by appliance or service execution status of appliance services in a home automation network: reporting to a device…
D06F 33/47
Control of washing machines characterised by the purpose or target of the control: responding to irregular working conditions, e.g. malfunctioning…
H04L 12/2803
Characterised by path configuration, e.g. LAN [Local Area Networks] or WAN [Wide Area Networks]: home automation networks
H04L 12/2834
Processing of data at an internetworking point of a home automation network: switching of information between an external network and a home network