Disabling WiFi disconnect on internet enabled appliances
AssigneeHaier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.
InventorsChad Michael Helms, Abdelghani Elfarra
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for operating an appliance, the appliance including a user interface and a wireless connection module. The method includes establishing a wireless connection between the appliance and a wireless network via the wireless connection module, determining that the appliance is communicating with a remote server via the wireless connection module in response to establishing the wireless connection, and disabling a disconnect button on the user interface for disconnecting the appliance from the wireless connection in response to determining the communication between the appliance and the remote server.
Claims17
A method for operating an appliance, the appliance comprising a user interface and a wireless connection module, the method comprising:
- establishing a wireless connection between the appliance and a wireless network via the wireless connection module;
- determining that the appliance is communicating with a remote server via the wireless connection module in response to establishing the wireless connection;
- preventing a local user from disconnecting the appliance from the wireless connection in response to determining the communication between the appliance and the remote server, wherein preventing the local user from disconnecting the appliance from the wireless connection comprises disabling a disconnect button on the user interface;
- determining that the communication between the appliance and the remote server has been disrupted for a predetermined amount of time;
- and
- enabling the disconnect button on the user interface for disconnecting the appliance from the wireless connection.
An appliance, comprising:
- a user interface comprising at least one network button for connecting to or disconnecting from a wireless network;
- a wireless connection module provided in the appliance and in communication with the user interface;
- and
- a controller provided in the appliance and in communication with the user interface and the wireless connection module, the controller configured for performing a series of operations, the series of operations comprising:
- establishing a wireless connection between the appliance and a wireless network via the wireless connection module;
- determining that the appliance is communicating with a remote server via the wireless connection module in response to establishing the wireless connection;
- disabling the network button on the user interface for disconnecting the appliance from the wireless connection in response to determining the communication between the appliance and the remote server;
- determining that the communication between the appliance and the remote server has been disrupted for a predetermined amount of time;
- and
- enabling the network button on the user interface for disconnecting the appliance from the wireless connection.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.