# US 12,760,880 B2 · Home appliance provided with viewing window > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,760,880 B2 - Document ID: US12760880B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 18/937,357 - Filed: 2024-11-05 - Published: 2025-02-20 - Granted: 2026-10-13 - Earliest claimed: 2019-12-19 - Assignees: LG Electronics Inc. - Applicants: LG Electronics Inc. - Inventors: Jeongkil Kim; Wanglim Lee; Seongho Jeong - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12760880B2 ## CPC - F21V 23/0471: {the sensor detecting the proximity, the presence or the movement of an object or a person} - F21V 33/0044: {Household appliances, e.g. washing machines or vacuum cleaners} - G01P 15/18: in two or more dimensions - A47L 15/4257: {Details of the loading door} - A47L 15/4274: {Arrangement of electrical components, e.g. control units or cables (A47L15/4293 takes precedence)} - A47L 15/46: Devices for the automatic control of the different phases of cleaning {; Controlling devices (A47L15/449 takes precedence)} - A47L 2301/08: Other manual input - A47L 2401/32: Vibration or sound detection - A47L 2501/36: Other output - D06F 34/14: Arrangements for detecting or measuring specific parameters - D06F 39/14: Doors or covers; Securing means therefor - D06F 2101/00: User input for the control of domestic laundry washing machines, washer-dryers or laundry dryers - D06F 2103/00: Parameters monitored or detected for the control of domestic laundry washing machines, washer-dryers or laundry dryers - D06F 2105/00: Systems or parameters controlled or affected by the control systems of washing machines, washer-dryers or laundry dryers - F21W 2131/305: for refrigerators - F21W 2131/307: for ovens - F24C 15/008: {Illumination for oven cavities} - F25D 27/005: {combined with control means} - F21V: FUNCTIONAL FEATURES OR DETAILS OF LIGHTING DEVICES OR SYSTEMS THEREOF; STRUCTURAL COMBINATIONS OF LIGHTING DEVICES WITH OTHER ARTICLES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - G01P: MEASURING LINEAR OR ANGULAR SPEED, ACCELERATION, DECELERATION, OR SHOCK; INDICATING PRESENCE, ABSENCE, OR DIRECTION, OF MOVEMENT (measuring or recording blood flow A61B5/02, A61B8/06; monitoring speed or deceleration of electrically-propelled vehicles B60L3/00; vehicle lighting systems adapted to indicate speed B60Q1/54; determining position or course in navigation, measuring ground distance in geodesy or surveying G01C; combined measuring devices for measuring two or more variables of movement G01C23/00; measuring velocity of sound G01H; measuring velocity of light G01J7/00; measuring direction or velocity of solid objects by reception or emission of radiowaves or other waves and based on propagation effects, e.g. Doppler effect, propagation time, direction of propagation, G01S; measuring speed of nuclear radiation G01T; measuring acceleration of gravity G01V; {measuring or recording the speed of trains B61L23/00; speed indicators incorporated in motor vehicles B60K35/00; measuring frequency or phase G01R; traffic control G08G}) - A47L: DOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING (brushes A46B; cleaning quantities of bottles or of other hollow articles of one kind B08B9/00; laundry D06F); SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL (cleaning in general B08) - D06F: LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES - F21W: INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASSES F21K, F21L, F21S and F21V, RELATING TO USES OR APPLICATIONS OF LIGHTING DEVICES OR SYSTEMS - F24C: DOMESTIC STOVES OR RANGES (exclusively for solid fuels F24B); DETAILS OF DOMESTIC STOVES OR RANGES, OF GENERAL APPLICATION - F25D: REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR (refrigerated showcases A47F3/04; thermally-insulated vessels for domestic use A47J41/00; refrigerated vehicles, see the appropriate subclasses of classes B60 - B64; containers with thermal insulation in general B65D81/38; heat-transfer, heat-exchange or heat-storage materials, e.g. refrigerants, or materials for the production of heat or cold by chemical reactions other than by combustion C09K5/00; thermally-insulated vessels for liquefied or solidified gases F17C; air-conditioning or air-humidification F24F; refrigeration machines, plants, or systems F25B; cooling of instruments or comparable apparatus without refrigeration G12B) ## Abstract Proposed is a home appliance that includes a cabinet defining an exterior of the home appliance, a reception space defined the cabinet and configured to receive objects in the reception space, a door configured to open and close an open surface of the reception space, the door having a viewing window provided at the door, a sensor assembly configured to detect each of a plurality of vibrations transmitted in three axial directions orthogonal to each other and to determine whether one or more of the plurality of vibrations is generated by a user's knock, a lamp configured to illuminate an inside of the reception space, and a controller configured to turn on/off the lamp based on a knock-on signal output by the sensor assembly. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A home appliance comprising: a reception space configured to receive objects in the reception space, a door configured to open and close an open surface of the reception space, the door having a viewing window provided at the door, a sensor assembly configured to detect each of a plurality of vibrations that have been transmitted through a plurality of media different from each other in three axial directions orthogonal to each other and to determine whether one or more of the plurality of vibrations is generated by a user's knock, a lamp configured to illuminate an inside of the reception space, and a controller configured to turn on/off the lamp based on a knock-on signal output by the sensor assembly. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The home appliance of claim 1, wherein the sensor assembly is disposed at a position other than the door and configured to detect a vibration which is generated by a knock applied to the door and transmitted to the sensor assembly. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The home appliance of claim 1, further comprising: a heater configured to heat the reception space. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The home appliance of claim 1, wherein the sensor assembly is disposed at a handle provided on the door. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The home appliance of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to turn on the lamp based on the sensor assembly detecting the vibration generated by the user's knock. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The home appliance of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to (i) turn on the lamp based on the sensor assembly detecting the vibration generated by the user's knock in a turned-off state of the lamp, and (ii) turn off the lamp based on the sensor assembly detecting the vibration generated by the user's knock in a turned-on state of the lamp. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The home appliance of claim 1, wherein the sensor assembly comprises: a 3-axis sensor module configured to detect the plurality of vibrations transmitted in the three axial directions and generate vibration detection signals corresponding to each of the plurality of vibrations transmitted in the three axial directions, and a sensor microcomputer configured to determine whether the vibration is generated by the user's knock based on the vibration detection signals generated by the 3-axis sensor module. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The home appliance of claim 7, wherein the 3-axis sensor module comprises three acceleration sensors, wherein the three acceleration sensors comprise: a first acceleration sensor configured to detect a vibration of a first axial direction of the three axial directions, a second acceleration sensor configured to detect a vibration of a second axial direction thereof, and a third acceleration sensor configured to detect a vibration of a third axial direction thereof. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The home appliance of claim 8, wherein one of the three acceleration sensors is provided such that an axial direction thereof for detecting the vibration coincides with a direction of the vibration generated by the user's knock. ### Claim 10 (depends on 7) The home appliance of claim 7, wherein the 3-axis sensor module comprises a 3-axis acceleration sensor configured to simultaneously detect the plurality of vibrations of the three axial directions. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The home appliance of claim 10, wherein the 3-axis acceleration sensor is provided such that one axial direction of the three axial directions coincides with a direction of the vibration generated by the user's knock. ### Claim 12 (depends on 7) The home appliance of claim 7, wherein the sensor microcomputer is configured to compare patterns of the vibration detection signals generated by the 3-axis sensor module with a pattern of a vibration detection signal corresponding to the vibration generated by the user's knock and determine whether the vibration is generated by the user's knock. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The home appliance of claim 1, wherein a sensor microcomputer is configured to extract a vibration detection signal of an axial direction of the three axial directions which coincides with a direction of the vibration generated by the user's knock, and determine whether the vibration is generated by the user's knock based on the extracted vibration detection signal. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The home appliance of claim 13, wherein the sensor microcomputer is configured to determine that the vibration is generated by the user's knock, based on a size of a vibration detection signal generated by a 1st knock being greater than or equal to a preset first threshold, and after a preset period of time, a size of a vibration detection signal generated by a 2nd knock being greater than or equal to a preset second threshold. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The home appliance of claim 14, wherein a size of the second threshold is greater than a size of the first threshold and is proportional to the size of the vibration detection signal generated by the 1st knock. ### Claim 16 (depends on 13) The home appliance of claim 13, wherein the sensor microcomputer is configured to (i) extract a vibration detection signal of a first axial direction which coincides with the direction of the vibration generated by the user's knock, (ii) compare the extracted vibration detection signal with vibration detection signals of second and third axial directions, and (iii) determine whether the vibration is generated by the user's knock. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The home appliance of claim 16, wherein the sensor microcomputer is configured to determine that no vibration is generated by a knock based on a maximum value of a vibration detection signal of the second and third axial directions being greater than a maximum value of the vibration detection signal of the first axial direction. ### Claim 18 (depends on 1) The home appliance of claim 1, further comprising: a display configured to display at least one button of a knock-on button and a lamp button. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The home appliance of claim 18, wherein (i) a knock-on function is configured to be preset to be turned on based on the knock-on button being touched once, (ii) the knock-on function is configured to be preset to be turned off based on the knock-on button being touched once more, (iii) the lamp is configured to be turned on based on the lamp button being touched once, and (iv) the lamp is configured to be turned off based on the lamp button being touched once more. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The home appliance of claim 19, wherein the controller is configured to not turn on/off the lamp even if the user's knock is input based on the knock-on function being preset to be turned off or the lamp being turned on by touching the lamp button.