# US 2017/0105190 A1 · Methods and Apparatus Notifying a User of the Operating Condition of a Household Appliance > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2017/0105190 A1 - Document ID: US20170105190A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 15/201,451 - Filed: 2016-07-03 - Published: 2017-04-13 - Earliest claimed: 2015-10-12 - Assignees: Twin Harbor Labs, LLC - Applicants: Twin Harbor Labs, LLC - Inventors: James D. Logan; Eric Carr; Richard A. Baker, JR. - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20170105190A1 ## CPC - H04W 68/00: User notification, e.g. alerting and paging, for incoming communication, change of service or the like - G05B 15/02: electric - G05B 19/042: using digital processors (G05B19/05 takes precedence) - G05B 19/0428: {Safety, monitoring (G05B19/0423 takes precedence)} - G07C 3/00: Registering or indicating the condition or the working of machines or other apparatus, other than vehicles - H04M 1/72415: for remote control of appliances - H04M 19/047: {Vibrating means for incoming calls} - H04W 4/14: Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD] - H04W 4/16: Communication-related supplementary services, e.g. call-transfer or call-hold - H04W 4/80: Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication - G05B 2219/24015: Monitoring - G05B 2219/24048: Remote test, monitoring, diagnostic - G05B 2219/24107: Display centrally detected user, function changes of remote device - G05B 2219/2613: Household appliance in general - G05B 2219/2642: Domotique, domestic, home control, automation, smart house - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) - G05B: CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS (systems for controlling or regulating non-electric variables G05D; systems for regulating electric or magnetic variables G05F; control devices or systems insofar as characterised by mechanical features only G05G) - G07C: TIME OR ATTENDANCE REGISTERS; REGISTERING OR INDICATING THE WORKING OF MACHINES; GENERATING RANDOM NUMBERS; VOTING OR LOTTERY APPARATUS; ARRANGEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS FOR CHECKING NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE - H04M: TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION (circuits for controlling other apparatus via a telephone cable and not involving telephone switching apparatus G08) ## Abstract Sounds, alarms or other indications of conditions of potential interest that are produced by appliances and other household devices are detected by one or more sensors to trigger a notification signal that is sent to a remotely located user. The signals produced by the sensors are advantageously compared with a database of signals representing conditions of potential interest produced by known appliances and devices, producing the appropriate notification signal when a match is found. Notifications may be relayed to one or more selected users only when predetermined conditions are satisfied. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of notifying a user when a household appliance indicates a condition of potential interest to the user comprising, in combination, the steps of: comparing the condition of potential interest to a searchable database of stored conditions by comparing identification values that represent the condition of potential interest to identification values that are in the searchable database, each of which is associated in the searchable database with status identifying information and notification parameters, the notification parameters specifying stored conditions related to the determination of whether to issue notifications and how to issue notifications; searching for the location of a user by transmitting a message over a communications network to the remote device associated with the user; determining a distance between the household appliance and the user; using the distance and the notification parameters to sound an alert on the appliance if the distance is within a notification parameter value; and producing an alert notification indication on the remote device when the distance is not within the notification parameter value. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method claim 1 wherein the distance is determined by calculating a time for the message to travel between the household appliance and the remote device. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the distance is determined using a received signal strength value from the message transmitted between the household appliance and the remote device. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the distance between the household appliance and the remote device is determined using a global or internal positioning system. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the communications network uses a Bluetooth protocol. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the communications network uses a Wi-Fi protocol. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein a sound volume of the alert notification is proportional to the distance. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein a sound volume of the alert notification is proportional to the distance and to ambient sounds. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the household appliance is a washing machine. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the household appliance is a dryer. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the household appliance is a microwave oven. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the household appliance is an oven. ### Claim 13 A household appliance that notifies a user when a condition of potential interest occurs, the household appliance comprising: a special purpose computing processor electrically connected to the household appliance to receive power and signals related to the conditions of potential interest; a memory connected to the computing processor; a speaker connected to the computing processor; a communications transceiver connected to the computing processor, configured to be wirelessly connected to a remote device proximate to a user; the memory, computing processor speaker, and the communications transceiver physically mounted in the household appliance; wherein the computing processor is configured to search for a location of the user by transmitting a message over the communications transceiver to the remote device associated with the user in order to determine a distance between the household appliance and the remote device; wherein the computing processor looks up notification parameters based on the signals and uses the distance and the notification parameters to activate the speaker if the distance is within a notification parameter value or sends a message to the remote device if the distance is not within the notification parameter value. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The household appliance of claim 13 wherein the distance calculation uses a time of flight algorithm. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The household appliance of claim 13 wherein the distance calculation uses a signal strength algorithm. ### Claim 16 (depends on 13) The household appliance of claim 13 further comprising a global or local positioning system, the positioning system connected to the computing processor and providing location information used in the distance calculation. ### Claim 17 (depends on 13) The household appliance of claim 13 wherein the communication transceiver communicates using a Bluetooth protocol. ### Claim 18 (depends on 13) The household appliance of claim 13 wherein the communication transceiver communicates using a Wi-Fi protocol. ### Claim 19 (depends on 13) The household appliance of claim 13 wherein the communication transceiver communicates using a cellular protocol. ### Claim 20 A method of notifying a user when a sound in the household indicates a condition of potential interest to said user comprising, in combination, the steps of: employing one or more sensors to convert ambient sounds into an output signal, wherein the ambient sounds include a human voice and the output signal incorporates an unique value related to a specific human based on the human voice; comparing said output signal to a searchable database of stored control sounds by comparing identification values that represent said output signal to identification values that are in the searchable database, each of which is associated in the searchable database with status identifying information and notification parameters, said stored control sounds related to household sounds, and said notification parameters specifying conditions related to the determination of whether to issue notifications, producing an alert notification indication when said output signal matches one of said stored control sounds and when said conditions in said notification parameters for the matching stored control sounds are satisfied, in response to said notification alert indication, transmitting a wireless alert message containing the status identifying information associated with the matched control sound to a remotely located notification unit located near said user, and employing said notification unit to produce an output that is perceptible to said user and that is indicative of the existence of said condition of potential interest.