Rotary selector

A washing machine comprising:

• a housing;
• a drum at least partially disposed within the housing and mounted for rotation with respect to the housing;
• a rotary selector supported by the housing and for controlling the washing machine, the rotary selector having a magnetic rotary field sensor;
• a pivoted actuator connected to the magnetic rotary field sensor in non-contacting Hall sensor technology, the rotary selector having multiple settings representing the position of the actuator in relation to the rotary field sensor;
• an interface integrated into the rotary field sensor and transmitting an angle-dependent code indicating the setting;
• a control unit connected to the interface and receiving and evaluating the angle-dependent code, the control unit storing multiple pre-set program sequences for controlling operation of the washing machine;
• and
• a positioning device for positioning the actuator at a specific setting, at least one particular program sequence being assigned to at least one corresponding setting of the rotary field sensor, wherein the assignment of the program sequence to the corresponding setting of the rotary field sensor is programmable to permit an assignment of a program sequence assigned to a respective corresponding setting of the rotary field sensor that is different than an earlier assigned program sequence that had been assigned to the respective corresponding setting of the rotary field sensor by the completion of manufacturing of the washing machine.

A method of controlling a household appliance having an electronic control unit, the method comprising the following acts:

• providing a rotary selector having a pivoted actuator and a magnetic field rotary sensor connected to the pivoted actuator in non-contacting Hall sensor technology;
• providing an interface electrically connecting the rotary selector and the control unit for transmitting data;
• freely programming the control unit to allocate specific program sequences to corresponding positions of the actuator in the rotary field sensor;
• moving the actuator to a desired position;
• sensing the position of the actuator in relation to the rotary field sensor with the rotary field sensor;
• transmitting a signal to the control unit with the interface indicating the position of the actuator in relation to the rotary field sensor;
• determining the specific program sequence corresponding to the signal;
• and
• performing the specific program sequence to control operation of the appliance.

A rotary selector for a household appliance, the rotary selector comprising:

• a magnetic rotary field sensor having a Hall sensor capability;
• an actuator, the actuator being movable about an actuator axis to a plurality of angular setting positions, the actuator being operatively associated with the magnetic rotary field sensor such that the magnetic rotary field sensor senses in a non-contact manner each of the plurality of angular setting positions to which the actuator is moved, and one of the plurality of angular setting positions to which the actuator can be moved is one designated angular setting position and another of the plurality of angular setting positions to which the actuator can be moved is a further designated angular setting position;
• and
• a device for providing a signal, the signal providing device being operable to provide, in response to a sensing by the magnetic rotary field sensor that the actuator is in the one designated angular setting position, a first signal corresponding to a first set of operational parameters for the household appliance and for providing, in response to a sensing by the magnetic rotary field sensor that the actuator is in the one designated angular setting position, a second signal corresponding to a second set of operational parameters for the household appliance different than the first set of operational parameters, the device including an interface integrated into the rotary field sensor and transmitting an angle-dependent code, an electronic evaluation and control unit connected to the interface and receiving the angle-dependent code, a positioning device for positioning the actuator at a precise angle in relation to the magnetic rotary field sensor at each of the plurality of angular setting positions of the actuator, and a component for receiving an input to switch the device from providing the first signal to providing the second signal, the electronic evaluation and control unit being programmable to associate the first signal corresponding to the first set of operational parameters for the household appliance to the one designated angular setting position by the completion of the manufacturing of the household appliance and being programmable to associate the second signal corresponding to the second set of operational parameters for the household appliance to the one designated angular setting position at a time after the completion of the manufacturing of the household appliance.