The present subject matter relates generally to an appliance and a user interface panel for an appliance. More particularly, the present subject matter relates to appliances having user interfaces with integrated components.
Washing machine appliances generally include a tub for containing wash fluid, e.g., water, detergent, fabric softener, bleach, and/or combinations thereof, during operation of such washing machine appliances. A wash basket is rotatably mounted within the tub and defines a wash chamber for receipt of articles for washing. During operation of such washing machine appliances, wash fluid is directed into the tub and onto a load of articles within the wash basket. The wash basket and/or an agitation element can rotate at various speeds to agitate articles within the wash basket in the wash fluid, to wring wash fluid from articles within the wash basket, etc.
Typically, a user interface or control panel is provided having one or more controls that a user of the appliance may manipulate to select various options for the operation of the washing machine appliance. For example, the user may select the size of the load of articles and the type of articles in the wash chamber, as well as other features of the articles or the washing machine that may impact a wash, rinse, or other cycle. The appliance usually is operated by a controller or other control mechanism based at least in part on such user selections. Other appliances, such as, e.g., dryer appliances, cooktop appliances, and oven range appliances, also may include a user interface panel including controls that a user may manipulate to select options for operating the appliance.
Some user interface panel assemblies include touch-type controls, whereby the user touches a lens or cover panel of the user interface panel assembly to select an option. In addition to or instead of touch-type controls, user interface panel assemblies may include rotatable knobs, buttons, and the like for selecting various options. Usually, the user manipulates the controls on or at a decorative panel of the appliance, and the controls are in operative communication with a separate printed circuit board (PCB) panel that controls the operations of the appliance or that communicates with the controller or other control mechanism to control the appliance. Other user interface components, such as, e.g., lights and micro-switches, typically also are mounted separately from the panel with which the user interacts. Such separation between the user interface panel and the user interface components can limit the user interface design, as well as the effectiveness of the user interface. For example, because PCBs typically are flat, rounded or curved user interface panels are difficult to produce, requiring the PCB to be broken into multiple elements to mount the flat PCB component to the curved user interface panel. As another example, capacitive touch-type controls require an additional capacitive sensing layer between the user interface panel and the PCB to conduct the touch inputs to the PCB.
Accordingly, a user interface for an appliance having a user interface panel with integrated user interface components would be useful. More particularly, a user interface for an appliance including a user interface panel having integrated circuit traces would be beneficial. A user interface for an appliance including an integral user interface panel and circuit traces as well as features for attaching a control component to the user interface panel also would be advantageous.
Aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the following description, or may be obvious from the description, or may be learned through practice of the invention.
In one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a user interface for an appliance is provided. The user interface includes a user interface panel and a control component attached to the user interface panel. The user interface panel includes a plurality of traces for providing an electrical connection for the control component. The plurality of traces are integrally formed with the user interface panel such that the plurality of traces and the user interface panel are a single, unitary component.
In another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a user interface for an appliance is provided. The user interface includes a user interface panel and a control component attached to the user interface panel. The user interface panel includes a plurality of traces for providing an electrical connection for the control component. The plurality of traces are integrally formed with the user interface panel such that the plurality of traces and the user interface panel are a single, unitary component, and the unitary user interface panel is curved.
In a further exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for forming a unitary user interface of an appliance is provided. The method includes establishing courses of a plurality of traces of the unitary user interface; converting the courses into control data for use in a laser direct structuring process; and integrally forming the plurality of traces with a user interface panel using the laser direct structuring process. The integral user interface panel and traces form a unitary user interface panel.
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description and appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
A full and enabling disclosure of the present invention, including the best mode thereof, directed to one of ordinary skill in the art, is set forth in the specification, which makes reference to the appended figures, in which:
Reference will now be made in detail to present embodiments of the invention, one or more examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The detailed description uses numerical and letter designations to refer to features in the drawings. Like or similar designations in the drawings and description have been used to refer to like or similar parts of the invention. Further, each example is provided by way of explanation of the invention, not limitation of the invention. In fact, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. For instance, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment can be used with another embodiment to yield a still further embodiment. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers such modifications and variations as come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
Referring now to the drawings, wherein identical numerals indicate the same elements throughout the figures,
Washing machine appliance 100 has a cabinet 102 that extends between a top 104 and a bottom 106 along a vertical direction V. A wash basket 108 (
Cabinet 102 of washing machine appliance 100 has a top panel 112. Top panel 112 defines an opening 114 (
As previously stated, it should be appreciated that the present subject matter is not limited to any particular style, model, or configuration of washing machine appliance. Thus, the exemplary embodiment of washer 100 depicted in
Referring particularly to
In the embodiment of user interface panel 124 depicted in
Control components 130a, 130b, 130c, and 130d are mounted directly to user interface panel 124. Referring now to
Referring now to
As previously stated, traces 132 are integrally formed with user interface panel 124 such that user interface panel 124 and the plurality of traces 132 are a single, unitary component. In exemplary embodiments, traces 132 are integrally formed with user interface panel 124 using a laser direct structuring (LDS) process. In other embodiments, traces 132 and user interface panel 124 are integrally formed using an additive manufacturing process, such as fused deposition modeling (FDM), selective laser sintering (SLS), stereolithography (SLA), digital light processing (DLP), direct metal laser sintering (DMLS), laser net shape manufacturing (LNSM), electron beam sintering, or another known additive process. In still other embodiments, traces 132 may be integrally formed with user interface panel 124 by other suitable processes.
The term “unitary” as used herein denotes that the associated component, such as user interface panel 124 described herein, is made as a single piece during manufacturing, i.e., from a continuous piece of material. Thus, a unitary component has a monolithic construction and is different from a component that has been made from a plurality of component pieces that have been joined together to form a single component. More specifically, in the exemplary embodiment of
By integrally forming traces 132 with user interface panel 124 to form a unitary user interface panel, the geometry of the unitary user interface panel is not limited by the challenges of, e.g., mounting one or more printed circuit boards in proximity to electrically connect control components 130. That is, the functionality provided by a PCB is effectively integrated into the unitary user interface panel, and as such, user interface panel 124 may have a more complex geometry than a flat, generally planar surface. In an exemplary embodiment illustrated in
Curved unitary user interface panel 124 may have a same or a different radius of curvature along each direction and in each plane. As an example, user interface panel 124 may have a smaller radius of curvature near a centerline CL and a larger radius of curvature near first and second sides 150, 152 such that panel 124 is more curved at or near its center and flatter at or near its sides. As another example, user interface panel 124 may have substantially the same radius of curvature along its length from first side 150 to second side 152. Of course, in some embodiments, unitary user interface panel 124 may be generally flat.
More particularly, as shown at step 710, a course or path of each trace 132 of the plurality of traces 132 is established. The course or path of a trace is its route from a control component 130 to a connector 134. The courses of the plurality of traces, together with the position of control components 130, establish the layout of the circuit integrated with user interface panel 124. Next, as shown at step 720, the courses of the plurality of traces are converted to tool-readable control data. For a laser direct structuring process, the course information is converted into a control language or code for controlling a laser, i.e., for guiding the laser along the component in the pattern of the courses.
Then, at step 730, the plurality of traces 132 are integrally formed with user interface panel 124 to produce a unitary user interface panel. In some embodiments, integrally forming traces 132 with user interface panel 124 may comprise first injection molding user interface panel 124 from a suitable material, such as, e.g., a duroplast or a thermoplastic material. Then, the molded user interface panel 124 is laser processed to provide trace tracks in the user interface panel. Next, user interface panel 124 having laser processed trace tracks is metallized, e.g., by placing the panel within an electroless copper bath, to raise traces 132 within the trace tracks.
As shown at step 740, after traces 132 are integrally formed with user interface panel 124 to produce the unitary user interface panel, one or more control components 130 may be attached to the unitary user interface panel. Control components 130 may be surface mount or through hole components 130e, 130f attached to unitary user interface panel 124 as described above with respect to
Accordingly, at step 810, three-dimensional information of unitary user interface panel 124 is determined. As an example, a model or prototype of unitary user interface panel 124 may be scanned to determine the three-dimensional information of the panel. As another example, a model of unitary user interface panel 124 may be constructed using a suitable CAD program to determine the three-dimensional information of the panel. At step 820, the three-dimensional information is converted into a plurality of slices that each defines a cross-sectional layer of unitary user interface panel 124. For example, the three-dimensional information from step 810 may be divided into equal sections or segments, e.g., along a central axis of the panel or any other suitable axis. Thus, the three-dimensional information from step 810 may be discretized at step 820, e.g., to provide planar cross-sectional layers of unitary user interface panel 124.
After step 820, unitary user interface panel 124 is fabricated using an additive process, or more specifically, each layer is successively formed at step 830, e.g., by fusing or polymerizing a suitable material using laser energy or heat. The layers may have any suitable size. For example, each layer may have a size between about five ten-thousandths of an inch and about one thousandths of an inch. Unitary user interface panel 124 may be fabricated using any suitable additive manufacturing machine. For example, any suitable laser sintering machine, inkjet printer, or laserjet printer may be used at step 830.
Unitary user interface panel 124, formed using method 700, method 800, or another appropriate method, has integral traces 132 and allows control components 130 to be mounted directly to panel 124. As such, unitary panel 124 may permit more complex, different, or more effective user interface designs. For example, the curvature of unitary user interface panel 124 is limited by the process used to form the user interface panel 124 rather than the geometry required to mate a flat PCB to a curved panel, which expands the opportunities to form curved user interface panels. Further, without features for mounting control components 130 directly to panel 124, additional components or considerations may be required to effectively and reliably facilitate interaction between the control components and a user of the appliance. For example, in known user interface designs, light emitting control components such as light 130d may be mounted far from a surface of the user interface panel that permits light to pass through; as such, additional components, such as light pipes or guides, may be required to effectively channel light from the light component 130d to the user. However, by mounting light control component 130d directly to user interface panel 124, may eliminate the use of additional components or other design considerations to effectively channel light to the user. As another example, in known user interface designs, micro-switches 130a often are mounted far from the user interface panel having input selectors 126 with which the user interacts. As such, additional components or design considerations may be required to transfer user interaction with input selectors 126 to micro-switch 130a; the additional components or considerations may decrease the reliability of communication between input selector(s) 126 and switch 130a and can affect the “feel” of the component to the user. By mounting switch or micro-switch control component 130a directly to user interface panel 124, user interaction with input selectors 126 may be more reliably transferred to switch 130a with a more consistent feel to the user. Unitary user interface panel 124 may have other advantages and benefits as well.
This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they include structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal language of the claims.