Patent Application
20220343830
This invention relates to a display assembly for a kitchen device.
Frequently, kitchen devices are equipped with a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel to provide users with information about a cooking process or the state of the kitchen device. For instance, microwaves and ovens have such LCD panels to display a time remaining in the cooking process. However, the quantity of information provided at any time, and the total diversity of possible information that is providable using the LCD panel is limited. This is because a limited amount of available front facing surface of the kitchen device is typically a constraint to large LCD panels. The kitchen device is typically designed to have the smallest form factor possible, to be stored, moved, and used more conveniently in a kitchen environment.
A known approach to solve the problem of limited information diversity and quantity is to use pictographic elements. Typically, pictographic elements can provide more information in a given space compared to text. For example, the common icon for “thawing” on toasters occupies much less space compared to the word “thawing”. Typically, each pictographic element is implemented as a single liquid crystal element on the LCD panel.
However, due to cultural differences, overuse of pictographic elements, or simply bad design can cause a user to be confused between several pictographic elements, misunderstand pictographic elements, and leads to a poor user experience, as well as safety concerns.
A second problem encountered by designers of kitchen devices is that each element has only two states: on and off. The shape of each element is fixed at manufacture, thus there is a lack of flexibility in providing a variety of information. Implementing too many liquid crystal elements in an LCD panel undesirably increases cost of the LCD panel, while only providing a linear return in diversity of providable information (each additional element only provides a single further piece of providable information). Lastly, in LCD panels that rely solely on pictographic elements, the localisation cost, that is, the cost to implement local languages, can be a considerable expense. Additionally, each kitchen device is locked to the localisation it is initially manufactured for, as the text-character pictographic elements cannot easily be altered after manufacture.
It is an object of the present invention to address one or more of the above problems, or at least provide a useful alternative to the above discussed kitchen devices.
In a first aspect, the present invention provides a display assembly for a kitchen device, the display assembly including:
a liquid crystal display panel having a plurality of liquid crystal elements forming a dot matrix;
a memory device for storing executable instructions for operating the dot matrix;
a processor adapted to execute the executable instructions to:
Preferably, the display assembly further including:
a liquid crystal pictographic element; and
a user input device to select the pictographic element,
wherein the processor is adapted to associate the pictographic element with a corresponding output of the dot matrix such that, when the pictographic element is selected using the user input device, the processor determines the required output of the dot matrix from the corresponding output.
Preferably, the pictographic element is associatable with a plurality of possible corresponding outputs, and wherein the processor is adapted to associate the pictographic element with the corresponding output from the plurality of possible corresponding outputs on the basis of a geographic location of the kitchen device or a user selection.
Preferably, the processor is adapted to receive the geographic location and/or the user selection by communicating with a personal computing device.
Preferably, the liquid crystal display panel further has:
a second plurality of liquid crystal elements forming a second dot matrix;
wherein the executable instructions also include executable instruction for operating the second dot matrix and the processor is adapted to execute the executable instructions to:
associate the required output of the dot matrix with a second required output of the second dot matrix;
determine the second required output of the second dot matrix on the basis of the required output of the dot matrix;
retrieve the predetermined instruction set from the memory device that corresponds to the second required output; and
operate the second dot matrix using the predetermined instruction set that corresponds to the second required output.
Preferably, the processor is adapted to retrieve the predetermined set of instructions from the memory device in a single operation for operation of the dot matrix using the predetermined set of instructions, and
wherein the operation of the dot matrix using the predetermined set of instructions operates each liquid crystal element substantially simultaneously.
In a second aspect, the present invention provides a kitchen device having the display assembly of the first aspect.
In a third aspect, the present invention provides a method of operating a display assembly of a kitchen device having a plurality of liquid crystal elements forming a dot matrix, the method including the steps of:
determining a required output of the dot matrix;
retrieving a predetermined instruction set from a memory device of the kitchen device that corresponds to the required output; and
operating the dot matrix using the predetermined instruction set,
wherein the predetermined instruction set includes an instruction for each element in the plurality of liquid crystal elements.
Preferably, the display assembly further includes a liquid crystal pictographic element and a user input device, and the method further including the steps of:
associating the pictographic element with a corresponding output of the dot matrix; and
when the pictographic element is selected using the user input device, determining the required output of the dot matrix from the corresponding output.
Preferably, the pictographic element is associatable with a plurality of possible corresponding outputs, and the method further including the step of:
associating the pictographic element with the corresponding output from the plurality of possible corresponding outputs on the basis of a geographic location of the kitchen device or a user selection
Preferably, the method further including the step of:
receiving the geographic location and/or the user selection by communicating with a personal computing device.
Preferably, the kitchen device further includes a second plurality of liquid crystal elements forming a second dot matrix, and the method further including the steps of:
associating the required output of the dot matrix with a second required output of the second dot matrix;
determining the second required output of the second dot matrix on the basis of the required output of the dot matrix;
retrieving the predetermined instruction set from the memory device that corresponds to the second required output; and
operating the second dot matrix using the predetermined instruction set.
In a fourth aspect, the present invention provides a programmable memory device containing executable instructions to carry out the method of the third aspect.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of examples only, with reference to the accompanying drawings:
The display assembly 201 includes a display controller 207, which is connected to a video display 214, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel or the like. The display controller 207 is configured for operating the video display 214 in accordance with a display instruction set received from the embedded controller 202, to which the display controller 207 is connected.
The display assembly 201 also includes user input devices 213 which are typically formed by keys, a keypad or like controls. In some implementations, the user input devices 213 may include a touch sensitive panel physically associated with the display 214 to collectively form a touch-screen. Such a touch-screen may thus operate as one form of graphical user interface (GUI) as opposed to a prompt or menu driven GUI typically used with keypad-display combinations. Other forms of user input devices may also be used, such as a microphone (not illustrated) for voice commands or a joystick/thumb wheel (not illustrated) for ease of navigation about menus. As seen in
As seen in
The display assembly 201 also has a communications interface 208 to permit coupling of the display assembly 201 to a computer or communications network 220 via a connection 221. The connection 221 may be wired or wireless. For example, the connection 221 may be radio frequency or optical. An example of a wired connection includes Ethernet. Further, an example of wireless connection includes Bluetooth™ type local interconnection, Wi-Fi (including protocols based on the standards of the IEEE 802.11 family), Infrared Data Association (IrDa) and the like.
Various systems and/or methods described hereinafter may be implemented using the embedded controller 202 as one or more software application programs 233 including executable instructions, executable within the embedded controller 202. The display assembly 201 of
The software application programs 223 of the embedded controller 202 are typically stored in the non-volatile ROM 260 of the internal storage module 209. The software application programs 223 stored in the ROM 260 can be updated when required from a computer readable medium. The software application programs 223 can be loaded into and executed by the processor 205. In some instances, the processor 205 may execute executable instructions that are located in RAM 270. Executable instructions may be loaded into the RAM 270 by the processor 205 initiating a copy of one or more code modules from ROM 260 into RAM 270. Alternatively, the executable instructions of one or more code modules may be pre-installed in a non-volatile region of RAM 270 by a manufacturer. After one or more code modules have been located in RAM 270, the processor 205 may execute executable instructions of the one or more code modules.
The software application programs 223 are typically pre-installed and stored in the ROM 260 by a manufacturer, prior to distribution of the display assembly 201. However, in some instances, the software application programs 223 may be supplied to the user encoded on one or more portable memory devices (not shown) and read via the portable memory interface 206 of
The second part of the software application programs 223 and the corresponding code modules mentioned above may be executed to implement one or more graphical user interfaces (GUIs) to be output on the display 214 of
The processor 205 typically includes a number of functional modules including a control unit (CU) 251, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) 252, a digital signal processor (DSP) 253 and a local or internal memory comprising a set of registers 254 which typically contain atomic data elements 256, 257, along with internal buffer or cache memory 255. One or more internal buses 259 interconnect these functional modules. The processor 205 typically also has one or more interfaces 258 for communicating with external devices via system bus 281, using a connection 261.
The software application programs 223 include a sequence of instructions 262 through 263 that may include conditional branch and loop instructions. The application program 233 may also include data, which is used in execution of the software application programs 223. This data may be stored as part of the instruction or in a separate location 264 within the ROM 260 or RAM 270.
In general, the processor 205 is given a set of instructions, which are executed therein. This set of instructions may be organised into blocks, which perform specific tasks or handle specific events that occur in the display assembly 201. Typically, the software application programs 223 waits for events and subsequently executes the block of code associated with that event. Events may be triggered in response to input from a user, via the user input devices 213 of
The execution of a set of the executable instructions may require numeric variables to be read and modified. Such numeric variables are stored in the RAM 270. The disclosed method uses input variables 271 that are stored in known locations 272, 273 in the memory 270. The input variables 271 are processed to produce output variables 277 that are stored in known locations 278, 279 in the memory 270. Intermediate variables 274 may be stored in additional memory locations in locations 275, 276 of the memory 270. Alternatively, some intermediate variables may only exist in the registers 254 of the processor 205.
The execution of a sequence of instructions is achieved in the processor 205 by repeated application of a fetch-execute cycle. The control unit 251 of the processor 205 maintains a register called the program counter, which contains the address in ROM 260 or RAM 270 of the next instruction to be executed. At the start of the fetch execute cycle, the contents of the memory address indexed by the program counter is loaded into the control unit 251. The instruction thus loaded controls the subsequent operation of the processor 205, causing for example, data to be loaded from ROM memory 260 into processor registers 254, the contents of a register to be arithmetically combined with the contents of another register, the contents of a register to be written to the location stored in another register and so on. At the end of the fetch execute cycle the program counter is updated to point to the next instruction in the system program code. Depending on the instruction just executed this may involve incrementing the address contained in the program counter or loading the program counter with a new address in order to achieve a branch operation.
Each step or sub-process in the processes of the methods described below is associated with one or more segments of the software application programs 223, and is performed by repeated execution of a fetch-execute cycle in the processor 205 or similar programmatic operation of other independent processor blocks in the display assembly 201.
In the preferred embodiment shown in
The ROM 260 contains a plurality of predetermined display instruction sets 310 that result in an output on the display 214, examples of which are shown in
As can be seen in
The display assembly 201 may further include a second plurality of liquid crystal elements (not shown) forming a second dot matrix (not shown). The second dot matrix may be located immediately below the dot matrix 302. The processor 202 is adapted to execute the software application program 223 to determine a second required output of the second dot matrix. The determination by the processor 202 may be dependent, for example, on the required output of the dot matrix 302.
Use of the of the display assembly 201 will now be discussed.
To set up the kitchen device 100 for use, an initialisation process must be carried out. The processor 202 is adapted to execute executable instructions contained in the software application program 223 to receive information relating to a geographic location and/or a language preference. The processor 202 is adapted to receive the information by accessing the communication interface 208 to receive geographic location information from a personal computing device (not shown), such as a mobile device (not shown). The processor 202 is also adapted to receive the information by selection of a language preference using the user input devices 213.
Following receipt of the information relating to a geographic location and/or a language preference, the processor 202 is adapted to execute executable instructions contained in the software application program 223 to associate one or more pictographic element 304 with a respective output of the dot matrix 302 on the basis of the information relative to a geographic location and/or a language preference. The processor 202 is also adapted to associate one or more required outputs of the dot matrix 302 with a second corresponding output of the second dot matrix. In an exemplary embodiment, the language preference may be “English”.
The display assembly 201 is now initialised such that once the required output of the dot matrix 302 has been determined, the predetermined instruction set 310 associated with the required output may be retrieved by the processor 202 in whole from the ROM 270 to simultaneously operate all liquid crystal elements 300 of the dot matrix 302 according to the predetermined instruction set 310 and produced the required output on the display 214.
For example, as shown in
Further, the processor 202 is adapted to determine the second required output on the basis of the required output of the dot matrix 302, as the required output of the dot matrix 302 was associated with a second corresponding output in the initialisation process. The processor 202 is adapted to retrieve the predetermined instruction set 310 from the ROM 270 that corresponds to the second required output and operate the liquid crystal elements of the second dot matrix using the predetermined display instruction set.
Yet further, the processor 202 is adapted to operate one or more pictographic elements 304 after another pictographic element 304 has been selected. For example, a selection of the pictographic element 304 corresponding to “toast” may result in the display 214 activating the one or more pictographic elements 304 corresponding to a visual indication of a “shade degree” of a toast. The operation of the one or more pictographic elements 304 corresponding to the visual indication of the “shade degree” of the toast may be controlled by the user input devices 213, such as the rotary selector 114, 116. In another example, a selection of the pictographic element 304 corresponding to “oven” may result in the display 214 activating the pictographic element 304 corresponding to “trivet”, as seen in
In another embodiment of the display assembly 201, the required output may be a function of time. For example, upon selection of a pictographic element 304 the required output may be the shape of the word “Frozen” for two second. After two seconds have elapsed, the required output may be the shape of the word “Heating”. The display assembly 201 function substantially similarly, as the processor 202 determines the required output (which may change), retrieves the predetermined display instruction set 310 corresponding to the required output, and operates the dot matrix 302 using the predetermined instruction set 310.
In another embodiment of the display assembly 201, the processor 202 is adapted to execute executable instructions contained in the software application program 223 to associate one or more pictographic elements 304 with a respective output of the dot matrix 302 on the basis of updated information relative to a geographic location and/or a language preference. The processor 202 is adapted to receive the updated information by accessing the communication interface 208 to receive geographic location information from the personal computing device.
Advantages of the display assembly 201 will now be discussed.
Because the display assembly 201 is operate using predetermined display instructions, the precise output of the dot matrix 302 can be predetermined. This enables the precise kerning and graphic design of the output of the dot matrix 302, which can be challenging when manufacturing a product for use in a large plurality of languages. The simple association of required output with a predetermined instruction set 310 also reduces the amount of processing required to produce the required output, as only a single retrieval of the instruction set from the ROM 270 is necessary.
Due to the use of a dot matrix 302 in the display assembly 201, it is possible to manufacture a single display assembly 201 for a plurality of localisation markets. It is also possible to re-localise the kitchen device 100, that is, to switch the language in which the kitchen device 100 operates. This is desirable for, for example, the hospitality industry which may wish to adapt the language of the device for each guest being served.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019903309 | Sep 2019 | AU | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/AU2020/050940 | 9/7/2020 | WO |
