Whirlpool Corporation

Whirpool Corporation

Whirlpool Corportion

Richard A McCoy

Matthew Peter Ebrom

Mark Eugene Glotzbach

James William Kendall

Christopher S Moes

Andrew D Whipple

Ameresh Babu Viswanathan

Anthony E Jenkins

Wallace J Elston, Iii

Layne E Heilman

John M Knight

Steven John Kuehl

Joel Adam Luckman

Douglas D LeClear

Patrick J Glotzbach

Matthew J Nibbelink

David A Weinkauf

Andre O Pires

Michael Stephen Hendrickson

Brian N Radford

David John Kmet

Gale Richard Horst

Donald E Maynard

Randy A Voss

Phillip A Molloy

Farhad Ashrafzadeh

Andrew Michael Tenbarge

Daniel M Putnam

Yingqin Yuan

Ali R Buendia-Garcia

Stephen David Krefman

Ruben E Rothermel

James P O'Shaughnessy

Michael A Morrell

Douglas David Leclear

David M Williams

Erik Peter Oosterwal

Joshua Paul Carroll

Randy L Jeffery

Paul R Argue

Robert J Feldbruegge

Rodrigo C Castaldo

Ronald L Voglewede

Brandon Lynn Satanek

Peter Richmond

Randell Lee Jeffery

Anders B Zeijlon

Gregory Samuel Lieto

Jennifer L Bonuso

Nelson J Ferragut

Grant J Devilbiss

Timothy M Knezic

Eduardo K Yamakawa

Cesario Zimmerman

Alexandre De Sonza Grosse

Judith Godeke Kicklighter

Steve Pearson

Henry Orlando Marcy, V

A refrigerator is provided with a container for storing a substance and that has a sensing and reporting system configured to determine an amount of the substance within the container. The sensing and reporting system includes a sensor configured to sense the amount of the substance, a transmitter, and a processor in communication with the sensor and the transmitter.

System with refrigerator and self-reporting container

Example methods and apparatus for communicatively coupling internal components and accessories appliances, and appliances with external components and accessories are disclosed herein. A disclosed example method of operating a domestic appliance having at least one of an internal communications network and/or an external communications network among at least two components includes identifying the components, communicating the capabilities of each identified component, communicating the status of each identified component, providing a command interface for operating the components, facilitating communication between the components, and operating the appliance using the command interface and the facilitated communication.

User controllable filter system for an appliance

A refrigerator is provided with a container for storing a substance and that has a sensing and reporting system configured to determine an attribute of the substance within the container. The sensing and reporting system includes a sensor configured to sense the attribute of the substance, a transmitter, and a processor in communication with the sensor and the transmitter.

Methods and apparatus for communicatively coupling internal components within appliances, and appliances with external components and accessories

A method of managing an inventory includes associating an identifier with a container system component such as a container, a sensor or a substance, where the sensor is configured to determine an indication of an attribute of the substance stored in the container. The method further may include associating an identifier with a container system member within a dataset remote to the container; remotely receiving container system data including the identifier and the indication of the attribute; and performing at least one data processing task associated with the container system data.

Consumables inventory management method

A system for managing resources used by an appliance includes a messaging architecture that uses resource profiles and function identifiers that represent a meaningful context related to the resource profiles so that the production or consumption of a resource can be managed by electronic messages using the message architecture.

Messaging architecture and system for electronic management of resources

A network control system for an appliance has a software operating layer that is responsive to a plurality of appliance function calls. A physical user interface on the appliance is capable of generating directly some of the appliance function calls. A virtual user interface connected remotely over the network is also configured to invoke some of the appliance function calls. But the virtual user interface can further invoke one or more of the function calls that the physical user interface cannot generate directly.

Software architecture system and method for operating an appliance exposing key press functionality to a network

A method of initiating a cycle of operation based on a consumable includes providing a consumable reader having a software architecture configured to image data, communicate over a network, and identify functionalities of appliances based on a unique identifier associated with each instance of a functionality, imaging data about the consumable using the consumable reader; retrieving cycle data associated with the consumable based on the imaged data; ascertaining in the software architecture at least one functionality associated with the cycle data; selecting from the plurality of appliances an appliance having the at least one functionality using the unique identifier associated with an instance of the at least one functionality; and communicating the cycle data to the selected appliance over the network of appliances wherein the selected appliance can conduct a cycle of operation associated with the consumable using the cycle data.

Method for initiating a consumable-based cycle of operation

A client having at least one memory location is provided for use with an appliance network. The client includes an arbitrary software component for performing a useful function, a software architecture or a software architecture driver configured to generate or enable transmission of messages, and means to communicate by message over a network. Thus, the client can have full capability to act as an accessory to an appliance to communicate with and to enhance or alter the operation of the appliance.

Client for an appliance network

An appliance network comprising a networked appliance and capable of communicating with a consumable such that information related to the consumable is communicated to the networked appliance.

Network for communicating information related to a consumable to an appliance

An appliance network has a network binder accessory to establish a private network among nodes that might be on different networks, using 'one-click'.

Appliance network for a networked appliance with a network binder accessory

A method of facilitating servicing an appliance includes establishing two way communications between an appliance and a remote client, and monitoring and communicating to the remote client operational data associated with the appliance. In this way, the remote client can use the operational data to service the appliance.

Method of facilitating servicing an appliance

An appliance is configured to establish a communications link through the appliance between a user and a service representative as part of installing, diagnosing and servicing the appliance.

Product service system and method

An appliance has a communication network with a plurality of nodes for executing commands to enable operation by components. A firewall is provided to restrict access to the commands by the nodes without a password.

Network system with electronic credentials and authentication for appliances

A message architecture is provided for use in a communications network for an appliance having at least one component and further enabled to communicate information about the at least one component. The message architecture includes first and second identifiers where the first identifier identifies the form of the second identifier and the second identifier identifies at least one component in the appliance.

Message architecture for an appliance communications network

Growing community of inventors

Stevensville, MI, United States of America

Richard A McCoy