METHOD FOR OPERATING KITCHEN APPLIANCE

1 . A method for operating a kitchen appliance, the method comprising:

detecting a user's presence;

associating the user's presence with a preference profile for the user, the preference profile comprising a stored setting preference for the kitchen appliance; and

adjusting a setting of the kitchen appliance to correspond to the associated stored setting preference;

wherein the detecting step, the associating step and the adjusting step are performed by a controller of the kitchen appliance.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising modifying the stored setting preference based on user modification of the setting of the kitchen appliance.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

detecting an absence of the user's presence; and

deactivating the kitchen appliance upon detection of the absence.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the user's presence is the user's subsequent presence, and further comprising:

detecting a user's initial presence; and

forming the stored setting preference for the kitchen appliance based on user modification of the setting of the kitchen appliance.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the detecting step utilizes one of radio frequency identification detection or near field communication detection.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the preference profile is stored in the controller.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the preference profile is stored in an independent storage device.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the setting is a user preference.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the setting is an appliance function.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the setting is activation of the kitchen appliance.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the kitchen appliance is a toaster appliance, and wherein the setting is a darkness user preference.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the kitchen appliance is a refrigerator appliance, and wherein the setting is one of an ice type user preference or a water temperature user preference.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the kitchen appliance is one of a dishwasher appliance, a microwave appliance or an oven appliance, and wherein the setting is an appliance function.

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the kitchen appliance is a coffee maker appliance, and wherein the setting is activation of the coffee maker appliance.

15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the stored setting preference is a plurality of stored setting preferences.

16 . A method for operating a kitchen appliance, the method comprising:

detecting an user's initial presence;

forming a stored setting preference for the kitchen appliance based on initial user modification of a setting of the kitchen appliance;

detecting a user's subsequent presence;

associating the user's subsequent presence with a preference profile for the user, the preference profile comprising the stored setting preference for the kitchen appliance;

adjusting a setting of the kitchen appliance to correspond to the associated stored setting preference; and

modifying the stored setting preference based on a subsequent user modification of the setting of the kitchen appliance.

17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

detecting an absence of the user's presence; and

deactivating the kitchen appliance upon detection of the absence.

18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the detecting step utilizes one of radio frequency identification detection or near field communication detection.

19 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the preference profile is stored in the controller.

20 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the preference profile is stored in an independent storage device.