Consumer appliance with a detachable tablet
A tablet for use with a consumer appliance is provided. The tablet may be removably attachable to the consumer appliance, which may charge the tablet through an integrated USB charger. The tablet may be in wired or wireless communication with the appliance and/or a remote server. In this manner, the tablet may provide the user with timely information related to operation of the consumer appliance or directly from the internet.
1. A tablet for providing a user of a consumer appliance with information, the tablet comprising:
a display for providing information to a user;
a user interface configured for receiving user input; and
a communication module mounted within the tablet for enabling direct communication between the tablet and with both a remote server and an appliance controller,
wherein the tablet is removably mounted directly to the consumer appliance and may selectively display information received from the remote server and the appliance controller in response to the user input.
2. The tablet of claim 1 , wherein the information provided to the user is appliance performance data.
3. The tablet of claim 1 , wherein the user input is used to adjust one or more operational parameters of the consumer appliance.
4. The tablet of claim 1 , wherein the consumer appliance is a refrigerator appliance and the tablet is mounted on a door of the refrigerator appliance.
5. The tablet of claim 4 , wherein the display is configured to display information to the user when a triggering event occurs.
6. The tablet of claim 5 , wherein the triggering event is any one of the user pressing a button, an icemaker being activated, the door being opened, movement being detected by a proximity sensor, or a trigger generated by the refrigerator appliance responsive to an internal control algorithm.
7. The tablet of claim 1 , wherein the tablet comprises an energy storage device.
8. The tablet of claim 7 , wherein the energy storage device is a lithium-ion battery pack, and wherein the consumer appliance further comprises a USB charger for charging the lithium-ion battery pack.
9. The tablet of claim 1 , wherein the communication module is either a wired communication module or a wireless communication module for enabling wired communication and wireless communication, respectively, with the remote server and the appliance controller.
10. A consumer appliance, comprising:
a main body;
an appliance controller; and
a tablet removably mounted directly to the main body, the tablet comprising:
an energy storage device;
a display for providing information to a user;
a user interface configured for receiving user input; and
a wireless communication module mounted within the tablet for enabling the tablet to communicate directly and wirelessly with both the appliance controller and a remote server,
wherein the information provided to the display may be user selected from information received from the remote server and the appliance controller.
11. The consumer appliance of claim 10 , wherein the information provided to the display is appliance performance data.
12. The consumer appliance of claim 10 wherein the user input is used to adjust one or more operational parameters of the consumer appliance.
13. The consumer appliance of claim 10 , wherein the consumer appliance is a refrigerator appliance and the tablet is mounted on a door of the refrigerator appliance.
14. The consumer appliance of claim 13 , wherein the display is configured to display information to the user when a triggering event occurs, the triggering event being any one of the user pressing a button, an icemaker being activated, the door being opened, movement being detected by a proximity sensor, or a trigger generated by the refrigerator appliance responsive to an internal control algorithm.
15. The consumer appliance of claim 10 , wherein the consumer appliance comprises a USB charger for charging the energy storage device.
16. A method for communicating information to a user of a consumer appliance, the method comprising:
providing the user with a tablet that is directly and detachably mounted to the consumer appliance, the tablet comprising a display and a wireless communication module mounted within the tablet and in wireless communication with both a remote server and an appliance controller;
receiving information from the remote server and the appliance controller;
selectively displaying the information on the display in response to a user selected display configuration.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the information displayed is appliance performance data.
18. The method of claim 16 , further comprising adjusting one or more operational parameters of the consumer appliance in response to a user input.
19. The method of claim 16 , further comprising displaying information to the user when a triggering event occurs, the triggering event being any one of the user pressing a button, an icemaker being activated, the door being opened, movement being detected by a proximity sensor, or a trigger generated by the consumer appliance responsive to an internal control algorithm.
20. The method of claim 16 , wherein the tablet comprises an energy storage device, and the method further comprises charging the energy storage device using a USB charger coupled with the consumer appliance.