Household appliance having a signal relay

摘要

A household appliance for performing a useful cycle of operation on a physical article may have a treating chamber for holding the physical article during performance of the useful cycle of operation. The household appliance may include a temporary controllable device located within the treating chamber where the temporary controllable device may be communicated with via a signal relay.

主权项

1. A household appliance for performing a useful cycle of operation on a physical article, comprising:
a treating chamber for holding the physical article during the performance of the useful cycle of operation and having an open face; a door moveably mounted between an open position, wherein a user can access the treating chamber, and a closed position, wherein the door closes the open face of the treating chamber; at least one controllable component for use in implementing the useful cycle of operation; a repeater signal relay including a plurality of repeater signal relays located within the treating chamber and where the repeater signal relay is physically removed from a treating chemistry dispenser integrated in the household appliance and where the repeater signal relay includes a signal receiver configured to receive a wireless transmission emanating from a temporary controllable device, where the temporary controllable device is configured to be controlled autonomously or via an externally provided control signal to implement an action, when the temporary controllable device is within the treating chamber and where the repeater signal relay is configured to provide an output signal corresponding to the received wireless transmission; and a controller operably coupled to the at least one controllable component, operably coupled to the repeater signal relay to receive the output signal, and having a memory in which is stored a computer program configured to implement the useful cycle of operation by at least in part controlling the at least one controllable component according to the computer program based at least in part on the output signal; and wherein the repeater signal relay ensures adequate communication coverage between the temporary controllable device and the controller when the temporary controllable device is placed anywhere within the treating chamber.