Clothes dryer maintenance safety reminder system

Abstract

A clothes dryer including a cabinet, a drum rotatably mounted in the cabinet, ductwork connected to the drum for circulating air, a heating element for providing heat to the drum, and a control system for operating the clothes dryer. The control system includes a warning indicator and a control module. The control module monitors and tracks usage of the clothes dryer. The warning indicator provides first and second warnings to a user based on the usage. The first warning indicates that factory authorized service is required to clean inside the cabinet of the clothes dryer, and the second warning indicates that the heating element has been disabled until the factory authorized service occurs. Preferably, the control module is further operative to completely disable the clothes dryer based on the usage.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A clothes dryer comprising:
 a cabinet;   a drum rotatably mounted in the cabinet;   ductwork connected to the drum for circulating air;   a heating element for providing heat to the drum; and   a control system for operating the clothes dryer, the control system including:
 a warning indicator; and 
 a control module for: monitoring and tracking usage of the clothes dryer; using the warning indicator to provide first and second warnings to a user based on the usage, 
   wherein the first warning indicates that factory authorized service is required to clean inside the cabinet of the clothes dryer, and the second warning indicates that the heating element has been disabled until the factory authorized service occurs.   
     
     
         2 . A clothes dryer as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the control module is further operative to completely disable the clothes dryer based on the usage. 
     
     
         3 . A safety system for a clothes dryer comprising:
 a specialized printed circuit board including:
 memory storing an instruction set and data related to the clothes dryer and a first cycle count; and 
 a processor in communication with the memory for running the instruction set, wherein the processor is operative to: 
 monitor and track cycles of the clothes dryer; 
 compare the cycles to the first cycle count to determine if the cycles is greater than the first cycle count; and 
 provide a first warning signal to a user when the cycles is greater than the first cycle count, wherein the first warning signal indicates factory authorized service is required to clean inside a cabinet of the clothes dryer. 
   
     
     
         4 . A safety system as recited in  claim 3 , wherein cleaning inside the cabinet includes cleaning ductwork and an area around a rotating drum. 
     
     
         5 . A safety system as recited in  claim 3 , wherein:
 the memory stores a second cycle count; and   the processor is further operative to:   compare the cycles to the second cycle count to determine if the usage total is greater than the second cycle count; and   disable a heating element of the clothes dryer when the usage total is greater than the second cycle count.   
     
     
         6 . A safety system as recited in  claim 5 , wherein:
 the memory stores a third cycle count; and   the processor is further operative to:   compare the cycles to the third cycle count to determine if the usage total is greater than the third cycle count; and   disable the clothes dryer entirely when the usage total is greater than the third cycle count.   
     
     
         7 . A safety system as recited in  claim 6 , further comprising a heating-element-on indicator light and a service required light, the lights being in communication with the processor so that the first warning signal turns the heating-element-on indicator light from green to yellow and the service required light illuminates when the clothes dryer is disabled entirely. 
     
     
         8 . A safety system for an appliance to monitor and track real time usage for providing warnings and controlling operation comprising:
 a specialized printed circuit board including:
 memory storing an instruction set and data related to the appliance, a first predefined criteria, and a second predefined criteria; and 
 a processor in communication with the memory for running the instruction set, wherein the processor is operative to: 
 monitor and track usage of the appliance to record a usage total; 
 compare the usage total to the first predefined criteria to determine if the usage total is greater than the first predefined criteria; 
 provide a first warning signal to a user when the usage total is greater than the first predefined criteria; 
 when the usage total is greater than the first predefined criteria, compare the usage total to the second predefined criteria to determine if the usage total is greater than the second predefined criteria; and 
 disable a function of the appliance when the usage total is greater than the second predefined criteria. 
   
     
     
         9 . A safety system as recited in  claim 8 , wherein the appliance is a clothes dryer, first criteria is a first number of cycles, the second criteria is a second number of cycles, and the function is providing heat from a heating element of the clothes dryer. 
     
     
         10 . A safety system as recited in  claim 8 , further comprising a LED in communication with the processor, wherein the LED is green during normal operation, yellow as a result of the first warning signal, and red when the function is disabled. 
     
     
         11 . A safety system as recited in  claim 8 , wherein the first warning is a text message. 
     
     
         12 . A safety system as recited in  claim 8 , wherein the processor is further operative to send a message to an agent of a manufacturer of the appliance based upon the function being disabled.