Laundry appliances reservation systems and methods

Abstract

A pair of laundry appliances includes a washing machine appliance and a dryer appliance matched with the washing machine appliance. A method of operating the pair of laundry appliances includes receiving, from a user via a remote user interface device, an access request for the washing machine appliance and reserving the washing machine appliance and the dryer appliance for the user. The method also includes unlocking the reserved washing machine appliance via the remote user interface device and activating the reserved washing machine appliance after unlocking the reserved washing machine appliance. The method further includes unlocking the reserved dryer appliance via the remote user interface device and activating the reserved dryer appliance after unlocking the reserved dryer appliance.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of operating a group of laundry appliances, the method comprising:
 receiving, from a user via a remote user interface device, an access request for a washing machine appliance from the group of laundry appliances;   identifying a dryer appliance from the group of laundry appliances;   reserving the requested washing machine appliance and the identified dryer appliance for the user;   unlocking the reserved washing machine appliance via the remote user interface device;   activating the reserved washing machine appliance after unlocking the reserved washing machine appliance;   unlocking the reserved dryer appliance via the remote user interface device; and   activating the reserved dryer appliance after unlocking the reserved dryer appliance.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the group of laundry appliances comprises laundry appliances in a common location. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the group of laundry appliances is a predefined group created by an owner of the group of laundry appliances. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein activating the reserved washing machine appliance comprises performing a cycle of the washing machine appliance, further comprising sending, from the reserved washing machine appliance to the remote user interface device, a notification after performing the cycle of the washing machine appliance. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the group of laundry appliances comprises a first set of laundry appliances and a second set of laundry appliances, wherein the requested washing machine appliance is a member of one of the first set and the second set, and wherein the identified dryer appliance is a member of the same one of the first set and the second set as the requested washing machine appliance. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the laundry appliances of the first set of laundry appliances are located in a first common location and the laundry appliances of the second set of laundry appliances are located in a second common location different from the first common location. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the first set of laundry appliances is a first predefined set created by an owner, and wherein the second set of laundry appliances is a second predefined set created by the owner. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein unlocking the reserved washing machine appliance comprises scanning a bar code on the reserved washing machine appliance with the remote user interface device. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein unlocking the reserved washing machine appliance comprises capturing an image of the reserved washing machine appliance with the remote user interface device. 
     
     
         10 . A method of operating a pair of laundry appliances, the pair of laundry appliances comprising a washing machine appliance and a dryer appliance matched with the washing machine appliance, the method comprising:
 receiving, from a user via a remote user interface device, an access request for the washing machine appliance;   reserving the washing machine appliance and the dryer appliance for the user;   unlocking the reserved washing machine appliance via the remote user interface device;   activating the reserved washing machine appliance after unlocking the reserved washing machine appliance;   unlocking the reserved dryer appliance via the remote user interface device; and   activating the reserved dryer appliance after unlocking the reserved dryer appliance.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein activating the reserved washing machine appliance comprises performing a cycle of the washing machine appliance, further comprising sending, from the reserved washing machine appliance to the remote user interface device, a notification after performing the cycle of the washing machine appliance. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the pair of laundry appliances are matched based on a common location of the washing machine appliance and the dryer appliance. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the pair of laundry appliances is a predefined pair created by an owner of the laundry appliances. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the pair of laundry appliances is a first pair of laundry appliances, further comprising restricting access to a second pair of laundry appliances after receiving the access request for the washing machine appliance of the first pair of laundry appliances. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the first pair of laundry appliances is located in a first common location and the second pair of laundry appliances is located in a second common location different from the first common location. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the first pair of laundry appliances is a first predefined pair created by an owner, and wherein the second pair of laundry appliances is a second predefined pair created by the owner. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein unlocking the reserved washing machine appliance comprises scanning a bar code on the reserved washing machine appliance with the remote user interface device. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein unlocking the reserved washing machine appliance comprises capturing an image of the reserved washing machine appliance with the remote user interface device.