公开(公告)号：US20180031226A1

公开(公告)日：2018-02-01

申请号：US15221335

申请日：2016-07-27

Applicant: WHIRLPOOL CORPORATION

Inventor： MELISSA J. BURCHILL ,  SANGHAYAN Y. GAJBHIYE ,  NEOMAR GIACOMINI ,  ROBERT B. WOMACK

IPC: F21V33/00 ,  F21K9/61 ,  G06F3/0354

CPC classification number: F21V33/0044 ,  F21V19/004 ,  F21V23/0485 ,  F21W2131/30 ,  F21Y2115/10 ,  G06F3/03547 ,  G06F3/041

Abstract: A user interface assembly for a household appliance is designed and adapted to provide good lighting execution maintaining a directly coupled touch field unit. The user interface includes a decorative overlay, a structural light box, and a printed circuit board with an integrated touch field unit and plurality of top-fire LED. The printed circuit board is mounted to a mounting frame extending from the inner surface of the structural light box without the use of adhesive. The structural light box is box includes a conical light aperture and dimensioned to maximize thickness to improve lighting diffusion, but keeping the overall thickness of the structural light box within the maximum range acceptable for optimal functionality and sensitivity of the touch field unit through direct coupling.