Appeal 2007-1231
Application 10/186,922
5. The appliances of Payne include a keypad (Fig. 2, “user selector
switch” 42a-42d), by which a user selects such options as washer speed and
water temperature (col. 6, ll. 65-68).
6. This keypad is monitored by a microcontroller using a ‘Read
Keypad’ routine, in which the user’s selections are determined (col. 8, ll. 64-
68).
7. Payne’s Read Keypad routine is meant to determine the appliance
settings a user desires, which is distinct and apart from its Machine Type
Determination routine, meant to identify the particular machine connected to
the controller. The Read Keypad routine is performed during regular
operation of the appliance, to effect control of the appliance based on user
selections (col. 8, ll. 66-68).
8. The Read Keypad routine of Payne does not signal to the controller
the presence or absence of any shorts sensed, nor does it establish a set of
pre-stored operational firmware to be executed by the controller based on the
shorts signaled in the keypad matrix.
9. In Payne, the Machine Type Determination routine identifies the
particular appliance connected to the controller by driving certain lines
attached to the appliance’s wiring harness to logic high or low, and sensing
received signals on other lines (col. 10, l. 41 to col. 11, l. 48). The particular
combination of received signals serves to identify the connected appliance
(Id.).
10. Payne’s selector switches (any of 42a-42d) are always open during
machine determination, and removing the selector switches entirely would
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Last modified: September 9, 2013