Laundry appliances and methods of coordinated action with a secondary appliance

Abstract

A laundry appliance or method for the same may provide for or include detecting a load attribute for a load of articles at the laundry appliance. The method may also include initiating a laundry cycle at the laundry appliance for the load of articles. The method may further include directing a load signal corresponding to the detected load attribute to the secondary appliance and initiating a secondary operation at the secondary appliance in a predefined region based on the load signal during the laundry cycle.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of operating a laundry appliance and a secondary appliance spaced apart from the laundry appliance, the method comprising:
 detecting a load attribute for a load of articles at the laundry appliance;   initiating a laundry cycle at the laundry appliance for the load of articles;   directing a load signal corresponding to the detected load attribute to the secondary appliance; and   initiating a secondary operation at the secondary appliance in a predefined region based on the load signal during the laundry cycle.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the load attribute comprises at least one of a fabric type, a load color, or a load size. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein detecting the load attribute comprises receiving a user-specified attribute input from a user interface of the laundry appliance. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the laundry appliance further comprises a sensor mounted to the laundry appliance and configured to automatically detect the load attribute of the load of articles, wherein detecting the load attribute comprises receiving a detection signal from the sensor. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the predefined region is a user-defined region spaced apart from the laundry appliance corresponding to a location of laundry storage. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the predefined region comprises a region directly forward from the laundry appliance. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein initiating the secondary operation is in tandem with the laundry cycle. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the secondary operation is configured to finish during the laundry cycle. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the secondary appliance is a vacuum appliance, and wherein the secondary operation comprises a vacuuming operation. 
     
     
         10 . A laundry appliance comprising:
 a cabinet;   a tub defining a laundry chamber to receive a load of articles therein;   an agitation element disposed within the laundry chamber;   a motor connected to the agitation element to motivate rotation thereof, and   a controller in communication with the motor, the controller configured to initiate a multi-appliance operation comprising:
 detecting a load attribute for a load of articles at the laundry appliance, 
 directing a laundry cycle at the laundry appliance for the load of articles, and 
 transmitting a load signal corresponding to the detected load attribute to a secondary appliance spaced apart from the laundry appliance, the load signal being configured to initiating a secondary operation at the secondary appliance in a predefined region based on the load signal. 
   
     
     
         11 . The laundry appliance of  claim 10 , wherein the load attribute comprises at least one of a fabric type, a load color, or a load size. 
     
     
         12 . The laundry appliance of  claim 10 , wherein detecting the load attribute comprises receiving a user-specified attribute input from a user interface of the laundry appliance. 
     
     
         13 . The laundry appliance of  claim 10 , further comprising: a sensor mounted to the cabinet and configured to automatically detect the load attribute of the load of articles, wherein detecting the load attribute comprises receiving a detection signal from the sensor. 
     
     
         14 . The laundry appliance of  claim 10 , wherein the predefined region is a user-defined region spaced apart from the laundry appliance corresponding to a location of laundry storage. 
     
     
         15 . The laundry appliance of  claim 10 , wherein the predefined region comprises a region directly forward from the laundry appliance. 
     
     
         16 . The laundry appliance of  claim 10 , wherein initiating the secondary operation is in tandem with the laundry cycle. 
     
     
         17 . The laundry appliance of  claim 16 , wherein the secondary operation is configured to finish during the laundry cycle. 
     
     
         18 . The laundry appliance of  claim 10 , wherein the secondary appliance is a vacuum appliance, and wherein the secondary operation comprises a vacuuming operation.