Description:The following specification describes and ascertains the nature of this invention and the manner in which it is to be performed:

Field of the invention
[0001] This disclosure relates to a light assembly with an integrated buzzer in a household appliance.

Background of the invention
[0002] Some of the single door refrigerators available in the market uses a Buzzer as door open alarm. This buzzer is used as separate component in product, or it is mounted on electronics available in appliance. The existing concepts are expensive to implement in a low-cost single door refrigerator. This increase in cost come from below factors like an additional component in use, wiring cables used for connection and need of electronics. In the conventional appliances, the light source has its own power supply and comprises an AC circuit and a DC circuit. The AC Circuit is encapsulated with 5VA grade material for safety reasons. The DC Circuit comprises light sources mounted on it for illumination.

[0003] A patent application CN107025745 discloses a refrigerator and an intelligent domestic system. The invention discloses a kind of refrigerator and intelligent domestic system, for receiving doorbell signal, including:Main frame, display control module and buzzer, in addition to wireless receiving module, wireless receiving module are used to send electric signal according to the doorbell signal received, and display control module controls buzzer to send prompt tone according to electric signal.

Brief description of the invention:
[0004] It is an object of the invention to provide a light assembly with an integrated buzzer in a household appliance.

[0005] The objects are solved by a light assembly with an integrated buzzer in a household appliance having the features according to claims 1 and 10.

[0006] The invention relates to a light assembly with an integrated buzzer in a household appliance. The appliance comprises at least one light source and an alternating current (AC) circuit with an encapsulation module. The appliance comprises a circuit board having a converter for converting the AC power to a DC power and a controller adapted to control at least one operation of said light assembly. The appliance comprises a buzzer integrated in the circuit board, such that, the buzzer is activated by the controller based on occurrence of at least one event of the appliance.

[0007] A feature of this invention is that, the AC circuit and at least one light source, the converter, the controller and the buzzer is integrated on the circuit board are made as a single component to form the light assembly.

[0008] Another feature of this invention is that,the light assembly comprises an outer casing enclosed and at least one opening made on the outer casing for sound of the buzzer to get out of the casing when the buzzer is activated.

[0009] Another feature of this invention is that, the controller deactivates the activated buzzer after a predefined amount of time upon detecting occurrence of the at least one event.

[0010] Another feature of this invention is that, the at least one events of the appliance is any one of the events comprising a start/end of a defrost operation, an open state of a door of the appliance beyond a predefined amount of time, an indication of at least one rotten/spoiled /expired item stored in the appliance.

[0011] Another feature of this invention is that, the controller activates any one of following comprising the at least one light source and the buzzer on occurrence of any one of above the events of the appliance.

[0012] With the above disclosed a light assembly with an integrated buzzer in the household appliance, the number of components used to form the light assembly is reduced making it a low-cost effective solution. The automatic ON/OFF of the buzzer and the at least one light source by the controller reduces the manual intervention.

Brief description of the accompanying drawings
An embodiment of the disclosure is described with reference to the following accompanying drawings.
[0013] Figure 1 illustrates a light assembly in a household appliance, in accordance with an embodiment of this invention.

Detailed description of the embodiments
[0014] Figure 1 illustrates a light assembly with an integrated buzzer in a household appliance in a household appliance, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. The appliance 10 comprises at least one light source 14 and an alternating current (AC) circuit 16 with an encapsulation module. The appliance 10 comprises a circuit board 18 having a converter 19 for converting the AC power to a DC power and a controller 20 adapted to control at least one operation of the light assembly 12. The appliance 10 comprises a buzzer 22 integrated in the circuit board 18, such that, the buzzer 22 is activated by the controller 20 based on occurrence of at least one event of the appliance 10.

[0015]Further , the construction of the appliance 10 and the components of the appliance 10 is explained in detail. According to one embodiment of the invention, the appliance 10 is a refrigerator. The appliance 10 is chosen from a group of appliances comprising a single door refrigerator, a mutli-door refrigerator and the like. The appliance 10 comprises the AC circuit 16 which receives the power from the mains 26 and is circulated to the circuit board 18 . It is to be noted that the DC circuit is referred to as circuit board in this specification. The AC circuit 16 and at least one light source 14, the converter 19, the controller 20 and the buzzer 22 is integrated on the circuit board 18 are made as a single component to form the light assembly 12. The AC circuit 16 comprises an encapsulation module enclosed over the circuit in the light assembly 12.

[0016] The light assembly 12 comprises an outer casing 24 enclosed and at least one opening made on the outer casing 24 for sound of the buzzer 22 to get out of the outer casing 24 when the buzzer 22 is activated. The material of the outer casing 24 can be any state of art material that allows the sound waves to pass through. The controller 20 activates or deactivates the buzzer 22 based on the detected occurance of the at least one event. The controller 20 deactivates the activated buzzer 22 after a predefined amount of time upon detecting occurrence of the at least one event.

[0017] The at least one events of the appliance 10 is any one of the events comprising a start/end of a defrost operation, an open state of a door 28 of the appliance 10 beyond a predefined amount of time, an indication of at least one rotten/spoiled /expired item 30 stored in the appliance. For instance, if the defrost operation is automatically/manually triggered, then the controller 20 upon receiving the signal of triggered defrost operation, activates the buzzer 22 for a predefined amount of time to indicate the start of the defrost operation to the user of the appliance 10. The above disclosed process will be repeted after the completion of the defrost operation. In another instance, the controller 20 activates the buzzer 22 when the door 28 of the appliance 10 is opened for more than a predefined time to indicate the user the open state of the door 28 of the appliance 10. The controller 20 activates any one of following comprising the at least one light source 14 and the buzzer 22 on occurrence of any one of above the events of the appliance 10.

[0018] A method of working of the light assembly 12 is explained in detail. The power from a main supply is provided to the AC circuit 16 of the light assembly 12. From there, the supplied power will be coverted from an AC power to a DC power by a converter 19 present in the light assembly 12. The converted DC power is supplied to the controller 20 for controlling at least one operation of the light assmebly 12 during the occurance of the at least one event in the appliance 10. The converted DC power is supplied to the at least one light source 14 and buzzer 22 for operating during the at least one event occured in the appliance 10. The controller 20 activates either buzzer 22 or at least one light source 14 or both upon detecting at least one event in the appliance 10. For instance, if the defrost operation is initiated by the controller 20 , then either one of the buzzer 22 or the at least one light source 14 or the both is activated for a predefined amount of time. Ie., the controller 20 activates the buzzer/light source 14/22 for a „x“ secs and the same will be repeated when the defrost operation is completed.

[0019] In another instance, the controller 20 activates the buzzer 22 or at least one light source 14 or the both for a predefined amount of time if the door 28 of the appliance 10 is oepned for more than a stored predefined amount of time. Yet in another instance, the controller 20 activates the buzzer 22 or the at least one light source 14 or the both, if any one of the stored item is rotten/expired.

[0020] With the above disclosed a light assembly 12 with an integrated buzzer 22 in the household appliance 10, the number of components used to form the light assembly 12 is reduced making it a low-cost effective solution. The automatic ON/OFF of the buzzer 22 and the at least one light source 14 by the controller 20 reduces the manual intervention.

[0021] It should be understood that embodiments explained in the description above are only illustrative and do not limit the scope of this disclosure. Many such embodiments and other modifications and changes in the embodiment explained in the description are envisaged. The scope of the invention is only limited by the scope of the claims.

List of Reference Signs
10 household appliance
12 light assembly
14 at least one light source
16 AC circuit
18 circuit board
19 converter
20 controller
22 buzzer
24 outer casing
26 mains supply
28 door of the appliance.
30 a rotten item

, Claims:We Claim:
1. A light assembly (12) in a household appliance (10) comprising:
- at least one light source (14);
- an alternating current (AC) circuit (16) with an encapsulation module;
characterized in that:
a circuit board (18) comprising a converter (19) for converting said AC power to a DC power;
- a controller (20) adapted to control at least one operation of said light assembly (12);
- a buzzer (22) integrated in said circuit board (18), such that, said buzzer (22) is activated by said controller (20) based on occurrence of at least one event of said appliance (10).

2. The appliance (10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said AC circuit (16), said at least one light source (14), said converter (19), said controller (20) and said buzzer (22) is integrated on said circuit board (18) is made as a single component to form said light assembly (12).

3. The appliance (10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said light assembly (12) comprises an outer casing (24) enclosed and at least one opening made on said outer casing (24) for sound of said buzzer (22) to get out of said outer casing (24) when said buzzer (22) is activated.

4. The appliance (10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said controller (20) deactivates said activated buzzer (22) after a predefined amount of time upon detecting occurrence of said at least one event.

5. The appliance (10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one events of said appliance is any one of the events comprising a start/end of a defrost operation, an open state of a door (28) of said appliance (10) beyond a predefined amount of time, an indication of at least one rotten/spoiled /expired item (30) stored in said appliance (10).

6. The appliance (10) as claimed in claim 5, wherein said controller (20) activates any one of following comprising said at least one light source (14) and said buzzer (22) on occurrence of any one of above said events of said appliance (10).