Domestic appliance control and display systems

Claim 1

A domestic appliance for household operation adapted to be connected to a domestic power supply, said appliance including a plurality of operating elements, a digital control and display panel of planar material imperforate throughout for easy wipe cleanability, display means, said panel including a transparent area through which the user may view said display means, means including said panel forming touch control means for programming said appliance, said touch control means including a plurality of operation selector areas substantially coplanar with said panel and respectively identifiable with each of said plurality of operating elements, said areas being located on the user''s side of said panel and user touchable for selecting an operation of one of said plurality of operating elements and for entering a desired operating value for the operation of the operating element selected, power supply control means for controlling the application of said power supply to said operating elements, digital logic means responsive to the user''s touch of said touch control means to enable said power supply control means to apply power to a selected one of said operating elements in accordance with the desired operating value entered by the user, and display control means responsive to the selection of the operation of one of said operating elements and to the entering of a desired operating value for enabling said display means to display through said transparent area the operating value entered as a visual feedback to the user.