Communications: electrical – Systems – Selsyn type
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-30
2001-05-08
Lefkowitz, Edward (Department: 2736)
Communications: electrical
Systems
Selsyn type
C340S315000, C340S538000, C340S539230, C340S870030, C340S870030
Reexamination Certificate
active
06229433
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to control systems, and more particularly to an improved system for automatically controlling the operation of home appliances and other electrically operated devices, such as lamps and television receivers.
As the number and usage of electrically operated devices, such as kitchen appliances, lamps and home entertainment products, has increased so has the desire of the homeowner and apartment resident to be able to establish and control the operation of these devices remotely and in an automated manner. For purposes of increased security and convenience, a homeowner may wish to cause a number of lamps and appliances throughout the house to be automatically turned on and off at preset times which may vary for different days of the week. Thus, for example, a homeowner may wish the coffee maker to be automatically turned on before he arises and the hall lights to be turned on before he arrives from work and turned off after he retires.
One prior approach to automated appliance control is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,200,862, assigned to the assignee of the present application, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. The control system disclosed in that patent includes a transmitter unit in which the module addresses and operating information concerning the appliances to be controlled automatically can be entered. The transmitter unit is connected to an a.c. power line, which transmits address and control signals in the form of binary coded bursts or pulses over the a.c. power line to a plurality of control modules also connected to the a.c. power line that control the operation of the electrical appliances, lamps, television sets, and the like that are respectively connected to the modules. The binary coded signals that are transmitted along the ac power line to the modules identify each of the modules by their address and control the operation of the electrical devices, that is, for example, turn them on or off, or dim them in the case of lights, at prescribed times.
In the apparatus control system disclosed in the '862 patent, the bursts or pulses that constitute the binary address and control signals are synchronized to the zero crossing points of the a.c. power line; that is, they are produced near or at the zero crossing points of the a.c. power. These pulses are received and detected at the modules and are then decoded to derive the address and control signals.
Although this system has proven to be highly successful over the years, certain drawbacks in it have became apparent. By limiting the detection of the absence or presence of a logic “one” signal only to the a.c. power line signal zero crossing points, the number of operating module binary address and control codes that can be generated during a given period of time is limited. It has also been found that the presence of noise on the ac power line could be mistaken by the module control units as a binary bit or logic “one” signal that could result in an erroneous operation of the module.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an automated appliance control system in which the number of available operating binary control codes is increased.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an automated control system which can control the operation of a greater number of electrical appliances and other electrical devices.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an automated appliance control system in which improved immunity to noise on the a.c. power line is achieved.
To these ends, the automated appliance control system of the invention transmits address and control or function codes along the existing ac power line from a programmed transmitter unit to a plurality of spaced control modules in the form of bursts of binary code produced both before and after each zero crossing point of the ac power line signal. The lamp and appliance control modules are connected to the ac power line, and each module of the modules controls a separate lamp, appliance, wall switch or the like to turn them on or off at preselected times of day in accordance with the received control signal. Each control module, which is identified by a unique binary address, receives and decodes the binary coded burst signals transmitted on the ac power line. When a module detects its address, it performs the prescribed control function such as on-off, dim or the like in accordance with the binary control signal also contained in the binary data bursts it has received from the transmitter unit.
The transmitter unit may have the additional capability of transmitting binary-coded (infrared) IR signals to control the operation of home audio/visual equipment in the same room, or through the use of an RF-to-IR converter to control audio/visual equipment located in other rooms in the home.
In another aspect of the invention, some of the binary coded address and control signals may be transmitted to one or more modules over the air by transmitting a coded rf signal to a special module which receives the signal, detects the transmitted binary code, and applies it to the ac power line on which it is transmitted to an appliance or lamp control module. In yet another aspect of the invention, the transmitter unit may be connected to a specially programmed PC, at which the homeowner, such as by the use of a mouse may establish the desired automatic appliance and lamp control that is implemented by the transmitter unit. In a further aspect of the invention, a macro, namely a group of events, such as the turning on of different lamps at prescribed times, may be scheduled to occur in response to the occurrence of another event.
To the accomplishment of the above, and to such further objects as may hereinafter appear, the present invention relates to an automated appliance control system substantially as defined in the appended claims and as described in the accompanying specification as considered with accompanying drawings, in which
REFERENCES:
patent: 4755792 (1988-07-01), Pezzolo et al.
patent: 4847781 (1989-07-01), Brown, III et al.
patent: 5565855 (1996-10-01), Knibbe
patent: 5814902 (1998-09-01), Creasy et al.
patent: 5938757 (1999-08-01), Bertsch
Leech Lesley Alan
Phillips James
Rye David John
Thompson David Richard
Goins Davetta W.
Gordon Marvin N.
Lefkowitz Edward
X-10 Ltd.
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