Thermostat with direction display

• US 10,187,471 B2
• Filed: 10/28/2016
• Issued: 01/22/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company (Johnson Controls International plc)
• Original Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company (Johnson Controls International plc)
• Inventors: Alberth, Jr., William P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dean, Raymond
• Application Number:
  US15/338,221
• Publication Number:
  US 20180124178A1
• Time in Patent Office: 816 Days
• CPC Class Codes: F24D 19/00 Details of water or air heaters F24H9/00; of heat-exchange or heat-transfer apparatus, of general application F28F
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/024 Guidance services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/006 with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination

Abstract

A thermostat in a building includes a user interface, a communications interface, and a processing circuit. The user interface is configured to present information to a user. The communications interface is configured to receive emergency information and building event information from a network. The processing circuit is configured to generate one or more emergency directions based on the emergency information and one or more building event directions based on the building event information. The processing circuit is configured to select a highest priority direction based on the emergency directions and the building event directions and cause the user interface to display the highest priority direction.

Claims

1. A thermostat in a building, the thermostat comprising:

a user interface configured to present information to a user;

a communications interface configured to receive emergency information and building event information from a network; and

a processing circuit configured to;

generate one or more emergency directions based on the emergency information and one or more building event directions based on the building event information;

selecting a highest priority direction from the emergency directions and the building event directions;

cause the user interface to display the highest priority direction; and

cause the user interface to display a message instructing the user to remove the thermostat from a wall mount.

2. The thermostat of claim 1, wherein the building event directions comprise at least one of an event location and an event title;

wherein the emergency directions comprise at least one of evacuation directions and emergency response directions.

3. The thermostat of claim 1, wherein the communications interface is configured to communicate with a user device and receive a user schedule from the user device;

wherein the processing circuit is configured to generate the building event directions based on the user schedule.

4. The thermostat of claim 1, wherein the communications interface is configured to receive sensor data from building emergency sensors;

wherein the processing circuit is configured to generate the emergency directions based on the sensor data.

5. The thermostat of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is configured to:

cause the user interface to display a building map when the thermostat is removed from the wall mount.

6. The thermostat of claim 5, further comprising a global positioning system (GPS) sensor configured to determine GPS coordinates for the thermostat;

wherein the processing circuit is configured to determine a location of the thermostat on the building map based on the GPS coordinates and cause the user interface to display a route on the building map to an evacuation point based on the location of the thermostat.

7. The thermostat of claim 1, further comprising a battery and a battery controller circuit;

wherein the battery controller circuit is configured to;

charge the battery via a power supply when the battery and the thermostat are connected to the power supply;

determine that the thermostat is disconnected from the power supply; and

power the thermostat with the battery when the thermostat is disconnected from the power supply.

8. The thermostat of claim 1, further comprising a speaker;

wherein the processing circuit is configured to cause the speaker to play audio messages associated with the highest priority direction.

9. The thermostat of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit comprises a direction prioritization selector configured to select the highest priority direction based on the type of emergency associated with each of the emergency directions.

10. A method for displaying directions via a thermostat in a building, the method comprising:

receiving, via a communications interface communicatively coupled to a network, emergency information and building event information;

generating, by a processor, one or more emergency directions based on the emergency information;

generating, by the processor, one or more building event directions based on the building event information;

selecting, by the processor, a highest priority direction from the emergency directions and the building event directions;

causing, by the processor, a user interface to display the highest priority direction; and

cause the user interface to display a message instructing the user to remove the thermostat from a wall mount.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising receiving, via the communications interface, a user schedule from a user device;

wherein generating the building event directions is based on the user schedule.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising receiving, via the communications interface, sensor data from building emergency sensors;

wherein generating the emergency directions is based on the sensor data.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein determining the highest priority direction is based on prioritizing the emergency directions based on a type of the emergency associated with each of the emergency directions.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

causing, by the processor, the user interface to display a building map when the thermostat is removed from the wall mount.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

determining the location of the thermostat on the building map based on GPS coordinates received from a GPS sensor; and

displaying a route on the building map to an evacuation point based on the location of the thermostat.

16. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

charging a battery via a power supply when the battery and the thermostat are connected to the power supply;

determining that the thermostat is disconnected from the power supply; and

powering the thermostat with the battery when the thermostat is disconnected from the power supply.

17. A display device for a building, the device comprising:

a GPS sensor configured to determine GPS coordinates of the display device;

a user interface configured to present information to a user;

a communications interface configured to receive emergency information from a network; and

a processing circuit configured to;

cause the display device to display a message instructing the user to remove the display device from a wall mount based on the emergency information;

determine the location of the display device on a building map based on the GPS coordinates; and

cause the user interface to display a route on the building map to an evacuation point based on the location of the display device.

18. The display device of claim 17, wherein the communications interface is configured to receive building event information from the network;

wherein the processing circuit is configured to;

generate one or more emergency directions based on the emergency information and one or more building event directions based on the building event information;

select a highest priority direction from the emergency directions and the building event directions; and

cause the user interface to display the highest priority direction.

19. The display device of claim 18, further comprising a battery controller circuit and a battery, wherein the battery controller circuit is configured to charge the battery via a power supply when the display device and the battery are connected to the power supply, determine that the display device is disconnected from the power supply, and power the display device with the battery when the display device is disconnected from the power supply.

20. The display device of claim 18, wherein the communications interface is configured to receive sensor data from building emergency sensors;

wherein the processing circuit is configured to generate the emergency directions based on the sensor data.