Thermostat with electronic image display

• US 10,423,140 B2
• Filed: 06/03/2015
• Issued: 09/24/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/02/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ademco Inc. (Resideo Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Ademco Inc. (Resideo Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Lunacek, Michael, Amundson, John B., Juntunen, Robert D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lo, Kenneth M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wynne, David J
• Application Number:
  US14/729,500
• Publication Number:
  US 20150268652A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,574 Days
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/30 for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/62 characterised by the type of control or by internal processing, e.g. using fuzzy logic, adaptive control or estimation of values
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/63 Electronic processing
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/0423 Input/output
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1902 characterised by the use of a variable reference value
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials

Abstract

A programmable controller for homes and/or buildings and their related grounds, such as thermostat, that has a display and an external interface. The external interface may be use for uploading electronic images and/or other information from an external data source, and may use the uploaded electronic images and/or other information for programming and/or updating the controller and/or for viewing the electronic images and/or other information on the display of the controller.

Claims

1. A wall mountable thermostat for controlling a climate control system of a building, the wall mountable thermostat comprising:

a housing that houses a wireless communication interface, a controller, a temperature sensor, and a user interface;

the wireless communication interface is configured to establish wireless communication to enable a download of at least two electronic image files from an external data source to the wall mountable thermostat, wherein each of the at least two electronic image files stores a discrete digital still photographic image;

the controller is configured to determine an ambient temperature within the building based at least in part on a signal from the temperature sensor, and to generate and output one or more control signals that activate and deactivate one or more components of the climate control system based at least in part on the determined ambient temperature in order to help control the climate in the building;

the user interface is configured to interact with a user of the wall mountable thermostat, the user interface comprising a display having a display area, wherein the user interface is responsive to the controller for displaying one or more wall mountable thermostat parameters on the display; and

the user interface is further responsive to the controller for displaying at least two digital still photographic images downloaded via the wireless communication interface one at a time on the display as a slideshow,

wherein the display automatically changes from one digital still photographic image to another digital still photographic image,

wherein the controller is configured to select the one digital still photographic image and the other digital still photographic image for display based on a time of day, a season related parameter, or an outside weather condition, and

wherein the user interface is further configured to display at least one wall mountable thermostat parameter on the display during the slideshow concurrently with each of the at least two digital still photographic images of the slideshow.

2. The wall mountable thermostat of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to cause the display to display at least two discrete digital still photographic images on the display as a slideshow in a user-selected order.

3. The wall mountable thermostat of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to cause the display to begin the slideshow after a predetermined amount of time of no user interaction with the user interface of the HVAC controller is detected.

4. The wall mountable thermostat of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to cause the display to display a first digital still photographic image after a predetermined amount of time of no user interaction with the user interface of the wall mountable thermostat, and wherein the first digital still photographic image is displayed for a first period of time after which, and with no further user interaction with the user interface, the first digital still photographic image is automatically replaced with a second digital still photographic image.

5. The wall mountable thermostat of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to cause the display to display a transition effect on the display between the display of at least two discrete digital still photographic images.

6. The wall mountable thermostat of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to allow a user to select via the user interface which of the two or more digital still photographic images will be shown in the slideshow.

7. The wall mountable thermostat of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to display each of the at least two digital still photographic images for a period of time, wherein the period of time is in a range of one second to five minutes.

8. The wall mountable thermostat of claim 1, wherein the at least one wall mountable thermostat parameter is displayed over-laid on top of at least part of the concurrently displayed discrete digital still photographic images.

9. The wall mountable thermostat of claim 1, wherein the at least one wall mountable thermostat parameter is displayed in a parameter region adjacent to the concurrently displayed discrete digital still photographic images.

10. The wall mountable thermostat of claim 1, wherein the at least one wall mountable thermostat parameter that is concurrently displayed comprises a temperature set point.

11. The wall mountable thermostat of claim 1, wherein the at least one wall mountable thermostat parameter that is concurrently displayed comprises the determined ambient temperature.

12. The wall mountable thermostat of claim 1, wherein the at least one wall mountable thermostat parameter that is concurrently displayed comprises an HVAC system status parameter.

13. A thermostat for controlling a climate control system of a building, the thermostat comprising:

a housing that houses a wireless communication interface, a controller, a memory, a temperature sensor, and a display;

the wireless communication interface is configured to establish wireless communication to enable a download of at least one electronic image file from an external data source to the memory, wherein each of the at least one electronic image file comprises a digital still photographic image;

the controller is configured to determine an ambient temperature within the building based at least in part on a signal from the temperature sensor, and to generate and output one or more control signals that activate and deactivate one or more HVAC components of the climate control system based at least in part on the determined ambient temperature in order to help control the climate in the building;

the controller is further configured to receive the at least one electronic image file downloaded via the wireless communication interface and to display on the display one or more thermostat parameters over-laid on top of at least part of at least one of the downloaded digital photographic images; and

the controller is further configured to select the at least one of the downloaded digital photographic images for display based on a time of day, a season related parameter, or an outside weather condition.

14. The thermostat of claim 13, wherein the at last one electronic image file includes two or more electronic image files, each storing a discrete still photographic image, and wherein the controller is configured to display one still photographic image at a time on the display as a slideshow.

15. The thermostat of claim 13, wherein the controller is configured to cause the at least one digital still photographic image to be displayed as a background image on the display with one or more thermostat parameters over-laid on top of at least part of the at least one digital still photographic image.

16. The thermostat of claim 13, wherein the controller is configured to display on the display two or more thermostat parameters over-laid on top of at least part of at least one of the downloaded digital photographic images.

17. The thermostat of claim 13, wherein the display has a display area, and the digital still photographic image covers greater than 25% of the display area.

18. The thermostat of claim 13, wherein the controller is configured to sequentially display two or more digital still photographic images stored in two or more electronic image files after a period of no user activity.

19. A thermostat for controlling a climate control system of a building, the thermostat comprising:

a housing that houses a wireless communication interface, a controller, a display, and a temperature sensor;

the wireless communication interface is configured to establish wireless communication to enable a download of at least two electronic image files from an external data source to the thermostat, wherein each of the at least two electronic image files comprises a digital still photographic image;

the controller is configured to determine an ambient temperature within the building based at least in part on a signal from the temperature sensor and to generate and output one or more control signals that activate and deactivate one or more HVAC components of the climate control system based at least in part on the determined ambient temperature;

the controller is further configured to display at least two of the downloaded digital still photographic images on the display as a slide show after a period of no detected user activity and to further display one or more thermostat parameters concurrently with the at least two downloaded digital still photographic images during the slide show; and

the controller is further configured to select the at least two of the downloaded digital still photographic images for display based on a time of day, a season related parameter, or an outside weather condition.