Controllable electrical outlet having a resonant loop antenna
First Claim
1. A controllable electrical outlet for use in a load control system adapted to receive power from a power source, the controllable electrical outlet comprising:
- two electrical receptacles, each configured to receive a plug of at least one plug-in electrical load;
an electrical connection configured to be electrically coupled to the power source to receive a hot voltage;
a main printed circuit board;
a load control circuit mounted to the main printed circuit board and electrically coupled in series between the electrical connection and at least one of the electrical receptacles to control power delivered to the plug-in electrical load;
a radio-frequency (RF) communication circuit configured to receive an RF signal at a specified frequency;
an antenna printed circuit board comprising first and second layers, the antenna printed circuit board arranged perpendicular to the main printed circuit board, the first layer having a main loop trace characterized by an inductance and a capacitance that are resonant at the specified frequency, the second layer having a feed loop trace electrically coupled to the RF communication circuit and magnetically coupled to the main loop trace; and
a control circuit coupled to the load control circuit and the communication circuit to control power delivered to at least one of the electrical receptacles in response to the RF signal received via the RF communication circuit.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A controllable electrical outlet may comprise a resonant loop antenna. The resonant loop antenna may comprise a feed loop electrically coupled to a radio-frequency (RF) communication circuit and a main loop magnetically coupled to the feed loop. The controllable electrical outlet may comprise one or more electrical receptacles configured to receive a plug of a plug-in electrical load and may be configured to control power delivered to the plug-in electrical load in response to an RF signal received via the RF communication circuit. The RF performance of the controllable electrical outlet may be substantially immune to devices plugged into the receptacles (e.g., plugs, power supplies, etc.) due to the operation of the resonant loop antenna. For example, degradation of the RF performance of the controllable electrical outlet may be less when the controllable electrical outlet includes the resonant loop antenna rather than other types of antennas.
21 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A controllable electrical outlet for use in a load control system adapted to receive power from a power source, the controllable electrical outlet comprising:
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two electrical receptacles, each configured to receive a plug of at least one plug-in electrical load; an electrical connection configured to be electrically coupled to the power source to receive a hot voltage; a main printed circuit board; a load control circuit mounted to the main printed circuit board and electrically coupled in series between the electrical connection and at least one of the electrical receptacles to control power delivered to the plug-in electrical load; a radio-frequency (RF) communication circuit configured to receive an RF signal at a specified frequency; an antenna printed circuit board comprising first and second layers, the antenna printed circuit board arranged perpendicular to the main printed circuit board, the first layer having a main loop trace characterized by an inductance and a capacitance that are resonant at the specified frequency, the second layer having a feed loop trace electrically coupled to the RF communication circuit and magnetically coupled to the main loop trace; and a control circuit coupled to the load control circuit and the communication circuit to control power delivered to at least one of the electrical receptacles in response to the RF signal received via the RF communication circuit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A controllable electrical outlet for use in a load control system adapted to receive power from a power source, the controllable electrical outlet comprising:
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at least one electrical receptacle configured to receive a plug of a plug-in electrical load; an electrical connection configured to be electrically coupled to the power source to receive a hot voltage; a load control circuit electrically coupled in series between the electrical connection and the electrical receptacle to control power delivered to the plug-in electrical load; a radio-frequency (RF) communication circuit configured to receive an RF signal; a resonant loop antenna comprising a feed loop electrically coupled to the RF communication circuit and a main loop magnetically coupled to the feed loop; and a control circuit coupled to the load control circuit and the communication circuit to control power delivered to the plug-in electrical load in response to the RF signal received via the RF communication circuit. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. A controllable electrical outlet for use in a load control system adapted to receive power from a power source, the controllable electrical outlet comprising:
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a bezel portion having a front surface located in a plane extending in a longitudinal direction and a lateral direction; two electrical receptacles provided in the front surface of the bezel portion and spaced apart from each other in the longitudinal direction, each electrical receptacle configured to receive a plug of at least one plug-in electrical load; an electrical connection configured to be electrically coupled to the power source to receive a hot voltage; a main printed circuit board located in a plane parallel to the plane of the front surface of the bezel portion; a load control circuit mounted to the main printed circuit board and electrically coupled in series between the electrical connection and at least one of the electrical receptacles to control power delivered to the plug-in electrical load; and a control circuit coupled to the load control circuit to control power delivered to at least one of the electrical receptacles; wherein the improvement comprises; a radio-frequency (RF) communication circuit configured to receive an RF signal at a specified frequency, the communication circuit coupled to the control circuit for enabling the control circuit to control the power delivered to at least one of the electrical receptacles in response to the RF signal; and an antenna printed circuit board comprising first and second layers, the antenna printed circuit board arranged perpendicular to the main printed circuit board, the first layer having a main loop trace characterized by an inductance and a capacitance that are resonant at the specified frequency, the second layer having a feed loop trace electrically coupled to the RF communication circuit and magnetically coupled to the main loop trace, wherein the main loop trace is electrically isolated from the feed loop trace. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification