Energy saving outlet and an energy saving method by using an outlet

• US 20070038334A1
• Filed: 08/11/2005
• Published: 02/15/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/05/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Powertech Industrial Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Powertech Industrial Company Limited
• Inventors: Lee, Yu-Lung, Chou, Jonie
• Granted Patent: US 7,520,783 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/292
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/7038 making use of a remote controlled switch, e.g. relais, solid state switch activated by the engagement of the coupling parts
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 25/003 the coupling part being secured only to wires or cables

Abstract

The present invention relates to an energy saving outlet, which comprises: a housing, having at least one first opening and a second opening thereon, for disposing the following elements at least one outlet, disposed in the housing and exposed the first opening, for providing an electrical equipment being plugged into; a sensor, disposed in the housing and exposed the second opening, for sensing a starting signal of the electrical equipment; a control unit, disposed in the housing and coupled to the sensor, for outputting a control signal when it receives the starting signal; a relay, one end being coupled to a power input terminal, and another end being coupled to the control unit, for being changed to an on or off state through the control signal; thereby the energy saving outlet can turn OFF its power when the electrical equipment has entered a stand-by state, so as to achieve the goal of energy saving. Furthermore, the present invention also provides an energy saving method by using an outlet.

Claims

1. An energy saving outlet, which comprises:

a housing, having at least one first opening and a second opening thereon, for disposing the following elements;

at least one outlet, disposed in said housing and exposed said first opening, for providing an electrical equipment being plugged into;

a sensor, disposed in said housing and exposed said second opening, for sensing a starting signal of said electrical equipment;

a control unit, disposed in said housing and coupled to said sensor, for outputting a control signal when receives said starting signal;

a relay, one end being coupled to a power input terminal, and another end being coupled to said control unit, for being changed to an on or off state through said control signal;

thereby said energy saving outlet can turn OFF its power when said electrical equipment enters the stand-by state, so as to achieve the goal of energy saving.

2. The energy saving outlet as claimed in claim 1, wherein said housing is made of insulating material.

3. The energy saving outlet as claimed in claim 1, wherein the amount of said outlet is same as the amount of said first opening.

4. The energy saving outlet as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sensor is an Infrared sensor, a pyroelectric passive infrared sensor, a radio frequency sensor or their combination;

wherein, said Infrared sensor can sense any Infrared signals emitted by a remote controller of said electrical equipment;

said pyroelectric passive infrared sensor can sense any movement of a human being; and

said radio frequency sensor can sense any specific radio frequency signals emitted by said remote controller of said electrical equipment.

5. The energy saving outlet as claimed in claim 1, wherein said control unit is a microcontroller, and it further comprises a memory and an analog to digital conversion port.

6. The energy saving outlet as claimed in claim 5, wherein it further comprises a current sensor coupled between said relay and said controller unit, which can sense the current amount of said outlet and feed it back to said analog to digital conversion port and transmit it to said control unit after being converted into a digital signal.

7. The energy saving outlet as claimed in claim 5, wherein it further comprises a determining program stored in said memory, which can determine said electrical equipment whether operates or not according to said feedback current sensed by said current sensor.

8. The energy saving outlet as claimed in claim 7, wherein said determining program further comprises following steps:

said control unit will record said current amount of said outlet after said sensor sensing said starting signal;

said control unit determining that said current amount is changed or not;

said control unit will turn OFF said relay after a first certain time if said current amount remains unchanged so as to turn OFF said power to said outlet;

said control unit will record said current amount as a stand-by current reference value of all electrical equipments if said current amount changes; and

said control unit will turn OFF said relay if said current amount approaches said reference value and remains a second certain time so as to turn OFF said power to said outlet.

9. The energy saving outlet as claimed in claim 8, wherein said first certain time and said second certain time is 5˜

10 minutes, respectively.

10. The energy saving outlet as claimed in claim 1, wherein it further comprises a protecting circuit disposed in said housing and coupled between said current sensor and said outlet for executing by-pass function when said current amount is overloading so as to protect said outlet.

11. The energy saving outlet as claimed in claim 10, wherein said protecting circuit is a surge protecting circuit or an EMI filter.

12. The energy saving outlet as claimed in claim 1, wherein it further comprises a switch and a third opening disposed on said housing, wherein, said switch is disposed in said housing and exposed said third opening, and said switch is coupled between said power input terminal and said relay for turning ON or turning OFF said power.

13. An energy saving method by using an outlet, which comprises the steps of:

providing at least one outlet, which at least comprises a sensor, a control unit, a relay and a current sensor;

plugging a plug of a remote controllable electrical equipment into said outlet;

said control unit will record said current amount of said outlet after said sensor sensing a starting signal emitted form a remote controller of said electrical equipment;

said control unit determining that said current amount is changed or not;

said control unit will turn OFF said relay after a first certain time if said current amount remains unchanged, so as to turn OFF said power to said outlet;

said control unit will record said current amount as a stand-by current reference value of all electrical equipments if said current amount is changed; and

said control unit will turn OFF said relay if said current amount approaches said reference value and remains a second certain time so as to turn OFF said power to said outlet and save power during said stand-by state.

14. The energy saving method by using an outlet as claimed in claim 13, wherein said sensor is an Infrared sensor, a pyroelectric passive infrared sensor, a radio frequency sensor or their combination;

wherein, said Infrared sensor can sense any Infrared signals emitted by a remote controller of said electrical equipment;

said pyroelectric passive infrared sensor can sense any movement of a human being; and

said radio frequency sensor can sense any specific radio frequency signals emitted by said remote controller of said electrical equipment.

15. The energy saving method by using an outlet as claimed in claim 13, wherein said control unit is a microcontroller, and it further comprises a memory and an analog to digital conversion port.

16. The energy saving method by using an outlet as claimed in claim 13, wherein said first certain time and said second certain time is 5˜

10 minutes, respectively.