Smart-Home Device That Self-Qualifies For Away-State Functionality
First Claim
1. A thermostat, comprising:
- a housing;
a processing system disposed within the housing and coupled to a user interface, the processing system being configured to be in operative communication with one or more temperature sensors for determining an ambient air temperature, in operative communication with one or more input devices including said user interface for determining a setpoint temperature value, and in still further operative communication with a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system to control the HVAC system based at least in part on a comparison of a measured ambient temperature and the setpoint temperature value; and
at least one occupancy sensor in operative communication with the processing system, the thermostat including an away-state feature in which the thermostat enters into an away-state mode of operation upon a determination by the processing system based on readings acquired by the at least one occupancy sensor that an away-state criterion indicative of a non-occupancy condition for an enclosure in which the thermostat has been installed has been satisfied, the away-state mode of operation including an automated setpoint temperature setback mode;
wherein the processing system is further configured to automatically determine, without requiring user input, whether to activate said away-state feature for the enclosure in which the thermostat has been installed, said determining comprising;
receiving readings from the at least one occupancy sensor during a trial period;
comparing information derived from said trial period readings to a threshold criterion to establish whether sufficiently true indications of occupancy conditions were sensed by the at least one occupancy sensor during the trial period; and
enabling said away-state feature of the thermostat only if it is determined that the sufficiently true indications of occupancy conditions were sensed during the trial period.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A thermostat, includes a housing and an occupancy sensor that is disposed within the housing and configured to detect physical presences of users within a responsive area of the occupancy sensor. The thermostat may also include a processing system that is disposed within the housing and in operative communication with the occupancy sensor. The processing system may be configured to determine, after a trial period, whether to activate an away-state feature by storing indications of how often the occupancy sensor detected physical presences during the trial period, computing an occupancy level for the trial period, comparing the occupancy level to a threshold criterion, determining whether sufficiently true indications of occupancy conditions were sensed by the occupancy sensor during the trial period, and enabling the away-state feature of the thermostat if it is determined that the sufficiently true indications of occupancy conditions were sensed during the trial period.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A thermostat, comprising:
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a housing; a processing system disposed within the housing and coupled to a user interface, the processing system being configured to be in operative communication with one or more temperature sensors for determining an ambient air temperature, in operative communication with one or more input devices including said user interface for determining a setpoint temperature value, and in still further operative communication with a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system to control the HVAC system based at least in part on a comparison of a measured ambient temperature and the setpoint temperature value; and at least one occupancy sensor in operative communication with the processing system, the thermostat including an away-state feature in which the thermostat enters into an away-state mode of operation upon a determination by the processing system based on readings acquired by the at least one occupancy sensor that an away-state criterion indicative of a non-occupancy condition for an enclosure in which the thermostat has been installed has been satisfied, the away-state mode of operation including an automated setpoint temperature setback mode; wherein the processing system is further configured to automatically determine, without requiring user input, whether to activate said away-state feature for the enclosure in which the thermostat has been installed, said determining comprising; receiving readings from the at least one occupancy sensor during a trial period; comparing information derived from said trial period readings to a threshold criterion to establish whether sufficiently true indications of occupancy conditions were sensed by the at least one occupancy sensor during the trial period; and enabling said away-state feature of the thermostat only if it is determined that the sufficiently true indications of occupancy conditions were sensed during the trial period. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of qualifying a thermostat to activate an away-state feature, the method comprising:
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receiving readings from at least one occupancy sensor during a trial period, the at least one occupancy sensor being in operative communication with a processing system, wherein; the processing system is disposed within a thermostat housing and coupled to a user interface, the processing system being configured to be in operative communication with one or more temperature sensors for determining an ambient air temperature, in operative communication with one or more input devices including said user interface for determining a setpoint temperature value, and in still further operative communication with a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system to control the HVAC system based at least in part on a comparison of a measured ambient temperature and the setpoint temperature value; comparing information derived from said trial period readings to threshold criterion to establish whether sufficiently true indications of occupancy conditions were sensed by the at least one occupancy sensor during the trial period; determining automatically, without requiring user input, whether to activate the away-state feature for an enclosure in which the thermostat has been installed, wherein; the away-state feature causes the thermostat to enter into an away-state mode of operation upon a determination by the processing system based on the readings acquired by the at least one occupancy sensor that an away-state criterion indicative of a non-occupancy condition for the enclosure in which the thermostat has been installed has been satisfied, the away-state mode of operation including an automated setpoint temperature setback mode; and enabling said away-state feature of the thermostat only if it is determined that the sufficiently true indications of occupancy conditions were sensed during the trial period. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A thermostat, comprising:
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a housing; an occupancy sensor that is disposed within the housing and configured to detect physical presences of users within a responsive area of the occupancy sensor; a processing system that is disposed within the housing and in operative communication with the occupancy sensor, the processing system being configured to determine after a trial period whether to activate an away-state feature, said determining comprising; storing indications of how often the occupancy sensor detected physical presences of users during the trial period; computing an occupancy level for the trial period based on the stored indications; comparing the occupancy level to a threshold criterion; determining whether sufficiently true indications of occupancy conditions were sensed by the occupancy sensor during the trial period based on the comparison; and enabling the away-state feature of the thermostat only if it is determined that the sufficiently true indications of occupancy conditions were sensed during the trial period. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification