USER-FRIENDLY, NETWORK CONNECTED LEARNING THERMOSTAT AND RELATED SYSTEMS AND METHODS
First Claim
1. A programmable device for controlling an HVAC system, the device comprising:
- high-power consuming circuitry adapted and programmed to perform while in an active state a plurality of high power activities including interfacing with a user, the high-power consuming circuitry using substantially less power while in an inactive state;
low-power consuming circuitry adapted and programmed to perform a plurality of low power activities;
power stealing circuitry adapted to harvest power from an HVAC triggering circuit for turning on and off an HVAC system function; and
a power storage medium adapted to store power harvested by the power stealing circuitry for use by at least the high-power consuming circuitry such that the high-power consuming circuitry can temporarily operate in an active state while using energy at a greater rate than can be safely harvested by the power stealing circuitry without inadvertently switching the HVAC function.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A user-friendly, network-connected learning thermostat is described. The thermostat is made up of (1) a wall-mountable backplate that includes a low-power consuming microcontroller used for activities such as polling sensors and switching on and off the HVAC functions, and (2) separable head unit that includes a higher-power consuming microprocessor, color LCD backlit display, user input devices, and wireless communications modules. The thermostat also includes a rechargeable battery and power-stealing circuitry adapted to harvest power from HVAC triggering circuits. By maintaining the microprocessor in a “sleep” state often compared to the lower-power microcontroller, high-power consuming activities, such as learning computations, wireless network communications and interfacing with a user, can be temporarily performed by the microprocessor even though the activities use energy at a greater rate than is available from the power stealing circuitry.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. A programmable device for controlling an HVAC system, the device comprising:
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high-power consuming circuitry adapted and programmed to perform while in an active state a plurality of high power activities including interfacing with a user, the high-power consuming circuitry using substantially less power while in an inactive state; low-power consuming circuitry adapted and programmed to perform a plurality of low power activities; power stealing circuitry adapted to harvest power from an HVAC triggering circuit for turning on and off an HVAC system function; and a power storage medium adapted to store power harvested by the power stealing circuitry for use by at least the high-power consuming circuitry such that the high-power consuming circuitry can temporarily operate in an active state while using energy at a greater rate than can be safely harvested by the power stealing circuitry without inadvertently switching the HVAC function. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification