THERMOSTAT WITH ELECTRONIC IMAGE DISPLAY

• US 20140025209A1
• Filed: 10/07/2013
• Published: 01/23/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/02/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ademco Inc. (Resideo Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Lunacek, Michael G., Amundson, John B., Juntunen, Robert D.
• Granted Patent: US 9,081,393 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/276
• 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 thermostat for controlling a climate control system of a building, the thermostat comprising:

an interface configured to establish communication with an external data source to enable the upload of an electronic image file from the external data source to the thermostat, wherein the electronic image file stores a digital still photographic image;

a controller configured to generate control signals for controlling at least part of the climate control system, wherein the controller includes a memory that receives the electronic image file uploaded via the interface; and

a user interface for interacting with a user of the thermostat, the user interface comprising a display having a display area, the display responsive to the controller and for displaying one or more thermostat parameter and for displaying the digital still photographic image uploaded from the external data source, wherein the digital still photographic image covers greater than 25% of the display area, and wherein the controller automatically displays the digital still photographic image after a time of no user interaction with the user interface of the thermostat.

2. The thermostat of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to receive a signal from an environmental sensor and to control at least part of the climate control system in response to the signal.

3. The thermostat of claim 1 wherein the controller causes the digital still photographic image to be displayed on the display without requiring prompting by a user of the thermostat to do so.

4. The thermostat of claim 1 wherein the controller causes the digital still photographic image to be displayed as a background image on the display with one or more thermostat parameters displayed on top of at least parts of the digital still photographic image.

5. The thermostat of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to simultaneously display the digital still photographic image and at least one thermostat parameter.

6. The thermostat of claim 1 wherein the digital still photographic image covers substantially all of the display area.

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

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

a controller configured to generate control signals for controlling at least part of the climate control system, wherein the controller includes a memory that receives the at least two electronic image files uploaded via the interface and stores the electronic image files for later use; and

a user interface for interacting with a user of the thermostat, the user interface comprising a display having a display area, the display responsive to the controller for simultaneously or sequentially displaying one or more thermostat parameter and the at last two digital still photographic images uploaded from the external data source, wherein the at last two digital still photographic images are displayed one at a time as a slideshow, wherein the display changes from one digital still photographic image to another digital still photographic image without input from a user.

8. The thermostat of claim 7, wherein the controller causes the display to display at least two discrete digital still photographic images in a user-selected order.

9. The thermostat of claim 7 wherein the controller is configured to automatically display a first digital still photographic image after a predetermined amount of time of no user interaction with the user interface of the thermostat, and wherein the first digital still photographic image is displayed for a first period of time after which the controller automatically replaces the first digital still photographic image with a second digital still photographic image.

10. The thermostat of claim 7, wherein the controller is configured to add a transition effect between the display of at least two discrete digital still photographic images.

11. The thermostat of claim 7, wherein the controller is configured to allow a user to select which of the two or more digital still photographic images will be shown in the slideshow.

12. The thermostat of claim 7, wherein the controller is configured to display each digital still photographic image for a period of time, wherein the period of time is in a range of one second to five minutes.

13. The thermostat of claim 7, wherein the controller is configured to simultaneously display one of the discrete digital still photographic images and at least one thermostat parameter.

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

an interface for establishing communication with an external data source to enable the upload of at least one electronic image file from the external data source to the thermostat, wherein each of the at least one electronic image file stores a digital still photographic image;

a controller for generating control signals to one or more HVAC components of the climate control system, wherein the controller receives the at least one electronic image file uploaded via the interface, and wherein the controller is configured for receiving an environmental signal from a sensor and for controlling the one or more HVAC components of the climate control system based on the environmental signal; and

a display having a display area, the display responsive to the controller unit for displaying simultaneously or sequentially one or more thermostat parameters and at least one of the digital photographic images uploaded from the external data source; and

a thermostat housing for housing the interface, the controller and the display.

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

16. The thermostat of claim 15, wherein the controller is configured to display the two or more electronic image files in a user-selected order in the slideshow.

17. The thermostat of claim 14 wherein the controller causes the digital still photographic image to be displayed as a background image on the display with one or more thermostat parameters displayed on top of at least parts of the digital still photographic image.

18. The thermostat of claim 14, wherein the controller is configured to simultaneously display the digital still photographic image and at least one thermostat parameter.

19. The thermostat of claim 14, wherein the digital still photographic image covers greater than 25% of the display area.

20. The thermostat of claim 14, 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.