ELECTRICAL POWER SWITCHING TECHNIQUES
First Claim
1. An apparatus for controlling the distribution of power from a power outlet, comprising:
- a control unit, within said power outlet, or installed between said power outlet and said appliance, which further comprises a processing device;
hardware at least partially under the control of at least part of said control unit, configured to control the provision of power from a power outlet to an appliance; and
sensory hardware configured to sense the manual actuation of a power control of an appliance, if said sensory hardware is installed on, in, partially on or in, or near enough to said power control to so sense its manual actuation.
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Accused Products
Abstract
New techniques improving the efficiency of electrical power distribution are provided. In some aspects of the invention, a control unit, with additional switching hardware (in addition to any main circuit switch) switches power from an electrical outlet. In some embodiments, specialized sensory hardware may be included, and may comprise appliance control actuation devices and touch or power control actuation sensors installed on or about a main power control, and may further comprise a near field or other wireless communication tag(s). In other embodiments, such sensory hardware may comprise a power status light or other indicator sensor, proxy control and appliance control actuator.
Among other aspects, some embodiments also provide for control system programmability, to learn actuation and indicator conditions associated with an appliance being turned off or on, or otherwise actuated, and the control unit may control power distribution based on such variable programming.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus for controlling the distribution of power from a power outlet, comprising:
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a control unit, within said power outlet, or installed between said power outlet and said appliance, which further comprises a processing device; hardware at least partially under the control of at least part of said control unit, configured to control the provision of power from a power outlet to an appliance; and sensory hardware configured to sense the manual actuation of a power control of an appliance, if said sensory hardware is installed on, in, partially on or in, or near enough to said power control to so sense its manual actuation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An apparatus for controlling the distribution of power from a power outlet, comprising:
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a control unit, which further comprises a processing device; hardware at least partially under the control of at least part of said control unit, configured to control the provision of power from a power outlet to an appliance; and sensory hardware configured to sense visual indications of a power status or other appliance condition indicator, if said sensory hardware is installed on, in, partially on or in, or near enough to said indicator to so sense said visual indications. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An apparatus for controlling the distribution of power from a power outlet, comprising:
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a control unit within said power outlet, or installed between said power outlet and said appliance, which further comprises a processing device; hardware at least partially under the control of at least part of said control system, configured to control the provision and use of power; and sensory hardware configured to sense or otherwise ascertain user activity in the course of actuation, or causing the actuation, of an appliance, which activity affects power usage.
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Specification