Appliance control
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An electrical appliance control system for controlling electrical appliances within a building and comprising:
- (a) a power main of the building;
(b) a plurality of power outlets of the main;
(c) a transmitter unit having;
(1) input means for entering any one of a plurality of addresses into the transmitter unit;
(2) means for generating, synchronously with the mains voltage, a multibit digital signal, comprising a multibit digital address signal representing an entered address, the digital signal being modulated on a carrier the frequency of which is a plurality of times greater than mains frequency, so that the bits of the digital signal comprise predetermined numbers of cycles of the carrier, the predetermined numbers depending upon the bit values, and a period within each bit occurring near a zero crossing point of the mains voltage; and
(3) output means for coupling the modulated digital signal onto the main; and
(d) at least one slave unit for controlling the supply of power to appliances and having;
(1) means for defining an address for that slave unit;
(2) a power input coupled to the main within the building;
(3) means for receiving from said power input said digital signal;
(4) means for recognizing the logical values of the bits of the received digital signal by counting during said period the number of cycles of the carrier and determining the value of the bit in dependence upon which of two non-overlapping number ranges contains the counted number; and
(5) means for comparing the digital address signal received by the receiving means with the address of the defining means and for rendering the slave unit operable to effect an appliance power supply control operation when correspondence is found between said address and the digital address signal;
(e) at least one of the transmitter and slave unit being releasably coupled to a power outlet of the main so as to be usable optionally at various placed within the building.
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Abstract
An applicance control system comprises a data transmitter and plurality of slave units plugged into outlet sockets of a power main of a building, appliances being coupled to the slave units. The transmitter housing includes a data input arrangement by which slave unit addresses and operation signal can be input and means for producing therefrom digital address and operation signals injected onto the main for receipt by the slave units. Each slave unit is enabled by a digital signal complying its address to effect an appliance operation as defined by a received digital operation signal.
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. An electrical appliance control system for controlling electrical appliances within a building and comprising:
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(a) a power main of the building; (b) a plurality of power outlets of the main; (c) a transmitter unit having; (1) input means for entering any one of a plurality of addresses into the transmitter unit; (2) means for generating, synchronously with the mains voltage, a multibit digital signal, comprising a multibit digital address signal representing an entered address, the digital signal being modulated on a carrier the frequency of which is a plurality of times greater than mains frequency, so that the bits of the digital signal comprise predetermined numbers of cycles of the carrier, the predetermined numbers depending upon the bit values, and a period within each bit occurring near a zero crossing point of the mains voltage; and (3) output means for coupling the modulated digital signal onto the main; and (d) at least one slave unit for controlling the supply of power to appliances and having; (1) means for defining an address for that slave unit; (2) a power input coupled to the main within the building; (3) means for receiving from said power input said digital signal; (4) means for recognizing the logical values of the bits of the received digital signal by counting during said period the number of cycles of the carrier and determining the value of the bit in dependence upon which of two non-overlapping number ranges contains the counted number; and (5) means for comparing the digital address signal received by the receiving means with the address of the defining means and for rendering the slave unit operable to effect an appliance power supply control operation when correspondence is found between said address and the digital address signal; (e) at least one of the transmitter and slave unit being releasably coupled to a power outlet of the main so as to be usable optionally at various placed within the building. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 30)
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26. A transmitter comprising:
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input means for entering data defining an address and an appliance operation; signal output means for connection to a power outlet socket of a domestic power main; and generating means coupled to the input and output means to produce, at the output means and in synchronism with mains voltage, digital signals defining said data comprising data bits modulated on a carrier having a frequency a plurality of times greater than mains frequency so that bits comprise predetermined numbers of cycles of the carrier, the predetermined numbers depending upon the bit values, and the bits existing within time periods containing a zero-crossing of the mains voltage and each period of a duration no greater than one-eighth of a half-cycle of mains voltage.
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27. A slave unit comprising:
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electrical plug pins for plugging the unit into an outlet socket of a domestic electrical power main; means for connecting the power input of an electrical appliance to the unit; a current control device coupled between the pins and the connecting means to control the energisation of the appliance; means for defining an address for the unit; and means responsive to a multibit digital signal arriving at the pins, modulated on a carrier having a frequency a plurality of times greater than mains frequency the responsive means including counting means for counting the number of cycles of the carrier in periods which are short in relation to a half-cycle of the mains voltage and which are near zero crossing points of the mains voltage; means for determining the values of the bits in dependence upon which of two non-overlapping ranges contains the counted numbers for said periods; and a comparator for comparing the address defined by the defining means with one portion of the digital signal and for producing a signal to control the current control device in dependence upon another portion of the digital signal when correspondence is found between said address and said one portion of the digital signal.
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28. A slave unit comprising:
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means for coupling the unit to a domestic power main; means for connecting a lighting appliance to the unit; a light intensity control device coupled between the coupling and connecting means for controlling the brightness of a lighting appliance; means for defining an address of the unit; means responsive to a multibit digital signal arriving at the coupling means, modulated on a carrier having a frequency a plurality of times greater than mains frequency, the responsive means including counting means for counting the number of cycles of the carrier in periods which are short in relation to a half-cycle of the mains voltage and which are near zero crossing points of the mains voltage, means for determining the values of the bits in dependence upon which of two non-overlapping ranges contains the counted numbers for said periods and a comparator for comparing a first, address, portion of the digital signal with the defined address and for operating the control device in dependence upon another, control, portion of the digital signal arriving at the coupling means when correspondence is found between the address and said first portion of the digital signal. - View Dependent Claims (29)
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31. A transmitter comprising:
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input means for receiving data defining an address and an appliance operation; means coupled to the input means for generating, synchronously with the mains voltage, multibit digital signals so that bits comprise predetermined numbers of cycles of a carrier having a frequency a plurality of times greater than mains frequency, the predetermined numbers depending upon the bit values, a period within each bit occurring near a zero crossing point of the mains voltage, and the digital signal defining said address and said appliance operation; and an electrical plug coupled to the generating means for plugging into a power outlet socket of a domestic power main to inject said digital signals onto said main.
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Specification