Remote-controlled operation system for electrical consumers

• US 5,382,947 A
• Filed: 01/19/1993
• Issued: 01/17/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/1991
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Feller AG (Schneider Electric SE)
• Original Assignee: Feller AG (Schneider Electric SE)
• Inventors: Schmid, Peter, Thaler, Markus
• Primary Examiner(s): Horabik, Michael
• Application Number:
  US07/961,682
• Time in Patent Office: 728 Days
• Field of Search: 340/825.69, 340/825.72, 340/825.22, 340/825.52, 359/145, 359/148
• US Class Current: 340/12.53
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 19/28 using pulse code

Abstract

An operation system for electrical consumers (19) has an operating device with a transmitter and control devices with receivers (16). The control devices have an evaluation unit (17) and a control unit (18) which is driven by the evaluation unit and controls the electrical consumers (19). The evaluation unit (17) distinguishes between control signals and scenario commands. When specific scenario commands are received, the state of the control unit (18) and hence the state of the electrical consumer (19) can be stored and re-established. A separate converter which evaluates the signals received from the transmitter and forwards them to the control devices can preferably also be used.

Claims

1. A remote-controlled operation system for controlling a plurality of electrical consumer devices, the system comprising:

an operating device with a transmitter for transmitting control signals including store command and retrieve command signals;

each said consumer device including a receiver for receiving said control signals and a control device including an evaluation unit for evaluating signals received by said receiver;

said consumer device further including a control unit for controlling the associated consumer device, each said evaluation unit including storage means for storing at least one state of an associated control unit and for driving said associated control unit;

each said storage means including a state register for storing a current state of the control unit and a state table;

said evaluation unit transferring the current state of the control unit used for controlling the control unit from said state register into said state table upon receipt of said store command signal;

said state table including a plurality of memory locations with corresponding memory location designations, and wherein a store command is transmitted from said state table with a scenario number corresponding to a memory location designation, the current state of said control unit being transferred into the corresponding memory location of said state table; and

each of said consumer devices transferring the corresponding memory location of said state table into said state register upon receipt of a retrieve command.

2. A remote-controlled operation system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the operation system further comprises means for the selective storage of a scenario in selected ones of said control devices only.

3. A remote-controlled operation system as claimed in claim 2, wherein said means for the selective storage transmits a reset signal before the transmission of a store command so that all said control devices mark themselves as not affected when the reset signal is received, and ignore the next store command, and a selective alteration of the state of the state register upon receipt of said retrieve command marks selected control devices as active again between the reception of the reset signal and the reception of the store command, and permits the selective storage of a scenario in said selected control devices.

4. A remote-controlled operation system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a separate converter which amplifies and transmits control signals received from said operating device and processes predetermined commands received from the operating device and retransmits said commands as scenario commands.

5. A remote-controlled operation system as claimed in claim 4, wherein said separate converter includes a microprocessor, a keypad for controlling said microprocessor, a receiver for receiving control signals from said operating device, and a transmitter for transmitting control signals to each of said control devices, and wherein the transmission between the operating device said separate converter and said control devices is based on individual telegrams with an address field and a data field, and wherein the depression of a key on the keypad prepares the microprocessor of said separate converter to interpret the address field of the next telegram received from said operating device as a special command and to retransmit said command as a scenario command.

6. A remote-controlled operation system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the memory of said separate converter includes a scenario table including a plurality of memory locations with corresponding memory location numbers.