Two-wire appliance power controller
First Claim
1. A control apparatus for electrical appliances having a plug, a load, and requiring no more than two electrical current conductors connecting said plug to said load, said apparatus comprising:
- circuitry to determine the state of a multiposition switch that is located in close proximity to the load and that is in electrical series with the load;
circuitry to determine the state of a multiposition switch that is located external to the appliance and that controls source power at a wall outlet or distribution strip; and
a thyristor to control the application of power to the appliance in response to information provided by the states of either or both of said two multiposition switches; and
wherein said apparatus is portable with an appliance after installation.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A power level controller and method for an AC electrical appliance that can be implemented in the plug of the appliance, controlling power in response to switch closures on the appliance and/or remotely located switches, or alternatively, may be implemented as a module into which an existing appliance is inserted, thereby providing a retrofit solution for appliance control. By using multifunction switches having steering diodes, multiple commands can be transmitted to the controller, all without the need for additional control wires, since all commands are superimposed on the two conductors that deliver power to the appliance. In addition, the independent control of two polarity sensitivity loads may be implemented. With implementations using integrated circuits, the internal electrostatic discharge diodes within the integrated circuit may be used for the power supply to yield a very low parts count system.
183 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A control apparatus for electrical appliances having a plug, a load, and requiring no more than two electrical current conductors connecting said plug to said load, said apparatus comprising:
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circuitry to determine the state of a multiposition switch that is located in close proximity to the load and that is in electrical series with the load;
circuitry to determine the state of a multiposition switch that is located external to the appliance and that controls source power at a wall outlet or distribution strip; and
a thyristor to control the application of power to the appliance in response to information provided by the states of either or both of said two multiposition switches; and
wherein said apparatus is portable with an appliance after installation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A control method for electrical appliances having a plug, a load, and requiring no more than two electrical current conductors connecting the plug to the load, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining the state of a multiposition switch that is located in close proximity to the load and that is in electrical series with the load;
determining the state of a multiposition switch that is located external to the appliance and that controls source power at a wall outlet or distribution strip; and
controlling with a thyristor the application of power to the appliance in response to information provided by the states of either or both of the two multiposition switches; and
wherein the steps of the method are executed by a device portable with an appliance after installation. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification