Use of one LED to represent various utility rates and system status by varying frequency and/or duty cycle of LED
First Claim
1. A demand supply system, comprising:
- a data transmitter associated with a utility, wherein the data transmitter emits data;
an appliance in communication with the data transmitter, the appliance comprising a demand/supply module adapted to receive the data to operate a single light source in response thereto,wherein the demand/supply module has at least three distinct modes and is operative in only one of the three modes at any one time, the module cycles through a first mode indicative of cost of energy use, a second mode indicative of signal strength, and a third mode indicative of module status,wherein the single light source is operatively associated with and included with the demand/supply module, andwherein operation of the single light source conveys information relating to at least two of cost of energy use, signal strength, and module status.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A demand supply management system for an appliance receives information related to cost of energy use and communicates data to the associated appliance in response thereto. A single chip, light emitting diode (LED) device is preferably associated with a module or portion of the home appliance. The LED device conveys information relating to at least two of cost of energy use, signal strength, and module status. The LED device is preferably a single chip, single color solid-state LED device that is selectively actuated between “illuminated” and “non-illuminated” states, steady on, slow flash, fast flash, varying duration, intermittent “illuminated” and “non-illuminated”, etc. to convey information to the user.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A demand supply system, comprising:
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a data transmitter associated with a utility, wherein the data transmitter emits data; an appliance in communication with the data transmitter, the appliance comprising a demand/supply module adapted to receive the data to operate a single light source in response thereto, wherein the demand/supply module has at least three distinct modes and is operative in only one of the three modes at any one time, the module cycles through a first mode indicative of cost of energy use, a second mode indicative of signal strength, and a third mode indicative of module status, wherein the single light source is operatively associated with and included with the demand/supply module, and wherein operation of the single light source conveys information relating to at least two of cost of energy use, signal strength, and module status. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A system, comprising:
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a module adapted to receive information relating to cost of energy use and communicate data to an associated appliance in response thereto; and a single light source operatively associated with the module, the light source conveying information relating to at least two of cost of energy use, signal strength, and module status, wherein the module has at least three distinct modes and is operative in only one of the three modes at any one time, the module cycles through a first mode indicative of cost of energy use, a second mode indicative of signal strength, and a third mode indicative of module status. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. A method of displaying system information relating to a demand supply system for an associated appliance where the system includes a module configured to receive a signal relating to cost of energy, said method comprising:
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providing a light emitting diode (LED) device for displaying information relating to cost of energy use, signal strength, and status; and actuating the LED device in response to cost of energy use for operating the associated appliance, wherein the module comprises a first, a second, and a third distinct modes and the module is operative in only one of the first, second, and third modes at any one time, further comprising cycling between the first mode representative of cost of energy use, the second mode representative of signal strength, and the third mode representative of the status. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification