Building Energy Control Systems And Methods

• US 20180249551A1
• Filed: 03/16/2018
• Published: 08/30/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/25/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Innovative Building Energy Control
• Original Assignee: Innovative Building Energy Control
• Inventors: Zhou, Gangyi
• Granted Patent: US 10,806,008 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1679 characterised by the tasks executed
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/0001 for ventilation F24F11/30 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/63 Electronic processing
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/72 for controlling the supply of treated air, e.g. its pressure
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/10 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/20 Humidity
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2120/10 Occupancy
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2130/30 Artificial light
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/10 Controlling the light source
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/165 following a pre-assigned programmed sequence; Logic control [LC]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 20/40 Control techniques providing energy savings, e.g. smart controller or presence detection

Abstract

The inventive subject matter provides a system and a method for automatically controlling appliances via a mechanical or digital controller. In one aspect of the invention, the system includes a first circuitry communicatively coupled with one or more sensors and configured to generate a pulse-width modulation signal based in part on a reading from the sensor. The system also includes a dimming module configured to control a lighting device or other external device as a function of the signal. The dimming module can include a micro controller unit that receives the signal as well as a synchronized signal from a circuit that receives sampling information from a driving circuit, and generates a second pulse-width modulation signal that is sent to the driving circuit to control the external device.

Claims

1. A system for automatically controlling an external device using a digital controller based on readings from one or more sensors, the system comprising:

a first circuitry communicatively coupled with a sensor, and configured to generate a first pulse-width modulation (PWM) signal based in part on a reading from the sensor;

a second circuitry communicatively coupled with the first circuitry and the dimming module, and configured to receive the first PWM signal from the first circuitry; and

a dimming module configured to generate a second PWM signal, wherein the dimming module is configured to generate the second PWM signal as a function of the first PWM signal to control the external device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the dimming module comprises:

a micro controller unit (MCU);

a driving circuit communicatively coupled with the MCU and configured to control the external device;

a synchronized circuit configured to receive a sampling signal from the driving circuit and transmit a synchronized signal to the MCU; and

wherein the MCU is configured to receive the first PWM signal from the second circuitry and receive the synchronized signal, and generate the second PWM signal as a function of the received first PWM signal and synchronized signal.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the driving circuit is configured to receive the second PWM signal and control the external device.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the dimming module further comprises an A/C semiconductor switch configured to be actuated on or off as a function of the first PWM signal and the synchronized signal.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the dimming module is configured to receive the first PWM signal from the first circuitry via an optical coupling electrical device.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the external device is one of a lighting device and a fan.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensor comprises at least one of a luminance sensor, an occupancy sensor, a temperature sensor, and a humidity sensor.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising an RJ45 interface for communication with the sensor.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the external device is a lighting device, and the dimming module controls a brightness of the lighting device.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising a user interface that enables a user to configure how the second circuitry causes the dimming module to control the device as a function of the first PWM signal.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the user interface enables the user to configure how rapidly the external device dims.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the user interface enables the user to configure a minimum and maximum luminosity of the external device.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the first circuitry comprises:

a processing unit; and

an analog-to-digital converter configured to convert an analog signal received from the sensor to a digital signal.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the second circuitry is communicatively coupled with the dimming module via a RJ45 cable.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the first circuitry is further configured to:

select a power level from at least three power levels based in part on the reading from the sensor;

embed information related to the selected power level in the first PWM signal; and

transmit the first PWM signal to the second circuitry.