Rotatable thermostat
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A thermostat, comprising:
- a housing adapted to be mounted in at least a first and a second orientation;
a controller positioned within the housing;
a display visibly mounted in the housing, the display capable of exhibiting information thereon, wherein the information includes at least one menu of available options for operation of the thermostat, and at least one of the at least one menu includes user-selectable orientations for display of the information on the display;
an input device operatively mounted on the housing to allow user manipulation thereof when the housing is mounted in at least the first and the second orientation, wherein the input device is adapted to permit selection of a desired orientation from at least the first and the second orientation, and wherein the input device includes a rotary knob that may be rotated to select between at least the first and the second orientation; and
wherein the controller is programmed to provide the information to the display in a display orientation that corresponds to at least the first and the second orientation of the housing.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A thermostat that can display information in multiple different orientations is provided. The thermostat includes a housing, a display, and an input device. As the housing is mounted in a particular orientation, the thermostat changes the orientation of the information for properly displaying same to a user. This is accomplished by sensing the orientation of the housing in one embodiment, and through user selection of a desired orientation in another embodiment. A separate display and input device(s) are provided in one embodiment, and a combined touch screen display and input device is provided in another embodiment.
180 Citations
12 Claims
-
1. A thermostat, comprising:
-
a housing adapted to be mounted in at least a first and a second orientation; a controller positioned within the housing; a display visibly mounted in the housing, the display capable of exhibiting information thereon, wherein the information includes at least one menu of available options for operation of the thermostat, and at least one of the at least one menu includes user-selectable orientations for display of the information on the display; an input device operatively mounted on the housing to allow user manipulation thereof when the housing is mounted in at least the first and the second orientation, wherein the input device is adapted to permit selection of a desired orientation from at least the first and the second orientation, and wherein the input device includes a rotary knob that may be rotated to select between at least the first and the second orientation; and wherein the controller is programmed to provide the information to the display in a display orientation that corresponds to at least the first and the second orientation of the housing. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
Specification