Thermostat with adjustable color for aesthetics and readability

• US 7,667,163 B2
• Filed: 07/10/2006
• Issued: 02/23/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/10/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Invensys Systems Incorporated (Invensys PLC)
• Original Assignee: Ranco Incorporated of Delaware (Schneider Electric SE)
• Inventors: Yoder, Grace, Ashworth, Nicholas
• Primary Examiner(s): Paschall; Mark H
• Application Number:
  US11/483,923
• Publication Number:
  US 20080006709A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,324 Days
• Field of Search: 219/494, 219/502, 219/506, 219/490, 219/491
• US Class Current: 219/502
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/30 for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/523 for displaying temperature data
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/56 Remote control
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/63 Electronic processing
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/10 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1902 characterised by the use of a variable reference value

Abstract

The thermostat includes a housing having at least a portion thereof illuminated by a light that changes color via a manual input. The light illuminates the display for easy readability while the variable color of the light allows a user to match the appearance of the thermostat to best complement the surrounding décor. User input elements provide for the manual adjustment of one or more characteristics of the light, such as visible color of the light. The light source comprises at least one LED for displaying a plurality of colors. In this case, to change the color of the light illuminating the translucent portion of the housing or backlighting the display, electronics within the thermostat control the drive signals to the LED in order to operate the LED to provide the desired color. The invention also contemplates filtering the light and manually adjusting the filtering to provide the desired aesthetics.

Claims

1. A thermostat for controlling an HVAC system, the thermostat comprising:

a housing;

a controller for adjusting an operating mode of the HVAC system to one of a cooling mode and a heating mode;

a source of light associated with the housing for illuminating the housing with a color of the light;

a manually adjustable input for selecting a desired color of the light; and

means responsive to the manually adjustable input for modifying the color of the light to the desired color, independent of the operating mode of the HVAC system.

2. The thermostat of claim 1 wherein the manually adjustable input selects one or more of the light'"'"'s hue, brightness, and saturation.

3. The thermostat of claim 1 wherein the means includes circuitry for selecting the desired color.

4. The thermostat of claim 1 wherein the means includes a filter for filtering the light from the light source.

5. The thermostat of claim 4 wherein the filter is one of a polarizing filter and a variable color filter.

6. The thermostat of claim 1 wherein the source of light includes one of an electroluminescent source and at least one LED for displaying a plurality of colors.

7. The thermostat of claim 1 wherein the housing is translucent to the light.

8. The thermostat of claim 1 further including a display backlit by the light.

9. The thermostat of claim 8 wherein the housing is translucent to the light.

10. The thermostat of claim 9 wherein the manually adjustable input controls the desired color of the light comprising both a light for the backlight for the display and a light passing through the housing.

11. A method of modifying a visual appearance of an HVAC thermostat comprising:

generating a light from inside the thermostat, the light having an adjustable color that is visible to an observer of the thermostat; and

manually adjusting the color of the light perceived by the observer to a desired color, wherein the adjustment is independent of an operating mode of the thermostat, the operating mode of the thermostat comprising one of a cooling mode and a heating mode.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the light includes light backlighting a display.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the light includes light passing through a semi-transparent area of a housing.

14. A thermostat for sensing ambient temperatures in an enclosed space and for controlling an HVAC system, the thermostat comprising:

a display;

a housing for the display;

a controller for adjusting an operating mode of the HVAC system, the operating mode of the HVAC system comprising one of a cooling mode and a heating mode;

a source of light within the housing for generating a light having an adjustable color, wherein the light is visible to an observer of the display who is external to the display and the thermostat; and

an element for manually adjusting the color of the light to complement at least one color of the enclosed space, where the adjustment is independent of the operating status of the HVAC system.

15. The thermostat of claim 14 wherein the element manually adjusts one or more of the light'"'"'s hue, brightness, and saturation.

16. The thermostat of claim 14 wherein the element includes circuitry for changing the color of the light.

17. The thermostat of claim 14 wherein the element includes one of a variable color filter and a polarizing filter for filtering the light from the light source.