Patent Application
20050266840
Device control using handheld remotes in some circumstances can be desirable. In other situations, portability of the handheld remotes may cause logistical, operational or other problems. Furthermore, devices designed to be controlled by handheld remotes may be physically located in places where access is limited, which causes difficulties in establishing communication links with other equipment.
As will be discussed in greater detail herein, a control fixture system is used for a controlled device that was originally designed to be controlled by a handheld remote. The control fixture system includes a control module with controls such as buttons, knobs, dials, etc. that is mounted typically behind a wall, in an article of furniture or other item. The controls of the control module are typically supported by and accessible through a plate such as a wallplate mounted on a surface of a wall to allow input from a user to operate a controlled device located elsewhere. As mounted, the control module does not share the degree of vulnerability associated with handheld remotes of being misplaced, stolen, or permanently lost. Consequently, the control fixture system can be advantageously used in circumstances and environments where these vulnerabilities of the handheld remotes are pronounced or simply unacceptable.
The control fixture system further includes an emitter module communicatively linked to the control module typically with cables positioned substantially out of room sight behind walls or elsewhere. The emitter module is typically powered by building supplied power and has an emitter that can be located near the controlled device. For example, proximate location of the emitter module is beneficial when the controlled device is designed to be controlled by a handheld remote with signals that are transmitted and received in a substantially direct line of sight between the remote and the controlled device such as where an infrared frequency light source is used.
In the particular cases of infrared or other direct line of sight control, the emitter module can be typically positioned behind a wall or ceiling or otherwise substantially out of view and connected with an external emitter positioned within a room to shine directly on that portion of the controlled device that receives the controlling infrared signal. With other media that have less of a direct line of sight aspect, such as control based on radio frequencies, the emitter of the emitter module may be located less proximate to the controlled device as long as the signal between the emitter of the emitter module can reliably reach the controlled device. The emitter module may still be located relatively near the controlled device for convenience of audio and/or video connection between the emitter module and the controlled device further described below.
The control fixture system also allows for convenient connection between the controlled device and other equipment especially when the controlled device has limited accessibility due to its location. For instance, if a computer or other video and/or audio source were to be communicatively linked to a projector that was mounted to a ceiling, inconvenience would arise due to requirements of routing various audio and video cables from the projector on the ceiling to the computer or video player more near the floor of a room.
This inconvenience would be further exacerbated if the connection to the projector may be on a temporary basis such as in the case where the computer is a laptop that is not permanently assigned to the particular room having the ceiling mounted projector. The control fixture system can afford convenient connection between the controlled device and other equipment by including input modules with input plates, such as wall mounted input plates, supporting input jacks such as for VGA, composite video and multi-channel audio from various audio and/or video sources.
The input modules are communicatively connected to the emitter module via cable typically positioned substantially out of sight, which in turn typically has an output plate with outputs for video and/or audio connections to the controlled device via video and/or audio cables. Other video input jacks can be included with the control fixture system such as s-video or component video depending upon the cabling configuration of the particular implementation.
An exemplary depiction of a control fixture system 100 is shown in
Controlled devices can include but are not limited to such devices as video projectors, and other audio and/or video playback and/or source equipment. The control fixture system 100 further includes input modules 111 for audio and/or video connection with other equipment (not shown) and a control module 112 for user control of the controlled device 110, which are communicatively linked to the emitter module 102 via cables 113. In some implementations, the cables 113 can include various category rated wire such as category 1, category 3, category 5, category 5e, or category 6 rated untwisted pair cabling.
Other cabling can also be used depending upon the signal specifications involved. For instance, certain video specifications may require S-video cable or component video cable to be used for video portions of the cables 113 between the input modules 111 and the emitter module 102. Video cable 114 and audio cable 115 provide video and audio connection, respectively, between the controlled device 110 and the emitter module 102 to pass on video and audio signals inputted to the input modules 111.
Implementations of the control fixture system 100 can involve controlled devices that are inconveniently located for whatever reason and/or involve situations where use of a handheld remote includes a likelihood for potential problems associated with the portability of the handheld remote. Other uses of the control fixture system can involve other situations in which a mounted control module and/or mounted input modules are desirable.
An exemplary depiction of the emitter module 102 is shown in
The implementation of the emitter module 102 depicted in
The depicted emitter module 102 has an emitter output jack 120 that receives a cable for connection to an external version of the emitter 106 such as shown in
The input module 111 is further depicted in
The control module 112 is further depicted in
The control module 112 also has connectors 144 to connect to the cables 113, which communicatively link the control module to the emitter module 102. The connectors 144 in some implementations can be of a punch down termination-block type or have another insulation displacement style such as for unshielded twisted pair cable. Other types of the connectors 144 are used for other sorts of control cables.
An exemplary implementation 146 of the control fixture system 100 is shown in
Input plates 152 are mounted on a wall 153 behind which the input modules 111 (not shown) are located. Audio and/or video equipment 154 and a computer 156 are connected to the video input jacks 128 and the audio input jacks 130 of the input modules 111. The input plates 152 support and expose to room access the video input jacks 128 and the audio input jacks 130 of the input modules 111. The outputs of the equipment 154 and the computer 156 are presented one at a time by the projector 148 according to a selection controlled by the source toggle control 138 of the control module 112 (not shown) located behind the wall 153. The source toggle control 138 is supported and exposed to room access by the control plate 158 mounted on the wall.
From the foregoing it will be appreciated that, although specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60575216 | May 2004 | US |
