Patent Application
20100207548
This application relates to wireless communication between an electric switch and a transceiver and control for receiving signals from the switch, in which a unique sequence of switch actuations is utilized to signal a linking signal.
Traditionally, electric systems such as found in buildings have included wires extending from the switches to various electric loads such as lights, plugs, etc. More recently, switches communicate through a wireless link to a transceiver and control, which then controls the light and provides power to plugs, etc. One known type of switch harvests its own energy, such as by the mechanical actuation taken when the switch is actuated.
One challenge with such systems is that the transceiver and control must be able to identify each switch that sends an actuation signal. Thus, each switch is typically provided with a code of some sort embedded in its signal. The transceiver can receive that code and identify which switch has been actuated such that it knows which electric load to control in response to the signal.
Typically, a linking sequence has been provided wherein the transceiver and control is placed into a linking mode, and the switch is then actuated such that the transceiver and control can learn the code for the appropriate switch.
However, there is a challenge in a building environment in that there are numerous switches that may be actuated at any moment. Thus, should a particular switch that is to be linked to a transceiver and control be actuated in a linking mode, it may well be confused with a signal from a switch in an adjacent room which another occupant has actuated to request a change in a lighting function, as an example.
A method of linking one of a plurality of wireless switches to a transceiver and control for controlling an electric load comprises the steps of moving the transceiver and control into a linking mode, and actuating the at least one of the plurality of switches through an actuation mode that is distinct from a typical actuation of the switch to request a control operation, such as linking, by the at least one of the transceivers and controls. In addition, a control and a lighting system are claimed.
These and other features of the present invention can be best understood from the following specification and drawings, the following of which is a brief description.
A building 20 is illustrated in
Thus, the transceiver and control 26A must be able to identify which switch 28 and 30 is sending a particular signal requesting actuation of an electric load, such as the lights L.
A main control 32 may be associated with each of the transceivers and controls 26A and 26B and has an actuation button 34, which may be actuated to enter a linking mode. A display screen 36 such as may be found on the control 32 is shown in
However, in actual building environments, it is quite possible that an occupant of the room 22 will actuate the switch 30 when an occupant of the room 24 is attempting to link switch 28 to the transceiver and control 26A.
Thus, the present invention discloses a sequence such as illustrated in
With this unique linking protocol, the present invention is able to properly link each of the switches to their respective transceivers and controls.
The transceiver and control may be such as are available from EnOcean under its product number TCM220C. The wireless switches may be known, and available from EnOcean under its product number PTM200C. Of course, any other type of transceiver, control or switch may be utilized within the scope of this invention.
Although an embodiment of this invention has been disclosed, a worker of ordinary skill in this art would recognize that certain modifications would come within the scope of this invention. For that reason, the following claims should be studied to determine the true scope and content of this invention.
