Patent Application
20050194457
This invention relates generally to electronic thermostats and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for programming a thermostat.
Thermostat controlled systems for heating furnaces and/or air cooling systems of the type employed in residences normally include means for manually entering a desired temperature set point, means for measuring the actual temperature within the building, and means for switching the furnace/air conditioner on and off as a function of the difference between the set point temperature and actual temperature.
The availability of inexpensive integrated circuits incorporating large numbers of digital devices on a similar single semiconductor chip has led to the development of programmable electronic thermostats including means for storing a schedule of desired temperatures at specified times within a respective period such as a day or week. Thus, the users are required to program these thermostats by entering numerous time and temperature pairs so that the thermostat can adjust to their schedules. Most thermostats in this category require four separate time and temperature pairs for each day of the week and a second time and temperature pair for the weekend.
While electronic programmable thermostats enjoy both cost and reliability advantages over conventional mechanical thermostats, they are often limited in their operation and may be difficult or inconvenient for the average homeowner to program and operate. In particular, the limited data entry means and limited display often make it difficult for homeowners unfamiliar with simple computer device programming to successfully program the device or take advantage of all of the features offered by the device.
One approach to facilitate the programming of a programmable thermostat is that shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,628,997 assigned to the assignee of the present invention. That patent which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, describes a process wherein a time-temperature schedule is transformed into a code by a stand-alone external device such as a computer. The programming code is then separately entered into the thermostat where a decoding algorithm is contained. Such a process therefore requires a substantial decoding algorithm to be included in the thermostat and a code with a substantial number of characters to be developed by the computer and entered into the thermostat. The larger the number of characters in the code entered, the smaller the decoding algorithm need be and vice versa.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a program is installed into a personal computer which is then electronically interconnected to a thermostat to be programmed. Using the installed program, a schedule is established on the computer, and the schedule is then downloaded into the thermostat.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a graphical user interface is used for selecting a desired time-temperature schedule to be downloaded to the thermostat.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the electrical interconnection between the computer and the thermostat is established by a temporary wired interconnection such as by USB.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the electrical interconnection between the computer and the thermostat is established by use of a wireless network.
In the drawings as hereinafter described, a preferred embodiment is depicted; however, various other modifications and alternate constructions can be made thereto without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention.
Referring now to
In the programming of such a thermostat, the number of steps required are quite extensive and relatively complicated as shown in
After you have set the time to the time that you want the period to start, the “set time” button is pressed to change to the temperature mode. The “up” or “down” buttons are then pressed until the desired temperature is displayed.
Since each day has four periods, it is then necessary to set both the time and temperature values for each of those periods in the manner as described hereinabove.
Also, since there are seven days to program, it is necessary to repeat the complete process as described hereinabove for each of the seven days. It is possible however to use the “copy previous day” if the same settings are desired such as may be the case for the five work days of the week. Saturdays and Sundays will, of course be different from the work days, and, most likely, the Sunday settings will be different from the Saturday settings.
From this discussion it will be seen that the programming of a single thermostat involves a considerable amount of time and effort. In systems where multiple thermostats are involved, such as in zone systems, this procedure must be repeated for each of the individual thermostats.
Considering now the present approach, wherein the thermostat is electronically connected to a personal computer, with the thermostat then being programmed by use of the personal computer, there are two ways in which the computer can be connected to the thermostat, one being the temporary hard wiring of one to the other, and the other a wireless connection. These interconnections will be more fully described hereinafter with respect to
It will be seen that the disadvantages of using the normal process for programming a programmable thermostat include the following 1) only one period of four within each date can be viewed at a time. 2) In order to see a schedule for any given day, multiple buttons must be pressed. 3) In order to enter the full schedule, dozen of buttons must be pressed in the proper sequence. 4) Where multiple thermostats are present, each one must be programmed individually.
In order for the computer to be used in the process of programming a thermostat, it is necessary to write and install a special program which we shall refer to as a “schedule application program”. One form of such program is shown in
Returning to the flow chart of
If the computer has previously been used for the programming of thermostats, then it may not be necessary to enter new data into the schedule but rather simply choose the existing schedule and download it to the thermostat. Similarly, if one thermostat has been previously programmed and others are to be programmed with that same schedule, then it can be simply downloaded from the thermostat into the computer and saved for use in programming other thermostats.
The advantages of using the computer for programming functions are as follows: 1) the entire schedule of four periods of each of seven days can be seen at one time. 2) The entire schedule is set in a single screen by using a simple graphical user interface (GUI). 3) Multiple schedules can be saved on the computer so as to be quickly downloaded to a thermostat, a feature that would be very useful for someone that works different shifts. 4) Where multiple thermostats are present, the same schedule can be easily downloaded to each thermostat. 5) Troubleshooting of problems can be more easily accomplished since the service person can see the entire schedule from a single screen.
Considering now the manner in which the computer is electronically connected to the programmable thermostat, there are two possibilities shown in
The electronic interconnection may be by way of a temporary hard wiring between the PC connector 22 of the thermostat to the PC connector 27 of the computer as indicated by the solid line 29 or it may be by way of infra-red transmission between the IR receiver/transmitter 24 of the thermostat 11 and the IR receiver/transmitter 28 of the computer are indicated by dotted line 30. In the case of the temporary hard wired arrangement, the connection 29 may be by any of various possible connections such as serial port, parallel port or USB. In the case of the IR receiver/transmitters 24 and 28, a typical unit that has been found to be useful for this purpose is a 802.11b wireless LAN.
Referring now to
It should be understood that the USB (or other connection) may be made by placing the thermostat in a cradle such as with a PDA (Personal Data Assistant).
It will be recognized that the USB cable connection is a temporary connection between the two components only for use in downloading or uploading data between the two. This is contrasted to a permanently hard wired arrangement wherein wires must be run and installed in a house so that the computer may be permanently hard wired to a number of thermostats as in the case of larger industrial installations wherein it is necessary to control and monitor a number of spaces from a central location.
While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred and alternate embodiments as illustrated in the drawings, it will be understood by one skilled in the art that various changes in detail may be effected therein without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims.
