1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a power adapter, and more particularly to a power adapter which is controlled by a wireless controller to output the received power, wherein the power adapter is connected between a power plug of an electrical appliance and a power outlet.
2. Description of Related Art
In everyday life, most electrical appliances in the non-operated state do not automatically power off themself, but showing the standby state. However, even if the appliance is not operated, the appliance would still cause a power loss. For example, when the air conditioner is not operated, the air conditioner remains with the average standby power of 10 W. When the washing machine is not operated, the also washing machine remains with the average standby power of 2 W.
In addition, many environmental groups strongly advocate of carbon reduction and power saving, and the environmental trend encourages people to pull out the power plug of the non-operated electrical appliance from the power outlet, in order to reduce energy loss and destruction of the Earth's environment. However, it is not easy for people to readily develop the habit of pulling out the power plug of the non-operated electrical appliance usually, and the unplugged plugs may be disordered and ugly. Accordingly, a power adapter or an electrical appliance provided by the current industrial can set the automatic power-off time. When the automatic power-off time set by the power adapter or the electrical appliance has been reached, the power adapter or the electrical appliance automatically powers off, and the power is not provided to the electrical appliance automatically to the connected electrical device.
However, there are electrical appliances of dozens kinds in the surrounding environment. If the user wants to set the automatic power-off time of each electrical appliance, the user must do the dozen setting actions, which brings the extreme inconvenience to the user.
An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure provides a power adapter comprising a microprocessor, a wireless communication module, a relay, a circuit board, a casing, a power input end, and a power output end, wherein the microprocessor, the wireless communication module, and the relay are disposed on the circuit board. The casing has a first opening and a second opening, and the casing is used to cover the circuit board. The power input end is disposed on the circuit board, protruding the first opening, and electrically coupled to the relay. The power output end is disposed on the circuit board, protruding the second opening, and electrically coupled to the output end of the relay. The microprocessor generates a switching signal according to a wireless control signal. The wireless communication module electrically coupled to the microprocessor receives the wireless control signal, and transmits the wireless control signal to the microprocessor. The relay has an input end, an output end, and a control end. The input end is used to receive alternative current (AC) power, the control end is electrically coupled to the microprocessor, the control end is used to receive the switching signal, and the relay outputs the AC power from the input end to the output end according to the switching signal. A structure of the power input end is corresponding to a power outlet, so as to receive the AC power and transmit the AC power to the input end of the relay. A structure of the power output end is corresponding to a power plug of an electrical appliance, so as to output the AC power the electrical appliance through the power adapter.
To sum up, the power adapter provided by the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure has the wireless communication module for receiving the wireless control signal and generating the switching signal correspondingly, wherein the switching signal determines whether the AC power is output to the electrical appliance connected to the power adapter. Thus, the user can turn on/off the power of the electrical appliance connected to the power adapter immediately or at fixed time. In other words, the user can use the wireless controller to control the power adapter not to output the AC power to the electrical appliance, such that the electrical appliance is turned off. While the electrical appliance without being turned off by a wireless or automatic control is connecting to the power adapter, the electrical appliance can be turned off by a wireless or automatic control. Meanwhile, the user has not to pull out the plug of the electrical appliance. Thus, the power adapter can let the user achieve the power saving easily. After the electrical appliance without being turned off by a wireless or automatic control is connecting to the power adapter the user can use the wireless controller to turn on/off the electrical appliance.
In order to further understand the techniques, means and effects the present disclosure, the following detailed descriptions and appended drawings are hereby referred, such that, through which, the purposes, features and aspects of the present disclosure can be thoroughly and concretely appreciated; however, the appended drawings are merely provided for reference and illustration, without any intention to be used for limiting the present disclosure.
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure.
Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.
[Exemplary Embodiment of Power Adapter]
Referring to
The power adapter 1d further has a circuit board 30, wherein the microprocessor 11, the wireless communication module 12, the relay 13, the timer 170, and the measurement unit 18 are disposed on the circuit board 30. The power adapter 1d further has a casing 50 (shown in
The wireless communication module 12 receives the wireless control signal, and transmits the wireless control signal to the microprocessor 11. In other words, the user can use a wireless controller to generate a wireless control signal to the wireless communication module 12 through the wireless channel. It is noted that the wireless communication module 12 substantially adopts the ZigBee protocol as the wireless network protocol.
However, the kinds and types of the wireless network protocol are not used to limit the present disclosure. For example, the wireless communication module 12 can adopt the wireless network protocol of Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. The ZigBee protocol has the property of low power consumption. To achieve the power saving, the wireless communication module 12 is preferred to be the ZigBee wireless communication module, and the wireless controller is preferred to be the ZigBee wireless controller.
The microprocessor 11 generates the switching signal SW according to the wireless control signal, and the relay 13 receives the switching signal SW of generated by the microprocessor 11. The relay 13 outputs the AC power PW from the input end thereof to the output end thereof according to the switching signal SW.
In the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the relay 13 can be an electrical switch in the current market, for example, an electromagnetic relay, a sensing relay, an electrical relay, a solid state relay (SSR) or the other transistors having the switching functions. It is noted that the type and the switching mean of the relay 13 are not used to limit the present disclosure.
In short, when the user uses the wireless controller (not shown in
The AC/DC converter 14 is electrically coupled to the household power outlet through the power input end 16a to receive the AC power, wherein the power input end 16a is for example a household power plug. The AC/DC converter 14 converts the AC power PW to the DC power. The supplying power VDD of the microprocessor 11, the wireless communication module 12, the timer 170, and the measurement unit 18, and the LCD 19 is the DC power to which the AC/DC converter 14 converts the AC power PW. In the exemplary embodiment, AC/DC converter 14 can be the currently and popularly marketed AC/DC converter, for example, a bridge rectifier, a three phase pulse width modulation (PWM) rectifier, a voltage doubling rectifier, or an inverter.
The power output at the output end of the relay 13 is the AC power, the electrical device electrically coupled to the power output end 15b of the power adapter 1d is the AC electrical appliance, and the power output end 15b is the AC power outlet or the AC power output end of the other type. Thus, the power adapter 1d in
In the exemplary embodiment, the timer 170 is used to set the on/off time of the power adapter 1d by the user's operation, wherein the on/off time can be the turned on time or the turned off time. When the on/off time has been reached, the microprocessor 11 generates the switching signal SW to the relay 13. That is, the microprocessor 11 generates the switching signal SW according to the on/off time, and then transmits the switching signal SW to the relay 13. Next, the relay 13 outputs the AC power PW from the input end thereof to the output end thereof according to the switching signal SW.
In the exemplary embodiment, the rotatable timing button 175 is served as an operating interface between the user and the timer, wherein the user rotates the rotatable timing button 175 to set the on/off time. For example, when the user wants to turn off the AC electrical appliance connected to the power adapter 1d at 5:15 in the afternoon, the user can pull out the rotatable timing button 175, and then rotate the rotatable timing button 175 to set the turned off time to be PM 5:15. Thus, the microprocessor 11 generates the corresponding switching signal SW when the turned off time has been reached.
However, it is noted that the manner using the rotatable timing button 175 as the operating interface to set the on/off time of the timer 170 is not used to limit the present disclosure. In
The measurement unit 18 is used to calculate the electricity consumption information of the external electrical device. For example, when the power adapter 1d outputs the AC power PW to the external electrical device, the measurement unit 18 can calculate the current power consumption, the average power consumption, and the total power consumption of the external electrical device.
In addition, in the exemplary embodiment, the measurement unit 18 is substantially a power meter. However, it is noted the measurement unit 18 can further be a voltage meter, a current meter, or an electricity calculation chip of any type. In short, the circuit design and the chip type of the measurement unit 18 are not used to limit the present disclosure.
In the exemplary embodiment, the LCD 19 is used to display the electricity consumption information of the external electrical device and the on/off time associated to the power adapter 1d. To put it concretely, the measurement unit 18 transmits the electricity consumption information to the LCD 19 through the microprocessor 11, such that the LCD 19 displays the electricity consumption information to the user. In addition, if the user sets the on/off time of the timer 170, the on/off time will be transmitted to LCD 19 through the microprocessor 11 to display the on/off time. For example, if the turned off time of the timer 170 is set to be PM 5:15, the turned off time will be displayed by the LCD 19, such that the user can see the turned off time is PM 5:15.
The user can press or push the reset button 10 to reset the measurement unit 18, such that the measurement unit 18 can re-calculate the electricity consumption information. That is, the electricity consumption information can be re-calculated, and the re-calculated electricity consumption information is displayed on the LCD 19, while the reset button 10 is pressed to reset the measurement unit 18.
The power input end 16a can be the household power plug, and the household power plug is a male connector having blades or copper protruding portions. The power input end 16a can be physically plugged into the household power outlet which is a female connector, wherein the female connector has slots or holes. Generally, the household power plug has a live fire connector (corresponding to the hole with a shorter aperture), a neutral wire connector (corresponding to the hole with a longer aperture), and some household power plug further has a ground wire connector (corresponding to the middle hole). Regarding most household power plugs, the live wire connector is not distinguish from the neutral wire connector, but some household power plug may have a plurality of live wires. The household power plug may be coated with the copper, tin, nickel, or their combination.
The power output end 15b can be the household power outlet, and the household power outlet is a female connector having holes or slots. The household plug of the AC electrical appliance can plug to the female connector, so as to transmit the AC power to the AC electrical appliance through the household plug and the power output end 15b, wherein the household plug of the AC electrical appliance is the male connector having blades or copper protruding portions. In the most countries, the household power is the single phase power. Thus, the electricity of the household power is transmitted to the AC electrical appliance through one conductive wire (the live wire), and the electricity in the AC electrical appliance is returned to the household power through another one conductive wire (the neutral wire). In addition, many household power plugs and outlets further have the third connector (ground wire connector), and the third connector is used to connect the AC electrical appliance to the earth, therefore preventing from the damage of the user and the AC electrical appliance due to the electricity leakage.
In the exemplary embodiment of
Referring to
In addition, in the exemplary embodiment of
It is noted that, in the exemplary embodiment of
Referring to
It is noted that, the power output end 15b can be the B-type household power outlet. The B-type household power outlet allows the A-type of B-type power plug to plug thereto, and thus in
[Another Exemplary Embodiment of Power Adapter]
Referring to
It is noted that, the power input end 16a′ and the power output end 15b′ in the power adapter 1e are not disposed on and protruding the opening of the casing 80. In the exemplary embodiment, the casing 80 is designed to let the user to remove power input end 16a′ and the power output end 15b′ from the casing, and to install the power input end 16a′ and the power output end 15b′ on the casing. Furthermore, the casing 80 does not cover the power input end 16a′ and the power output end 15b.
Referring to
Referring to
When the user wants to install the power output end 15b′, the user may places the T-shaped fixing part 94a in the accommodation space of the ditch 93a, and at the same time, the conducting sheets 91a through 91c can be correspondingly placed in the accommodation spaces 95a through 95c. Next, the user slides the power output end 15b′ to fix the T-shaped fixing parts 94a through 94c respectively in the ditches 93a through 93c, such that the conducting sheets 91a and t91c are moved respectively from the accommodation spaces 95a and 95c to connect the conducting sheets 92a and 92c. In addition, when the user wants to remove the power output end 15b′, the user can do the inversed operation mentioned above to remove the power output end 15b′ from the casing.
Referring to
In order to further understand the techniques, means and effects the present disclosure, the following detailed descriptions and appended drawings are hereby referred, such that, through which, the purposes, features and aspects of the present disclosure can be thoroughly and concretely appreciated; however, the appended drawings are merely provided for reference and illustration, without any intention to be used for limiting the present disclosure.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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201120346594.3 | Sep 2011 | CN | national |