Patent Application
20110144824
With rising energy costs, more attention is being paid to the power usage of computers and computer peripherals. While personal computers today do have a sleep, standby and/or hibernate (“S3”) mode that they will enter if idle for a sufficient period of time, or which a user may select to enter, and which reduces the computer's power usage, most peripherals do not have such a mode and will typically remain fully powered when the computer enters S3 mode. Even for those peripherals that do have an S3 mode, power is still drawn by the peripherals when in S3 mode.
Old personal computer power supplies had a convenience outlet. A convenience outlet was an outlet, typically on the back of the computer that a user could plug computer peripherals into, such as a monitor or printer. However, the convenience outlet only shut off power to a peripheral when the computer was shut off. The convenience outlet did not shut off peripherals when the computer went into a S3 mode. Eventually, convenience outlets were dropped as a feature from personal computers.
An advantage of the embodiments described herein is that they overcome the disadvantages of the prior art. These advantages and others are achieved by an apparatus for providing a power conserving AC power outlet in a computer. The apparatus includes a computer, a power input, a power supply, an AC power outlet, a switch and a control circuit. The power input provides AC input power to the computer. The power supply is connected to the power input and provides power to components of the computer. External AC-powered devices may be plugged into the AC power outlet. The switch is connected to the AC power outlet and the power input. The switch connects the AC power outlet to the power input when the switch is closed and disconnects the AC power outlet from the power input when the switch is opened. The control circuit is connected to the switch and the power input. The control circuit reads a level of current drawn by the power supply on the power input and opens the control circuit when the current level falls below a threshold.
These advantages and others are also achieved by an apparatus for providing a power conserving AC power outlet in a personal computer. The apparatus includes a computer, a power input, a power supply, an AC power outlet, a switch and a control circuit. The power input provides AC input power to the computer. The power supply is connected to the power input and provides power to components of the computer. External AC-powered devices may be plugged into the AC power outlet. The switch is connected to the AC power outlet and the power input. The switch connects the AC power outlet to the power input when the switch is closed and disconnects AC power outlet from the power input when the switch is opened. The control circuit is connected to the switch and the power input. The control circuit opens the switch when the computer enters a hibernate, sleep or shut-down mode.
These advantages and others are provided by a method of using a power conserving AC power outlet in a computer. The method includes connecting peripheral devices to a power conserving AC power outlet in a computer, supplying power to the AC power outlet, thereby powering the peripheral devices connected to the AC power outlet, measuring current drawn by the computer, and de-powering the AC power outlet when the current drawn by the computer falls below a threshold, thereby cutting off power to the peripheral devices.
These advantages and others are provided by an apparatus for providing a power conserving AC power outlet in a computer. The computer includes a memory. The apparatus also includes a power input that provides AC input power to the computer, a power supply that is connected to the power input and that provides power to components of computer, a AC power outlet in the computer to which external AC-powered devices may be plugged, a switch connected to the AC power outlet and power input, and a software routine, loaded, into the memory, that generates a signal that opens the switch when the computer enters a hibernate, sleep or shut-down mode and closes the switch when the computer powers-on. The switch connects the AC power outlet to the power input when the switch is closed and disconnects AC power outlet from the power input when the switch is opened.
The detailed description will refer to the following drawings, wherein like numerals refer to like elements, and wherein:
An apparatus for providing a power conserving AC power outlet in a computer (“PC”) is described herein. Embodiments of the apparatus provide a convenience outlet built into a PC that will shut off the power to peripherals plugged into it when the PC enters sleep (standby), hibernate or shutdown mode (S3, S4, S5). In the embodiments, when the PC's power consumption goes below a set-up threshold, the power to the controlled outlet will be cut off. The controlled outlet can be built inside the PC power supply or built inside the PC chassis. It should be noted that the computers (PC or otherwise) described herein may be a desktop, laptop, Windows CE™ device (such as a Media Center), Apple iTV™ or other processor-driven device. The computers described herein may be home or residential computers, work computers, government computers or computers in any field. The computers described herein may be driven by any processor and support any OS (including Apple™, Windows™, etc.).
As mentioned above, when the computer is in sleep, hibernate, or shutdown (OFF) modes, the peripheral devices are still consuming power (e.g., monitor, printer, USB hub, powered speakers, desk lamp, radio, fan, etc.). Embodiments of the controlled outlet will automatically shut off the power to these devices. A power strip can be plugged into the controlled outlet so that all the devices in the workspace can be so controlled.
A PC with a built-in power conserving AC power outlet, according to the embodiments described herein, enables a user to plug a peripheral device which he wants to turn off when the computer is not running (i.e., the PC is in sleep, hibernate or OFF modes). Embodiments described herein use a circuit to measure the current going into or drawn by the PC. If this current falls below a set threshold, the circuit will turn off an electronic switch and cut off the AC power to the power conserving AC power outlet. This solution enables the user to save power and cost by shutting off peripheral devices when the PC is not in working mode. When the PC goes to sleep, hibernates or turns off, any peripheral device plugged into the controlled outlet will consume zero power.
With reference now to
As is shown in
On line from power input 14 to controlled outlet 22 a switch 20 is provided. Switch 20 controls supply of power to controlled outlet 22, closing to allow power through to outlet 22 and opening to break circuit and prevent power from reaching outlet 22. Control circuit 18 operates switch 20. Control circuit 18 is connected to power input 14, specifically line from power input 14 to power supply 16. Control circuit 18 reads current on power input 14 (in alternative embodiments, control circuit 18 could read power drawn over power input 14). The current on power input 14 read by control circuit 18 is the current drawn by power supply 16 and is indicative of how much wattage power supply 16, and hence computer 12, are using. When computer 12 is fully powered on and is not in S3, S4 or S5 modes, this current will be above a certain threshold level. The threshold level will generally be set during the design or manufacturing so that it can be changes for different SKUs or as technology changes. On a current typical desktop, a typical threshold, expressed in watts, would be 7 to 10 W (current would be derived using the input voltage−VI=P). Typical S3 to S5 states are 1 to 5 W and a computer on or in active S0, S1 and S2 states is at 30 W or more. As soon as the computer sleeps, hibernates or shuts-down (i.e., as soon as computer enters S3, S4 or S5 modes), the current on power input 14 will drop below the threshold level. When the current on power input 14 drops below the threshold, control circuit 18 opens switch 20, cutting off power from controlled outlet 22. When current on power input 14 reaches or exceeds threshold level, control circuit 18 closes switch 20, providing power to controlled outlet 22.
In a typical embodiment, current threshold is factory-installed into control circuit 18. In other words, current threshold is pre-set before control circuit 18 is placed into computer 12. In other embodiments, threshold may be adjusted via software running on computer 12 or other mechanisms. Likewise, embodiments could include software that could be used to set a delay in opening of switch 20 by control circuit 18 in order to enable peripherals 23 that are finishing a task (e.g., printing a document) that may be completed after computer has gone into S3, S4 or S5 mode. Alternatively, embodiments could be hard-wired or pre-set with such a delay (e.g., control circuit 18 could include a capacitive charge that takes, e.g., 15-seconds to discharge and must discharge before control circuit 18 opens switch 20.
When peripherals 23 are plugged into controlled outlets 22 illustrated here, power consumption is reduced. Anytime a computer goes to sleep, hibernates or shuts-down, the peripherals will be shut-down as well. Accordingly, peripherals 23 will not continue to draw power while computer is in state that it would not make use of peripherals 23.
In an embodiment, as shown in
With reference now to
Wither reference now to
As above, a line from power input 14 also runs to controlled AC power outlet 22 through switch 20. Power outlet 22 is situated on external chassis of computer 12 so that a user can plug peripherals (e.g., monitor, printer, etc.) 23 into power outlet 22. Line from power input 14 is preferably of sufficient rating and carrying capacity so that user could plug multiple peripherals 23 into power outlet 22, i.e., via a power strip 25 plugged into power outlet 22. Although power outlet 22 is shown situated on external chassis of computer 12 it could be situated elsewhere, such as internally behind an access door in computer chassis. Likewise, although controlled power outlet 22 is shown as an AC power outlet, in embodiments outlet 22 could be a DC power outlet (rectifier to rectify AC power to DC or other AC/DC converter on power input 14 would be provided) or an additional controlled DC power outlet could be provided. Moreover, although embodiment illustrated only shows one controlled outlet 22, multiple controlled outlets 22 (e.g., AC, DC or both) could be provided. In another embodiment, apparatus 10 could include one or more power outlets that are not controlled (not connected to the switch 20). Consequently, if there were peripherals 23 that should remain on even if computer 12 sleeping, hibernating or shut-down, those peripherals could be plugged into such an outlet. On line from power input 14 to controlled outlet 22 a switch 20 is provided. Switch 20 controls supply of power to controlled outlet 22, closing to allow power through to outlet 22 and opening to break circuit and prevent power from reaching outlet 22.
With continuing reference to
When a computer enters a S3, S4, or S5 state, the 12V, 5V DC power rails get shut off. Consequently, in an embodiment, the 12V, 5V DC power rails may be used to turn off the controlled outlet(s). With reference now to
The terms and descriptions used herein are set forth by way of illustration only and are not meant as limitations. Those skilled in the art will recognize that many variations are possible within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims, and their equivalents, in which all terms are to be understood in their broadest possible sense unless otherwise indicated.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/US2008/072890 | 8/12/2008 | WO | 00 | 2/8/2011 |
