Home automation group selection by color
Contents
1. FIG 1 shows a table of color definitions used in this dis closure FIG 2 shows an embodiment ofa of color selection mecha nism FIG 3 shows a networked single outlet AC power socket FIG 4 shows a block diagram of the electronics for one embodiment FIG 5 is a flowchart describing how the color selection means is used in the configuration of a networked home automation device FIG 6 shows an alternative embodiment of a of color selection mechanism FIG 7 shows a different alternative embodiment of a of color selection mechanism FIGS 8A 8B 8C and 8D show additional embodiments of color selection mechanism and FIG 9 shows an embodiment using a touch sensitive graphical user interface DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the following detailed description numerous specific details are set forth by way of examples in order to provide a thorough understanding ofthe relevant teachings However it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present teachings may be practiced without such details In other instances well known methods procedures and components have been described at a relatively high level without detail in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring aspects of the present concepts A number of descriptive terms and phrases are used in describing the various embodiments of this dis closure These descriptive terms and phrases are used to con vey a generally agreed upon meaning to those skilled in the art2. or elsewhere in the networked device In one embodiment the rotary dip switch is a BCD encoder that generates 4 bits of output that can either be connected to ground or left as an open circuit so that as each output is connected to a pull up resistor the output represents a binary number between 0000 and 1010 Other methods of encoding the angular position of the color wheel could also be used such as such as individual switch outputs for each rotary position an analog to digital converter measuring a voltage across a potentiometer an optical shaft encoder a magnetic detector two axis hall ef fect sensors or other well known methods of detecting the angular position of a disk or shaft A cross section of a wall 609 of the networked device shows the edge 602 protruding through the wall and a portion ofthe colored area 603 visible through an opening in the wall 609 Exterior view 640 shows the outside of the networked device with the wall 641 having an opening 642 In this embodiment the opening 642 has a wider section at the bottom to allow the edge 602 to protrude from the wall 641 while keeping the upper portion of the opening 642 narrower so that can be mostly filled with one section of the color wheel In the position shown section 614 1s filling most of opening 642 To help make it even clearer which color is US 8 306 639 B2 9 selected an indicator arrow 643 is included on the wall 641 pointing at the current color The color
3. unless a different definition is given in this specification Some descriptive terms and phrases are presented in the fol lowing paragraphs for clarity The term network refers to a bidirectional communica tion medium and protocol to allow a plurality of devices to communicate with each other The term networked device refers to any device that can communicate over a network Reference now is made in detail to the examples illustrated in the accompanying drawings and discussed below FIG 1 is a table 100 indicating some embodiments of the colors that could be used with the subject of the present disclosure The first column 101 contains reference numbers 0 9 to be used to referring to each color Some embodiments may use fewer than 10 colors while others may use more than 10 colors The second column 102 contains symbols that may optionally be imprinted on top ofthe color to help people who may have difficulty distinguishing between different colors In this embodiment the first color has no symbol the next 8 colors use an Arabic numeral as the symbol and the final symbol is a padlock Other symbols may be used in other embodiments The third column 103 contains the color names for the colors of this embodiment Other colors could be used in other embodiments The next four columns 104 entitled US 8 306 639 B2 5 Print Colors give one possible set of colors to be mixed for 4 color printing processes The four colum
4. 12 United States Patent Diehl et al US008306639B2 US 8 306 639 B2 Nov 6 2012 ao Patent No 45 Date of Patent 54 75 73 21 22 65 60 51 52 58 56 HOME AUTOMATION GROUP SELECTION BY COLOR Inventors William Diehl Dove Canyon CA US Sonny Windstrup Copenhagen DK Karl Jonsson Rancho Santa Margarita CA US Assignee Greenwave Reality Pte Ltd Singapore SG Notice Subject to any disclaimer the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U S C 154 b by 407 days Appl No 12 795 381 Filed Jun 7 2010 Prior Publication Data US 2011 0098831 A1 Apr 28 2011 Related U S Application Data Provisional application No 61 254 709 filed on Oct 25 2009 Int CI G06F 19 00 2011 01 USC eere 700 90 307 38 315 307 Field of Classification Search 715 38 715 734 751 341 176 23 34 345 173 345 156 700 90 315 307 307 8 See application file for complete search history References Cited U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 4 858 141 A 8 1989 Hart et al 4 918 690 A 4 1990 Markkula et al 5 258 656 A 11 1993 Pawlick 5 301 122 A 4 1994 Halpern 5 483 153 A 1 1996 Leeb et al Continued 101 10 FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS JP 2001 307505 A 11 2001 Continued OTHER PUBLICATIONS Hart G W Nonintrusive appliance load monitoring Porceedings of the IEEE vol 80 No 12 Dec 1 1992 pp 1870 1891
5. The network controller uses the color code to help further configure the device and create a more user friendly user interface for the entire network One way the network con troller may use the color code is to allow the user to assign a particular color to a room and set all the networked devices located in that room to the same color An alternative use is to differentiate all similar devices using a different color so that the user can easily tell which device is which as they interact with the network controller In yet another use the color can be used to group devices together that interact such as all the audio visual devices In some embodiments a specific color such as black may be interpreted by the network controller as meaning that the device is not assigned to a particular group and the controller can ask the user which group the device should be assigned to In other embodiments that require more than 8 distinct color assignments the network controller may allow the user to select from a plurality of additional colors beyond the colors directly available from the color selection mechanism of the device so that the user can have a larger choice of colors available for device assignment After the color code has been transmitted 507 the control ler 402 may enable monitoring 508 of the status of the device A networked device may allow the network controller or other network devices to query its current state current power usag
6. US 8 306 639 B2 Sheet 7 of 9 Nov 6 2012 U S Patent FIG 7 U S Patent Nov 6 2012 Sheet 8 of 9 US 8 306 639 B2 801 FIG 8A 811 FIG 8B 823 822 821 FIG 8C U S Patent Nov 6 2012 Sheet 9 of 9 US 8 306 639 B2 900 901 E 1 911 912 915 918 904 905 906 FIG 9 US 8 306 639 B2 1 HOME AUTOMATION GROUP SELECTION BY COLOR CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of U S Provisional Patent Application Ser No 61 254 709 entitled HYBRID LIGHT and filed on Oct 25 2009 then entire contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference BACKGROUND 1 Technical Field The present subject matter relates to home automation networking It further relates to initialization and setup of networked home automation devices 2 Description of Related Art Providing home automation functionality using network ing means is well known in the art Control of lighting and appliances can be accomplished using systems from many different companies such as X10 Insteon amp and Echelon These systems all require some kind of initialization and setup ofthe devices to communicate properly on the network In some cases some of the initialization and setup is pre defined in the device with no mechanism for the user to easily configure the device for their particular installation But in many cases a way for the user to config
7. device changes the state of the networked device in response to the US 8 306 639 B2 3 local control command only if the color selected by the user is one of the one or more non locking colors And in some embodiments that means for controlling the networked device controls the On Off state In another embodiment a networked device is comprised of a controller a network adapter communicatively coupled to the controller and a color selection mechanism communi catively coupled to the controller The color selection mecha nism allows a user to select a color from a plurality of colors the plurality of colors having at least one locking color and one or more non locking colors The color selection mecha nism communicates information corresponding to the color selected by the user to the controller and the controller con verts the information communicated by the color selection mechanism to a color code corresponding to the color selected by the user The controller communicates the color code to the network adapter and the network adapter sends the color code out over the network If the network adapter receives a message from the network to change a state of the networked device it is communicated to the controller but the controller changes the state of the networked device in response to the message to change the state of the networked device communicated by the network adapter only if the color selected by the user is one of the one
8. included on some of the sections Section 711 has the braille symbol for one 721 section 712 has the braille symbol for two 722 section 713 has the braille symbol for three 723 section 714 has the braille symbol for four 724 section 715 has the braille symbol for five 725 section 716 has the braille symbol for six 726 and section 717 has a raised padlock symbol 727 Other embodiments may use other tac tilely recognizable symbols Yet other embodiments may not include tactilely recognizable symbols In other embodi ments the tactilely recognizable symbols may not be readily visible and other visible symbols may or may not be included The colors on the angled edge 701 represent seven non locking colors 0 6 and one locking color 9 which is white The color wheel hub 704 is attached to the shaft 705 ofa rotary dip switch 706 that may be mounted on a printed circuit board 707 As the color wheel is turned it turns the shaft 705 of the rotary dip switch 706 which generates information depending on the rotational angle of the shaft 705 The information is then available on the pins 708 not all pins are shown of the rotary dip switch 706 The pins 708 may be connected to pull up resistors and a controller located on the same printed circuit board or elsewhere in the networked device In one embodiment the rotary dip switch is an octal encoder that generates 3 bits of output that can either be connected to ground or left as an open circuit so th
9. the device Whenever a new state change request is received 515 the controller 402 checks to see if the color selected by the user on the color selection device 220 has changed 516 In some embodiments the act of changing the color may generate a state change request If the 0 jak 5 20 30 40 45 50 60 8 color has changed 516 the controller 402 sends the new color out over the network to let the network controller know that the user has changed the color code on the device The con troller then proceeds through the same set of steps 508 514 as describedinthe initial power up sequence Ifthe color has not changed 516 there is no need to rebroadcast the color code or recheck to see if the color is white so the controller simply receives 511 the control packet and takes appropriate action 512 514 FIG 6 shows an alternative embodiment of a color selec tion mechanism 600 to allow a user to select a color Top view 620 shows the color wheel from the top and side view 630 shows the color wheel from the side with some associated structure that has been omitted from the top view 620 for clarity The color wheel mechanism 600 has a color wheel with a raised disc 601 an edge 602 extending out beyond the raised disc and a hub 604 The edge 602 may be knurled or textured to give better grip as it is rotated by the user A colored area 603 is included on the color wheel In this embodiment the colored area 603 is impl
10. 68 2008 0270937 2009 0059603 2009 0202250 2009 0234512 2009 0236909 2009 0237006 2009 0267540 2009 0322159 2010 0005331 2010 0084992 2010 0090542 2010 0141153 2010 0145542 2010 0191487 2011 0031819 2011 0062874 2011 0098867 2011 0309735 2012 0126699 B2 6 2011 Hasnain B2 6 2011 Tinaphong et al B2 6 2011 Bent et al B2 9 2011 Jonsson B2 11 2011 Conway etal 341 176 A1 10 2002 Dowling et al Al 2 2003 Arling nnn Al 3 2003 Osann Al 10 2003 Iwatsuki et al Al 9 2006 Menas et al Al 11 2006 Devarakonda et al Al 6 2007 Petite Al 12 2007 Gilbert Al 4 2008 Paradiso et al Al 8 2008 Duncan Al 10 2008 Poulet et al 715 810 Al 3 2009 Recker et al Al 8 2009 Dizechi etal 398 107 Al 9 2009 Ewing et al Al 9 2009 Aldag et al Al 9 2009 Champion et al Al 10 2009 Chemel et al Al 12 2009 DuBose et al Al 1 2010 Somasundaram et al Al 4 2010 Valois et al Al 4 2010 Johnson et al Al 6 2010 Recker et al Al 6 2010 Chapel et al Al 7 2010 Rada et al Al 2 2011 Gunwall Al 3 2011 Knapp Al 4 2011 Jonsson et al Al 12 2011 Parker et al Al 5 2012 Zittel et al Jun 21 2011 K Jonsson Modular Networked Light Bulb GWRPID 002A Unpublished U S Appl No 12 795 395 filed Jun 7 2010 Lamp Module Receiver PLM03 User Manual X10 Inc 2008 http www x10pro com pro pdf plm03 pdf retrieved on Ma
11. IEEE New York NY US Continued Primary Examiner Kidest Bahta 74 Attorney Agent or Firm Bruce A Young 57 A networked device is disclosed comprising means for con trolling a state of the networked device means for connecting to a network means for allowing a user to select a color from a plurality of colors the plurality of colors having at least one locking color and one or more non locking colors and means for generating a selected color code corresponding to the color selected by the user each color of the plurality of colors having a corresponding color code The networked device submits the selected color code over the network for use by the network controller in configuring the device and changes the state of the networked device in response to a command from the network only if the color selected by the user is one of the one or more non locking colors In some embodiments the networked device also responds to requests for status information from the network independent of the color selected by the user In some embodiments the networked device further comprises means for allowing the user enter a local control command wherein the means for controlling the networked device changes the state of the networked device in response to the local control command only if the color selected by the user is one of the one or more non locking colors And in some embodiments that means for controlling the networked device
12. NEN CH EN KN EKE re fe ten fe tet ee l fo CT e ee b 9b 9b 1 FIG 1 U S Patent Nov 6 2012 Sheet 2 of 9 US 8 306 639 B2 VA 220 206 207 U S Patent Nov 6 2012 Sheet 3 of 9 US 8 306 639 B2 300 306 FIG 3 U S Patent Nov 6 2012 Sheet 4 of 9 US 8 306 639 B2 407 400 403 NY LA Wireless Network Adapter 220 404 405 401 Controller Power 402 Supply 406 E 304 305 Pa FIG 4 U S Patent Nov 6 2012 Sheet 5 of 9 US 8 306 639 B2 515 501 Incoming state l change request Power is Applied DR 502 D Turn control electronics On 504 503 Wait for user to press physical sync button Initialized Included 507 Yes Send selected Broadcast Inclusion group color Packet 516 Did Color Selector Receive Initialization Info Enable Monitoring Is Color Selector White N 541 o 510 Be Turn device on 4 ieu and ignore all tate Contro state changes 512 Yes Turn Yes Device On N 513 P 514 Turn Device Off Turn Device On FIG 5 U S Patent Nov 6 2012 Sheet 6 of 9 US 8 306 639 B2 DERE d 603 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 617 618 619 640 630 ui 609 614 604 605 602 608 606 607 641
13. a relay or other controllable power switch FIG 5 shows a flow chart 500 for the operation of the networked device 300 of the current subject matter The exact order of operations and details shown in this flow chart 500 may differ between embodiments but one skilled in the art can see how the concepts presented herein would still apply After power is applied 501 the networked device 300 turns 400 the control electronics on The controller 402 then checks 503 to see if the device has been previously initialized and included into the network If the device has not yet been initialized and US 8 306 639 B2 7 included into the network it waits 504 until the user presses the sync button 409 Once the sync button 409 has been pressed the controller 402 broadcasts 505 an inclusion packet over the network to let a network controller know that there is a new device on the network that needs to be initialized and configured The controller 402 then waits 506 for some period of time to receive initialization information from the network controller If no initialization information is received the controller rebroadcasts 505 an inclusion packet and waits again repeating this process until initialization information is received 506 Once initialization information has been received the controller 402 generates the color code from information received from the color selection mechanism 220 and sends 507 the color code out to the network controller
14. aim 6 in which the network utilizes radio frequency communication 9 The networked device of claim 6 in which the controller and the network adapter are integrated on a single integrated circuit 10 The networked device of claim 6 in which the state of the networked device being controlled is an On Off state of the networked device 11 The networked device of claim 6 in which the network adapter receives a status request message over the network and communicates it to the controller and the controller responds to the status request message by communicating a response message to the network adapter to send out over the network the controller responding independent ofthe color selected by the user 12 The networked device of claim 6 further comprising a local control interface communicatively coupled to the controller the local control interface allowing the user to enter a local control command to request a change to the state of the networked device wherein the controller changes the state ofthe networked device in response to the local control command only if the color selected by the user is one of the one or more non locking colors 13 The networked device of claim 12 in which the state of the networked device to which the local control command requests a change is an On Off state of the networked device 14 The networked device of claim 6 in which the color selection mechanism is a graphical user interface 15 The networ
15. at as each output is connected to a pull up resistor the output represents a binary number between 000 and 111 Other methods of encoding the angular position of the color wheel could also be used such as such as individual switch outputs for each rotary position an analog to digital converter measuring a voltage across a potentiometer an optical shaft encoder a magnetic detector two axis hall effect sensors or other well known methods of detecting the angular position of a disk or shaft A cross section of a wall 709 of the networked device shows the edge 702 protruding through the wall and a portion of the angled side 701 visible through an opening in the wall 709 Exterior view 740 shows the outside of the networked device with the wall 741 having an opening 742 In the posi tion shown section 713 is filling most of opening 742 To help make it even clearer which color is selected and indicator arrow 743 is included on the wall 741 pointing at the current jai 5 25 40 45 50 10 color The color selection mechanism 700 may be designed to provide a detent at each section 710 717 to make it easy for the user to center the desired section in the opening 742 FIGS 8A 8B 8C and 8D show additional alternative embodiments ofa color selection mechanism FIG 8A shows a networked device 801 with a non moveable color wheel 802 imprinted or affixed to the networked device 801 A rotatable selector 803 can be turned by the user
16. controls the On Off state ABSTRACT 21 Claims 9 Drawing Sheets 100 404 Print Colors Computer Colors ICI CES US 8 306 639 B2 Page2 U S PATENT DOCUMENTS FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS 5 519 878 A 5 1996 Dolin Jr JP 2006 525640 A 11 2006 5 650 771 A 7 1997 Lee JP 2008 123727 A 5 2008 5 717 325 A 2 1998 Leeb et al KR 10 2002 0034855 A 5 2002 5 754 963 A 5 1998 Nunneley et al WO 03 026358 Al 3 2003 6 038 523 A 3 2000 Akahane et al WO 2003026358 Al 3 2003 6 160 551 A 12 2000 Naughton et al WO 2003077100 Al 9 2003 6 476 729 BI 11 2002 Liu WO 2005039144 Al 4 2005 6 492 897 BI 12 2002 Mowery WO 2009084016 A2 7 2009 6 501 463 B1 12 2002 Dahley etal 345 173 WO 2009097400 Al 8 2009 6 987 444 B2 1 2006 Bub et al WO 2011050224 Al 4 2011 6 993 417 B2 1 2006 Osann Jr 7 355 523 B2 4 2008 Sid OTHER PUBLICATIONS on a u x al Jiang et al Design and Implementation ofa High Fidelity AC Meter 7 844353 B2 11 2010 Bejeanetal 700 83 ing Network IPSN 09 San Francisco Apr 13 16 2009 San Fran 7 876 255 B2 1 2011 Conway etal 341 176 cisco CA USA ACM 978 1 60558 371 6 09 04 7 885 917 B2 2 2011 Kuhns et al Non Final Office Action for U S Appl No 13 195 655 USPTO 7 956 546 7 961 111 7 970 542 8 013 545 8 049 655 2002 0152045 2003 0025840 2003 0050737 2003 0197772 2006 0202557 2006 0271544 2007 0135973 2007 0297112 2008 0094210 2008 02012
17. d In another embodiment the networked light bulb receives a local control action and changes the state of the networked lighting apparatus in response to the local control action only if the color selected is one of the one or more non locking colors In some embodiments the local control command is an On Off command and the state of the network device being changed by the local control command is an On Off state One embodiment is a networked device comprising means for controlling a state of the networked device means for connecting to a network means for allowing a user to select a color from a plurality of colors the plurality of colors having at least one locking color and one or more non locking colors and means for generating a selected color code corresponding to the color selected by the user each color of the plurality of colors having a corresponding color code In that embodi ment the networked device submits the selected color code over the network but changes the state of the networked device inresponse to a command from the network only ifthe color selected by the user is one of the one or more non locking colors In some embodiments the networked device also responds to requests for status information from the network independent of the color selected by the user In some embodiments the networked device further comprises means for allowing the user enter a local control command wherein the means for controlling the networked
18. e current condition of its consumables used by the net worked device diagnostic information or other information available to the networked device that other devices on the network might find useful The controller 402 then deter mines 509 ifthe color selected is the locking color in this case white If the locking color has been selected the controller then turns or leaves the device in an operating on state but ignores 510 all control requests that may come in over the network In some embodiments the controller may also ignore all local control requests such as the user pressing the power button 408 if the locking color has been selected If the color selected 509 on the color selection mechanism 420 is not white the controller 402 then is enabled to receive 511 control packets over the network If the control packet tells the controller 402 to turn the device On 512 the control ler 402 controls the thyristor 406 to allow the socket 304 to be energized 514 If the control packet tells the controller 402 to turn the device Off 512 the controller 402 controls the thy ristor 406 to isolate the socket 304 from electrical power turning it off 513 Depending on the capability of the net worked device many states other than the On Off state may be controlled On occasion new incoming state change requests may be received 515 Those state change requests may come over the network or they may be received from a local user interface on
19. e top ofthe color wheel 221 with adhesive so that the center ofthe colored area 203 is coincident with the center ofthe color wheel 221 The colored area 203 is divided into sections 210 219 each section imprinted with a different color as defined in FIG 1 In this embodiment section 210 is imprinted with color 0 and no identifying symbol In this embodiment color 0 is black Section 211 is imprinted with color 1 and the symbol 1 Section 212 is imprinted with color 2 and the symbol 2 Section 213 is imprinted with color 3 and the symbol 3 Section 214 is imprinted with color 4 and the symbol 4 Section 215 is imprinted with color 5 and the symbol 5 Section 216 is imprinted with color 6 and the symbol 6 Section 217 is imprinted with color 7 and the symbol 7 Section 218 is imprinted with color 8 and the symbol 8 Section 219 is imprinted with color 9 and the symbol of a padlock In this embodiment color 9 is white The colors imprinted on the colored area 203 represent nine non locking colors 0 8 and one locking color 9 whichis white Other embodiments may use more or less than ten colors The color wheel hub 204 is attached to the shaft 205 of a rotary dip switch 206 that may be mounted on a printed circuit board 207 As the color wheel 221 is turned it turns the shaft 205 of the rotary dip switch 206 which gener ates a color code depending on the rotational angle of the shaft 205 The color code is then available on the pi
20. e way that the user can identify the location or other parameters of a device It therefore is important to provide a new method for the userto very easily configure a networked device for the home The method should be very easy to remember and provide a simple means to configure at least the location or other basic parameter important to the networking of the device SUMMARY Various embodiments of the present subject matter dis close methods and apparatus for configuring a networked device One disclosed method comprises generating a selected color code corresponding to a color selected from a plurality of colors each color of the plurality of colors having a corresponding color code and sending the selected color code over a network In some embodiments the plurality of colors have at least one locking color and one or more non locking colors and the networked device changes a state ofthe networked device in response to a command received over the network only if the color selected is one of the one or more non locking colors In at least one embodiment the command received overthe network is an On Off command and the state of the network device being changed is an On Off state In some embodiments the state of the networked device is set to On ifthe color selected is the at least one locking color And in some embodiments the networked device responds to a request for status information from the network independent of the color selecte
21. emented as a label that is wrapped around the raised disc 601 and attached with adhesive The colored area 603 is divided into sections 610 619 each section imprinted with a different color as defined in FIG 1 In this embodiment section 610 is imprinted with color 0 section 611 is imprinted with color 1 section 612 is imprinted with color 2 section 613 is imprinted with color 3 section 614 is imprinted with color 4 section 615 is imprinted with color 5 section 616 is imprinted with color 6 section 617 is imprinted with color 7 section 618 is imprinted with color 8 and section 619 is imprinted with color 9 In this embodiment no symbols are included with the colors although other similar embodiments may include visible or tactilely recognizable symbols on one or more of the sections 610 619 The colors imprinted on the colored area 603 rep resent nine non locking colors 0 8 and one locking color 9 which is white The color wheel hub 604 is attached to the shaft 605 of a rotary dip switch 606 that may be mounted on a printed circuit board 607 As the color wheel is turned it turns the shaft 605 of the rotary dip switch 606 which gener ates a set of open or closed switches depending on the rota tional angle of the shaft 605 The color code is then available on the pins 608 not all pins are shown of the rotary dip switch 606 The pins 608 may be connected to pull up resis tors and a controller located on the same printed circuit board
22. expressing quan tities of elements optical characteristic properties and so forth used in the specification and claims are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term about Accordingly unless indicated to the contrary the numerical parameters set forth in the preceding specification and attached claims are approximations that can vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by those skilled in the art utilizing the teachings of the present inven tion At the very least and not as an attempt to limit the US 8 306 639 B2 11 application of the doctrine of equivalents to the scope of the claims each numerical parameter should at least be construed in light of the number of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of the invention are approximations the numerical values set forth in the specific examples are reported as pre cisely as possible Any numerical value however inherently contains certain errors necessarily resulting from the standard deviations found in their respective testing measurements The recitation of numerical ranges by endpoints includes all numbers subsumed within that range e g 1 to 5 includes 1 1 5 2 2 75 3 3 80 4 and 5 As used in this specification and the appended claims the singular forms a an and the include plu
23. ion color selected from the plurality of colors As the color wheel is rotated by user manipulation of the edge the colored area ofthe color wheel and the rotatable shaft of the rotary switch also rotate and the output of the rotary switch communicates current rotational position information corresponding to the color selected by the user to the controller The position of the color wheel may be indicated by a selection mark in close physical proximity to the section ofthe colored area ofthe color wheel imprinted with the section color corresponding to the color selected by the user at the current position In other embodiments the position of the color wheel may be indicated by the color of section of the colored area that is visible through an aperture in an outer housing of the networked device and the color wheel is mounted so that a portion of the edge protrudes from the outer housing of the networked device allowing the user is ableto manipulate the edge to rotatethe color wheel about the 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 4 axis In some embodiments the color wheel may also include visible tactilely recognizable symbols BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings which are incorporated in and constitute part of the specification illustrate various embodiments of the invention Together with the general description the drawings serve to explain the principles ofthe invention In the drawings
24. ked device of claim 6 the color selection mechanism comprising an electrical component with a rotatable shaft and an out put communicatively coupled to the controller and US 8 306 639 B2 13 a color wheel having a center an edge and a colored area the center of the color wheel coupled to the rotatable shaft of the electrical component and the colored area divided into sections each section imprinted with a sec tion color selected from the plurality of colors such that as the color wheel is rotated by user manipulation of the edge the colored area of the color wheel and the rotat able shaft of the electrical component also rotate and theoutput ofthe electrical component with a rotatable shaft communicates current rotational position information corresponding to the color selected by the user to the controller 16 The networked device of claim 15 wherein the electri cal component with a rotatable shaft is a rotary switch 17 The networked device of claim 15 wherein the electri cal component with a rotatable shaft is a potentiometer and the controller further comprising an analog to digital con verter the input ofthe analog to digital converter electrically connected to a voltage divider circuit that changes as the shaft of the potentiometer rotates 18 The networked device of claim 15 the color selection mechanism further comprising a selection mark in close physical proximity to the section ofthe colored area of
25. means for connecting to a network means for allowing a user to select a color from a plurality of colors the plurality of colors having at least one locking color and one or more non locking colors and means for generating a selected color code corresponding to the color selected by the user each color of the plu rality of colors having a corresponding color code wherein the means for connecting to the network sends the selected color code over the network and the means for controlling the state of the networked device changes the state of the networked device in response to amessage from the network only ifthe color selected by the user is one of the one or more non locking colors 2 The networked device of claim 1 in which the means for controlling the state of the networked device controls an On Off state of the networked device 3 The networked device of claim 1 in which the networked device responds to a request for status information from the network independent of the color selected by the user 4 The networked device of claim 1 further comprising means for allowing the user enter a local control command wherein the means for controlling the state of the networked device changes the state of the networked device in response to 5 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 12 the local control command only if the color selected by the user is one of the one or more non locking colors 5 The net
26. n US Pat App No 2009 0267540 inventors Chemel at al show an intelligent LED lighting system with mesh network ing connectivity Chemel et al describe a power management module PMM with light module identification Each light module may have identifying information programmed into it and can communicate that information to the PMM which can in turn store and communicate that information to a user or installer to aid in replacement or commissioning The information may be stored in a nonvolatile memory onboard the light module and communicated via a digital bus to the PMM The information may be stored passively on the light module such as via a series of jumpers or dip switches and can be read by the PMM The passive storage may include 5 20 35 40 45 50 65 2 electrical contacts with encoded bit pattern stored in an optics holder The passive storage may include passive RFID X10 markets a series of home automation control modules such as the PLM03 Lamp Module Receiver Many X10 mod ules include two rotary control dials that the user can set at installation to allow each separate module to be indepen dently controlled One dial is forthe House Code and can be set to a letter ranging from A to P while the other dial is for the Unit Number which can be set to a number ranging from 1 to 16 It should be noted that neither the system described by Chemel et al nor X10 devices address simplifying th
27. nna 407 and is connected to controller 402 by a digital bus 404 In some embodiments the wireless network adapter may con nect to a Z wave Zigbee 802 15 or Wi Fi 802 11 wireless network Other embodiments may use a wired or power line network adapter instead of a wireless network adapter In some embodiments the controller 402 is implemented as a microcontroller and in some embodiments the controller wireless network adapter and digital bus may be integrated onto a single chip such as the Zensys ZM3102 A user inter face is provided through several locally manipulatable con trols In this embodiment a power button 408 is connected to a voltage source through a resistor 402 and a sync button 409 is connected to a voltage source through a resistor R2 Both buttons 408 and 409 are connected to the controller 402 A color selection device 220 is also connected to the controller 402 providing rotational position information through con nection 405 The controller 402 converts the rotational posi tion information to the color code corresponding to the color selected by the user In other embodiments the user interface may be provided using other means such as a graphical user interface on a display or a keypad or any other device or combination of devices that allows the user to provide input to the controller 402 The controller 402 can control a thyrister 406 to determine whether or not the socket 304 is powered Other embodiments may use
28. ns 104 represent the percentage of the maximum amount of ink for the cyan C magenta M yellow Y and black K and can range from 0 to 100 Other mixes might be used for some embodiments depending on the specific inks print stock and exact desired color The next three columns 105 entitled Computer Colors give a possible representation for the indicated colors for use on a computer screen The three columns 105 represent a color value for each of red R green G and blue B and range from 0 to 255 to allow the value for each component color to be stored in a single 8 bit storage location as is common in computer systems The final right most column 106 entitled Fill gives a cross hatch pattern to be used in the following black and white figures to indicate the color that would fill a particular area FIG 2 shows one particular embodiment of a color selec tion mechanism 220 to allow a user to select a color Top view 200 shows the color wheel 221 from the top and side view 201 shows the color wheel 221 from the side with some associated structure that has been omitted from the top view 200 for clarity The color selection mechanism 220 has color wheel 221 with an edge 202 and a hub 204 The edge 202 may be knurled or textured to give better grip as it is rotated by the user A colored area 203 is included on the color wheel 221 In this embodiment the colored area 203 is implemented as a label attached to th
29. ns 208 not all pins are shown of the rotary dip switch 206 The pins 208 may be connected to pull up resistors and a controller located on the same printed circuit board or elsewhere in the net worked device In one embodiment the rotary dip switch is a BCD encoder that generates 4 bits of output that can either be connected to ground or left as an open circuit so that as each output is connected to a pull up resistor the output represents a binary number between 0000 and 1010 Other methods of encoding the angular position of the color wheel 221 could also be used such as individual switch outputs for each rotary position an analog to digital converter measuring a voltage across a potentiometer an optical shaft encoder a magnetic detector two axis hall effect sensors or other well known methods of detecting the angular position of a disk or shaft FIG 3 shows the color selection mechanism 220 imple mented in a networked device 300 In this embodiment the 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 6 networked device 300 is a controllable single outlet AC power socket but other embodiments may implement the disclosed subject matter in other appliances including but not limited to a multi outlet power strip a kitchen appliance such as a coffee maker a garage door opener an audio video compo nent a computer peripheral a lighting fixture an electric heater a fan or any type of electrical device either AC or ba
30. or more non locking colors In some embodiments the network adapter connects to a wireless network such as Wi Fi Z wave or Zigbee and in some embodiments the controller and the network adapter are integrated on a single integrated circuit In other embodi ments the network adapter receives a status request message over the network and communicates it to the controller and the controller responds to the status request message by com municating a response message to the network adapter to send out over the network the controller responding independent of the color selected by the user Yet another embodiment includes alocal control interface communicatively coupled to the controller the local control interface allows the user to enter a local control command to request a change to the state ofthe networked device and the controller changes the state of the networked device in response to the local control com mand only if the color selected by the user is one of the one or more non locking colors In some embodiments the color selection mechanism may be a graphical user interface In some embodiments the color selection mechanism may have a rotary switch with a rotat able shaft and an output communicatively coupled to the controller and a color wheel having a center an edge and a colored area the center ofthe color wheel coupled to the shaft ofthe rotary switch and the colored area divided into sections each section imprinted with a sect
31. ral referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise Thus for example reference to an element described as an LED may refer to a single LED two LEDs or any other number of LEDs As used in this specification and the appended claims the term or is generally employed in its sense including and or unless the content clearly dictates otherwise As used herein the term coupled includes direct and indirect connections Moreover where first and second devices are coupled intervening devices including active devices may be located there between Any element in a claim that does not explicitly state means for performing a specified function or step for performing a specified function is not to be interpreted as a means or step clause as specified in 35 U S C 112 46 In particular the use of step of in the claims is not intended to invoke the provision of 35 U S C 112 4 6 The description of the various embodiments provided above is illustrative in nature and is not intended to limit the invention its application or uses Thus variations that do not depart from the gist of the invention are intended to be within the scope of the embodiments of the present invention Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the intended scope of the present invention What is claimed is 1 A networked device comprising means for controlling a state of the networked device
32. selection mechanism 600 may be designed to provide a detent at each section 610 619 of the colored area 603 to make it easy for the user to center the desired section in the opening 642 FIG 7 shows another alternative embodiment of a color selection mechanism 700 to allow a user to select a color Top view 720 shows the color wheel from the top and side view 730 shows the color wheel from the side with some associated structure that has been omitted from the top view 720 for clarity The color wheel mechanism 700 has a color wheel with an angled side 701 an edge 702 at the outermost part of the angled side 701 and a hub 704 The angle of the angled side 701 may range from 0 parallel with the axis to nearly 90 degrees nearly flat as shown in FIG 2 The edge 702 may be knurled or textured to give better grip as it is rotated by the user A plurality of colored sections 710 717 are included on the angled side 701 The colored sections 710 717 may be immediately adjacent to each other or may have some space with a neutral color between them as is shown in this embodi ment This embodiment has eight sections each section a different color as defined in FIG 1 In this embodiment section 710 is color 0 section 711 is color 1 section 712 is color 2 section 713 is color 3 section 714 is color 4 section 715 is color 5 section 716 is color 6 and section 717 is color 9 Inthis embodiment visible and tactilely recognizable sym bols are also
33. ser may push a button to cycle between the different colors or a capacitive sensing switch or other proximity or touch device could be used to select a color In other embodiment voice recognition might be used to detect the color being spoken or a video camera could be used and a color sample put into the view ofthe video camera Any method for the user to enter a color selection could be used in some embodiments FIG 9 shows a networked device 900 901 with a touch sensitive display 903 used for a graphic user interface GUT The networked device 900 on the left shows the look of the GUI at one point in time where it allows the user to turn the power on off if a first section 904 of the screen is touched If a second section 905 of the screen is touched the networked device 900 tries to connect to the network And if a third section 906 ofthe screen is touched a second level of menu is shown on the touch sensitive display 903 The view of the networked device 901 on the right shows the second level of menu that is used to select the color Nine different sections 910 918 of the touch sensitive display 903 are created each with a different color Some may have visible symbols as well If the user touches one of the sections 910 918 the color of that section is taken as the user selected color A controller can then convert the information about which section was touched to the appropriate color code Unless otherwise indicated all numbers
34. the color wheel imprinted with the 14 section color corresponding to the color selected by the user at the current rotational position 19 The networked device of claim 15 further comprising an outer housing with an aperture wherein 5 the color wheel is mounted in the networked device so that a portion of the edge of the color wheel protrudes from the outer housing of the networked device whereby the user is able to manipulate the edge to rotate the color wheel about its center a portion of the colored area is visible through the aper ture in the outer housing ofthe networked device and a majority of the portion of the colored area visible through the aperture in the outer housing of the net worked device is the section of the colored area imprinted with the section color corresponding to the color code selected by the user at the current rota tional position 20 The networked device of claim 15 in which at least one section of the colored area is also imprinted with a visible 20 symbol 21 The networked device of claim 15 in which at least one section of the colored area has a tactilely recognizable sym bol 10 15
35. to select a color The section 804 of the non moveable color wheel 802 with the color 5 is selected at the current position of the rotatable selector 803 Means to convert the angular position of the rotatable selector 803 to a color code would also be included FIG 8B shows a linear color selector Networked device 811 has a color label 812 affixed Sliding selector 813 can be moved back and forth by the user to select a color A linear slide switch moved by the sliding selector 813 can be used to generate a color code FIG 8C shows a networked device with a cylindrical ele ment 821 Rotating color sleeve 822 can be rotated about the cylindrical element 821 Selection indicator 823 points at the currently selected color on the rotating color sleeve 822 The currently selected color in FIG 8C is color 3 the color of section 824 FIG 8D also shows a networked device with a cylindrical element 831 Rotating selector sleeve 835 with a selector indicator 833 can be rotated about the cylindrical element 831 Fixed color ring 832 is affixed to the cylindrical element 831 adjacent to the rotating selector sleeve 835 Selection indicator 833 points at the currently selected color on the fixed color sleeve 832 In FIG 8D the currently selected color is color 1 the color of section 834 One embodiment may use multicolored LEDs a set or red green and blue LEDs or other colored lights to indicate the color chosen to the user The u
36. ttery powered The networked device 300 of this embodi ment has a front bezel 301 a rear case 302 a power switch 303 a sync button 309 a socket 304 and a plug 305 Circuitry is inside the networked device 300 including a controller a network adapter and a thyristor not shown that is able to control whether or not AC power from the plug 305 is allowed to pass to the socket 304 The color selection mechanism 220 is located at the bottom right ofthe networked device 300 and is shown in greater detail in the enhanced view 310 The edge 202 of the color wheel 221 protrudes beyond the outer rim 306 of the bezel 301 and case 302 of the networked device 300 This allows the user to apply a rotational force to the color wheel 221 As the color wheel 221 rotates different sections of the colored area 203 of the color wheel 221 are visible through an aperture 307 in the bezel 301 In FIG 3 the current position of the color wheel 221 is such that white locked section of the colored area 203 is visible The color selection mechanism 220 may be designed to provide a detent at each section of the colored area 203 to make it clear what color is currently selected FIG 4 shows a block diagram of the control electronics 400 used in the networked device 300 The plug 305 provides AC power to the power supply 401 which generates the necessary power for the rest of the electronics A wireless network adapter 403 receives radio frequency signals through ante
37. ure the device at the time of installation is required US Pat App No 2009 0237006 filed Mar 18 2008 by inventors Champion et al shows a method and apparatus for identifying a group of devices where a controller receives a color identifying value over a communication channel from a management network and then combines the light emitted by the at least two LEDs into an identifying color that identifies a group of devices In U S Pat No 4 918 690 issues on Apr 17 1990 the inventors Markkula et al describe a network for sensing communicating and controlling where each cell in the network is assigned a group identification number Inventor Dolin describes an apparatus and method for net work node identification and network configuration in U S Pat No 5 519 878 issued on May 21 1996 In Dolin s sys tem each device in the home automation network contains a unique ID that is obtained at the time of installation and then placed on a machine readable medium such as a bar code sticker The bar code stickers for each device are then placed on paper floor plan to show the physical location of that device The paper floor plan with the stickers is then read by an automatic configuration device to determine the physical location of each device for future use However neither Champion et al Markkula et al nor Dolin address the ability ofa user to set the network group or other parameters using a control mechanism on the device itself I
38. worked device of claim 4 in which the means for controlling the state of the networked device controls an On Off state of the networked device 6 A networked device comprising a controller anetwork adapter communicatively coupled to the control ler and a color selection mechanism communicatively coupled to the controller the color selection mechanism allowing a user to select a color from a plurality of colors the plurality of colors having at least one locking color and one or more non locking colors wherein the color selection mechanism communicates information corresponding to the color selected by the user to the controller the controller converts the information communicated by the color selection mechanism to a color code corre sponding to the color selected by the user the controller communicates the color code to the network adapter the network adapter sends the color code out over a net Work the network adapter receives a message from the network to change a state of the networked device and commu nicates it to the controller and the controller changes the state of the networked device in response to the message to change the state of the net worked device communicated by the network adapter only ifthe color selected by the user is one ofthe one or more non locking colors 7 The networked device of claim 6 in which the network utilizes communication over an AC power line 8 The networked device of cl
39. y 25 2010 W Diehl Networked Light Bulb with Color Wheel for Configura tion GWRPID 002B Unpublished U S Appl No 12 795 406 filed Jun 7 2010 K Jonsson Networked Device with Power Usage Estimation GWRPID 002C Unpublished U S Appl No 12 795 417 filed Jun 7 2010 K Jonsson Power Node for Energy Management GWRPID 006 Unpublished U S Appl No 12 777 229 filed May 10 2010 K Jonsson Automated Load Assessment Device and Method GWRPID 001 A Unpublished U S Appl No 12 795 629 filed Jun 7 2010 A Pudenzi A Neuron Nets Based Procedure for Identifying Domes tic Appliances Pattern of Use from Energy Recordings at Meter Panel IEEE 2002 Non Final Office Action for U S Appl No 12 795 629 USPTO Oct 24 2011 Notice of Allowance for U S Appl No 12 795 395 USPTO Jul 22 2011 Notice of Allowance for U S Appl No 12 777 229 USPTO Nov 26 2011 Notice of Allowance for U S Appl No 12 795 629 USPTO Mar 29 2012 Notice of Allowance for U S Appl No 12 795 629 USPTO Apr 18 2012 International Search Report and Written Opinion for PCT US2010 53641 European Patent Office Mar 4 2011 cited by examiner U S Patent Nov 6 2012 Sheet 1 of 9 US 8 306 639 B2 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 Color PrintGolors Colors uid Renn EHENEZEEIEZEIKIENENEN eee ele el ENEN ee ee e KNN ENEN leje eee ENEN pe ps po pep EE KN psp EN CN NN KANE ENEN EN NE AN E
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