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Contents
1. 340 540 2008 0111491 AI 5 2008 Spira 2008 0136663 Al 6 2008 Courtney et al 2008 0176608 Al 7 2008 Budampati et al 455 572 2008 0218099 AI 9 2008 Newman 2008 0303661 Al 12 2008 Chick 2009 0049466 Al 2 2009 Schoettle et al 2009 0101386 Al 4 2009 Schoettle 2009 0102679 Al 4 2009 Schoettle 340 815 4 2009 0135006 Al 5 2009 Schoettle 340 540 2009 0137163 Al 5 2009 Schoettle 439 894 2009 0195704 Al 8 2009 Bombara 2009 0219245 Al 9 2009 Frankel et al 2009 0278472 Al 11 2009 Mills et al 315 294 2010 0007801 Al 1 2010 Cooper et al 2010 0207759 Al 8 2010 Sloan etal 340 540 2010 0237711 Al 9 2010 Parsons 307 116 2010 0237781 Al 9 2010 Dupre et al 315 86 2010 0237783 Al 9 2010 Dupre et al 315 149 2010 0277306 Al 11 2010 Leinen etal 340 539 3 2010 0308664 Al 12 2010 Faceetal 307 104 2010 0315196 Al 12 2010 Schmidt et al 2011 0036699 Al 2 2011 Daffin III 2011 0074225 Al 3 2011 Delnoij etal 307 117 2011 0080529 AI 4 2011 Wong 2011 0090042 Al 4 2011 Leonard etal 340 5 1 2011 0210622 Al 9 2011 Han 307 116 2011 0282509 AI 11 2011 Yegin etal 700 295 FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS KR 610 2008 010549 12 2008 KR 10 2009 0130800 12 2009 OTHER PUBLICATIONS Energy Conservation Home and Office echoflex2. Marger Johnson amp McCollom PC U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 4305021 A 12 1981 Schreiden une sissoo OD ABSTRACT POR d b 5 Cun et d Fa A portable switching device may include a wireless receiver ameron et al 4 820938 A 4 1989 Mix et al 307 117 to receive a wireless signal from an occupancy sensor anda 4 890 093 A 12 1989 Allison etal acc 340 567 Power switch to control power to a load in response to the 5 157 273 A 101992 Medendorp et al wireless signal In some embodiments the wireless signal 5 374 854 A 12 1994 Chen wien 307 117 may include an occupancy signal that indicates the occupied 5 448 290 A 9 1995 VanZeeland state of a monitored space In other embodiments the wire en ee SUE less signal may include a detector signal that requires further 5 489 827 A 2 1996 Xia processing to determine the occupied state of the space 5 534 850 A 7 1996 Lee 340 565 5 538 181 A 7 1996 Simmons et al 19 Claims 7 Drawing Sheets OCCUPANCY SENSOR 56 Exam SIGNAL L PROCESSOR POWER SOURCE 6 I meo PORTABLE SWITCHING DEVICE me cR 70 WIRELESS r SONA RECEIVER PROCESSOR US 8 258 654 B2 Page2 U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 6 418 324 Bl 7 2002 Doviak et al 6 587 739 BL 7 2003 Abrams et al 700 83 6 703 786 B2 3 2004 Tannenbaum 6 720 874 B2 4 2004 Fufido et al 6 731 024 B1 5 2004 Molnar etal 307 147 6 756 998 Bl 6 2004 Bilger 6 888 3
3. etc FIG 2 illustrates another embodiment of a wireless occu pancy sensing system having a portable switching device according to some of the inventive principles of this patent disclosure In the system of FIG 2 the portable switching device 20 may be configured to control power to two separate loads 22 and 24 independently in response to the wireless signal from the occupancy sensor For example in some embodiments one of the loads may always be energized or may be controlled by a master switch while the other load US 8 258 654 B2 3 may be controlled by the wireless signal from the occupancy sensor In other embodiments both loads may be controlled by the wireless signal from the occupancy sensor but with different delay times different levels of sensitivity etc In yet other embodiments one ofthe loads may be controlled by the wireless signal from the occupancy sensor while the other load may be controlled by a combination of an ambient light detector as well as the wireless signal from the occupancy sensor FIG 3 illustrates an embodiment of a wireless occupancy sensing system having two or more portable switching devices according to some of the inventive principles of this patent disclosure In the system of FIG 3 two different por table switching devices 26 and 28 may be configured to control power to two separate loads 30 and 32 in response to the wireless signal from the occupancy sensor For example in some e
4. implemented as a high level occupancy signal a low level detector signal or some combination thereof The embodi ment of FIG 13 may include any suitable amount of signal processing functionality depending on the type of wireless signal transmitted by the occupancy sensor Although the embodiment of FIG 13 is illustrated as a wall outlet with a receptacle a local switching device may also be embodied in other forms such as a power pack a screw base lamp holder etc FIG 14 illustrates another embodiment of a local power switch for a wireless occupancy sensing system according to some ofthe inventive principles of this patent disclosure The embodiment of FIG 14 is configured as a power pack that may be mounted directly to a light fixture exhaust fan space heater or other electrical load The power pack includes an enclosure having two housing halves 168 and 170 A conduit connection 172 molded into the housing halves provides a mechanical connection to a load such as a light fixture The power pack may include one or more power switches to control the flow of power to one or more loads The switches may operate at relatively high voltages such as 120 240 or 277 VAC as is commonly used in building wiring systems although some embodiments may operate at other voltages such as 12 VDC e g for landscape wiring The power pack may also include a power supply to convert high voltage power to a low voltage source for operating the internal
5. the signal processor may be omitted In other embodiments if the wireless signal from the occupancy sensor is implemented as a detector signal the signal proces sor may be included to process the detector signal and deter mine whether the monitored space is occupied Switch control logic 74 controls a power switch 76 in response to an occupancy signal from the receiver and or the signal processor The switch control logic 74 may also control one or more additional power switches 78 A power switch may include any suitable form of isolated or non isolated power switch including an air gap relay solid state relay or other switch based on SCRs triacs transistors etc The switch may provide power switching in discrete steps such as on off switching with or without intermediate steps or con tinuous switching such as dimming control A user interface may be included to enable a user to con figure the system adjust parameters etc For example the user interface may enable a user to set an unoccupied delay time detector sensitivity learn mode etc As with the occu pancy sensor as described above a user interface on a por table switching device may be implemented with any level of sophistication from a simple push button switch to a keypad with full text display etc For example in some embodi ments a user interface may include a trimming potentiometer trim pot to set a delay time for unoccupied mode The power connections to t
6. EnOcean Alli ance Oct 20 2008 earliest suspected availability date extracted from digital document Squamish B C Canada 41 pages Bach DEMO of Self Powered PIR Radio Sensor Application Note ANO13 EnOcean Jan 2007 8 pp User Reference Guide 8 Outlet Power Strip with Personal Sensor IDP 3050 A version 2 Nov 2007 Isole WattStopper Santa Clara CA 4 pp Installation Instructions 8 Outlet Power Strip with Personal Sensor IDP 3050 A version 2 Jan 2008 ISOLe WattStopper Santa Clara CA 8 pp Bach Power Supply Layout Layout considerations for Line Power Supplies Application Note 101 EnOcean Jan 20 2009 4 pp Bach Motion Sensor Design Example for an Ambient Light Pow ered PIR Application Note 306 EnOcean Jan 21 2009 earliest suspected availability date extracted from digital document 7 pp Frequently Asked Questions Airwave Ledalite Mar 1 2009 6 pp Technical Guide Airwave Ledalite Mar 5 2009 14 pp Airwave Specification Overview Airwave Wireless by Ledalite Mar 4 2009 2 pp Isole Plug Load Controls WattStopper Santa Clara CA Jan 7 2009 8 pp Concept of a Occupancy Sensor Light Switch Application Note AN012 EnOcean Sep 2007 Germany 2 pp Bach Self Powered PIR Radio Sensor starting at 40 Ix Application Note AN013A EnOcean Aug 2007 Germany 4 pp Bach Ambient light powered occupancy sensor for Indoor Applica tion Note EnOcean Dec 2006 Germany 3 pp Hea
7. an electrical implementation a clock may be realized with digital and or analog hardware software firmware etc or any combination thereof The keypad 143 may include left right select buttons to scroll through and select parameters and up down increment decrement buttons to change a selected parameter Example parameters may include time of day or day of week settings start and end points for control time periods configuration of power switch response to control time periods enable or disable manual override etc Although illustrated in the context of an appliance the inventive principles relating to time clocks may also be applied to other portable switching devices such as power strips lamp holders etc as well as local switching devices as described below Some of the inventive principles of this patent disclosure relate to the use of a local switching device in a wireless occupancy sensing system A local switching device may have a structure similar to any ofthe embodiments of portable switching devices described above with respect to FIG 1 through FIG 6 Rather than being portable however it may 0 30 40 45 50 60 10 belocalinthe sense that it may be connected to a load without any additional building wiring between the local switching device and the load For example the local switching device may be implemented with a receptacle that is mounted in a wall outlet and configured to receive the wi
8. cir cuitry The power switch inside the housing controls the flow of power to the load in response to a wireless signal from an occupancy sensor received by a wireless receiver 174 A dial 176 may be included to enable the user to manually set a custom delay time The wireless signal from the occupancy sensor may be implemented as a high level occupancy signal a low level detector signal or some combination thereof The embodi ment of FIG 14 may include any suitable amount of signal US 8 258 654 B2 11 processing functionality depending on the type of wireless signal transmitted by the occupancy sensor The inventive principles ofthis patent disclosure have been described above with reference to some specific example embodiments but these embodiments can be modified in arrangement and detail without departing from the inventive concepts For example some of the embodiments have been described in the context of lighting loads but the inventive principles apply to other types of electrical loads as well Any of the circuitry and logic described herein may be imple mented in analog and or digital hardware software firm ware etc or any combination thereof As another example some ofthe embodiments have been described in the context of interior building spaces but the inventive principles apply to exterior or hybrid spaces as well Such changes and modi fications are considered to fall within the scope of the follow ing clai
9. signal com prises a detector signal 4 The method of claim 1 further comprising controlling power to the at least one receptacle in response to a clock 5 The method of claim 1 further comprising transmitting a message from the power or surge strip in response to the wireless signal from the occupancy sensor 6 The method of claim 5 where the message is transmitted in advance of controlling the power switch 7 The method of claim 1 where the user interface com prises a dial 8 The method of claim 1 where the user interface com prises a keypad and display 9 The method of claim 1 where the limited source of power comprises a battery 10 The method of claim 1 where the limited source of power comprises a solar cell 20 25 45 50 55 60 12 11 A system comprising an occupancy sensor to transmit a wireless signal in response to detecting occupancy within a space where the occupancy sensor includes only a limited source of power to transmit the wireless signal a wireless receiver for receiving the wireless signal from the occupancy sensor and a power switch to control power in response to the wireless signal where the wireless receiver and power switch are included in a power or surge strip having a power cord with an electrical plug with prongs to receive power from an electrical receptacle such that the power or surge strip can be removed from an interior or exterior building space without disconnecting any perm
10. such an embodiment the signal pro cessor may output a binary occupancy signal that is transmit ted as the wireless signal 66 and indicates whether the moni tored space is occupied or unoccupied The signal processor may include logic to implement additional features such as a delay time variable sensitivity etc The occupancy sensor may also include one or more addi tional detectors 62 In some embodiments the output of an additional detector may be coupled directly to the transmitter 58 while in other embodiments the output of an additional detector may be processed by the signal processor 60 Alter natively one or more additional transmitters may be included to transmit the output signal for one or more additional detec tors with or without subjecting the detector signal to signal processing The transmitter 58 may transmit the wireless signal 66 using any suitable wireless transmission technology Examples include infrared transmission using a standard US 8 258 654 B2 5 from the Infrared Data Association IrDA RF transmission using one of the many standards developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers IEEE or any other stan dardized and or proprietary wireless communication technol ogy A user interface 68 may be included to enable a user to configure the system adjust parameters etc For example the user interface may enable a user to set an unoccupied delay time detector sensitivity lear
11. that may be connected between a light bulb and a screw type light socket In some embodiments the wireless signal from the occu pancy sensor may be implemented as an occupancy signal that provides a relatively high level indication of whether the monitored space is occupied or not For example the wireless signal may be encoded as a binary signal where one state indicates the space is occupied and the other state indicates the space is not occupied A binary occupancy signal may have refinements such as a delay time integrated into the signal i e the signal does not switch from the occupied to the unoccupied state until the space has been unoccupied for the entire duration of the delay time In other embodiments the wireless signal from the occu pancy sensor may be implemented as a detector signal that provides a relatively low level indication of a physical stimu lus being sensed by a detector in the occupancy sensor For example in an occupancy sensor that uses passive infrared PIR sensing technology the wireless signal may be encoded to transmit primitive signals or raw data from the PIR detec tor Such signals or data may then be processed in the portable switching device to determine whether the monitored space is occupied In this and any other embodiments the wireless signal from the occupancy sensor may be transmitted in any suitable form for example radio frequency RF signals infrared IR signals ultrasonic signals
12. the PIR sensing operation such as range sensitivity field of interest learn mode etc In some embodiments the occupancy sensor may include one or more additional detectors 94 and 96 which may include for example ultrasonic transducers audio transduc ers etc or any combination thereof In this embodiment the occupancy sensor may communi cate with one or more portable switching devices through an RF transmitter which may be enclosed within the housing if it is fabricated from plastic or other material that does not block RF signals The RF transmitter may be configured to flood the entire monitored space with the RF signal to enable any portable switching devices in the space to respond to the occupancy sensor In some embodiments multiple wireless occupancy sensors may be configured to operate on different frequencies In other embodiments an occupancy sensor may be configured to send different wireless occupancy signals on different frequencies for example occupancy signals having different delay times may be transmitted by the same occu pancy sensor on different frequencies The type of wireless signal or signals transmitted by the occupancy sensor may depend on the type if any of signal processing functionality in the occupancy sensor As dis cussed above in some embodiments with little or no signal processing capacity the occupancy sensor may broadcast a primitive or only slightly processed detector signal In such embo
13. 23 Bl 5 2005 Null et al 6 909 921 Bl 6 2005 Bilger 6 940 230 B2 9 2005 Myron et al 6 956 493 Bl 10 2005 Youngblood 6 993 417 B2 1 2006 Osann Jr 700 291 7 027 416 Bl 4 2006 Kriz 7 071 672 B2 7 2006 Drusenthal 7 123 139 B2 10 2006 Sweeney 7 155 317 Bl 12 2006 Tran i een 700 259 7 230 532 B2 6 2007 Albsmeier et al 7 415 310 B2 8 2008 Bovee et al 7 511 613 B2 3 2009 Wang 7 522 036 B1 4 2009 Preuss etal 340 531 7 541 924 B2 6 2009 Elwell 7 544 941 B2 6 2009 Gorman et al 7 626 339 B2 12 2009 Paton 315 155 7 688 005 B2 3 2010 Reid 7 765 033 B2 7 2010 Perry 700 275 7 830 133 B2 11 2010 Williams et al 7 918 406 B2 4 2011 Rosen 7 940 167 B2 5 2011 Steiner et al 8 009 042 B2 8 2011 Steiner et al 8 018 166 B2 9 2011 Soccoli et al 2002 0023233 AI 2 2002 O Meany 2002 0135476 Al 9 2002 McKinney et al 2003 0073342 AI 4 2003 Geyer 2005 0030177 Al 2 2005 Albsmeier et al 2005 0132408 AI 6 2005 Dahley et al 2006 0125624 Al 6 2006 Ostrovsky et al 340 527 2007 0075852 Al 4 2007 Schmidt et al 2007 0132318 AI 6 2007 Schmidt et al 2007 0222584 Al 9 2007 Albsmeier et al 2007 0272293 Al 11 2007 Schmidt 2007 0276548 Al 11 2007 Uzunovic et al 2007 0290621 Al 12 2007 Clark etal 315 113 2008 0024007 Al 1 2008 Budampati et al 307 19 2008 0068204 AI 3 2008 Carmen et al 2008 0094210 Al 4 2008 Paradiso et al
14. 5 40 45 50 55 60 65 4 that provides a relatively low level indication of a physical stimulus being sensed by the detector 52 in the occupancy sensor For example in an occupancy sensor that uses PIR sensing technology the occupancy sensor may transmit the value ofthe voltage output from the PIR detector in analog or digital form on the wireless signal 54 The signal processor 44 in the portable switching device 48 may then perform the processing to determine whether a change in the amount of infrared energy received at the detector 52 is caused by the motion of an actual occupant The signal processor 44 may also include logic to implement features such as a delay time sensitivity adjustment etc The portable switching device 48 then uses the occupancy determination to control the flow of power to an electrical load 14 Insome embodiments the signal processing functions may be distributed between multiple components For exampled the occupancy sensor may include some rudimentary signal processing in which the detector signal is converted to a digital form with an analog to digital converter ADC In such an embodiment some amount of filtering may be included in the occupancy sensor as well The digitized detec tor signal may then be transmitted to the portable switching device where additional signal processing circuitry may com plete the processing to make the occupancy determination In other embodiments signal pr
15. D display 141 and keypad 143 enable a user to configure the clock and appliance so that the appliance operates differently during different time periods For example the clock may be programmed with a normal schedule such as 8 00 am to 5 00 pm on weekdays The appliance may be configured so that it only responds to the wireless signal from an occupancy sensor during normal work hours but disregards the wireless signal i e stays off at other times A manual override switch 145 may be included to enable a user to manually toggle the on off state of the appliance during normal works hours outside of normal work hours or at any time The time clock may be implemented with any suitable mechanical and or electrical platforms In the embodiment of FIG 12 the interface to the clock is shown as a display and keypad that enable configuration of the clock which may be implemented with a dedicated microcontroller or with a microcontroller that implements some or all of the other functions of the appliance such as wireless reception time delay power switch control manual override etc In other embodiments the time clock may be implemented with a rotating mechanical timer with a dial face having trippers arranged around the face to trigger on off events by closing and opening mechanical contacts as the dial face turns In some embodiments the clock may include an astronomical adjustment to adjust time settings based on seasons or time of year In
16. US008258654B2 az United States Patent 10 Patent No US 8 258 654 B2 Parsons 45 Date of Patent Sep 4 2012 54 WIRELESS OCCUPANCY SENSING WITH 5 586 048 A 12 1996 Coveley nenne 702 189 PORTABLE POWER SWITCHING 5 598 042 A 1 1997 Mix et al D381 632 S 7 1997 Overthun B j 5 650 771 A 7 1997 Lee 340 656 75 Inventor Kevin Parsons Wilsonville OR US 5 670 940 A 9 1997 Holcomb et al 5 673 022 A 9 1997 Patel 73 Assignee Leviton Manufacturing Co Inc 5 748 466 A 5 1998 McGivern et al Melville NY US 5 764 146 A 6 1998 Baldwin etal 340 567 5 898 407 A 4 1999 Paulus et al x ara 5 905 442 A 5 1999 Mosebrook et al Notice Subject to any AE the a 5 982 103 A 11 1999 Mosebrook et al patent is extended or adjusted under 6 078 253 A 6 2000 Fowler anne 340 501 U S C 154 b by 172 days 6 380 852 B1 4 2002 Hartman et al 21 Appl No 12 503 381 Continued 22 Filed Jul 15 2009 FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS KR 20 1998 0041190 9 1998 65 Prior Publication Data Continued US 2011 0012433 Al Jan 20 2011 OTHER PUBLICATIONS 51 Int CI U S Appl No 12 434 543 filed May 1 2009 not yet published 23 H01H 35 00 2006 01 Babes BD DC rear 307 116 58 Field of Classification Search 307 117 Continued 307 116 Pri Exami Jared F See application file for complete search history sn ee auam Assistant Examiner Adi Amrany 56 References Cited 74 Attorney Agent or Firm
17. anent building wiring where the power or surge strip includes multiple recep tacles and a master switch to control the flow of power from the electrical plug to the multiple receptacles where the power or surge strip includes processing logic to implement an unoccupied time delay and a user inter face to adjust the unoccupied time delay where the power switch controls the flow of power from the master switch to at least one ofthe multiple receptacles and where the power switch turns off the flow of power from the master switch to at least one of the multiple receptacles after delaying for an unoccupied time delay after no longer receiving a subsequent wireless signal from the occupancy sensor 12 The system of claim 11 where the power or surge strip comprises a ground fault circuit interrupter 13 The method of claim 11 where the user interface com prises a dial 14 The method of claim 11 where the user interface com prises a keypad and display 15 The method of claim 11 where the limited source of power comprises a battery 16 The method of claim 11 where the limited source of power comprises a solar cell 17 A system comprising an occupancy sensor including a detector for sensing an occupant s presence within a space and a transmitter for transmitting a wireless signal in response to detecting the presence of an occupant within the space and a power or surge strip having a power cord with an electri cal plug with prongs to re
18. atent disclosure In the embodiment of FIG 12 a portable power switching device 140 is integrated directly into the appliance 138 which in this example is a task light but could be any other suitable electrical appliance The portable power US 8 258 654 B2 9 switching device 140 is mounted in a base 146 ofthe task light which may be plugged in to a wall receptacle through a power cord 150 A power switch inside the portable power switching device controls the flow of power from the cord 150 to a lamp 152inresponse to a wireless signal from an occupancy sensor received by a wireless receiver 142 A dial 144 enables the userto manually set a custom delay time A master switch 148 may completely de energize the entire appliance As with the embodiments of FIG 9 through FIG 11 the wireless signal from the occupancy sensor may be imple mented as a high level occupancy signal a low level detector signal or some combination thereof The embodiment of FIG 12 may also include any suitable amount of signal pro cessing functionality depending on the type of wireless signal transmitted by the occupancy sensor Some additional inventive principles of this patent disclo sure relate to the use of a time clock in a wireless occupancy sensing system n example is illustrated in the embodiment of FIG 12 where the appliance includes a time clock to enable various clock based control techniques to be combined with other inventive features An LC
19. ates an example technique for processing a signal from a detector according to some of the inventive principles of this patent disclosure FIG 5 illustrates another example technique for processing a signal from a detector according to some of the inventive principles of this patent disclosure FIG 6 illustrates an embodiment of a wireless occupancy sensor according to some of the inventive principles of this patent disclosure FIG 7 illustrates an embodiment of a portable switching device foruse in a wireless occupancy sensing system accord ing to some of the inventive principles of this patent disclo sure FIG 8 illustrates an embodiment of a wireless occupancy sensor according to some of the inventive principles of this patent disclosure FIG 9 illustrates an embodiment of a power strip having portable power switching for an occupancy sensing system according to some of the inventive principles of this patent disclosure FIG 10 illustrates an embodiment of a portable power switching device for an occupancy sensing system according to some of the inventive principles of this patent disclosure FIG 11 illustrates an embodiment of a portable power switching device for an occupancy sensing system according to some of the inventive principles of this patent disclosure 20 30 40 45 50 55 60 2 FIG 12 illustrates an embodiment of an appliance having portable power switching for an occupancy sensing system accor
20. ceive power from an electrical receptacle the power or surge strip further including a plurality of receptacles a wireless receiver for receiving the wireless signal from the occupancy sensor a power switch a master switch for controlling the flow of power from the electrical plug to at least one of the plurality of receptacles processing logic for implementing an unoc cupied time delay and a user interface to adjust the unoccupied time delay wherein the power switch turns off the flow of power from the master switch to at least one of the plurality of receptacles after delaying for the unoccupied time delay after no longer receiving a subsequent wireless signal from the occupancy sensor 18 The system of claim 17 where the user interface com prises a dial 19 The system of claim 17 where the user interface com prises a keypad and display
21. diments the elimination or reduction of signal process ing at the occupancy sensor may reduce the power consumed and therefore extend the battery life reduce the size of the PV cell etc In other embodiments with more signal processing capacity the occupancy sensor may broadcast a high level binary occupancy signal Although the embodiment of FIG 8 is shown in the context of an RF transmitter and PIR or U S or audio detectors the inventive principles may also be applied to embodiments that use other wireless communication technologies such as infra red and other occupancy sensing technologies FIG 9 illustrates an embodiment of a power strip having portable power switching for an occupancy sensing system according to some of the inventive principles of this patent disclosure The embodiment of FIG 9 includes a housing 102 having a power cord 104 that can be plugged into a standard power receptacle A first group of receptacles 108 is con trolled only by a master switch 106 A second group of recep tacles 110 is also controlled by the master switch but may also be controlled by a portable switching device 112 in response to a wireless signal from an occupancy sensor A wireless receiver 114 receives the wireless signal from the occupancy sensor and controls the second group of recep tacles 110 accordingly In this embodiment a user interface includes a trim pot 116 but other embodiments may include a potentiometer with a knob an opt
22. ding to some of the inventive principles of this patent disclosure FIG 13 illustrates an embodiment of a local power switch fora wireless occupancy sensing system according to some of the inventive principles of this patent disclosure FIG 14 illustrates another embodiment of a local power switch for a wireless occupancy sensing system according to some of the inventive principles of this patent disclosure DETAILED DESCRIPTION Some of the inventive principles of this patent disclosure relate to the use of a portable switching device in a wireless occupancy sensing system FIG 1 illustrates an embodiment of a wireless occupancy sensing system having a portable switching device according to some of the inventive principles of this patent disclosure The system of FIG 1 includes a portable switching device 10 to control the flow of power from a building wiring system 12 to an electrical load 14 in response to a wireless signal 16 received from an occupancy sensor 18 The portable switching device 10 may be portable in the sense that it may be removed from an interior or exterior building space without disconnecting any permanent build ing wiring For example the portable switching device may be implemented with a cord connected power strip that may be removed from a first office by unplugging it from a recep tacle and moved to second office As another example the portable switching device may be implemented with a screw base adapter
23. em Protection Dec 15 2009 5 pp Cornfield Electronics Inc How Does TV B Gone Work 2009 1 page Leviton Infrared Repeater system Component Specifications Part Nos 47621 MIE 47621 CMS 47603 110 2001 2 pp U S Appl No 12 778 014 filed May 11 2010 not yet published 30 pages U S Appl No 12 649 697 filed Dec 30 2009 not yet published 18 pages OPUS FUNK plus Jager Direkt GmbH amp Co Jul 2 2006 Ger many 2 pp Wireless Ceiling Multi Sensor 360 SR MDS Sensortechnik GmbH Dec 2007 Germany 7 pp BlueGuard Bluetooth Enabled Stand Alone Access Control EMX Industries Inc Cleveland OH May 6 2009 2pp thermokon US 8 258 654 B2 Page3 Enocean Perpetuum Maintenance Free Wireless Switches amp Sensors vol 4 Issue 05 International Edition Apr 2007 56 pages Enocean Concept of a Occupancy Sensor Light Switch RF Tech nology Without Batteries Bach Aug 2006 2 pages Enocean DEMO of Self Powered PIR Radio Sensor RF Technol ogy Without Batteries Bach Jan 2007 8 pages Enocean Indoor Mounting of Solar Powered Sensors RF Tech nology Without Batteries Bach Sep 2006 3 pages International Search Report and Written Opinion for PCT US2011 024421 dated Oct 14 2011 9 pages Vishay Semiconductors Data Formats for IR Remote Control Document No 80071 Rev 1 8 Jul 28 2010 pp 11 14 Leviton Manufacturing Co Inc Infrared Ce
24. ensing system generally includes at least two major components an occupancy sensor and a switching device The sensor generally needs to be positioned in a location that is selected to have a clear view ofthe entire space that is to be monitored for occupants This type of location however is typically not convenient for the switching device Therefore occupancy sensor systems generally include con trol wiring that runs between the occupancy sensor and the switching devices This additional wiring tends to be expen sive and time consuming to install It may also be a source of system failures that are difficult to diagnose if the wiring is concealed in walls Moreover once the wiring is installed it is difficult to reconfigure the system if there is a change in the type or location of loads that are to be controlled by the occupancy sensor BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG 1 illustrates an embodiment of a wireless occupancy sensing system having a portable switching device according to some ofthe inventive principles of this patent disclosure FIG 2 illustrates another embodiment of a wireless occu pancy sensing system having a portable switching device according to some of the inventive principles of this patent disclosure FIG 3 illustrates an embodiment of a wireless occupancy sensing system having two or more portable switching devices according to some of the inventive principles of this patent disclosure FIG 4 illustr
25. es in response to the wireless signal from an occu pancy sensor under control of the switch control logic while the other switch may be configured to switch a separate group of receptacles on at all times or only turn off in response to a master on off switch on the power strip In another embodiment having two power switches in a power strip the two switches may both be configured to be controlled by the wireless signal from an occupancy sensor but the switch control logic may cause the two switches to control separate groups of receptacles on the power strip with different delay times In some other embodiments the switch control logic may also be configured to provide various types of overrides such as manual or timer overrides of the occupancy sensor for certain loads For example on a power strip a specific recep tacle for a coffee maker may be configured to remain ener gized for a fixed length of time regardless of occupancy to assure a completely brewed pot of coffee The user interface may be configured to enable a user to select a specific recep tacle and designate the override time and other parameters As another example with a power strip a receptacle for a networked printer that is normally controlled by the occu pancy sensor may be manually and temporarily overridden to remain on for example if the occupant knows that others will be sending network print jobs to the printer while the occu pant is away from the monito
26. he power switches may be implemented in any suitable form For example in some embodiments the input power connection 82 may include a standard grounded or ungrounded power cord with a plug for connection to a wall receptacle In other embodiments the input power connection may include a screw base to connect the switching device to a standard screw type light socket In embodiments that include more than one power switch addi jak 5 20 25 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 6 tional power inputs 84 may be connected to the same or separate input power connections Since the portable switching device of FIG 7 includes at least one power connection 82 or 84 one of these connections may be utilized as a source of power to operate the wireless receiver signal processor user interface logic etc Alterna tively a separate power source such as one ore more batteries PV cells etc may be used as a primary or back up source of power to operate this circuitry The connection from a power switch to a load may also be implemented in any suitable form For example in some embodiments the connection 86 from the switch 76 may include a receptacle for a standard power plug a ground fault circuit interupter GFCI a screw socket for a standard light bulb or other type of lamp holder etc In an embodiment having two power switches in a power strip one of the switches may be configured to switch power to one or more receptacl
27. hutdown sequence As discussed above the wireless signal from the occu pancy sensor may be implemented as a high level occupancy signal a low level detector signal or some combination thereof The portable switching device 112 may have any suitable amount of signal processing functionality depending on the type of wireless signal transmitted by the occupancy sensor The portable switching device 112 may include switch control logic to implement any of the control tech niques discussed above including those described with respect to FIG 7 or any other control technique that takes advantage of a wireless signal from an occupancy sensor FIG 10 illustrates an embodiment of a portable power switching device for an occupancy sensing system according to some of the inventive principles of this patent disclosure The embodiment of FIG 10 is configured as a light bulb adapter and includes a body 120 having a screw base 118 that can be mounted in a screw type lamp socket A screw in socket 122 enables an incandescent lamp compact fluores cent lamp CFL or other load to be connected to the adapter A switch in the body operates in response to a wireless signal from an occupancy sensor received by a wireless receiver 124 A dial 126 enables the user to manually set a custom delay time As with the embodiment of FIG 9 the wireless signal from the occupancy sensor may be implemented as a high level occupancy signal a low level detector signal
28. ical encoder a keypad and display or any other type of user interface or no user inter face The trim pot 116 in this embodiment enables a user to set a custom time delay for the switches receptacles 110 In other embodiments two or more groups of receptacles may be arranged to turn off with different time delays in response to a wireless signal from an occupancy sensor For example one group of receptacles may be configured to turn off with a short time delay after the monitored space becomes unoccupied while another group of receptacles may be con figured to turn off with a longer time delay Such an embodi ment may include a user interface with two separately oper able user inputs for setting the time delay Alternatively one time delay may be pre programmed or hard wired into the 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 8 power strip while a use is able to adjust the other time delay In one example of an end user configuration a power strip with multiple groups of receptacles may be set up with a task light printer and computer monitor plugged into the group that turns off quickly whereas a computer CPU and coffee mug warmer may be plugged into the group having a longer delay time To facilitate an orderly shutdown of the CPU the power strip or other portable switching device may include a communication interface to transmit a message to the CPU in advance of powering down to enable the CPU to initiate a s
29. iling Mounted Occupany Sensors Installation Instructions 2005 2 pages cited by examiner U S Patent Sep 4 2012 Sheet 1 of 7 US 8 258 654 B2 OCCUPANCY SENSOR 18 PORTABLE SWITCHING DEVICE FIG 1 20 gt Tm PORTABLE SWITCHING DEVICE FIG 2 PORTABLE SWITCHING DEVICE PORTABLE SWITCHING DEVICE FIG 3 U S Patent Sep 4 2012 Sheet 2 of 7 US 8 258 654 B2 PORTABLE SWITCHING DEVICE FIG 4 PORTABLE BUILDINC WIRING SWITCHING DEVICE SIGNAL PROCESSOR FIG 5 U S Patent Sep 4 2012 Sheet 3 of 7 US 8 258 654 B2 OCCUPANCY SENSOR ss LPowersource es 66 D SIGNAL PROCESSOR gt SIGNAL PROCESSOR J U S Patent Sep 4 2012 Sheet 4 of 7 US 8 258 654 B2 US 8 258 654 B2 Sheet 5 of 7 Sep 4 2012 U S Patent FIG 11 U S Patent Sep 4 2012 Sheet 6 of 7 US 8 258 654 B2 U S Patent Sep 4 2012 Sheet 7 of 7 US 8 258 654 B2 US 8 258 654 B2 1 WIRELESS OCCUPANCY SENSING WITH PORTABLE POWER SWITCHING BACKGROUND Occupancy sensing technologies are used to monitor the presence of human occupants in indoor and outdoor spaces Occupancy sensing systems conserve energy by automati cally turning off lighting and other electrical loads when the space is unoccupied They may also perform a convenience function by automatically turning on lighting and other loads when an occupant enters a space An occupancy s
30. mbodiments the first portable switching device 26 may be implemented with a screw base adapter to turn off a task light as soon as an occupant has left a cubical that is monitored by the occupancy sensor but the second portable switching device 28 may be implemented with a power strip configured to turn off a computer monitor and printer 30 min utes after the occupant has left the cubical FIG 4 illustrates an example technique for processing a signal from a detector according to some of the inventive principles of this patent disclosure In the embodiment of FIG 4 a signal processor 34 is included in an occupancy sensor 36 to process signals from a detector 38 The signal processor may include all ofthe functionality to process a raw signal from the detector as well as logic to make the final determination of whether the monitored space should be con sidered occupied For example with an occupancy sensor based on PIR sens ing technology the detector 38 may include a semiconductor chip with one or more pyroelectric detectors that generate a voltage that changes in response to changes in the amount of infrared energy in the field of view In this example the signal processor 34 may include amplifiers comparators logic etc to determine whether a change in the amount of infrared energy is caused by the motion of an actual occupant or by some other source of infrared energy such as background energy from ambient light The signal process
31. ms The invention claimed is 1 A method comprising receiving a wireless signal from an occupancy sensor and controlling power in response to the wireless signal where the occupancy sensor includes only a limited source of power to transmit the wireless signal where the wireless signal is received at a power or surge strip having a power cord with an electrical plug with prongs to receive power from an electrical receptacle such that the power or surge strip can be removed from an interior or exterior building space without discon necting any permanent building wiring where the power or surge strip includes multiple recep tacles and a master switch to control the flow of power fromthe electrical plug to oneor more ofthe receptacles where the power or surge strip includes processing logic to implement an unoccupied time delay and a user inter face to adjust the unoccupied time delay where the flow of power from the master switch to at least one of the multiple receptacles is controlled by a power switch at the power or surge strip in response to the wireless signal and where the power switch turns off the flow of power from the master switch to at least one of the multiple receptacles after delaying for an unoccupied time delay after no longer receiving a subsequent wireless signal from the occupancy sensor 2 The method of claim 1 where the wireless signal com prises an occupancy signal 3 The method of claim 1 where the wireless
32. n mode etc A user interface may be implemented with any level of sophistication from a simple push button switch with no user feedback to a keypad with full text display etc A power source 64 provides power to operate some or all of the various components of the occupancy sensor In some embodiments the power source may be provided from an external source for example by a hardwired connection to a 24 VDC power supply a 120 VAC branch circuit etc In other embodiments the power source may be internal for example one or more batteries fuel cells photovoltaic cells etc Other embodiments may include combinations of these various types of power sources For example primary power may be provided by a 120 VAC circuit which maintains a backup battery in a charged state to provide power in the event of a loss of the 120 VAC circuit FIG 7 illustrates an embodiment of a portable switching device foruse ina wireless occupancy sensing system accord ing to some of the inventive principles of this patent disclo sure The system of FIG 7 includes a wireless receiver 70 to receive a wireless signal from an occupancy sensor using any suitable wireless transmission technologies including those discussed above A signal processor 72 may be included depending on the nature ofthe wireless signal If the wireless signal is implemented as an occupancy signal that provides a relatively high level indication of whether the monitored space is occupied
33. ocessing for multiple detectors may be distributed between multiple components For example with an occupancy sensor that uses a combina tion of PIR and video sensing the signal processing for the PIR detector which may require relatively little processing power may be performed at the occupancy sensor while processing for the video detector which may require more processing power may be performed at the portable switch ing device In this example the wireless signal may include a binary occupancy signal relating to the PIR portion and a more complex detector signal relating to the video portion Logic at the portable switching device may combine the binary PIR occupancy signal with the output from the video processing to make a final occupancy determination FIG 6 illustrates an embodiment of a wireless occupancy sensor according to some of the inventive principles of this patent disclosure The system of FIG 6 includes a detector 56 and a wireless transmitter 58 In some embodiments the detector may be coupled directly to the transmitter to transmit the detector signal as a relatively low level indication of a physical stimulus sensed by a detector for example by trans mitting a primitive signal or raw data from the detector on the wireless signal 66 In other embodiments the occupancy sensor may include a signal processor 60 to process the detec tor signal and determine whether the space monitored by the detector is occupied In
34. or may also include logic to implement features such as a delay time to prevent false unoccupied readings The final output from the signal processor is a binary occupancy signal that indicates whether the monitored space is occupied or unoccupied The occupancy signal is transmitted as the wireless signal 40 to a portable switching device 42 Although the example of FIG 4 is shown with only one detector multiple detectors may be used For example some embodiments may include both PIR and ultrasound detectors in which case the signal processor may include circuitry to process changes in the output of the PIR detector as well as detecting Doppler shift in the output from an ultrasound transducer The signal processor may also include logic to make the final occupancy determination by combining the information from the PIR and ultrasound detectors In the embodiment of FIG 4 and in any other embodi ments the signal processor 34 and any other circuitry and or logic may be implemented in analog and or digital hardware software firmware etc or any combination thereof FIG 5 illustrates another example technique for processing a signal from a detector according to some of the inventive principles of this patent disclosure In the embodiment of FIG 5 the signal processor 44 is moved to the portable switching device 48 Rather than transmitting an occupancy signal the occupancy sensor 50 transmits a detector signal 20 25 30 3
35. or some com bination thereof The embodiment of FIG 10 may include any suitable amount of signal processing functionality depending on the type of wireless signal transmitted by the occupancy sensor FIG 11 illustrates an embodiment of a portable power switching device for an occupancy sensing system according to some of the inventive principles of this patent disclosure The embodiment of FIG 11 is configured as a portable in line power switch and includes a body 128 having blades to form a power plug 130 extending from the back of the body to connect the device to a standard wall receptacle A receptacle 132 is formed in the front of the body A power switch inside the body controls the flow of power from the plug 130 to the receptacle 132 in response to a wireless signal from an occu pancy sensor received by a wireless receiver 134 A dial 136 enables the user to manually set a custom delay time As with the embodiments of FIG 9 and FIG 10 the wire less signal from the occupancy sensor may be implemented as a high level occupancy signal a low level detector signal or some combination thereof The embodiment of FIG 11 may also include any suitable amount of signal processing func tionality depending on the type of wireless signal transmitted by the occupancy sensor FIG 12 illustrates an embodiment of an appliance having portable power switching for an occupancy sensing system according to some of the inventive principles of this p
36. red space As yet another example with a power strip one group of receptacles for devices such as a monitor printer background music etc may be configured to turn off after the monitored space is unoccupied for 10 minutes while a second group of receptacles for devices such as a computer CPU may be configured to turn off after the monitored space is unoccupied for one hour As with other embodiments the logic and circuitry in the embodiment of FIG 7 may be implemented with analog and or digital hardware software firmware etc or any com bination thereof FIG 8 illustrates an embodiment of a wireless occupancy sensor according to some of the inventive principles of this patent disclosure The embodiment of FIG 8 includes a PIR detector 92 in a housing 90 that may be mounted permanently to a building with screws clips glue etc mounted tempo rarily to a building for example with removable or reposi tionable two sided tape hook and loop fasteners etc or left unattached on a shelf desk cabinet etc in a location that provides the PIR sensor with an adequate field of view ofthe monitored space In this example the occupancy sensor also includes a pho tovoltaic PV cell 100 to provide the primary source of power for the sensor and recharge one or more batteries on which the US 8 258 654 B2 7 occupancy sensor runs when inadequate ambient light is available An access cover 98 may provide access to controls for
37. reless signal from the occupancy sensor The switching device controls the flow of power to a load that is plugged in to the receptacle in response to the wireless signal FIG 13 illustrates an embodiment of a local power switch fora wireless occupancy sensing system according to some of the inventive principles of this patent disclosure The embodi ment of FIG 13 is configured as a wall outlet having a duplex receptacle 160 A mounting plate 158 enables the entire assembly to be mounted in a standard electrical wall box The power switch switch control logic signal processing cir cuitry if any etc may be enclosed in a housing 156 Power connections to the switch may be through pigtail wire leads 164 which may include hot neutral and ground connections for e g a 120 VAC branch circuit The power switch inside the housing controls the flow of power from the wire leads to the duplex receptacle 160 in response to a wireless signal from an occupancy sensor received by a wireless receiver 162 A dial 166 may be included to enable the user to manually set a custom delay time In this embodiment the dial is located on the face mounting plate 158 so that it can be adjusted by removing the wall plate but without having to remove the assembly from the wall box In other embodiments the dial or other user interface may be located directly on the receptacle on or inside the housing etc The wireless signal from the occupancy sensor may be
38. th Zenith Wireless Outdoor Power Control Model 6022 HeathCo LLC Bowling Green KY 2007 20pp New Occupancy Vacancy Sensor Sets a Higher Performance Stan dard Lutron Electronics Co Inc Coopersburg PA Jun 9 2009 1 page Black Rich Lutron RF Technology Reliable First Forward Thinking Lutron Electronics Co Inc Coopersburg PA Aug 2006 15 pp Kropelin et al APC UPS Daemon APCUPSDE User Manual Jul 31 2009 111 pp Bulogics Home Automation Light Your Way Product Over view 2008 11 pp Bulogics Our Gadgets USB Shutdown Stick Mar 31 2010 1 page Bulogics Our Gadgets USB Shutdown Stick Mar 31 2010 1 page EMX Industries BlueGuard Bluetooth Enabled Stand Alone Access Control Cleveland OH May 6 2009 2pp Leviton 1000 S2000 Series Leviton Surge Strips Quality Protec tion Everyday Application Product Info Sheet May 10 2010 2 pp Leviton TVSS Master Specs Section 16478 Transient Voltage Surge Suppression Surge Protective Devices May 10 2010 6 pp National Electrical Manufacturers Association NEMA Guide Pub lication WD Jul 2000 Occupancy Motion Sensors 2000 16 pp Northern Softworks Welcome to Northern Softworks Lights Out Dec 15 2009 1 page SmartHomeUSA Smart Strip Power Strip User s Guide for Models LCG1 LCG2 LCG3 LCG4 LCGS Dec 15 2009 4 pp SmartHomeUSA Smart Strip Power Strip with Coax Fax amp Mod
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