Abstract:
A smart socket remotely controllable as to power outputs includes a switch control circuit, a wireless transmission module, and a power module. The switch control circuit is electrically connected to the live line input port and the live line output port, configured to control the connection of the live line. The wireless transmission module is electrically connected to the switch control circuit, to control the switch control circuit in accordance with the receiving wireless signals. The power module can transform AC power to DC power and supply power. A control system is also provided. The smart socket and smart socket control system can provide statistics and analysis of home appliances and respective power consumptions, and also can timely secure and protect electrical appliances, and eliminate fire risks.

Description:
FIELD 
       [0001]    The subject matter herein generally belongs to electronic controls, especially relates to smart sockets and control systems. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Various electrical appliances obtain the electrical power for working by means of connecting the plugs to a socket. However, most of the sockets only provide one type of plug, which results in single function and unsophisticated management of electrical appliances. For example, the users forget to switch off some electrical appliance when they are not at home, and the user is not able to use remote controls. The electrical appliances work whether attended or unattended, causing a waste of resources, and fire risk. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0003]    The present disclosure provides a smart socket, and comprises a switch control circuit, a wireless transmission module, and a power module. The switch control circuit is electrically connected to the live line input port and the live line output port, to control the electrical connection. The wireless transmission module is electrically connected to the switch control circuit, to control the working of the switch control circuit in accordance with signals. The power module is configured to transform alternating current power to direct current power and supply power to aforesaid modules. 
         [0004]    The present disclosure also provides a control system, and comprises the aforesaid smart socket, a cloud server, and a wireless terminal. The cloud server wirelessly transmits the smart socket data, and can gather statistics and perform analysis for the data transmitted from the smart socket. The wireless terminal transmits and receives data with the cloud server through the aforesaid wireless connection to obtain the statistical and analyzed data. The wireless terminal also sends wireless signal to the wireless transmission module of the smart socket though the cloud server, to control the switch control circuit. 
         [0005]    The smart socket and control system provided by the present disclosure provides convenience, security, and greater levels of control. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]    Implementations of the present technology will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the attached figures, wherein: 
           [0007]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of a control system in a user environment according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of a smart socket in an embodiment of the disclosure. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0009]    It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, where appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among the different figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. In addition, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments described herein. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments described herein can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, methods, procedures, and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the related relevant feature being described. Also, the description is not to be considered as limiting the scope of the embodiments described herein. The drawings are not necessarily to scale and the proportions of certain parts may be exaggerated to better illustrate details and features of the present disclosure. 
         [0010]    Several definitions that apply throughout this disclosure will now be presented. 
         [0011]    The term “coupled” is defined as connected, whether directly or indirectly through intervening components, and is not necessarily limited to physical connections. The connection can be such that the objects are permanently connected or releasably connected. The term “comprising,” when utilized, means “including, but not necessarily limited to”; it specifically indicates open-ended inclusion or membership in the so-described combination, group, series and the like. 
         [0012]      FIG. 1  shows a control system according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         [0013]    In the present implementation, the control system comprises a smart socket  10 , a cloud server  20 , and a wireless terminal  30 . 
         [0014]    The smart socket  10  is electrically connected to an alternating current (AC) power supply and to electrical appliances, to control the electricity which is fed to the electrical appliances. When the electrical appliances obtain electrical power, the smart socket  10  can monitor the power consumption of the electrical appliances, then the smart socket  10  sends data as to the power consumption to the cloud server  20  through the wireless connection. 
         [0015]    In the present implementation, the smart socket  10  comprises an live line output port and an ground line output port, the live line is the first line and the ground line is the second line. The live line and ground line are electrically connected to the live line input port and the ground line input port of the smart socket  10 . The smart socket  10  outputs AC power to a load  40  through the live line output port and the ground line output port, and the load  40  is each of the electrical appliances plugged into the smart socket  10 . 
         [0016]    The wireless connection is a home gateway device, such as a router or relay terminal communicating with the internet. In other implementations, the wireless connection can also be realized by other wireless connections, for example, GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), BLUETOOTH, ZIGBEE, and others. 
         [0017]    When the cloud server  20  receives the data of the power consumption, the cloud server  20  can calculate statistics and analyze the data. For example, the cloud server  20  will makes statistics for the currents and voltages of normal working conditions, to recognize periods within the day or other interval of greater power consumption, and which periods of time consume less power, then sends a wireless signal to stop the smart socket  10  when the electrical appliances act abnormally, and sound or issue an alarm. 
         [0018]    The wireless terminal  30  can be directly connected to the smart socket  10  through the wireless connection. When the wireless terminal  30  is directly connected to the smart socket  10 , the wireless terminal  30  communicates wirelessly with the smart socket  10  through the wireless terminal  30 , and the wireless terminal  30  controls the switch control circuit  103  inside the smart socket  10  is thus controlled by the wireless connection. 
         [0019]    In the present implementation, the wireless terminal  30  can communicate with the smart socket  10  through the cloud server  20  by the wireless connection. When the wireless terminal  30  is connected to the cloud server  20  to transmit data, the wireless terminal  30  can obtain statistical data and data for analysis from the cloud server  20 . In addition, the wireless terminal  30  also sends the wireless signal to the wireless transmission module  102  of the smart socket  10  through the cloud server  20 , to control the working of the switch control circuit  103 . 
         [0020]      FIG. 2  shows a diagram of a smart socket according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         [0021]    In the present implementation, the smart socket  10  comprises a switch control circuit  103 , a wireless transmission module  102 , and a power module  101 . 
         [0022]    The switch control circuit  103  is electrically connected to the live line input port and the live line output port of the smart socket  10 , the switch control circuit  103  is configured to control the switching of the live line. The switching by the switch control circuit  103  can be realized by a relay. The weak current control end of the relay is electrically connected to the wireless transmission module  102 , the strong current end of the relay is electrically connected to the live line, the relay can control the connection of the live line after receiving the control signal. In the present implementation, the control signal is the part of the wireless signal sent by the cloud server  20  or the wireless terminal  30  (such as an encoded and modulated wireless control instruction signal). 
         [0023]    The wireless transmission module  102  is electrically connected to the switch control circuit  103 , to control the switch control circuit  103  according to the received control signal. Remote control by users is thus realized. 
         [0024]    The power module  101  can transform the AC power to direct current (DC) power, and supply the power to the relevant modules of the smart socket  10 . In the present implementation, the power module  101  mainly transforms 220 volts (V) AC to 3.3 V DC. 
         [0025]    In the present implementation, the smart socket  10  can also comprise an electrical detecting module (electrical detect module  104 ). The electrical detect module  104  is electrically connected to the switch control circuit  103  and the live line output port, to detect instantaneous current, voltage, and working time of the electrical appliances. The electrical detect module  104  is electrically connected to the wireless transmission module  102 , and sends the instantaneous current, voltage and working time of the electrical appliances to other devices through the wireless transmission module  102 . 
         [0026]    The smart socket can also comprise a manual switch  105 . In the present implementation, the manual switch  105  is electrically connected to the wireless transmission module  102  and the ground line, to control the wireless transmission module  102 . When the manual switch  105  is turned on, the enable terminal of wireless transmission module  102  is electrically connected to the ground line, and the wireless transmission module  102  is disabled. When the manual switch  105  is turned off, the enable terminal of the wireless transmission module  102  is disconnected from the ground line, in other words, the enable terminal of the wireless transmission module  102  is isolated with the ground line, and the wireless transmission module  102  is enabled. In other implementations, the manual switch  105  can be used instead of a transistor (such as a field-effect transistor (FET)), for example, the switch function can be realized by using the base of the FET controlling conduction between the collector and emitter. 
         [0027]    The smart socket  10  further comprises a display module  106 . The display module  106  is electrically connected to the wireless transmission module  102 , to indicate the current working status of the smart socket  10  according to the display signal of the wireless transmission module  102 . In the present implementation, the display module  106  can be realized by using at least one LED, such as the LED being on or off to indicate the current working state of the smart socket  10  according to the display signal of the wireless transmission module  102 . 
         [0028]    The smart socket  10  can also comprise a temperature detection module  107 . The temperature detection module  107  is mainly configured to detect the temperature of the smart socket  10 . When higher power electrical appliances are used, the power consumption greatly increases, and the internal temperature of the smart socket  10  will increase too. Electrical safety can be assured by detecting the temperature. 
         [0029]    The temperature detection module  107  is electrically connected to the wireless transmission module  102 , and the temperature detected by the temperature detection module  107  is sent to the other devices through the wireless transmission module  102 , such as the cloud server  20  or the wireless terminal. When the temperature is abnormal, the cloud server  20  or the wireless terminal  30  can effectively control the smart socket  10  to avoid any risk of fire or overheating. 
         [0030]    In the present implementation, the temperature detection module  107  can detect temperature using a thermistor. When the temperature is high, the resistance of the thermistor changes, so the temperature can be detected by measuring the resistance of the thermistor. 
         [0031]    An embodiment of a mobile phone as a load  40  in addition to acting as the wireless terminal  30  will be illustrated. 
         [0032]    When the mobile phone is electrically connected to the smart socket  10  through the charger, the smart socket  10  will be awakened. Then the smart socket  10  communicates with the mobile phone by wireless connection to query the model of the mobile phone. The smart socket  10  can communicate with the cloud server  20  through the wireless connection to obtain parameters (such as the battery capacity and so on), and the smart socket  10  will charge the mobile phone after information as to the mobile phone is received. 
         [0033]    The smart socket  10  detects the instantaneous current, voltage, and the working time of the electrical appliances through the electrical detect module  104  and sends the data to the cloud server  20  to make statistics of the charging status (such as the charged and chargeable capacity, and so on). The cloud server  20  controls the smart socket according to the charging status of the mobile phone, for example, the power output of the smart socket  10  would be closed when the mobile phone is fully charged, the cloud server  20  sends message to mobile phone according to the charging status of the mobile phone, such as warning if the mobile phone is abnormal when the charging status is abnormal. 
         [0034]    An embodiment of a refrigerator acting as the load  40  will be illustrated. 
         [0035]    The smart socket  10  is woken when the plug of the refrigerator (as another example of a load  40 ) is electrically connected to the smart socket  10 . Then, the smart socket  10  detects the instantaneous current, voltage, and working time. It is well known that the refrigerator is working in different periods, and alternatively works at the thermal insulation state and the refrigeration state, and the power of thermal insulation state is different from the power of refrigerating state, so after the refrigerator working for a period of time, the smart socket  10  will detect instantaneous currents and voltages and transmit to the cloud server  20  to make statistics. The cloud server  20  makes statistics for the currents and voltages at different periods of time, and compares the statistical data to preset data or database information of big data to determine normal and abnormal working states. 
         [0036]    When the refrigerator works normally, the cloud server  20  continues to make statistics for the cumulative working time according to the data of currents and voltages to remind the user to do maintenance at times. 
         [0037]    When the refrigerator works abnormally, the cloud server  20  would warn the user through the wireless terminal  30  in time, and can also turn off the output of AC by the smart socket  10  if necessary. 
         [0038]    The foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, has been described with reference to specific embodiments. However, the illustrative discussion above are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. The various modifications from the principles of the disclosure will therefore be included and protected within the scope of the claims.