Abstract:
The add-on smart socket adaptor integrates electric facilicities and/or home appliances to be an intelligent system for the home automation. The add-on smart socket adaptor has the add-on multiple different sensors to detect the complex environmental changes as the inputs of the programmed logic to make the complex decision function to generate the output to turn on and/or turn off the multiple different home appliances and electrical facilities smoothly, separately and cooperatively. The add-on smart socket also can be built-in to integrate with the home appliances and electrical facilities to have the home automation. The add-on smart socket adaptor provides the open platform and standard for the synthesis of home automation integrated system.

Description:
This is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 07/660,019, filed Feb. 25, 1991, now abandoned. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of Invention 
     This invention relates to the automation synthesis open system with add-on smart socket adaptor integrating electric facilities to be an intelligent system. 
     2. Description of Prior Art 
     In the automation era, the home electric facilities are first needed to be modernized. The automation needs the monitoring devices to integrate the electric facilities to be an intelligent system. However, it costs too much money to replace the existing electric facilities. Even worse, the different customers have different requirements of automation in different working enviroments. Some requirements even occur accidently in the field. The customers&#39; requirements are unpredictable beforehand. The customers need the imaginations to solve the field problems. The application specific build-in monitoring device has only one single function that it cannot meet with the different needs of the different customers. Furthermore, it might induce annoyance and bothering to the normal operation. Not all the customers need the function. It causes the bulid-in monitoring system fails in to succeed in the market. 
     For example, the U.S. Pat. No. 4,321,593 issued to Ho illustrated a TV having the build-in view range monitoring device. For the most customers, there is no need for this function. They will not be willing to pay for it. For the family having kids staying close to TV screen, however, the parent might want this function only for a short period. But no parent wants to buy another TV having the monitoring function. The add-on smart socket adaptor solves this problem. Just plugging the plug of conventional TV in the smart socket adaptor, the TV becomes an intelligent TV. Furthermore, to minimize the cost or have versitile functions, the add-on card for the smart socket adaptor may be changed. For example, the parent may want to control the kids&#39; view time of TV. To have the time-monitoring function, the monitoring card may be replaced with the timing card or interface card of microcomputer. Using the microcomputer interface card to interface with the personel computer(PC), it saves a lot of money and has the practical usage of the personel computer. The U.S. Pat. No. 4,348,596 issued to Beier has to have the dedicated complicate microcontroller system. No parent is willing to buy such a microcontroller dedicated to monitor the view time of TV. 
     Furthermore, with my smarter socket adaptor, the intelligent system even provides much better compound service. With my add-on cards and smart socket adaptor, all the different customer&#39;s automation requirement may be synthesized easily. For example, with the infrared motion monitoring card, time monitoring card and temperature monitoring card cooperating in the open system of my smart socket adaptor, the baby will sit outside the safety viewing distance. The monitoring card and timing card or PC can work together to enable the common TV to have both the timing function and the viewing distance monitoring function. As the sleeping time coming, the TV will be shut-off automatically. As the kids leave the living room, the heater will automatically shut-off. All the wanted functions can be synthesized with the smart socket adaptor having the different add-on cards. 
     For Ho&#39;s patent to work with Beier&#39;s patent, they costs a lot. The customer needs to buy the special TV with the build-in monitoring device and the dedicated microcontroller having the timing function. Even worse, their facilities cannot be used to adapt to the other different requirements. It would be very nice to have a monitoring device to keep the temperature in living room to be warm during the time when kids are watching television. 
     Furthermore, the add-on smart socket adaptor can interface with the PC. it will generate the new requirements for the new family-oriented automation synthesis softwares. It is the starting point for the practical usage of the PC for the household in the automation era. 
     OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES 
     The automation synthesis open system with add-on smart socket adaptor can integrate the electrical facilities to be an intelligent system according to the customer&#39;s different requirements. 
    
    
     DRAWING FIGURES 
     FIG. 1 is the schematic diagram of the add-on smart socket adaptor having the simple OR and AND programmable arrays. 
     FIG. 2 (A) is the schematic diagram of the add-on smart socket adaptor having the general programmable array connection; (B) is the schematic diagram in FIG. 2A having the blocks been replaced with the modules as shown from FIG. 3 to FIG. 13. 
     FIG. 3 (A) is the structure of the add-on controller card; (B) is the schematic diagram of the multiplex implemented with mechanical sliding switch; (C) is the multiplex implemented with MOS devices; (D) is the different kind of add-on controller cards. 
     FIG. 4 (A) is the schematic diagram of the OR type array connection; (B) is the schematic diagram of the AND type array connection. 
     FIG. 5 (A) is the general structure of the field programmable relay controller; (B) is the schematic diagram of the add-on card for the field programmable controller card. 
     FIG. 6 (A) is the field programmable relay controller having the AND or OR logic function; (B) is the field programmable relay controller having the AND-OR logic function; (C) is the field programmable relay controller having the OR-AND logic function. 
     FIG. 7 (A) is the programmable delay circuit; (B) is the schematic diagram of the switch box; (C) is schematic diagram of the add-on delay card. 
     FIG. 8 is the bi-function dimmer relay used in the smart socket adaptor. 
     FIG. 9 is the tri-state dimmer switch. 
     FIG. 10 is the toggle type bi-function dimmer switch. 
     FIG. 11 is the toggle type tri-state dimmer switch. 
     FIG. 12 is the cross section of the mat switch. 
     FIG. 13 is the section view of the endless tape. 
     FIG. 14 is the simplified block diagram of the open system programmable smart socket adaptor with the closed range motion detector and the RF signal remote control. 
     FIG. 15 is the open system programmable smart socket adaptor integrating the commercial recorder and television to be an intelligent system; (A) the smart socket adaptor is in the by-pass mode; (B) the smart socket adaptor is in the power-on monitor mode; (C) the smart socket adaptor is in the power-off mode; (D) is the smart socket adaptor implemented with the schematic diagram as shown in FIG. 2A; the connections in FIG. 15A and FIG. B are marked with the thick lines in FIG. 15D. 
     FIG. 16 is the outside view of the smart socket adaptor; (A) is the single plug socket adaptor; (B) is the multiple plugs long slot socket adaptor. 
     FIG. 17 is the side view of the smart socket adaptor; (A) is the smart socket adaptor which can be built in the wall or connected with the extension wire; (B) is the smart socket adaptor having the plug inserted in the commercial socket adaptor. 
     FIG. 18 is the series chain of the smart socket adaptors to protect the large electrical facility. 
     FIG. 19 is the smart socket adaptor with infrared motion detector to integrate the electrical facilities to be an intelligent system. 
     FIG. 20 is the smart socket adaptor with ultrasonic motion detector to integrate the electrical facilities to be an intelligent system. 
     FIG. 21 is the block diagram of the range control pulse generator adopted in the ultrasonic motion detector. 
     FIG. 22 is the elevation view of the smart socket adaptor with infrared motion detector; (A) is the front view of the smart socket adaptor; (B) is the back view of the smart socket adaptor; (C) is the smart socket adaptor with infrared motion detector sitting on the top of a commercial television. 
     FIG. 23 is the schematic diagram of the smart socket adaptor with the infrared type motion detector and mate switch. 
     FIG. 24 is the schematic diagram of the smart socket adaptor with the ultrasonic type motion detector and mate switch with the build-in electrical devices. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     In the automation era, for the home automation and household assistance, the open system smart socket adaptor is to integrate the electrical facilities with the smart sensors and/or personnel computer(PC) to be an intelligent system. The smart socket adaptor comprises the add-on controller cards, the add-on power cards, programmable delay card, programmable logic and bus connections. There are several different implementations of the smart socket adaptors. The components of input multiplex, output multiplex, input switch box and output switch box may be implemented with either mechanical switch or electronic switch. The good for mechanical switch is that it can be set with manual switch; the good for the electronical switch is that it can be set with personnel computer, etc. In the following discussion, we use the general schematics to illustrate the key idea. It can be implemented with either the VLSI circuit or mechanical switch. 
     FIG. 1 is the first version of the smart socket adaptor. The programmable logic and connections are implemented with the OR array programmable array connection and/or AND programmable array connection. The add-on controller cards comprise many add-on cards having the different functions. Some functions of the add-on cards as shown in FIG. 3D. The add-on card can be the microcontroller, infrared motion detector, timer, pressure sensor, acceleration detector, smoke and fire detector, ultrasonic motion detector, radio frequency(RF) transmitter, RF receiver, temperature sensor, humidity sensor, voice, automatic dialing for the phone, computer, phone adaptor and talking chip, etc. The add-on card has the general structure of the monitor, input multiplex, output multiplex and the signal bus as shown in FIG. 3A. The signal bus structure enables the microcontroller and personnel computer can interface with all the other add-on-card detectors. FIG. 3B is the multiplex implemented with mechanical switch; FIG. 3C is the multiplex implemented with the electronic switch of MOS devices. 
     The add-on delay card adds delay to the signal for a specified short period. As shown in FIG. 7C, the delay card is constituted of the delay circuit 80, input multiplex 81 and output multiplex 82. The delay circuit is shown as FIG. 7A. Adjusting the resistance of resistor 84, the delay time may be adjusted. The input switch box or output switch box is shown as FIG. 7B. For the manual setting switch, sliding the sliding contacts, the inputs or outputs will select the bus line to make the programmable connections. If a sliding contact doesn&#39;t make any contact, there is no connection for this input or output. For the PC setting-up switch, the electronic switchs may be implemented with the MOS transmission gates. 
     The add-on programmable control card is constituted of the programmable logic and programmable connection. The programmable logic and programmable connections can generate the versatile programmable combinatory decision functions. The OR programmable array can be implemented as shown in FIG. 4A. The activating signal makes the direct connection; the deactivated signal is connected to the ground. In this programmable array connection, the active signal generated by the controller card will activate the bi-state relay 2A for the AC power supply and/or the DC power supply. Similarly, the AND array connection is implemented as shown in FIG. 4B. The activating signal makes the direct connection; the deactivated signal has the connection connected to the power lead. In the AND array connection, unless all the directly connecting signals are activated, the bi-state switch 2B will not be activated. 
     The add-on power card is constituted of the tri-state switch and the bi-function relay. The bi-function relay 2 actually is a switch having a single throw with double leads. The tri-state switch 3A has the power-on monitor mode, power-off mode and by-pass mode. During the by-pass mode, the power is connected to the socket directly. The smart socket adaptor acts as a conventional socket adaptor. During the power-on mode, the output signal of the programmable logic will activate the bi-function switch. The AC power is cut-off or supplied to the socket 21B and 22B alternatively; the DC power is cut-off or supplied to the socket 21E and 22E alternatively. 
     FIG. 2A shows the general structure of the smart socket adaptor. FIG. 2B adopts the modules as shown from FIG. 3 to FIG. 13 to implement the smart socket adaptor as shown in FIG. 2A. The blocks in FIG. 2A are replaced with the corresponding modules as shown from FIG. 3 to FIG. 13 to show the detailed implementations of the smart socket adaptor. The programmable driver uses the field programmable relay controller. As shown in FIG. 5A, the field programmable can be implemented with the combination of field programmable logic and relay controller. The field programmable relay controller can be implemented with VLSI chip. There are many chip technologies available for the programmable relay controller such as PLA, PAL, FPGA, etc. The field programmable relay controller can be implemented with the add-on card as shown in FIG. 5B. All the add-on cards share the same bus lines. With the selection of the input switch box and output switch box, all the connections and logic functions can be implemented per customer&#39;s request. 
     However, to make the trade-off among the logic flexibility, custommer&#39;s investment and the requirement of knowledge, the compromissary solutions are proposed in FIG. 6. As shown in FIG. 6A, the programmable relay controller has both the AND logic and OR logic. Both the AND array programmable connection and the OR array programmable connection in FIG. 1 can be replaced with the programmable logic relay controller as shown in FIG. 6A. The other simple logic programmable controllers are shown in FIG. 6B and FIG. 6C. FIG. 6B is the programmable AND-OR logic gate; FIG. 6C is the programmable OR-AND logic gate. The programmable AND-OR gate or programmable OR-AND gate can replace the programmable connections and logic gate in FIG. 1. 
     Since the smart socket adaptor turns on and off the electrical facilities pretty often, to increase the life of electric products, the relay of smart socket adaptor 1 adopts the dimmer switches. The dimmer mechanism is adopted to protect the electrical products from the large amount current at the moment of turning off. As shown in FIG. 8, the bi-function dimmer relay switch 2 comprises the conducting poles 21, 22 and 20 , the isolating block 24, the resistors 29, the sliding plug 25, the contact leaf springs 26, the sliding magnetic pole 27 and the coil 28. Changing the current direction in the coil 28, the sliding plug 25 slides left and right. As the plug 25 slides to the right, the leaf springs 26 contact with the variable resistors 29. The resistance increases, the current reduces and the voltage across electrical facilities, too. As the plug 25 slides over the isolating block 24, the plug 25 has no contact with the resistor 29 and the current is completely shut off. As the plug 25 slides to the right, the pole 20 is connected to the other pole 22. With the bi-function dimmer relay 2, the voltage and current is tiny as the switch is shut off. There is no spark jumping through the gap. The load is protected with the bi-function dimmer relay 2. 
     As shown in FIG. 9, the tri-state dimmer switch 3 is made of the same principle. The tri-state switch 3 comprises the conducting poles 31 and 33, the variable resistors 39, the nonconductive block 32, the sliding plug 35, the contact leaf springs 36, the swivel pin 351, the spring retainers 381 and 382. As the switch bar 37 slides, the recoil springs 381 and 382 are compressed to distort first and then expand to push the sliding switch bar 37 to another stable position to have the toggle action. The switch bar 37 drags the pin 351 and the plug 35 to slide. The sliding plug 35 slides between the conducting poles 31, 33 and the isolated block 32. With the variable resistors 39, the current and voltage across the load is reduced slowly. The electrical facilities may be turned on and off repeatedly without hurting the electrical facilities. 
     As shown in FIG. 10, the on-off bi-function toggle dimmer switch comprises the conducting poles 61 and 63, the variable resistor 62, the nonconductive block 64, the sliding plug 65 and pin 65a, the contact leaf springs 66, the toggle bar 67, the pin 67a, the sliding slot 67b, the spring retainer 67c, the toggle spring 69 and the spring end holder 68. As the toggle bar 67 swings, the toggle spring 69 is compressed first then expands to push the toggle bar to another extreme point to have the toggle action. The sliding plug slides between the conducting pole 61 and the isolated block 64. With the variable resistance 62, the current and voltage across the load is reduced slowly. The load is protected that the television may be turned on and off repeatedly without hurting the television. 
     The bi-function dimmer switch in FIG. 11 is the same as the dimmer switch in FIG. 10 except that the on-off mode changing to be bi-function mode. The nonconductive block 64 separates the variable resistors 621 and 622. 
     To illustrate the open system of the smart socket adaptor, the mat switch is used. The cross section of mat switch is shown as FIG. 12. The positive power supply is connected to the pole 133; the wire 131 is connected to the pole 132. The plastic isolation 134 wraps around the poles 132 ,133 and the foam 135. As the man steps on the mat switch 13, the foam 135 is compressed. The pole 132 contacts with the pole 133. The &#34;on&#34; signal is sent through wire 131 to the OR gate 16. 
     To integrate the electrical facilities to be an intelligent system, there are some specially designed facilities. For example, the warning message may be issued with a tape recorder. The tape needs to repeat the warning message. FIG. 13 shows the endless tape 41. The tape 411 is in the loop shape. It is wraped on the pole 413 and the hub 412. It is adaptable to the conventional tape recorder. 
     Depending on the versatile functions requested by the customers to add to the smart socket adaptor, the smart socket adaptor can have many different implementations. For example, the smart socket adaptor 1 makes the connections among the conventional consumer electronic products such as a television 5 and a tape recorder 4 to be one intelligent integrated system. FIG. 14 shows the block diagram of the smart socket adaptor I constituting of the motion detector and RF remote control signal receiver. FIG. 15 shows the circuit of the smart socket adaptor with the motion detector 11. 
     There is a bypass route in the tri-state dimmer switch 3. In the bypass route, the television or the other load such as light bulb are connected the same way as the conventional socket. FIG. 15B is the block diagram of smart socket adaptor 1 in the monitor mode. The DC power supply 8 supplies the 5 volts DC current to all the electronic circuit. The close range motion detector detects the movement of baby in the monitored region. If the monitored region is the TV radiated zone, the close range motion detector sends the signal to the bi-function dimmer relay 2 to turn off the television 5 and power on the recorder 4 to issue the warning messages as shown in FIG. 18C. The bi-function dimmer relay 2 may be also controlled by the remote control 7 to turn on and turn off the bi-function relay switch 2. 
     In the by-pass mode, the monitor devices is completely shut down and the television acts as being pluged in the conventional socket. As shown in FIG. 15B, in the monitor mode, the infrared smart socket adaptor will automatically turn on and off the television. As the baby is detected in the monitored region, the smart socket adaptor will automatically turn off the television. As the man walks away and stays outside the monitored region, the smart socket adaptor will automatically turn on the television. There are many applications for the smart socket adaptor 1. If we wish to confine the baby in the monitored region, we just need to switch the plugs in the sockets 21 and 22. FIG. 15D shows the smart socket adaptor in FIG. 15A and FIG. 15B being implemented with the add-on smart socket adaptor as shown in FIG. 2B. The corresponding circuit connections in FIG. 15A and FIG. 15B are marked with the thick lines as shown in FIG. 15D. It shows the practical application of the add-on smart socket adaptor. 
     FIG. 16 and FIG. 17 show the outside view of the custom-made smart socket adaptor having the infrared motion detector and the other add-on functions. FIG. 16A shows the socket adaptor for the single plug; FIG. 16B shows the socket adaptor for the multiple plugs. FIG. 17A shows the wall-switch type smart socket adaptor; FIG. 17B shows the plug-in type smart socket adaptor to modify the existing socket adaptor to be a smart socket adaptor. FIG. 18 shows the smart socket adaptor with the extension wire connected in series to protect the large electrical facility which has multiple accesses. 
     FIG. 19 shows the detailed block diagram of the smart socket adaptor having the infrared motion detector. The infrared sensor 111 receives the infrared radiation emitted by the man. The infrared signal is transformed into the electrical signal and sent to the differential circuit 112. As the man moves, the differential circuit will detect the variance of intensity of infrared radiation. The band-pass filter 113 filters out the signal component which corresponds to the human movement. The automatic gain amplifier 16 adjusts the gain to keep the signal at the constant level. The rectifier 17 sets the signal to be positive. If the positive signal 18 is larger than the sensitivity level 19, the comparator 114 sends the on signal to the OR gate 115 to stimulate the timer 116. The timer 116 sends the on signal to stimulate the dimmer relay control 23 and the talking chip 44. The RF remote control signal receiver receives the remote control signal and send the output signal to the OR gate. The RF remote control signal, the mat switch, the timing monitor and the motion detector all can send the signal to activate the relay control 23. The dimmer relay control 23 sends the signal to the bi-vfunction relay 2 to turn off the television 5 or to dim the screen of the television 5 and turn on the warning light and bell 43. 
     FIG. 20 shows the building blocks for the smart socket adaptor with the ultrasonic close range motion detector 12. The oscillator of frequency synthesizer 120 generates the local oscillatory signal. The local frequency synthesizer may be implemented with the programmer timer 126. It comprises the range selector 71 and the motion detector 72. The range selector 71 generates a pulse 233. The transmission AND gate 130 transmits the local oscillatory signal out. The range selector 71 is implemented with the range controlled pulse generator 71. As shown in FIG. 21, the range controlled pulse generator 71 may be implemented with the astable multivibrator 231 and the monostable multivibrator 232. The close range motion detector 72 comprises the signal frequency filter 128, the auto gain amplifier AG and the rectifier R. 
     As the baby is detected to be in the close range by the receiver 121, then the close range signal is detected to have the motion signal component by the motion detector 72. To demodulate the doppler effect frequency shift signal, the local oscillating signal generated by the oscillator 120 is fed into the multiplier 124. The resultant signal is fed through the bandpass filter 128, automatic gain amplifier 16, rectifier 17 and comparator 129. The filter 128 filters out the doppler effect frequency shift signal from the reflected signal. The transmission AND gate 130 only allows the reflected signal inside the radiated zone to be passed. The timing gate is implemented with the transmission gates 125. The automatic gain amplifier AG adjusts the gain to keep the doppler shifted signal at the constant level. The rectifier R sets the signal to be positive. The comparator 129 compares the positive signal 18 with the sensitivity level 19. If the positive signal 18 is larger than the senitivity level 19, the comparater 129 sends the &#34;on&#34; signal to the AND gate 130 to stimulate the timer 116. The timer 116 sends the &#34;on&#34; signal to stimulate the dimmer relay 23, talking chip 44. The bi- state! function relay 23 sends the signal to turn off the electrical facilities or dim the screen of the television 5 and turn on the warning light and bell 43. 
     FIG. 22 shows the add-on smart socket adaptor 1 equipped with the passive infrared type detector add-on card and the other add-on cards. The facet 111 divides the monitored zone into many small regions. The facet 111 may adjust the tilting angle with the universal joint 112. Its height may be adjusted with the sleeve tube 113. FIG. 22B shows the backside of the passive infrared type smart socket adaptor. The socket 22 is for television plug 222; the socket 21 is the adaptor for the warning message means such as a tape recorder 4. The tri-state switch 3 is to make the alternative choice among the power-on moniter mode 31, turn-off mode 32 and by-pass mode 33 as shown in FIG. 15. 
     As shown in FIG. 22, the smart socket adaptor 1 is seated on the top of television to monitor the radiated zone before the screen 51 of the television 5. The electric plug 222 of the television 5 is plugged in the smart socket adaptor 1. The plug 6 conducts the AC power to the smart socket adaptor 1 to generate the regulated power. The plug 222 conducts the regulated power to the television 5. The smart socket adaptor 1 detects the motion in the close range radiated zone. The mat switch 13 lies on the floor covering on the radiated zone. Either the mat switch 13 or the close range motion detector of the samrt socket adaptor 1 may work independently. 
     FIG. 23 is the block diagram of the television monitored with the passive infrared type smart socket adaptor. The de power supply 8 generates the low voltage power supply. To make the figures clear, all the dc power supply lines are omitted in the following figures. The wire 131 conducts the mat switch signal to the smartsocket adaptor means 1. As the close range motion detector 15 and/or the mat switch 13 detect the baby&#39;s motion in the radiated zone, the close range motion detector 14 and/or mat switch 13 generate signal to the OR gate 16. The OR gate 16 sends signal to the bi-function dimmer relay 2 to stimulate the warning message generator 333 and dim the TV screen 51 of the television 5. The warning message 333 may be the tape recorder 4, talking chip 44, warning light and bell 43 as shown in FIG. 14. 
     The smart socket adaptor is a stand alone product to add-on the existing electrical facilities. Since the smart socket adaptor circuit is so concise, the smart socket adaptor may be further integrated with the television with small modifications that the television becomes an intelligent television 9. As shown in FIG. 24, it shows the block diagram of the television monitoring the child with the ultrasonic type baby watcher which has been integrated with the television. The dc power supply 8 supplies the dc current and low voltage to all the electrical signal processing circuit. The transmitter 97 sends the ultrasonic signal out covering the irradiated zone. The receiver 94 receives the reflected ultrasonic signal and transforms this signal into an electrical signal. The electrical signal is sent to the position and motion detect circuit 95. The position and motion detect circuit uses the reflection time of the signal to measure the distance and uses the doppler effect to measure the motion in the radiated zone. As the motion is detected in the radiated zone, the detect circuit 95 sends the turning off signal to the bi-function dimmer relay 2. The turning on signal of mat switch 13 will send the &#34;on&#34; signal to the OR gate 96 to stimulate the bi-function dimmer relay 2 to dim the screen of the cathode ray tube 99. 
     While present exemplary embodiments of this invention, and methods of practicing the same, have been illustrated and described, it will be recognized that this invention may be otherwise variously embodied and practiced within the scope of the following claims.