Patent Publication Number: US-2016239033-A1

Title: Power Switch Control System with Area-Based Switch Grouping

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a power switch control system and, more particularly, to a power switch control system with area-based switch grouping. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     All power-consuming equipment needs to be managed and controlled in terms of power consumption. Regular home electrical appliances can be controlled in a simple way, namely, a one-to-one control pattern. When the power equipment to be controlled spreads over a large area, such as many floors in a building, the management and control over the power equipment becomes much more complicated. Given a light control system in a building as an example, the use of a digital addressable lighting interface (DALI) system is pretty common. With reference to  FIG. 12 , a controller  70  is connected to each lamp  72  inside a building through two control lines  71 . Each lamp  72  owns a fixed address. The controller  70  turns on or off each lamp  72  with a 6-bit lamp control signal. Each lamp  72  can determine if a received signal is the lamp control signal coming from the controller  70  and decide whether to accept the instruction in the lamp control signal. 
     The technique of the DALI system is advantageous in controllability and high anti-interference capability and is disadvantageous in the following aspects. 
     1. Costly wiring of the control lines: The controller  70  needs to transmit the lamp control signal through the two control lines  71 . Although a voltage range of signals transmitted by the control lines is just 0-20V, the insulation requirement of the control lines  71  should be the same as that for a power cable. Therefore, the work and material for wiring the control lines  71  are liable for cost increase resulting from implementation of the DALI system. 
     2. Limited number of controlled lamps: Limited by the 6-bit lamp control signal, a controller  70  can at most control  64  lamps. 
     3. Complicated and laborious work for installation and modification: In view of  72  lamps as a unit for the DALI system, to simultaneously control all the  72  lamps in a same area, the addresses of all the  72  lamps in the same area must be assigned to a group before the  72  lamps can be simultaneously turned on or off. Thus, installation and modification of the DALI system is complicated and effort-taking. 
     4. Asynchronous on/off timing: Because the transmission speed of the lamp control signal is rather slow, the DALI system is prone to an effect of switching delay out of Mexican wave. All lamps in a large lighting area end up with different on/off timings. 
     5. Difficulty in troubleshooting: When the ballast on a lamp in the DALI system is broken and needs to be replaced, the address of the ballast should be known first. However, special equipment is required to determine the address of a ballast. 
     Due to the prevalence of internet, internet has been introduced into lighting control. With reference to  FIG. 13 , all lamps  82  inside a building and a router  81  are networked. A computer  80  controls each lamp  82  to turn on or off through the router  81 . A so-called Internet of Things (IOT) system is built by the lamps  82 , the router  81  and the computer  80 . 
     However, each lamp  82  of the IOT system requires a wireless transmitter and a wireless receiver to connect to a wireless network. Similar to the DALI system, the multiple lamps  82  in a same area need to be located in a same network domain while it is complicated to assign the multiple lamps  82  to an identical group to be controlled. In other words, the cost of building an IOT system is still high and it is also not convenient to manage an LOT system. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An objective of the present invention is to provide a power switch control system with area-based switch grouping utilizing areas of a building as groups to be controlled and original wiring in those areas to get rid of the need of rewiring and also achieve easy implementation and cost-saving. 
     To achieve the foregoing objective, the power switch control system with area-based switch grouping includes multiple intelligent switches and an electronic device. 
     The multiple intelligent switches are respectively located in at least one compartment of a building, are respectively mounted inside multiple switch wiring boxes originally and selectively located in the at least one compartment, and are respectively connected to multiple power distribution circuits inside the respective switch wiring boxes. Each intelligent switch receives a switch control command according to a wireless communication protocol. 
     The electronic device generates the switch control command and transmits the switch control command to each intelligent switch according to the wireless communication protocol. 
     The foregoing power switch control system utilizes compartments originally planned in a building as groups to be controlled, and includes multiple intelligent switches with each intelligent switch mounted inside a corresponding switch wiring box in a corresponding compartment and connected to the power distribution circuit inside the corresponding switch wiring box. As the switch wiring boxes are originally mounted in the planned compartments before the completion of the building, multiple pieces of power-consuming equipment, such as multiple lamps, and switches originally planned in the switch wiring boxes can be used by the power switch control system. Since each intelligent switch of the power switch control system is mounted inside a corresponding switch wiring box and is connected to the power distribution circuit of the corresponding switch wiring box for the multiple lamps, an electronic device can transmit a switch control command to the multiple intelligent switches in the compartments to turn on or off the multiple lamps in the compartments through the multiple intelligent switches. The lamps in different compartments of the building can be defined as different groups to be controlled by the electronic device on a group basis. 
     Because the power switch control system utilizes the switch wiring boxes originally installed in corresponding compartments of a building and the power distribution circuits in the respective switch wiring boxes for connection to multiple pieces of power-consuming equipment, there is no need of rewiring for controlling the multiple pieces of power-consuming equipment and rewiring cost can be totally avoided. Moreover, original power-consuming equipment can be controlled without requiring mounting an additional transceiving device or reinstalling new power-consuming equipment, thereby significantly lowering the cost in operation. 
     Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram illustrating a system architecture of a first embodiment of a power switch control system with area-based switch grouping in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a functional block diagram of a first embodiment of an intelligent switch in the power switch control system in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a functional block diagram of a second embodiment of an intelligent switch in the power switch control system in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a functional block diagram of a third embodiment of an intelligent switch in the power switch control system in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram illustrating a system architecture of a second embodiment of a power switch control system with area-based switch grouping in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a functional block diagram of an electronic device in  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a schematic diagram of a first embodiment of an operation interface of the electronic device in  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 8  is a schematic diagram of a second embodiment of an operation interface of the electronic device in  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 9  is a schematic diagram of a third embodiment of an operation interface of the electronic device in  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 10  is an operational schematic diagram of a power switch control system with area-based switch grouping in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 11  is another operational schematic diagram of the power switch control system in  FIG. 10 ; 
         FIG. 12  is a schematic diagram illustrating a system architecture of a conventional DALI system for light control; and 
         FIG. 13  is a schematic diagram illustrating a system architecture of a conventional IOT system for light control. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference to  FIG. 1 , a first embodiment of a power switch control system with area-based switch grouping in accordance with the present invention includes multiple intelligent switches  20  respectively mounted inside multiple switch wiring boxes  30 . The multiple switch wiring boxes  30  are originally and selectively mounted in multiple compartments of a building  10 . Each switch wiring box  30  has a power distribution circuit mounted inside the switch wiring box  30  and connected to multiple pieces of power-consuming equipment. To ease understanding, the multiple pieces of power-consuming equipment include but are not limited to multiple lamps  40 , which are taken as an example. 
     In the present embodiment, the building  10  totally has three compartments  11 - 13 , and one switch wiring box  30  is mounted in one of the three compartments  11 - 13  and each intelligent switch  20 ,  20 ′,  20 ″ is mounted inside a corresponding switch wiring box  30 . It is noted that more than one switch wiring box  30  may be mounted in any compartment  11 - 13  of the building  10 . In other words, each compartment  11 - 13  may have multiple switch wiring boxes  30  therein, and all or a part of the multiple switch wiring boxes  30  serve for corresponding number of intelligent switches  20 ,  20 ′,  20 ″ to be mounted therein. 
     With reference to  FIG. 2 , a first embodiment of the intelligent switch  20  in  FIG. 1  receives a switch control command from an electronic device  50  according to a wireless communication protocol. The electronic device  50  may be a mobile device or a personal computer. The mobile device includes but is not limited to a smart phone, a tablet personal computer (PC) or a wearable electronic device. In the present embodiment, the intelligent switch  20  includes a wireless module  21 , a processing unit  22 , and a switching module  23 . The wireless module  21  is wirelessly connected to the electronic device  50  according to the wireless communication protocol IEEE 802.11 (WiFi). The processing unit  22  is bidirectionally connected to the wireless module  21  and receives the switch control command or transmits data through the wireless module  21 . The switching module  23  is connected to the processing unit  22  and is turned on or off according to the switch control command received from the processing unit  22 . When the intelligent switch  20  is mounted inside a corresponding switch wiring box  30 , the switching module  23  is connected to original multiple wires of the switch wiring box  30 . In other words, multiple pieces of power-consuming equipment originally controlled by switches mounted on the switch wiring box  30  are controlled by the intelligent switch  20 . Thus, after the intelligent switch  20  is mounted in the corresponding switch wiring box  30 , the multiple lamps in each compartment originally controlled by the switches of the switch wiring box  30  in the compartment are naturally formed as a group and are controlled by the intelligent switch  20 . 
     With reference to  FIG. 3 , in comparison with the foregoing embodiment, a second embodiment of the intelligent switch  20  in  FIG. 1  further includes a storage unit  24 , a detection module  25 , a timing module  26 , and at least one sensor. When applied to control multiple lamps  40 , the intelligent switch  20  further has a dimmer  27 , and the switching module  23  is further connected to a manual switch  230  for a user adjacent to the switch wiring box  30  to manually turn on or off the multiple lamps. 
     The detection module  25  is connected to the processing unit  22  to detect multiple sets of power usage information of the multiple lamps  40 , including voltage, current, power, power factor and the like, and transmits the multiple sets of power usage information to the processing unit  22  for the processing unit  22  to store the power usage information in the storage unit  24 . The processing unit  22  reads a corresponding set of power usage information according to a request issued from the electronic device  50 , and transmits the corresponding set of power usage information to the electronic device  50  through the wireless module  21 . The timing module  26  is connected to the processing unit  22 . The processing unit  22  can automatically control the multiple lamps  40  according to the switch control command from the electronic device  50  to schedule a time to turn on or off the multiple lamps  40 . 
     The dimmer  27  serves to adjust luminance of the multiple lamps  40  manually or according to a request from the electronic device  50 . The at least one sensor is electrically connected to the processing unit  22 , and includes, but is not limited to, a human body detector  281 , a temperature sensor  282  and/or a photoelectric sensor  283 . The human body detector  281  serves to detect the presence of people inside a compartment and automatically turn on or off the multiple lamps  40 , and may be an infrared sensor or a far infrared sensor. For example, when the human body sensor  281  of the intelligent switch  20  detects no presence of people in a compartment, it indicates that all people in the compartment have left and the human body sensor  281  transmits a sensing signal to the processing unit  22  for the processing unit  22  to turn off the lamps  40  through the switching module  23 . 
     The photoelectric sensor  283  serves to detect lighting luminance in a compartment. When the compartment has windows and the windows are open, natural light through the windows assists lighting in the compartment. After the natural light provides sufficient lighting luminance in the compartment and a total luminance in the compartment detected by the photoelectric sensor  283  reaches a preset value, the processing unit  22  is informed by the photoelectric sensor  283  to adjust the multiple lamps  40  to acquire an appropriate total luminance through the dimmer  27 . 
     The temperature sensor  282  serves to detect a temperature of the ambient environment around the switch wiring box  30  and transmit a temperature sensing signal to the processing unit  22  for the processing unit  22  to turn on or off the lamps  40  through the switching module  23  or transmit a remote control command through the wireless module  21 . Supposing that the intelligent switch  20  serves to control an air conditioner in a compartment, after detecting that an indoor temperature of the compartment is higher than a specific temperature, the intelligent switch  20  automatically turns on the air conditioner; otherwise, the intelligent switch  20  turns off the air conditioner or adjusts an air volume. 
     In addition to the foregoing sensors, the intelligent switch  20  may further include other sensors. With reference to  FIG. 4 , the intelligent switch  20  further includes a smoke detector  291 , a carbon monoxide sensor  292  and/or a carbon dioxide sensor  293 . The smoke detector  291 , the carbon monoxide sensor  292 , and the carbon dioxide sensor  293  are connected to the processing unit  22 . By incorporating the smoke detector  291 , the carbon monoxide sensor  292  and the carbon dioxide sensor  293  into the intelligent switch  20 , the intelligent switch  20  can detect if the concentration of smoke, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide exceeds a threshold. 
     To immediately and actively process sensed results of the foregoing sensors, the processing unit  22  is further connected to a siren  294  to generate an alarm signal when the concentration of smoke, carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide exceeds the threshold, and the alarm signal can be simultaneously sent to the electronic device  50 . 
     As mentioned earlier, the electronic device  50  can wirelessly and directly transmit the switch control command or a request command to the intelligent switch  20  for the intelligent switch  20  to directly transmit the multiple sets of power usage information and multiple pieces of sensing information to the electronic device. Besides, the intelligent switch  20  can transmit the multiple sets of power usage information and the multiple pieces of sensing information to a cloud server  60 . To acquire the multiple sets of power usage information and the multiple pieces of sensing information, the electronic device  50  can either access each intelligent switch  20  or download information from each intelligent switch  20  from the cloud server  60 . With reference to  FIG. 5 , a second embodiment of a power switch control system with area-based switch grouping in accordance with the present invention further has a wireless router  61  wirelessly connected to each intelligent switch  20  and the internet. Hence, the intelligent switch  20  can be connected to the internet and to the cloud server  60  and the electronic device  50  through the internet. 
     Under the forgoing system architectures, the electronic device  50  can directly access information from the intelligent switch  20  through WiFi or can be indirectly connected to the intelligent switch  20  through the internet. Each intelligent switch  20  can upload the power usage information of a group pertaining to the intelligent switch  20  the cloud server  60  through the internet. The electronic device  50  can download the power usage information of a corresponding group controlled by each intelligent switch  20  from the cloud server  60  through the internet. Additionally, the intelligent switch  20  inside a switch wiring box  30  located in each compartment of the building  10  can also function as a wireless repeater for the electronic device  50  to be connected to the internet through the intelligent switch  20 . 
     With reference to  FIG. 6 , the electronic device  50  includes an input module  51 , a computation module  52 , a wireless transmission module  53 , and a display module  54 . The computation module  52  is connected to the input module  51 , the wireless transmission module  53 , and the display module  54 . When the electronic device becomes a mobile device with touch functionality, the input module  51  and the display module  54  are integrated into a touch panel. Moreover, the computation module  52  of the electronic device  50  is built in with an application performing switching control and information access provided by the intelligent switch  20 . When the electronic device  50  is a smart phone or a tablet PC, the application is a mobile application (APP) that provides an operation interface. With reference to  FIG. 7 , the operation interface contains a switch control page  55  displaying a control item for each intelligent switch  20 . Each control item has a switch button  551 . When the switch button  551  is pushed to an ON state, the electronic switch  50  sends a control command to a corresponding intelligent switch  20  to activate the corresponding intelligent switch  20 . When the switch button  551  is pushed to an OFF state, the electronic switch  50  then sends a control command to the corresponding intelligent switch  20  to deactivate the corresponding intelligent switch  20 . 
     With reference to  FIG. 8 , when users click the control item of one of the intelligent switches  20 , the operation interface further provides a power usage information display page  56  for the intelligent switch  20 . The power usage information display page  56  displays a set of power usage information of a corresponding group controlled by the intelligent switch  20 , including voltage (V), current (I), power (P), electricity consumption (E), power factor (PF), and billing charge for users to monitor and manage power utilization of the controlled group. 
     As each intelligent switch  20  further has the timing module  26 , the operation interface of the electronic device  50  further provides a control schedule configuration page  57  to the intelligent switch  20  as shown in  FIG. 9  for users to configure schedules for activating/deactivating the intelligent switch  20 , specifically, the on/off time in each time unit (e.g. a day) of a period of time (e.g. a week), and to store the schedules after the configuration. The operation interface further sends the schedules to the storage unit  24  of the intelligent switch  20  for storage. The processing unit  22  of the intelligent switch  20  activates or deactivates the lamps  40  through the switching module  23  according to the schedules stored in the storage unit  24  and a current time read from the timing module  26 . 
     As to operation of the power switch control system, the originally planned compartments inside the building  10  are taken as the areas where the multiple pieces of power-consuming equipment to be controlled by the original switch wiring boxes  30  are located to naturally form the groups to be controlled. Each intelligent switch  20  is mounted inside a corresponding switch wiring box  30  in a corresponding compartment and is connected to the power distribution circuit of the switch wiring box  30  originally connected to a corresponding piece of power-consuming equipment. Given the lamps in conference room and offices as an example, each switch wiring box  30  is responsible for control over activation and deactivation of multiple lamps  40  and such planning for lighting in the compartments of the building is done prior to the completion of the building. Therefore, the groups naturally formed by the respective switch wiring boxes  30  in the compartments serves as the most appropriate control mechanism. 
     With further reference to  FIG. 1 , the multiple lamps  40  and the multiple switch wiring boxes  30  are mounted in each compartment  11 - 13  of the building  10 . The switch wiring boxes  30  in each compartment  11 - 13  are connected to corresponding lamps  40  in the compartment  11 - 13  to control activation and deactivation of the lamps  40 . The lamps  40  located inside each compartment  11 - 13  and a corresponding switch wiring box  30  connected to the lamps  40  are considered as a group to be controlled. Each switch wiring box  30  has an intelligent switch  20 ,  20 ′,  20 ″ mounted inside the switch wiring box  30  and connected to the corresponding lamps  40 . Thus, one electronic device  50  can be used to sequentially or simultaneously transmit the switch control command to the intelligent switches  20 ,  20 ′,  20 ″ in the compartments  11 - 13  and sequentially or simultaneously turn on or off the lamps  40  in the compartments  11 - 13 . 
     With reference to  FIGS. 10 and 11 , a conference room  100  with multiple lamps  40  and multiple switch wiring boxes  30 A- 30 H is shown. Each switch wiring box  30 A- 30 H is connected to multiple lamps  40  adjacent to the switch wiring box  30 A- 30 H to control activation and deactivation of the multiple lamps  40 . One intelligent switch  20 A- 20 H is mounted inside a corresponding switch wiring box  30 A- 30 H and is connected to the lamps  40  of a corresponding group to be controlled. Thus, one electronic device  50  can be used to sequentially or simultaneously transmit the switch control command to the intelligent switches  20 A- 20 H and sequentially or simultaneously turn on or off the lamps  40 A- 40 H of a group to be controlled 
     The advantages of using the power switch control system at least include the following: 
     1. Easy construction: As the power switch control system utilizes the original switch wiring boxes in the compartments of a building and each intelligent switch is connected to power-consuming equipment through original circuit inside a corresponding switch wiring box, there is no need for rewiring as far as the control over the power-consuming equipment is concerned. 
     2. Significant cost reduction: Due to cost saving in rewiring and no transceiving device required in power-consuming equipment to be controlled, the original power-consuming equipment can be still used without any change, thereby greatly lowering operational cost. A budgetary analysis among the power switch control system of the present invention, the DALI system, and the IOT system shown in the following table can readily tell the difference in cost (an example for lighting demand in a commercial building with a floor area 100,000 square feet). 
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
               
             
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 Present 
               
               
                   
                 DALI 
                 IOT 
                 invention 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 Lamps 
                 $100 × 
                 $150 × 
                 X 
               
               
                 (5,000 lamps) 
                 5000 = $500k 
                 5000 = $750k 
               
               
                 Controller 
                 $369 × 
                 X 
                 X 
               
               
                 (64 Channels) 
                 79 = $30k 
               
               
                 Intelligent switch 
                 X 
                 X 
                 $150 × 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 1000 = $150k 
               
               
                 Lamp construction 
                 $100 × 
                 $100 × 
                 $100 × 
               
               
                 (0.5 hour/lamp) 
                 2500 = $250k 
                 2500 = $250k 
                 500 = $50k 
               
               
                 Controller construction 
                 $100 × 
                 X 
                 X 
               
               
                 (8 hours/controller) 
                 79 × 8 = $63k 
                   
                   
               
               
                 Total (U.S. Dollar) 
                 $843k 
                 $1,000k 
                 $200k 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     3. Expandable sensing functions: Besides detecting the power usage information of each group and feeding back the detected power usage information to an electronic device and/or a cloud server, the intelligent switch can be further integrated with various types of sensors to control activation or deactivation of power-consuming equipment according to detected results of the integrated sensors. For example, a photoelectric sensor is integrated with a dimmer to adjust a desired luminance of a lighting area, a temperature sensor is used for adjustment of air-conditioning temperature or air volume, a human body detector is used to detect the presence of any person around for automatically performing activation or deactivation of power-consuming equipment, a smoke detector, a carbon monoxide sensor, and a carbon dioxide sensor serve for fire protection and monitoring of indoor air quality, and a timing module is used to schedule activation or deactivation of power-consuming equipment for enhancing power utilization efficiency. 
     Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.