Control apparatus, control system, and appliance control device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9781810-B2
Application number	US-201615152766-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 12, 2016
Priority date	May 15, 2015
Publication date	Oct 3, 2017
Grant date	Oct 3, 2017

Abstract

A control apparatus includes a sensor and a control circuit. The sensor obtains a thermal pattern formed by a plurality of thermo-elements arranged in an appliance control device, a temperature of heat generated by each of the plurality of thermo-elements being controllable. The control circuit controls an appliance in accordance with the thermal pattern obtained by the sensor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A control apparatus, comprising:
a sensor configured to detect a thermal pattern formed by a plurality of thermo-elements arranged in an appliance control device, a temperature of heat generated by each of the plurality of thermo-elements in the appliance control device being controllable; and
a control circuit configured to control an appliance in accordance with the thermal pattern detected by the sensor.

2. The control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of thermo-elements are Peltier elements.

3. The control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the sensor is a thermopile configured to detect the thermal pattern formed by the plurality of thermo-elements as a thermal image.

4. The control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the appliance is a lighting appliance, and
the control circuit is further configured to control on, off, and dimming of the lighting appliance.

5. The control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the appliance is an air-conditioning appliance, and
the control circuit is further configured to control on, off, and a set temperature of the air-conditioning appliance.

6. The control apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is further configured to control the appliance in accordance with a control table stored in a memory, the control table storing thermal patterns in association with corresponding control modes of the appliance.

7. A control system, comprising:
an appliance control device including a plurality of thermo-elements arranged therein, a temperature of heat generated by each of the plurality of thermo-elements being controllable;
a sensor configured to detect a thermal pattern formed by the plurality of thermo-elements arranged in the appliance control device; and
a control circuit configured to control an appliance in accordance with the thermal pattern detected by the sensor.

8. The control system according to claim 7 , wherein the plurality of thermo-elements are Peltier elements.

9. The control system according to claim 7 , wherein the sensor is a thermopile configured to detect the thermal pattern formed by the plurality of thermo-elements as a thermal image.

10. The control system according to claim 7 , wherein
the appliance is a lighting appliance, and
the control circuit is further configured to control on, off, and dimming of the lighting appliance.

11. The control system according to claim 7 , wherein
the appliance is an air-conditioning appliance, and
the control circuit is further configured to control on, off, and a set temperature of the air-conditioning appliance.

12. The control system of claim 7 , wherein the control circuit is further configured to control the appliance in accordance with a control table stored in a memory, the control table storing thermal patterns in association with corresponding control modes of the appliance.

13. The control system of claim 7 , wherein the temperature of heat generated by each of the plurality of thermo-elements is controllable by input from a user.

14. An appliance control device, comprising:
a plurality of thermo-elements that form a plurality of thermal patterns; and
a thermo-element control circuit configured to set the plurality of thermal patterns by controlling a temperature of heat generated by each of the plurality of thermo-elements.

15. The appliance control device of claim 14 , further comprising an interface configured to receive an input from the user, the input being used to control the temperature of heat generated by each of the plurality of thermo-elements.

16. The appliance control device of claim 14 , wherein the appliance control device is a handheld device.

Assignees

• Azbil Corp

Inventors

• Kikuchi Makoto

Classifications

• F24F5/0042 Primary

  characterised by the application of thermo-electric units or the Peltier effect · CPC title

• H05B47/105 Primary

  in response to determined parameters · CPC title

• F24F11/30

  for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring · CPC title

• F24F2120/10

  Occupancy · CPC title

• Y02B20/40

  Control techniques providing energy savings, e.g. smart controller or presence detection · CPC title