| 摘要 |
An electrical control system for automatically controlling the operation of a plurality of electronic control units, each of which is operatively connected to one or more electrical devices. The electronic control units are configured to communicate with a client device having access to a user application configurable by a user. The user application is configured to automatically control the operation of the electrical devices, which include consumer appliances used at a home or business to perform functions such as cooking, cleaning, lighting, heating or refrigeration. Each of the electrical devices is operatively connected to one or more of the control units, each of which is programmed to operate according to the user application which is stored in the client device and/or the cloud as a user application. |
| 主权项 |
1. An electrical device control system for controlling the operation of a plurality of electrical devices located at a building and configured to communicate with a plurality of individual client devices wherein each of the plurality of individual client devices is utilized by a different one of a plurality of users, the control system comprising;
a cloud-based user application configured to be accessible by each of the plurality of the client devices, the cloud-based user application configured to transmit and to receive user data through the cloud-based user application and provided by a user; a first control unit including: (i) an electrical power connection configured to provide electrical power to one of the electrical devices, the electrical device including one of a home appliance, a consumer electronic device, and a light; (ii) communication circuitry configured to communicate with the user application, the communication circuitry including one of a Bluetooth module and a wi-fi module; and (iii) control circuitry operable to:
access data provided as input data to the client device;change a state of the electrical device; anddetermine a change in the state of the electrical device; a second control unit including: (i) a user input component configured to respond to a user input, wherein the user input includes a signal strength of a signal provided by the individual client device; (ii) communication circuitry configured to communicate with the user application, the communication circuitry including one of a Bluetooth module and a wi-fi module; and (iii) control circuitry operable to:
generate a signal in response to the user input;determine an identity of the user based on the generated signal; and a third control unit including: (i) an electrical power connection configured to provide electrical power to one of the electrical devices; (ii) a power port configured to provide electrical power to the client device; (iii) communication circuitry configured to communicate with the user application, the communication circuitry including one of a Bluetooth module and a wi-fi module; and (iv) control circuitry operable to;
change a state of the electrical device;determine a change in the state of the electrical device; wherein each of the communication circuitry of each of the first control unit, the second control unit and the third control unit is configured to communicate with each of the other first control unit, the second control unit and the third control unit; wherein at least one of the first, second, and third control units includes: (i) an illumination device operatively coupled to the user application and configured to provide a visible alert signal; and (ii) a proximity device configured to detect a proximity of the closest of each of the plurality of individual client devices to the proximity device, wherein the proximity device includes one of a laser sensor, a motion sensor, and a signal strength sensor of the control unit, the signal strength sensor configured to determine a signal strength provided by each of the plurality of individual client devices; and wherein the proximity device is configured to determine a closest one of the plurality of individual client devices to the proximity device and the communication circuitry of at least one of the first, second, and third control units is operable to provide a communication to the closest one of the plurality of individual client devices; and wherein the at least one first, second, and third control units including the illumination device and the proximity device is configured to execute program code to:
determine the receipt of a communication directed to one of the plurality of the individual client devices through the cloud-based system application:determine if the first one of the plurality of individual client devices is closest to one of the first, second, and third control units or a user of the first one of the plurality of individual client devices is closest to one of first, second, and third control units;illuminate the illumination device of the closest one of the first, second, and third control units based on the result of the second determine step; andnot illuminate the illumination device of the other of the first, second, and third control units not closest to the first one of the plurality of individual client devices or not closest to the first one of the plurality of individual client devices. |
