Round thermostat with flanged rotatable user input member and wall-facing optical sensor that senses rotation

摘要

A sleek, low-profile wall-mountable thermostat for controlling an HVAC system is described. The thermostat includes a ring-shaped controller that rotates about a central axis, and an optical sensor directed away from the central axis and toward a radially inward-facing surface of the ring-shaped controller so as to accurately detect optical signals indicating controller's rotational movement.

主权项

1. A thermostat for controlling an HVAC system comprising:
a housing having a frustum-shaped body having a circular cross-section and a central axis generally perpendicular to a wall when the thermostat is wall-mounted, the frustum-shaped body including a sidewall that extends along a length of the central axis between first and second ends of the frustum-shaped body, the first end of the frustum-shaped body being wall-facing when the thermostat is wall-mounted, the second end of the frustum-shaped body being user-facing when the thermostat is wall-mounted, the first end of the frustum-shaped body having a first diameter and the second end of the frustum-shaped body having a second, larger diameter, the sidewall including inside and outside surfaces, the inside surface defining an interior for housing components of the thermostat; a processing system disposed within the interior of the housing; an electronic display coupled to the processing system and disposed within the interior of the housing, the electronic display being adapted to display information to a user and having a generally circular appearance when viewed by the user; a rotatable user input member mounted proximate the second end of the frustum-shaped body of the housing, the rotatable user input member having an axis of rotation generally perpendicular to the wall when the thermostat is wall-mounted, wherein user rotation of the rotatable user input member results in user input for adjusting a temperature setting of the thermostat, the rotatable user input member having an inner portion extending radially inward with a surface that faces axially outward away from the wall when the thermostat is wall-mounted; and an optical sensor mounted within the interior of the housing and positioned to face axially inward toward the wall so as to face the axially outward facing surface of the inner portion of the rotatable user input member, the optical sensor being configured to sense movement of said surface so as to detect rotational movement of the inner portion of the rotatable user input member and to generate electrical signals therefrom; wherein the processing system is adapted and configured to detect user input for adjusting the temperature setting of the thermostat based on the electrical signals generated by the optical sensor.