# US 11,906,611 B2 · Fan speed control device > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,906,611 B2 - Document ID: US11906611B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/889,014 - Filed: 2022-08-16 - Published: 2022-12-08 - Granted: 2024-02-20 - Earliest claimed: 2016-05-02 - Assignees: Lutron Technology Company LLC - Applicants: Lutron Technology Company LLC - Inventors: James P. Steiner - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11906611B2 ## CPC - G01S 13/04: Systems determining presence of a target (based on relative movement of target G01S13/56) - F04D 25/088: {Ceiling fans} - F04D 27/001: {Testing thereof; Determination or simulation of flow characteristics; Stall or surge detection, e.g. condition monitoring} - F04D 27/004: {by varying driving speed} - F04D 29/661: {especially adapted for elastic fluid pumps} - F24F 7/007: with forced flow (using ducting systems F24F7/06) - F24F 11/65: for selecting an operating mode - G01S 13/343: {using sawtooth modulation} - G01S 13/56: for presence detection {(presence detection using near field arrangements G01V3/00, e.g. G01V3/08, G01V3/12; burglar, theft or intruder alarms with electrical actuation G08B13/22 - G08B13/26)} - G01S 13/88: Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications (electromagnetic prospecting or detecting of objects, e.g. near-field detection, G01V3/00) - H02P 27/04: using variable-frequency supply voltage, e.g. inverter or converter supply voltage - F05B 2260/96: Preventing, counteracting or reducing vibration or noise - F05B 2270/334: Vibration measurements - F05B 2270/805: Radars - F05D 2270/334: Vibration measurements - F24F 2110/10: Temperature - F24F 2110/20: Humidity - F24F 2120/10: Occupancy - H02P 6/00: Arrangements for controlling synchronous motors or other dynamo-electric motors using electronic commutation dependent on the rotor position; Electronic commutators therefor (vector control H02P21/00) - Y02B 30/70: Efficient control or regulation technologies, e.g. for control of refrigerant flow, motor or heating - G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES - F04D: NON-POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT PUMPS (engine fuel-injection pumps F02M; ion pumps H01J41/12; electrodynamic pumps H02K44/02) - F24F: AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING (removing dirt or fumes from areas where they are produced B08B15/00; vertical ducts for carrying away waste gases from buildings E04F17/02; tops for chimneys or ventilating shafts, terminals for flues F23L17/02) - H02P: CONTROL OR REGULATION OF ELECTRIC MOTORS, ELECTRIC GENERATORS OR DYNAMO-ELECTRIC CONVERTERS; CONTROLLING TRANSFORMERS, REACTORS OR CHOKE COILS - F05B: INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO WIND, SPRING, WEIGHT, INERTIA OR LIKE MOTORS, TO MACHINES OR ENGINES FOR LIQUIDS COVERED BY SUBCLASSES F03B, F03D AND F03G - F05D: INDEXING SCHEME FOR ASPECTS RELATING TO NON-POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT MACHINES OR ENGINES, GAS-TURBINES OR JET-PROPULSION PLANTS - Y02B: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS, e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USER APPLICATIONS ## Abstract A control device for a ceiling fan may have a motor drive circuit configured to control a rotational speed of a motor of the ceiling fan, an occupancy sensing circuit, and a control circuit configured to adjust the rotational speed of the motor in response to a detected occupancy or vacancy condition. The control circuit may process the signals generated by the occupancy sensing circuit to eliminate the effects of vibrations and/or wobbling of the ceiling fan. The control circuit may control the motor drive circuit to adjust the rotational speed of the motor in response to an accelerometer to minimize the magnitude of the wobble of the ceiling fan. The control circuit may be configured to learn a preferred rotational speed for the motor. The control circuit may also be configured to control the rotational speed of the motor to affect a thermal comfort level of an occupant. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A ceiling fan controller, comprising: memory circuitry; and ceiling fan motor control circuitry to adjust a rotational speed and a direction of rotation of an operatively coupled ceiling fan motor based on an activity level of an occupant of a space that includes the ceiling fan motor, the activity level of the occupant determined using one or more sensors that include at least one sensor capable of detecting a motionless occupant; the ceiling fan motor control circuitry to determine the rotational speed and the direction of rotation of the ceiling fan motor based, at least in part, on information received via the communication interface circuitry, wherein the received information includes data representative of a current date and a current time-of-day. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The ceiling fan controller of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor capable of detecting a motionless occupant includes a thermopile array. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The ceiling fan controller of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor capable of detecting a motionless occupant includes an image capture device. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The ceiling fan controller of claim 1 wherein the one or more sensors includes at least one temperature sensor: wherein the ceiling fan motor control circuitry to further: determine the rotational speed and the direction of rotation of the ceiling fan motor based, at least in part, on information received at least one temperature sensor, wherein the received information includes data representative of a current temperature of the space. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The ceiling fan controller of claim 1 wherein the ceiling fan motor control circuitry to further: determine the rotational speed and the direction of rotation of the ceiling fan motor based, at least in part, on information received via the communication interface circuitry, wherein the received information includes data representative of a geolocation of the ceiling fan motor. ### Claim 6 (depends on 4) The ceiling fan controller of claim 4 wherein the one or more sensors includes at least one humidity sensor: wherein the ceiling fan motor control circuitry to further: determine the rotational speed and the direction of rotation of the ceiling fan motor based, at least in part, on information received via the communication interface circuitry, wherein the received information includes data representative of a current humidity in the space. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The ceiling fan controller of claim 5 wherein the ceiling fan motor control circuitry to further: determine the rotational speed and the direction of rotation of the ceiling fan motor based, at least in part, on information stored in the memory circuitry, wherein the stored information includes data representative of one or more user preferences. ### Claim 8 (depends on 5) The ceiling fan controller of claim 5 wherein the ceiling fan motor control circuitry to further: determine a fan speed and a fan airflow direction based on a calculated Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) value for the occupant. ### Claim 9 A ceiling fan control method, comprising: detecting, by one or more sensors that include at least one sensor capable of detecting a motionless occupant, an activity level of the occupant of a space that includes a ceiling fan motor; determining, by ceiling fan motor control circuitry communicatively coupled to the one or more sensors, a rotational speed of the ceiling fan motor based on: the detected activity level of the occupant of the space; temperature data received from one or more temperature sensors disposed in the space; and humidity data received from one or more humidity sensors disposed in the space and determining, by ceiling fan motor control circuitry, a direction of rotation of the ceiling fan motor based on: the detected activity level of the occupant of the space; the temperature data received from the one or more temperature sensors; and the humidity data received from the one or more humidity sensors. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein detecting an activity level of the occupant of the space further includes: detecting, via one or more thermopile arrays, an activity level of the occupant of the space. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein detecting an activity level of the occupant of the space further includes: detecting, via one or more image capture devices, an activity level of the occupant of the space. ### Claim 12 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, further comprising: receiving, by the ceiling fan motor control circuitry via communicatively coupled communication interface circuitry, information that includes data representative of a current date and a current time-of-day; determining, by the ceiling fan motor control circuitry, the rotational speed of the ceiling fan motor based, at least in part, on the received data representative of the current date and the current time-of-day; and determining, by the ceiling fan motor control circuitry, the direction of rotation of the ceiling fan motor based, at least in part, on the received data representative of the current date and the current time-of-day. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, further comprising: receiving, by the ceiling fan motor control circuitry, information that includes data representative of a geolocation of the ceiling fan motor; determining, by the ceiling fan motor control circuitry, the rotational speed of the ceiling fan motor based, at least in part, on the received data representative of the geolocation of the ceiling fan motor; and determining, by the ceiling fan motor control circuitry, the direction of rotation of the ceiling fan motor based, at least in part, on the received data representative of the geolocation of the ceiling fan motor. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, further comprising: retrieving, by the ceiling fan motor control circuitry, information that includes data representative of one or more user preferences based on the current time-of-day and the current date; determining, by the ceiling fan motor control circuitry, the rotational speed of the ceiling fan motor based, at least in part, on the retrieved data representative of the one or more user preferences; and determining, by the ceiling fan control circuitry, the direction of rotation of the ceiling fan motor based, at least in part, on the received data representative of the one or more user preferences. ### Claim 15 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, further comprising: determining, by the ceiling fan motor control circuitry, a Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) value for the occupant of the space; determining, by the ceiling fan motor control circuitry, the rotational speed of the ceiling fan motor based, at least in part, on the determined PMV value for the occupant of the space; and determining, by the ceiling fan control circuitry, the direction of rotation of the ceiling fan motor based, at least in part, on the determined PMV value for the occupant of the space. ### Claim 16 A non-transitory, machine-readable, storage device that includes instructions that, when executed by ceiling fan motor control circuitry causes the control circuitry to: detect, via one or more sensors that include at least one sensor capable of detecting a motionless occupant, an activity level of the occupant of a space that includes a ceiling fan motor; receive, from one or more temperature sensors in the space, data indicative of a temperature in the space; receive, from one or more relative humidity sensors disposed in the space, data indicative of a relative humidity in the space; determine a rotational speed of the ceiling fan motor based on: the detected activity level of the occupant of the space; the received temperature data; and the received relative humidity data; and determine a direction of rotation of the ceiling fan motor based on: the detected activity level of the occupant of the space; the received temperature data; and the received relative humidity data. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The non-transitory, machine-readable, storage device of claim 16, wherein the instructions that cause the ceiling fan motor control circuitry to detect the activity level of the occupant of the space further cause the control circuitry to: detect the activity level of the occupant of the space using one or more thermopile arrays. ### Claim 18 (depends on 16) The non-transitory, machine-readable, storage device of claim 16, wherein the instructions that cause the ceiling fan motor control circuitry to detect the activity level of the occupant of the space further causes the control circuitry to: detect the activity level of the occupant of the space using one or more image capture devices. ### Claim 19 (depends on 16) The non-transitory, machine-readable, storage device of claim 16 wherein the instructions, when executed by the ceiling fan motor control circuitry, further cause the control circuitry to: receive, from one or more temperature sensors in the space, data indicative of a temperature in the space; determine the rotational speed of the ceiling fan motor based, at least in part, on the received temperature data; and determine the direction of rotation of the ceiling fan motor based, at least in part, on the received temperature data. ### Claim 20 (depends on 16) The non-transitory, machine-readable, storage device of claim 16 wherein the instructions, when executed by the ceiling fan motor control circuitry, further cause the control circuitry to: receive information that includes data representative of a geolocation of the ceiling fan motor; determine the rotational speed of the ceiling fan motor based, at least in part, on the received data representative of the geolocation of the ceiling fan motor; and determine the direction of rotation of the ceiling fan motor based, at least in part, on the received data representative of the geolocation of the ceiling fan motor. ### Claim 21 (depends on 16) The non-transitory, machine-readable, storage device of claim 16 wherein the instructions, when executed by the ceiling fan motor control circuitry, further cause the control circuitry to: retrieve information that includes data representative of one or more user preferences based on a current time and a current date; determine the rotational speed of the ceiling fan motor based, at least in part, on the retrieved data representative of the one or more user preferences; and determine the direction of rotation of the ceiling fan motor based, at least in part, on the received data representative of the one or more user preferences. ### Claim 22 (depends on 16) The non-transitory, machine-readable, storage device of claim 16 wherein the instructions, when executed by the ceiling fan motor control circuitry, further cause the control circuitry to: determine a Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) value for the occupant of the space; determine the rotational speed of the ceiling fan motor based, at least in part, on the determined PMV value for the occupant of the space; and determine the direction of rotation of the ceiling fan motor based, at least in part, on the determined PMV value for the occupant of the space.