US 5,839,654 AGranted

Portable air comfort system thermostat enabling personal localized control of room temperature

AssigneeInnova Patent Trust

InventorHarold J. Weber

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Abstract

Wireless control of an air conditioner or space heater by a portable, easily relocatable remote thermostat combined with a control signal transmitter which is placed on a table, desk or stand near an occupant of a room or office to set the operation of a cooling or heating source in order to maintain a more uniform level of air temperature comfort in the portion of the room where the thermostat is located. A wireless control receiver responsive to the transmitted control signal is included as a portion of a plug-in adapter module that plugs directly into an AC power wall receptacle. An ordinary window air conditioner or portable space heater is then merely plugged into the adapter module which provides ON and OFF control in response to the remote thermostat. A receiver is inclusible in a fixed-location wall thermostat, enabling the portable remote thermostat to maintain control of a centralized climate control system.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A supplementary temperature control method providing for a localized zone control of an ambient room temperature produced by an unitary air conditioning system equipped with an integral temperature control thermostat, comprising steps of:

setting the integral temperature control thermostat to a first bound temperature as an operational limit;
placing a physically unconstrained portable thermosensor in an occupant determinable local zone location within a usually remote portion of a room relative with the unitary air conditioning system and usually proximate with the occupant;
first presetting a first temperature response threshold level for the portable thermosensor;
sensing local zone ambient temperature in the occupant determined said local zone location;
sending a first encoded wireless control signal when change in the sensed local zone temperature increases above the first temperature response threshold level;
remotely receiving the encoded said wireless control signal;
sourcing a.c. electric power through an electric receptacle device;
fitting the unitary air conditioning system with an electric cord and electric plug device;
interjoining the electric plug device, an electric switching device and the electric receptacle device;
turning-ON the electric switching device in automatic response to the remotely received said wireless control signal to admit a flow of the a.c. electric power between the electric receptacle device and the electric plug device;
and,
thereby modulating operation of the unitary air conditioning system to produce a a cooling of the ambient local zone temperature in response to the remotely received said encoded wireless control signal.

9 more elements

A remote temperature management method for an unitary air conditioning system equipped with an integral temperature control thermostat and comprising steps of:

setting the integral temperature control thermostat to a first bound temperature for predetermining a minimum level of cooling temperature limit;
placing a substantially unconstrained portable wireless thermostat within a climate controlled room to be local zone ambient room temperature responsive;
first determining a first preferred level for the local zone ambient room temperature surrounding a room occupant;
first entering a first setting for the portable wireless thermostat to establish the first preferred level as a first desired temperature threshold;
sending a first encoded wireless control signal in response to the local zone ambient temperature increasing above the first desired temperature threshold;
receiving the first encoded wireless control signal by an a.c. electric power controller;
turning ON an a.c. electric power flow through the a.c. electric power controller in response to the fit encoded wireless control signal sent by the portable wireless thermostats;
turning OFF the a.c. electric power flow in a determined absence of the first encoded wireless control signal;
interjoining the a.c. electric power controller between a source of a.c. electric power and a power input terminal portion of the unitary air conditioning system;
modulating the unitary air conditioning system operation through an alternation the ON and OFF flow of a.c. electric power determined by the a.c. electric power controller;
thereby enabling a localized control of the local zone ambient room temperature surrounding the portable wireless thermostat.

8 more elements

A unitary air comfort system including an integral thermostat device for presetting a temperature limit in a fixed location zone proximate with the unitary climate control system and comprising:

a source of a.c. electric power;
a portable wireless thermostat apparatus which may be placed at a substantial distance relative with the air comfort system and usually sited near an occupant of a room to encourage a sensing of ambient room temperature in an occupied local zone;
a first temperature threshold setting means maintained by a room occupant;
a first temperature sensor means included in the portable wireless thermostat apparatus which is responsive to the first temperature threshold setting to produce a first thermostatic response signal when the sensed said ambient room temperature exceeds the first temperature threshold setting and produce a second thermostatic response signal when the sensed said ambient room temperature subtends the first temperature threshold setting;
a wireless control signal producing means;
a modulating means for encoding the wireless control signal with at least one of the first thermostatic response signal and the second thermostatic response signal;
a receptor means for remotely receiving the encoded said wireless control signal;
a means for demodulating the encoded said wireless control signal into at least one of the first thermostatic response signal and the second thermostatic response signal;
and,
a power control means separably coupled between the source of a.c. electric power and a power input terminal means portion of the air comfort system for turning ON a.c. electric power flow to the air comfort system in response to the demodulated said first thermostatic response signal and further enabling at least one of a turning OFF the a.c. electric power flow in response to the demodulated said second thermostatic response signal and the turning OFF the a.c. electric power flow in a determined absence of the demodulated said first thermostatic response signal.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.