Thermostat with adjustable color for aesthetics and readability

#This application is related to U.S. application Ser. No. 10/897,909, filed Jul. 23, 2004, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for everything that it teaches.

#This invention relates to heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, and more particularly to a thermostatic control unit, such as a wall mounted thermostat, or a temperature indicating device such as a thermometer, or other types of temperature responsive devices of the type used in HVAC systems.

#Most HVAC systems that provide temperature control of architectural spaces (e.g., a room) include thermostatic controllers or thermostats mounted on the walls of the spaces for sensing and controlling the temperatures of the spaces. Such thermostatic controllers typically include an internal temperature sensitive element for sensing the temperature of the space, an input element for receiving an input designating a desired temperature, and a dial or digital display of the thermostat's operating conditions. Usually the temperature sensing element is housed in the thermostat but it may also be external to the housing and remotely located. A typical controller or thermostat also includes output elements such as relays, switches, or electronic drive circuits for sending control signals to the HVAC system.

#FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary environment for a thermostat according to the invention;

#FIG. 2 is an exemplary embodiment of a thermostat having the features of the invention, where a partially translucent housing and a display are colored by variable lighting sourcing from a location internal to the thermostat;

#FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the internal space of an embodiment of the thermostat shown in FIG. 2, illustrating separate variable light sources illuminating the housing and backlighting the display;

#FIGS. 1-3 show a first embodiment of a thermostat, according to the invention, in a form of a wall mounted thermostat 50. Referring to FIG. 2, the thermostat, 50 includes a variable source of light 76 (FIG. 3) within a housing 54 with at least a portion 62 of the housing 54 being translucent to the light radiating outwardly from the light source 76 and illuminating at least the portion 62 of the housing 54. Alternatively, the entire housing 54 is translucent to the light emitted from its interior. As shown in FIG. 2, the thermostat 50 further includes a user input elements 56 for manually adjusting one or more characteristics of the light. The user input elements 56 are disposed within a housing 54 and, in this embodiment, comprise a plurality of buttons 56a, 56b, 56c, 56d, and 56e. In other embodiments, user input elements 56 include a touchpad, a touch screen, or other conventional user input devices and combinations thereof. The thermostat 50 further includes a display 60 for displaying the present and desired temperatures and graphic user interface options. Additionally, the thermostat 50 includes a plurality of status light emitting diodes (LEDs) 64 for displaying the active thermostat operating mode such as a heating, cooling, or a fan status mode illustrated in FIG. 2.

#Referring to FIG. 3, to control the operation of the HVAC system, the processor 68 receives a desired temperature input Td from the user input elements 56. The temperature sensor 58, in turn, senses the present room temperature of the space and provides a signal Tp, indicative of the present room temperature, to the processor 68. The processor 68 compares the present room temperature to the desired room temperature, and causes the output driver circuit 70 to generate an output signal 72 for controlling a heating, ventilating and air conditioning system in a conventional manner. A suitable example of processor 68 is model ATMEGA 16 from Atmel. In further embodiments, a different processor may be used, such as one capable of receiving inputs indicative of the desired and present temperatures for controlling an HVAC system and having the capability of controlling the characteristics of at least one source of light via a manually adjustable user input.

#Preferably, visible color of the light is among the manually adjustable characteristics of the light radiating from the light source 76. As illustrated in FIG. 1, when a thermostat is visible from a location which contains items of a user's décor, a user may wish to adjust the thermostat color in order to complement the colors within the room 52, such as those of a wall 53 or furniture 51, for example. Other manually adjustable characteristics of the light radiating from the light source 76 include duration of the light, such as whether the light is activated permanently or only temporarily, as well as the overall intensity of the light to accommodate for various ambient lighting conditions.