Power stealing circuitry for a control device
AssigneeHoneywell International Inc.
InventorsPierre Simard, Benoit Meilleur, Daniel Tousignant
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Abstract
A power stealing circuit for stealing power to operate a control device is disclosed. In one illustrative embodiment, power may be periodically or intermittently diverted from a power source to a power stealing block. When power is diverted to the power stealing block, the power stealing block may steal power from the power source and store the stolen power on a storage device. The storage device may then provide operating power to a control device. In some embodiments, the power stealing block may include a first path for charging the storage device when a switch is ON, and a second path for charging the storage device when the switch is off.
Claims3
A method for stealing power from an AC power source, the stolen power being used, at least at times, to power a control device, wherein the control device is configured to switch power “on” and “off” from the AC power source to a building control device, the method comprising:
- periodically or intermittently diverting power from the AC power source to a power stealing block;
- when power is diverted to the power stealing block, charging a charge storage device by supplying a first non-zero current via a first path if it is desirable to charge the charge storage device faster, and charging the charge storage device by supplying a second non-zero current via a second path if it is desirable to charge the charge storage device slower, wherein the first non-zero current is different from the second non-zero current;
- and
- providing operating power to the control device from the charge storage device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.