Rapid programming of thermostat
Contents
1. temperature and fan settings the number of decisions the consumer must consider could require more than one hundred inputs In order to avoid such lengthy programming time the present invention provides for the seven day programming mode Step C 0026 When the PROG touch sensitive area 156 is depressed for a duration longer than the predetermined time e g 3 seconds a call is made to initiate the seven day programming mode Step C Once the user selects the seven day programming mode the seven day programming mode Sep 13 2012 icon 124 will be displayed on the display 12 In the embodi ment depicted in FIG 3 the seven day programming icon 124 is M TU W THE SA SU which indicates each of the seven days of the week simultaneously Other seven day program ming icons may be provided such as a 7 DAY or calendar icon Therefore when the seven day programming mode icon 124 is displayed the user will understand that he or she is programming the time and temperature set points for each of the seven days of the week simultaneously In an embodi ment the user may program all of the morning times simul taneously when the MORN icon 125 is displayed Other icons such as DAY EVE and NIGHT will be dis played in order to allow for rapid programming by a fractional period such as the daytime evening or night periods A first event is selected by touching the SYSTEM button 152 to select HEA2. dis play i e the rocker switch 20 0025 Turning to FIGS 3 5 the operation of the seven day whole week programming functionality of the present invention will be described The flow chart of FIG 5 indicates the steps A K followed by the thermostat 10 and the displays for such corresponding operations are depicted in FIGS 3 and 4 Step A requires the user to activate the PROG touch sensitive area 156 in order to select the individual day pro gramming mode or the seven day programming mode The system is programmed to include a pre determined time trig ger with respect to the duration that the program button 156 is depressed In an embodiment the predetermined time trigger is set for3 seconds If the program button is depressed for less than 3 seconds Step B is triggered and there is a call for the individual day programming routine and the individual day icon 122 as shown in FIG 2 will appear on the display 12 so that the user may program the time and temperature set points as the display is incremented day by day As discussed above the individual day programming mode will be more time consuming than the seven day programming mode However if each day of the week requires different set points then the user may prefer to implement the individual day programming mode Step B If for each day of the week the user must determine and input set points for each day using the DAY TIME button 154 and adjusting the hour minute
3. including the display screen 12 having multiple icons displayed thereon The display includes numeric icons 110 alpha numeric icons 120 and graphical icon 140 Also included on the display are touch sensitive input control areas 150a 1506 150c FIG 3 4 In the embodiment displayed in FIG 2 the numeric icon 70 110 Sep 13 2012 is an indication of the current room temperature and is indi cated as such by the ROOM icon 110 As well an alpha numeric icon is indicating that the HVAC cooling system is running as indicated by the COOL ON icon 115 Other numeric icons 110 are displayed including 70 which is displayed below the alpha numeric icon SET AT 117 so 70 is the set point at which the thermostat is set to trigger the HVAC system Numeric icon 12 00 119 indicates a set point at which the temperature should be at 70 degrees According to the alpha numeric icon TU MORN 122 indi cating that on Tuesday mornings at 12 00 p m the set point should be 70 degrees Fahrenheit The display of the TU MORN icon 122 indicates that a single day programming mode has been selected by depressing the SYSTEM touch sensitive area 152 for less than three seconds 0020 The graphical icon 140 in this embodiment is a representative pictorial of a fan blade and indicates that the fan mode is on and running Other types of graphical icons may be provided on the display 12 0021 Other alp
4. thermostat and activate specific modes of operation or make setting adjustments Some thermostats are known to have mechanical buttons or switches hard buttons Such hard buttons are commonly used in combination with touch sen sitive areas soft buttons on a LCD Some thermostats have multiple hard buttons on different portions of the thermostat housing Typically the user must program the thermostat by using the soft or hard buttons to adjust set points e g time and corresponding temperature for each day of the week The process of programming is typically repeated seven times so that the proper set points are programmed for each week day and weekend day When programming includes setting hour minute temperature and fan settings the total number steps and inputs required to complete the programming for seven days may exceed 100 steps The present invention overcomes many of the above mentioned disadvantages of previously known thermostats and allows for more rapid pro gramming of the thermostat SUMMARY 0004 The present invention provides for a method for programming a thermostat comprising the steps of providing a thermostat having a display and buttons for controlling at least two modes of a thermostat including a heating mode and a cooling mode and a thermostat capable of controlling the heating and cooling modes for each of seven days acti vating a first programming mode in order to select all seven days simulta
5. 2012 0232703 A1 3 Patent Application Publication Sep 13 2012 Sheet 3 of 4 US 2012 0232703 A1 Figure 4 Patent Application Publication Sep 13 2012 Sheet 4 of 4 US 2012 0232703 A1 Dar iritividiuat Ray Pron sinninlaaaeiteatneaieninna teniy US 2012 0232703 Al RAPID PROGRAMMING OF THERMOSTAT 0001 The present invention pertains to a display and method for rapid programming of a thermostat in order to control multiple functions of an HVAC system controlled by the thermostat BACKGROUND 0002 Thermostats typically have multiple functions that require user input such as setting time of day day of week programming temperature set points or programming user settings Control panels typically include an assortment of buttons for operating the thermostat and adjusting the set tings Adjustment of the thermostat settings using the assort ment of buttons can often times be confusing to the user require detailed review of user manual and consume much time in order to properly operate the thermostat and adjust the settings to the user s liking 0003 In some cases a liquid crystal display LCD may be provided that includes touch sensitive areas populated on the display screen The touch sensitive area may include numer als word phrases or graphics collectively icons that appear on the display screen By touching the appropriate icon the user can make adjustments to the functioning of the
6. T mode for winter or COOL mode for summer 0027 Ina commercial programming mode the time and temperature set points may be adjusted for a fractional period such as an OCCUPIED or UNOCCUPIED period Fol lowing selection of the HEAT or COOL mode the OCCUPIED period event time and temperature can be pro grammed and the OCCUPIED icon 167 can be pro grammed and the OCCUPIED icon will be displayed FIG 4 Thereafter the UNOCCUPIED period event may be programmed and an UNOCCUPIED icon can be dis played 0028 The microprocessor 14 advances the display logic to Step D which provides for the alpha numeric icon 160 indi cating the set point for the time of day The alpha numeric icon 160 will flash e g on and off or lighter and darker to identify for the user that the time of day may be adjusted As depicted in FIG 3 the alpha numeric icon 160 is a display of the time 6 00 a m and the numeral 6 is flashing along with the a m flashing to indicate that the user may adjust the hour set point In an embodiment the set point for the time may be adjusted by pressing the rocker switch 20 FIG 2 Once the user is satisfied with the set point for the time as indicated by the alpha numeric icon 160 the user will press the NEXT touch sensitive area 155 In an embodiment the PROG button 156 will disappear once the seven day pro gramming Ste
7. US 20120232703A1 as United States a2 Patent Application Publication o Pub No US 2012 0232703 A1 Moore et al 43 Pub Date Sep 13 2012 54 75 73 21 22 RAPID PROGRAMMING OF THERMOSTAT Inventors Glenn A Moore Geneva IL US Daniel Poplawski Oswego IL US Robert M Rados Yorkville IL US Assignee Braeburn Systems LLC Montgomery IL US Appl No 13 045 370 Filed Mar 10 2011 Publication Classification 51 Int Cl G05D 23 19 2006 01 GO6F 3 048 2006 01 62 US CL fata 700 278 715 772 57 ABSTRACT The invention provides for a controller such as a thermostat for an HVAC system comprising a housing having a circuit board and a display screen the display screen having at least one alpha numeric icon and a group of input control areas A microprocessor is provided for controlling the display screen Buttons are pressed in order to program set points of the thermostat so that seven days may be programmed simulta neously The display includes a seven day icon so that the user can program the thermostat set points rapidly e g setting time and temperature settings with minimal steps US 2012 0232703 A1 Sep 13 2012 Sheet 1 of 4 Patent Application Publication paur H 0 seur puir A E E HRUG Be n IAH Patent Application Publication Sa Sep 13 2012 Sheet 2 of 4 note 458 EAA aman ie US
8. at that icon may be adjusted via the pressing of buttons on the thermostat 10 After the fan setting is adjusted the user presses the NEXT touch sensitive area 155 to advance to the next step in the sequence 0032 At Step H the system determines whether more events need to be programmed For example if the user has just completed setting for the MORN period the next event may be to set the DAY period Then the sequence of steps to adjust the hour will begin again at Step D subsequently followed by the adjustment of the set points at Steps E G Again at Step H the system will determine if there are any more events to program 0033 Ifthere are no more events to program the next step is to exit the seven day programming mode at Step J by completing a 30 second timeout or by pressing the RETURN button 150c which will cause the home screen to be displayed For example the display 12 as depicted in FIG 2 may be displayed Then at Step K the programming has ended and the user may allow the thermostat to run automati cally according to the set points inputted Thus it can be understood that in less than twenty steps via use of the seven day programming mode the entire week worth of set points can be programmed into the thermostat This programming can be undertaken without requiring an increment from a first day to a second day etc such as required during the indi vidual day programming mode In an embodiment t
9. e icons 9 The display of claim 8 wherein the seven day icon comprises an alphanumeric representa tion of each of the seven days of a week 10 The display of claim 8 wherein the seven day icon comprises M TU W TH F SA and SU 11 The display of claim 8 wherein the temperature and time icons comprise an alphanumeric representation 12 The display of claim 8 further comprising a rocker switch for adjusting set points for temperature and time for the modes 13 The display of claim 8 further comprising a fan button for selecting a fan mode for the heat and cool modes 14 The display of claim 8 wherein the program button includes a predetermined time trigger so that pressing the program button for a period of time greater than the predeter mined time trigger results in activation of a seven day pro gramming mode and pressing the program button for a period of time less than the predetermined time trigger results in activation of an individual day programming mode 15 The display of claim 8 wherein the system button and program button are touch sensitive areas displayed on the display screen of the thermostat 16 A computer readable media having stored thereon com puter executable instructions for programming a thermostat the instructions when executed by a computing device per forming steps comprising displaying a system button displaying a program button displaying a seven day icon displaying a time ico
10. eactive For example when the SYSTEM touch sensitive area 150b is pressed the AUTO alpha numeric icon will be high lighted or made bold to indicate that the automatic feature of the system has been activated Likewise when the SYS TEM touch region 150d is pressed a second time by a user s finger the alpha numeric icon 120 COOL will be displayed as being activated Such activation may be indicated by mak ing the COOL alpha numeric icons 120 bold However in this embodiment neither the AUTO or COOL area of the display screen 12 is touch sensitive Similarly the area where the AUTO alpha numeric icon 120 is displayed below the FAN touch area 1506 is not touch sensitive 0024 The initial setting of the thermostat 10 involves con figuration of installer settings in the embodiment disclosed in FIG 2 The installer settings are selected by pressing the SYSTEM button 152 and CONFIG button 154 simulta neously By holding down the buttons 152 154 simulta neously for three seconds the installer settings mode will be activated It is noted that the term button refers to the combination of the alpha numeric icon for example SYS TEM and the touch sensitive area 150 designated by the rectangular outline of the pad Soft button refers to those buttons located on the touch screen display 12 and HARD button refers to a button separate from the touch screen
11. ent of the present invention is depicted with respect to the following FIGS 1 5 and in particular an overview of the electronic circuitry and components of the thermostat 10 of the present invention will be described with respect to FIG 1 The thermostat 10 includes a display 12 including touch sensitive area 13 a microprocessor 14 and switch 20 Switch 1 is provided which may be opened and closed in order to signal the microprocessor 14 e g to incre ment the selected set point As well a Switch 2 is provided which may be opened or closed to signal the microprocessor 14 e g to decrement the selected set point The micropro cessor controls the HVAC system 21 attached to the thermo stat 10 and also is connected to the display 12 which allows for user input to adjust the system For example in a typical HVAC system 21 the thermostat 10 would be used to adjust the heating or cooling of the system in order to provide a comfortable environment for the occupants The micropro cessor 14 includes ROM which may have software loaded into it in order to control the thermostat 10 and to provide for the display screen functionality The display screen 12 includes displayable touch sensitive areas see FIG 2 As will be discussed in greater detail below the combination of the actuation of Switch 1 and Switch 2 via the rocker switch 20 and the touch sensitive areas 13 on the display screen 12 allow the microprocessor 14 to monitor and cont
12. ha numeric icons 120 are included within touch sensitive area 150a 150b For example as depicted on the display 12 in the embodiment of FIG 2 the touch sensi tive area 150a 150b that are provided and designated with alpha numeric icons 120 are CLEAN CONFIG HUMIDITY OUTDOOR SYSTEM FAN PROG PROGRAM HOLD DAY TIME In the embodiment depicted in FIG 2 the touch sensitive area 150a 150b are designated by rectangular outlines provided the display screen 12 In an alternate embodiment the display screen 12 may have no touch sensitive areas and may function solely to display alpha numeric 120 graphical 140 and numeric icons 110 In such an alternate embodiment the housing may include the rocker switch 20 and other mechanical buttons to operate the thermostat For example a first mechanical button for the menu or system function and a second mechanical button for the program function may be provided adjacent the rocker switch 20 0022 As depicted in FIG 2 coincident with the touch sensitive area 150a 150b displayed on the display screen 12 are sensing areas provided by a touch sensitive area above the display screen 12 For example in the display for the touch sensitive area on the right side of the display screen 12 in cluding CLEAN CONFIG HUMIDITY OUT DOOR forming a row of four icon touch sensitive area 50a 1505 a single long touch activation area on t
13. he sys tem may provide for a five day programming mode e g a 5 2 day residential or commercial mode for Monday Friday using one 4 event schedule and Saturday and Sunday pro grammed with a different 4 event schedule 0034 While various concepts have been described in detail it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and alternatives to those concepts could be developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure Therefore a person skilled in the art applying ordinary skill will be able to practice the invention set forth in the claims without undue experimentation It will addition ally be appreciated that the particular concepts exposed herein are meant to be illustrative only and not limiting to the scope of the invention which is to be given the full breath of the appended claims and any equivalents thereof What is claimed is 1 A method for programming a thermostat comprising the steps of providing a thermostat having a display and buttons for controlling at least two modes of the thermostat includ ing a heating mode and a cooling mode and the thermo stat capable of controlling the heating and cooling modes for every day of the week activating a first programming mode in order to select seven days for setting the heating mode for all seven days simultaneously displaying a seven day icon on the display during the heating mode selection activating a second programming mode i
14. he touch mem brane above the screen layer 12 will be provided Likewise on the left side of the display screen 12 an L shape touch sensitive area on the membrane below the touch screen layer 12 will be provided over the touch sensitive area 150a 1506 on the display screen 12 coinciding with the SYSTEM FAN PROG HOLD AND DAY TIM icons Thus in the embodiment described above it may be understood that there is no touch sensing capabilities in the center of the display screen 12 where the numeric icons 110 for the current room temperature set point or time set point are displayed In the embodiment depicted in FIG 2 the alpha numeric icons 120 provided in each of the touch sensitive area 150a 1506 are modes of operation for the thermostat 10 Generally speaking the modes of operation may be activated by touch ing the display screen 12 associated with the particular mode as identified by the alpha numeric icons 120 For example the action of the user s finger applied to the display screen 12 at the area identified by the alpha numeric icon CLEAN 120 bounded by the rectangle indicating the touch sensitive US 2012 0232703 Al area 150a will activate the CLEAN mode and allow for setting of the filter cleaning mode or reminder 0023 In an embodiment the touch sense regions of the touch sensitive membrane below the touch sensitive area 1506 for SYSTEM and FAN will not be touch r
15. n US 2012 0232703 Al displaying a temperature icon selecting the seven day icon upon activation of the program button selecting the seven day icon upon activation of the program button selecting one of a heat mode or cool mode upon activation of the program button and simultaneously programming seven days for the heat mode or cool mode by adjusting set points via the time and temperature icons 17 The media of claim 16 wherein the seven day icon comprises an alphanumeric representa tion of each of the seven days of a week Sep 13 2012 18 The media of claim 16 wherein the temperature and time icons comprise an alphanumeric representation 19 The media of claim 16 further comprising a rocker switch for adjusting set points for temperature and time for the modes 20 The media of claim 16 wherein complete programming of seven days for heating or cooling may be provided without requiring an increment froma first day to a second day during user input to program the thermostat x 3 x x x
16. n order to select all seven days for setting the cooling mode for all seven days simultaneously and displaying the seven day icon on the display during the cooling mode selection Sep 13 2012 2 The method of claim 1 wherein the buttons are mechanical buttons disposed on a housing of the thermostat 3 The method of claim 1 wherein the buttons are touch sensitive areas displayed on a display screen of the thermostat 4 The method of claim 1 wherein the buttons are a combination of a mechanical button and touch sensitive area button 5 The method of claim 1 wherein the mechanical button is a rocker switch 6 The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of selecting the temperature and duration for a fractional day period including one of a morning period a daytime period an evening period a night period an occupied period or an unoccupied period 7 The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of selecting a fan setting 8 A thermostat display for programming a thermostat comprising a thermostat including a system button and a program button a display screen including a seven day icon a temperature icon and a time icon wherein activation of the program button selects the seven day icon and activation of the system button provides for selection of one of a heat mode and cool mode and for programming of all seven days simultaneously for one of the modes by adjustment of the temperature and tim
17. neously displaying a seven day icon on the dis play during the heating mode selection activating a second programming mode in order to select all seven days for the cooling mode for all seven days simultaneously and display ing the seven day icon on the display during the cooling mode selection 0005 In an embodiment the buttons may be mechanical buttons disposed on a housing of the thermostat In an embodiment the buttons may be touch sensitive areas dis played on a display screen of the thermostat In an embodi ment the buttons may be a combination of a mechanical Sep 13 2012 button and a touch sensitive area button In an embodiment a mechanical button may be a rocker switch 0006 In an embodiment the method may comprise the step of selecting the temperature and duration for a fractional day period such as a morning period a daytime period an evening period a night period occupied period or unoccu pied period In an embodiment the method may further com prise the step of selecting a fan setting 0007 The present invention may further comprise a ther mostat display for programming a thermostat comprising a thermostat including a system button and a program button a display screen including a seven day icon a temperature icon and a time icon wherein activation of the program button selects the seven day icon and activation of the system button provides for selection of one of a heat mode and a cool mode and fo
18. p D begins as shown in FIG 4 0029 Step E is initiated by flashing the minute icon 160 e g 00 In an embodiment the minutes may be adjusted in ten minute increments by depressing the rocker switch 20 FIG 2 When the NEXT touch sensitive area 155 is pressed the selected item will stop flashing After the minutes are set to the appropriate time setting the user will press the NEXT touch sensitive area 155 to advance to the next step Pressing the BACK touch sensitive area 157 will allow for navigation backwards In an embodiment the system will return to home or normal mode if no button is pressed for 30 seconds 0030 Step F is implemented by the flashing of the tem perature alpha numeric icon 165 as shown in FIG 4 The flashing of the temperature icon 165 demonstrates to the user that he or she may program the set point for the temperature for each of the seven days In an embodiment the temperature may be adjusted in 1 F or 0 5 C increments by pressing the rocker switch 20 FIG 2 As depicted in FIG 4 the tempera ture is indicated as 75 or 75 degrees Fahrenheit Celsius mode may also be provided 0031 Once the set point for the temperature is appropriate the user may press the NEXT touch sensitive area 155 to US 2012 0232703 Al move to Step G in order to adjust the fan setting As discussed above the FAN icon may flash or provide some other type of icon indicating th
19. r programming all seven days simultaneously for one of the modes by adjustment of the temperature and time icons 0008 Inan embodiment the seven day icon may comprise an alpha numeric representation of each of the seven days of the week In an embodiment the icon may comprise M TU W THE SA SU Inan embodiment the temperature and time icons may comprise an alpha numeric representation In an embodiment a rocker switch may be provided for adjusting set points for temperature and time of the modes In an embodiment a fan button may be provided for selecting a fan mode for the heat and cool modes 0009 Inan embodiment the program button may include a pre determined time trigger so that pressing the program button for a period of time greater than the pre determined time trigger results in activation of a seven day programming mode and pressing the program button for a period of time less than the predetermined time trigger results in activation of an individual day programming mode In an embodiment the system button and program button may be touch sensitive areas displayed on the display screen of the thermostat 0010 The present invention may also provide for a com puter readable media having stored thereon computer execut able instructions for programming a thermostat the instruc tions when executed by a computing device perform the steps comprising displaying a system button displaying a program button displaying a seven da
20. rol the air handler HVAC system 21 or any other system to which the thermostat 10 is connected 0018 The physical construction of the invention is described with respect to FIG 2 as follows A thermostat 10 or controller includes a display screen 12 and a printed circuit board mounted within a housing A rocker switch mechani cal button 20 is formed ofa longitudinal bar having a first end 22 and a second end 23 The thermostat 10 includes a front face The rocker switch 20 is mounted so that the switch button is exposed in the front face 17 and may be easily operated by a user As shown in FIG 2 the thermostat 10 is oriented so that the first end 22 of the rocker switch 20 is oriented at the upper portion of the thermostat 10 and the second end 23 of the rocker switch 20 is located toward the lower portion of the thermostat In this orientation the rocker switch 20 may provide for the first end 22 to act as the up incrementation or adjustment of a set point and the second end 23 indicates down decrementation or adjustment of a set point The rocker switch 20 may also adjust modes of the thermostat 10 by rocking the switch to the up position by depressing the first end 22 or down position by depressing the second end 23 A housing 31 supports the rocker switch 20 and display 12 0019 Turning to FIGS 2 4 the standard operations of the thermostat will be described in further detail FIG 2 depicts the thermostat 10
21. y icon displaying a time icon displaying a temperature icon selecting the seven day icon upon activation of the program button selecting one of the heat mode or cool mode upon activation of the program button and simultaneously programming seven days for the heat mode or cool mode by adjusting set points via the time and temperature icons 0011 Inanembodiment the seven day program may com prise an alpha numeric representation of each of the seven days of a week In an embodiment the time and temperature icons may comprise an alpha numeric representation In an embodiment a rocker switch for adjusting the set points for temperature and time modes may be provided for a period In an embodiment the complete programming of the seven days for the heating or cooling may be provided without requiring an increment from a first day to a second day during user input to program the thermostat BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 0012 For a better understanding of the subject invention reference may be had to embodiments shown in the attached drawings in which 0013 FIG 1 is a schematic diagram of the present inven tion US 2012 0232703 Al 0014 FIG 2 is a plan view of a thermostat of the present invention 0015 FIGS 3 4 are diagrammatic views of the display screen illustrating examples of operation of the present inven tion and 0016 FIG 5 is flow diagram of the present invention DETAILED DESCRIPTION 0017 An embodim
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