Programmable thermostat incorporating a liquid crystal display
Contents
1. icon button 141 a return to the first level normal operation pictorial 113 shown in FIG 6 B for DATE TIME SETTINGS button 142 for enter ing current date and time information C for SET SCREEN button 145 for changing screen settings for the touch screen 20 25 40 45 60 65 10 D for CLEAN SCREEN button 146 to wipe the screen e g with a lightly dampened cloth without accidentally changing any of the settings this function times out after a few seconds E for button FILTER MONITOR button 147 entering for display at pictorial 113 or similar touch screen a reminder to change or clean filters on a specified schedule F for VACATION SETTINGS button 148 for entering appropriate vacation system settings G for PROGRAM SETTINGS button 143 for entering automatic temperature set point adjustments typically for each of four selectable times for each day of the week H for ENERGY WATCH button 144 for display of ongoing energy consumption and costs as discussed further below and I for ADVANCED SETTINGS button 149 for enter ing the environmental control equipment connected with thermostat 110 entering energy consumption data and costs and other functions as described Touching virtual button 149 results in display of pictorial 150 of FIG 12 In a manner similar to button 116 of FIG 8 buttons 154 and 158 of FIG 12 each represents a sequence of buttons that change after bein2. or vice versa All the pictorials for the touch screen for the thermostat 110 would be similarly reoriented and FIGS 17 and 18 show a similar translation of pictorial 155 to pictorial 155A This feature is not limited to a translation of only 90 degrees of the alphanumeric text graphics and buttons of thermostat 110 as described above The memory program combined with the capability of a dot matrix type LCD with its individually addressable pixels disposed in rows and 0 ma 5 20 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 12 columns can cause a rotation of all those aspects of the touch screen to be rotated incrementally through 360 degrees so that a user can mount the housing 111 in whatever angled orientation is desired Attention is now directed to FIG 19 in which pictorial 184 is obtained by touching the SET SCREEN button 145 of pictorial 140 shown in FIG 11 for a predetermined period of time say five seconds This touching action is sensed by the control program which causes a display change from pictorial 140 shown in FIG 11 to the pictorial 184 shown in FIG 19 Pictorial 184 contains a sub pictorial 185 that is a framed and generalized inactive version of first level inter active pictorial 113 shown in FIG 6 The user sees in sub pictorial 185 a general layout of virtual buttons text and graphics that can be selected to view as the pictorial of the first level interactive interface This user selection
3. XY position on the touch pad to determine if the virtual button has been touched and if the virtual button has been touched perform a predetermined action such as moving to a different menu and or changing operating criteria An alphanumeric message explaining the function of the virtual button is also displayed and icon indicators may be employed to unmistakably associate a message with a virtual button Different menus can place the virtual buttons and messages in various positions on the touch screen to facilitate intuitive programming In accordance with one aspect of the invention environ mental control selection virtual buttons are added to or eliminated from at least some menus of the operational display during preliminary programming depending on the type s of environmental control equipment a user actually has connected with a programmable thermostat This feature makes ongoing user programming and system management easier and more intuitive and also obviates the need for the manufacturer to fabricate and market multiple models of thermostats with different virtual buttons Thus an image representative of a first virtual button may be shown on the touch screen display with graphics alpha numeric characters and or icons on or closely associated with the first virtual button The characters graphics associ ated with the first virtual button indicate for example a current operating state or condition of the programmable thermost
4. a central processing unit 2 a real time clock 3 a memory coupled to said central processing unit for storing program and data information and 4 an input output unit coupled between said processor and said touch screen for carrying out information transfer therebetween said input output unit further including a a sensor input coupled to each said environmental condition sensors for receiving said electrical sig nal therefrom and b a control output coupled to the space conditioning equipment for issuing control signals thereto and D a program stored in said memory for causing said central processing unit to communicate through said input output unit to selectively US 7 156 318 Bl 15 1 establish on said liquid crystal display a a representation of a first virtual button at a first predetermined position on the liquid crystal dis play and b a first legend indicative of a first control function of said thermostat which first control function is for controlling a first space conditioning equip ment component which first control function is active when the first legend is viewable 2 read the position on the touch pad juxtaposed with said first predetermined position on said liquid crys tal display to determine if the representation of said first virtual button has been touched 3 if the first virtual button has been touched a prede termined number of times a determining that the thermostat has been d
5. as necessary for the specific conditioned space for which the program is being estab lished It is a more specific object of this invention to provide a programmable thermostat in which the menus displayed on a touch screen during user programming and temperature adjustment are simplified according to the specific heating and or cooling system employed in the specific conditioned space for which the program is being established SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly these and other objects of the invention are provided by a programmable thermostat system for control ling space conditioning equipment and which includes a transparent touch pad juxtaposed with an LCD preferably dot matrix to constitute a touch screen for interactive interface with a user one or more environmental condition sensors for providing an electrical signal indicative of the one or more sensed environmental conditions of a condi tioned space and a processor including a central processing unit a real time clock a memory coupled to the central processing unit for storing program and data information and an input output unit coupled between the processor and the touch screen for carrying out information transfer ther ebetween A program stored in the memory directs the central processing unit to communicate through the input output unit to selectively establish on the LCD a representation of at least one virtual button at a predetermined XY position read the same
6. can be made if the SET SCREEN button 145 of pictorial 184 shown in FIG 19 is not touched for a predetermined period of time say five seconds However the user can select other general layouts of virtual buttons text and graphics that will thereafter be seen at the first level interactive interface Thus referring now to FIG 20 pictorial 186 contains a sub pictorial 187 that is an alternate general layout of virtual buttons text and graphics for the first level interactive interface that can be selected by a user Sub pictorial 187 appears if virtual button 145 is touched for a predetermined period of time say five seconds In sub pictorial 187 a row of virtual buttons 191 are aligned along a top part of sub pictorial 187 which will become the first level interac tive interface shown in FIG 8 when normal operation is resumed When a return is made to the alternative first level interactive interface touching any one of the virtual buttons 191 causes the control program of the thermostat to change operating states to one associated with that one virtual button In one embodiment a touched virtual button 191 is visually distinguished from the other virtual buttons 191 so the user knows which operating state currently controls the thermostat One form of effecting that visual distinction is shown for virtual button 188 Virtual button 188 after being touched causes the control program to change the operating state of the thermostat
7. times of the 24 hour day Thus FIG 2 shows section 106 operated as it would typically appear during a daytime or lighted room condition The display elements of surrounding section 107 are essen tially clear and optionally backlight panel 103 shines through them to improve readability The display elements of image section 108 are partially or completely opaque during daytime or in a lighted space The combination of image section 108 and surrounding section 107 therefore displays system information readily comprehensible and legible to a user in a lighted room FIG 3 shows section 106 operated as it would during nighttime or in a dimly lit room The image has been reversed such that the display elements of the surrounding section 107 are now partially or completely opaque and light provided by backlight panel 103 is partially or sub stantially completely blocked But the display elements of image section 108 are now essentially clear and the light from backlight panel 103 shines through them The current system information is thereby comprehensible and legible to a viewer in the darkened space The result of this mode of operation is a dimmer display which is suitable for low lighting conditions In another similar mode of operation the reversible image can be repeatedly reversed to flash all or selected items of the display upon the occurrence of certain condi tions as will be described below FIGS 4 and 5 show an exemplary t
8. to an automatic mode the air conditioner and heater together or a heat pump operates in both the heat and cool modes and virtual button 188 shows AUTO Thereafter the visible representation of virtual button 188 changes according to step 190 to the contrasting virtual button 189 and back to the form shown for virtual button 188 at short intervals to simulate a flash ing virtual button Virtual buttons 191 represent the same operating states represented by the similarly named virtual buttons of virtual buttons in column 132 shown in FIG 8 FIGS 19 and 20 represent only two of many possible arrangements of virtual buttons text and graphics that can be made available for selection by a user for the first level interactive interface In the above exemplary method of making that selection the user touches or refrains from touching the SET SCREEN button 145 This feature extends the ability of the user to select from one of several arrangements of virtual buttons text and graphics at any of the levels of interactive or passive information or graphics only interface of the thermostat This feature may be implemented by steps other than touching or refraining from touching the SET SCREEN button 145 While the principles of the invention have now been made clear in an illustrative embodiment there will be immedi ately obvious to those skilled in the art many modifications of structure arrangements
9. under control It may be noted that this feature of the invention also allows a user to eliminate virtual buttons and the associated envi ronmental control functions available at first interaction screens for the programmable thermostat even if the elimi nated control equipment is actually installed and connected with the programmable thermostat thereby adding a level of security against use of thermostats one user wants to pre clude from use by others DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The subject matter of the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification The invention however both as to organiza tion and method of operation may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the subjoined claims and the accompanying drawing of which FIG 1A is a block diagram of a space conditioning system incorporating a programmable thermostat according to the present invention FIG 1 is a partially cut away schematic and top view of a thermostat with a backlit dot matrix LCD employed as a display FIGS 2 and 3 particularly illustrate a magnified section of the thermostat showing two forms of displaying contrast in a dot matrix LCD FIGS 4 and 5 are perspective and front views respec tively of an exemplary touch screen programmable thermo stat of the present invention FIG 6 is an exemplary pictorial of a first level interactive int
10. 172 changes the numerical legend in increments to indicate kilowatts per hour required of a compressor if air conditioning equipment is present Thus the user is able to enter into the energy required for operation of a cooling component in the system In a similar manner for buttons 173 and 174 a user can enter the energy requirements for a heating furnace or heat pump if in the system and that of a system fan Button 175 allows the user to enter the per kilowatt hour cost of energy in the user s locality The equipment energy requirements and energy cost are stored in the memory and used by the control program to calculate and display cumulative energy used and cumulative cost of that energy for a monitored period The memory stores in a cumulative amount the periods in which the air conditioner furnace heat pump fan and or other environmental control equipment operates and calcu lates and displays as shown in pictorial 176 of FIG 14 the running energy cost information In the example display 177 shows the number of days for which the energy infor mation has been accumulated Displays 178 179 179 and 180 show energy used by respectively and cumulatively the air conditioning compressor the furnace and the fan with the total energy being used by that equipment in display 181 and the total cost of that energy shown in display 182 It will be understood that the user with a few button manipulations can easily determine what the runnin
11. 96 COOL 24 0 4 03PM HEAT 21 5 06 24 03 MIER a INSTALLER MESSAGE ENERGY SECURITY WATCH SETTINGS MIN ff DEAD DIFF ff BAND NO FURNACE COMPRESSOR OFF U S Patent Jan 2 2007 Sheet 8 of 8 US 7 156 318 B1 184 n AUTO 24 5 HEAT 21 5 COOL 24 0 06 24 03 4 03PM 145 A2 SCREEN FIG 19 185 186 190 5 24 5 AUTO u HEAT 21 5 COOL 24 0 191 06 24 03 4 03PM SET 145 SCREEN FIG 20 US 7 156 318 Bl 1 PROGRAMMABLE THERMOSTAT INCORPORATING A LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY SELECTIVELY PRESENTING ADAPTABLE SYSTEM MENUS INCLUDING CHANGEABLE INTERACTIVE VIRTUAL BUTTONS CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is related to U S application Ser No 10 654 236 now U S Pat No 6 786 421 entitled Pro grammable Thermostat Including a Feature for Providing a Running Total for the Cost of Energy Consumed During a Given Period for Heating and or Cooling a Conditioned Space by Howard B Rosen filed on even date herewith and co pending U S application Ser No 10 654 230 entitled Programmable Thermostat Incorporating a Liquid Crystal Display and Having a Feature for Mounting Hori zontally Vertically and Any Intermediate Orientation by Howard B Rosen filed on even date herewith FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a programmable thermo s
12. 97 OTHER PUBLICATIONS ADI Leopard User Manual 93 pages 2001 Business Wire MicroTouch Specialty Products Group to Capital ize on Growing Market for Low Cost Digital Matrix Touchscreens p1174 2 pages Jan 6 1999 DeKoven et al Designing Collaboration in Consumer Products 2 pages 2001 Freudenthal et al Communicating extensive smart home functionality to users of all ages the design of a mixed initiative multimodal thermostat interface pp 34 39 Mar 12 13 2001 Honeywell News Release Honeywell s New Sysnet Facilities Integration System For Boiler Plant and Combustion Safety Pro cesses 4 pages Dec 15 1995 Honeywell W7006A Home Controller Gateway User Guide 31 pages Jul 2001 High tech options take hold in new homes 200 08 28 Dallas Business Journal http biziournals com dallas stories 2000 08 28 focus4 3 pages dated Aug 28 2000 printed Aug 19 2004 Continued Primary Examiner Marc Norman 74 Attorney Agent or Firm Marc E Hankin Hankin Patent Law 57 ABSTRACT A programmable thermostat with a touch screen liquid crystal display having the capability to add to or remove virtual buttons to the display depending on the items of space conditioning equipment connected with and con trolled by the thermostat 20 Claims 8 Drawing Sheets SPACE CONDITIONING EQUIPMENT CONDITIONED s SPACE LIQUID CRYSTAI DISPLA US 7 156 318 B1 Pa
13. COOL 24 0 2T 31x 127 128 129 U S Patent Jan 2 2007 Sheet 4 of 8 US 7 156 318 B1 B C COOL 24 0 HEAT 21 5 138 137 COOL TOUCH WINDOW FAN AUTO TO CONFIRM FIG 9 COOL 24 0 MENU HEAT 21 5 122 RUN X PROG FAN AUTO ig 116 COOL 24 0 118 06 24 03 4 03PM 121 U S Patent Jan 2 2007 Sheet 5 of 8 US 7 156 318 B1 140 FIG 11 E 149 DATE TIME ADVANCED SETTINGS SETTINGS 148 141 PROGRAM VACATION 142 SETTINGS SETTINGS 147 FILTER MONITOR 143 CLEAN SCREEN 144 170 ELECTRIC FURNACE EMER ELECT malls AIR FURNACE CONDITIONER E NO FURNACE COMPRESSOR 169 OIL 167 FIG 12 FURNACE 168 FURNACE OFF U S Patent Jan 2 2007 Sheet 6 of 8 US 7 156 318 B1 172 E 06 COMPRESSOR KW 20 FURNACE KW 173 We E 04 cents KW uberem um 175 FIG 13 177 PL LAST 30 DAYS i76 20 KWH COMP M 178 55 KWH FURN 5 KWH FAN 179 Jg 80 KWH TOTAL 180 kr ad COST 1 X 181 FIG 14 182 U S Patent Jan 2 2007 113 RUN PROG AUTO 2 e FAN JC HEAT 21 5 COOL 240 06 24 03 4 03PM FIG 16 155 D c INSTALLER i MESSAGE ENERGY SECURITY WATCH SETTINGS MIN DEAD DIFF BAND FURNACE OFF NO COMPRESSOR FIG 17 FIG 18 Sheet 7 of 8 US 7 156 318 B1 111 111 113A Fi 24
14. a2 United States Patent Rosen US007156318B1 US 7 156 318 B1 Jan 2 2007 a0 Patent No 45 Date of Patent 54 PROGRAMMABLE THERMOSTAT INCORPORATING A LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY SELECTIVELY PRESENTING ADAPTABLE SYSTEM MENUS INCLUDING CHANGEABLE INTERACTIVE VIRTUAL BUTTONS 76 Inventor Howard Rosen Lyncroft Road Hampstead Quebec CA H3X 3E3 Notice Subject to any disclaimer the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U S C 154 b by 730 days 21 Appl No 10 654 235 22 Filed Sep 3 2003 51 Int Cl G05D 23 00 2006 01 G09G 5 00 2006 01 59 US CL ER Ee 236 94 62 129 165 11 1 345 173 700 276 58 Field of Classification Search 236 1 C 236 94 62 126 129 165 11 1 345 173 700 276 See application file for complete search history 56 References Cited U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 4 224 615 A 9 1980 Penz 4 224 625 A 9 1980 Peretz 5 086 385 A 2 1992 Launey et al 5 170 935 A 12 1992 Federspiel et al 5 818 428 A 10 1998 Eisenbrandt et al 6 059 195 A 5 2000 Adams et al 6 192 282 Bl 2 2001 Smith et al 6 285 912 Bl 9 2001 Ellison et al 6 330 806 B1 12 2001 Beaverson et al 6 344 861 Bl 2 2002 Naughton et al 6 478 233 Bl 11 2002 Shah 6 595 430 Bl 7 2003 Shah 6 621 507 Bl 9 2003 Shah 7 114 554 B1 10 2006 Bergman et al 165 238 FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS DE 3334117 6 4 1985 EP 0985994 3 2000 WO WO 97 11448 3 1997 WO WO 97 39392 10 19
15. at A user touching the first virtual button causes the device program to change the operating state or condition and the graphics on the touch screen display also change to indicate the changed operating state or condition As an example a first virtual button may be associated with the word COOL to indicate to a user that the programmable thermostat will only operate in an air condi tioning mode In the prior art touching the first virtual button will shift the programmable thermostat from the air 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 4 conditioning mode to for example a heating mode such that the associated text would change to HEAT However in accordance with the invention if the user has no heating equipment connected with the programmable thermostat that fact will have earlier been entered into memory with a menu selection at a different touch screen display during preliminary programming After that earlier entry indicating that no heater is connected with the programmable thermo stat has been made any user selecting an operating state or condition will not be shown any virtual button indicating that a heating mode is available Thus after a simple one time designation of the envi ronmental control equipment installed in a given system using easy to understand menus any subsequent user will only have to interact with first virtual buttons representing the actual environmental control equipment
16. ately measure the temperature of a temperature sensor disposed in the conditioned space and make decisions to send control signals to the heating and or cooling equipment in order to closely control the temperature of the conditioned space The use of programmed thermostat systems permits antici pating and minimizing hysterisis or overshoot of the tem perature in the conditioned space In addition the program can specify different set points at different times of the day and week and may also include a vacation mode which employs different set points when the conditioned space is not occupied for an extended period Many modern thermostat systems are programmable by a user Typically prior art programmable thermostat systems 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 2 employ a set of fixed position button actuated switches to be depressed in a precise sequence to program set points which may vary with the day of the week for program mable time periods which may include a vacation mode The programming sequence may be followed on a separate display typically an LCD with segmented text characters In some modern thermostats virtual buttons are presented on the LCD itself which is juxtaposed with a touch pad to effect an interactive touch screen There is a fundamental problem with the prior art pro grammable thermostat systems they are difficult to program to the extent that some users are unable to succe
17. claim 1 in which the space conditioning equipment components include at least one of a heater a compressor type air conditioner and a heat pump 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 14 4 The programmable thermostat system of claim 3 in which if the first virtual button is been touched again after step D 3 determining that the thermostat controls a third space conditioning equipment component activating a third control function for controlling the third space conditioning equipment component and changing the second legend to a third legend indicative of the third control function of the thermostat 5 The programmable thermostat system of claim 4 in which one of the space conditioning equipment components is a heater and the graphic includes the word heat asso ciated with said virtual button when the heater is controlled 6 The programmable thermostat system of claim 5 in which said liquid crystal display is a dot matrix type 7 The programmable thermostat system of claim 4 in which one of the space conditioning equipment components is an air conditioning system and the graphic includes the word cool associated with said virtual button when the air conditioning system is controlled 8 The programmable thermostat system of claim 7 in which said liquid crystal display is a dot matrix type 9 The programmable thermostat system of claim 4 in which one of the space conditioning equipment components
18. cussed further below FIGS 8 to 10 show pictorial 122 in various interactive conditions FIG 8 illustrates that virtual button 116 can undergo step 131 in response to a user touch which also causes a change in the operating state of thermostat 110 and a change of the legend associated with virtual button 116 to one of the virtual buttons in column 132 In the example successive steps 133 to 137 indicate that a user has touched virtual button 116 one or more times to cause the operating state of thermostat 110 and the legend of virtual button 116 to change with respect to those steps as follows A at step 137 from automatic mode to off mode none of the environmental control equipment connected with thermostat 110 will operate and virtual button 116 shows OFF B at step 133 from off mode to heat mode a heater or a heat pump in heat mode operates to heat the conditioned space and virtual button 116 shows HEAT C at step 134 from heat mode to cool mode an air conditioner or heat pump operating in the cooling mode operates to cool the conditioned space and virtual button 116 shows COOL D at step 135 from cool mode to emergency heat mode a backup electric heater operates to keep the condi tioned space temperature above a lowest set point and virtual button 116 shows EMER HEAT and E at step 136 from emergency heat mode to auto matic mode the air conditio
19. d liquid crystal display a a representation of a first virtual button at a first predetermined position on the liquid crystal dis play and b a first legend indicative of a first control function of said thermostat which first control function is for controlling a first space conditioning equip ment component which first control function is active when the first legend is viewable 2 read the position on the touch pad juxtaposed with said first predetermined position on said liquid crys tal display to determine if the representation of said first virtual button has been touched 3 if the first virtual button has been touched a determining that the thermostat has been directed to control a second space conditioning equipment component b activating a second control function for control ling the second space conditioning equipment component and c displaying on said liquid crystal display a second legend indicative of said second control function of said thermostat which second control function is for controlling the second space conditioning equipment component which second control function is active when the second legend is viewable 2 The programmable thermostat system of claim 1 in which said touch screen comprises means for input by a user through the touch screen to establish in said memory which space conditioning equipment components are controllable by said thermostat 3 The programmable thermostat system of
20. ed in the memory 8 Those skilled in the art will understand that if the 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 6 correspondents external to the processor 1 communicating with the CPU 9 are all digital in nature e g if the tem perature sensor 5 incorporates its own analog to digital converter and sends a digital representation of temperature to the processor 1 then the I O unit 10 may only constitute simple switching circuits The LCD may optionally be backlit by any suitable means not shown in FIG 1A The heating cooling equipment unit 3 may include one or more components such as a heater a compressor type air conditioner a heat pump etc Thus in the usual manner during normal operation the temperature sensor 5 sends an electrical signal e g if the sensor 5 is a simple thermistor a resistance value several types of temperature sensors are widely used representative of the temperature within the conditioned space 4 which the processor can compare against a previously entered set point to determine if control signals need to be sent to the space conditioning equipment 3 For example if the temperature in the conditioned space 4 is found to be too low when operation is in the heating mode the processor 1 signals the space conditioning equipment 3 to circulate through ducts 6 7 air from to the conditioned space 4 which is heated by the space conditioning equipment before return to the con diti
21. egend at button 158 from electric furnace mode presence in the given system of an electric powered furnace to emer elect furnace mode additional presence of an emergency electric furnace from emer elect furnace mode to gas furnace mode presence of a gas furnace from gas furnace mode to oil furnace mode presence of an oil furnace from oil furnace mode to furnace off mode lack of heating equipment and from furnace off mode to electric fur nace mode If the furnace off mode is selected at button 158 the buttons column 132 of FIG 8 will lack the heat and emer heat mode buttons and functions as well as the auto mode button and function The control program stored in memory contains routines adapted to cause effec tive operation of any combination of the designated equip ment Pictorial 155 of FIG 12 also shows virtual button 151 for changing the temperature designation in the touch screen from Centigrade to Fahrenheit buttons 153 and 157 for US 7 156 318 Bl 11 entering certain set point related parameters button 155 for entering an installer message and button 146 for entering security settings FIG 13 shows pictorial 171 which is activated by a user s touching button 152 of FIG 12 Pictorial 171 is a menu permitting entry of energy requirement and cost information using cost determination information entry virtual buttons 172 173 174 and 175 Touching button
22. erface displayed on the touch screen FIG 7 is an exemplary pictorial of a second level inter active interface displayed on the touch screen showing exemplary alternate contrast for a touch screen virtual button FIG 8 is an exemplary pictorial of a second level inter active interface displayed on the touch screen with an exemplary sequence of virtual buttons available to a user upon touching a single virtual button FIG 9 is an exemplary pictorial of the second level interactive interface displayed on the touch screen in FIG 8 with a temporary confirmation virtual button for accepting the change of the single virtual button FIG 10 is an exemplary pictorial of a second level interactive interface displayed on the touch screen in FIG 8 with the function changed from AUTOMATIC to COOL FIG 11 is an exemplary pictorial of a menu displayed on the touch screen to provide a first set of menu selections including an ADVANCED SETTINGS virtual button US 7 156 318 Bl 5 FIG 12 is an exemplary pictorial of another interactive interface displayed on the touch screen showing ADVANCED SETTINGS menu selections after the ADVANCED SETTINGS virtual button of FIG 11 has been touched FIG 13 is an exemplary pictorial of yet another interac tive interface reached by touching an ENEGY WATCH virtual button displayed on the touch screen for entering settings for an energy watch mode FIG 14
23. g cost is for the use of the environmental control equipment in the user s system In the example the user can successively touch an active part of the touch screen of pictorial 113 of FIG 6 the MENU button 183 of pictorial 122 of FIG 8 and the ENERGY WATCH button 144 of pictorial 140 of FIG 11 to arrive at the display of FIG 14 Alternatively the ENERGY WATCH button 144 can instead or also be provided on the touch screen of pictorial 113 of FIG 6 so that a single button touch at the first level interface will bring the touch screen directly to the display of FIG 14 Attention is now directed to FIG 15 which shows that pictorial 113 has alphanumeric text on the buttons and displays disposed horizontally for easy reading as does the same alphanumeric text on the same buttons and displays in pictorial 113A of FIG 16 However the housing 111 of FIG 15 has been rotated 90 degrees to obtain the vertical orien tation of the housing 111 of FIG 16 The control program of thermostat 110 can reorient the display from that shown in pictorial 113 to that shown in pictorial 113A by suitably remapping the column and row drive signals to the indi vidual pixels ofthe LCD This feature can be invoked in one embodiment by touching the SCREEN SET button 145 of pictorial 140 shown in FIG 11 for a predetermined period of time say five seconds which action is sensed by the control program to cause a change of pictorial 113 to pictorial 113A
24. g touched by a user Button 154 represents the presence or absence of air conditioning equipment connected with thermostat 110 Button 158 rep resents the presence or absence of heating equipment con nected with thermostat 110 More particularly the virtual buttons in column 163 are those that become successively visible when a user succes sively touches button 154 also indicating a change in the designation of which cooling equipment is present in a given system Similarly in the example buttons in column 164 are those that become successively visible when a user succes sively touches button 158 also indicating a change in the designation of which heating equipment is present in the given system In the example invoking steps 160 161 and 162 respec tively cause a change in the function and legend appearing at button 154 from heat pump mode to air conditioner mode from air conditioner mode to no compressor mode no air conditioning equipment and from no com pressor mode to heat pump mode The memory program contains programming adapted to cause effective operation of a heat pump or compressor type air conditioner depending on the one selected at button 154 If the no compressor mode is selected at button 154 the buttons column 132 of FIG 8 will lack the cool and auto buttons and functions Cycling through steps 165 166 167 168 and 169 respec tively cause a change in the function and l
25. ge 2 OTHER PUBLICATIONS Product Review Philips Pronto Remote Control http hometheaterhifi com volume 62 philipsprontoremotecontrol html 5 pages dated May 1999 printed Aug 20 2004 http www cc gatech edu computing classes cs675 1 94 fall 2roupc climate 2 node 1 html Contents 53 pages printed Sep 20 2004 HAI Company Background _ http www homeauto com AboutHAI abouthai main htm 2 pages printed Aug 19 2004 Cardio Manual available at http www secant ca En Documenta tion Cardio2 Manual pdf Cardio Home Automation Inc 55 pages printed Sep 28 2004 RC X10 Automation Forum Control your Heating and Cooling System with Pronto 1 1 http www remotecentral comicgi binimboardlrc x 1 O thread c i 12 2 pages dated Apr 23 1999 printed Aug 20 2004 cited by examiner U S Patent Jan 2 2007 Sheet 1 of 8 US 7 156 318 B1 CONDITIONING liie x CONDITIONED ge LIQUID CRYSTA DISPLA FIG 1A FIG 1 U S Patent Jan 2 2007 Sheet 2 of 8 US 7 156 318 B1 107 107 108 108 NE a a a Renae E N LLLI FIG 5 U S Patent Jan 2 2007 Sheet 3 of 8 US 7 156 318 B1 113 HEAT 21 5 7 139 A 118 COOL 24 vam f 4 03PM_ JS FIG 6 0 121 119 24 56 FIG 7 122 124 116 PROG ES AUTO 2 24 58 UM 125 126
26. ictorial 113 instead of being a set of virtual buttons activated and serially viewable by invoking steps 133 137 If the virtual buttons of virtual buttons column 132 are distributed as separately and simul taneously viewable virtual buttons it is desirable that the virtual button for the function currently activated for ther mostat 110 will flash in contrast as described above so that the user will know which of the operating states or condi tions are currently controlled by thermostat 110 However it is an important feature of the thermostat 110 that although a user may touch virtual button 116 fewer or more than all the virtual buttons of column 132 in the example and their associated changes in the normal opera tion control effected by thermostat 110 may be available to a user The user has the ability to edit and or simplify the virtual buttons column 132 to reflect the user s environmen tal control equipment actually connected for control by thermostat 110 If fewer than or more than the virtual buttons of virtual buttons column 132 are available to the user appropriate fewer or more touching steps will be required to cycle through the functions of thermostat 110 and the correspond ing legends which may appear with virtual button 116 The particular sequence of thermostat functions available at steps 133 to 137 is only exemplary of how normal user changes between operating states or conditions are made for ther mosta
27. int of 24 0 C that the thermostat 110 is operating in the AUTO mode where both heating and air conditioning system com ponents are active and that the fan is responding to only the heating and air conditioning modes i e not always run ning 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 8 When a user touches any active part of the touch screen in pictorial 113 the overall display changes to pictorial 122 a second level touch screen shown in FIG 7 Virtual buttons 115 116 and 117 still perform the functions described above Newly presented virtual buttons 127 and 129 can be selectively touched at temperature displays 128 and 130 respectively to adjust the minimum and maximum set points FIG 7 also illustrates that virtual button 116 may be touched and responsively changed in step 123 by the control program to reverse contrast to be shown in the same position previously occupied by virtual button 116 as reversed contrast virtual button 124 In order to attract the user s attention to this button position reversals can be made in short intervals so that the virtual button 116 appears to be flashing This flashing emphasizes the fact that the ther mostat 110 is currently operating in a particular state or condition and that a user may want to change the operating state or condition of the thermostat 110 Touching virtual button 183 directs the control system to another mode of operation which will be dis
28. irected to control a plurality of space conditioning equip ment components b activating a second control function for control ling the plurality of space conditioning equipment components and c displaying on said liquid crystal display a second legend indicative of said second control function of said thermostat which second control function is for controlling in coordination the plurality of space conditioning equipment component which second control function is active when the second legend is viewable 17 The programmable thermostat system of claim 16 in which the plurality of space conditioning equipment com ponents comprise a heating component and a cooling com ponent 18 The programmable thermostat system of claim 16 in which said liquid crystal display is a dot matrix type 19 A programmable thermostat system for controlling space conditioning equipment comprising A at least one environmental condition sensor providing an electrical signal indicative of the ambient tempera ture of a conditioned space in which said environmental condition sensor is situated B a transparent touch pad juxtaposed with a liquid crystal display to constitute a touch screen for interactive interface with a user 20 25 30 35 40 16 C a processor said processor including 1 a central processing unit 2 a real time clock 3 a memory coupled to said central processing unit for storing program and data inf
29. is a heat pump and the graphic includes the word heat associated with said virtual button when the heat pump is controlled while operating in its heating mode 10 The programmable thermostat system of claim 9 in which said liquid crystal display is a dot matrix type 11 The programmable thermostat system of claim 4 in which one of the space conditioning equipment components is a heat pump and the graphic includes the word cool associated with said virtual button when the heat pump is controlled while operating in its cooling mode 12 The programmable thermostat system of claim 11 in which said liquid crystal display is a dot matrix type 13 The programmable thermostat system of claim 4 in which said liquid crystal display is a dot matrix type 14 The programmable thermostat system of claim 1 in which said liquid crystal display is a dot matrix type 15 The programmable thermostat system of claim 2 in which said liquid crystal display is a dot matrix type 16 A programmable thermostat system for controlling space conditioning equipment comprising A at least one environmental condition sensor providing an electrical signal indicative of the ambient tempera ture of a conditioned space in which said environmental condition sensor is situated B a transparent touch pad juxtaposed with a liquid crystal display to constitute a touch screen for interactive interface with a user C a processor said processor including 1
30. is an exemplary pictorial of a third menu inter active interface displayed on the touch screen for the energy watch mode FIG 15 is exemplary pictorial of an interactive interface displayed on the touch screen of FIG 8 as viewed in the device of FIG 5 disposed in a horizontal mounting position FIG 16 is exemplary pictorial of the text and graphics of the interactive interface displayed on the touch screen of FIG 8 rotated for the device of FIG 5 disposed in a vertical mounting position FIG 17 is exemplary pictorial of an interactive interface displayed on the touch screen of FIG 12 as viewed in the device of FIG 5 disposed in a horizontal mounting position FIG 18 is exemplary pictorial of the text and graphics of the interactive interface displayed on the touch screen of FIG 12 rotated for the device of FIG 5 disposed in a vertical position and FIGS 19 and 20 illustrate the manner in which different first level interface screens may be reviewed and selected DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT S Referring first to FIG 1A a user programmable thermo stat system includes a processor 1 a touch screen 2 and a temperature sensor 5 which is disposed in a conditioned space 4 It will be understood that the processor 1 and the touch screen 2 are typically situated in a common housing shown in an exemplary form in FIG 5 The sensor 5 may also be situated in the common housing or remotely as shown all as
31. nditioning equip ment components and c displaying on said liquid crystal display a second legend indicative of said second control function of said thermostat which second control function is active when the second legend is viewable 20 The programmable thermostat system of claim 19 in which said liquid crystal display is a dot matrix type
32. ner and heater or heat pump operates in both the heat and cool mode and virtual button 116 shows AUTO FIGS 9 and 10 illustrate an exemplary operation of changing confirming and showing the change made by touching virtual button 116 twice FIG 9 shows that under control of the process control program virtual button 116 has already responded to step 133 to briefly change from the auto mode to the heat mode on the first touch and on the second touch has changed from the heat mode to the cool mode and that a temporary active virtual button 138 is now displayed for a user to confirm that the user wishes to select the currently displayed function i e cool Touching virtual button 138 under these conditions causes the changes seen in FIG 10 It will be particularly noted in FIG 10 that as a feature of the system display 118 has disappeared since the auto mode is no longer operational because no heating function is active Display 121 is still present in FIG 10 because the cool mode is operational Should the heat mode be selected and HEAT shown US 7 156 318 Bl 9 with virtual button 116 display 121 will disappear and display 118 will reappear In the off mode both displays 118 and 121 will disappear It will be appreciated that the virtual buttons of virtual buttons column 132 may alternatively be reduced in size and distributed on the surface of p
33. oned space This heating phase continues until the sensor 5 indicates that the space is now too hot or approaching too hot with reference to the set point such that the processor 1 sends signal s to the space conditioning equipment 3 to cease the heating function all as very well known in the art In a cooling mode a counterpart procedure is followed Those skilled in the art will understand that the control process typically includes such refinements as anticipation hysterisis accommodation fan control etc which are acknowledged but are not directly relevant to the invention It may be noted that integrated circuit chips including all the processor components with all the necessary interface conditioning circuits are available off the shelf and are under constant refinement for increased power The subject invention only requires the capabilities of a processor such as the processor 1 and off the shelf integrated circuit pro cessor chips may be used to advantage in the subject thermostat system Thermostat systems may be user programmable or non user programmable The present invention relates to pro grammable thermostat systems in which in the prior art programming steps have been entered using a tactile touch pad while observing a display which may be an LCD or some other display type The drawbacks of the prior art interactive thermostats have been discussed above The present invention employs a different type of thermos
34. ormation and 4 an input output unit coupled between said processor and said touch screen for carrying out information transfer therebetween said input output unit further including a a sensor input coupled to each said environmental condition sensors for receiving said electrical sig nal therefrom and b a control output coupled to the space conditioning equipment for issuing control signals thereto and D a program stored in said memory for causing said central processing unit to communicate through said input output unit to selectively 1 establish on said liquid crystal display a a representation of a first virtual button at a first predetermined position on the liquid crystal dis play and b a first legend indicative of a first control function of said thermostat which first control function is for controlling a first space conditioning equip ment component which first control function is active when the first legend is viewable 2 read the position on the touch pad juxtaposed with said first predetermined position on said liquid crys tal display to determine if the representation of said first virtual button has been touched 3 if the first virtual button has been touched a prede termined number of times a determining that the thermostat has been directed to refrain from controlling any space conditioning equipment components b activating a second control function which pre vents controlling any space co
35. ouch screen thermostat 110 with a housing 111 and touch screen 112 and incorpo rating the subject invention Thermostat 110 has no physical buttons at all rather all the functions and displayed infor mation of the programmable thermostat are available to a user by observation and interaction with the touch screen 112 In the example the touch screen 112 is generally rectangular thus having a long dimension and a short dimension FIG 6 shows a first pictorial 113 presented on the touch screen 112 and including a column 114 of interactive virtual buttons 115 116 117 a current temperature display 139 a date display 119 a current time display 120 a heating mode active display 118 and a cooling mode active display 121 Pictorial 113 displays the word AUTO on virtual button 116 because the thermostat 110 is currently operating in an automatic mode to control both a heater and an air conditioner to respective setpoints shown in displays 118 and 121 Pictorial 113 is a first level touch screen i e a default first screen that is normally viewed by a user when first approaching the thermostat 110 The information conveyed to a user during normal system operation of the exemplary current configuration shown in FIG 6 are current ambient temperature current date and time that a heater will turn on with reference to a set point of 21 5 C that the air conditioning system will turn with reference to a set po
36. proportions the elements mate rials and components used in the practice of the invention US 7 156 318 Bl 13 which are particularly adapted for specific environments and operating requirements without departing from those prin ciples What is claimed is 1 A programmable thermostat system for controlling space conditioning equipment comprising A at least one environmental condition sensor providing an electrical signal indicative of the ambient tempera ture of a conditioned space in which said environmental condition sensor is situated B a transparent touch pad juxtaposed with a liquid crystal display to constitute a touch screen for interactive interface with a user C a processor said processor including 1 a central processing unit 2 a real time clock 3 a memory coupled to said central processing unit for storing program and data information and 4 an input output unit coupled between said processor and said touch screen for carrying out information transfer therebetween said input output unit further including a a sensor input coupled to each said environmental condition sensors for receiving said electrical sig nal therefrom and b a control output coupled to the space conditioning equipment for issuing control signals thereto and D a control program stored in said memory for causing said central processing unit to communicate through said input output unit to selectively 1 establish on sai
37. s Displayed information for a programmable thermostat generally includes such things as environmental conditions heating and or cooling equipment operation or non operation operational modes of the thermostat and the like The most important information in thermostat displays is capable of being formed from segmented alphanumeric characters on less expensive LCDs without dot matrix capability and with reduced requirements for memory and programming Thus dot matrix LCDs have not been widely used in prior art user programmable thermostats through a failure to understand an extended functionality capability of those devices when dot matrix LCDs are employed with a touch pad to effect an interactive display This extended function ality 1s exploited to advantage in the present invention both to greatly simplify user programming and to relieve the manufacturer of the necessity to fabricate variants of the thermostat to suit the control and display aspects of various heating and or cooling environments While the present invention may be practiced using segmented LCDs it is preferably embodied using dot matrix LCDs OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is therefore a broad object of this invention to provide a field programmable thermostat which is very easy for a user to program US 7 156 318 Bl 3 It is another broad object of this invention to provide a field programmable thermostat which may be user config ured to limit functionality only
38. ssfully program them This is because the user interfaces which have been employed in prior art programmable interfaces are not highly intuitive Programmable thermostat systems have incorporated fixed position real or virtual buttons at least some of which have multi functions depending upon the point which a user has reached in the programming process The user must usually refer to and attempt to decipher a programming manual which is often difficult for the average user to readily understand as the programming proceeds But the programming process is so complex to follow while trying to remember the instructions that many users give up and the full capabilities of the thermostat system cannot be utilized Outside of the art of programmable thermostat systems and programmable thermostats dot matrix LCDs which have pixel display elements arranged in rows and columns are widely used Dot matrix LCDs are not common as user visible displays on programmable thermostats for view ing alphanumeric and iconic graphic information although such a thermostat is disclosed in and particular features claimed in co pending U S patent application Ser No 10 440 474 filed May 15 2003 and entitled Reverse Images in a Dot Matrix LCD for an Environmental Control Device by Howard B Rosen incorporated by reference herein This limited use of dot matrix LCDs in programmable thermostats is because of basic engineering and practical consideration
39. t 110 the virtual buttons of column 132 may of course have a different sequence and also reflect various space conditioning equipment components which may be installed in diverse applications Thus as more fully described below a user is able typically during a system setup to eliminate or add to the virtual buttons shown in column 132 and their associated functions by using the touch screen in a manner that allows the user to specify what environmental control equipment components are actually controlled by thermostat 110 and accordingly included in column 132 In practice the thermostat manufacturer provides in the control program control sequences for as many different types of space conditioning components as might be used in widely diverse applications alone or in combination During setup the user of a given installation eliminates those components and graphics displays related thereto which are irrelevant to the given installation thus simplifying later ongoing programming and use of the thermostat This sys tem setup procedure is instituted by touching the MENU button 183 shown in FIG 7 which the control program responds to by displaying second level pictorial 140 on the touch screen FIG 11 shows that pictorial 140 displays virtual buttons 141 to 149 Touching each of buttons 141 to 149 results in a new usually third level pictorial screen to show informa tion and or new buttons as follows A for home
40. tat incorporating an interactive liquid crystal display LCD and more particularly to such a thermostat in which the LCD selectively presents adaptable menus including variable representations of virtual buttons in order to sim plify user programming in accordance with a given envi ronmental control system s configuration BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thermostats have been used for many years as tempera ture sensitive switches which control heating and or cooling equipment for conditioning a space in which the thermostat or a temperature sensor connected to the thermostat is placed In the well known manner a simple thermostat can be adjusted to establish a temperature set point such that when the temperature in the conditioned space reaches the set point the thermostat interacts with the heating and or cooling equipment to take suitable action to heat or cool the conditioned space as may be appropriate for the season as established by a user Modern thermostat systems which take advantage of the ongoing rapid advances in electronic technology and circuit integration have many features which provide more precise supervision of the heating and or cooling equipment to achieve more economical and more comfortable manage ment of the temperature of a conditioned space Many modern thermostat systems include a real time clock a memory and a data processor to run a process control program stored in the memory Such thermostats accur
41. tat user interface viz the touch screen 2 in which the touch pad 11 and LCD 12 are integrated and coordinated as will be discussed below and which in conjunction with the proces sor 1 provides a programmable thermostat system which is very much easier to program than in the prior art FIG 1 shows a thermostat 100 having a processor 101 for controlling space conditioning equipment in a manner equivalent to the discussion above The processor 101 is electrically coupled with multiple connections 102 to a dot matrix LCD 104 whose individual pixels 105 are driven by suitable signals to their respective vertical columns and horizontal rows from the processor 101 Backlight panel 103 is shown for illustration as separated from a backside of LCD 104 although it is known and preferred that these two components be in close contact Backlight panel 103 is connected to power and to processor 101 so that it can be turned on or off as needed or desired US 7 156 318 Bl 7 The processor 101 also optionally includes a light sensor not shown for sensing the illumination level in the space in which the LCD 104 is located which illumination may be compared with a previously entered minimum illumination value to determine whether or not the room is darkened or dimly lit If so the display image can be reversed to improve readability Alternatively as the processor 101 includes a real time clock an image reversal can be instituted at predetermined
42. very well known in the art The common housing is usually but not necessarily placed in the condi tioned space 4 Thus those skilled in the art will understand that the block diagram of FIG 1A is very general in order to best explain the invention The processor 1 includes a central processing unit CPU 9 in communication with a memory 8 for storing data and program information and also via an input output unit VO unit 10 a touch pad 11 and an LCD 12 which together constitute the touch screen 2 The memory 8 may include a read only part which is factory programmed to include the process control program and a random access part which stores data subject to change during operation A settable real time clock 13 is used to keep time in the thermostat system to facilitate diverse operations such as establishing different temperature set points desired temperatures dur ing different periods of the day cycle An analog to digital converter 27 which may not be required in all systems serves to convert any analog information received by the I O unit 10 to digital information which is suitable for use by the CPU 9 The thermostat system may be suitably powered by a battery not shown and or from equipment to which is connected Temperature information from the sensor 5 and output signals to a space conditioning heating and or cooling unit 3 pass through the I O unit 10 under control of the CPU 9 executing the process control program stor
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