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Description  |
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
An increasing need exists for a simplified and economical means to remotely
control lights in the home, office, store and the like. Such a means is
highly desirable as an energy-saving means in that many lights which are
normally left on when the home owner or worker departs the premises can be
extinguished from a remote location with convenience and economy. In this
connection the very small transmitter device forming a part of the
invention can be carried in a pocket or purse, or in an automobile, so
that the building lights can be extinguished remotely after leaving the
premises or turned on prior to entering the premises.
Quite obviously, the invention adds greatly to the security and safety of
home owners and particularly adds to the safety of elderly people in that
doorways and exterior lights around the home can be left on during
departure and extinguished when the person is safely outside of the
premises. If the home owner should be in the home when an intruder
approaches or enters, the remote turning on yard lights or other outside
or inside lights will greatly promote the security of the home owner and
the insecurity of the intruder. The above are among the principal
objectives of the invention and many additional uses or applications of
the invention can be visualized. Generally, the invention adds greatly to
the convenience of the ordinary home lighting or office lighting system
without adding significantly to the cost thereof while simultaneously
supplying a safety and security illuminating system, as above-discussed.
The invention features extreme simplicity and economy in that it may be
directly wired into a building lighting system during construction or may
be added thereto at any time as a portable accessory by plugging into any
house current outlet. The entire apparatus consists of a small portable
transmitter and a coacting receiver, step-down transformer and relay which
may be housed as a unit on a portable embodiment with a suitable extension
cord and house current receptacle plug, or without the cord and plug on an
embodiment which is wired directly into house wiring. The invention in no
way interferes with the normal manual operation of house light switches
and may be installed in several different ways to control lights by means
of the invention only, or in conjunction with a three-way switch and one
or more four-way switches. By the use of additional receivers with the
same frequency around the house or building, various lighting circuits can
be remotely controlled individually from inside the house or exteriorly.
If preferred, all of the inside lights or all outside lights on a given
building circuit may be remotely controlled by the invention in terms of a
single portable transmitter and a single coacting receiver.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent during
the course of the following description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING FIGURES
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a remote light control apparatus embodying
the invention.
FIGS. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are schematic views of different arrangements for
employing the invention alone or in combination with several external
light switch arrangements.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring to the drawings in detail wherein like numerals designate like
parts, and referring initially to FIG. 1, the numeral 10 designates a
conventional source of house current, 115 volts AC, illustrated as being
wired to the primary coil 11 of a 24 volt step-down transformer 12, whose
secondary coil 13 is wired to one terminal 14 of a radio receiver 15 and
to one terminal 16 of a ratchet relay 17. The other terminals 18 and 19 of
the ratchet relay coil and the receiver are electrically interconnected by
a wire 20 in FIG. 1.
The conventional radio receiver 15 embodies a switch contact 21 across the
two terminals 14 and 19 and shown open in FIG. 1. A remotely located
conventional radio transmitter 22 carried on the person or in a vehicle
has a push button on-off switch 23 which is utilized to produce a radio
signal in response to which the radio receiver switch 21 may be closed to
complete a light circuit in the home or other building.
Continuing to refer to FIG. 1, the ratchet relay 17 has normally open and
normally closed contacts 24 and 25 wired, respectively, to the contacts 26
and 27 of a conventional house lighting switch 28, such as a front porch
light switch located in the hallway immediately inside of the front door.
The switch 28 is wired to the light 29, such as a front porch light, which
in turn is wired back to a common power terminal 30 of the ratchet relay
17 through a conventional 115 volt AC receptacle 31 provided on the
invention unit in the case of a portable embodiment thereof. In this
latter connection, it will be understood that in some cases all of the
invention components except the remote transmitter 22 will be embodied in
a portable assembly housed in a suitable casing 32 which may be carried in
any location in a building and plugged in to the source of house current
and may have the desired lighting circuit plugged into it via the
receptacle 31. Alternately, the invention may be permanently or integrally
wired into the house wiring system, in which no extension cord or plug
will be included on the invention and the receptacle 31 will also be
eliminated. In such a case, the apparatus composed of the transformer 12,
receiver 15 and ratchet relay 17 will be located at a fixed station in the
house or building and directly wired to the 110 volt AC system and wired
to the particular lighting circuit which it is desired to control remotely
by the invention through the use of the transmitter 22. Additional light
circuits inside of the house or exteriorly thereof, such as garage lights
and yard lights, may be remotely controlled by the single portable
transmitter 22 merely by providing additional receivers 15 with the same
frequency and additional coacting components for these receivers as
described and illustrated in FIG. 1. This additional remote control of
plural light circuits by a single transmitter and plural receivers of a
common frequency is equally applicable to the portable embodiment of the
invention or the fixed embodiment where the receiver, transformer and
relay unit are wired directly into house wiring.
It should be further understood that while the light 29 has been referred
to as a front porch light, in practice, this could be any interior or
exterior light or series of lights on a given building lighting circuit,
and in this connection, the invention is completely versatile in its
application.
The ratchet relay 17 is conventional and may consist of a 24 volt AC, Type
48, No. 48-6099 Ratchet Relay, manufactured by AEMCO, Mankato, Minn. The
receiver 15 may be a Model 595-R Receiver and Switch Unit, manufactured by
Nutone Division, Scoville Mfg. Co., Cincinnati, Ohio 45227. The remote
control transmitter 22 is also a product of Nutone Division, Scoville Mfg.
Co., Model No. 20. Likewise the transformer 12 may be a Nutone Transformer
No. 201-N. Equivalent conventional components made by other manufacturers
may be employed in the invention.
In the operation of the invention depicted in FIG. 1, the push button 23 of
the remote transmitter 22 is pushed to produce a radio signal picked up by
receiver unit 15. When the receiver responds to the signal from the
transmitter, its switch contacts 21, 14 and 19 are closed to complete a
circuit to the ratchet relay 17 via the 24 volt transformer. This
activates the ratchet relay whose contacts close the associated house
lighting circuit which in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 includes a manual
light switch 28 as well as the receptacle 31 for plugging a light, such as
a table lamp or other lighting circuit, into a portable embodiment of the
invention. If the manual switch 28 is set to extinguish the lighting
circuit having light 29 therein, the ratchet relay will operate when
activated to energize the light circuit. Conversely, if a particular light
circuit is energized as where a person is leaving the home with certain
lights on, after the person safely makes his or her exit and produces a
signal with the transmitter 22, the resultant activation of the relay 17
by the receiver switch will open the associated light circuit and
extinguish the lights. Upon return, the same person utilizing the portable
transmitter 22 in the same manner through the receiver 15 and ratchet
relay can re-energize the light circuit prior to entering the premises.
Thus, by means of the invention and as a result of operating transmitter 22
by its push button 23, the user can open or close any light circuit which
is electrically connected to the circuit of the invention unit having the
receiver switch 21 therein. At the same time, the house lights can be
operated in the usual manner by the regular on-off light switches in the
building or outside of the building in the case of yard lights, driveway
lights, etc.
FIGS. 2 through 6 show diagrammatically different adaptations of the
invention in relation to the same lighting circuit. In FIG. 2, for
example, a terminal block 33 which may be located in the casing 32, FIG.
1, has five numbered terminals customarily in the form of screws. The
particular lighting circuit designated 29 is connected across terminals 3
and 5 while the receiver switch unit controlling the light circuit 29 is
shown schematically as being connected across the terminals 1 and 2. In
this situation, the light circuit is controlled by the invention alone.
In FIG. 3, the same light circuit across terminals 3 and 5 of the terminal
block 33 is under control of the invention receiver switch unit composed
of elements 15, 17 and 12, connected across terminals 1 and 2 and also
under control of a single conventional light switch 34 inside of the
building or exteriorly thereof depending on a given adaptation of the
invention.
In FIG. 4, the same light circuit is under control of the invention across
terminals 1 and 2 plus the control of one three-way switch 35 and one
four-way switch 36, such as light switches at the top and bottom of a
house stairway. Similarly, in FIg. 5, the lighting circuit 29 is
controlled by the invention transmitter-receiver switch means and one
three-way switch 37 plus two four-way switches 38 as might be found in the
hallway of a home having two adjoining rooms at one end of the hallway.
In FIG. 6, an arrangement is shown whereby a plug-in light, such as a table
lamp, may be plugged into the receptacle 31 and such plug-in light would
then be controlled on or off by means of the transmitter-receiver
combination only and without the manual switches as depicted in FIGS. 3, 4
and 5. A variety of hook-ups along the lines of these illustrations can be
utilized depending upon the lay-out of lighting in the home or other
building.
Essentially, therefore, the invention provides a very simplified and
compact means which enables a user to carry the small transmitter 22 on
his person or in his automobile and remotely control a selected lighting
circuit or circuits inside or outside of the home or other building, as
fully described in detail. Thus, when returning to a dark home, the lights
may be turned on before entering for safety and security. Conversely, when
leaving the home or office, the lights may be left on until after a safe
exit has been made and then turned off remotely to save energy. A person
sleeping in a darkened home who hears an intruder inside or outside of the
building can turn on inside or outside lights by use of the transmitter.
It should be clear, in light of the description, that the invention is
fully capable of satisfying a large number of situations where it would be
highly advantageous to control building lighting remotely, such as in the
case of the physically handicapped being able to control lights in the
home without the necessity of moving from room to room.
It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and
described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that
various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be
resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope
of the subjoined claims.
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