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Claims  |
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I claim:
1. A combination timer and manual on-off switch comprising: manually
operable means to five different conditions, one condition being a power
turn-on condition, another being a power turn-off condition, another being
a timer on setting condition, another being a timer off setting condition,
and another being a timer turn-on condition; a pair of power line input
terminals and an outlet conductor terminal; switch means coupled between
one of said power input terminals and said outlet conductor terminal for
coupling and uncoupling said one power line input terminal to and from
said outlet conductor terminal; and control means responsive to the
different conditions of said manually operable means for closing said
switch means when the manually operable means is in said turn-on condition
and for opening said switch means when the manually operable means is in
said turn-off condition; the control means also including timer turn-on
signal generating means responsive to the particular moment when said
manually operable means is moved momentarily to said timer on setting
condition for generating a switch closing signal every 24 hours from the
moment said manually operable means is momentarily moved to said timer on
setting condition, timer turn-off signal generating means responsive to
the particular moment when said manually operable means is moved
momentarily to said timer off setting condition for generating a switch
opening signal every 24 hours from the moment said manually operable means
is momentarily moved to said timer off setting condition, and signal
responsive means responsive to the generating of said switch closing and
switch opening signals when said manually operable means is in said timer
turn-on condition for respectively closing and opening said switch means
when said signals are respectively generated.
2. The combination timer and manual on-off switch of claim 1 wherein
operation of said manually operable means to said power turn-on condition
does not disrupt the closure of said switch means resulting from the
previous operation of the manually operable means to said power turn-on
condition.
3. The combination timer and manual on-off switch of claim 1 wherein said
timer turn-on and timer turn-off signal generating means continue to
generate said signals at a time determined by the time of operation of
said manually operable means respectively to said timer on and timer off
setting conditions independently of the subsequent operation of said
manually operable means to said other conditions thereof.
4. The combination timer and manual on-off switch of claim 3 wherein the
control means includes circuit connections which render the signals
generated by said timer on and timer off signal generating means
ineffective to control said switch means when said manually operable means
is operated to said power turn-on and turn-off conditions.
5. The combination timer and manual on-off switch of claim 1 wherein said
timer on and timer off signal generating means are self-resetting pulse
counters which self-reset themselves to a reference count every 24 hours.
6. The combination timer and manual on-off switch of claim 1 wherein said
signal responsive means includes a bistable circuit which is set into a
switch closing condition by the switch closing signal from said timer
turn-on signal generating means and is set into a switch opening condition
by the switch opening signal from said timer turn-off signal generating
means.
7. A combination timer and manual on-off switch comprising: a manually
operable control member movable to five different positions, one position
being a power turn-on position, another being a power turn-off position,
another being a timer on setting position, another being a timer off
setting position, and another being a timer turn-on position; a pair of
power line input terminals and an AC outlet conductor terminal; switch
means coupled between one of said power input terminals and said outlet
conductor terminal for coupling and uncoupling said one power line input
terminal to and from said outlet conductor terminal; and control means
responsive to the different positions of said control member for closing
said switch means when the control member is in said turn-on position and
for opening said switch means when the control member is in said turn-off
position; the control means also including timer turn-on signal generating
means responsive to the particular moment when said control member is
moved momentarily to said timer on setting position for generating a
switch closing signal every 24 hours from the moment said control member
is momentarily moved to said timer on setting position, timer turn-off
signal generating means responsive to the particular moment when said
control member is moved momentarily to said timer off setting position for
generating a switch opening signal every 24 hours from the moment said
control member is momentarily moved to said timer off setting position,
and signal responsive means responsive to the generation of said switch
closing and switch opening signals when said control member is in said
timer turn-on position for respectively closing and opening said switch
means when said signals are respectively generated.
8. The combination timer and manual on-off switch of claim 7 wherein said
timer on and timer off setting positions of said control member are
respectively located just beyond the power turn-on and power turn-off
positions thereof.
9. The combination timer and manual on-off switch of claim 8 wherein said
timer on and timer off setting positions of the control member are
unstable positions during which the control member remains in such
position only so long as the operator holds the control member in such
positions.
10. The combination timer and manual on-off switch of claim 9 wherein
movement of control member just beyond said power turn-on position does
not disrupt the closure of said switch means resulting from the previous
movement of the control member to said power turn-on position.
11. The combination timer and manual on-off switch of claim 7 wherein said
timer turn-on and timer turn-off signal generating means continue to
generate said signals at a time determined by the time of movement of said
control member respectively to said timer on and timer off setting
positions independently of the subsequent positioning of said control
member to said other positions thereof.
12. A combination timer and manual on-off switch system comprising: a pair
of power line input terminals; a control conductor terminal; switch means
coupled between one of said power line terminals and said control
conductor terminal for respectively coupling and decoupling said one power
line terminal to said control conductor terminal; bistable means settable
into a first condition for closing said switch means and a second
condition for opening said switch means; a timer turn-on pulse counter and
a timer turn-off pulse counter; said pulse counters being self-resetting
counters which reset themselves to a given reference count after a given
limited count is reached so the next pulse received thereby resets the
same to said reference count; a source of pulses fed to said pulse
counters which cause the counters to reach said limited count every 24
hours after being reset to said reference count; means responsive to the
limited or reference count in said timer turn-on pulse counter for
operating said bistable means to its switch closing condition and
responsive to the limited or reference count in said timer turn-off pulse
counter for operating said bistable means to said switch opening
condition; manually operable means manually operable to power turn-on,
power turn-off, timer on setting, timer off setting and timer turn-on
conditions; and control means including means responsive to the operation
of said manually operable means to said timer on setting condition for
resetting said timer turn-on pulse counter to said reference count, means
responsive to the operation of said manually operable control means to
said timer off setting condition for resetting said turn-off pulse counter
to said reference count, means responsive to the operation of said
manually operable means to said power turn-on condition for operating said
bistable means to said switch closing condition independently of the
condition of said pulse counters, means responsive to the operation of
said manually operable means to said power turn-off condition for
operating said bistable means to said switch opening condition
independently of the condition of said pulse counters, and means
responsive to the operation of said manually operable means to said timer
turn-on condition for rendering said bistable means responsive to the
counter in said pulse counter means.
13. The combination timer and manual on-off switch of claim 12 wherein
there is provided indicator means which indicate when at least one of said
pulse counters reaches said limited or reference count.
14. A combination timer and manual on-off switch of claim 13 wherein said
indicator means includes a second bistable means which is set and reset to
opposite states when said counters are respectively operated to said
limited or reference counts independently of a condition to which said
manually operable means is operated, and a visible signalling means which
provides a visible signal only when said bistable means is in one of said
states.
15. A timer system comprising: a pair of power input terminals; a control
conductor terminal; switch means coupled between one of said power line
terminals and said control conductor terminal for respectively coupling
and decoupling said one power input terminal to said control conductor
terminal; bi-stable means settable into a first condition for closing said
switch means and a second condition for opening said switch means; a timer
turn-on pulse counter and a timer turn-off pulse counter; said pulse
counters being self-resetting counters which reset themselves to a given
reference count after a given limited count is reached so the next pulse
received thereby resets the same to said reference count; a source of
pulses fed to said pulse counters which cause the counters to reach said
limited count every 24 hours after being reset to said reference count;
means responsive to the limited or reference count in said timer turn-on
pulse counter for operating said bistable means to its switch closing
condition and responsive to the limited or reference count in said timer
turn-off pulse counter for operating said bistable means to said switch
opening position; manually operable means manually operable to timer on
setting and timer off setting conditions; and control means including
means responsive to the operation of said manually operable means to said
timer on setting condition for resetting said timer turn-on pulse counter
to said reference count, and means responsive to the operation of said
manually operable control means to said timer off setting condition for
resetting said turn-off pulse counter to said reference count.
16. The timer system of claim 15 wherein there is provided indicator means
for indicating when said bistable means is in said switch closing and
switch opening conditions.
17. The timer system of claim 16 wherein said indicator means includes a
second bistable means which is set and reset to opposite states where the
counters are respectively operated to said limited or reference count and
signalling means which provides a visible indication only when second
bistable means is in one of said states.
18. The timer system of claim 15 wherein there is provided indicator means
which indicate the condition of said pulse counters. |
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Claims |
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Description |
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
To discourage the burglary of premises whose residents may be away
therefrom overnight or for a number of days, it is common to provide
automatic timers or photocell-controlled light circuits. The drawbacks of
photocell-controlled light circuits are that the lights remain on all
night resulting in the wasting of electricity and provide an indication to
a burglar that the house involved may be unoccupied and controlled by a
photocell-controlled timer. Automatic timers are perhaps a more effective
and convenient means for controlling the energization of the light
circuits involved, but they suffer from a number of disadvantages. For
example, if one desires to utilize timers in a house which was not
initially built with timers installed in oversize electrical boxes in the
walls thereof, the timers must either be plugged into outlet sockets where
they are very difficult to see and adjust, or placed in a more accessible
location, such as tables which results in unacceptable clutter. In any
event, automatic timers of the prior art are not easy to adjust because of
the procedure of adjustment required and the difficulty of reading the
time setting numbers and must be readjusted for the varying time of sunset
through the year and changes from standard time to daylight saving time
and vice versa.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with one of the features of the present invention, the
functions of an electronic timer and manual on-off wall switch are
combined uniquely into a single assembly preferably having a single
manually operable control member selectively adjustable to stable manually
controlled power turn-on and turn-off positions to turn the lights
involved on and off in the normal manner. The control member also
preferably has three other positions, one of which is an unstable timer ON
SET position to which the control arm is momentarily moved (preferably in
the same direction as it must be moved to its normal manually controlled
turn-on position) at the particular time of the day when it is desired to
set the timer to turn on the lights involved when timer controlled, an
unstable timer OFF SET position to which the control arm is momentarily
moved (preferably in the same direction as it must be moved to its normal
manually controlled turn-off position) at the particular time of the day
when it is desired to set the timer to turn off the lights involved when
timer controlled. To operate the lights involved in an automatic timing
cycle in accordance with the on and off setting adjustments just
described, the control member is merely moved to a timer on position where
the lights are turned on and off automatically at the preset timing
periods each day without further adjustment.
In accordance with a preferred aspect of the invention, the aforesaid timer
on and timer off setting operations effect resetting of timer turn-on and
turn-off pulse counters which reset themselves to a zero count every 24
hours. Timing pulses are fed to the self resetting pulse counters which
generate one output pulse or signal every 24 hours relative to the time
they are reset. The pulse or signal output of the timer turn-on pulse
counter preferably sets a flip-flop circuit which controls a thyristor or
the like, which then couples the hot side of an AC power system to a line
or conductor feeding the power outlet sockets in the section of the room
or house being controlled. The pulse or signal output of the timer
turn-off pulse counter resets the flip-flop circuit which renders the
thyristor non-conductive to decouple the AC power system from the bus.
The above and other features of the invention will become apparent upon
making reference to the specifications to follow, drawings and claims.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a view of a face plate of the timer and manual on-off switch
assembly of the invention, showing different marked positions to which a
manually operable control arm may be moved to carry out the different
functions of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a greatly enlarged vertical sectional view through the timer and
manual on-off switch assembly of FIG. 1, taken along section line 2--2
therein, and shows the control arm of the assembly in its TIMER-ON
operating position;
FIG. 3 is a view corresponding to a part of FIG. 2, and shows the control
arm in a stable manual light turn-on position, and also shows in dashed
lines the extreme upper and lower positions of the control arm
representing on set and off set setting positions thereof;
FIG. 4 is a horizontal sectional view through FIG. 2, taken along section
line 4--4 therein;
FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the various parts making up the timer and
manual on-off switch assembly of FIG. 1, except for the cover plate and
electrical box which are not shown therein;
FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a light control circuit forming part of the
timer and manual on-off switch assembly of the invention, which circuit is
operated or prepared for operation by the different positions of the
control arm thereof;
FIG. 7 is a view of a part of the circuit shown in FIG. 6 to which is added
a circuit condition indicating circuit shown in block form; and
FIGS. 8 through 10 are enlarged fragmentary views partly in section showing
the relationship of the bridging portions of the bridging strip with
respect to the contact segments on the circuit board when the control arm
of the switch assembly is moved to various positions.
EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a timer and manual on-off switch
assembly of the present invention generally indicated by reference numeral
10. This assembly shown in FIG. 1 includes a cover plate 12 anchored by
screws 14--14 to a bracket 16 attached to a housing assembly to be
described. The bracket 16 is mounted by suitable securing means such as
screws 18--18 to an electrical box 19 which, in turn, is anchored to wall
17. Projecting from an opening 20 in the cover plate 12 is a toggle arm
22. As illustrated, the toggle arm 22 can be moved to five different
vertical positions identified by position indicating lines 24a, 24b, 24c,
24d and 24e applied to the face of the cover plate 12. The upper position
indicating line 24a identifies an unstable ON SET position when a
reference projection 24 on the front face of the toggle arm 22 is moved
opposite the position indicating line 24a. The toggle arm can only remain
in this ON SET position when the user forces the toggle arm in that
position. Release of the toggle arm from this position will cause the
toggle arm to move to a stable ON position identified by the position
indicating line 24b where the lights involved are turned on in the usual
manner. As previously indicated, the toggle arm 22 is moved to a timer ON
SET position at the instant of time it is desired to set an automatic
timing cycle which turns the lights on at the particular moment where the
user moves the toggle arm to this ON SET position.
The toggle arm 22 can also be stably set to a central timer turn-on
position identified as the TIMER ON position identified by position line
24C. However, the toggle arm 22 assumes an unstable position in this TIMER
ON position unless the toggle arm is shifted laterally to the right,
where, in a manner to be explained, the toggle arm is held in such
position. When the toggle arm 22 is in its central TIMER ON position, the
control apparatus to be described acts in its timer mode where the lights
involved are automatically turned on and off during a given timing cycle
which repeats automatically each 24 hour period.
The toggle arm 22 can also be moved to a bottom stable OFF position
identified by position line 24d on the face plate 12, at which position
the lights involved would be turned off. The toggle arm 22 can be moved to
a lowermost unstable OFF SET position identified by a position line 24e on
the face plate 12. The operator must force the toggle arm into this
bottommost position, which sets the off time of the timer involved.
The timer and manual on-off switch assembly 10 as illustrated includes a
main rectangular housing body 26 (FIGS. 2 and 5) which may be of a molded
synthetic plastic material having a central spring-receiving recess 26a in
which a curved spring 28 is seated. This spring 28 exerts force on the
toggle arm in a manner to be described and forces the same into its stable
upper ON position or its stable lower OFF position. The main housing body
26 as illustrated supports a switch unit 30. The switch unit 30 may have a
triac or thyristor element 32 (FIGS. 2 and 5) forming a part thereof with
load and control terminals to be described. A pair of metal screw
terminals 34-36 extend from metal terminal plates 38 and 40, respectively,
the plates 38 and 40 fitting into mounting channels 42 and 44 respectively
formed within the housing body 26. The terminal plates 38 and 40 are wired
to the load terminals of the thyristor element 32. The screw terminals 34
and 36 are to be connected to the "hot" conductor of an AC power system
and an AC load output bus to be described. The main housing body 26 also
has a terminal plate 46 with a screw terminal 48 projecting therefrom the
terminal plate 46 fitting within guide channels 50 formed in the housing
body 26. The terminal plate 48 is wired to neutral or ground.
The housing body 26 has circuit board-receiving channels 52--52 receiving a
printed circuit board 54 having, among other things, a set of switch
contact-forming conductive areas or segments 56a, 56b, 56c, 56d and 56e
positioned along a circular arc. The circuit board 54 may also contain
various integrated or other circuits formed thereon and may also support
other circuit components indicated by reference numerals 58, 60, 62 and
64. The main housing body 26 has attached thereto by screws 63-61 a
housing cover 64 which may be made of molded synthetic plastic material.
The screw 61 is shown in FIG. 2 passing through an aperture 66 in a
bracket 16 and an aperture 68 in the housing cover 64 and threads into a
threaded aperture 70 in the main housing body 26. The screw 63 passes
through an aperture 72 in the housing cover 64 and threads into a threaded
aperture 74 in the main housing body 26. The thyristor element 32 has a
threaded projection 32a which passes through the aperture 76 of the
housing cover 64 and an aperture 96 in the bracket 16, and the threaded
projection 32a is anchored to the bracket 16 by a nut 98.
The toggle arm 22 is part of a toggle arm member 81 which may be made of
molded synthetic plastic material, and projects from a main body portion
80 thereof. Projecting laterally from the opposite faces 80a -80a' (FIG.
4) of the main body portion 80 of the toggle arm member 81 are pivot
forming projections 82-82' having rounded front surfaces 82a -82a' fitting
respectively within the narrow end portions of forwardly tapered
bearing-forming recesses 84-84' formed by rearward projections 86-86' of
the housing cover 64 on opposite sides of the aperture 76. The spring 28
urges the toggle arm member 81 into the front narrow ends of the recesses
84-84'. Projecting from the face 80a of the main body portion 80 of the
toggle arm member 81 is a key 85 which, only in the TIMER-ON position of
the toggle arm 22, can be shifted laterally to the right into a locking
keyway 87 (FIG. 5) opening onto the aperture 76 of the housing cover 64
where the toggle arm member remains held frictionally under the force of
spring 28 pressing against a pointed rear portion 89 thereof. When the
toggle arm member 81 is shifted to the left within the recess 76 where the
key 85 is removed from the keyway 87, the spring 28 will urge the toggle
arm member into a stable upper or lower position where a flat 92 or 94 on
the rear end of the toggle arm member is engaged by the spring 28. These
are the upper ON and lower OFF positions of the toggle arm member
previously described. The toggle arm 22 can be moved upwardly or
downwardly to the ON SET and OFF SET positions from these upper and lower
stable positions only by applying a manual force in an upward or downward
direction against the toggle arm 22. It can be seen from FIG. 3, for
example, that release of such an upward or downward force upon the toggle
arm 22 will cause the toggle arm to return to the stable upper or lower
stable ON or OFF position as described.
The toggle arm member 81 has secured thereto a contact-bridging strip 100
(FIGS. 4 and 5) which is shown in FIG. 5 as being an initially wave-shaped
member having legs 100a--100a passing through apertures 102--102.
Wiper-forming bridging portions 100b-100c of this strip 100 extend along
the left-hand face of the toggle arm member 81 as viewed on the drawings
to form a contact wiper adapted to engage at any one time none, one, two
or three of the middle to end contact segments 56a, 56b, 56c, 56d and 56e
on the circuit board 54. When the toggle arm member 81 is in its left-hand
position (i.e., where the key 84 is not inserted within the keyway 87),
the wiper portions 100b-100c of the strip 100 are in the plane of the
right side of circuit board 54. While the toggle arm member 81 is in this
lefthand position, when the toggle arm 22 is moved past its TIMER ON
position, the wiper portions 100b or 100c will be on either side of the
segment 56c (See FIG. 8). When the toggle arm 22 is raised from this
position into its upper stable ON position where it is opposite the ON
position line 24b, the wiper portion 100c engages the ON contact segment
56d, and the wiper portion 100b engages the segment 56c (See FIG. 9). When
the toggle arm 22 is moved upwardly slightly beyond this position where it
is opposite the ON SET position line 24a on the face plate 12, the wiper
portion 100c preferably contacts both the contact segment 56d and the
contact segment 56e while the wiper portion 100b engages the segment 56c
(See FIG. 10).
Similarly, when the toggle arm 22 is moved into its lower stable OFF
position opposite the position indicating line 24d on the face plate 12,
the wiper portion 100b of the contact strip 100 engages the OFF segment
56b, and the wiper portion 100c engages the segment 56c. When the toggle
arm 22 is pushed slightly downwardly beyond this position to be opposite
the OFF SET position indicating line 24e, the wiper portion 100b will
contact both the contact segments 56a and 56b while the wiper portion 100c
engages the segment 56c.
The various circuit operations performed in the different positions of the
toggle arm 22 will now be explained in connection with the block diagram
shown in FIG. 6 of the control circuitry used in the preferred form of the
present invention. FIG. 6 shows main AC power systems conductors 104 and
106, the power connector 104 being what is referred to as a "hot"
conductor and the conductor 106 being what is sometimes referred to as a
neutral or ground conductor. A power or control bus 108 is shown to which
one terminal of various AC outlet sockets 100 are connected. The other
terminal of each of the sockets 110 is connected to the neutral or ground
conductor 106. The plug connectors of lamps or other electrical devices
are plugged into the sockets 110 in a given room of the building involved.
Manifestly, light fixtures and other electrical devices can be permanently
wired between the power bus 108 and the ground conductor 106.
The present invention controls switch means which selectively open or close
a branch circuit between the "hot" conductor 104 and the power bus 108. In
the particular circuit illustrated in FIG. 6, the switch means is, as
previously described, a triac switch 32 having load terminals 32a and 32b
and a control terminal 32c. The triac switch is a bi-directional
semiconductor device which, when a control voltage is fed between its
control terminal 32c and one of its load terminals 32a or 32b, will be
driven into a conductive state which remains independently of the removal
of the control signal therefrom, until its load current drops to zero.
Since the voltage on the power conductors 104 and 106 is an alternating
voltage, the control terminal 32c must continue to receive a control
signal of each half cycle the voltage appearing on the power conductors
104 and 106.
The drive current for the triac switch 32 is obtained from a suitable triac
drive circuit 112 which may be of conventional design. Such a drive
circuit is generally energized from a source of DC potential and, to this
end, a power conductor 116 is shown extending from the triac drive circuit
112 to a DC power bus 118 extending to the output 120c of a DC power
supply 120. The triac drive circuit also has a connection to reference
ground at 113, an input terminal 112a fed from the output of a bi-stable
or flip-flop circuit 114 and an output terminal 112b which is connected to
the control terminal 32c of the triac switch 32. The triac switch 32 and
the triac drive circuit 112 can be replaced by an ordinary relay circuit
controlled by the output of the flip-flop circuit 114.
The flip-flop circuit 114 has two bi-stable states, one of which state
(referred to as switch closing state) results in a DC voltage at its
output terminal 114b which will operate the triac drive circuit 112 in a
manner which will cause the triac switch 32 to be rendered conductive at
the beginning of each half cycle of the voltage on the power conductors
104-106. In its switch opening state, the flip-flop circuit 114 provides
zero or near zero voltage at its output terminal 114b which will not
operate the drive circuit 112. The flip-flop circuit has an OFF SET pulse
input terminal 114a for receiving a pulse which triggers the flip-flop
circuit 114 to its switch opening state when the triac switch 32 is in its
circuit closing condition, and an ON SET pulse input terminal 114a' for
receiving a pulse which triggers the flip-flop circuit 114 to its switch
closing state. The circuits which generate these set pulses fed to the ON
and OFF SET input signal terminals 114a and 114a' will now be described.
The latter circuits to be described are energized from the aforementioned
DC power supply 120, which may include a conventional filtered, full wave
rectifier section which is energized at its input terminals 120a and 120b
from the power connectors 104 and 106. The power-supply 120 also has an
unfiltered halfwave rectifier section which produces a half wave rectified
output voltage at output terminal 120d which compares pulses of a given
polarity which are fed by conductors 122 and 122' respectively to the
input terminals 124a and 124a' of timer turn-off pulse counter 124 and
timer turn-on pulse counter 124'.
The timer turn-off and timer turn-on pulse counters 124 and 124' may both
be identical self-resetting ring counters which are fed the frequency of
the A.C. supply times 86,400 pulses, i.e., 5,184,000 pulses or 60 hertz
times 60 seconds times 60 minutes times 24 hours in the case of 60 hertz
A.C. supply, over a 24-hour period and reach a maximum count of 5,184,000
so the next pulse resets the same to zero, at which time a single pulse is
produced at the output terminals 124b and 124b' thereof. These counters
can be externally reset to zero count by the feeding of a reset pulse to
reset input terminal 124c or 124c' thereof.
The timer turn-off and turn-on pulse counters 124 and 124' are externally
reset to zero count by respectively momentarily moving the toggle arm 22
respectively to the OFF SET and ON SET positions previously described. The
once per 24 hour pulse output appearing at output terminal 124b of the
timer turn-off pulse counter 124 is fed to the input terminal 126a of an
AND gate 126 having another input terminal 126b fed from the output
terminal 128a of an inverter circuit 128. The inverter circuit 128 has an
input terminal 128b connected by a conductor 129 to the ON contact segment
56d on the circuit board 54. When the wiper portion 100c of the contact
member 100 carried by the toggle arm member 81 is moved to its stable ON
position, the wiper portion will continuously engage the contact segment
56d, and thereby couple to the input terminal 128b of the inverter circuit
128 the DC voltage (assumed to be positive in the example of the invention
being described) present on a bus 118' extending to the positive output
terminal 120c of the DC power supply 120. The inverter circuit is a well
known circuit which inverts the polarity or sense of voltage at the input
thereof. In the present example, for example, when a positive voltage is
fed to the input terminal 128b of the inverter circuit 128, ground
potential may appear at the output terminal 128a and, conversely, where
there is no input fed to the input terminal 128b, the output terminal 128a
will have a positive DC voltage thereat. If it is assumed that the pulse
produced by the timer turn-off pulse counter 124 is a positive pulse
generated each 24 hours, the AND gate 126 will, during the generation of
that pulse, pass the pulse from output counter 124 to the gate output
terminal 126c, to set the flip-flop circuit 114 to switch opening state.
When the toggle arm 22 is moved into the ON position, a positive voltage is
fed to the input of the inverter circuit 128 which results in a gate
opening potential at the inverter output terminal 128a which prevents the
output pulse of the timer turn-on pulse counter from passing through the
AND gate 126. However, when the toggle arm 22 is in the TIMER ON position,
the pulse output of the timer turn-off pulse counter 124 will pass through
the AND gate 126 to the input 132a of an OR gate 132 since the inverter
circuit will then provide a positive DC voltage at its output 128a which
opens the AND gate 126. As is well known, an OR gate passes the signals at
any of its inputs to its output (132c) thereof. This output is coupled by
a conductor 133 to the off set input terminal 114a of the flip-flop
circuit 114 to set the same into its switch opening state.
The OR gate 132 has an input terminal 132b coupled by a conductor 135 to
the OFF contact segment 56b of the circuit board 56. The contact segment
56b is the segment which is engaged by the wiper portion 100b of the
contact member 100 carried by the toggle arm member 81 when the toggle arm
22 is in its stable OFF position. At that time, the positive voltage
appearing on the wiper portion 100b will be coupled through the contact
segment 56b and the OR gate, to operate the flip-flop circuit 114 to its
switch opening state. Thus, the flip-flop circuit 114 is operated in its
switch opening state when it receives a pulse from the output of the timer
turn-off pulse counter 124, which is only possible when the toggle arm 22
is in its TIMER ON position and the counter 124 generates a pulse as
described, or when the toggle arm 22 is in the stable OFF position.
The manner in which the timer turn-on pulse counter 124' operates to set
the flip-flop circuit 114 to its switch closing condition is similar to
the manner in which the timer turn-off pulse counter 124 operates the
same. Accordingly, the timer turn-on pulse counter 124' has a reset input
terminal 124c' which is coupled by a conductor 125' to contact segment 56e
of the circuit board 54 which contact segment is momentarily engaged by
the wiper portion 100c of the contact strip 100 to couple a positive DC
voltage thereto when the toggle arm 22 is momentarily moved to its ON SET
position. The timer turn-on pulse counter 124' is then set to zero count
so that it will generate a pulse 24 hours later. In the circuit being
described, the pulse appearing at the output terminal 124b' of the timer
turn-on pulse counter 124' is coupled to the input terminal 126b' of an
AND gate 126'. The AND gate 126' has another input terminal 126a' coupled
to the output terminal 128a' of an inverter circuit 128'. The inverter
circuit 128' has an input terminal 128b' coupled by conductor 129' to the
contact segment 56b of the printed circuit board 54. As previously
indicated, this contact segment 56b will have the positive voltage of the
bus 118' applied thereto when the toggle arm 22 is in its OFF position. In
such case, the output of the inverter circuit 128' will be other than the
voltage necessary to open the AND gate 126' when a pulse appears at the
output of the timer turn-on pulse counter 124'. Then, when the toggle arm
is in the OFF position, the output of the timer turn-on pulse counter 124'
cannot pass through the AND gate 126' to operate the flip-flop circuit 114
in the switch closing state. The AND gate 126' has an output terminal
126c' coupled to the input terminal 132a' of an OR gate 132' which will
pass the pulse fed to its input terminal 132a' to its output terminal
132c'. The output terminal 132c' is coupled by a conductor 133' to the on
set input terminal 114a' of the flip-flop circuit 114.
The OR gate 132' has an input terminal 132b' coupled by a conductor 135' to
the segment 56d of the circuit board 54 which is engaged by the wiper
portion 100c of the contact strip 100 to couple a positive voltage thereto
when the toggle arm is in its ON position. This positive voltage, when the
toggle arm 22 is in its ON position, will be coupled through the OR gate
132' to the input terminal 114a' of the flip-flop circuit 114 to operate
the flip-flop circuit into its switch closing state.
Refer now to FIG. 7 which shows an addition to the circuit of FIG. 6 which
provides a visual indication when the timer turn-off pulse counter and the
timer turn-on pulse counter are operating properly to generate a pulse at
the desired time for effecting a timer controlled power on or power off
operation. To this end, a flip-flop circuit 140 is added to the circuit of
FIG. 6, which flip-flop circuit 140 may operate a light emitting diode or
other light source 142 which is mounted so as to be visible through an
opening or window in the face plate 12. The flip-flop circuit 140 has a
reset input terminal 140a coupled to the output terminal 124b of the timer
turn-off pulse counter 124, and has a set input terminal 140b coupled to
the output terminal 124b' of the timer turn-on pulse counter 124'. The
flip-flop circuit 140 is triggered between its opposite stable states by
the outputs from the timer pulse counters 124 and 124'. The light emitting
diode 142 or other light source is connected to the output of the
flip-flop circuit 140 so that it will be energized during the time that
the timer would normally close the triac switch 32 if the toggle arm 22
were in its TIMER-ON position. If the operator believes that he had set
his timer operation so as to turn the power on and off at particular
times, he can double check whether the timer is properly set for such
operation independently of the position of the toggle arm 22, by noting
the particular time the light emitting diode 142 becomes energized and
de-energized.
The present invention provides a very simple means to set and operate a
combination timer and manual on-off switch which can be made at a rather
modest cost by use of integrated circuits and the like which are
sufficiently compact to fit within a standard wall switch housing as
described. Numerous modifications may be made in the most preferred form
of the invention described without deviating from the broader aspects of
the present invention.
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