1. A remotely controlled controller for an electricity supply contained within at least one of meter and an adapter arranged to be mounted between a demountable meter and a supply socket, the controller comprising:
a temperature compensated paging receiver;
a decoder for decoding control messages received via the paging receiver;
at least one of the paging receiver and the decoder having a unique address identifying an individual controller;
a power switch for connecting power between the supply socket and a load; and
a control arrangement for receiving decoded messages from the decoder and arranged to act upon control instructions included in decoded control messages to cause the power switch to connect or disconnect the supply socket to and from the load: wherein said messages have a format of a first set of ASCII check sum characters, followed by a second set of ASCII sub address characters, and a third set of ASCII command message characters.
2. A controller as claimed in claim 1 in which said first set comprises six characters.
3. A controller as claimed in claim 1 in which the second set comprises eight characters.
4. A controller as claimed in claim 1 in which said third set is a variable length string of characters.
5. A controller as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a reverse power lockout circuit arranged to monitor voltage on the load side of the power switch when the switch is open and inhibit closing of the power switch when a voltage above a given threshold is detected.
6. A controller as claimed in claim 5 in which the command message characters are alpha numeric characters.
7. A controller as claimed in claim 5 arranged to receive messages containing instructions to alter conditions set within the controller and to act upon those altered instructions.
8. A controller as claimed in claim 7 in which the command message characters are alpha numeric characters.
9. A controller as claimed in claim 6 further comprising a manual reset switch accessible outside the controller for resetting the power switch.
10. A controller as claimed in claim 9 in which operation of the manual reset switch is enabled by received messages.
11. A controller as claimed in claim 5 further comprising a manual reset switch accessible outside the controller for resetting the power switch.
12. A controller as claimed in claim 11 in which operation of the manual reset switch is enabled by received messages.
13. A controller as claimed in claim 7 further comprising a manual reset switch accessible outside the controller for resetting the power switch.
14. A controller as claimed in claim 13 in which operation of the manual reset switch is enabled by received messages.
15. A controller as claimed in claim 13 in which the command message characters are alpha numeric characters.
16. A controller as claimed in claim 15 in which operation of the manual reset switch is enabled by received messages.
17. A controller as claimed in claim 1 in which the command message characters are alpha numeric characters.
18. A controller as claimed in claim 17 arranged to receive messages containing instructions to alter conditions set within the controller and to act upon those altered instructions.
19. A controller as claimed in claim 17 further comprising a manual reset switch accessible outside the controller for resetting the power switch.
20. A controller as claimed in claim 19 in which operation of the manual reset switch is enabled by received messages.
21. A controller as claimed in claim 18 further comprising a manual reset switch accessible outside the controller for resetting the power switch.
22. A controller as claimed in claim 21 in which operation of the manual reset switch is enabled by received messages.
23. A controller as claimed in claim 1 arranged to receive messages containing instructions to alter conditions set within the controller and to act upon those altered instructions.
24. A controller as claimed in claim 23 further comprising a manual reset switch accessible outside the controller for resetting the power switch.
25. A controller as claimed in claim 24 in which operation of the manual reset switch is enabled by received messages.
26. A controller as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a load current measuring arrangement, wherein when a load current greater than a preset value is detected by the load current measuring arrangement, the controller is arranged to open the power switch for a preset period.
27. A controller as claimed in claim 26 in which the command message characters are alpha numeric characters.
28. A controller as claimed in claim 26 arranged to receive messages containing instructions to alter conditions set within the controller and to act upon those altered instructions.
29. A controller as claimed in claim 27 further comprising a manual reset switch accessible outside the controller for resetting the power switch.
30. A controller as claimed in claim 29 in which operation of the manual reset switch is enabled by received messages.
31. A controller as claimed in claim 29 arranged to receive messages containing instructions to alter conditions set within the controller and to act upon those altered instructions.
32. A controller as claimed in claim 30 arranged to receive messages containing instructions to alter conditions set within the controller and to act upon those altered instructions.
33. A controller as claimed in claim 26 arranged to receive messages containing instructions to alter conditions set within the controller and to act upon those altered instructions.
34. A controller as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a manual reset switch accessible outside the controller for resetting the power switch.
35. A controller as claimed in claim 34 in which operation of the manual reset switch is enabled by received messages.
36. A controller as claimed in claim 26 further comprising a manual reset switch accessible outside the controller for resetting the power switch.
37. A controller as claimed in claim 36 in which operation of the manual reset switch is enabled by received messages.
38. A controller as claimed in claim 36 arranged to receive messages containing instructions to alter conditions set within the controller and to act upon those altered instructions.
39. A controller as claimed in claim 37 arranged to receive messages containing instructions to alter conditions set within the controller and to act upon those altered instructions.
40. A controller as claimed in claim 1, in which the control arrangement extracts the control instructions from the decoded messages by means of a sliding window.
41. A system for remotely controlling the supply of electric power to customer premises comprising:
a central control computer programmed to produce control instructions for transmission to a controller contained within at least one of a meter and an adapter located between a supply socket and a demountable meter at each customer’s premises, each controller having at least one of a unique identifier and belonging to a group with a single common unique identifier;
wherein the central control computer is programmed to produce a command message having a format of a first set of ASCII check sum characters, followed by a second set of ASCII sub address characters, and third set of ASCII command message characters, and
a paging system for transmitting the command message from the central control computer to each controller; wherein each controller comprises a temperature compensated paging receiver, a decoder for decoding command messages addressed to that controller, a switching arrangement for connecting the supply socket to and from a load, and a control arrangement for receiving control messages from the decoder and arranged to act upon the instructions to cause the switching arrangement to connect or disconnect the supply socket tofrom the load.
42. A system as claimed in claim 41 in which the first set comprises six characters.
43. A system as claimed in claim 41 in which the second set comprises eight characters.
44. A system as claimed in claim 41 in which the third set is a variable length string of characters.
45. A system as claimed in claim 42 in which the second set comprises eight characters and the third set is a variable length string of characters in which the check sum is calculated according to a method having the following steps:
A) add together the ASCII value of each odd character position starting with the first character of the second set and continuing to the end of the third set,
B) truncate the result to 12 binary bits if necessary (FFF hex),
C) starting with a most significant nibble of the 12 bit value calculated in Step b), function OR this value to 30 hex after bit shifting the nibble to the least significant position to produce the first check sum character,
D) repeat the step c) for the last two nibbles to produce the second and third check sum characters,
E) add together the ASCII value of each even character position starting with the first character of the second set and continuing to the end of the third set,
F) truncate the result to 12 binary bits if necessary (FFFhex),
G) repeat steps c) and d) using the result from step f) instead of step b) to produce the final three characters of the check sum.
46. A system as claimed in claim 41 in which the command message is transmitted more than once to each controller.
47. A message structure for sending commands to a remote controller, the message structure comprising a first set of six ASCII check sum characters, followed by a second set of ASCII sub address characters, and third set of ASCII command message characters, and in which the second set comprises eight characters and the third set is a variable length string of characters in which the check sum is calculated according a method having the following steps:
A) add together the ASCII value of each odd character position starting with the first character of the second set and continuing to the end of the third set,
B) truncate the result to 12 binary bits if necessary (FFF hex),
C) starting with a most significant nibble of the 12 bit value calculated in Step b), function OR this value to 30 hex after bit shifting the nibble to the least significant position to produce the first check sum character.
D) repeat the step c) for the last two nibbles to produce the second and third check sum characters,
E) add together the ASCII value of each even character position starting with the first character of the second set and continuing to the end of the third set,
F) truncate the result to 12 binary bits if necessary (FFFhex),
G) repeat steps c)and d)using the result from step f)instead of step b)to produce a final three characters of the check sum.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A cover for a recessed light fixture mounted in a fixture enclosure embedded in a fixture opening in a wall or a stair riser, comprising:
a base plate having an outer perimeter and an inner perimeter, the inner perimeter defining a central opening in the base plate, the central opening sized to be larger than the fixture opening in the wall or the stair riser such that the base plate is positionable on the wall or the stair riser with the inner perimeter of the base plate spaced apart from the fixture enclosure embedded in the fixture opening with no portion of the base plate contacting the fixture enclosure, the base plate including openings formed between the outer perimeter and the inner perimeter to accommodate fasteners to secure the base plate to the wall or the stair riser;
a lens frame having a base portion sized to fit around the outer perimeter of the base plate and having a lens support portion extending from the base portion, the lens support portion including a lens receiving recess having a selected size and shape, the lens receiving recess having a view opening disposed away from the base portion, the view opening surrounded by a lens border; and
a lens comprising a slab of onyx cut to a size and shape to fit within the recess of the lens frame, the lens having a polished face that highlights the naturally occurring colors of the onyx, the lens positioned in the lens receiving recess of the lens frame with a perimeter portion of the lens adjacent the border surrounding the view opening and with the remaining portion of the polished face exposed through the view opening of the lens receiving recess so that light incident on a face opposite the polished face is emitted from the remaining portion of the polished face and passes through the view opening.
2. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein the base portion of the lens frame includes at least one fastener to fasten the lens frame to the base plate.
3. The system as defined in claim 2, wherein the at least one fastener comprises a thumbscrew having a threaded shaft that passes through a bore in the lens frame and that engages a threaded bore in the base plate.
4. The system as defined in claim 2, wherein the at least one fastener comprises two thumbscrews that pass through bores formed symmetrically about a center of the lens frame and that engage corresponding threaded bores in the base plate.
5. The system as defined in claim 1, where the slab of onyx forming the lens comprises \u201choney onyx.\u201d
6. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein the slab of onyx forming the lens has a thickness of approximately \u215c inch.
7. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein the slab of onyx forming the lens is generally rectangular with a front surface, a rear surface, a first edge surface, a second edge surface, a third edge surface and a fourth edge surface, and wherein only the front surface is polished to form the polished face.
8. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein when the lens frame is secured to the base plate, the lens positioned in the lens receiving recess is secured within the lens receiving recess between the lens border of the view opening and the base plate.
9. A method of installing a cover over an existing recessed light fixture in a wall or stair riser, the method comprising:
removing any existing cover from the recessed light fixture;
securing a base plate to a surface of the wall or stair riser surrounding the recessed light fixture, the base plate approximately centered with respect to the recessed light fixture, the base plate including an inner perimeter that surrounds a central opening, the recessed light fixture being accessible via the central opening, the inner perimeter of the base plate sized and shaped to be greater than outer dimensions of the recessed light fixture so that when the base plate is secured to the surface, the inner perimeter is spaced apart from the recessed light fixture with no portion of the base plate contacting the recessed light fixture; and
securing a lens frame to the base plate, the lens frame including a recess, the recess having a viewing opening surrounded by a lens border, the lens frame further including an onyx lens sized and shaped to fit within the recess, the onyx lens having a polished surface with a perimeter portion of the onyx lens positioned against the lens border such that a central portion of the polished surface is exposed through the viewing opening, the lens frame positioned with respect to the base plate such that the onyx lens is positioned between the lens border of the lens frame and the base plate and such that the onyx lens is positioned over the step light fixture.
10. The method as defined in claim 9, wherein the lens frame is removably secured to the base plate via at least one thumbscrew having a threaded shaft that passes through a bore in the lens frame and engages a threaded bore in the base plate.
11. The method as defined in claim 9, wherein the onyx lens comprises \u201choney onyx.\u201d