1. A system for controlling operation of at least one appliance within a dwelling, comprising:
at least one appliance having an electronic controller operable to control the at least one appliance; and
an intelligent thermostat remotely located from the at least one appliance for controlling at least a dwelling’s heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) system, the intelligent thermostat operably coupled to the electronic controller for communications therewith, the intelligent thermostat adapted to control operation of the HVAC system and the at least one appliance in response to communication between the at least one appliance and the intelligent thermostat; and
wherein the at least one appliance has at least one occupancy sensor for sensing occupancy information of the dwelling, and wherein the electronic controller communicates the sensed occupancy information to the intelligent thermostat, and wherein the intelligent thermostat processes the occupancy information to determine if the occupancy state of the dwelling is one of an occupied state and an unoccupied state; and
wherein the intelligent thermostat transmits a command to the electronic controller to operate the at least one appliance in an energy saving mode when the intelligent determines that the occupancy state of the dwelling is in the unoccupied state.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the occupancy information sensed by the at least one occupancy sensor includes a user’s manipulation of at least one input control of the at least one appliance.
3. The system of claim 2, wherein the at least one input control of the at least one appliance includes at least one of a button, a switch, a dial and a touch screen.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one appliance includes a plurality of appliances having at least one occupancy sensor and an electronic controller operable to control the appliance and operably coupled to the intelligent thermostat for communication therewith, and wherein the thermostat operates to control the operation of all of the plurality of appliances according to the determined occupancy state of the dwelling.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the intelligent thermostat transmits an appliance vacation mode control signal to the at least one appliance when the thermostat determines that the dwelling is in the unoccupied state to initiate an appliance vacation mode within the electronic controller.
6. The system of claim 5, wherein the intelligent thermostat transmits a cancel appliance vacation mode control signal to the at least on appliance when the thermostat determines that the dwelling has returned to the occupied state.
7. The system of claim 5, wherein the intelligent thermostat controls the HVAC system according to an occupied mode setting for the HVAC system when the intelligent thermostat determines the dwelling is in the occupied state.
8. The system of claim 1, wherein the intelligent thermostat is operably coupled to the electronic controller of the at least one appliance for communications via a wireless communication channel.
9. The system of claim 1, wherein the intelligent thermostat is operably coupled to the electronic controller of the at least one appliance for communications via a wired communications channel.
10. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one appliance includes at least one of a door, lid, latch, lock, and handle, and wherein the occupancy information sensed by the at least one occupancy sensor includes a user’s manipulation of at least one of the at least one of a door, lid, latch, lock, and handle.
11. A system for controlling operation of at least one appliance within a dwelling, comprising:
at least one appliance having an electronic controller operable to control the at least one appliance;
an intelligent thermostat remotely located from the at least one appliance for controlling at least a dwelling’s heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) system, the intelligent thermostat operably coupled to the electronic controller for communications therewith to control operation of at least one of the HVAC system and the at least one appliance in response to communication between the at least one appliance and the intelligent thermostat; and
wherein the at least one appliance includes at least one heat producing appliance that dissipates heat energy into the dwelling, and wherein the electronic controller of the at least one heat producing appliance communicates operational information of the heat producing appliance to the intelligent thermostat, and wherein the intelligent thermostat activates the HVAC system to cool at least a localized environment of the heat producing appliance in response to the operational information despite a sensed temperature at the intelligent thermostat being below an activation set point for the HVAC system.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein the operational information includes at least one of a user determined mode of operation, a user determined length of operation, a user determined temperature setting, or an appliance determined energy dissipation quantity.
13. The system of claim 11, wherein the HVAC system can independently condition a plurality of localized environments of the dwelling, and the intelligent thermostat activates the HVAC system to condition only the localized environment of the at least one heat producing appliance in response to receiving the operational information.
14. The system of claim 11, wherein the intelligent thermostat is configured to provide a user selectable HVAC vacation mode setting for the HVAC system, and wherein the intelligent thermostat transmits an appliance vacation mode control signal to the electronic controller of the at least one appliance when the user selectable HVAC vacation mode has been selected to initiate an appliance vacation mode.
15. A method of controlling at least one appliance and a heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system of a dwelling, comprising the steps of:
receiving by a thermostat user input information from the at least one appliance;
processing by the thermostat the received user input information;
transmitting by the thermostat to the at least one of the HVAC system and the at least one appliance a control signal to adjust an operational mode of the at least one HVAC system and appliance; and
wherein the user input information includes appliance activation information input by the user including at least one of a mode of operation, activation of the appliance, a length of operation, or a temperature setting; and
wherein the transmitting step includes transmitting an activation control signal to the HVAC system to activate the HVAC system to cool at least a portion of he dwelling despite a sensed temperature at the thermostat being below an activation set point for the HVAC system.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of processing by the thermostat includes the step of determining the occupancy state of the dwelling including one of an occupied state and an unoccupied state.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of determining the occupancy state includes the steps of:
calculating a time from last receipt of the user input information;
determining that the dwelling is unoccupied when the time exceeds a predetermined value without further receipt of the user input information; and
determining that the dwelling is occupied when further user input information is received by the thermostat.
18. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of transmitting includes transmitting a control signal to adjust the operational mode of at least one of the HVAC system and the at least one appliance to a vacation mode.
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 portable terminal comprising:
a body having a display device provided on a front face thereof;
a support plate pivotably installed on a rear face of said body,
a receiving recess formed on said rear face of said body, said receiving recess being adapted to receive said support plate; and
at least one cam member provided on a rotation axis of said support plate, said cam member being disposed inside said body, and said cam member being coupled to said support plate;
wherein said support plate is arranged to pivot from a first position in which said support plate is received in said receiving recess, to a second position in which said support plate protrudes from said rear face of said body; and
wherein said cam member is rotated about said rotation axis when said support plate pivots from said first position to said second position.
2. The portable terminal as claimed in claim 1, further comprising at least one handling groove along an edge of said support plate,
wherein when said support plate is in said first position, the edge of said support plate is engaged with an inner wall of said receiving recess and said handling groove is positioned to be spacedly opposite to said inner wall of said receiving recess.
3. The portable terminal as claimed in claim 1, wherein when said support plate is in said second position, said support plate is retained at a predetermined angular displacement of 90 or 180 degrees.
4. The portable terminal as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a printed pattern arranged in said receiving recess, wherein said printed pattern may be covered when said support plate is received within said receiving recess.
5. A portable terminal comprising:
a body having a display device provided on a front face thereof;
a support plate pivotably installed on a rear face of said body, wherein a first opening formed in said support plate,
a receiving recess formed on said rear face of said body, said receiving recess being adapted to receive said support plate; and
a camera module positioned in said receiving recess;
wherein said support plate is arranged to pivot from a first position in which the support plate is received in said receiving recess, to a second position in which the support plate protrudes from said rear face of said body; and
wherein said camera module is exposed through said first opening when said support plate is in said first position.
6. A portable terminal comprising:
a body having a display device provided on a front face thereof;
a support plate pivotably installed on a rear face of said body,
a receiving recess formed on said rear face of said body adapted to receive said support plate; and
at least one slot formed in said receiving recess to provide a space for mounting an attachment,
wherein said slot is covered by said support plate when said support plate is received by said receiving recess; and
wherein said support plate is arranged to pivot from a first position in which said support plate is received in said receiving recess, to a second position in which said support plate protrudes from said rear face of said body.
7. The portable terminal as claimed in claim 6, wherein said support plate has a rotation axis arranged adjacent to one edge of said receiving recess, and said slot is arranged adjacent to another edge of said receiving recess.
8. The portable terminal as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:
at least one leaf spring anchored to an interior structure of said body; and
wherein a peripheral surface of said cam member is supported by said leaf spring.
9. The portable terminal as claimed in claim 8, further comprising at least one pair of flat surfaces formed on said peripheral surface of said cam member,
wherein as said leaf spring comes into close contact with any one of said flat surfaces, said leaf spring exerts a force on that flat surface, such that said support plate is retained at a predetermined angular position of 90 degrees or 180 degrees.
10. The portable terminal as claimed in claim 8, wherein said cam member is formed in a cylindrical shape having plural latching grooves on said peripheral surface, and a part of said leaf spring is resiliently engaged with one of said latching grooves to retain said support plate in at a predetermined angular position of 90 degrees or 180 degrees.
11. A portable terminal comprising:
a body having a display device provided on a front face thereof;
one or more attachments detachably provided on a rear face of said body; and
a support plate pivotably installed on said rear face of said body;
a receiving recess formed on said rear face of said body adapted to receive said support plate;
at least one leaf spring anchored to an interior structure of the body; and
at least one cam member coupled to said support plate, the at least one cam member being provided on a rotation axis of said support plate;
wherein said support plate is arranged to pivot from a first position in which said support plate received in said receiving recess, to a second position in which said support plate is protruding from said rear face of said body;
wherein said cam member is rotated about said rotation axis when said support plate pivots from said first position to said second position;
wherein a peripheral surface of said cam member is supported by said leaf spring when said support plate is at least one of said first position and said second position; and
wherein said support plate is utilized as a cradle when said support plate is in said second position.
12. The portable terminal as claimed in claim 11, wherein a first opening is formed through said support plate, said attachments are provided on said rear face of said body, and one of said attachments is exposed through said first opening while said support plate is in said first position.
13. The portable terminal as claimed in claim 12, wherein said attachment exposed through said first opening is a camera module.
14. The portable terminal as claimed in claim 11, further comprising one or more slots formed on said rear face of said body, wherein said attachments are a storage medium and a battery pack provided to be mounted in said slots, respectively, and said support plate is arranged to cover said slots when said support plate is in said first position.
15. The portable terminal as claimed in claim 14, wherein said slots are formed at a location in said receiving recess that is spaced from said rotation axis of said support plate in a region of said receiving recess that is covered by said support plate when said support plate is in said first position.
16. The portable terminal as claimed in claim 11, wherein said support plate is retained in a stopped position at an angular point of 90 degrees or at an angular point of 180 degrees.
17. The portable terminal as claimed in claim 11, further comprising:
at least one handling groove formed along an edge of said support plate, wherein when said support plate is in said first position said support plate is engaged with an inner wall of said receiving recess, and said handling groove is positioned opposite to said inner wall of said receiving recess.