ELECTROTHERMAL SYSTEM
The present invention relates to an electrothermal system which comprises at least one electrothermal equipment used to emit infrared radiation, a control unit used to control the operation of the electrothermal equipments. By using the control unit, some specified electrothermal equipments can be enabled to heat up some specified regions while the other electrothermal equipments will not operate. The present invention can reduce power consumption for only heating up demanded local regions and improving efficiency of electricity utilization.
The present invention relates to an electrothermal system, and more particularly to an electrothermal system using infrared radiation as the major heating source, which can be used to heat up local regions as demanded.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONHeaters or air conditioners are indispensable in many middle and high latitude countries. Even in a subtropical country like Taiwan, people still need a heater or an air conditioner to warm up the temperature in the room in the winter time, and which is very important to the children and seniorities who are relatively weak in health. For many families, a space heater, such as ceramic heater or thermal-tube heater, is an ideal option for use. However, these types of heaters are placed in a fixed location, so that the space being heated is very limited. In many cases, people are moving in the room and, sometimes, the space of a room is pretty large, such heater is not practical as expected. Therefore, for a big space in a restaurant, hotel, office building or hospital, a large scale air conditioner system is used often to control the temperature in the room. However, the temperature in a large scale air conditioner system is controlled centrally, and can not be individually adjusted to meet personal demand. It is often to see that one person feels cold while another feels warm when both of them are in the same area with same space temperature, and changing the temperature will not satisfy any of them. In other case, when many people are in the same space, such as in a department store or a big office, a centralized air condition system is an ideal option, however, when only a few people in such big space, the system is not operating economically and wasting energy.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn order to cure the disadvantages described above, such as using in a fixed location, operating not economically and wasting energy, the present invention discloses an electrothermal system which comprises at least one electrothermal equipment, which is in the shape of board and is the major source of heat, to emit infrared radiation when being connected electrically; a control unit used to control the operation of each electrothermal equipment. The present invention can be installed in big range in an interior space, and can be integrated with interior design, such as installed in the ceiling or mounted directly on the wall. When in operation, the present invention is able to control each electrothermal equipment of the system with the control unit depending on personal demand.
The control unit of the present invention is connected with a user interface for a user to send instructions to the control unit for operation such as turn on or off a specified electrothermal equipment of the electrothermal system, or adjusting the infrared radiation intensity of the specified energized electrothermal equipment. The user interface can be connected to the control unit of the present invention via physical circuit or wireless access.
More, the electrothermal system of the present invention further comprises a sensor for detecting the location of the user, receiving operating instructions from the user or sending instructions to the control unit for operating the system. The sensor can be an infrared sensor which uses an infrared transmitter for emitting infrared allover the room and uses an infrared receiver for receiving the infrared reflecting from the user to detect the location of the user. It is noticed that the infrared wavelength of the infrared transmitter and receiver is different from that of radiation emitting from the electrothermal equipment.
Further more, the sensor can be an image sensor which uses a camera for receiving an image to determine the location of the user and transmits signals to the control unit for operating the system. According to the user's gestures detected by the image sensor, the sensor can transmit signals to the control unit for operating the electrothermal equipment, such as turning on or off a specified electrothermal equipment of the system, or adjusting the infrared radiation intensity of the specific energized electrothermal equipment.
The sensor can be an audio sensor which can detect the voice or some specific oral instructions from the user and send instructions to the control unit for operating the electrothermal equipment, such as turning on or off a specified electrothermal equipment of the system, or adjusting the infrared radiation intensity of the specified energized electrothermal equipment in the system.
Further, the electrothermal system of the present invention also comprises a thermometer for detecting the temperature of the user's body or the environment and sends instructions to the control unit for operating the electrothermal equipment subject to the temperature.
The electrothermal system of the present invention has many advantages as follows.
(1) The electrothermal equipment of the electrothermal system is in the shape of board which can be installed in the ceiling or mounted directly on the wall and occupy very limited space.
(2) The control unit of the electrothermal system is able to control each electrothermal equipment respectively. Only those electrothermal equipments located in the regions having people or in the regions demanding more heat will be in operation, otherwise, the electrothermal equipment will not be in operation in order to save energy.
(3) The electrothermal equipment of the present invention can be installed in many regions in a room, and the sensors are used to detect the location of the people and send instructions to the control unit for operating the electrothermal equipment to increase the temperature around the regions having people. Therefore, the people in different regions will obtain the heat according to their locations.
(4) The infrared radiation is the major heating approach of the electrothermal system of the present invention. The electrothermal equipment has the features of high infrared emissivity and warming rapidness. So that it is able to rapidly respond to the various situations of localized demand for heating.
(5) The electrothermal equipment of the present invention can be a modular design for easily mounted to the present suspended ceiling frame like T-bar ceiling lights or air conditioning ceiling vents. So the present invention is helpful to save the installation cost.
In order to further illustrate the purposes, technical means, and effects of the present invention, the details are described in the following preferred embodiments.
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The present invention has been described with some preferred embodiments thereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications in the described embodiments can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limited only by the appended.
Claims
1. An electrothermal system, comprising
- at least one electrothermal equipment for emitting infrared radiation when being connected electrically;
- a control unit for controlling the operation of the electrothermal equipments;
- wherein by using the control unit, some specified electrothermal equipments can be enabled to heat up specified regions while the other electrothermal equipments will not operate, so as to reduce power consumption for only heating up demanded local regions and improving efficiency of electricity utilization.
2. The electrothermal system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system further comprises a sensor for detecting a location of a user or receiving a operating instruction from the user and transmitting a signal to the control unit to heat up the specified regions.
3. The electrothermal system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the sensor is using infrared radiation to detect the location of the user.
4. The electrothermal system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the sensor is using image to detect the location, the body motion, or the gestures of the user.
5. The electrothermal system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the user can operate the system with the motion of user's body or the user's gestures.
6. The electrothermal system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the sensor can identify the user by features of the user's face, the pose of the user or the motion of user's body and optimize the operation of the system subject to user's habits.
7. The electrothermal system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the sensor can detect the user's voice, sound, or oral instructions.
8. The electrothermal system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the user can operate the system with his voice, sound, or oral instructions.
9. The electrothermal system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the sensor can identify the user by the user's voice, sound, or voiceprint and optimize the operation of the system subject to user's habits.
10. The electrothermal system as claimed in claim 1, the system further comprises a thermometer for detecting the temperature of a user's body or the temperature of environment.
11. The electrothermal system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electrothermal equipment is installed in a ceiling of a room.
12. The electrothermal system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electrothermal equipment is installed on a wall of a room.
Type: Application
Filed: May 28, 2013
Publication Date: Dec 4, 2014
Inventors: Shang-Lin Tsai (Taipei), Chih-Ming Hsu (Taipei), Huang-Sheng Liu (Taipei), Yung-Hui Hung (Taipei), Cheng-Pi Lee (Taipei)
Application Number: 13/903,966
International Classification: F24D 19/10 (20060101); F24H 3/00 (20060101);