GB2488388A

GB2488388A - Assisted positioning of a receiver device

Info

Publication number: GB2488388A
Application number: GB1119324.0A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Jung Ya Hsieh
Original assignee: GIXIA GROUP CO
Current assignee: GIXIA GROUP CO
Priority date: 2011-02-25
Filing date: 2011-11-09
Publication date: 2012-08-29
Also published as: GB201119324D0; TW201235809A

Abstract

A method for assisting the positioning of a receiver device and an adjustable receiver assembly are disclosed. The invention involves mounting a receiver device, such as solar cells 1 or a satellite dish antenna, on an adjustable mount 2 having an adjustable inclination angle. An installation assisting device 4 includes an electric gyro and a positioning system, such as a global positioning system (GPS). A bracket 3 is mounted beside the adjustable mount and used for securing the installation assisting device. The current position is located by the positioning system and the installation assisting device obtains the best angle of receiving sunlight or signals at that position, preferably through built-in software or an external server. Then, the inclination angle of the adjustable mount is adjusted manually or automatically and the installation assisting device is moved along therewith. The inclination angle is detected by the electric gyro and adjusted to the optimum receiving angle at the position. The installation assisting device generates a notifying signal when the angle reaches the optimum inclination angle.

Description

ADJUSTABLE RECEIVERASSEMBLYAND METHOD FOR

ASSISTING POSITIONING OF RECEIVER DEVICE

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to an adjustable receiver assembly and a positioning method, and more particularly an adjustable receiver assembly and a method for assisting the positioning of a receiver device with high calibration efficiency and excellent calibration accuracy.

DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART

With the rapid and continuous progress of modem technology, green energy like solar power that is converted from sunlight through solar cells, or wind power that is generated upon using wind force generators for use or storage. However, correct installation of a solar cell or a wind force generator is strictly correlated with the amount of electric power that can be generated. Tf considering the entire environment, the angle taking on the strongest sunlight or wind blows will naturally vary following the earth's orbit around the sun and the season's change, and any changes in the latitude, longitude, geography and topography of the position where the solar cell or wind force generator resides will also influence the direction that the solar cell or wind force generator should be oriented.

Furthermore, owing to different usages and occasions, some would prefer to adjust the orientation of the solar cell or wind force generator daily or every two or three months in accordance with the relevant information, while others would never make any adjustment after installation. Not to mention that different adjustments should be made to the solar cells or wind force generators when they are mounted on different sites, such as a sports utility vehicle and a building roof. Nevertheless, the installation of a solar cell is usually rough.

As shown in FIG. 12, solar cells are mounted in conformity with the contour of the roof At most, the installer picks a specific orientation by visual check to accordingly fix solar cells 8 on the roof 9. As for energy generating efficiency, leave it to chance. As a result, the solar power generated in this way by solar cells is not as good as expected, and the same case applies to wind force generators. Same problems occur to the installation of the devices in need of positioning, such as satellite receiving antennas and others.

Therefore, the installation assisting device determines the position where the receiver device mentioned above is installed and comparing it with the orientation required for receiving light, wind power or satellite signals, thereby giving an optimum orientation for installing the receiver device. Next, the installation assisting device helps to direct the receiver device towards the optimum orientation. No matter the receiver device is adapted for generating solar power, for generating wind power, for receiving satellite signals or for like applications, any receiver devices in need of angle adjustment can be adjusted to the optimum angle. The invention provides suggestions for a user to adjust the receiver device to a correct direction according to the user's habits, allowing the user to easily adjust the receiver device in position to thereby enhance the receiving efficiency and fulfill the user's demand.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is to provide an adjustable receiver assembly for maintaining the receiver device at an optimum receiving inclination angle.

Another object of the invention is to provide an easy-to-operate adjustable receiver assembly.

A still another object of the invention is to provide an adjustable receiver assembly with high accuracy.

A still another object of the invention is to provide a user-friendly method for assisting the positioning of a receiver device.

A still another object of the invention is to provide a method for assisting the positioning of a receiver device with high accuracy.

The inventive method disclosed herein is useful for assisting the positioning of a receiver device adapted for receiving a wave from a particular direction upon being oriented toward the direction. The method comprises the steps of: a) using an installation assisting device built-in with an electric gyro and a positioning system to determine the receiver device's position relative to the earth; b) determining an optimum inclination angle for the receiver device according to the position relative to the earth; and c) using the electric gyro of the installation assisting device to detect the angle at which the installation assisting device is inclined and generating a notifying signal when the angle reaches the optimum inclination angle.

The invention further relates to an adjustable receiver assembly for receiving a wave from a particular direction upon being oriented toward the direction by using an installation assisting device built-in with an electric gyro and a positioning system. The adjustable receiver assembly comprises: a a receiver device for receiving the wave; an adjustable mount that supports the receiver device, so that the inclination angle of the receiver device is adjustable; and a bracket movable along with the adjustable mount, adapted for securing the installation assisting device at a particular angle relative to the receiver device; whereby the installation assisting device detects and determines the receiver device's position on the earth using the positioning system to thereby determine an optimum inclination angle for the receiver device, and the adjustable mount is adjusted according to the inclination angle of the installation assisting device detected by the built-in electric gyro to make the receiver device inclined at the optimum inclination angle.

The method for assisting the positioning of a receiver device, and the adjustable receiver assembly produced according to the techniques disclosed herein, allow adjustment of a receiver device, such as a solar cell, a wind force generator or a satellite dish antenna, to an optimum receiving angle at the current position. It provides accurate calibration for the receiver device and, particularly, is easy to operate to greatly enhance the receiving efficiency.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the adjustable receiver assembly according to the first preferred embodiment of the invention, which is mounted with solar cells and maintained at an optimum inclination angle toward the sun; FIG 2 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the adjustable receiver assembly of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the method for assisting the positioning of the adjustable receiver assembly according to the first preferred embodiment of the invention; FIG 4 is a schematic perspective view of an installation assisting device of the adjustable receiver assembly, which is secured on a bracket at the same inclination angle as that of the adjustable mount; FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of the adjustable mount of FIG 4, which is adjusted to be at an optimum angle for receiving sunlight and the indicator displayed on the display unit is moved towards and overlapped with the origin of the reference coordinate system due to the inclination angle detected by an electric gyro; FIG. 6 is a side view of a solar concentrator installed in front of the light-receiving face of the solar cell of FIG. 1; FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view of the second preferred embodiment of the invention, showing that an SUV mounted with solar cells is equipped with a vehicle-use computer for remotely controlling the inclination angle of the

adjustable mount;

FIG 8 is a schematic perspective view of the third preferred embodiment of the invention, showing that that an adjustable receiver assembly is used with a satellite dish antenna and maintained at an optimum angle for emitting signals to an artificial satellite; FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the adjustable receiver assembly of FIG. 8; FIG 10 is a flowchart of the method for automatically assisting the positioning of the adjustable receiver assembly of FIG 9; FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of the fourth preferred embodiment according to the invention, showing that an SUV mounted with solar cells and equipped with a GPS system and an electric gyro is provided with a processor for determining the angle of the mount relative to the base; and FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing the conventional solar cells fixed on the roof

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Regarding previous description of the invention and other techniques, features and performance, it will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings of preferred embodiments for clear presentation.

The first preferred embodiment of the inventive method for assisting the positioning of a receiver device and the inventive adjustable receiver assembly are illustrated in FIGs. 1 and 2. In this embodiment, the receiver device is illustrated as solar cells 1 for receiving a light wave radiated from the sun and transforming the light wave into electricity. The solar cells 1 are installed on an adjustable mount 2 which is equipped with a controller device 5 to adjust the inclination angle, so that the solar cells I installed on the adjustable mount 2 are inclined at the same angle. A bracket 3 is mounted beside the adjustable mount 2 for securing an installation assisting device 4 and is inclinable along with the

adjustable mount 2.

The installation assisting device 4 is illustrated herein as a smart mobile phone having transmission capability and built-in with an electric gyro 41, a positioning system, a display unit 43, a processor 44 and a loudspeaker 45. In this embodiment, the positioning system is a global position system (GPS) 42, which provides the current latitude and longitude information of the mobile phone. The mobile phone is built-in with specific programs that store the information regarding, for example, the distance between the sun and the earth, the earth's orbit around the sun, the tilt angle of the earth's axis and the radius of the earth, and from there the best three-dimensional angle for receiving solar radiation at various time points for a day at a specific position on the earth, as well as the weighted average of the best three-dimensional angles for receiving solar radiation at a given position during a period of time, such as one month.

Now refer to FIGs. 3 and 4, which illustrate a process for angle adjustment.

First, in Step 301, the global positioning system 42 of the installation assisting device 4 is used to determine the latitude and longitude information of the position where the solar cell 1 is installed. Second, in Step 302, the position information detected above is transmitted to the processor 44, in which the built-in programs mentioned above are executed to calculate the best three-dimensional angle for receiving solar radiation at the position. Next, in Step 303, the information of the best receiving angle obtained by the processor 44 of the installation assisting device 4 is transmitted to the display unit 43 and displayed in the form of a reference coordinate system 431. In Step 304, the installation assisting device 4 inclining along with the adjustable mount 2 will sense the inclination angle through the electric gyro 41, and the information of the detected inclination angle is transmitted to the processor 44 which makes the display unit 43 to display an indicator that is movable according to the inclination angle detected by the electric gyro 41. In this embodiment, the indicator is a bubble 432.

Next, in Step 305, a user can adjust the inclination angle of the adjustable mount 2 through the controller device 5 as shown in FIG. 5. Since the installation assisting device 4 secured in the bracket 3 is inclined at the same angle as the solar cell 1, the bubble 432 moves along with the angle adjustment.

The screen of the smart mobile phone acts as the display unit 43, displaying a polar coordinate system. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the user is willing to adjust the inclination angle of the solar cells every month. Thence the processor 44 executes the built-in programs mentioned above to calculate the best three-dimensional angle for receiving solar radiation at the current position on the basis of a one-month period, and marks the optimum angle as the origin of the polar coordinate system.

Therefore, when the bubble 432 is approaching to the origin of the coordinate system, the processor 44 drives the loudspeaker 45 to generate particular sounds, such as beep sounds, of various frequency and duration. For example, the frequency of the beep sounds increases or decreases to notify the user that the bubble's position is moving towards or away from the origin of coordinate system. When the bubble 432 overlaps the origin of reference coordinate system 431, it represents that the adjustable mount 2 is adjusted to be at the optimum inclination angle for receiving sunlight, and the user is immediately informed that the positioning of the solar cell 1 is done and the adjustable mount 2 can be fixed for keeping the solar cell 1 at an optimum average angle for receiving sunlight within one month. Re-adjustment and repositioning won't be necessary until next month.

Note that the global positioning system 42 in this embodiment can be replaced with the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). The latitude and longitude information of the receiver device can be acquired through the worldwide distribution of GSM base stations. Preferably, the adjustable mount 2, in addition to the pitch adjustment mechanism described above, is provided with a central rotating shaft for axial rotation, so that the light-receiving face of the solar cell 1 is kept facing the sun. In order to enhance the efficiency of generating solar energy, a solar concentrator 6 is installed in front of the light-receiving face of the solar cell 1 as illustrated in FIG 6, so as to converge the sunlight passing through it to the light-receiving face of solar cell 1.

According to the second preferred embodiment of the invention as shown in FIG 7, an SUV 7' equipped with a solar cell 1' is provided, in which a vehicle-use computer is provided to serve as a controller device 5' for controlling the inclination angle of an adjustable mount 2'. The vehicle-use computer has a wireless receiver port to wirelessly transmit data to and communicate with an installation assisting device 4'. According to this embodiment, the installation assisting device 4' is a tablet computer having positioning and communication functions. When the SUV 7' parks at a position where it can receive sunlight, the installation assisting device 4' secured in a bracket 3' first acquires the current position and the inclination angle of the adjustable mount 2'. Based on the information regarding the position, the angle of the sun's radiation for the next hour, for example, can be obtained.

Then, the current inclination angle of the adjustable mount 2' relative to the sun is compared to the optimum inclination angle and the difference between them is sent to the controller device 5' for automatic adjustment. Thus, a user won't take undue effort to optimize the inclination angle of the solar cell on the car roof It is apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art that the receiver device is not limited to a solar cell and the wave to be received is not limited to sunlight. According to the third preferred embodiment of the invention, the receiver device is a satellite dish antenna 1" shown in FIGs. 8 and 9 for receiving communication electromagnetic waves from a satellite, or reversely sending signals to the satellite. In this embodiment, the satellite dish antenna 1" is similarly installed on an adjustable mount 2", which is also controlled by a built-in controller device 5" to adjust the inclination angle thereof Similarly, the adjustable mount 2" has a bracket 3" for securing an installation assisting device 4". The installation assisting device 4" according to this embodiment is substantially the same as those described in the previous embodiments and is a smart mobile phone with a communication device 46", which is illustrated herein as a Bluetooth communication module for message transmission between the installation assisting device 4" and the controller device 5". As an alternative, the invention can be practiced by adopting, for example, the ZigBee system or directly using a universal serial bus (USB) connector for data exchange.

Now refer to FIG. 10 for angle adjustment of a satellite dish antenna 1".

First, in Step 901, the global positioning system 42" is used to obtain the latitude and longitude information of the position where the satellite dish antenna 1" locates and the current coordinates of the artificial satellite in its orbit around the earth. Next, in Step 902, the coordinate information is transmitted to the processor 44" of the installation assisting device 4". In Step 903, an electric gyro 41" is used to detect the inclination angle of current adjustable mount 2" and transmit the information to the processor 44".

In Step 904, the processor 44" is used to obtain an optimum inclination angle of the satellite dish antenna 1" and sends it to the controller device 5" via the communication device 46". Subsequently, the controller device 5" drives the adjustable mount 2" to have the satellite dish antenna 1" automatically positioned at the optimum inclination angle, so as to receive signals from the artificial satellite effectively. Note that the installation assisting device 4" can be programmed to periodically calculate an optimum angle and transmit the same to the controller device 5" for adjusting the inclination angle of the satellite dish antenna 1," thereby achieving the purpose of periodical automatic calibration.

It is apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments described above, which involve using a particular positioning assisting device including both of a positioning system and an electric gyro, such as a smart mobile phone and a tablet computer, are shown merely for illustration purpose rather than limitation. According to the fourth preferred embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 11, an SUV 7" equipped with a solar cell 1" is provided, in which the SUV 7" is defined herein as a base and the solar cell 1" serves as a receiver device. An adjustable mount 2" is installed on the roof of the SLIV 7" for mounting the solar cell 1", and a hydraulic drive device is used for adjusting inclination angle through a lifting or lowering movement.

There are many modem vehicles equipped with the GPS system to provide the positioning function and an electric gyro to calculate the inclination angles of the vehicles. In this case, since the inclination angle of the adjustable mount 2" is adjusted by the lifting and lowering movement of the drive device, the processor 5" equipped inside of the vehicle can easily determine the inclination angle of the adjustable mount 2" relative to the base and further obtain the inclination angle of the adjustable mount 2" relative to the ground by adding up the inclination angle of the vehicle. Hence, a well-equipped vehicle can rely on its original equipments to achieve the accurate positioning of a receiver device, such as a solar cell or a communication antenna, according to the method disclosed herein, without being additionally provided with a 3 C device, such as smart mobile phone or tablet computer.

The inventive method for assisting the positioning of a receiver device and the inventive adjustable receiver assembly are not only simple and easy to operate for accurate adjustment of the inclination angle of a solar cell or a satellite dish antenna, but also realize the automatic adjustment via program designing. Moreover, the programs of this type are loaded into various smart mobile phones with satellite positioning systems or mobile communication systems, so that the angle adjustment mechanism disclosed herein can easily realize a convenient and efficient operation in receiving signal waves or energy waves.

While the invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments above, it should be recognized that the preferred embodiments are given for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention and that various modifications and changes, which will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art, may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

What is Claimed is: 1. A method for assisting the positioning of a receiver device adapted for receiving a wave from a particular direction upon being oriented toward the direction, comprising the steps of: a) using an installation assisting device built-in with an electric gyro and a positioning system to determine the receiver device's position relative to the earth; b) determining an optimum inclination angle for the receiver device according to the position relative to the earth; and c) using the electric gyro of the installation assisting device to detect the angle at which the installation assisting device is inclined and generating a notifying signal when the angle reaches the optimum inclination angle.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the installation assisting device is built-in with a global positioning system.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the installation assisting device is provided with a display unit, and wherein the step b) comprises displaying a reference coordinate system on the display unit based on the optimum inclination angle for the receiver device, and wherein the step c) further comprises the sub-steps of: c 1) displaying on the display unit a indicator which is movable relative to the reference coordinate system according to the angle at which the installation assisting device is inclined; and c2) generating a notifying signal when the angle at which the receiver device is inclined reaches the optimum inclination angle.
4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the indicator is a bubble and the notifying signal is a particular sound signal.
5. An adjustable receiver assembly for receiving a wave from a particular direction upon being oriented toward the direction by using an installation assisting device built-in with an electric gyro and a positioning system, the adjustable receiver assembly comprising: a receiver device for receiving the wave; an adjustable mount that supports the receiver device, so that the inclination angle of the receiver device is adjustable; and a bracket movable along with the adjustable mount, adapted for securing the installation assisting device at a particular angle relative to the receiver device; whereby the installation assisting device detects and determines the receiver device's position on the earth using the positioning system to thereby determine an optimum inclination angle for the receiver device, and the adjustable mount is adjusted according to the inclination angle of the installation assisting device detected by the built-in electric gyro to make the receiver device inclined at the optimum inclination angle.
6. The adjustable receiver assembly according to claim 5, wherein the wave is sunlight and the receiver device is a solar cell for receiving the sunlight.
7. The adjustable receiver assembly according to claim 6, further comprising a solar concentrator for focusing sunlight onto the solar cell.
8. The adjustable receiver assembly according to claim 6, further comprising a controller device for adjusting the inclination angle of the adjustable mount upon receipt of a signal from the installation assisting device.
9. The adjustable receiver assembly according to claim 5, wherein the wave is a satellite communication signal and the receiver device is a satellite dish antenna.
10. An adjustable receiver assembly for receiving a wave from a particular direction upon being oriented toward the direction, comprising: a base; a receiver device for receiving the wave; an adjustable mount disposed on the base at an adjustable angle and supporting the receiver device, so that the inclination angle of the receiver device relative to the base is adjustable; a driver device for adjusting the inclination angle of the adjustable mount relative to the base; a positioning device disposed on at least one of the base and the adjustable mount, for detecting the position where it is located; an electric gyro disposed on at least one of the base and the adjustable mount; and a controller device for receiving signals from the positioning device and the electric gyro to recognize an optimum inclination angle for the receiver device and the angle at which the adjustable mount is inclined, so that the inclination angle of the adjustable mount is adjusted to make the receiver device inclined at the optimum inclination angle.