WO2000024109A1

WO2000024109A1 - Automatic power-saving device

Info

Publication number: WO2000024109A1
Application number: PCT/KR1999/000476
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jin-Yong Joo
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1998-10-20
Filing date: 1999-08-23
Publication date: 2000-04-27
Anticipated expiration: 2001-04-20
Also published as: AU5308899A; KR19990078487A

Abstract

An automatic power-saving device comprising a plurality of load sensors, each of the load sensors sensing the presence of a load in a receptacle according to the amount of current flowing to the load, a resistance across it or a digital signal therefrom, a fine current generator for generating a fine amount of current in response to output signals from the load sensors, a plurality of electronic switches, each of the electronic switches allowing or blocking the flow of current in a wired section between a power distributing board and the receptacle, and a controller for controlling the electronic switches in response to an output signal from the fine current generator. Therefore, the supply of electric power is automatically interrupted when electricity is not in use in the wired sections between the power distributing board and the receptacles. Alternatively, the automatic power-saving device may comprise a fine current generator, an electronic switch and a controller disposed in a plug of a cord of an electric appliance, for automatically interrupting the supply of electric power when electricity is not in use in a cord section between a receptacle and the electric appliance. In this case, an ON signal generator or a magnetic switch disposed in the electric appliance may be used instead of the fine current generator and controller.

Description

AUTOMATIC POWER-SAVING DEVICE ^•

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an automatic power- saving device which is capable of automatically interrupting the supply of electric power when electricity is not in use in wired sections between a power distributing board and receptacles or cord sections between the receptacles and electric appliances, thereby saving power at a standby state and preventing the occurrence of a fire.

Background Art

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a general interior wiring arrangement for houses, offices and industrial facilities. As shown in this drawing, a power distributing board 1 is provided to receive electric power from an outdoor transformer (not shown) . The power distributing board 1 includes a main switch 2 and a plurality of sub switches 3 diverging from the main switch 2 and wired with indoor switches 4 and receptacles 5. The indoor switches 4 turn on/off electric lamps 6 installed directly in a building structure and the receptacles 5 receive plugs of electric appliances 7 such as a television (TV) , an air conditioner and an electric heater to supply electric power thereto. The electric appliances 7 generally comprise on-board switches for controlling the supply of electric power from the receptacles 5.

For saving power when electricity is not in use, the main switch 2, coupled directly with the outdoor transformer, must be turned off to fully interrupt the interior power supply. In order to partially interrupt the power supply, the associated sub switches 3 or indoor switches 4 must be turned off, the plugs of the associated electric appliances 7 must be removed from the receptacles 5 or the on-board switches thereof must be turned off. That is, various methods as- stated above can be applied to interrupt the power supply for saving power when the electricity is not in use.

Recently, the trend in power-saving is toward electric appliances having a self-power-saving function.

However, it is very troublesome to frequently turn off the main switch 2 or sub switches 3 or remove the plugs of the electric appliances 7 from the receptacles

5 for saving power or fire prevention when electricity is not in use. For this reason, these actions are scarcely executed and the power supply is often interrupted only by turning off the indoor switches 4 or the on-board switches of the electric appliances 7.

As a result, in the case where the main switch 2 or sub switches 3 remain ON or the plugs of the electric appliances 7 are not removed from the receptacles 5 because of the troublesomeness, current flows in wired sections LI between the sub switches 3 and receptacles 5 or cord sections L2 between the receptacles 5 and electric appliances 7, resulting in the corresponding amount of power being wasted.

Because such power waste is presumed to be considerable in amount all over the country, it leads to the waste of foreign currencies and the inefficient use of power.

Disclosure of the Invention

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problem, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic power-saving device which is capable of automatically interrupting the supply of electric power when electricity is not in use in wired sections between a power distributing board and receptacles or cord sections between the receptacles and electric appliances, thereby saving power at a standby state and preventing the occurrence of a fire.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automatic power-saving device comprising a plurality of load sensors, each of the load sensors sensing the preεrence of a load in a receptacle according to the amount of current flowing to the load, a resistance across it or a digital signal therefrom; a fine current generator for generating a fine amount of current in response to output signals from the load sensors; a plurality of electronic switches, each of the electronic switches allowing or blocking the flow of current in a wired section between a power distributing board and the receptacle; and a controller for controlling the electronic switches in response to an output signal from the fine current generator; whereby the flow of current is automatically blocked in the wired section between the power distributing board and the receptacle when electricity is not in use, a plug is removed from the receptacle or an on-board switch of an electric appliance associated with the receptacle is turned off, and it is automatically allowed when the use of electricity is resumed by the user.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automatic power-saving device comprising a fine current generator disposed in a plug of a cord of an electric appliance for generating a fine amount of current according to the presence of a load in the electric appliance; an electronic switch disposed in the plug for allowing or blocking the flow of current in a cord section between a receptacle and the electric appliance; and a controller disposed in the plug for controlling the electronic switch in response to an output signal from the fine current generator; whereby the flow of current is automatically blocked in the cord section between the receptacle and the electric appliance when an on-board switch of the electric appliance is turned off, and it is automatically allowed when the onboard switch of the electric appliance is turned on. The automatic power-saving device may comprise an ON signal generator or a magnetic switch disposed in the electric appliance, instead of the fine current generator and controller.

Brief Description of the Drawings The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a general interior wiring arrangement;

Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the construction of an automatic power-saving device in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing an alternative to the automatic power-saving device in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing the construction of an automatic power-saving device in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention; and Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing an alternative to the automatic power-saving device in Fig. 4.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

With reference to Fig. 2, there is shown in block form the construction of an automatic power-saving device in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention, which is denoted by the reference numeral 10. Some parts in this drawing are the same as those in Fig. 1 and the same reference numerals thus designate the same parts . As shown in Fig. 2, the automatic power-saving device 10 is constructed to save power in the wired sections LI between the main switch 2 or sub switches 3 in the power distributing board 1 and the receptacles 5. To this end, the automatic power-saving device 10 comprises a plurality of load sensors 11, each of which senses the presence of a load in the associated receptacle 5 according to the amount of current flowing to the load, a resistance across it or a digital signal therefrom. A fine current generator 12 is adapted to generate a fine amount of current in response to output signals from the load sensors 11. A plurality of electronic switches 13 function to allow or block the flow of current in the wired sections LI between the main switch 2 and the associated receptacles 5, respectively. A main control printed circuit board (PCB) 14 is provided to control the electronic switches 13 in response to an output signal from the fine current generator 12. Alternatively, the fine current generator 12 may be . omitted in the case where an ON signal generator 15 is provided in each of the electric appliances 7.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the interior wiring must be arranged in such a manner that the power distributing board 1 branches off directly to the receptacles 5, not via any medium.

Now, a detailed description will be given of the operation of the automatic power-saving device 10 with the above-mentioned construction in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention.

At a no-load state where electricity is not in use, the load sensor 11 senses the no-load state, thereby causing the main control PCB 14 to turn off the electronic switch 13. As a result, the electronic switch 13 blocks the flow of current from the main switch 2 to the wired section Ll.

On the other hand, when the on-board switch of the electric appliance 7 is turned on to resume the use of the electronic appliance 7, the load sensor 11 senses the ON state of the electronic appliance 7 and the fine current generator 12 thus supplies the fine amount of current to the main control PCB 14. As a result, the electronic switch 13 is turned on under the control of the main control PCB 14 to allow the flow of current from the main switch 2 to the electronic appliance 7 through the wired section Ll.

Alternatively, the fine current generator 12 may not be provided in the power distribution board 1 and the ON signal generator 15 may be provided in the electric appliance 7. In this case, the electronic switch 13 is turned on in response to an output signal from the ON signal generator 15 to supply power from the main switch 2 to the electric appliance 7 through the wired section Ll. Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing an alternative to the automatic power-saving device in Fig. 2.

Unfortunately, the automatic power-saving device in Fig. 2 may be disadvantageous in that the wiring is complicated and wires used therein are long. Further, the automatic power-saving device in Fig. 2 may not be- suitable to the case where the power supply is often required due to the frequent use of electricity. In order to solve such problems with the automatic power- saving device in Fig. 2, the automatic power-saving device in Fig. 3 is constructed in such a manner that a power line of each receptacle 5 is connected to the main switch 2 and a ground line thereof is connected to a associated one of control units a, b and c.

In this manner, power from the main switch 2 may be manually bypassed to the receptacle 5 where the power supply is frequently required.

With reference to Fig. 4, there is shown in block form the construction of an automatic power-saving device in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in Fig. 4, the automatic power-saving device is installed in a plug 21 of a cord 20 of the electric appliance 7 to save power in the cord section L2 between the receptacle 5 and the electric appliance 7. In the case where no ON signal generator is provided in the electric appliance 7, the automatic power-saving device comprises a fine current generator 17 for generating a fine amount of current according to the presence of a load in the electric appliance 7, an electronic switch 16 for allowing or blocking the flow of current in the cord section L2 between the receptacle 5 and the electric appliance 7, and a controller 18 for controlling the electronic switch 16 in response to an output signal from the fine current generator 17. Preferably, the electronic switch 16 may include a contactless relay.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing an alternative to the automatic power-saving device in Fig. 4.

As shown in Fig. 5, only an electronic switch 19 is installed in the plug 21 in the case where the ON signal generator 15 or a magnetic switch is provided in the electronic appliance 7.

In the second embodiment of the present invention, the on-board switch of the electric appliance 7 has only a function of indicating the presence of a load in the electric appliance 7 and the circuit range of the. electric appliance 7 extends to the power-saving plug 21 to allow the plug 21 to interrupt power. Therefore, power can be saved by replacing the existing plug with the power-saving plug. Further, because a plurality of plugs can individually be controlled even in the case where they all are inserted in a single receptacle, the present embodiment provides a great usefulness.

The present embodiment is not limited to the plug. For example, the automatic power-saving device may be an adapter disposed between the plug and the receptacle or separately contained in a multiple-tap adapter.

Industrial Applicability

As apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the automatic power-saving device may be installed in the power distributing board to save power in the wired sections between the power distributing board and the receptacles or in the plug of the cord of the electric appliance to save power in the cord section between the receptacle and the electric appliance. When electricity is not in use, the plug is removed from the receptacle or the on-board switch of the electric appliance is turned off, the flow of current is automatically blocked in the wired sections between the power distributing board and the receptacles or in the cord section between the receptacle and the electric appliance. When the use of electricity is resumed, power is automatically supplied. Therefore, power can automatically and efficiently be saved and there is no necessity for frequently turning on/off the main switch or removing the plug from the receptacle, resulting in a convenience to the user. Furthermore, the present invention provides a great help to fire prevention.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Claims

Claims :

1. An automatic power-saving device comprising: a plurality of load sensors, each of said load sensors sensing the presence of a load in a receptacle . according to the amount of current flowing to said load, a resistance across it or a digital signal therefrom; a fine current generator for generating a fine amount of current in response to output signals from said load sensors; a plurality of electronic switches, each of said electronic switches allowing or blocking the flow of current in a wired section between a power distributing board and said receptacle; and a controller for controlling said electronic switches in response to an output signal from said fine current generator; whereby the flow of current is automatically blocked in said wired section between said power distributing board and said receptacle when electricity is not in use, a plug is removed from said receptacle or an on-board switch of an electric appliance associated with said receptacle is turned off, and it is automatically allowed when the use of electricity is resumed by the user.

2. An automatic power-saving device comprising: a fine current generator disposed in a plug of a cord of an electric appliance for generating a fine amount of current according to the presence of a load ^■ in said electric appliance; an electronic switch disposed in said plug for allowing or blocking the flow of current in a cord section between a receptacle and said electric appliance; and a controller disposed in said plug for controlling said electronic switch in response to an output signal from said fine current generator; whereby the flow of current is automatically blocked in said cord section between said receptacle and said electric appliance when an on-board switch of said electric appliance is turned off, and it is automatically allowed when said on-board switch of said electric appliance is turned on.

3. An automatic power-saving device as set forth in. Claim 2, wherein said device comprises an ON signal generator or a magnetic switch disposed in said electric appliance, instead of said fine current generator and controller.