Thermostat with ring-shaped control member

Abstract

A sleek, low-profile wall-mountable thermostat for controlling an HVAC system is described. The thermostat includes a ring-shaped controller that rotates about a central axis, and an optical sensor directed away from the central axis and toward a radially inward-facing surface of the ring-shaped controller so as to accurately detect optical signals indicating controller's rotational movement.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A smart home device for controlling at least one energy consuming device of a home, the smart home device comprising:
 a housing;   a processing system disposed within the housing;   a rounded electronic display coupled to the processing system and mounted on the housing, the rounded electronic display being adapted to display information to a user;   a ring-shaped control member mounted on the housing so as to surround the rounded electronic display and rotate about a central axis, the ring-shaped control member being configured to be inwardly pressable by the user along a direction of the central axis; and   at least one sensor disposed near an inner periphery of the ring-shaped control member, the at least one sensor being configured to sense rotation of the ring-shaped control member by virtue of one or more types of electromagnetic effects caused by rotation of the ring-shaped control member.   
     
     
         2 . The smart home device of  claim 1 , wherein the smart home device is a thermostat. 
     
     
         3 . The smart home device of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensor is an optical sensor mounted within the housing and directed away from the central axis and toward a radially inward-facing surface of the ring-shaped control member so as to detect optical signals indicating rotational movement of the ring-shaped control member and generate electrical signals therefrom, wherein the processing system is adapted and configured to detect user input based on the electrical signals generated by the optical sensor. 
     
     
         4 . The smart home device of  claim 3 , wherein the radially inward-facing surface of the ring-shaped control member is curved and is textured to enhance detection of the optical signals indicating rotational movement. 
     
     
         5 . The smart home device of  claim 3 , wherein the optical sensor is an optical finger navigation module. 
     
     
         6 . The smart home device of  claim 1 , wherein said rotational movement and inward pressings of the ring-shaped control member represent sole physical user inputs to said smart home device. 
     
     
         7 . The smart home device of  claim 1 , wherein the housing is generally disk-like in shape, said display is circular, and wherein the ring-shaped control member generally makes up an outer lateral periphery of said disk-like shape. 
     
     
         8 . The smart home device of  claim 1 , wherein the smart home device is dimensioned such that when mounted on a wall, the smart home device protrudes from the wall no more than 35 millimeters. 
     
     
         9 . The smart home device of  claim 1 , wherein a ratio of (1) a radial distance between the central axis and the inward-facing surface of the ring-shaped control member and (2) a radial distance between the central axis and an outmost periphery of the ring-shaped control member is not less than 75 percent. 
     
     
         10 . A smart home device for controlling at least one energy consuming device of a home, the smart home device comprising:
 a housing;   a processing system disposed within the housing;   a rounded electronic display coupled to the processing system and mounted on the housing;   a ring-shaped control member rotatably mounted on the housing so as to surround the rounded electronic display; and   at least one sensor disposed near an inner periphery of the ring-shaped control member, the at least one sensor being configured to sense rotation of the ring-shaped control member via an electromagnetic effect caused by rotation of the ring-shaped control member.   
     
     
         11 . The smart home device of  claim 10 , wherein the at least one sensor is an optical sensor mounted within the housing and directed away from a central axis of the housing and toward a curved radially inward-facing surface of the ring-shaped control member so as to detect optical signals indicating rotational movement of the ring-shaped control member and generate electrical signals therefrom, wherein the processing system is configured to detect user input based on the electrical signals generated by the optical sensor. 
     
     
         12 . The smart home device of  claim 11 , wherein the radially inward-facing surface of the ring-shaped control member is curved and is textured to enhance detection of the optical signals indicating rotational movement. 
     
     
         13 . The smart home device of  claim 11 , wherein the optical sensor is an optical finger navigation module. 
     
     
         14 . The smart home device of  claim 10 , wherein the housing includes a head unit and a backplate, the backplate being configured to be mounted on a wall and the head unit being configured to be removably mounted to the backplate. 
     
     
         15 . The smart home device of  claim 10 , wherein the smart home device is a thermostat. 
     
     
         16 . A method for control of a smart home device, the smart home device comprising a housing, a processing system disposed with in the housing, a rounded electronic display coupled to the processing system and mounted on the housing and adapted to display information to a user, a ring-shaped control member mounted on the housing so as to surround the rounded display and rotate about a central axis, and at least one sensor disposed near an inner periphery of the ring-shaped control member, the method comprising:
 detecting, via the at least one sensor, electromagnetic signals indicating rotational movement of the ring-shaped control member;   generating electrical signals therefrom;   detecting user input using the processing system based on the electrical signals generated in response to rotational movement of the ring-shaped control member; and   displaying information to the user on the rounded electronic display in response to the detected user input.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the smart home device is a thermostat and the detected user input represents a desired change to a new setpoint temperature of the thermostat, and wherein the method further comprises:
 determining that an HVAC system function should be activated based on a comparison of the new setpoint temperature to with an ambient temperature measurement; and   activating the HVAC system function.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the ring-shaped control member is configured to be inwardly pressable by the user along a direction of the central axis. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 detecting an inward pressing motion of the ring-shaped control member and generating electrical signals therefrom;   detecting an inward press user input using the processing system based on the electrical signals generated from the detected inward pressing; and   displaying information to the user on the rounded electronic display in response to the detected inward press user input.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the at least one sensor is an optical sensor mounted within the housing and directed away from the central axis and toward a radially inward-facing surface of the ring-shaped control member so as to detect optical signals indicating rotational movement of the ring-shaped control member.