Control of a fan assembly

Abstract

There is provided a method of controlling a direction of an airflow emitted from a fan assembly, the fan assembly being capable of changing the direction of the airflow emitted therefrom to any direction within a range of adjustment of the fan assembly. The method comprises receiving user inputs that select an angle of oscillation and that determine a central emission direction for the airflow emitted from the fan assembly, and controlling the emission direction of the fan assembly such that the emitted airflow oscillates through the selected angle of oscillation with the oscillation of the emitted airflow being centered at the central emission direction.

1 . A method of controlling a direction of an airflow emitted from a fan assembly, the fan assembly being capable of changing the direction of the airflow emitted therefrom to any direction within a range of adjustment of the fan assembly, the method comprising:
 receiving user inputs that select an angle of oscillation and that determine a central emission direction for the airflow emitted from the fan assembly; and   controlling the emission direction of the fan assembly such that the emitted airflow oscillates through the selected angle of oscillation with the oscillation of the emitted airflow being centered at the central emission direction.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the fan assembly comprises one or more oscillation motors that are configured to change the emission direction in which the airflow is emitted from the fan assembly to any position within the range of adjustment. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of receiving user inputs comprises any of:
 receiving a user input that selects a central emission direction for the airflow emitted from the fan assembly, and then receiving a user input that selects an angle of oscillation for the emission direction; and   receiving a user input that selects an angle of oscillation for the emission direction, and then receiving a user input that selects a central emission direction for the airflow emitted from the fan assembly.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:
 after receiving user inputs that select both an angle of oscillation and a central emission direction, determining whether or not the selected angle of oscillation fits within the available range of adjustment when centred at the selected central emission direction;   if it is determined that the selected angle of oscillation does fit within the available range of adjustment when centred at the selected central emission direction, then using the selected central emission direction as the central emission direction for the oscillation of emission direction implemented by the fan assembly; and   if it is determined that the selected angle of oscillation does not fit within the available range of adjustment when centred at the selected central emission direction, then the central emission direction is modified such that the selected angle of oscillation does fit within the range of adjustment of the fan assembly.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the fan assembly receives the user inputs from a remote control device. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , and further comprising
 at the remote control device, accepting user inputs that select a central emission direction and transmitting the selected central emission direction to the fan assembly.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , and further comprising
 at the remote control device, generating on a display of the remote control device an image illustrating the available range of adjustment of the fan assembly, accepting user inputs that select a position within the range of adjustment as the central emission direction and transmitting the selected central emission direction to the fan assembly.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the step of accepting user inputs that select a position within the range of adjustment as a central emission direction comprises:
 at the remote control device, generating on the display an indicator illustrating the current emission direction of the fan assembly within the range of adjustment, accepting user inputs that move the indicator towards a limit of the range of adjustment, and transmitting instructions to the fan assembly to steer the emission direction to the corresponding limit of the range of adjustment.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , and further comprising:
 at the fan assembly, receiving the instructions from the remote control device and operating the one or more oscillation motors to steer the emission direction towards the corresponding limit of the range of adjustment.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , and further comprising:
 at the remote control device, determining when movement of the indicator by the user has stopped, identifying the stop position of the indicator within the range of adjustment as the selected central emission direction, and transmitting instructions to the fan assembly to steer the emission direction to the central emission direction.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , and further comprising:
 at the fan assembly, receiving the instructions from the remote control device and stopping operation of the one or more oscillation motors when the emission direction of the fan assembly reaches the central emission direction.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 5 , and further comprising:
 at the remote control device, accepting user inputs that select an angle of oscillation and transmitting the selected angle of oscillation to the fan assembly.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , and further comprising:
 at the remote control device, accepting user inputs that select one of a plurality of predefined values for the angle of oscillation.   
     
     
         14 . A fan assembly comprising:
 a motor-driven impeller arranged to generate an airflow;   an air outlet arranged to emit the airflow from the fan assembly;   one or more oscillation motors configured to change an emission direction in which the airflow is emitted from the fan assembly to any position within a range of adjustment of the fan assembly;   a receiver configured to receive control signals from a control device; and   a controller configured to control the one or more oscillation motors;   wherein, in response to control signals received from the control device that comprise a central emission direction and an angle of oscillation for the emission direction, the processor is configured to control the one or more oscillation motors so that the emission direction of the fan assembly oscillates through the angle of oscillation with the oscillation of the emission direction being centred at the central emission direction.   
     
     
         15 . The fan assembly of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more oscillation motors are each configured to move at least a portion of the fan assembly in order to change the emission direction to any position within a range of adjustment. 
     
     
         16 . The fan assembly of  claim 14 , wherein, in response to control signals received from the control device that comprise instructions to move the emission direction to a limit of the range of adjustment, the controller is configured to control the one or more oscillation motors to steer the emission direction to the limit of the range of adjustment. 
     
     
         17 . The fan assembly of  claim 16 , wherein, in response to control signals received from the control device that comprise instructions to move to the central emission direction, the controller is configured to stop operation of the one or more oscillation motors when the emission direction of the fan assembly reaches the central emission direction. 
     
     
         18 . The fan assembly of  claim 14 , wherein the fan assembly comprises a pan oscillation motor that is configured to move at least a portion of the fan assembly such that the emission direction rotates in a horizontal plane. 
     
     
         19 . The fan assembly of  claim 14 , wherein the fan assembly comprises a tilt oscillation motor that is configured to move at least a portion of the fan assembly such that the emission direction rotates in a vertical plane. 
     
     
         20 . An electronic device configured to control a fan assembly, the fan assembly being capable of changing the direction of the airflow emitted therefrom to any direction within a range of adjustment of the fan assembly, the device comprising:
 a user input device;   a controller; and   a transmitter;   wherein, in response to user inputs received from the user input device that comprise a selected central emission direction and a selected angle of oscillation for the emission direction, the controller is configured to transmit instructions to the fan assembly that cause the fan assembly to vary the emission direction of the fan assembly such that the emitted airflow oscillates through the angle of oscillation with the oscillation of the emission direction being centred at a central emission direction.   
     
     
         21 . The electronic device of  claim 20 , wherein, in response to user inputs received from the user input device that comprise a selected central emission direction and a selected angle of oscillation for the emission direction, the controller is configured to determine a central emission direction for the airflow emitted from the fan assembly. 
     
     
         22 . The electronic device of  claim 21 , wherein, after receiving user inputs that select both an angle of oscillation and a central emission direction, the controller is configured to:
 determine whether or not the selected angle of oscillation fits within the available range of adjustment when centred at the selected central emission direction;   if it is determined that the selected angle of oscillation does fit within the available range of adjustment when centred at the selected central emission direction, then use the selected central emission direction as the central emission direction for the oscillation of emission direction implemented by the fan assembly; and   if it is determined that the selected angle of oscillation does not fit within the available range of adjustment when centred at the selected central emission direction, then modify the selected central emission direction such that the selected angle of oscillation does fit within the range of adjustment of the fan assembly.   
     
     
         23 . The electronic device of  claim 20 , wherein, in response to user inputs received from the user input device that comprise a selected central emission direction, the controller is configured to transit the selected central emission direction to the fan assembly. 
     
     
         24 . The electronic device of  claim 20 , and further comprising a display. 
     
     
         25 . The electronic device of  claim 24 , wherein the controller is configured to:
 generate on a display an image illustrating the available range of adjustment of the fan assembly;   receive user inputs from the user input device that select a position within the range of adjustment as the central emission direction; and   transmit the selected central emission direction to the fan assembly.   
     
     
         26 . The electronic device of  claim 25 , wherein the controller is configured to:
 generate on the display an indicator illustrating the current emission direction of the fan assembly within the range of adjustment;   receive user inputs from the user input device that move the indicator towards a limit of the range of adjustment; and   transmit instructions to the fan assembly to steer the emission direction to the corresponding limit of the range of adjustment.   
     
     
         27 . The electronic device of  claim 26 , wherein the controller is configured to:
 determine when movement of the indicator by the user has stopped;   identify the stop position of the indicator within the range of adjustment as the selected central emission direction; and   transmit instructions to the fan assembly to steer the emission direction to the central emission direction.   
     
     
         28 . The electronic device of  claim 26 , wherein the display and the user input device are provided by a touchscreen display of the electronic device. 
     
     
         29 . The electronic device of  claim 28 , wherein, in order to move the indicator towards a limit of the range of adjustment, the touchscreen display is configured to accept a user input that drags the indicator within the range of adjustment illustrated on the touchscreen display. 
     
     
         30 . The electronic device of  claim 29 , wherein, in order to determine when movement of the indicator by the user has stopped, the controller is configured to determine when the dragging of the indicator by the user has stopped. 
     
     
         31 . The electronic device of  claim 20 , wherein the controller is configured to accept user inputs from the user input device that select one of a plurality of predefined values for the angle of oscillation. 
     
     
         32 . The electronic device of  claim 20 , wherein the electronic device comprises any of a remote control associated with the fan assembly and a wireless computer device such as a tablet computer or smartphone.