FR2820842A1 - CONTROL DEVICE FOR A ROOM HEATING APPLIANCE AT A DETERMINED ROOM TEMPERATURE - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device for controlling an appliance for heating a room at a determined ambient temperature. The device is characterized in that the reference mark (12) and the value chosen, by the rotary button (11), of temperature setpoint brought opposite the mark (12), can be offset relative to each other to position opposite the mark (12) a graduated temperature value which is exactly the previously measured ambient temperature of the room in which The heating device is found after a certain period of time during which this device maintains the ambient temperature at a stabilized value. The invention finds application in particular for water circulation radiators with immersion heaters.

Description

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 The present invention relates to a device for controlling a device for heating a room to a determined ambient temperature.

 Such a device is known to be of the type comprising a temperature adjustment button rotatably mounted on a wall of a control box electrically connected to the heating device and capable of being manually operated to position one chosen from several graduated values of set temperature, which can be carried by the button, opposite or opposite a mark, which can be fixed and transferred to the wall of the control box, so as to allow the heating appliance to heat the room to the determined room temperature value corresponding to the selected setpoint.

 However, in many cases, the temperature setpoint value located opposite the reference point does not correspond to the actual temperature actually measured in the room by the user using a thermometer.

 This has the drawback that users cannot rely on the temperature setpoints indicated on the adjustment button to make a precise adjustment of the temperature in the room to be heated.

 The object of the present invention is to eliminate the above drawback by proposing a device for controlling a device for heating a room to a determined ambient temperature, comprising a movable button which can be operated manually to position the chosen one. several graduated set temperature values relative to a mark so as to allow the appliance to heat the room to the determined ambient temperature value corresponding to the selected set value, which is characterized in that the mark and the value temperature set point located opposite each other can be

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 then offset relative to each other to position a graduated temperature value opposite the reference which is exactly the ambient temperature of the room previously measured after a certain period of time during which the heater maintains the room ambient temperature at a stabilized value.

 Preferably, the movable button is rotatably mounted on a front wall of a control box electrically connected to the heating device and comprises a toothed wheel secured to the button on which is meshed an internally toothed crown having on its face annular visible from the outside the reference or graduated set temperature values respectively according to whether the set temperature values are written in an arc on the external face of the housing wall concentrically with the crown outside that or here or that the reference mark is located on the external face of this wall, the toothed crown and the toothed wheel being able to be turned by force with respect to each other against the action of retaining by meshing of their respective teeth to make the mark coincide with the temperature graduation corresponding to the measured ambient temperature.

 The crown and the toothed wheel are made of a rigid plastic material.

 The operating button is made of rigid plastic and the toothed wheel is integrally molded with the button.

 The operating button has an annular external part engaging in a circular entry passage of the crown contiguous to its internally toothed part and a central wall connected to the annular part, in the form of a spherical cap, in which a tab is secured. external diametral which can be grasped by two fingers of a person to turn the operating button and, if necessary, to block the button and allow

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 the rotation of the ring gear relative to the gear wheel to bring the setpoint temperature value corresponding to the measured temperature value opposite the mark.

 The operating button acts on an electronic component, such as a potentiometer, to supply an electronic control circuit housed in the control unit of the heater with an electrical signal corresponding to the graduated temperature value located opposite the mark.

 The ring gear is supported on the front face of the front wall.

 The control unit is integral with the heating device which is constituted by an electric radiator or a circulating water heater.

 The invention will be better understood, and other objects, characteristics, details and advantages thereof will appear more clearly in the explanatory description which follows, made with reference to the appended drawings given solely by way of example illustrating an embodiment. of the invention and in which: - Figure 1 is a perspective view of an electronic control unit of a heating radiator with temperature control operating button according to the invention; - Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the control box of Figure 1; and - Figure 3 is a perspective view along arrow III in Figure 2 of the inventive operating button.

 Referring to the figures, the reference 1 designates a housing comprising therein an electronic circuit 2 making it possible to control a heating appliance, such as an electric radiator or a water circulation radiator with immersion heater, for controlling the heater so that it can heat the

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 room in which it is located at an ambient temperature determined by a user.

 The housing 1 comprises a flap 3 pivotally mounted at each of its ends with two articulation lugs 3 secured to the front face 1a of the housing 1 by projecting substantially perpendicularly from the latter. The shutter 3 can thus occupy a closed position of the front wall 1a to hide various buttons which will be detailed or a folded open position to access these buttons.

 The shutter 3 comprises, at its ends opposite to those articulated to the legs 4, two notches 5 into which two lugs 6 can be latched respectively secured to the front wall 1a by projecting on each side of the latter in the direction of its length, so as to allow the shutter 3 to be locked to the housing 1.

 The front wall 1a of the housing 1 comprises a first push button 7 for switching the control circuit 2 on or off and a second push button 8 for programming the operation of the heating appliance in so-called forced operation mode or in so-called reduced program mode depending on whether this push-button is pressed or not. An indicator or light indicator 9, such as a light-emitting diode, of the panel 1a is associated with the push button 7 to indicate whether the electronic circuit of the control box 1 is powered or not and the panel 1a has another indicator or indicator light 10 associated with push button 8 to indicate whether the heater is in forced operation mode or reduced program.

 The wall 1a of the housing 1 also comprises a rotary button 11 making it possible to adjust the heating appliance so that it heats the room in which it is located to a desired determined temperature.

 Button 11 has a certain number of graduated set temperature values, one of which is chosen

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 can be arranged next to a reference 12 so that the heating appliance can heat the room to the temperature corresponding to this chosen set temperature value.

 If the push button 11 is shown as carrying the set temperature gradations indicated in degrees centigrade and the mark 12 is fixed and carried on the external face of the wall 1a of the housing 1, the mark 12 can be carried by the rotary button 11 while the graduations can be transferred to the wall 1a in an arc concentric with the button.

 According to the invention, the button 11 comprises, integral with the latter, an internal toothed wheel 13 on which is meshed an internally toothed crown 14 which has on its annular face visible outside the graduated values of the set temperature . In the case where the crown 14 bears the mark 12, the temperature graduations situated on the wall 1a will be in an arc of a circle outside the crown concentrically thereto. As is clear from FIG. 2, the crown 14 has only a limited number of teeth 14a, for example four in number, angularly distributed equidistantly.

 The body of the push button 11 has an annular external part 11a engaging in a circular entry passage 14b of the crown 14 and which is contiguous to its internal circular part comprising the teeth 14a. The button 11 further comprises a central wall in the form of a spherical cap llb, the external edge of which is connected to the external part 11a and in which an external diametrical tab llc is secured, allowing a user to grasp it with his two fingers to allow the rotation of the knob 11 to its desired temperature setting position.

 The button 11 also includes a central rod lld passing through a bore lb of the front wall la of the housing 1 and integral with the central wall llb of the button

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 11 by projecting therefrom opposite the tab 11c. The end of the central rod 11d is connected to an electric potentiometer 15, partially shown in FIG. 2, of the electronic circuit 2 so that the latter can provide an electrical signal representative of the temperature set point selected by the button 11 to set the heater to the desired room ambient temperature.

 As shown in FIG. 3, the central rod 11d comprises a groove 11e capable of receiving a stop ring (not shown), such as a circlip, abutting on the internal face of the front wall 1a to retain the button 11 at the front wall la. FIG. 3 shows that the internally toothed crown 14 is not yet in the mounting position, by engagement, on the toothed wheel 13 of the button 11.

 Advantageously, the parts 11a, llb, 11c and the rod lld of the button 11 are made of a rigid plastic material and the toothed wheel 13, which is also made of a rigid plastic material, is integrally molded with these parts of the button 11 so that the toothed wheel 13 is integral with the internal face of the wall llb of the button 11. In addition, the toothed wheel 13 is housed in an annular groove 1c of the front wall 1a of the housing 1 so that the crown 14 is in abutment sliding on the external face of this wall.

 The internally toothed crown 14 is also made of a rigid plastic material.

 The housing 1 has a bottom removably attached to the body of the housing to access in particular the control printed circuit card 2 and an upper orifice for the passage of the electrical connection cable to the heater.

 The control unit 1, in particular in the case of a heating device constituted by a water circulation radiator with immersion heater, is integrated therewith.

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 ci, but it is understood that the housing 1 can be independent of the heating appliance by being connected to the latter by the electrical connection cable for transmission in particular of the control signals of the appliance.

 When a user wishes to adjust the temperature of a room to a determined value, he turns the rotary knob 11 so as to bring the desired temperature graduation opposite the mark 12. After a determined period of time, the user measures the ambient temperature of the room heated by the radiator controlled by the box 1 and, if he notices a real temperature difference measured in the room with the set temperature selected, he enters the tab 11c of the button 11 to immobilize this last and with the other hand moves the crown 14 to force the teeth of the latter to pass above the teeth of the wheel 13 and thus bring the temperature graduation corresponding exactly to the ambient temperature measured opposite the reference 12 so as to calibrate the set temperature values so that they correspond exactly to the desired ambient temperature values of the room to be heated.

 The device of the invention therefore allows precise adjustment of the ambient temperature of a room to be heated using extremely simple means.

Claims (8)

1. Device for controlling a space heater for a given room temperature, comprising a movable button (11) which can be operated manually to position one of several graduated set temperature values relative to a reference (12) ) so as to allow the heater to heat the room to the determined room temperature value corresponding to the selected setpoint, characterized in that the mark (12) and the selected temperature setpoint value located opposite one from the other can then be offset with respect to each other to position, opposite the reference (12), a graduated temperature value which is exactly the ambient temperature of the room previously measured after a certain period of time during which the heater maintains the room ambient temperature at a set value.  2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the movable button (11) is rotatably mounted to a front wall of a control unit (1) electrically connected to the heating device and comprises a toothed wheel (13 ) integral with the button (11) on which is meshed an internally toothed crown (14) having on its annular face visible outside the mark (12) or the graduated values of the set temperature depending respectively on the temperature values setpoints are inscribed in an arc on the outer face of the wall (la) of the housing (1) concentric with the crown (14) outside of it or that the reference (12) is located on the face external of this wall (la), the toothed crown (14) and the toothed wheel (13) being able to be turned by force with respect to each other against the action of retention by meshing of their teeth to align the reference (12) a with the graduation of <Desc / Clms Page number 9>  temperature corresponding to the measured ambient temperature.  3. Device according to claim 2, characterized in that the crown (14) and the toothed wheel (13) are made of a rigid plastic.  4. Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the operating button (11) is made of a rigid plastic and the toothed wheel (13) is integrally molded with the button.  5. Device according to one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the operating button (11) has an annular external part (lla) engaging in a circular entry passage (14a) of the crown (14 ) contiguous to its internally toothed part, and a central wall (llb) connected to the annular part (lla), in the form of a spherical cap in which an external diametral tab (Ile) is secured which can be grasped by two fingers of a person to turn the operating button (11) and, if necessary, to block the button (11) and allow the rotation of the toothed wheel (13) relative to the crown (14) so as to bring the set temperature value next to the mark corresponding to the measured temperature value.  6. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the operating button (11) acts on an electronic component (15), such as a potentiometer, to supply an electronic control circuit housed in the housing. control (1) of the heater an electrical signal corresponding to the graduated temperature value located opposite the mark.  7. Device according to one of claims 2 to 6, characterized in that the crown is supported on the front face of the front wall (la).  8. Device according to one of claims 2 to 7, characterized in that the control unit is integral with the heating device constituted by a <Desc / Clms Page number 10>  electric or water heater with immersion heater.