GB2466932A - A non-contact touch switch - Google Patents

Abstract

A non-contact touch switch, utilizing a human body advanced medium induction manner to enable a control circuit to do an accurate switching start to an AC switch power source, comprising: an outer cover, disposed correspondingly at an outlet of a switch power cord; a microcomputer control circuit, disposed inside said outer cover; a medium transferring interface, disposed on said outer cover and connected internally to said microcomputer control circuit; a start switch, one end thereof being connected with said micrometer control circuit, and another end thereof being disposed with a control contact connected to said AC switch power cord so as to control an electrifying time of a connected electric facility afterwards; and a power interceptor, connected to a place between said microcomputer control circuit and said control contact of said start switch, intercepting a power supply directly from a general public power through said AC switch power cord to use as a power supply for normal operation of an internal circuit after being rectified and stabilized; whereby, a combined switch is allowed to be free from an additional attachment of a battery, a normal work can be maintained once said public power is connected.

Description

I

NON-CONTACT TOUCH SWITCH ND AC PICK-UP MODULE

The present invention relates to a non-contact touch switch, and more particularly to a non-contact switch using a human body advanced induction to intercept electricity automatically and synchronically by means of a programming process and without an installment of a battery so as to be able to reduce a volume substantially and allow a control circuit to start an AC switch power supply. Furthermore, an internal circuit thereof may further be formed into an C pick-up module independently or an integrated circuit chip directly thereby being applicable to various different circuits.

A simple touch induction controller is mainly used to replace a physical mechanical switch in a capacitance type touch switch; because it is a "non-contact" controller and is not exposed outside like the physical mechanical switch, abrasion will not be caused such that the reliability can be elevated substantially, and because the inside thereof is not installed with any mechanical structure, the durability is good and the design degree of freedom is high. Besides, the electroplating is unnecessary because contacts are maintained in an insulation state and the waterproof and dustproof abilities can be obtained easily. Hence, this technology can be adopted in more application domains because so many merits are gathered in it.

However, the sensitivity of such kind of non-contact touch switch is very easy to be influenced by a human body medium and surrounding electric fields; it is hitherto only applied on a lowvoltage DCcontrol. But, atouchswitchusedforahighvoltage AC control has already appeared in the current market accompanying the progress of technology, for example, a customized and marketing product currently available in the network produced by Tranzzend International Co., Ltd. However, the product mentioned above still has a very big problem in application, in fact, a micro-active non-contact switch is still adopted to obtain an inner part of a structure and a battery must be additionally installed on a bottom of a combined product so as to acquire a stable power supply to enable an internal control circuit to maintain a normal work such that notonlyitcausesavolumeoftheswitchtobeincreasedrelatively but also the battery must be detached down and replaced with a new one every other period of time, otherwise the circuit will be out of order to cause inconvenience on use, and this is its biggest deficit.

Similarly, other kind of electric appliance or electronic product in which AC pick-up is used as a main power supply has the aforementioned deficits on a circuit design application thereof.

In addition, no matter what the power is mechanical or electronic, an outlookmodeling of the product is fixed and unable to be changed arbitrarily while leaving the factory such that styles of the products are few, and the outlooks thereof are inflexible and lack of variation, unable to match various different decorations while being assembled, and cannot be further varied according to an individual requirement at a later date as well as does not allow a self-style to be expressed.

A preferred aim of the present invention is to provide a non-contact switch and an AC pick-up module, using a human body advanced induction to intercept electricity automatically and synchronically by means of a programming process and without an installment of a battery so as to be able to reduce a volume substantially and allow a control circuit to start an AC switch power supply.

The present invention discloses a non-contact touch switch, allowing a control circuit to do an accurate change-over start to AC switch power supply by using a human body advanced medium induction manner, including: anouter cover, correspondingly installed at anoutlet of a switch power cord; a microcomputer control circuit, installed on an inner side of the outer cover; a medium transferring interface, installed on the outer cover and having an interconnection with the microcomputer control circuit; a start switch, one end thereof being connected with the microcomputer control circuit and another end thereof being disposed with a control contact connected with an AC switch power cord so as to control an electrification time of an electric facility connected therewith afterwards; and a power interceptor, connected to a place between the microcomputer control circuit and the control contact of the start switch, capable of directly intercepting power supply from a general public power through the switch power cord to act as a power supply of a normal operation of an internal circuit after being rectified and stabilized; whereby, a volume of a combined switch is allowed to reduce substantially, no additional attached battery is required and the control function can then be brought into full play, a normal work can be maintained once the public power is connected, and the trouble of detaching and replacing a battery frequently can be avoided to allow the use of a switch to be more convenient.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a non-contact switch and an AC pick-up module, forming an internal circuit thereof into an AC pick-up module independently or an integrated circuit chip directly thereby being applicable to various different circuits.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a human-based switch capable of replacing an outlook pattern maneuverably so as to be convenient for a user to change the outlook of a switch to manifest a self-style by himself and enable the switch to match various different indoor decorations.

The present invention can be more fully understood by reference to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a schematic view, showing a non-contact touch switch of the present invention while being put into practice; FIG. 2 is a block diagram, showing a circuit of a non-contact touch switch of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram, showing a power interceptor of a first preferred embodiment according to the present invention; FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram, showing a power interceptor of a second preferred embodiment according to the present invention; FIG. 5 is a graph, showing a voltage level interception of the second embodiment according to the present invention; FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram, showing a power interceptor of a third preferred embodiment according to the present invention; FIG. 7 is a graph, showing a voltage level interception of the third embodiment according to the present invention; FIG. 8 is an exploded view, showing a muzzle type picture placing area of the present invention; FIG.9 is an exploded view, showing an indented picture placing area of the present invention; and FIG. 10 is an exploded view, showing a laminated picture of the present invention while being adhered onto a picture placing area.

Please refer to FIGS. 1 to 10. a non-contact touch switch according to the present invention allows a control circuit to do an accurate change-over start to AC switch power supply by using a human body advanced medium induction manner, comprising: an outer cover 1, correspondingly installed at an outlet of a switch power cord; a microcomputer control circuit 2, installed on an inner side of the outer cover 1; a medium transferring interface 3, installed on the outer cover 1 and having an interconnection with the microcomputer control circuit; a start switch 4, one end thereof being connected with the microcomputer control circuit 2 and another end thereof being disposed with a control contact 41 connected with an AC switch power cord so as to control an electrification time of an electric facility such as an indoor, outdoor or other powered device connected therewith afterwards; and a power interceptor 5, connected between the microcomputer control circuit 2 and the control contact 41 of the start switch 4, capable of directly intercepting power supply from a general public power through the switch power cord to act as a power supply of a normal operation of an internal circuit after being rectified and stabilized.

Whereby, a volume of a combined switch is allowed to reduce substantially, no additional attached battery is required and the control function can then be brought into full play, a normal work can be maintained once the public power is connected, and the trouble of detaching and replacing a battery frequently can be avoided to allow the use of a switch to be more convenient.

A medium constant in the induction area can then be changed to switch on the switch when a finger touch an induction area lightly because the present invention adopts a human body organism medium induction manner to start the power switch and takes the human body as a medium; a combined volume of the switch is small and the action thereof is accurate and reliable, an internal circuit thereof is compact and can intercept AC power supply automatically, no battery and without any mechanical contact isattachedanddisposed. Furthermore, azerophase trigger start manner can be adopted to prevent spark from being generated and provided with the flame-proof and electric-shock-proof functions.

The switch of the present invention not only is suitable for the switch hiding and the decoration matching of a general home or high class residence, but also may be installed in a public place, a high salinity seashore area or a higher corrosiveness sulfide place so as to reduce the maintenance expands afterwards.

Besides, the switch of the present invention may also be installed in a highly infective environment such as hospital or quarantine station so as to avoid infection to persons, or installed in a highly dangerous area such as fuel storage depot, oil tank, oil refinery to strengthen the flame-proof effect to elevate the public safety.

In addition, for further strengthening the safetyprotection measures of the circuit, an overload detection unit 24 may further be installed in the microcomputer control circuit 2 to enable the power interceptor 5 and the microcomputer control circuit 2 to have a synchronic function. When the control contact 41 of the start switch4 is connectedwithapower supply, the overload detection unit 24 can then process an instant detection to detect whether there is anoverloadeffect at the same time. If apreset standard load value is exceeded, the microcomputer control circuit 2 will then process a start switch 4 terminating procedure; the procedure is not stopped until the overload situation is eliminated. Hence, the use safety of the circuit can be assured to avoid inducing a fire accident probably caused from a long term overload to endanger the public safety like a general marketing conventional switch does.

When the switch of the present invention put into practice, please refer to FIGS. 1 and 2, the medium transferring interface 3 may be constituted by a non-conductive substrate 31 and an erosive circuit board 32 disposed below it; a detailed structure of the microcomputer control circuit 2 comprises a measuring linear circuit 21, non-linear compensation circuit 22, phase comparison logic gate 23 and MCU microcontroller unit 25; a front end of the measuring linear circuit 21 is connected with the medium transferring interface 3, and a rear end thereof is respectively connected with the not-linear compensation circuit 22 and the phase comparison logic gate 23; one end of the NCtJ microcontroller unit 25 is connected with the non-linear compensation circuit 22, and another end thereof is connected with the aforementioned start switch 4; the start of the start switch 4 is a zero phase trigger start; the synchronic power interceptor 5 is disposed on the 4CU microcontroller unit 25 and the control contact 41 of the start switch 4.

In addition, a buzzer 6 may further be disposed on the microcomputer control circuit 2 to allow the switch to generate a mechanical switch switching sound to enable a user to feel more realistic while operating the switch.

Please refer to FIGS. 2 to 7. There are many forms for an interceptor according to the present invention; one of them is a structure shown in FIG.3 in which a current amplifying transformer 511 is installed in series on input end contacts AandBof the control contact 43. of the start switch 4, a secondary pole thereof is connected to a bridge rectifier 512 and a diode voltage regulator 513 formed into a power supply circuit with pins of the MCU microcontroller unit 25.

Please refer to FIGS. 4 and 5. FIGS 4 and 5 show another design of interceptor 5, mainly comprising a plurality of diodes 521 disposed in series on the input end contacts A and B of the control contact 41 of the start switch 4, an backward diode 522 disposed inparallel on two terminals thereof, a voltage dividing diodes23forconnectingwithavoltagestabilizinglC525diSpOSed on a middle contact. Two sides of the voltage stabilizing IC 525 are respectively connected in series with a capacitor 524 formed into a power supply circuit 520 with the pins of the MCU microcontroller unit 25 such that voltages such as hatched portions in FIG. 5 can then be intercepted automatically from the public power AC11OV.' Please refer to FIGS. 6 and 7. The aforementioned interceptor 5 may also further be disposed with a field effect transistor 55 to constitute an integrated circuit (IC) to allow a source and a drain of the field effect transistor 55 to be respectively coupled to two terminals of the aforementioned plurality of serial diodes 521, a gate thereof is connected to another pin of the MCU microcontroller unit 25 such that the entire circuit can be allowed to have the energy saving effect, the intercepted voltages are hatched portions shown in FIG. 7, the operation tends to become more perfect and saves one-third of the electricity consumed in the proceeding embodiment and can reduce the power consumption and the heat.

The outlook of the present invention may be manufactured directly to be a shape with a general switch hardware specification dimension, allowing a general mechanical switch to be chosen to assemble therein, retaining a base of a switch on a wall, replacing the original mechanical switch with the present invention directly and embedding the present invention in a position on which the original mechanical switch is fixed, and changing the switch to be a touch controllable switch such that application of the present invention is safer andmore convenient.

Furthermore, please refertoFlGS. 4to7again. Thecircuits respectively constituted in the inner portions of the two embodiments mentioned above may all be formed into an AC pick-up module independently or an integrated circuit chip directly thereby being applicable to various different circuits.

Please refer to FIGS. 8 to 10. A picture placing area 15 may be disposed in front of the medium transferring interface 2 to allow a picture to be placed therein to enable a user to change the outlook of the switch himself to manifest the self style and match it with various different indoor decorations.

While being put into practice, the picture placing area may be constructed by adopting the follow various structures, for example, the picture placing area 15 is built as a transparent cover body with a single-sided opening shown in FIG. 8 to enable a user to place a picture 10 chosen by himself therein depending on his favorite, or the picture placing area 15 is disposed in an indented stepwise transparent window 19 in the center of the front cover 1 as FIG. 9 shows, and a detachable transparent sheet 17 is installed additionally in front of the picture placing area 15, and similarly, it may also be used for clipping a self-chosen picture 10.

Everimore, basically, the transparent sheet is unnecessary; a surface of a modeling picture 10 is directly disposed with a laminate layer 11, and a rear side thereof is then spread with a glue and then adhered onto the surface of the medium transferring interface 2 as FIG. 10 shows; it can also achieve the object of a mobile replacement of the picture 10.

As mentioned above, the present invention has the following merits: 1. a touch switch is inducted by a human body advanced medium and processed by a program, a start work can be controlled accurately.

2. a hermetically sealed touch manner may be adopted for a switch panel, the flame-proof function is provided.

3. a synchronic overload detection is disposed in a switch, it is safer on use.

4. a combined switch may intercept a public power directly, a battery is unnecessary to be attached such that a volume thereof can be reduced and the trouble of frequent replacement of the battery can be avoided.

5. the switch is provided with a sound simulating the push-down of a mechanical switch, the compatibility of the replacement with a current product is good.

6. a picture modeling outside the combined switch can be replaced depending on a self favorite so as to manifest the self style and used by collocating various different indoor decorations.

Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described herein.

Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims (12)

1. CLAIMSWhat is claimed is: 1. A non-contact touch switch, utilizing a human body advanced medium induction manner to enable a control circuit to do an accurate switching start to an AC switch power source, comprising: an outer cover, disposed correspondingly at an outlet of a switch power cord; a microcomputer control circuit, disposed inside said outer cover; amediumtransferring interface, disposedon saidouter cover and connected internally to said microcomputer control circuit; a start switch, one end thereof being connected with said microcomputer control circuit, and another end thereof being disposed with a control contact connected to said AC switch power cord so as to control an electrifying time of a connected electric facility afterwards; and a power interceptor, connected to a place between said microcomputer control circuit and said control contact of said start switch, intercepting a power supply directly from a general public power through said AC switch power cord to use as a power supply for a normal operation of an internal circuit after being rectified and stabilized; whereby, a combined switch is allowed to be free from an additional attachment of a battery, a normal work can be maintained once said public power is connected.
2. 2. The non-contact touch switch according to claim 1, wherein a buzzer generating a sound simulating a sound generated from pressing a mechanical switch is installed on said microcomputer control circuit.
3. 3. The non-contact touch switch according to claim 1, wherein saidmicrocomputer control circuit is disposedwith a overload detection unit.
4. 4. The non-contact touch switch according to claim 1, wherein said medium transferring interface is constituted by a non-conductive substrate and an erosive circuit board disposed on a bottom thereof, said microcomputer control circuit comprises a measuring linear circuit, non-linear compensation circuit, phase comparison logic gate and MCU microcontroller unit; a front end of said measuring linear circuit is connected with saidmediumtransferring interface, a rear end thereof is respectively connected with said non-linear compensation circuit and said phase comparison logic gate; one end of said MCU microcontroller unit is connected with said non-linear compensation circuit, and another end thereof is connected with said start switch; said start switch is zero phase trigger starting; said power interceptor is installed between pins of said MCU microcontroller unit and said control contact of said start switch.
5. 5. The non-contact touch switch according to claim 4, wherein said power interceptor comprises a current amplifying transformerdisposedin series onan inputendof saidcontrol contact of said start switch, a bridge rectifier and a stabilizing diode connected to a secondary terminal to form a power supply circuit with said pins of said MCU microcontroller unit.
6. 6. The non-contact touch switch according to claim 4, wherein said power interceptor comprises a plurality of diodes disposed in series on an input end of said control contact of said start switch, a backward diode is disposed in series on two terminals thereof, a voltage-dividing diode disposed on a middle contact thereof for connecting with a voltage stabilizing IC and a capacitor respectively disposed in series on two sides of said voltage stabilizing IC to form a power supply circuit with said pins of said MCU microcontroller unit.
7. 7. The non-contact touch switch according to claim 6, wherein said power interceptor is further disposed with a field effect transistor to constitute an integrated circuit, a source and a drain of said field effect transistor are respectively coupled to two terminals of said plurality of series diodes, a gate thereof is connected to another pin of said MCtJ microcontroller unit.
8. 8. The non-contact touch switch according to claims 4, 6 or 7, wherein a microcomputer control circuit, a start switch and a power interceptor in said internal circuit is taken out directly to forman independent module or an integrated circuit in order to be applicable to various different circuit without needing an extra battery, and maintain a normal work once the public power is connected.
9. 9. The non-contact touch switch according to claim 1, wherein a transparent picture placing area used for allowing a picture to be placed therein is disposed in front of said medium transferring interface.
10. 10. The non-contact touch switch according to claim 9, wherein said picture placing area is disposed in an indented stepwise transparent window on a middle part of said front cover, and a movable detachable transparent sheet is additionally disposed in front of said picture placing area.
11. 11. The non-contact touch switch according to claim 9, wherein a surface of said picture had a laminate layer, a rear side thereof is spread with a glue and then adhered directly onto a surface of said medium transferring interface.
12. 12. The non-contact touch switch according to claim 9, wherein said picture placing area is constitute by a transparent cover with an opening at one side thereof.