GB2540972A

GB2540972A - Electrical socket adapter

Info

Publication number: GB2540972A
Application number: GB1513620.3A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Taylor Jeff; Stretton George; Harrison Martin
Original assignee: Imagination Technologies Ltd
Current assignee: Imagination Technologies Ltd
Priority date: 2015-07-31
Filing date: 2015-07-31
Publication date: 2017-02-08
Also published as: GB201513620D0

Abstract

A device 502 for detecting an electrical appliance is plugged into an electrical socket. The device includes an electrical socket for receiving an electrical plug 106 of the electrical appliance, one or more one sensors 516, such as optical beam break sensors, configured to detect when an object is placed in or near the electrical socket, and a processor (202 Fig 2) configured to determine whether an electrical appliance is plugged into the electrical socket based on an output of the at least one sensor. Preferably the one or more sensors are configured to detect when one or more of the shutters 512 of the electrical socket are moved to an open position. The device may also detect a fault by monitoring the current drawn by an appliance. A method of using the device is also described in which the device 502, in response to determining that an appliance is plugged in to the device, will then notify a user (406 Fig 4).

Description

ELECTRICAL SOCKET ADAPTER

Background [0001] Some electrical socket adapters allow a user to remotely enable or disable power to an appliance plugged into the adapter. Such electrical socket adapters typically plug into an electrical socket and then the appliance is plugged into the adapter. Since the electrical socket adapter lies between the electrical socket and the appliance it can enable or disable power to the appliance. To allow a user to remotely enable or disable power to the appliance the electrical socket adapter may have the ability to wirelessly receive (e.g. via a wireless network) enable or disable commands from an application running on an internet-connected device, such as a smart phone or a computer.

[0002] The embodiments described below are not limited to implementations which solve any or all of the disadvantages of known electrical socket adapters.

Summary [0003] This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0004] Described herein are devices for detecting an electrical appliance is plugged into an electrical socket. The device includes an electrical socket for receiving an electrical plug of the electrical appliance; one or more one sensors configured to detect when an object is placed in or near the electrical socket; and a processor configured to determine whether an electrical appliance is plugged into the electrical socket based on an output of the at least one sensor. In some examples, the one or more sensors are configured to detect when one or more of the shutters of the electrical socket are moved to an open position.

[0005] A first aspect provides a device for detecting an electrical appliance is plugged into an electrical socket, the device comprising: an electrical socket for receiving an electrical plug of the electrical appliance; at least one sensor configured to detect when an object is placed in or near the electrical socket; and a processor in communication with the at least one sensor, the processor configured to determine whether an electrical appliance is plugged into the electrical socket based on an output of the at least one sensor.

[0006] A second aspect provides a method of detecting a fault condition with an electrical appliance, the method comprising: determining whether the electrical appliance is plugged into an electrical socket using the device of the first aspect; and in response to determining the electrical appliance is not plugged into the electrical socket, notifying a user.

[0007] A third aspect provides a method of detecting a fault condition with an electrical appliance, the method comprising: determining whether the electrical appliance is plugged into an electrical socket using the device of the first aspect; in response to determining the electrical appliance is plugged into the electrical socket, connecting the electrical appliance to a power supply for a predetermined period of time and monitoring current drawn by the electrical appliance for the predetermined period of time; determining whether current was drawn by the electrical appliance during the predetermined period of time; and in response to determining no current was drawn by the electrical appliance during the predetermined period of time, deeming the electrical appliance to be in a fault state.

[0008] The methods described herein may be performed by a computer configured with software in machine readable form stored on a tangible storage medium e.g. in the form of a computer program comprising computer readable program code for configuring a computer to perform the constituent portions of described methods or in the form of a computer program comprising computer program code means adapted to perform all the steps of any of the methods described herein when the program is run on a computer and where the computer program may be embodied on a computer readable storage medium. Examples of tangible (or non-transitory) storage media include disks, thumb drives, memory cards etc. and do not include propagated signals. The software can be suitable for execution on a parallel processor or a serial processor such that the method steps may be carried out in any suitable order, or simultaneously.

[0009] The hardware components described herein may be generated by a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having encoded thereon computer readable program code.

[0010] This acknowledges that firmware and software can be separately used and valuable. It is intended to encompass software, which runs on or controls “dumb” or standard hardware, to carry out the desired functions. It is also intended to encompass software which “describes” or defines the configuration of hardware, such as HDL (hardware description language) software, as is used for designing silicon chips, or for configuring universal programmable chips, to carry out desired functions.

[0011] The preferred features may be combined as appropriate, as would be apparent to a skilled person, and may be combined with any of the aspects of the invention.

Brief Description of the Drawings [0012] Embodiments of the invention will be described, by way of example, with reference to the following drawings, in which: [0013] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system in which the electrical socket adapters described herein may be used; [0014] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the electrical socket adapter of FIG. 1; [0015] FIG. 3 is a flow chart of an example method of detecting an electrical appliance is in a fault state using current monitoring; [0016] FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an example method of detecting an electrical appliance is in a fault state by sensing whether the electrical appliance is plugged into the electrical socket adapter; [0017] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an example electrical socket adapter when the electrical appliance is not plugged into the electrical socket adapter; [0018] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the electrical socket adapter of FIG. 5 when the electrical appliance is plugged into the electrical socket adapter; [0019] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the electrical socket adapter of FIG. 5; [0020] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the electrical socket adapter of FIG. 6; and [0021] FIG. 9 is a flow chart of an example method of notifying a user that an electrical appliance is in a fault state.

[0022] Common reference numerals are used throughout the figures to indicate similar features.

Detailed Description [0023] Embodiments of the present invention are described below by way of example only. These examples represent the best ways of putting the invention into practice that are currently known to the Applicant although they are not the only ways in which this could be achieved. The description sets forth the functions of the example and the sequence of steps for constructing and operating the example. Flowever, the same or equivalent functions and sequences may be accomplished by different examples.

[0024] As described above, there are many electrical socket adapters that enable a user to remotely control an electrical appliance connected thereto. While these electrical socket adapters can provide control and monitoring functions, they cannot provide any value if the electrical appliance that they are supposed to be controlling is either unplugged from the electrical socket adapter, switched off or otherwise unable to operate normally.

[0025] Accordingly, some embodiments described herein relate to devices for detecting a fault state with an electrical appliance. The device is situated between the electrical appliance and an electrical power supply so as to be able to enable or disable the supply of electricity to the electrical appliance. The device may take the form of an electrical socket adapter that can be inserted into an electrical power socket and can receive the electrical plug of the electrical appliance. Alternatively, the device may be integrated into an electrical power socket. The device may be configured to detect a fault state with the electrical appliance by, for example, monitoring the electrical current drawn by the electrical appliance when enabled and/or detecting when the electrical appliance is plugged into the device (e.g. when the device is implemented as a stand-alone electrical socket adapter) or the electrical socket (e.g. when the device is integrated into an electrical socket).

[0026] Other embodiments described herein relate to methods of notifying a user that an electrical appliance has been detected as being in a fault state only when the user is in a position to rectify the fault (e.g. when they are in close proximity of the electrical appliance).

[0027] The device will be described below in the form of an electrical socket adapter, but, as noted above, the device may alternatively be integrated into, or form part of, an electrical socket (e.g. an electrical wall socket). In the cases where the device is integrated into an electrical wall socket the pin sockets referred to below will be the pin sockets of the electrical wall socket itself instead of the pin sockets of the electrical socket adapter.

[0028] Reference is first made to FIG. 1 which illustrates an example system 100 in which the electrical socket adapters described herein may be used. The system 100 comprises an electrical socket adapter 102 which can be plugged into an electrical wall socket 104 and can receive an electrical plug 106 of an electrical appliance 108. The electrical socket adapter 102 is configured to control the supply of power or electricity from the mains power supply to the electrical appliance 108. For example, the electrical socket adapter 102 may have the ability to enable and disable the supply of electricity to the electrical appliance 108.

[0029] The circuit connecting the electrical appliance 108 and the mains power will be referred to herein as the electrical power circuit for the electrical appliance 108. In the example of FIG. 1, the electrical power circuit comprises the mains wiring 103, the electrical wall socket 104, the electrical socket adapter 102, the electrical plug 106 and the wiring between the electrical plug 106 and the electrical appliance 108.

[0030] The electrical socket adapter 102 comprises one or more sensors 110 for detecting that the electrical appliance 108 is in a fault state from the electrical power circuit. The term “fault state” is used herein to mean that the electrical appliance 108 is in a state where it cannot operate normally. Fault states may include, but are not limited to, the electrical appliance 108 (e.g. electrical plug 106) not being plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102; the electrical appliance 108 being switched off or otherwise disabled so that it cannot be remotely enabled; and the electrical appliance 108 having another fault (e.g. it has a blown fuse) that does not allow it to operate normally. In some cases, the electrical socket adapter 102 may be configured to detect a fault state by monitoring the electrical current drawn by the electrical appliance 108 and/or detecting whether the electrical appliance 108 is plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102. Example methods for detecting an electrical appliance 108 is in a fault state will be described in reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. Example sensors 110 for detecting an electrical appliance 108 is in a fault state will be described in reference to FIGS. 5 to 8.

[0031] The electrical socket adapter 102 also comprises a wireless module 112 that enables the electrical socket adapter 102 to wirelessly communicate with other devices with wireless capability, such as, but not limited to, a wireless bridge 114. The wireless bridge 114 may have the ability of receiving communications via one wireless protocol (e.g. Bluetooth™) and re-transmitting the communications over another wired or wireless protocol (e.g. Wi-Fi™ or Ethernet™). This allows the electrical socket adapter 102 to communicate, via the wireless bridge 114, with devices that are not connected to the same wireless network as the electrical socket adapter 102 or do not support the same wireless protocol as the electrical socket adapter 102.

[0032] For example, the wireless bridge 114 may allow the electrical socket adapter 102 to communicate with a server 116 and/or an end-user device 118. In particular, the electrical socket adapter 102 may be configured to use the wireless module 112 to provide information about the electrical socket adapter 102 to the server 116 and/or end-user device 118. For example, the electrical socket adapter 102 may be configured to use the wireless module 112 to provide the server 116 and/or end-user device 118 with information about the amount of current drawn by the electrical appliance 108 and notify the server 116 and/or end-user device 118 of a fault with the electrical appliance 108. As noted above, the electrical socket adapter 102 may be configured to only notify the user of a fault state when the user is in a position to rectify or resolve the fault (e.g. when the user is in close proximity to the electrical appliance 108). An example method for notifying the user that an electrical appliance 108 is in a fault state will be described with reference to FIG. 9.

[0033] The electrical socket adapter 102 may also be configured to receive information from other devices via the wireless module 112. For example, the electrical socket adapter 102 may be configured to receive instructions or commands from the server 116 and/or end-user device 118 to enable or disable the electrical appliance 108. In particular, the user may be able to, via the end-user device 118 send commands or instructions to the server 116 (which are relayed to the electrical socket adapter 102 at the appropriate time) to enable or disable the electrical appliance 108, or to set-up a schedule for when the electrical appliance 108 should be enabled and/or disabled. Alternatively, or in addition, the electrical socket adapter 102 may receive instructions or commands directly from the user via the end-user device 118. In response to receiving a command the electrical socket adapter 102 may enable or disable power to the electrical appliance 108.

[0034] Although FIG. 1 shows that the electrical socket adapter 102 is in communication with the end-user device 118 via the wireless bridge 114. In other cases, the electrical socket adapter 102 may be able to communicate with the end-user device 118 directly (e.g. they may be part of the same wireless network), or the end-user device 118 may be remotely located and the electrical socket adapter 102 may communicate with the end-user device 118 over a data communications network, such as data communications network 120.

[0035] Similarly, although FIG. 1 shows the server 116 remotely located to the electrical socket adapter 102 via a data communications network 120. In other cases, the server 116 may be part of the same wireless network as the electrical socket adapter 102 so they can communicate directly, or the server 116 may be able to communicate with the electrical socket adapter 102 via the wireless bridge 114 directly.

[0036] Reference is now made to FIG. 2 which illustrates a block diagram of an example electrical socket adapter 102. The example electrical socket adapter 102 comprises one or more processors 202 to control operation of the electrical socket adapter 102. The processors 202 may be microprocessors, controllers or any other suitable type of processors for processing computer executable instructions to control the operation of the electrical socket adapter 102. In some examples, for example where a system on a chip architecture is used, the processors 202 may include one or more fixed function blocks (also referred to as accelerators) which implement a part of the operation/control of the electrical socket adapter 102 in hardware (rather than software or firmware).

[0037] The electrical socket adapter 102 may also comprise platform software comprising an operating system 201 or any other suitable platform software may be provided at the electrical socket adapter 102 to enable application software 203 to be executed on the electrical socket adapter 102.

[0038] The computer executable instructions may be provided using any computer-readable media that is accessible by the electrical socket adapter 102. Computer-readable media may include, for example, computer storage media such as memory 205 and communications media. Computer storage media (i.e. non-transitory machine readable media), such as memory 205, includes volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transmission medium that can be used to store information for access by a computing device. In contrast, communication media may embody computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal, such as a carrier wave, or other transport mechanism. As defined herein, computer storage media does not include communication media. Although the computer storage media (i.e. non-transitory machine readable media, e.g. memory 205) is shown within the electrical socket adapter 102 it will be appreciated that the storage may be distributed or located remotely and accessed via a network or other communication link (e.g. using wireless module 112).

[0039] The electrical socket adapter 102 also comprises the wireless module 112 described with reference to FIG. 1. The processor 202 controls the wireless module 112 to send and receive information to/from other devices wirelessly. The wireless module 112 may support any suitable wireless protocol, such as, but not limited to, Bluetooth™, Wi-Fi™ or Near Field Communication (NFC). As described above, the wireless module 112 may be used to send information about the electrical socket adapter 102 (e.g. information on current draw and fault status) to other devices (e.g. server 116 and/or end-user device 118) and receive commands from other devices (e.g. server 116 and/or end-user device 118) to, for example, enable or disable power to the electrical appliance 108.

[0040] The electrical socket adapter 102 also comprises an electricity or power switch 204 controlled by the processor 202. The electricity or power switch 204 is used to connect or disconnect the electrical appliance 108 to the mains power supply. As described above, the electrical socket adapter 102 may be configured to receive a command via the wireless module 112 from another device to enable or disable power to the electrical appliance 108 plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102. Upon receiving such a command, the processor 202 may enable or disable the power switch 204 to enable or disable the power to the electrical appliance 108.

[0041] The electrical socket adapter 102 may also comprise a current monitor 206 controlled by the processor 202. The current monitor 206 is connected to the mains power supply and has the ability to monitor the amount of current drawn by an electrical appliance 108 plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102. The current monitor 206 may be configured to continuously monitor the current draw or the current monitor 206 may be configured to only monitor the current draw when the current monitor 206 receives a command from the processor 202. In either case, the current monitor 206 may be configured to actively (e.g. periodically) provide the processor 202 with information on the current draw; or the current monitor 206 may be configured to passively provide information on the current draw to the processor 206 (e.g. in response to a request from the processor 202 for the information).

[0042] The electrical socket adapter 102 may also comprise a plug sensor 208 to detect when an electrical appliance 108 is plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102. In some cases the plug sensor 208 may be configured to detect that an electrical appliance 108 is plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102 when it detects that an object is proximate to, or within a distance from, the electrical socket adapter 102 (e.g. is flush with the electrical socket adapter 102). In other cases the plug sensor 208 may be configured to detect when a pin from the electrical plug 106 is inserted into the adapter 102 using, for example, a beam-break sensor. In yet other cases, the plug sensor 208 may be configured to determine an electrical appliance 108 is plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102 by detecting movement of the shutters of the ground and/or neutral pin sockets. In particular, some sockets have shutters attached to the receptacles to ensure that objects other than electrical plug pins are not inadvertently inserted into the socket. When a plug is inserted into one of these types of sockets the shutters move to enable the pins to be inserted. For example, the shutters may slide away to the side or fold away as flaps. Example plug sensors 208 will described below with reference to FIGS. 5 to 8.

[0043] The processor 202 may also receive input from one or more other input modules 210. For example, the electrical socket adapter 102 may also have a manual control button located on the electrical socket adapter 102 that allows a user to manually input information into the electrical socket adapter 102. The electrical socket adapter 102 may also have a display module 212 for displaying information to the user. Such a display module 212 may aid a user in manually inputting information to the electrical socket adapter 102. In some cases the electrical socket adapter 102 may also have a sensor that is capable of reading an RFID tag or the like so that the electrical socket adapter 102 can not only confirm that an electrical appliance is plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102, but it can also confirm that the correct or expected electrical appliance is plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102.

[0044] The processor 202 is configured to analyze the information received from one or more of the other components of the electrical socket adapter 102 to determine when a fault state has occurred with the electrical appliance 108 connected to or plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102. The processor 202 may then notify the user, via the wireless module 112 of the fault state.

[0045] As described above, a fault state is when the electrical appliance 108 is in a state where it is not able to operate normally. Fault states may include, but are not limited to, the electrical appliance 108 (e.g. electrical plug 106) not being plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102; the electrical appliance 108 being switched off or otherwise disabled so that it cannot be remotely enabled; and the electrical appliance 108 having another fault (e.g. it has a blown fuse) that does not allow it to operate normally.

[0046] In some cases, the electrical socket adapter 102 may be configured to detect a fault state from the current draw information gathered by the current monitor 206 and/or information received from the plug sensor 208. For example, the processor 202 may be configured to detect that the electrical appliance 108 is in a fault state if it is not drawing any current and/or the electrical appliance 108 is not drawing a “normal” amount of current for the electrical appliance 108. In other examples, the processor 202 may be configured to detect a fault state if the information received from the plug sensor 208 indicates that the electrical appliance 108 is not plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102. Example methods for detecting a fault state are described below with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

[0047] In some cases the processor 202 may have the ability to predict when the electrical appliance 108 connected to the electrical socket adapter 102 will be activated. The prediction may be based on a schedule that has been set-up by the user. For example, if an electrical appliance 108 is scheduled to be activated at a specific time on a specific day of the week (e.g. Tuesday), then the processor 202 can accurately predict that the electrical appliance 108 will be activated at the particular time on the particular day.

[0048] The prediction may alternatively, or in addition, be based on historical usage. For example, the processor 202 may be configured to generate data on the use of the electrical appliance 108 (e.g. when it is turned on (e.g. when it draws current) and for how long) which is used to generate a historical record of the usage of the electrical appliance 108. The record may be stored in a memory component (e.g. memory 205) of the electrical socket adapter 102 or a remote device accessible to the electrical socket adapter 102. The processor 202 then uses the historical record to predict when the electrical appliance 108 will next be activated. For example, the processor 202 may analyze the historical record to determine that the electrical appliance 108 has historically been activated within a certaintime period on a particular day (e.g. day of the week, or day of a month) [0049] The prediction may alternatively, or in addition, be based on the type of electrical appliance. For example, where the electrical appliance 108 is a light switch then the processor 202 may assume that the light switch is going to be operated at a particular time of day. For example, the processor 202 may assume that a light switch is likely to be activated around sunset. Other electrical appliances may similarly be expected to be used at certain times of the day. For example, a coffee machine may be expected to be used in the morning and an oven may be expected to be used in the evening. Accordingly, knowledge of the type of the device can be used to further improve the prediction of when the electrical appliance is likely to be activated.

[0050] In cases where the processor 202 has the ability to predict when the electrical appliance 108 connected thereto will be activated, the processor 202 may be configured to determine whether the electrical appliance 108 is in fault state a predetermined period of time before the electrical appliance 108 is predicted to be activated. This allows the user to be informed of, and rectify, a fault prior to the desired or predicted activation time. In some cases the predetermined period of time may be a fixed proportion of the interval between predicted activations. For example, if the fixed proportion is 10% then an electrical appliance that is predicted to be activated every 24 hours may be tested to determine if it is in a fault state 2.4 hours before the next predicted activation. In other cases, the predetermined period of time may be fixed (e.g. 4 hours). The user may also have the option of setting the time at which the processor 202 determines whether the electrical appliance is in a fault state. This may allow the user to ensure that the electrical appliance is not tested or activated at an inappropriate time (e.g. to ensure lights are not turned on in the middle of the night).

[0051] In some cases the processor 202 may be configured to only notify the user of the fault state when the user is in a position to rectify the fault (e.g. when they are in close proximity of the electrical appliance 108).

[0052] Given that rectifying a fault state with an electrical appliance 108 (e.g. plugging it in, turning it on or replacing a fuse) often requires the user to be in close proximity of the electrical appliance 108, resources may be wasted notifying the user of the fault state when they are remote to the electrical appliance 108. Accordingly, in some cases the processor 202 may be configured to notify the user of a fault state when they are proximate to the electrical appliance 108. Not only does this not unnecessarily waste resources, but it also increases the chances that the user will rectify the fault upon receiving the notification. In particular, if the user is notified of the fault state as soon as it is detected, it may be a long time before the user is in a position to rectify the fault and by this time the user may have forgotten about the fault. In contrast, if the user is notified of the fault when they are proximate to the electrical appliance, and thus can fix the fault, the user is much more likely to fix the fault.

[0053] The processor 202 may be configured to detect the user is proximate to the electrical appliance 108 by detecting that a device associated with the user (e.g. end-user device 118) is connected to the same wireless network (e.g. the same Wi-Fi™ network) as the electrical socket adapter 102 (via wireless module 112). For example, the device associated with the user (e.g. end-user device 118) may be configured to store information identifying the wireless network the electrical socket adapter 102 is connected to (e.g. SSID (service set identifier) for a Wi-Fi™ network), and send a message to the electrical socket adapter 102 when the device detects, using the stored information, that it is connected to the same wireless network as the electrical socket adapter 102. In other examples, the device associated with the user (e.g. end-user device 118) may be configured to periodically ping the electrical socket adapter 102 without using any external connection (e.g. using internal IP addresses); or alternatively the processor 202 may be configured to periodically ping the device associated with the user (e.g. end-user device 118) without using any external connection (e.g. using internal IP addresses). Flowever, it will be evident to a person of skill in the art that these are examples only and other methods may be used to detect the device associated with the user is connected to the same wireless network as the electrical socket adapter 102.

[0054] Alternatively, or in addition, the processor 202 may be configured to detect the user’s location from positioning information (e.g. GPS (Global Positioning System) information) received from the end-user device 118. The processor 202 may also be able to detect the user’s location via a direct short-range communication (e.g. Bluetooth LE™ or NFC) between the end-user device 118 and the electrical socket adapter 102.

[0055] Alternatively to, or in addition to, notifying the user of a fault state when the user is proximate to the electrical appliance, the user may be notified of a fault state when the user is in a place where they are in a position to remedy the fault. For example, if the electrical socket adapter 102 has detected that a lamp has blown in the electrical appliance 108, the processor 202 may be configured to notify the user of the fault if the processor 202 has detected the user is in a place where they may have access to new lamp (e.g. a hardware store).

[0056] An example method for notifying the user of a fault state will be described below with reference to FIG. 9.

[0057] In other examples, one or more of the functions described above as being performed or executed by the processor 202 of the electrical socket adapter 102 may be performed or executed by another device or processor, such as server 116. For example, the server 116 may predict when the electrical appliance 108 may next be activated and prior to the activation may send a request to the electrical socket adapter 102 to determine whether the electrical appliance 108 is in a fault state. The electrical socket adapter 102 may respond to the server 116 with the state (fault or normal state) of the electrical appliance 108. If the electrical socket adapter 102 indicates the electrical appliance 108 is in a fault state then the server 116 may determine whether the user is proximate to the electrical appliance 108 and send a notification to the user of the fault state if they are proximate to the electrical appliance 108.

[0058] Reference is now made to FIG. 3 which illustrates a first example method 300 for detecting an electrical appliance 108 is in a fault state. In this example method 300 a fault state is detected by monitoring the current usage of the electrical appliance 108. At block 302, the electrical socket adapter 102 enables or provides power to the electrical appliance 108 by connecting the electrical appliance 108 to the mains power supply (e.g. activating the power switch 204). The method 300 then proceeds to block 304 where the electrical socket adapter 102 monitors the current flow to the electrical appliance 108 (e.g. via current monitor 206). After a predetermined amount of time (or after other criteria are met), the electrical socket adapter 102 disables or deactivates the electrical appliance 108 by breaking the connection between the electrical appliance 108 and the mains power supply (e.g. deactivating the power switch 204) 306. The method 300 then proceeds to block 308.

[0059] At block 308 it is determined whether the electrical appliance 108 drew any power or current. If the electrical appliance 108 did not draw any current then the electrical appliance 108 is either turned off, not plugged in or has another fault that is inhibiting the electrical appliance 108 from turning on. Accordingly if the electrical appliance 108 did not draw any current then there is a fault state 310. The user can then be notified as appropriate. If the electrical appliance 108 did draw current then the method 300 may end or the method 300 may proceed to block 312.

[0060] In some cases, as described above, the electrical socket adapter 102 may store or have access to historical information (e.g. historical information stored on the server 116) on current draw by the electrical appliance 108. This information may be used to generate a current draw profile for the electrical appliance 108 that may be used to detect the electrical appliance 108 is in a fault state. In these cases the method 300 may proceed to block 312 where the electrical socket adapter 102 compares the current draw observed at block 304 to the current draw profile to determine whether the electrical appliance 108 drew a “normal” amount of current relative to the current draw profile for the electrical appliance 108. If the current drawn is “normal” (e.g. it matches the current draw profile) then the method 300 ends 314. However, if the current drawn is not “normal” (e.g. it does not match the current draw profile) then the electrical appliance 108 is in a fault state 316. The user can then be notified as appropriate.

[0061] For example, if the electrical appliance 108 is a light switch that is used to control six lamps in a kitchen, then it will have typical or normal power consumption (i.e. current drawn) when it is operating normally. If one of the bulbs fails then the energy consumption (i.e. current drawn) will drop. In this case the current drawn will not match the current draw profile indicating a fault state. The electrical socket adapter 102 may further be able to estimate the specific fault based on the measured current draw as compared to the current draw profile (i.e. the difference between the measured current draw and the current draw profile). For example, the electrical socket adapter 102 may be able to determine that one of the bulbs has failed. This can be used to notify the user of the specific fault (e.g. bulb blown and/or the number of bulbs blown).

[0062] In cases where the electrical socket adapter 102 is able to determine the specific fault (e.g. bulb blown) the electrical socket adapter 102 may be configured to disable power to the electrical appliance 108 (e.g. disable the power switch 204) until the fault has been rectified to ensure that the faulty electrical appliance 108 does not cause damage to itself or anyone else (e.g. a user who is trying to replace the bulb). This would prevent a user from trying, for example, to replace the bulb in a circuit when the power is live. Once the user has corrected the fault, the user may notify the electrical socket adapter 102 so that the electrical socket adapter 102 can know it is safe to enable/provide power to the electrical appliance 108.

[0063] In some cases the electrical socket adapter 102 may be configured to determine whether or not to disable power to the electrical appliance based on the type or level of the fault. For example, the electrical socket adapter 102 may be configured to disable power to the electrical appliance if it is a major fault (e.g. 75% or more of the bulbs are blown), but to leave power to the electrical appliance enabled if it is a minor fault (e.g. 25% or less of the bulbs are blown).

[0064] One problem with this method 300, however, is that the electrical socket adapter 102 may activate the appliance 108, to determine whether it is in a fault state, at a time that is unexpected to the user. The user may find it un-nerving for an electrical appliance 108 to be activated suddenly for a short period of time without warning. To avoid this, the current draw reading from the most recent monitoring may be used instead. For example, if no current was drawn during the last current monitoring session the electrical socket adapter 102 may be configured to assume that the current draw is the same and notify the user the next time it is appropriate (e.g. the next time they are in close proximity to the electrical appliance 108).

[0065] Reference is now made to FIG. 4 which illustrates a second example method 400 for determining an electrical appliance 108 is in a fault state. In this method 400 a fault state is identified by determining that the electrical appliance 108 is not physically plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102. At block 402 the plug sensor 208 senses the presence of an object to determine whether the electrical appliance 108 is plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102. In some cases, the plug sensor 208 may comprise a proximity sensor to detect when the appliance 108 is plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102. For example a close proximity sensor may be positioned on the front of the electrical socket adapter 102 and configured to detect when an object (e.g. plug) is flush with the front face of the electrical socket adapter 102. This allows the plug sensor 208 to be kept away from any live parts of the electrical socket adapter 102, but could potentially give a false reading if a foreign object was placed in front of the electrical socket adapter 102 (e.g. leaned against the front of the electrical socket adapter 102). It also may incorrectly determine that a plug was not present if an usual shaped plug was inserted.

[0066] In other cases, the plug sensor 208 may use the pins of the electrical plug 106 to detect when the electrical appliance 108 is plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102. For example, the plug sensor 208 may comprise a beam-break sensor positioned in the electrical socket adapter 102 so that a pin of the electrical plug 106 breaks the light beam when it is inserted in the adapter 102. Beam-break sensors are simple, cheap and reliable, and using the pins of the electrical plug 106 themselves avoids false detections. Flowever, the beam-break sensor has to be placed in close proximity to live elements. This could cause an electrical safety issue, or the beam-break sensor could be damaged by the insertion of the electrical plug 106 in the electrical socket adapter 102. In addition, since different countries have different sizes and shapes of pins, it is difficult to have one design that works reliably in many countries. For example, round pins may not be reliably detected unless the beam-break sensor is placed very close to the pin.

[0067] In still other cases, the plug sensor 208 may use the shutters that are present over the sockets for the ground and/or neutral pins to detect when the electrical appliance 108 is plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102. In particular, sockets for receiving neutral and ground pins of an electrical plug 106 typically comprises shutters over the openings to ensure that objects other than the neutral and ground pins are not inadvertently inserted into the sockets. When the ground and neutral pins are inserted in the sockets of the electrical socket adapter 102 the shutters are moved to an open position to enable the pins to be inserted. For example, the shutters may slide away to the side, or fold away as flaps. A beam-break sensor can be positioned in the electrical socket adapter 102 so that when a particular shutter (e.g. the shutter for the neutral pin or the shutter for the ground pin) moves to the open position the beam is broken. This ensures that the plug sensor 208 only detects the electrical appliance 108 has been plugged into the adapter 102 when an electrical plug 106 is actually inserted. It also keeps the plug sensor 208 away from the live or active elements that may be wiggled or moved as the electrical plug 106 is inserted or removed.

[0068] In yet other cases, the plug sensor 208 may be configured to detect movement of both the shutter for the neutral pin and the shutter for the ground pin. For example, the plug sensor 208 may have two beam-break sensors. The first beam-break sensor is positioned so that when the neutral pin shutter moves to the open position the beam of the first beam-break sensor is broken and the second beam-break sensor is positioned so that when the ground pin shutter moves to the open position the beam of the second beam-break sensor is broken. This can be used as a safety feature to detect when an object has been inserted into only one of the sockets (e.g. the ground pin socket or the neutral pin socket, but not both). For example, if a child inserted an object into one of the pin sockets, this can be detected, and the power to the electrical appliance 108 can be disabled and forced to remain off, even if a remote command is received to enable the power. Furthermore, an alarm or notification can be transmitted to the user to indicate that an error condition has occurred.

[0069] An example electrical socket adapter 102 with a plug sensor that uses a shutter and a sensor to detect when an electrical appliance 108 has been plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102 is described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 8.

[0070] At block 404 it is determined whether the object has been sensed. If the object has been sensed then it is presumed that the electrical appliance 108 has been plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102 and the method 400 proceeds back to block 402 where it senses the presence of an object. If, however, the object has not been sensed then it is presumed that the electrical appliance 108 has not been plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102 and a fault state has occurred 406. The user can then be notified as appropriate.

[0071] In some examples, the electrical socket adapter 102 may be configured to use a combination of methods 300 and 400 to detect a fault state. In particular, the electrical socket adapter 102 may be configured to first detect whether the electrical appliance 108 is plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102 using, for example, the method 400 of FIG. 4, and only if the electrical appliance 108 is detected to be plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102 is the current monitored, for example, by method 300 of FIG. 3.

[0072] Using the two fault detection methods together may enable the electrical socket adapter 102 to provide more information to the user about the specific fault. For example, if it is known that the electrical appliance 108 is plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102 and yet the electrical appliance 108 draws no current when power is supplied to it, then this may indicate that the electrical appliance 108 is switched off, or that a fault state has occurred such as a blown fuse or light bulb (e.g. in the case of a lamp). Without this ability to know whether the electrical appliance 108 is plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102, then this fault state cannot be distinguished from the fault state where the appliance is plugged in.

[0073] Reference is now made to FIGS. 5-8 which illustrates an example electrical socket adapter 102 configured to detect whether an electrical appliance 108 is plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102 using the shutter for the earth or ground pin socket. FIGS. 5 and 7 show a cross-sectional view of the electrical socket adapter 102 sliced down the middle when the electrical plug 106 of the electrical appliance 108 is not plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102; and FIGS. 6 and 8 show a cross-sectional view of the electrical socket adapter 102 sliced down the middle when the electrical plug 106 of the electrical appliance 108 is plugged into or inserted into the electrical socket adapter 102.

[0074] The example electrical socket adapter 102 comprises an electrical socket 502 for receiving an electrical plug 106 of an electrical appliance 108. The electrical socket 502 comprises a live pin socket 504 for receiving the live pin 506 of the electrical plug 106; a ground or earth pin socket 508 for receiving the ground or earth pin 510 of the electrical plug 106; and a neutral socket (not shown) for receiving the neutral pin (not shown) of the electrical plug 106.

[0075] The example electrical socket adapter 102 also includes a shutter 512 for the ground or earth pin socket 508 to ensure that foreign objects (e.g. objects other than a ground or earth pin) are not inserted into the ground or earth pin socket 508. In particular, the shutter 512 is biased, by a spring 514, into a closed position (see FIGS. 5 and 7) where the shutter 512 obstructs or blocks the ground or earth pin socket 508. When an electrical plug 106 is inserted into the electrical plug 502 the ground or earth pin 510 moves (e.g. slides) the shutter 512 into an open position (see FIGS. 6 and 8) where the shutter 512 no longer obstructs or blocks the ground or earth pin socket 508.

[0076] In this example, a sensor 516 is inserted in the electrical socket adapter 102 to detect whether an electrical plug 106 is inserted in the electrical socket adapter 102 based on the position of the shutter 512. In particular, the sensor 516 is positioned so that when the shutter 512 is in the closed position (FIGS. 5 and 7) the sensor 516 detects an electrical plug has not been inserted, but when the shutter 512 is in the open position (FIG. 6 and 8) the sensor 516 detects an electrical plug has been inserted.

[0077] The sensor 516 may be any suitable type of sensor for detecting the presence or absence of objects. For example, the sensor 516 may be a proximity sensor that detects when an object (e.g. the shutter 512) is placed near the sensor 516. In another example, the sensor 516 may be a beam-break sensor that is comprised of transmitter and a receiver (which may be referred to as the first and second component of the sensor respectively). As is known to those of skill in the art, a beam break sensor senses the presence or absence of an object based on whether the receiver can receive communications from the transmitter (e.g. whether the receiver can receive the beam of light transmitted by the transmitter).

[0078] The beam-break sensor may, for example, be a through beam sensor, a retro-reflective sensor, or a diffuse sensor. As is known to those of skill in the art a through beam sensor comprises a transmitter and a receiver in separate housings with the transmitter providing a continuous beam of light to the receiver. When an object interrupts the light path between the transmitter and the receiver the receiver outputs information indicating an object has been detected. If a through beam sensor is used in the electrical socket adapter 102, when the shutter 512 is in one position (e.g. the open position) the shutter 512 blocks communications (e.g. light) from the transmitter to the receiver; and when the shutter 512 is in the other position (e.g. the closed position) the shutter 512 does not block communications (e.g. light) from the transmitter to the receiver thus the receiver can receive communications (e.g. light) from the transmitter.

[0079] A retro-reflective sensor comprises a transmitter and receiver in the same housing. The transmitter emits a continuous beam of light which is reflected off a reflector back to the receiver. When an object interrupts the light path between the transmitter and reflector, or reflector and transmitter, the receiver outputs information indicating an object has been detected. If a retro-reflective sensor is used in the electrical socket adapter 102, when the shutter 512 is in one position (e.g. the open position) the shutter blocks or breaks communications (e.g. light) from the transmitter to the receiver; and when the shutter 512 is in the other position (e.g. the closed position) the transmitter does not block or break communications (e.g. light) from the transmitter to the receiver thus the receiver can receive communications (e.g. light) from the transmitter.

[0080] A diffuse sensor, similar to a retro-reflector sensor, comprises a transmitter and receiver in the same housing. The transmitter emits a continuous beam of light, which, when the target object is in position, is reflected back to the receiver. If a diffuse sensor is used in the electrical socket adapter 102, when the shutter 512 is in one position (e.g. the open position) the transmitter cannot receive communications from the transmitter because the shutter is not positioned to reflect light from the transmitter to the receiver; and when the shutter 512 is in the other position (e.g. the closed position) the receiver can receive communicates from the transmitter because the shutter 512 is positioned to reflect light from the transmitter to the receiver.

[0081] In some cases, as shown in FIGS. 5-8 a flange 517 may be added to, or form part of, the shutter 512 and it is the flange 517 that interacts with the sensor 516 (e.g. breaks the beam) when the shutter 512 is in the open position (FIG. 6 and 8). Such a flange 517 may be added to a standard shutter 512 to provide a greater surface area to interact with the sensor 516 (e.g. break the beam) and/or to provide more flexibility in positioning the sensor 516. The flange 517 of FIGS. 5 to 8 is shown as being rectangular, but it will be evident to a person of skill in the art that different sized and shaped flanges 517 may be used.

[0082] The electrical socket adapter 102 further comprises an electrical plug 518 for inserting into an electrical wall socket. The electrical plug 518 comprises a live pin 520, a ground pin 522 and a neutral pin (not shown). The electrical socket adapter 102 is configured so that when an electrical plug 106 is inserted in the electrical socket 502 of the electrical socket adapter 102 an electrical connection is made between the pins 506, 510 of the electrical plug 106 and the corresponding pins 520, 522 of the electrical plug 518 of the electrical socket adapter 102. This allows power to be provided from an electrical wall socket to the electrical device 108 via the electrical socket adapter 102 when the electrical socket adapter 102 is plugged into the electrical wall socket.

[0083] It will be evident to a person of skill in the art that the electrical socket adapter 102 of FIGS. 5-8 is an example only and various changes may be made to the electrical socket adapter 102 without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the sensor 516 may be placed in another suitable position. In particular, the sensor 516 may alternatively be positioned so that it detects and object when the shutter 512 is in the open position and does not detect an object when the shutter 512 is in the closed position.

[0084] Reference is now made to FIG. 9 which illustrates an example method 900 for an electrical socket adapter 102 to notify the user that an electrical appliance 108 is in a fault state when the user is in a position to rectify the error condition (e.g. when the user is proximate the electrical appliance 108). The method 900 begins at block 902 where the processor 202 predicts that the electrical appliance 108 connected to the electrical socket adapter 102 will be activated at a particular time. The particular time may, for example, be a specific date, hour and minute; or may be a time period on a specific date. For example, block 902 may be triggered when the processor 202 predicts that the electrical appliance 108 will be activated in 15 minutes or within the next 15 minutes.

[0085] As described above, the prediction may be based on a schedule that has been set-up by the user. For example, if an electrical appliance 108 is scheduled to be activated at a specific time on a specific day of the week (e.g. Tuesday), then the processor 202 can accurately predict that the electrical appliance 108 will be activated at the particular time on the particular day.

[0086] The prediction may alternatively, or in addition, be based on historical usage. For example, the processor 202 may be configured to generate data on the use of the electrical appliance 108 (e.g. when it is turned on (e.g. when it draws current) and for how long) which is used to generate a historical record of the usage of the electrical appliance 108. The processor 202 then uses the historical record to predict when the electrical appliance 108 will next be activated. For example, the processor 202 may analyze the historical record to determine that the electrical appliance 108 has historically been activated within a certaintime period on a particular day (e.g. day of the week, or day of a month) [0087] The prediction may alternatively, or in addition, be based on the type of electrical appliance 108. For example, where the electrical appliance 108 is a light switch then the processor 202 may assume that the light switch is going to be operated at a particular time of day (e.g. after sunset). Once the processor 202 has predicted that the electrical appliance 108 will be activated within a predetermined time of the current time, the method 900 proceeds to block 904.

[0088] At block 904, the processor 202 determines whether the electrical appliance 108 is operating normally or whether there is a fault state with the electrical appliance 108. As described above a fault state is when the electrical appliance 108 is in a state where it is not able to operate normally. Fault states may include, but are not limited to, the electrical appliance 108 (e.g. electrical plug 106) not being plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102; the electrical appliance 108 being switched off or otherwise disabled so that it cannot be remotely enabled; and the electrical appliance 108 having another fault (e.g. it has a blown fuse) that does not allow it to operate normally.

[0089] In some cases, the processor 202 may be configured to detect a fault state from the current draw data gathered by the current monitor 206 and/or information received from the plug sensor 208. For example, the processor 202 may be configured to detect that the electrical appliance 108 is in a fault state if it is not drawing any current and/or the electrical appliance 108 is not drawing a “normal” amount of current for the electrical appliance 108 (e.g. in accordance with method 300). In other examples, the processor 202 may be configured to detect a fault state if the information received from the plug sensor 208 indicates that the electrical appliance 108 is not plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102 (e.g. in accordance with method 400).

[0090] If the processor 202 determines that the electrical appliance 108 is operating normally (i.e. there are no fault states) then the method 900 ends 906. If, however, the processor 202 determines that there is a fault state with the electrical appliance 108 then the method 900 proceeds to block 908.

[0091] At block, 908 the processor 202 determines whether the user is in close proximity of the electrical appliance 108 and thus can rectify or remedy the fault state. The processor 202 may detect the user is proximate to the electrical appliance 108 by detecting that a device associated with the user (e.g. end-user device 118) is connected to the same wireless network (e.g. the same Wi-Fi™ network) as the electrical socket adapter 102 (e.g. via wireless module 112). Alternatively, or in addition, the processor 202 may be configured to detect the user’s location from positioning information (e.g. GPS (Global Positioning System) information) received from the end-user device 118. The processor 202 may also be able to detect the user’s location via a direct short-range communication (e.g. Bluetooth LE™ or NFC) between the end-user device 118 and the electrical socket adapter 102.

[0092] If it is determined that the user is in close proximity to the electrical appliance 108 then the method 900 proceeds to block 910 where the processor 202 notifies the user of the fault state of the electrical appliance 108. Since rectifying a fault state of an electrical appliance 108 often requires the user to be near the electrical appliance 108 (e.g. to plug it in, turn it on, replace a fuse etc.), notifying the user when they are in close proximity of the electrical appliance 108 increases the chances that the user will rectify the fault upon receiving the notification. In particular, if the user is notified of the fault state as soon as it is detected, it may be a long time before the user is in a position to rectify the fault and by this time the user may have forgotten about the fault. In contrast, if the user is notified of the fault when they are near the electrical appliance 108, and thus can fix the fault, the user is much more likely to fix the fault.

[0093] If, however, it is determined that the user is not in close proximity to the electrical appliance 108 then the method 900 may end or the method 900 may proceed to block 912.

[0094] At block 912, the processor 202 determines whether the user is in a location where they are in a position to remedy or aid in the remedy of the fault state. For example, if the processor has detected that a lamp has blown in the electrical appliance 108, the processor 202 may be configured to notify the user of the fault if the processor 202 has detected the user is in a place where they may have access to a new lamp (e.g. a hardware store).

[0095] If the processor 202 determines that the user is in a location whether they are in a position to remedy, or aid in the remedy of, the fault state then the method 900 proceeds to block 914 where the processor 202 notifies the user of the fault state of the electrical appliance 108. If, however, the processor 202 determines that the user is not in a location whether they are in a position to remedy, or aid in the remedy of, the fault state then the method ends at block 916.

[0096] Although method 900 has been described as being executed by the electrical socket adapter 102, in other examples a portion of the method 900 may be executed by another device, such as server 116. For example, the server 116 may predict when the electrical appliance 108 may next be activated and prior to the activation may send a request to the electrical socket adapter 102 to determine whether the electrical appliance 108 is in a fault state using one or more of the methods described above. The electrical socket adapter 102 may respond to the server 116 with the state (fault or normal state) of the electrical appliance 108. If the electrical socket adapter 102 indicates the electrical appliance 108 is in a fault state then the server 116 may determine whether the user is proximate to the electrical appliance 108 and send a notification to the user of the fault state if they are proximate to the electrical appliance 108.

[0097] The term 'processor' and 'computer' are used herein to refer to any device, or portion thereof, with processing capability such that it can execute instructions. The term ‘processor’ may, for example, include central processing units (CPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs or VPUs), physics processing units (PPUs), digital signal processors (DSPs), general purpose processors (e.g. a general purpose GPU), microprocessors, any processing unit which is designed to accelerate tasks outside of a CPU, etc. Those skilled in the art will realize that such processing capabilities are incorporated into many different devices and therefore the term 'computer' includes set top boxes, media players, digital radios, PCs, servers, mobile telephones, personal digital assistants and many other devices.

[0098] Those skilled in the art will realize that storage devices utilized to store program instructions can be distributed across a network. For example, a remote computer may store an example of the process described as software. A local or terminal computer may access the remote computer and download a part or all of the software to run the program. Alternatively, the local computer may download pieces of the software as needed, or execute some software instructions at the local terminal and some at the remote computer (or computer network). Those skilled in the art will also realize that by utilizing conventional techniques known to those skilled in the art that all, or a portion of the software instructions may be carried out by a dedicated circuit, such as a DSP, programmable logic array, or the like.

[0099] Memories storing machine executable data for use in implementing disclosed aspects can be non-transitory media. Non-transitory media can be volatile or non-volatile. Examples of volatile non-transitory media include semiconductor-based memory, such as SRAM or DRAM. Examples of technologies that can be used to implement non-volatile memory include optical and magnetic memory technologies, flash memory, phase change memory, resistive RAM.

[00100] A particular reference to “logic” refers to structure that performs a function or functions. An example of logic includes circuitry that is arranged to perform those function(s). For example, such circuitry may include transistors and/or other hardware elements available in a manufacturing process. Such transistors and/or other elements may be used to form circuitry or structures that implement and/or contain memory, such as registers, flip flops, or latches, logical operators, such as Boolean operations, mathematical operators, such as adders, multipliers, or shifters, and interconnect, by way of example. Such elements may be provided as custom circuits or standard cell libraries, macros, or at other levels of abstraction. Such elements may be interconnected in a specific arrangement. Logic may include circuitry that is fixed function and circuitry can be programmed to perform a function or functions; such programming may be provided from a firmware or software update or control mechanism. Logic identified to perform one function may also include logic that implements a constituent function or sub-process. In an example, hardware logic has circuitry that implements a fixed function operation, or operations, state machine or process.

[00101] Any range or device value given herein may be extended or altered without losing the effect sought, as will be apparent to the skilled person.

[00102] It will be understood that the benefits and advantages described above may relate to one embodiment or may relate to several embodiments. The embodiments are not limited to those that solve any or all of the stated problems or those that have any or all of the stated benefits and advantages.

[00103] Any reference to 'an' item refers to one or more of those items. The term 'comprising' is used herein to mean including the method blocks or elements identified, but that such blocks or elements do not comprise an exclusive list and an apparatus may contain additional blocks or elements and a method may contain additional operations or elements.

Furthermore, the blocks, elements and operations are themselves not impliedly closed.

[00104] The steps of the methods described herein may be carried out in any suitable order, or simultaneously where appropriate. The arrows between boxes in the figures show one example sequence of method steps but are not intended to exclude other sequences or the performance of multiple steps in parallel. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from any of the methods without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject matter described herein. Aspects of any of the examples described above may be combined with aspects of any of the other examples described to form further examples without losing the effect sought. Where elements of the figures are shown connected by arrows, it will be appreciated that these arrows show just one example flow of communications (including data and control messages) between elements. The flow between elements may be in either direction or in both directions.

[00105] It will be understood that the above description of a preferred embodiment is given by way of example only and that various modifications may be made by those skilled in the art. Although various embodiments have been described above with a certain degree of particularity, or with reference to one or more individual embodiments, those skilled in the art could make numerous alterations to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of this invention.

Claims

1. A device (102) for detecting an electrical appliance (108) is plugged into an electrical socket (502), the device comprising: an electrical socket (502) for receiving an electrical plug (106) of the electrical appliance (108); at least one sensor (516) configured to detect when an object is placed in or near the electrical socket (502); and a processor (202) in communication with the at least one sensor (516), the processor (202) configured to determine whether an electrical appliance (108) is plugged into the electrical socket (502) based on an output of the at least one sensor (516).

2. The device (502) of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor (516) comprises a first sensor (516) configured to detect when a neutral pin shutter or a ground pin shutter (512) of the electrical socket (502) is in an open position.

3. The device (102) of claim 2, wherein the first sensor comprises a first component and a second component, the first sensor determining when the neutral pin shutter or the ground pin shutter of the electrical socket is in the open position based on whether the second component can receive communications from the first component.

4. The device (102) of claim 3, further comprising a flange (517) attached to one of the neutral pin shutter and the ground pin shutter (512) of the electrical socket (502), the flange (517) moving, when the neutral pin shutter or the ground pin shutter is moved to the open position, to a position that blocks communications from the first component to the second component.

5. The device (102) of any of claims 2 to 4, wherein the first sensor is a beam-break sensor.

6. The device (102) of any of claims 2 to 5, wherein the at least one sensor further comprises a second sensor configured to detect when the other of the neutral pin shutter or the ground pin shutter of the electrical socket is moved to the open position.

7. The device (102) of claim 6, wherein the second sensor comprises a first component and a second component, the second sensor determining when the other of the neutral pin shutter and the ground pin shutter of the electrical socket is in the open position based on whether the second component of the second sensor can receive communications from the first component of the second sensor.

8. The device (102) of claim 7, further comprising a second flange attached to the other of the neutral pin shutter and the ground pin shutter of the electrical socket, the second flange moving, when the other of the neutral pin shutter and the ground pin shutter is moved to the open position, to a position that blocks communication from the first component of the second sensor to the second component of the second sensor.

9. The device (102) of any of claims 6 to 8, wherein the second sensor is a beam-break sensor.

10. The device (102) of any of claims 1 to 9, further comprising a wireless module (112) controlled by the processor (202), wherein the processor (202) is further configured to, in response to determining the electrical appliance is not plugged into the electrical socket, notify a user using the wireless module (112) that the electrical appliance (108) is not plugged into the electrical socket (502).

11. The device (102) of claim 10, wherein the processor (202) is further configured to only notify the user if the processor (202) determines that that the user is proximate the electrical appliance (108).

12. The device (102) of any of claims 1 to 11, further comprising: a power switch (204) movable between an enabled position where power is supplied to the electrical appliance (108) and a disabled position where power is not supplied to the electrical appliance (108); and a current monitor (206) configured to monitor current drawn by the electrical appliance (108) when the power switch (204) is in the enabled position; and wherein the processor (202) is further configured to, in response to determining the electrical appliance (108) is physically plugged into the electrical socket (502), move the power switch (204) to the enabled position for a predetermined period of time and monitor current drawn by the electrical appliance (108) using the current monitor (206) for the predetermined period of time.

13. The device (102) of claim 12, wherein the processor (202) is further configured to determine whether current was drawn by the electrical appliance (108) during the predetermined period of time, and, in response to determining no current was drawn by the electrical appliance (108) during the predetermined period of time, deem the electrical appliance (108) to be in a fault state.

14. The device (102) of claim 13, wherein the processor (202) is further configured to, in response to determining current was drawn by the electrical appliance (108) during the predetermined period of time, compare the current drawn during the predetermined period of time to a current draw profile for the electrical appliance (108), and in response to determining the current drawn during the predetermined period of time and the current draw profile for the electrical appliance (108) do not match, deem the electrical appliance (108) to be in a fault state.

15. The device (102) of claim 14, wherein the processor (202) is further configured to, in response to determining the current drawn during the predetermined period of time and the current draw profile for the electrical appliance (108) do not match, identify a particular fault state based on a difference between the current drawn during the predetermined period of time and the current draw profile for the electrical appliance (108).

16. A method (400) of detecting a fault condition with an electrical appliance, the method comprising: determining whether the electrical appliance is plugged into an electrical socket using the device of any of claims 1 to 9 (402, 404); and in response to determining the electrical appliance is not plugged into the electrical socket, notifying a user (406).

17. The method (400) of claim 16, further comprising determining whether the user is proximate the electrical appliance, and only notifying the user in response to determining that the user is proximate the electrical appliance.

18. A method (300, 400) of detecting a fault condition with an electrical appliance, the method comprising: determining whether the electrical appliance is plugged into an electrical socket using the device of any of claims 1 to 9 (402, 404); in response to determining the electrical appliance is plugged into the electrical socket, connecting the electrical appliance to a power supply for a predetermined period of time and monitoring current drawn by the electrical appliance for the predetermined period of time (302, 304, 306); determining whether current was drawn by the electrical appliance during the predetermined period of time (308); and in response to determining no current was drawn by the electrical appliance during the predetermined period of time, deeming the electrical appliance to be in a fault state (310).

19. The method (300, 400) of claim 18, further comprising, in response to determining current was drawn by the electrical appliance during the predetermined period of time, comparing the current drawn during the predetermined period of time to a current draw profile for the electrical appliance (312), and in response to determining the current drawn during the predetermined period of time and the current draw profile for the electrical appliance do not match, deeming the electrical appliance to be in a fault state (316).

20. The method (300, 400) of claim 19, further comprising, in response to determining the current drawn during the predetermined period of time and the current draw profile for the electrical appliance do not match, identifying a particular fault state based on a difference between the current drawn during the predetermined period of time and the current draw profile for the electrical appliance.