WO2021090981A1

WO2021090981A1 - Iot auxiliary plug

Info

Publication number: WO2021090981A1
Application number: PCT/KR2019/015003
Authority: WO
Inventors: 양기출; 이귀종
Original assignee: 이지세이버 주식회사
Priority date: 2019-11-06
Filing date: 2019-11-06
Publication date: 2021-05-14

Abstract

An IoT auxiliary plug is provided. According to an exemplary embodiment, a user can be easily provided with various smart home services related to a household appliance (e.g., remote monitoring of the electricity usage of the household appliance and remote controlling of the operation of the household appliance) merely by attaching an IoT auxiliary plug to a connector of the household appliance.

Description

IOT auxiliary plug

Exemplary embodiments relate to an IoT auxiliary plug that can be connected to a home appliance between an outlet and a power plug of the home appliance.

Recently, due to the development of communication network technology and the spread of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, the demand for smart home appliances is gradually increasing. The smartization of home appliances means that a wireless communication module such as a Wi-Fi module and a Bluetooth module is embedded in the home appliance so that a user can remotely monitor or control the operation status of the home appliance.

However, in order to replace general home appliances with smart home appliances, several circuits for providing smart home services (e.g., remote monitoring of the power consumption of home appliances, remote control of the operation of home appliances, etc.) to home appliances. It must be built one by one. In this case, the development and manufacturing costs of smart home appliances increase significantly, and consumers are unable to purchase smart home appliances due to the price burden. This in turn hinders the activation of the smart home appliance market, ultimately hindering the development of the new IoT industry.

[Prior technical literature]

Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2019-507545 (2019.03.14)

Exemplary embodiments are to provide an IoT auxiliary plug that enables a general home appliance to operate as a smart home appliance by being mounted on a home appliance.

According to an exemplary embodiment, a plurality of first pins for receiving DC power of a predetermined size from the home appliance by being connected to a power supply device in the home appliance, and information related to the home appliance or controlling the operation of the home appliance. An IoT auxiliary plug connected to the home appliance through a connector having a plurality of second pins for transmitting and receiving signals for, and connected to the outlet and the power plug, respectively, between an outlet and a power plug of the home appliance, wherein the A first terminal pin protruding in one direction so as to be inserted into an outlet; An integrated circuit unit connected to the first terminal pin; A body portion surrounding at least a portion of the first terminal pin and the integrated circuit portion and having a plurality of holes for inserting the second terminal pins of the power plug in a direction opposite to a direction in which the first terminal pin protrudes; And a plurality of power lines protruding from one side of the main body and connected to the first pin to supply the DC power to the integrated circuit unit, and information related to the home appliance or the home appliance by being connected to the second pin. An IoT auxiliary plug including a cable having a plurality of communication lines for transmitting and receiving signals for operation control is provided.

The communication line may include a first communication line for receiving identification information and status information of the home appliance from the home appliance, and a second communication line for transmitting a control signal for stopping the operation of the home appliance to the home appliance. .

The integrated circuit unit may include a measurement module that measures an amount of power supplied to the home appliance; A wireless communication module for transmitting identification information and status information of the home appliance received through the first communication line to a controller, and receiving the control signal from the controller; And each connected to the first communication line and the second communication line, receiving identification information and status information of the household appliance from the household appliance through the first communication line, and transmitting the control signal to the household appliance through the second communication line. It may include a control module for transmitting to the device.

The first communication line and the second communication line are provided together inside the cable, and may be inserted into or removed from the first pin and the second pin, respectively, by a user.

The integrated circuit unit may operate by receiving the DC power from the home appliance through the power line instead of receiving power from the outlet.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the user simply attaches the IoT auxiliary plug to the connector of the home appliance, and provides various smart home services related to the home appliance (for example, remote monitoring of the power consumption of the home appliance, remote control of the operation of the home appliance, etc. ) Can be easily provided. That is, according to an exemplary embodiment, a power line and a communication line for supplying DC power of the IoT auxiliary plug are mounted on the home appliance to enable operation as a smart home appliance. In addition, home appliance manufacturers do not need to individually embed various circuits in their home appliances to provide smart home services. Accordingly, the cost of dual production inventory of general home appliances and smart home appliances is greatly reduced, and manufacturing costs are also reduced. It is less likely to increase, and smart home services can be provided in a simpler and cheaper way.

In addition, according to an exemplary embodiment, the IoT auxiliary plug can be operated by receiving DC power from a home appliance through a connector instead of receiving power from an outlet, thereby minimizing an increase in the size of the IoT auxiliary plug and an increase in unit cost. have.

Fig. 1 is a diagram for explaining an IoT auxiliary plug according to an exemplary embodiment

2 is a view for explaining a detailed configuration of a home appliance and a cable connected to the home appliance according to an exemplary embodiment

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an outer surface of an IoT auxiliary plug according to an exemplary embodiment

4 is a diagram for explaining a detailed configuration of an integrated circuit unit according to an exemplary embodiment

Hereinafter, a specific embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The following detailed description is provided to aid in a comprehensive understanding of the methods, devices, and/or systems described herein. However, this is only an example and the present invention is not limited thereto.

In describing the embodiments of the present invention, when it is determined that a detailed description of a known technology related to the present invention may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, a detailed description thereof will be omitted. In addition, terms to be described later are terms defined in consideration of functions in the present invention, which may vary according to the intention or custom of users or operators. Therefore, the definition should be made based on the contents throughout the present specification. The terms used in the detailed description are only for describing embodiments of the present invention, and should not be limiting. Unless explicitly used otherwise, expressions in the singular form include the meaning of the plural form. In the present description, expressions such as "comprising" or "feature" are intended to refer to certain features, numbers, steps, actions, elements, some or combination thereof, and one or more It should not be construed to exclude the presence or possibility of other features, numbers, steps, actions, elements, any part or combination thereof.

1 is a diagram illustrating an IoT auxiliary plug 400 according to an exemplary embodiment. 1, the IoT auxiliary plug 400 according to an exemplary embodiment connects the power plug 200 and the outlet 300 between the power plug 200 and the outlet 300 of the home appliance 100. It is a kind of power connection device to connect. Here, the home appliance 100 may be, for example, a refrigerator, a television, a PC, a refrigerator, a laptop computer, audio, and lighting. In addition, the power plug 200 is a device that receives AC power from the outlet 300 and delivers it to the home appliance 100.

The IoT auxiliary plug 400 may be connected to the power plug 200 and the outlet 300, respectively. In addition, the IoT auxiliary plug 400 may be inserted into the connector 102 of the home appliance 100 to be connected to the home appliance 100. As will be described later, the IoT auxiliary plug 400 may be mounted on the home appliance 100 through the connector 102 to enable the general home appliance 100 to operate as a smart home appliance. To this end, a connector 102 for inserting the cable 400a of the IoT auxiliary plug 400 may be formed at one side of the home appliance 100. The user can insert or remove the cable 400a of the IoT auxiliary plug 400 into the connector 102, and the cable ( When 400a) is inserted into the connector 102, the home appliance 100 may operate as a smart home appliance. That is, the user simply attaches the IoT auxiliary plug 400 to the connector 102 of the home appliance 100 and provides various smart home services related to the home appliance 100 (for example, remote monitoring of the power consumption of the home appliance, Remote control of the operation of home appliances, etc.) can be easily provided. In addition, home appliance manufacturers do not need to individually embed various circuits for providing smart home services in the home appliance 100, and accordingly, there is less possibility that the manufacturing cost of the home appliance 100 will increase significantly, and it is more convenient. It will be able to provide smart home services in a more affordable way. Hereinafter, a detailed configuration of the IoT auxiliary plug 400 that enables the general home appliance 100 to operate as a smart home appliance will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of a home appliance 100 and a cable 400a connected to the home appliance 100 according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 2, the home appliance 100 includes a connector 102, a power supply unit 104, an insulating circuit unit 106, and a central processing unit 108 (CPU: Central Processing Unit).

The connector 102 is a device that connects the IoT auxiliary plug 400 to the home appliance 100. As will be described later, the cable 400a of the IoT auxiliary plug 400 may include a plurality of power lines 400-1 and 400-2 and a plurality of communication lines 400-3 and 400-4. The connector 102 may include a plurality of pins into which respective lines provided in the cable 400a are inserted. Specifically, the connector 102 may include four pins into which a plurality of power lines 400-1 and 400-2 and a plurality of communication lines 400-3 and 400-4 are respectively inserted. As an example, a plurality of power lines 400-1 and 400-2 are respectively inserted into the first pin 102a, and the plurality of communication lines 400-3 and 400-4 are respectively inserted into the second pin 102b. Can be inserted.

The power supply device 104 is a device that supplies stable power that meets the conditions of the home appliance 100 in order to drive the home appliance 100.

The power supply 104 may be connected to the connector 102 through power lines 102-1 and 102-2, and may transmit DC power to the IoT auxiliary plug 400 through the connector 102. As will be described later, various circuits for smart home service are integrated in the IoT auxiliary plug 400, and these circuits are DC power (for example, 3V to 9V) from the power supply unit 104 in the home appliance 100. It can operate by receiving DC power of Since the IoT auxiliary plug 400 is connected to the outlet 300, power may be supplied through the outlet 300, but the power supplied from the outlet 300 is mainly 220V/60Hz AC power, so in this case, the IoT auxiliary plug ( 400), AC/DC converter for converting 220V AC power to DC power, and DC/DC converter for reducing the size of the converted DC power to about 3V ~ 9V, etc. are required. In this case, the internal configuration of the IoT auxiliary plug 400 increases, and accordingly, the size of the IoT auxiliary plug 400 increases, and the unit price increases significantly. Accordingly, in the present embodiments, by allowing the IoT auxiliary plug 400 to operate by receiving DC power from the home appliance 100 through the connector 102, the size of the IoT auxiliary plug 400 is increased and the unit price is increased. Minimized.

The insulating circuit unit 106 is provided between the communication lines 102-3 and 102-4 and the central processing unit 108 in the home appliance 108 to insulate the communication lines. As shown in FIG. 2, the communication lines 102-3 and 102-4 are connected to the connector 102 to transmit and receive various data between the IoT auxiliary plug 400 and the home appliance 100.

The cable 400a of the IoT auxiliary plug 400 may include a plurality of power lines 400-1 and 400-2 and a plurality of communication lines 400-3 and 400-4. The plurality of power lines 400-1 and 400-2 and the plurality of communication lines 400-3 and 400-4 are provided together inside the cable 400a, and the first pin 102a and the first pin 102a and the first pin 102a are provided by the user. Each of the two pins 102b can be inserted or removed. Here, the first power line 400-1 is a line for supplying the DC power, and the second power line 400-2 is a ground line.

Specifically, the plurality of power lines 400-1 and 400-2 are connected to the first pin 102a to supply the DC power, that is, DC power supplied from the power supply 104 to the IoT auxiliary plug 400. Can supply. In addition, the plurality of communication lines 400-3 and 400-4 may be connected to the second pin 102b to transmit and receive information related to the home appliance 100 or a signal for controlling the operation of the home appliance 100. Here, the first communication line 400-3 is a line for receiving identification information and status information of the home appliance 100 from the home appliance 100 (reception purpose), and the second communication line 400-4 is a home appliance ( It is a line (transmission purpose) that transmits a control signal for stopping the operation of 100) to the home appliance 100.

Such a cable 400a may protrude from one side of the IoT auxiliary plug 400, and the user may insert or remove the cable 400a of the IoT auxiliary plug 400 into the connector 102. In addition, although not specifically shown in the drawings, a connector cap may be formed on the outer surface of the connector 102. The connector 102 may be surrounded by a connector cap and protected by an external impact. The connector cap may be opened and closed, and a user may open the connector cap and insert the cable 400a of the IoT auxiliary plug 400 into the connector 102.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an outer surface of an IoT auxiliary plug 400 according to an exemplary embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of an integrated circuit unit 404 according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 3, the IoT auxiliary plug 400 includes a first terminal pin 402, an integrated circuit unit 404, a body unit 405, and a cable 400a.

The first terminal pin 402 is formed to protrude in one direction so that it can be inserted into the outlet 300. Here, the outlet 300 is used in a broad sense including not only an outlet embedded in a wall or a floor, but also an outlet of a power strip. In addition, the one direction means a direction toward the outlet 300 so that the first terminal pin 402 can be coupled to the outlet 300. The first terminal pin 402 may be formed of a conductive material and may be connected to the integrated circuit part 404 positioned inside the body part 405.

The integrated circuit unit 404 is a part in which various circuits for providing the above-described smart home service are integrated. The integrated circuit unit 404 may be connected to the first terminal pin 402.

Referring to FIG. 4, the integrated circuit unit 404 includes a measurement module 406, a wireless communication module 408, a control module 410, a power line connector 412, and a linear regulator 414.

The measurement module 406 measures the amount of power supplied to the home appliance 100. The amount of power may be, for example, a real-time power consumption of the home appliance 100, a daily power consumption, and a monthly power consumption. The measurement module 406 may detect, for example, a load current and a load voltage supplied to the home appliance 100, and measure the amount of power supplied to the home appliance 100 based on the detected load current and load voltage. I can.

The wireless communication module 408 is a module for wireless communication with an external controller (not shown). Here, the controller is a device for remotely managing and controlling power information supplied to the home appliance 100 and product information (identification information of the home appliance 100, status information, etc.) of the home appliance 100, for example For example, it may be a wireless terminal such as a smartphone or a wireless switch. The wireless communication module 408 may wirelessly communicate with the controller using, for example, a ZigBee communication method, a Wi-Fi communication method, a Bluetooth communication method, or the like.

Specifically, the wireless communication module 408 transmits the identification information and status information of the home appliance 100 received through the first communication line 400-3 to the controller, and It is possible to receive a control signal for stopping the operation. Here, the identification information of the home appliance 100 may include, for example, one or more of the type of the home appliance 100, a manufacturing company, a manufacturing date, and a serial number. In addition, the status information of the home appliance 100 may include, for example, whether the home appliance 100 is powered on or off, whether the home appliance 100 is operating, or among a plurality of preset operation modes of the home appliance 100. It may include one or more of the type of operation mode currently being operated, a time when the operation of the home appliance 100 is started or terminated, and an operation time remaining until the operation mode currently being operated of the home appliance 100 is terminated. Here, the operation mode of the home appliance 100 may vary according to the type of the home appliance 100, for example, in the case of a television, the type of channel output may be an operation mode, and in the case of a washing machine, washing, rinsing, and spinning An operating state of the lamp may be an operating mode, and in the case of a refrigerator, the temperature of the discharged cold air may be an operating mode. In addition, the remaining time until the end of the current operating mode of the home appliance 100 is, for example, in the case of a washing machine, the remaining time (eg, 20 minutes) until the end of the “washing” operating mode. I can. In this case, each of the operation modes of the home appliance 100 may be preset to operate for a preset time.

The control module 410 is connected to the first communication line 400-3 and the second communication line 400-4, respectively, and the The identification information and status information are received, and the control signal is transmitted to the home appliance 100 through the second communication line 400-4.

The power line connector 412 is a part to which the power lines 400-1 and 400-2 are connected, and the communication line connector 416 is a part to which the communication lines 400-3 and 400-4 are connected.

In addition, the linear regulator 414 is a DC/DC converter that stabilizes the DC power supplied from the power supply device 104. The linear regulator 414 may convert the size of the DC power supplied from the power supply 104 into 3V to 9V, for example.

Each circuit of the above-described integrated circuit unit 404 may operate by receiving the DC power from the home appliance 100 through the power lines 400-1 and 400-2 instead of receiving power from the outlet 300. .

Returning to FIG. 3 again, the body portion 405 surrounds at least a portion of the first terminal pin 402 and the integrated circuit portion 404. The body portion 405 may be formed of, for example, an insulating material such as plastic. The body portion 405 surrounds at least a portion of the first terminal pin 402 and the integrated circuit portion 404 to protect the first terminal pin 402 and the integrated circuit portion 404 from external impacts. In addition, a plurality of holes may be formed on one surface of the body part 405. The plurality of holes are holes through which the second terminal pins of the power plug 200 are inserted in a direction opposite to the direction in which the first terminal pins 402 protrude.

In addition, the cable 400a described above may protrude from one side of the main body 405. The cable 400a is connected to the first pin 102a and is connected to the plurality of power lines 400-1 and 400-2 and the second pin 102b for supplying the DC power to the integrated circuit unit 404. A plurality of communication lines 400-3 and 400-4 for transmitting and receiving information related to the device 100 or a signal for controlling the operation of the home appliance 100 may be provided. The internal configuration of the cable 400a and the connection relationship with the connector 102 have been described in detail above, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted herein.

Although the present invention has been described in detail through the exemplary embodiments above, those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains have found that various modifications can be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. I will understand. Therefore, the scope of the present invention is limited to the described embodiments and should not be determined, and should not be determined by the claims to be described later, but also by those equivalents to the claims.

[Explanation of code]

100: home appliance

102: connector

102a: first pin

102b: second pin

102-1, 102-2: power line

102-3, 102-4: communication line

104: power supply

106: insulated circuit part

108: Central processing unit (CPU)

200: power plug

200-1, 200-2: AC power line

200-3: ground wire

200a: cable

300: outlet

400: IoT auxiliary plug

400a: cable

400-1, 400-2: power line

400-3, 400-4: communication line

402: first terminal pin

404: integrated circuit unit

405: main body

406: measurement module

408: wireless communication module

410: control module

412: power line connector

414: linear regulator

416: communication line connector

Claims

A plurality of first pins connected to a power supply device in the home appliance to receive DC power of a predetermined size from the home appliance, and a plurality of transmitting and receiving information related to the home appliance or a signal for controlling the operation of the home appliance. As an IoT auxiliary plug connected to the home appliance through a connector having a second pin of and connected to the outlet and the power plug, respectively, between the outlet and the power plug of the home appliance,

A first terminal pin protruding in one direction so as to be inserted into the outlet;

An integrated circuit unit connected to the first terminal pin;

A body portion surrounding at least a portion of the first terminal pin and the integrated circuit portion and having a plurality of holes for inserting the second terminal pins of the power plug in a direction opposite to a direction in which the first terminal pin protrudes; And

A plurality of power lines protruding from one side of the main body and connected to the first pin to supply the DC power to the integrated circuit; and information related to the home appliance or the operation of the home appliance by being connected to the second pin IoT auxiliary plug comprising a cable having a plurality of communication lines for transmitting and receiving signals for control.
The method according to claim 1,

The communication line comprises a first communication line for receiving identification information and status information of the home appliance from the home appliance, and a second communication line for transmitting a control signal for stopping the operation of the home appliance to the home appliance. Auxiliary plug.
The method according to claim 2,

The integrated circuit unit,

A measurement module that measures the amount of power supplied to the home appliance;

A wireless communication module for transmitting identification information and status information of the home appliance received through the first communication line to a controller, and receiving the control signal from the controller; And

The first communication line and the second communication line are connected to each, and the household appliance receives identification information and status information of the household appliance from the household appliance through the first communication line, and transmits the control signal to the household appliance through the second communication line. IoT auxiliary plug, including a control module to deliver to.
The method of claim 3,

The first communication line and the second communication line are provided together in the inside of the cable, and are inserted into or removed from the first pin and the second pin by a user, respectively, IoT auxiliary plug.
The method according to claim 1,

The integrated circuit unit operates by receiving the DC power from the home appliance through the power line instead of receiving power from the outlet.