[0001] The present invention relates to a home automation and more particularly to a smart socket in the home automation environment.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] In an automation era, the home electric facilities are first needed to be modernized. The automation needs the monitoring devices to integrate the electric facilities to be an intelligent system. However, it costs too much money to replace the existing electric facilities. Even worse, the different customers have different requirements of automation in different working environments.
[0003] In general, electric appliances used at homes include washing machines, refrigerators, cooker, and cleaners. Traditionally, to control operations of the electric appliances by a user, there is a disadvantageous that the user should approach the electric appliances to directly manipulate the electric appliances. However, with the development in communication technologies, there is a need for remotely control the electric appliances. A patent reference, WO2017042195A1, discloses a home automation system with which a remote user breaks or makes an electrical connection between a home appliance and an electrical supply source.
[0004] Similarly, another patent reference US20100280674A1 discloses a system for regulating the distribution of power, such as electricity, through the use of a power control mechanism (PCM), wherein the PCM interacts with a plug identifier that identifies a plug as an object appropriate for power usage.
[0005] Moreover, a light dimming functionality is available in the prior art domain of the home automation. With the communication networks like Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, the home appliances can be switched on or off remotely with a help of a mobile device like a smart home, phablet or tablet; however, their power can’t regulated to control speed or voltage of the home appliance as per the user requirement. Thus, a need to control the speed or voltage of the appliances are there in the domain.
[0006] The above-described deficiencies of existing system are merely intended to provide an overview of some of the problems of conventional systems, and are not intended to be exhaustive. Other problems with conventional systems and corresponding benefits of the various non-limiting embodiments described herein may become further apparent upon review of the following description.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The following presents a simplified summary of the objects of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. These objects are not an extensive overview of the present invention. It is not intended to identify the key/critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concept of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description of the invention presented later.
[0008] One of the object of the present invention is to provide a smart intelligent socket with at least two pins that may be inserted in a traditional house hold electrical supply board, a housing encompassing an electrical circuit and at least two terminals to receive the plug of an electrical house hold appliance such as grinder, TV, etc.
[0009] Another object of the present invention is to provide with the housing encompassing the electrical circuit. The smart socket configured in a home automation system comprising an input for receiving an Alternating Current, an output terminal powering an external load, a DC converter to convert the alternating current received from the input to a direct current, a voltage regulator configured to regulate the direct current supplied by the DC converter to an output terminal, a communication module configured to receive instruction to control supply to the output terminal, a pre regulator configured to control the voltage regulator, and a microprocessor configured to control the pre regulator basis the instruction received from the communication module, wherein the voltage regulator drives a relay which in turn controls speed or voltage of the external load connected to the output terminal of the smart plug.
[00010] In an embodiment, the pre regulator is a servo motor.
[00011] In an embodiment, the pre regulator is a LED-LDR sensor.
[00012] In an embodiment, the communication module establishes communication between an external electronic device and the smart socket, wherein a display module configured with the external electronic device provides indication of status of power supplied to the output terminal.
[00013] In an embodiment, the communication module establishes communication between an external electronic device and the smart socket, wherein a display module configured with the external electronic device provides indication of status of a regulated supply to the output terminal.
[00014] Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
[00015] The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 illustrates a home automation system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 illustrates an electric circuit for a smart socket, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 3A illustrates another electric circuit for a smart socket, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; and
Figure 3B illustrates another electric circuit for a smart socket, in accordance with still another embodiment of the present invention; and
Figure 4 illustrates a display module of an electronic device to remotely control speed or voltage of an output load, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and may have not been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figure may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
[00016] The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplary embodiments of the invention. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary.
[00017] Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.
[00018] The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the invention. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention are provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
[00019] It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
[00020] By the term “substantially” it is meant that the recited characteristic, parameter, or value need not be achieved exactly, but that deviations or variations, including for example, tolerances, measurement error, measurement accuracy limitations and other factors known to those of skill in the art, may occur in amounts that do not preclude the effect the characteristic was intended to provide.
[00021] Features that are described and/or illustrated with respect to one embodiment may be used in the same way or in a similar way in one or more other embodiments and/or in combination with or instead of the features of the other embodiments.
[00022] It should be emphasized that the term “comprises/comprising” when used in this specification is taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or components but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof.
[00023] FIGURE 1 illustrates a home automation system 100, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The home automation system 100 comprises an AC voltage supply (102), a smart socket (104) connected to the AC voltage supply (102), and an electrical appliance (106) coupled to the smart socket (104). The smart socket (104) is coupled to a remote smart device (not shown). The smart socket (104) receives instructions from the remote smart electronic device (not shown) and thereby the electrical appliance (106) is controlled from the remote smart device (not shown). In an embodiment, the smart socket (104) controls speed or voltage of the electrical appliance (106).
[00024] Figure 2 illustrates an electric circuit for the smart socket (104), in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The smart socket (104) comprises a housing (not shown) wherein the electric circuit is disposed. The smart socket (104) comprises an AC voltage input unit (220), a DC converter (202), a microprocessor (206), a communication module (204), a pre-regulator (240), a voltage regulator (210), a relay (212) and an AC output (214). The input (220) for receiving an Alternating Current (AC) is provided. An output terminal (214) powering an external load is provided. The DC converter (202) to convert the alternating current received from the input unit (220) to a direct current. The voltage regulator (210) configured to regulate the direct current supplied by the DC converter to the output terminal (214). The communication module (204) configured to receive instruction to control supply to the output terminal (214). The pre regulator (240) configured to control the voltage/speed regulator (210). The microprocessor (206) configured to control the pre regulator (240) basis the instruction received from the communication module (204), wherein the voltage/speed regulator (210) drives a relay (212) which in turn controls speed or voltage of the external load connected to the output terminal (214) of the smart plug (104).
[00025] Referring again to Figure 1, the output received from the AC output unit (214) and the electrical appliance (106) receives the voltage and basis the instructions received from the remote smart device (not shown) speed or voltage of the electrical appliance (106) is changed.
[00026] Figure 3A illustrates another electric circuit for the smart socket (104), in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. The smart socket (104) further comprises the AC voltage input unit (220) for receiving the AC current from the AC voltage supply unit (102) and the DC converter (202) for converting the AC current received from the AC voltage input unit (220) into a DC current. The microprocessor (206) configured to control the LDR and LED unit (208) basis the instruction received from the communication module (204). In an embodiment, the pre regulator (204) is a LED-LDR sensor (216). The LDR and LED unit (208) regulates the voltage regulator (210) as instructed by the microprocessor (206) and thereby the relay (212) provides the voltage output from the AC voltage input unit (220) to the AC output unit (214). According to the output received from the AC output unit (214) and the electrical appliance (106) receives the voltage input and basis the instructions received from the remote smart device, voltage of the electrical appliance (106) is changed.
[00027] Figure 3B illustrates another electric circuit for the smart socket (104), in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. The smart socket (104) further comprises the AC voltage input unit (220) for receiving the AC current from the AC voltage supply unit (102) and the DC converter (202) for converting the AC current received from the AC voltage input unit (220) into a DC current. The microprocessor (206) configured to control the servo motor (208) basis the instruction received from the communication module (204). In an embodiment, the pre regulator (204) is a servo motor (208). The servo motor (208) regulates the voltage regulator (210) as instructed by the microprocessor (206) and thereby the relay (212) provides the voltage output from the AC voltage input unit (220) to the AC output unit (214). According to the output received from the AC output unit (214) and the electrical appliance (106) receives the voltage input and basis the instructions received from the remote smart device (not shown), voltage of the electrical appliance (106) is changed.
[00028] Figure 4 illustrates an electronic device (not shown) configured with a display module (400) to remotely control speed or voltage of an electrical appliance (106), in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In an embodiment, the display module (400) may be a touch screen based input/output module. The display module (400) includes pluralities of portions to operate the smart socket (104) remotely via a wireless communication. The pluralities of portions on the display module (400) correspondingly displays connectivity status (402) with the smart socket (104), devices ON/OFF status (404), speed or voltage controller buttons (406, 408) and a timer (412) details. The display module (400) may include the indication of status of a regulated supply to the output terminal (214) is a dragger based indication (406). The display module (400) may also include buttons for on/off (410) and buttons for timer based operations (414)
[00029] In an embodiment, the display module (400) of the electronic device (not shown) is any type of an input/output interface may perform a role of an interface capable of forwarding an instruction or data inputted from a user to the other element(s) of the electronic device. In addition, the input/output interface may output an instruction or data received from the other element(s) of the electronic device to the smart intelligent socket (104). In an embodiment, the display module (400) is a touch screen type input/output interface.
[00030] The communication module (204) establishes communication between an external electronic device and the smart socket (104), wherein the display module (400) configured with the external electronic device provides indication of status (410) of power supplied to the output terminal (214). In an embodiment, a display module (400) configured with the external electronic device provides indication of status of a regulated supply (406) to the output terminal (214).
[00031] In an embodiment, the communication module (204) may be connected to the network through one or more of wireless communication or wired communication protocols or a combination of them, and communicate with the external smart electronic device (not shown).
[00032] The communication module (204) includes a long range communication module. In an embodiment, the long-range communication uses a cellular communication protocol, for example, at least one of Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wide-CDMA (WCDMA), Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), Wireless Broadband (Wi-Bro), or Global System for Mobile communication (GSM). The wireless communication may support an existing wide-area cell and also a small-scale cell such as a Pico cell or a Femto cell.
[00033] The communication module (204) includes a short range communication module. In an embodiment, the short-range wireless communication may include, for example, at least one of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, BLE, Zigbee, IR, or ultrasound communication.
[00034] The wired communication may include, for example, at least one of USB (universal serial bus), HDMI (high definition multimedia interface), Recommended Standard-232 (RS-232), power line communication, or Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS). The network 462 may include at least one of a telecommunications network, for example, a computer network (e.g., LAN or WAN), the Internet, or a telephone network.
[00035] In one embodiment, the electronic device (not shown) may include an operating system, applications, and a minimal storage device for data. Most data of acquired from IoT devices such as a smart socket (104) may be stored in a cloud. In certain embodiments, the software program of an application can include an IoT control-related portion and a user interface-related portion. In some embodiments, the electronic device may not store the entirety of such software program, and can instead store or install only an IoT control-related portion of the software program. A user interface-related portion of the software program may also be stored in a mobile device operating as a user interface.
[00036] While few embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the above embodiments and modifications may be appropriately made thereto within the spirit and scope of the invention.
[00037] While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the particular features of this invention, it will be appreciated that various modifications can be made, and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiments without departing from the principles of the invention. These and other modifications in the nature of the invention or the preferred embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the invention and not as a limitation.

We claim:

1.A smart socket (104) configured in a home automation system (100) comprising:
an input (220) for receiving an Alternating Current (AC);
an output terminal (214) powering an external load;
a DC converter (202) to convert the alternating current received from the input (102) to a direct current;
a voltage regulator (210) configured to regulate the direct current supplied by the DC converter to an output terminal (214);
a communication module (204) configured to receive instruction to control supply to the output terminal (214);
a pre regulator (240) configured to control the voltage regulator; and
a microprocessor (206) configured to control the pre regulator (240) basis the instruction received from the communication module (204), wherein the voltage regulator (210) drives a relay (212) which in turn controls speed or voltage of the external load connected to the output terminal (214) of the smart plug (104).

2. The smart socket (104) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pre regulator (204) is a servo motor (208).

3. The smart socket (104) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pre regulator (204) is a LED-LDR sensor (216).

4. The smart socket (104) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the communication module (204) establishes communication between an external electronic device and the smart socket (104), wherein a display module (400) configured with the external electronic device provides indication of status of power supplied to the output terminal (214).

5. The smart socket (104) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the communication module (204) establishes communication between an external electronic device and the smart socket (104), wherein a display module (400) configured with the external electronic device provides indication of status of a regulated supply (406) to the output terminal (214).

6. The smart socket (104) as claimed in claim 5, wherein the indication of status of a regulated supply to the output terminal (214) is a dragger based indication (406).

7. The smart socket (104) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the communication module (204) includes a long range communication module.

8. The smart socket (104) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the communication module (204) includes a short range communication module.

Dated this 02nd day of June, 2020
----Digitally Signed---
APPLICANT
Anuj Prasad
Director
Desmania Design Pvt.Ltd