DESC:FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to electrical equipment, and more particularly, relates to a smart switch.

BACKGROUND

With advancement in technology, rocker based electrical switches for controlling operations of associated electrical/electromechanical devices, have nowadays been replaced with smart switches, such as touch based switches. Such switches have grown in popularity in recent times.

Typically, conventional smart switches include a glass substrate for supporting touch-based operation of the smart switch. However, usage of such material increases an overall weight of the smart switch. Further, as such substrates occupy more space, they leave less space for other components, such Printed Circuit Board (PCB), of the smart switch. Thus, to accommodate all the components, a smart switch of large dimension is required.

Furthermore, conventional touch sensing mechanism implemented in the conventional smart switches provide for detection of touch inputs only in a limited region. As a result, touch inputs provided by a user may not be easily detected. Hence, overall efforts of a user to operate the smart switch may be increased as the user has to provide the touch inputs with increased precision. Furthermore, usage of glass substrates results in increased cost of the smart switches.

Therefore, there is a need for a solution to address at least one of the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts, in a simplified format, that are further described in the detailed description of the invention. This summary is neither intended to identify key or essential inventive concepts of the invention and nor is it intended for determining the scope of the invention.

In an embodiment, a smart switch is disclosed. The smart switch comprises a first cover comprising at least one hole. The smart switch further comprises a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) comprising at least one light source. The smart switch further comprises a touch lens disposed in between the first cover and the PCB, where the touch lens comprises at least one light guide. In an assembled state of the smart switch, the first cover, the touch lens, and the PCB are arranged such that a light emitted from the at least one light source passes through the light guide and is radiated from the at least one hole.

To further clarify the advantages and features of the present invention, a more particular description of the invention will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof, which is illustrated in the appended drawings. It is appreciated that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. The invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like characters represent like parts throughout the drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1a illustrates a perspective view of a smart switch, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 1b illustrates an exploded view of the smart switch, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figs.2a-2b illustrate different views of the touch lens, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig 2c illustrates a view of one or more components of the smart switch, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

Fig. 3 illustrates a portion of the cross section of the smart switch taken along an axis A-A’ of the smart switch of Fig. 1a, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Further, skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the drawings are illustrated for simplicity and may not have been necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the flow charts illustrate the method in terms of the most prominent steps involved to help to improve understanding of aspects of the present invention. Furthermore, in terms of the construction of the device, one or more components of the device may have been represented in the drawings by conventional symbols, and the drawings may show only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the drawings with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having benefit of the description herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

For the purpose of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated system, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates. Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skilled in the art to which this invention belongs. The system, methods, and examples provided herein are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting.

The term “some” as used herein is defined as “none, or one, or more than one, or all.” Accordingly, the terms “none,” “one,” “more than one,” “more than one, but not all” or “all” would all fall under the definition of “some.” The term “some embodiments” may refer to no embodiments or to one embodiment or to several embodiments or to all embodiments. Accordingly, the term “some embodiments” is defined as meaning “no embodiment, or one embodiment, or more than one embodiment, or all embodiments.”

The terminology and structure employed herein is for describing, teaching and illuminating some embodiments and their specific features and elements and does not limit, restrict or reduce the spirit and scope of the claims or their equivalents.

More specifically, any terms used herein such as but not limited to “includes,” “comprises,” “has,” “consists,” and grammatical variants thereof do NOT specify an exact limitation or restriction and certainly do NOT exclude the possible addition of one or more features or elements, unless otherwise stated, and furthermore must NOT be taken to exclude the possible removal of one or more of the listed features and elements, unless otherwise stated with the limiting language “MUST comprise” or “NEEDS TO include.”

Whether or not a certain feature or element was limited to being used only once, either way, it may still be referred to as “one or more features” or “one or more elements” or “at least one feature” or “at least one element.” Furthermore, the use of the terms “one or more” or “at least one” feature or element do NOT preclude there being none of that feature or element, unless otherwise specified by limiting language such as “there NEEDS to be one or more . . . ” or “one or more element is REQUIRED.”

Unless otherwise defined, all terms, and especially any technical and/or scientific terms, used herein may be taken to have the same meaning as commonly understood by one having ordinary skills in the art.

Reference is made herein to some “embodiments.” It should be understood that an embodiment is an example of a possible implementation of any features and/or elements presented in the attached claims. Some embodiments have been described for the purpose of illuminating one or more of the potential ways in which the specific features and/or elements of the attached claims fulfil the requirements of uniqueness, utility and non-obviousness.

Use of the phrases and/or terms such as but not limited to “a first embodiment,” “a further embodiment,” “an alternate embodiment,” “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “multiple embodiments,” “some embodiments,” “other embodiments,” “further embodiment”, “furthermore embodiment”, “additional embodiment” or variants thereof do NOT necessarily refer to the same embodiments. Unless otherwise specified, one or more particular features and/or elements described in connection with one or more embodiments may be found in one embodiment, or may be found in more than one embodiment, or may be found in all embodiments, or may be found in no embodiments. Although one or more features and/or elements may be described herein in the context of only a single embodiment, or alternatively in the context of more than one embodiment, or further alternatively in the context of all embodiments, the features and/or elements may instead be provided separately or in any appropriate combination or not at all. Conversely, any features and/or elements described in the context of separate embodiments may alternatively be realized as existing together in the context of a single embodiment.

Any particular and all details set forth herein are used in the context of some embodiments and therefore should NOT be necessarily taken as limiting factors to the attached claims. The attached claims and their legal equivalents can be realized in the context of embodiments other than the ones used as illustrative examples in the description below.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1a illustrates a perspective view of a smart switch 100, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 1b illustrates an exploded view of the smart switch 100, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to Figs. 1a and 1b, the smart switch 100, comprises a first cover 102, a touch lens 104, and a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) 106, and a second cover 108.

In an example, the first cover 102 comprises a plurality of holes 110. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the touch lens 104 is a single moulded part comprising a plurality of light guides 112. As used herein, a light guide 112 may be understood as a protrusion in a region of the touch lens 104, where the protrusion extends outwards from a top surface of the touch lens 104 in a plane view. As a result, a cavity or a hollow passageway is defined underneath the said protruded portion. As a result, the light guide 112 comprises a hollow passageway and a solid passageway, as shown and explained in greater detail in conjunction with Fig.3. In an example, the PCB 106 comprises a plurality of light sources 114, such as Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) 114, on a surface thereof. Furthermore, the PCB 106 comprises a plurality of capacitive touch sensors (not shown in the figure) mounted on said surface.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, in an assembled state of the smart switch 100, the first cover 102, the touch lens 104, and the PCB 106 are arranged in a manner such that each light guide 112 fits into a hole 110 of the first cover 102, and the cavity of the light guide 112 is positioned above the LED 114. Accordingly, during operation, light emitting from the LED 114 is guided through the hollow passageway to the solid passageway of the light guide 112. In an example, the solid passageway comprises highly reflective surfaces for redirecting the light from the hollow passageway to the solid passageway of the light guide 112. As the solid passageway is blocked by an opaque material of the first cover 102 on the sides of the solid passageway, the light from the LEDs radiates out through a top surface of the solid passageway. Accordingly, an indication of the operation of the smart switch 100 is provided to a user. In an example, the touch lens 104 is affixed to the first cover 102. In an example, the touch lens 104 is affixed to the first cover 102 using a heat staking process. In another example, the touch lens 104 is affixed to the first cover 102 using a snap-fit arrangement. As would be appreciated, any other means or possible combination of such means for affixing the touch lens 104 to the first cover 102 may be used.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the touch lens 104 provides for touch sensing function. In an example, the touch lens 104 may be transparent and/or translucent, and is made of a dielectric material. In an example, the touch lens 104 is disposed between the first cover 102 and the capacitive touch sensors of the PCB 106, and the touch lens 104 provides for touch sensing capacity in regions 116 of the first cover 102. Accordingly, when the user touches the first cover 102 and/or the touch lens 104, the touch input results in a change in capacitance of the touch lens 104. This change in capacitance is detected by the corresponding capacitive touch sensor of the PCB 106. Based on the detected touch input, an operation state of the smart switch 100 may be changed. For example, the smart switch 100 may be turned OFF if it is in an ON state, and vice-versa.

In an example, the touch lens 104 may be made of Plastic or any other equivalent material that has high dielectric strength. This yields higher capacitance change during touch and hence higher gain and a better signal to noise ratio (SNR). Furthermore, usage of the aforementioned material results in isolation of the PCB and its components, which provides for protection against electrostatic discharge. Furthermore, use of the Plastic or other equivalent material reduces the overall weight of the touch lens 104 in comparison to the conventionally used glass touch lenses. Furthermore, the touch lens 104 as described herein provides for detection of touch input in a greater area of the first cover 102 along with illumination, as opposed to conventional smart switches that detect touch inputs at specific and limited regions only. Additionally, the smart switch 100, as described herein, includes lesser number of parts in comparison to conventional touch-based switches. For instance, the smart switch 100 does not require an additional support plate to hold the touch lens, unlike the conventional touch-based switches.

Figs. 2a-2c illustrate different views of the touch lens 104, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Shown in Fig. 2a is a perspective view of the touch lens 104. Shown in Fig. 2b is a top view and a side view of the touch lens 104. Shown in Fig. 2c is another view of one or more components of the smart switch 100. Referring to Figs. 2a-c, the touch lens 104 comprises the light guides 112. Furthermore, the touch lens 104 comprises at least one cut-out 202. The cut-out 202 is used for affixing the touch lens 104 to the first cover 102 using a heat staking process. In other example embodiments, the touch lens 104 may be affixed to the first cover 102 using other affixing means and/or mechanisms. For instance, in one example embodiment, the touch lens 104 may be affixed to the first cover 102 using a snap-fit arrangement. Thus, the affixing of the touch lens 104 and the first cover 102 may be achieved using one or a combination of fixing means and/or fixing mechanisms.

Fig 2b further illustrates a protrusion 204 protruding outward from a surface of the touch lens 104. Referring to Fig. 2c, in an example, the protrusion 204 may protrude from a bottom surface “BS” of the touch lens 104. In an example, the protrusion may be provided at an edge or near to an edge of the touch lens 104 such that it does not overlap with the PCB 106. In an example, the protrusion 204 provides for gate protraction. Furthermore, a design of the protrusion provides for ease of manufacturing. Furthermore, the protrusion 204 also safeguards at least one LED 114, for example, a Top LED, from electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection. In an example, the top LED may be an LED 114 closest to the protrusion 204.

Fig. 3 illustrates a portion of the cross section of the smart switch 100 taken along axis A-A’ of Fig. 1a, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown, the touch lens 104 includes the light guide 112. In an example, the light guide 112 may be understood as a protrusion in a region of the touch lens 104, where the protrusion extends from the top surface TS. In an example, the light guide 112 includes a hollow passageway 300 and a solid passageway 302. In an example, the hollow passageway 300 is a cavity formed due to protrusion of the region of the touch lens 104 and is defined by the region of the bottom surface BS that corresponds to the protrusion.

As mentioned above, the first cover 102, the touch lens 104, and the PCB 106 are arranged such that light emitted from the LED 114 is guided by the hollow passageway 300 to the solid passageway 302. As mentioned above, as the solid passageway 302 is blocked by an opaque material of the first cover 102 on the sides, the light from the LED 114 radiates out through a top surface 304 of the solid passageway 302..

Furthermore, in an embodiment, a touch input provided by a user on the first cover 102 and/or the touch lens 104 causes a change in capacitance of the touch lens 104. This change in capacitance is detected by a capacitive touch sensor provided on the PCB 106. Subsequently, an operation state of the smart switch 100 may be changed. For example, the smart switch 100 may be turned OFF if it is in an ON state, and vice-versa

Without limitation, the components of the smart switch 100 may be selected so as to support operation of Loads of different amperes, over different voltage range, as applicable.

While specific language has been used to describe the present subject matter, any limitations arising on account thereto, are not intended. As would be apparent to a person in the art, various working modifications may be made to the method in order to implement the inventive concept as taught herein. The drawings and the foregoing description give examples of embodiments. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that one or more of the described elements may well be combined into a single functional element. Alternatively, certain elements may be split into multiple functional elements. Elements from one embodiment may be added to another embodiment.
,CLAIMS:
1. A smart switch (100) comprising:
a first cover (102) comprising at least one hole (110);
a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) (106) comprising at least one light source (114);
a touch lens (104) disposed in between the first cover (102) and the PCB (106), wherein the touch lens (104) comprises at least one light guide (112), and wherein:
in an assembled state of the smart switch (100), the first cover (102), the touch lens (104), and the PCB (106) are arranged such that a light emitted from the at least one light source (114) passes through the at least one light guide (112) and is radiated from the at least one hole (110).

2. The smart switch (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one light guide (112) is a protrusion in a region of the touch lens (104), wherein the protrusion extends outwards from a top surface (TS) of the touch lens (104) in a plane view, and wherein a cavity is formed underneath the protrusion.

3. The smart switch (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the light guide comprises a hollow passageway (300) and a solid passageway (302), wherein the hollow passageway (300) is defined by a region of a bottom surface (BS) of the touch lens (104) that corresponds to the protrusion, wherein the hollow passageway (300) is configured to guide the light towards the solid passageway (302), and wherein the solid passageway (302) is configured to radiate the light from a top surface (304) of the solid passageway (302).

4. The smart switch (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the touch lens (104) is disposed adjacent to the first cover (102) such that, the at least one hole (110) accommodates the at least one light guide (112) and the cavity is positioned above the at least one light source (114).

5. The smart switch (100) as claimed in claim 4, wherein the first cover (102) has a plurality of holes (110), wherein the touch lens (104) has a plurality of the light guides (112), and wherein each of the plurality of holes (110) accommodates a corresponding light guide (112) from the plurality of light guides (112).

6. The smart switch (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the touch lens (104) is affixed to the first cover (102).

7. The smart switch (100) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the touch lens (104) comprises at least one cut-out (202) for affixing to the first cover (102) using a heat staking process.

8. The smart switch (100) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the touch lens (104) is affixed to the first cover (102) using a snap-fit arrangement.

9. The smart switch (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the touch lens (104) is made of a dielectric material, wherein the PCB (106) comprises at least one capacitive touch sensor, and wherein the touch lens (104) is disposed in between the first cover (102) and the at least one capacitive touch sensor of the PCB (106).

10. The smart switch (100) as claimed in claim 9, wherein the at least one capacitive touch sensor is configured to detect a change in capacitance of the touch lens (104), wherein the change in capacitance is caused by a touch input provided on at least one of the first cover (102) and touch lens (104).

11. The smart switch (100) as claimed in claim 9, wherein the touch lens (104) is made of one of plastic and a dielectric material having a dielectric component equivalent to that of plastic.

12. The smart switch (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the touch lens (104) is a single dielectric part.

13. The smart switch (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the touch lens (104) comprises a plurality of dielectric parts.

14. The smart switch (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the touch lens (104) further comprise a protrusion (204) extending from a bottom surface (BS) of the touch lens (104), wherein the protrusion (204) is configured to safeguard the at least one light source (114).