286results about How to "Avoid wasting electricity" patented technology

An imaging apparatus includes an imaging unit configured to execute processing to capture an image; a GPS (Global Positioning System) device configured to execute position calculation processing based on data received from a satellite; a power-supply control unit configured to control power supply to the GPS device; an apparatus control unit configured to monitor a state of photographing by a user to calculate a frequency of use of the imaging unit per unit time, and to cause the power-supply control unit to intermittently supply power to the GPS device when the calculated use frequency is lower than a predetermined threshold; and a data-recording control unit configured to generate photographed data attribute information in which positional information acquired in the GPS device is set as attribute information of an acquired image in the imaging unit, and to execute processing to store the photographed data attribute information in a storing unit.

A broadband wireless access communication system including a serving BS that periodically broadcasts an MOB_NBR-ADV message to an MS, and different kinds of heterogeneous networks. In order to communicate using the neighbor Base Station (BS) information, the serving BS gathers information about neighbor BSs and determines if heterogeneous communication systems exist using the gathered information. If the heterogeneous communication systems exist, the serving BS includes the information about the heterogeneous communication systems in the MOB_NBR-ADV message and broadcasts the MOB_NBR-ADV message to an MSS. If the MOB_NBR-ADV message is received from the serving BS, the MSS identifies if the heterogeneous communication systems exist using the MOB_NBR-ADV message.

A signal processing apparatus includes a speech recognition system and a voice activity detection unit. The voice activity detection unit is coupled to the speech recognition system, and arranged for detecting whether an audio signal is a voice signal and accordingly generating a voice activity detection result to the speech recognition system to control whether the speech recognition system should perform speech recognition upon the audio signal.

A smart power adaptor and a method of controlling power supply thereof are provided. The smart power adaptor includes a power conversion circuit and a control unit. The power conversion circuit is configured to convert an alternating current (AC) power into a direct current (DC) power for providing to a load device. The control unit is coupled to the power conversion circuit. The control unit is configured to apply a corresponding power-supply control mean according to a power state through communication of a charging communication protocol of a battery module of the load device to control an operation of the power conversion circuit, so that the power conversion circuit uses different power conversion behaviors to generate the DC power in response to changing of the power status.

A multithreaded processor, fetch control for a multithreaded processor and a method of fetching in the multithreaded processor. Processor event and use (EU) signs are monitored for downstream pipeline conditions indicating pipeline execution thread states. Instruction cache fetches are skipped for any thread that is incapable of receiving fetched cache contents, e.g., because the thread is full or stalled. Also, consecutive fetches may be selected for the same thread, e.g., on a branch mis-predict. Thus, the processor avoids wasting power on unnecessary or place keeper fetches.

An electronic apparatus and a power controlling method are provided. The electronic apparatus includes: a voice input unit which receives an audio input in a stand-by mode of the electronic apparatus; a voice sensing unit which determines whether the received audio input is a user voice, and if the user voice is input, outputs a power control signal; and a power control voice recognition unit which, if the power control signal is received from the voice recognition unit, turns on and performs voice recognition regarding the input user voice.

A method of verifying and analyzing energy efficiency ratio (EER) of an HVAC chiller unit in accordance with the present invention provides verification and analysis of HVAC chiller units to build daily steady-state data and non-steady state data out of field dynamic EER values and provides analysis of the steady-state data, based on selected integer temperatures and tenfold load factors in the annual scale that are subject to the dynamic changes in temperatures and load factors along with chiller seasonal operation to build monthly or seasonal running EER trend, and to determine-management index values for a period of time and to determine whether energy consumption meets specified criteria, as a basis of comparison of calculations, and resulting amplitude ratios between before and after the energy-saving improvement and of totally saved energy.

A punching mechanism has a plurality of predetermined standby positions where the punching mechanism is previously moved by move means and stands by based on size information in the width direction of a sheet material and punching execution information as to whether or not the sheet material is to be punched. The standby position corresponding to a sheet material of the maximum width that can be punched by the punching mechanism and the standby position applied when punching is not executed are set to substantially the same position.

The present invention provides an electrochemical flow battery for electric energy storage, the said battery uses anode reactive materials (the material being oxidized during battery discharge) selected from complexed ionic form of late 3d transition metals, i.e., Mn, Fe, and Cu. The battery has significantly low cost due to use of these relative inexpensive metals.

An apparatus and method for determining validity of a Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) connection in a wireless apparatus is provided. In the method, a query is performed on a specific Domain Name Server (DNS) via a connected Access Point (AP). When a response to the query on the specific DNS is received, a connection to a specific node is attempted via the connected AP. When the connection to the specific node is successful, a valid WiFi connection is determined. The WiFi connection is maintained. Therefore, a WiFi apparatus is allowed to connect to only a valid AP, so that convenience is provided to a user and the WiFi apparatus is prevented from wasting power.

Disclosed is an ice maker (10) that is disposed in the ice making chamber (4) of a refrigerator / freezer (1). The ice maker comprises an ice tray (20) that makes ice by means of cold air that is sucked into the ice making chamber, a thermistor (25) that measures the temperature within the ice tray, a heater (31) that heats the ice tray from below, and a control unit (50) that controls the operation of a freezing cycle and the passage of electric current to the heater using the temperature measured by the thermistor as a criteria. The control unit performs a freezing preparation step in which, after water has been supplied to the ice tray, a "preheating" electric current is passed to the heater until the temperature measured by the thermistor falls below freezing; an ice melting step in which, after the temperature measured by the thermistor has fallen below freezing, a "rapid heating" electric current is passed to the heater for a given period of time only; and a freezing progression step in which a "normal heating" electric current is passed to the heater until the temperature measured by the thermistor falls to a prescribed temperature.

A device for detecting a presence of a foreign object in an inductively coupled power transfer environment, including: a primary unit having a primary coil; a secondary unit having a secondary coil, which is adapted to receive power inductively from the primary coil; a sheet of thermal conductive material adapted to be placed between the primary unit and the secondary unit; at least one temperature sensor to sense the temperature of the sheet; and a control arrangement to control the supply of power to the secondary unit based on a temperature of the sheet measured by the temperature sensors.

The invention discloses a big-data-analysis-based intelligent household control system and method. The system is composed of a server with a stored big data system, an intelligent household unit, and a mobile terminal. The mobile terminal consists of a first communication unit, a positioning unit and a data analysis unit. When the mobile terminal is connected with the intelligent household unit by a WIFI network, the data analysis unit sends user position and user state information to the server to carry out an analysis; and the first communication unit sends a first execution instruction to the intelligent household unit. When connection with the intelligent household unit is realized by a mobile data network instead of the WIFI network, the data analysis unit controls the positioning unit to record the user position information and sends the user position and user state information to the server for an analysis; and then the first communication unit sends a second execution instruction to the intelligent household unit. Therefore, the intelligent household unit can be started accurately and properly to execute operations and thus the misoperation on the intelligent household unit can be avoided, so that losses and energy wasting as well as the trouble on the user can be prevented.

The invention discloses an intelligent classroom teaching multifunctional system based on intelligent video, and belongs to the field of intelligent teaching management. The system comprises a camera, a control center server, a measurement and control module, an infrared sensor, a light-sensitive sensor, a temperature sensor, electrical equipment, a relay switch, a multimedia computer, a display and a manual switch. By combining intelligent video analysis and single-chip microcomputer control, common problems in university classrooms are solved, including waste of electricity, absence from class, early dismissal, playing with mobile phones, cheating in the exam, and difficulty in listening to the teacher for students at the back of a large classroom. By using a real-time intelligent video analysis technology, the anti-interference ability of the system is enhanced. The method is simple and reliable, efficient, and highly applicable. By employing the existing classroom monitoring system and hardware such as multimedia computers, the system is of low cost, and is economic and practical. With the system, problems in multifunctional classroom teaching can be handled intelligently. The system can be widely used in classroom teaching in various colleges and universities.

The invention provides an energy-saving intelligent illumination control device and method. The energy-saving intelligent illumination control device controls opening or closing of indoor illumination devices via indoor brightness and existence of people, and comprises an ambient brightness acquisition module, a human body signal acquisition module, a main-control module and a switch control module, wherein the ambient brightness acquisition module comprises a light dependent resistor and a comparator, and is used for collecting indoor brightness data, and comparing the indoor brightness data with a preset value; the human body signal acquisition module comprises a pyroelectric body infrared sensor, and is used for judging whether people is in a room, and generating a human body signal if people is in the room; the main-control module is connected with the ambient brightness acquisition module and the human body signal acquisition module, and used for activating the ambient brightness acquisition module via the human body signal and generating a control signal as per the compared result of the brightness data and the preset value; the switch control module comprises a plurality of electronic switches which are connected with the main-control module and illumination devices, and controls the on-off state of each illumination device via the control signal.

A biological measurement apparatus that can measure a biological component concentration with favorable precision is provided. This apparatus includes an infrared sensor that irradiates an arm with infrared light, receives infrared light that was reflected by the arm, and outputs light intensity data; a holding unit that holds the infrared sensor such that the infrared sensor comes into contact with the arm; a force sensor that detects the force with which the infrared sensor and the arm are pressed together; a pressing force determination unit that compares the force with determination values and determines whether or not the force is in a predetermined range; and a component concentration calculation unit that calculates a component concentration of the arm using the light intensity data that was output when the pressing force determination unit determined that the force is in the predetermined range.

A digital multi-function peripheral includes a multi-function peripheral unit that has plural functions, a switching power supply unit connected to a commercial power supply as a main power supply for the multi-function peripheral unit, and an electrical storage device charged in advance as an auxiliary power supply for the multi-function peripheral unit. The digital multi-function peripheral further includes a control circuit that monitors a load current flowing to the multi-function peripheral unit, supplies electric power from the electrical storage device to the multi-function peripheral unit instead of electric power from the switching power supply unit when the load current is smaller than a threshold set as an allowable lower limit of power efficiency of the switching power supply unit, and supplies the electric power from the switching power supply unit to the multi-function peripheral unit when the load current increases to be equal to or larger than the threshold.

The invention discloses an intelligent standby television set comprising a television set module, a television set power supply system for providing the power, an induce module for connecting the television set power supply system and the television set module, identifying whether there is human in front of the television set, and effectively identifying whether the objects in front of the television set are real humans, and a Fresnel tread lens mounted on a television set panel shell. The television set MCU actively judges whether there is human watching the television by inducing and identifying human through a passive infrared sensing technique, if the television set MCU judges the television set is in an unattended watching state, the television set will actively stand by, which avoids electric power waste caused by a long time boot strap state of the television set under an unattended watching condition, simultaneously increases the television set service life.

A clustered energy-storing micro-grid system includes a renewable energy device, a clustered energy-storing device, an electrical power conversion device and a local controller. Before coordinating and allocating power to a plurality of loads, the clustered energy-storing device stores and releases the power in a centralized manner. This, coupled with the control exercised by the local controller over the electrical power conversion device, controls the micro-grid system in its entirety so that the micro-grid system operates in cost-efficient optimal conditions, under a predetermined system operation strategy, and in a system operation mode.

A camera system has an optical unit including: an optical system forming subject light into an image; a shooting section receiving the subject light formed into the image through the optical system, taking the image in a shooting mode selected from plural types of shooting modes, and generating an analog image signal indicating the subject light; and a data converter section converting the image signal into digital data having a data format corresponding to the shooting mode. The system also has a camera body including: a connect section where the optical unit is detachably attached; an image processing section obtaining the image data from the optical unit and processing the image data depending on the data format of the image data; and a mode selector section instructing the shooting section to select among the shooting modes and allowing the shooting section to perform shooting in the selected shooting mode.

The invention provides a refrigerator and an automatic door opening and closing method of the refrigerator. The refrigerator comprises a box body, a door body, a driving mechanism, a sensing device and a controller, wherein a storage chamber is arranged inside the box body; an opening communicated with the storage chamber is arranged on one side of the box body; the door body is movably arranged at the opening; the door body has a door closing state that the opening is closed and a door opening state that the opening is opened; the door body is connected with the driving mechanism in a driving manner; the driving mechanism is used for driving the door body to move; the sensing device is used for sensing actions of storing / taking of articles in the storage chamber and produces a sensing signal; the controller is electrically connected with the sensing device and the driving mechanism and is used for controlling the driving mechanism to drive the door body to move to the door closing state according to the sensing signal of the sensing device. The refrigerator has a simple structure, provides convenience for users and avoids electricity waste.

The invention relates to an intelligent control method and system for a wiper. The method comprises the following steps that weather information of the location of a vehicle is acquired; when the weather information is snowfall, snow accumulation condition of the outer surface of a vehicle window is acquired; according to the snow accumulation condition, the wiper is controlled to clean away accumulated snow. According to the intelligent control method and system for the wiper, the accumulated snow on the vehicle window can be cleaned away in time, and freezing of the vehicle window is avoided; furthermore, combing with the weather condition of the location of the vehicle, it can be judged whether to conduct monitoring of the snow accumulation condition on the vehicle window or not, the condition is avoided that the vehicle window is also subjected to monitoring of the snow accumulation condition when no accumulated snow exists, resources can be saved effectively, and the judgment on when to monitor the accumulated snow on the vehicle window can be more accurate.

In a solid-state imaging device, power consumption is reduced in an output section of a charge transfer device. Control transistors TS1, TS2, TS3 are provided in a source follower amplification circuit constituting an output amplifier of a CCD image sensor. The control transistor is switched on and off by switching a gate voltage in accordance with the operation state of the charge transfer device. When the imaging device is in a standby mode, the control transistor is turned off to suspend operation of the source follower amplification circuit.

The invention discloses a control method, device and system of household appliances. The method applied to the household appliances comprises the following steps: judging whether a control instructionof controlling state change of the household appliances is received in the preset duration when identifying that the household appliances enter the non-working state; if the control instruction of controlling state change of the household appliances is not received in the preset duration, sending the state information of the household appliances to the bound user terminal, thereby enabling the user terminal to remind the user to control the household appliances. If the household appliances do not receive the control instruction, the state information of the household appliances is sent to thebound user terminal, thereby enabling the user terminal to remind the user to control the household appliances; the power waste and low efficiency caused by long forgetting of the user are avoided.

The present invention discloses a microwave oven and method for controlling the same. The microwave oven is used to heat and cook food using high frequency waves generated by high frequency generating means provided in an oven body. The microwave oven includes body sensing means for detecting the presence of a user in a sensing area extended over a certain area in front of the oven body, first operating means for operating the high frequency generating means, and control means for controlling the first operating means to selectively start, stop and resume the operation of the high frequency wave generating means according to the presence of a user in the sensing area.

A printing apparatus can reduce wasted power consumption, and prolong the life of an image forming section and fixing pressurizing rollers. It includes a printer control unit including a video controller and engine controller. According to a print reservation from the video controller, the engine controller controls a paper transport mechanism such as feed rollers, transport rollers and lifters, thereby feeding paper from a paper inlet designated by a printing condition. The engine controller controls a laser scanner unit to transfer a formed image to a sheet with a high voltage unit, and fixes it by a fixing assembly. It controls the paper transport mechanism to output the paper to the paper outlet designated by the printing condition. The image forming section and fixing pressurizing rollers are individually rotatable. Their rotation is stoppable individually without interference in a time from printing the first side to reversing and refeeding the paper.