Control System, Control System Operation Method, and Environment Control System

This non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) to Patent Application No. 113113883 filed in Taiwan, R.O.C. on Apr. 12, 2024, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

The instant disclosure relates to a control system, a control system operation method, and an environment control system, in particular, to a control system, a control system operation method, and an environment control system which are capable of performing power-stealing detection.

The control system of a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system known to the inventor would utilize power stealing technique upon no C wire is electrically connected thereto or under other certain situations. However, if the control system per se has a display or performs several functions to cause the load of the control system to be heavy, malfunction of the relay in the HVAC system may occur easily during the power-stealing procedure.

In view of this, according to some embodiments of the instant disclosure, a control system, a control system operation method, and an environment control system are provided to address technical issues which are currently encountered.

In view of the above, according to some embodiments of the instant disclosure, a control system comprises a plurality of connection terminals, a rectifier module, and a control module. The connection terminals are configured to provide electrical connection for a plurality of terminals of an environment regulation system configured externally, wherein the terminals comprise a live terminal and at least one load terminal, and the connection terminals comprise at least one load connection terminal configured to be electrically connected to the at least one load terminal. The rectifier module is configured to, in response to that the rectifier module receives at least one stolen current transmitted from the connection terminals, rectify the at least one stolen current. The control module is configured to, in response to an event, execute a test procedure to determine a connection status and a power-stealing range of each of the at least one load connection terminal and execute a power-stealing procedure to obtain electrical energy from the connection terminals.

According to some embodiments of the instant disclosure, a control system operation method comprises: providing electrical connections between a plurality of terminals of an environment regulation system configured externally and a plurality of connection terminals, wherein the terminals comprise a live terminal and at least one load terminal, and the connection terminals comprise at least one load connection terminal configured to be electrically connected to the at least one load terminal; in response to that a rectifier module receives at least one stolen current transmitted from the connection terminals, rectifying the at least one stolen current by the rectifier module; and in response to an event, executing a test procedure to determine a connection status and a power-stealing range of each of the at least one load connection terminal and executing a power-stealing procedure to obtain electrical energy from the connection terminals by a control module.

According to some embodiments of the instant disclosure, an environment control system comprises an environment regulation system and a control system. The environment regulation system comprises a plurality of terminals and at least one load, wherein the terminals comprise a live terminal and at least one load terminal, and the at least one load terminal is coupled to the at least one load. The control system comprises a plurality of connection terminals, a rectifier module, and a control module. The connection terminals are configured to provide electrical connection for the terminals of the environment regulation system configured externally, wherein the connection terminals comprise at least one load connection terminal configured to be electrically connected to the at least one load terminal. The rectifier module is configured to, in response to that the rectifier module receives at least one stolen current transmitted from the connection terminals, rectify the at least one stolen current. The control module configured to, in response to an event, execute a test procedure to determine a connection status and a power-stealing range of each of the at least one load connection terminal and execute a power-stealing procedure to obtain electrical energy from the connection terminals.

Based on the above, in the control system, the control system operation method, and the environment control system according to some embodiments of the instant disclosure, at least one stolen current is rectified by the rectifier module, so that electrical energy can be stolen from the environment regulation system through the connection terminals. Stealing electrical energy from the environment regulation system through the connection terminals can reduce the current passing through the connection terminals so as to reduce the possibility of the malfunction of the relay of the environment control system. Moreover, by firstly executing a testing procedure to determine the connection status and the power-stealing range of each of the load connection terminals, not only the load connection terminals with a better power-stealing range can be selected for performing the power-stealing procedure, but also the possibility of the malfunction of the relay of the environment control system can be reduced.

The aforementioned and other technical contents, features and effects of the instant disclosure will be clearly presented in the following detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the drawings. The thickness or size of each component in the drawings is exaggerated, omitted, or schematically expressed for the purpose of understanding and reading by persons having ordinary skills in the art, and the size of each component is not the actual size of the component and is not intended to limit the conditions under which the instant disclosure can be implemented, and thus the size of the component does not have substantive technical meaning. Moreover, it is understood that any structural modifications, changes in proportions, or adjustments in size should still fall within the scope of the technical content disclosed in the instant disclosure without affecting the effects that can be produced and the purposes that can be achieved by the instant disclosure. The same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or similar elements. The term “coupled/coupling” mentioned in the following embodiments may refer to any direct or indirect connection.

illustrates a block diagram of a control system according to an exemplary embodiment of the instant disclosure. The control systemis configured to control an environment regulation system. The environment regulation systemmay be, for example, an HVAC system. The environment regulation systemcomprises terminals,-to-N,, where N is a positive integer. The environment regulation systemcomprises at least one transformer to supply electrical energy for the environment regulation system. The terminalis electrically connected to the hot side (also referred to as the high potential side) of one of the transformers, and thus the terminalis also referred to as the live terminal of the environment regulation system. The terminalis electrically connected to the common side of the same transformer, and thus the terminalis also referred to as the C wire terminal of the environment regulation system. The environment regulation systemcomprises at least one load (for example, a fan or a compressor), each of the terminals-to-N corresponds to a corresponding one of the loads, and the control systemturns on the load by electrically connecting the terminalsto the terminals of the load. For example, supposed that the terminal-corresponds to the fan, the control systemturns on the fan by electrically connecting the terminalto the terminal-. It should be noted that the control systemof this embodiment may be applied to various types of environment regulation systems. For example, the environment regulation systemmay have two transformers to supply electrical energy for the load for heating a subsystem and for the load for cooling the subsystem, respectively. The C wire terminal of the environment regulation systemmay be hidden and thus cannot be electrically connected to the control system.

To allow the control systemto be operated normally, the control systemneeds to steal electrical energy from the environment regulation system. The control systemcomprises a plurality of connection terminals,-to-N,, a control module, and a rectifier module, where N is a positive integer. The connection terminalis configured to be electrically connected to the terminal(the live terminal) of the environment regulation systemexternal to the control system. The connection terminals-to-N andare configured to provide electrical connection for the terminals-to-N andof the environment regulation system, and thus the connection terminals-to-N are also referred to as the load connection terminals. The connection terminalis configured to be electrically connected to the terminalof the environment regulation system(the C terminal of the environment regulation system), and thus the connection terminalis also referred to as the C wire connection terminal.

The rectifier modulecomprises input terminals a, c, bto b. The input terminal a is configured to be coupled to the connection terminal, the input terminal c is configured to be coupled to the connection terminal, and the input terminals bto bare coupled to the connection terminals-to-N respectively. The control modulecan respectively control the conduction between the connection terminals-to-N and the input terminals bto b. In the following, the condition that the control modulecontrols the conduction between the input terminal band the connection terminal-is taken as an example. When the control modulecontrols the conduction between the input terminal band the connection terminal-, the control moduleand the path formed by the input terminal a and the connection terminaltogether form a loop so that the connection terminaland the connection terminal-obtain alternating current from the environment regulation system, where the alternating current is referred to as the stolen current. The rectifier modulecan receive the stolen current from the connection terminaland the connection terminal-. Likewise, when the control modulecontrols the conduction between the input terminal band the connection terminal-N, the control moduleand the path formed by the input terminal a and the connection terminaltogether form a loop so that the rectifier modulecan receive the stolen current from the connection terminaland the connection terminal-N. Further, in the case that not only one input terminal and one connection terminal are conducted with each other, the rectifier modulewill receive several stolen currents. In some embodiments, the frequencies and the phases of the stolen currents are identical, and the rectifier modulerectifies the stolen currents having identical frequencies and phases.

The control moduleis configured to control the relays-to-N to be turned on. As shown in, the relays-to-N are respectively coupled to the connection terminaland the connection terminals-to-N. When the control modulecontrols one of the relays-to-N (for example, the relay-) to be turned on, the terminalis electrically connected to the terminal corresponding to the relay (for example, the terminal-) through the relay to turn on the load corresponding to the environment regulation system. The control moduleis configured to detect whether the connection terminal(the C wire connection terminal) is electrically connected (for example, the control modulecan simply detect whether a current passes through the connection terminalto determine whether the connection terminalis electrically connected).

Refer to. In some embodiments of the instant disclosure, the control systemcomprises current detection modules-to-N. For any positive integer k, 1≤k≤N, the current detection module-is configured to be arranged between an output terminal of the relay-and a connection terminal-to detect the current value of the current passing through the output terminal of the relay-and the connection terminal-

In the following paragraphs, descriptions and accompanied drawings are provided to show how the cooperation between components of the control systemand the control system operation method according to some embodiments of the instant disclosure can be achieved.

Refer to. In some embodiments of the instant disclosure, the control system operation method comprises: providing electrical connections between terminals,-to-N,of an environment regulation systemconfigured externally and connection terminals,-to-N,, wherein the terminals,-to-N,comprise a live terminal (the terminal) and load terminals (the terminals-to-N), and the connection terminals,-to-N,comprise load connection terminals (the connection terminals-to-N) configured to be electrically connected to the load terminals (the terminals-to-N); in response to that a rectifier modulereceives at least one stolen current transmitted from the connection terminals,-to-N,, rectifying the stolen current(s) by the rectifier module; and in response to an event, executing a test procedure to determine a connection status and a power-stealing range of each of the load connection terminals (the connection terminals-to-N) by a control moduleand executing a power-stealing procedure to obtain electrical energy from the connection terminals,-to-N,by the control module.

In some embodiments of the instant disclosure, the event is that the control systemis booted.

In some embodiments of the instant disclosure, the event is that the control moduledetects that the C wire connection terminal (the terminal) is not electrically connected.

In some embodiments of the instant disclosure, when the control moduledetects that the C wire connection terminal (the terminal) is electrically connected, the control moduleobtains electrical energy through the C wire connection terminal.

However, even though the control moduledetects that the C wire connection terminal (the terminal) is electrically connected, the control modulecan obtain electrical energy through a suitable connection terminal among the terminals,-to-N according to other demands. In the following embodiments, how to select a suitable connection terminal will be described.

In some embodiments of the instant disclosure, rectifying the stolen current by the rectifier modulecomprises the following steps. In response to that the number of the received stolen current is one, the rectifier modulerectifies the received stolen current; and in response to that the number of the received stolen current is plural, the rectifier moduleconcurrently rectifies the received stolen currents.

The description “concurrently rectifies the stolen currents which are received” indicates that the stolen currents are rectified independently by using the same rectification manner at the same time so that the stolen currents which are rectified provide electrical energy parallelly. The rectification manner may be, for example, the full-wave rectification. In the following paragraphs, one circuit embodiment is provided to describe how to rectify the received stolen current in response to that the number of the received stolen current is one and how to concurrently rectify the received stolen current in response to that the number of the received stolen current is plural.

illustrates a circuit diagram of a rectifier module according to an exemplary embodiment of the instant disclosure.andillustrate schematic circuit operation diagrams of the rectifier module according to the exemplary embodiment of the instant disclosure. Refer toandto, in some embodiments of the instant disclosure, the rectifier modulecomprises diode pairs,,toN, and each of the diode pairs,,toN comprises a first diode and a second diode connected in series. The diode paircomprises a first diode-and a second diode-, the diode paircomprises a first diode-and a second diode-, the diode paircomprises a first diode-and a second diode-, the diode paircomprises a first diode-and a second diode-, the diode pairN comprises a first diodeN-and a second diodeN-, and so on. The cathode of the first diode of each of the diode pairs,,toN is coupled to the output node. The anode of the second diode of each of the diode pairs,,toN is coupled to a reference ground terminal. The anode of the first diode and the cathode of the second diode of each of the diode pairs,,toN are connected to a middle node, wherein the middle node of the diode pairis the middle node, the middle node of the diode pairis the middle node, the middle node of the diode pairis the middle node-, the middle node of the diode pairN is the middle node-N, and so on. The middle nodes of the diode pairs,,toN are respectively coupled to the connection terminals,-to-N,, wherein the middle nodeis coupled to the connection terminalthrough the input terminal a, the middle nodeis coupled to the connection terminalthrough the input terminal c, and the middle nodes-to-N are coupled to the connection terminals-to-N through the input terminals bto b, respectively.

Refer toand. Inand, the condition that the control modulecontrols the conduction between the input terminal band the connection terminal-and the conduction between the input terminal band the connection terminals-is taken as an example. In this example, the rectifier modulecan receive the stolen current from the connection terminaland the connection terminal-as well the stolen current from the connection terminaland the connection terminal-. As shown in, during the positive half cycle of the stolen currents (that is, in this embodiment, one of the stolen currents flows in through the connection terminaland flows out through the connection terminal-, and the other one of the stolen currents flows in through the connection terminaland flows out through the connection terminal-), the two stolen currents both flow to the output nodethrough the path. One of the two stolen currents flows back to the input terminal bthrough the path, and the other one of the two stolen currents flows back to the input terminal bthrough the path.

As shown in, during the negative half cycle of the stolen currents (that is, in this embodiment, one of the stolen currents flows in through the connection terminal-and flows out through the connection terminal, and the other one of the stolen currents flows in through the connection terminal-and flows out through the connection terminal), one of the two stolen currents flows from the input terminal bto the output nodethrough the path, the other one of the two stolen currents flows from the input terminal bto the output nodethrough the path, and the two stolen currents both flow back to the input terminal a through the path.

Accordingly, in one or some embodiments, through the operation mentioned above, in the case that the rectifier modulereceives only one stolen current (for example, the stolen current from the input terminal b), the rectifier modulecan perform full-wave rectification on the stolen current through the diode pair corresponding to the stolen current (for example, the diode paircorresponding to the input terminal b) and the diode paircorresponding to the input terminal a. In the case that rectifier modulereceives several stolen currents (for example, the stolen currents from the input terminals b, b, b), the rectifier modulecan perform full-wave rectification concurrently and independently on the stolen currents through the diode pairs corresponding to the stolen currents (for example, the diode paircorresponding to the input terminal b, the diode paircorresponding to the input terminal b, and the diode pairN corresponding to the input terminal b) and the diode paircorresponding to the input terminal a, so that the rectifier modulecan concurrently rectify several (two or more) received stolen currents. In the case that the rectifier modulereceives several stolen currents (for example, the stolen currents from the input terminals b, b, b), because the stolen currents come from the connection terminals,-to-N,of the environment regulation system, the stolen currents have identical frequencies and phases, thereby allowing the rectified stolen currents can provide electrical energy parallelly.

illustrates a circuit diagram of an environment regulation system according to an exemplary embodiment of the instant disclosure. Refer to. In some embodiments of the instant disclosure, the internal circuit of the environment regulation systemis identical to the internal circuit of the environment regulation system. The environment regulation systemcomprises a transformerhaving a primary sideand a secondary side. The terminalis coupled to the hot sideof the transformer, and the terminalis coupled to the common sideof the same transformer. The environment regulation systemhas loads-to-N, where N is a positive integer. When N=1, it indicates that the environment regulation systemhas only one load. The environment regulation systemhas relays-to-N. For any positive integer k, 1≤k≤N, the two input terminals of the relay-K are respectively coupled to the terminal-and the common sideof the transformer, one terminal of the load-is coupled to one output terminal of the relay-, the other one terminal of the load-is coupled to the low potential side of the primary sideof the transformer, and the other one output terminal of the relay-is coupled to the high potential side of the primary sideof the transformer. Accordingly, in one or some embodiments, the aforementioned connection allows the control system, through electrically connecting the terminalto the terminal of a to-be-turned-on load, to turn on the relay corresponding to the to-be-turned-on load, thereby allowing the secondary sideof the transformerto supply electrical energy for the to-be-turned-on load to turn on the to-be-turned-on load.

illustrates a block diagram of a control system according to some embodiments of the instant disclosure. As compared with the control systemillustrated in, in, the control systemcomprises switch modules-to-N, a direct current (DC) voltage conversion module, a charging module, a DC voltage conversion module, a battery module, a toggle module, a DC voltage conversion module, and a display module. The switch modules-to-N are arranged between the connection terminals-to-N and the input terminals bto bof the rectifier moduleand are configured to control the conduction between the connection terminal-to-N and the rectifier module. For any positive integer k, 1≤k≤N, the switch module-has an input terminal hand a switch input terminal s. The input terminal his coupled to the connection terminal-through the current detection module-, and the control modulecontrols the switch module-to be turned on or off through the switch input terminal s(when the switch module-is turned on, the switch module-is conducted).

In some embodiments of the instant disclosure, each of the switch modules-to-has a relay.

The DC voltage conversion moduleis configured to convert the DC voltage outputted by the rectifier moduleinto a voltage suitable for the charging module. In some embodiments of the instant disclosure, the DC voltage conversion modulecomprises a buck converter. The charging moduleis configured to be coupled to the rectifier module, the control module, and the display module. Therefore, in response to that the charging modulereceives the voltage outputted by the DC voltage conversion module, the charging modulecan output electrical energy for the control moduleand the display module, and in response to that the charging moduledoes not receive the voltage outputted by the DC voltage conversion module, the charging modulecan provide a path to allow the battery moduleto supply electrical energy for the control moduleand the display module. The battery moduleis configured to be coupled to the charging module, the control module, and the display module. The DC voltage conversion moduleis configured to convert the DC voltage outputted to the control moduleinto a voltage suitable for the control module, and the voltage suitable for the control moduleis inputted to the control throughthrough an electrical energy input terminal e of the control module. The display moduleis configured to display a control status information. In some embodiments of the instant disclosure, the DC voltage conversion modulecomprises a buck converter.

The toggle modulecomprises an input terminal PWR, an input terminal VBAT, and a switch input terminal s. The input terminal PWR of the toggle modulereceives electrical energy outputted from the charging module, the input terminal VBAT of the toggle modulereceives electrical energy outputted from the battery module, and the control modulecontrols the source of electrical energy of the display modulethrough the switch input terminal s. The DC voltage conversion moduleis configured to convert the DC voltage which is outputted from the toggle moduleand to be inputted to the display moduleinto a voltage suitable for the display module.

In the following paragraphs, descriptions and accompanied drawings are provided to show how the cooperation between components of the control systemand the control system operation method according to some embodiments of the instant disclosure can be achieved.

illustrates a flowchart of a testing procedure according to some embodiments of the instant disclosure. Refer toand, in some embodiments of the instant disclosure, the control system operation method comprises a detecting and controlling step, and the test procedure comprises executing steps Sto Sin the control system.

In the detecting and controlling step, the current detection modules-to-N detect the current values of the connection terminals-to-N (the load connection terminals of the control system) respectively; and the switch modules-to-N control the conduction between the connection terminals-to-N (the load connection terminals of the control system) and the rectifier module.

In the step S, to a to-be-tested connection terminal (for example, the connection terminal-) among the connection terminals-to-N (the load connection terminals of the control system), the control moduleturns on a to-be-tested switch (for example, the switch module-coupled to the connection terminal-) corresponding to the to-be-tested connection terminal among the switch modules-to-N. The control moduleextracts at least one load current of the to-be-tested connection terminal, and the control moduleobtains the connection status and the power-stealing range of the to-be-tested connection terminal according to at least one extracting current value of the at least one load current detected by a to-be-tested current detection module (for example, the current detection module-coupled to the connection terminal-) corresponding to the to-be-tested connection terminal among the current detection modules-to-N. Wherein, the connection status of the to-be-tested connection terminal is that whether the to-be-tested connection terminal is connected to the terminal of the environment regulation system. During the power-stealing procedure, when a current value of a current providing to the rectifier moduleis less than the power-stealing range of the to-be-tested connection terminal, the load (for example, the load-corresponding to the terminal-) in the environment regulation systemcorresponding to the terminal (for example, the terminal-) electrically connected to the present connection terminal can be prevented from being turned on mistakenly.

In this embodiment, when the control systemis initializing, the control moduletakes each of the connection terminals-to-N (the load connection terminals of the control system) as the to-be-tested connection terminal mentioned above to obtain the connection status and the power-stealing range of each of the load connection terminals (as mentioned in the steps Sto Sbelow). When the control systemis initializing, the control systemis just booted and to perform initialization setting on the control system. At this moment, the control systemdoes not transmit the control signal to the environment regulation systemyet to regulate the environment, and thus each of the load connection terminals (the connection terminals-to-N) can be tested.

In the step S, the control moduledetermines whether untested load connection terminal(s) exists among the connection terminals-to-N (the load connection terminals of the control system). If the result of the step Sis yes, the step Sis executed, and if the result of the step Sis no, the step Sis executed. In the step S, in response to that untested load connection terminal(s) exists among the connection terminals-to-N, the control moduleselects one of the untested load connection terminals among the connection terminals-to-N as the to-be-tested connection terminal and the operation method goes back to execute the step S. In the step S, in response to that untested load connection terminal(s) does not exist among the connection terminals-to-N, the control moduleexits the testing procedure.

In the foregoing embodiments, because the testing procedure is executed upon the control systemis initializing, and at that time the control systemdoes not transmit the control signal to the environment regulation systemyet to turn on the corresponding load to regulate the environment, all the connection terminals-to-N can be tested.

illustrates a flowchart of a power-stealing procedure according to some embodiments of the instant disclosure. Refer to,, and. Following the embodiment shown in, after the control moduledetermines the connection status and the power-stealing range of each of the connection terminals-to-N (the load connection terminals of the control system), the control moduledetermines a power-stealing connection terminal according to the connection status and the power-stealing range of each of the connection terminals-to-N so as to obtain electrical energy from the power-stealing connection terminal. In other words, in this embodiment, the control moduledetermines which connection terminals are taken as the power-stealing connection terminals according to the connection status and the power-stealing range of each of the connection terminals-to-N so as to obtain electrical energy. In the step S, the control modulereads the connection status and the power-stealing range of each of the connection terminals-to-N (the load connection terminals of the control system). In the step S, the control moduledetermines whether a power-stealing connection terminal exists among the connection terminals-to-N, wherein the connection status of the power-stealing connection terminal is electrically connected, the power-stealing range of the power-stealing connection terminal is greater than or equal to a preset form current value, and a load corresponding to the power-stealing connection terminal in the environment regulation system is not turned on. If the result of the step Sis yes, the step Sis executed, and if the result of the step Sis no, the step Sis executed. In the step S, in response to that at least one power-stealing connection terminal (for example, the connection terminal-and the connection terminal-) exists, the control modulecontrols the power-stealing switches (for example, the switch-corresponding to the connection terminal-and the switch-corresponding to the connection terminal-) corresponding to the power-stealing connection terminals among the switch modules-to-N to be turned on to obtain electrical energy from the power-stealing connection terminals. In the step S, because no power-stealing connection terminal exists, the control moduleexits the power-stealing procedure.

In the embodiment shown in, the testing procedure is executed when the control systemis initializing. However, it is understood that, according to some embodiments of the instant disclosure, the testing procedure may be executed after the control systemalready controls the environment regulation system.illustrates a flowchart of a testing procedure according to some embodiments of the instant disclosure. Refer toand, in some embodiments of the instant disclosure, the control system operation method comprises the detecting and controlling step mentioned above, and the testing procedure comprises steps Sto S. The step Sis identical to the step S. In the step S, to a to-be-tested connection terminal (for example, the connection terminal-) among the connection terminals-to-N (the load connection terminals of the control system), the control moduleturns on a to-be-tested switch (for example, the switch module-coupled to the connection terminal-) corresponding to the to-be-tested connection terminal among the switch modules-to-N. The control moduleextracts at least one load current of the to-be-tested connection terminal, and the control moduleobtains the connection status and the power-stealing range of the to-be-tested connection terminal according to at least one load current value of the at least one load current detected by a to-be-tested current detection module (for example, the current detection module-coupled to the connection terminal-) corresponding to the to-be-tested connection terminal among the current detection modules-to-N. Wherein, the connection status of the to-be-tested connection terminal is that whether the to-be-tested connection terminal is connected to the terminal of the environment regulation system. During the power-stealing procedure, when a current value of a current providing to the rectifier moduleis less than the power-stealing range of the to-be-tested connection terminal, the load (for example, the load-corresponding to the terminal-) in the environment regulation systemcorresponding to the terminal (for example, the terminal-) electrically connected to the present connection terminal can be prevented from being turned on mistakenly.

In this embodiment, the control modulefirstly determines whether at least one testable load connection terminal which is not turned on and not tested among the load connection terminals. Then, in response to that the at least one testable load connection terminal exists, the at least one testable load connection terminal is taken as the to-be-tested connection terminal to obtain the connection status and the power-stealing range of each of the testable load connection terminal (as mentioned in the steps Sto Sbelow).

In the step S, the control moduledetermines whether at least one load connection terminal which is not turned on and not tested (which can be referred to as the testable load connection terminal) exists among the connection terminals-to-N (the load connection terminals of the control system). If the result of the step Sis yes, the step Sis executed, and if the result of the step Sis no, the step Sis executed. In the step S, in response to that the at least one testable load connection terminal exists among the connection terminals-to-N, the control moduleselects one of the testable load connection terminals among the connection terminals-to-N as the to-be-tested connection terminal and the operation method goes back to execute the step S. In the step S, in response to that testable load connection terminal(s) does not exist among the connection terminals-to-N, the control moduleexits the testing procedure.

It is noted that, according to some embodiments of the instant disclosure, because the loads corresponding to some connection terminals are turned on, these connection terminals cannot be selected. Upon the control moduleexecutes the steps Sto S, the control modulewill execute the testing procedure to the untested connection terminals after the loads corresponding to the untested connection terminals are turned off, and the control modulewill stop executing the testing procedure after all the connection terminals-to-N are tested.

illustrates a flowchart of a power-stealing procedure according to some embodiments of the instant disclosure. Refer to,, and. Following the embodiment shown in, upon the testing procedure illustrated inis executed, some connection terminals among the connection terminals-to-N are already processed by the testing procedure to obtain the connection status and the power-stealing range thereof, so that the power-stealing procedure can be executed to obtain electrical energy. In the step S, the control modulereads the connection status and the power-stealing range of the at least one processed load connection terminal already processed by the testing procedure among the connection terminals-to-N (the load connection terminals of the control system).

In the step S, the control moduledetermines whether at least one power-stealing connection terminal exists among at least one processed load connection terminal which is already processed by the testing procedure in the connection terminals-to-N, wherein the connection status of each of the power-stealing connection terminal is electrically connected, the power-stealing range of the power-stealing connection terminal is greater than or equal to a preset form current value, and a load corresponding to the power-stealing connection terminal in the environment regulation system is not turned on. If the result of the step Sis yes, the step Sis executed, and if the result of the step Sis no, the step Sis executed. In the step S, in response to that at least one power-stealing connection terminal exists, the control modulecontrols the power-stealing switch(s) corresponding to the power-stealing connection terminal(s) among the switch modules-to-N to be turned on to obtain electrical energy from the power-stealing connection terminal(s). In the step S, because no power-stealing connection terminal exists, the control modulestops executing the power-stealing procedure. The control modulecan wait until a new processed load connection terminal is added and then execute the power-stealing procedure.

illustrates a flowchart of a testing procedure according to some embodiments of the instant disclosure. Refer toand. In some embodiments of the instant disclosure, the steps of extracting, by the control module, at least one load current of the to-be-tested connection terminal and obtaining, by the control module, the connection status and the power-stealing range of the to-be-tested connection terminal according to at least one load current value of the at least one load current detected by the to-be-tested current detection module corresponding to the to-be-tested connection terminal among the current detection modules-to-N in the steps Sand the step Smay respectively comprise the steps Sto Sto obtain the connection status and the power-stealing range of the to-be-tested connection terminal. In the step S, the control moduletakes a preset current value as a present current value. The preset current value may be 5 mA. In the step S, the present current having the present current value is extracted from the to-be-tested connection terminal. In this embodiment, the control modulecan extract the present current having the present current value through a current-limiting chip. In the step S, the control moduledetermines whether the current value detected by the to-be-tested current detection module corresponding to the to-be-tested connection terminal is zero. If the result of the step Sis yes, the step Sis executed, and if the result of the step Sis no, the step Sis executed. In the step S, the control moduledetermines that the to-be-tested connection terminal is not electrically connected and the operation method exits the step Sto the next step or exits the step Sto the next step (if the steps Sto Sare executed in the step S, the operation method exits the step S; if the steps Sto Sare executed in the step S, the operation method exits the step S).

In the step S, the control moduleadds an increased current value (for example, 10 mA) to the present current value as a next current value, and the control moduleextracts a next current having the next current value from the to-be-tested connection terminal. In the step S, the control moduledetermines whether the current value detected by the to-be-tested current module is the next current value. In the step S, in response to that the current value detected by the to-be-tested current detection module is not the next current value or the current value detected by the to-be-tested current detection module is zero, which indicates that the load corresponding to the to-be-tested connection terminal in the environment regulation systemis mistakenly turned on, the power-stealing range of the to-be-tested connection terminal is configured as the present current value and the operation method exits the step Sto the next step or exits the step Sto the next step. In the step S, in response to that the current value detected by the to-be-tested connection terminal is the next current value, the control moduleconfigures the present current value as the next current value and the operation method goes back to execute the step S.

In some embodiments of the instant disclosure, in the step S, when the control moduledetermines that the to-be-tested connection terminal is not electrically connected, the control moduledisplays that the to-be-tested connection terminal is not electrically connected on the display moduleto remind the user of checking the connection condition again.

illustrates a flowchart of a power-stealing procedure according to some embodiments of the instant disclosure. Refer toand, in some embodiments of the instant disclosure, the power-stealing procedure comprises steps Sto S. In the step S, the control moduledetects the supply current value of each of the power-stealing connection terminals through at least one power-stealing current detection module corresponding to the at least one power-stealing connection terminal among the current detection modules-to-N. In the step S, the control moduledetermines whether the supply current value of one overload connection terminal among the at least one power-stealing connection terminal is detected to be greater than the power-stealing range of the overload connection terminal. If the result of the step Sis yes, the step Sis executed, and if the result of the step Sis no, the operation method goes back to execute the step S. In the step S, in response to that the control moduledetects that the supply current value of one overload connection terminal among the power-stealing connection terminal is greater than the power-stealing range of the overload connection terminal, the control modulestops the charging modulefrom supplying electrical energy to the display module. The configuration that the control modulestops the charging modulefrom supplying electrical energy to the display moduleallows the supply load to be decreased, thereby reducing the current value of the current passing through the power-stealing connection terminal.

In some embodiments, in the power-stealing procedure, in response to that the display moduleis turned off, the control modulecontrols the charging moduleto charge the battery module. That is, the power-stealing procedure comprises the step of controlling the charging module, by the control module, to charge the battery modulein response to the display modulebeing turned off.