Furnace Control Unit

Abstract

The current invention is a furnace control unit that is affixed to a electronic on/off switch that controls a heating unit. The furnace control unit has a programmable processing unit, display unit, power source, input buttons, a switch flipping means. It is attached next to the electronic on/off switch that control a heating source. The unit would be programmed to turn the switch on or off depending on input criteria such as time of date and temperature.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A device comprising; a base which has a processing unit, a temperature reading device and a switch flipping means. 
     
     
         2 . A device according to  claim 1  further comprising having the switch flipping means flip a switch based on a programmed criteria. 
     
     
         3 . A device according to  claim 1  further comprising where the switch turns a heating source on and off. 
     
     
         4 . A device according to  claim 2  further comprising where the criteria is a pre-set time, date and temperature. 
     
     
         5 . A device according to  claim 1  further comprising having a display connected to the processing unit. 
     
     
         6 . A device according to  claim 1  further comprising having a plurality of input buttons connected to the processing unit. 
     
     
         7 . A device according to  claim 1  further comprising having an off and on button connected to the processing unit that are used to turn the device on and off 
     
     
         8 . A device according to  claim 6  further comprising using the input buttons to program the processing unit. 
     
     
         9 . A device according to  claim 1  where the base is attached to a switch through a connection means. 
     
     
         10 . A device according to  claim 1  where the base has a control box that houses the processing unit, temperature reading device and the switch flipping means. 
     
     
         11 . A device according to  claim 1  where the switch flipping means consists of a movement means and a switch plate. 
     
     
         12 . A device according to  claim 11  where the movement means is a two way motor. 
     
     
         13 . A device according to  claim 11  where the switch plate has a plate opening that fits on the top and bottom side of the switch. 
     
     
         14 . A device according to  claim 11  where a the switch plate connector connects the switch plate to the movement means. 
     
     
         15 . A device according to  claim 15  where the switch plate connector is in an “S” shape with two flat tabs at each end where the tabs run perpendicular to the base with one tab connected to the motor and the other tab is connected to the switch plate. 
     
     
         16 . A device according to  claim 11  where a the switch plate fits into two slots in the base. 
     
     
         17 . A device according to  claim 11  further comprising having a power source. 
     
     
         18 . A device according to  claim 17  further comprising having said power be a battery. 
     
     
         19 . A device according to  claim 2  further comprising having the processing unit check to see if criteria has been set, if yes it will check to see if the day is in the schedule, if not it is set to off and check the schedule again, if the day in the schedule it will check to see if it is the hour in the schedule, if no it is set to off and check the schedule again, if it is the hour in the schedule it will check to see if it is the minute in the schedule, if it is it will check the temperature to see if the temperature is less than the set temperature if not it is set to off and check the schedule again, if it is the temperature is less than the set temperature it will set the switch to on turning on the heat, if not it will set the switch to off turning off the heating device and check the schedule again. 
     
     
         20 . A method to control a heating unit using the device in  claim 19 .