Patent Application
20130069534
The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/870,066, filed Aug. 27, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,310,161, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to lighting, and more specifically, to end-of-life indicators for lamps.
All types of lamps have a rated (i.e., expected) service life (also referred to herein as “end of life”), usually determined by the lamp manufacturer/seller prior to the lamp being sold. All lamps eventually cease to provide light, whether due to an unexpected failure of one or more components, or because the lamp simply reached its end of life at some point in time after first being put into use. In a simple, conventional incandescent lamp, a user or a manufacturer may not care why the lamp is no longing working, whether due to failure or having reached its end of life. However, with more complex energy-efficient lamps, such as compact fluorescent lamps, the user or manufacturer may desire to determine the cause of light no longer being provided, whether due to failure of one or more components, or because the lamp simply reached the end of its life.
In conventional incandescent lamps, it is easy to determine when the lamp reaches the end of its life—it ceases to generate light. Typically, due to their low cost and expected short service life, the user and/or manufacturer of an incandescent lamp does not care why, unless the problem is endemic across a large number of lamps. In contrast, users and/or manufacturers of compact fluorescent lamps, due to their greater costs and longer expected service lives (compared to incandescent lamps), may desire to know if a lamp is no longer provided light because it has failed before it should have, or if it has simply reached its end of life. Conventional techniques for determining whether the lamp failed early, or reached its end of life, typically involve the lamp being examined in laboratory setting by the manufacturer. This is time-consuming, costly, and dependent on the customer provided the non-functioning lamp to the manufacturer.
Embodiments described herein provide for a simple, inexpensive, easily viewable end-of-life indicator on a lamp. The end-of-life indicator is one or more solid state light sources, such as but not limited to light emitting diodes (LEDs). The end-of-life indicator emits light or otherwise signals that the lamp has reached the expected end of its life. In some embodiments, the end-of-life indicator activates only when the lamp has reached the expected end of its life. This provides both the lamp user and the lamp manufacturer will a clear indication that the lamp is no longer providing light, not due to failure of a component, but because the lamp has simply reached the expected end of its service life. The end-of-life indicator may also serve as a replacement light source when the lamp ceases to provide light. That is, the lamp itself is no longer providing light because it has reached the end of its life, and so the end-of-life indicator provides some light in place of the lamp. Particularly in locations where the lamp is otherwise the only source of light, the end-of-life indicator may serve as a safety feature, so that the location previously being lit by the lamp will have at least some light present.
In an embodiment, there is provided a compact fluorescent lamp. The compact fluorescent lamp includes a light source; a ballast; a base, wherein the base is operatively connectable to a power source; a housing, wherein the housing is coupled to the base and surrounds at least in part the ballast and the light source; and a solid state light source end-of-life indicator, wherein the solid state light source end-of-life indicator includes at least one light emitting diode, is located on an exterior of the housing, and emits light at the end of life of the compact fluorescent lamp.
In a related embodiment, the compact fluorescent lamp further includes an end-of-life detection circuit, wherein the end-of-life detection circuit may detect when the compact fluorescent lamp is at an end of its life, and may provide an end-of-life signal to the solid state light source end-of-life indicator; and wherein the solid state light source end-of-life indicator may include a solid state light source end-of-life indicator, wherein the solid state light source end-of-life indicator may include at least one light emitting diode, may be located on the exterior of the housing, and may emit light upon receiving the end-of-life signal from the end-of-life detection circuit.
In a further related embodiment, upon receiving the end-of-life signal from the end-of-life detection circuit, the solid state light source end-of-life indicator may change color periodically. In another further related embodiment, upon receiving the end-of-life signal from the end-of-life detection circuit, the solid state light source end-of-life indicator may turn on, emitting light, and may turn off, ceasing to emit light, periodically. In still another further related embodiment, upon receiving the end-of-life signal from the end-of-life detection circuit, the solid state light source end-of-life indicator may emit light that changes in luminance periodically. In a further related embodiment, the change in luminance may be an increasing of luminance from a minimum level to a maximum level followed by a decreasing of luminance from the maximum level back to the minimum level, wherein the change in luminance may be periodic.
In a further related embodiment, the end-of-life detection circuit may provide a near end-of-life signal to the solid state light source end-of-life indicator and may provide an end-of-life signal to the solid state light source end-of-life indicator, and the solid state light source end-of-life indicator may emit light at or near the end of life of the compact fluorescent lamp. In a further related embodiment, upon receipt of the near end-of-life signal, the solid state light source end-of-life indicator may emit light of a first color, and upon receipt of the end-of-life signal, the solid state light source end of light indicator may emit light in a second color. In a further related embodiment, upon receipt of the near end-of-life signal, the solid state light source end-of-life indicator may emit light that changes periodically from a first color to a second color, and upon receipt of the end-of-life signal, the solid state light source end of light indicator may emit light in only the second color. In another further related embodiment, upon receipt of the near end-of-life signal, the solid state light source end-of-life indicator may turn on and off periodically, and upon receipt of the end-of-life signal, the solid state light source end-of-life indicator may turn on continuously.
In a further related embodiment, the solid state light source end-of-life indicator may include at least a first light emitting diode and a second light emitting diode, wherein the first light emitting diode may emit light of a first color and wherein the second light emitting diode may emit light of a second color.
In yet another further related embodiment, the compact fluorescent lamp may further include a lamp shutdown circuit, wherein the lamp shutdown circuit shuts down the light source after receiving the end-of-life signal. In still another further related embodiment, the end-of-life detection circuit may be operably connected to the ballast. In another further related embodiment, the end-of-life detection circuit, the solid state light source end-of-life indicator, and the lamp shutdown circuit may be operably connected to the ballast.
In still yet another further related embodiment, the end-of-life detection circuit may include an end-of-life detection circuit, wherein the end-of-life detection circuit may detect when light emitted by the light source falls below a threshold level and, in response, may provide an end-of-life signal to the solid state light source end-of-life indicator. In a further related embodiment, the end-of-life detection circuit, in response to detecting when light emitted by the light source falls below a threshold level, may provide a shutdown signal; and the compact fluorescent lamp may further include a lamp shutdown circuit, wherein the lamp shutdown circuit may shut down the light source upon receiving the provided shutdown signal from the end-of-life detection circuit.
In yet still another further related embodiment, the end-of-life detection circuit may provide a near end-of-life signal to the solid state light source end-of-life indicator when light emitted by the light source falls below a first threshold level, and may provide an end-of-life signal to the solid state light source end-of-life indicator when light emitted by the light source falls below a second threshold level.
In another related embodiment, the compact fluorescent lamp may further include a solid state light source early end-of-life indicator, wherein the solid state light source early end-of-life indicator may include at least one light emitting diode, may be located on the exterior of the housing, and may emit light only when the compact fluorescent lamp experiences an early end of life. In a further related embodiment, the compact fluorescent lamp may further include an early end-of-life detection circuit, wherein the early end-of-life detection circuit may detect when the compact fluorescent lamp is at an early end of its life, and may provide an early end-of-life signal to the solid state light source early end-of-life indicator; and wherein the solid state light source early end-of-life indicator may include a solid state light source early end-of-life indicator, wherein the solid state light source early end-of-life indicator may include at least one light emitting diode, may be located on the exterior of the housing, and may emit light only upon receiving the early end-of-life signal from the end-of-life detection circuit.
In an embodiment, there is provided a method of indicating end-of-lamp life in a compact fluorescent lamp. The method includes receiving power at the compact fluorescent lamp; emitting light from a light source of the compact fluorescent lamp; detecting, in an end-of-life detection circuit, when the compact fluorescent lamp is at an end of its life; in response, providing an end-of-life signal to a solid state light source end-of-life indicator; and in response, activating the solid state light source end-of-life indicator to emit light, indicating that the compact fluorescent lamp has reached the end of its life.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages disclosed herein will be apparent from the following description of particular embodiments disclosed herein, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles disclosed herein.
The solid state light source end-of-life indicator 112 may be made from any solid state light source, including but not limited to one or more light emitting diodes 114 shown throughout
In some embodiments, the solid state light source end-of-life indicator must be told when to activate, that is, when the lamp has reached its end-of-life. This may be done through use of an end-of-life detection circuit, such as the end-of-life detection circuit 308 shown in
The end-of-life detection circuit 308, in some embodiments, may also provide a near end-of-life signal to the solid state light source end-of-life indicator 310. The near end-of-life signal may indicate to the solid state light source end-of-life indicator (and thus ultimately to a user of the lamp 300) that the lamp 300 is nearing the end of its life, but has not yet reached the end of its life. Thus, near end-of-life may mean that the lamp has reached 50% of its expected service life, or 75%, or 90%, or 95%, or any value in between any of these and 100% (i.e., end of life). In some embodiments, near end-of-life may be arranged or otherwise set to indicate that some amount of expected service of the lamp less than 50% has been reached. Upon receiving the near end-of-life signal, and then later receiving the end-of-life signal, from the end-of-life detection circuit 318, the solid state light source end-of-life indicator 310 may behave in a variety of different ways, such as but not limited to any of the behaviors of the solid state light source end-of-life indicator 112 described above with regards to
In some embodiments, the solid state light source end-of-life indicator 310 may include at least a first light emitting diode 312 and a second light emitting diode 314. The first light emitting diode 312 may emit light of a first color and the second light emitting diode 314 may emit light of a second color. In some embodiments, the first color and second color are different, or otherwise distinct. In some embodiments, the first color and the second color are the same. The first light emitting diode 312 and the second light emitting diode 314 may split the duties of the solid state light source end-of-life indicator 310. That is, in some embodiments, the first light emitting diode 312 may function as the indicator for near end-of-lamp life, while the second light emitting diode 314 may function as the indicator of end-of-lamp life. Of course, either light emitting diode 312, 314 may serve either function. The behavior of the first and second light emitting diodes 312, 314 may be according to any of the behaviors of a solid state light source end-of-life indicator described herein, including for indicating near end-of-life. The number of solid state light sources that may be used within the solid state light source end-of-life indicator is not limited to one or two, but rather, may be any number of solid state light sources. Thus, in some embodiments, three light emitting diodes, or four, or five, may be used to indicate end-of-life, and variants thereof (i.e., near end-of-life). In some embodiments, various patterns of behavior (i.e., color change, intensity change, blinking, pulsing, etc.), including random arrangements and/or combinations thereof, of the solid state light sources may be used to indicate end-of-life for a lamp, as well as near end-of-life. The use of multiple solid state light sources in the solid state light source end-of-life indicator may also serve to create more light to serve as a safety feature of the lamp for when the light source of the lamp fails. Further, in some embodiments, such as a lamp circuit 600 shown in
The lamp 300 shown in
In some embodiments, the end-of-life detection circuit 308 may detect that the lamp has reached the end of its life by detecting when light emitting by the light source 304 falls below a certain level. This may be a threshold level set to be a certain value, or may, in some embodiments, vary over time with the life of the lamp 300 and/or depending on whether or not the lamp 300 is capable of being dimmed. When the light emitted by the light source falls below the level, in response, the end-of-life detection circuit 308 provides an end-of-life signal to the solid state light source end-of-life indicator 310. In some embodiments, the end-of-life detection circuit 308 may simultaneously provide a shutdown signal to the lamp shutdown circuit 316, which then shuts down the light source 304 upon receiving the provided shutdown signal from the end-of-life detection circuit 308. Further, in some embodiments, various light levels may be set for use by the end-of-life detection circuit 308. Thus, for example, when light emitted by the light source 304 falls below a first threshold level, the end-of-life detection circuit 308 may provide the near end-of-life signal to the solid state light source end-of-life indicator 310. Then, when light emitted by the light source 304 falls below a second threshold level, the end-of-life detection circuit 308 may provide the end-of-life signal to the solid state light source end-of-life indicator 312. Of course, further combinations of levels may be used if there are more than two states being indicated by the same solid state light source end-of-life indicator 310, or if there are more than one solid state light sources (e.g., LEDs) within the solid state light source end-of-life indicator 310.
Some embodiments may include a solid state light source early end-of-life indicator 320, and a corresponding early end-of-life detection circuit 318, both of which are shown in
A flowchart of a method of providing an end-of-life indication according to embodiments described herein is illustrated in
In
An end-of-life detection circuit detects, step 503, when the compact fluorescent lamp is at an end of its life. The end-of-life detection circuit performs this detection in any of the ways described above, or in any other way known in the art. In response to the detection, an end-of-life signal is provided to a solid state light source end-of-life indicator, step 504. The solid state light source end-of-life indicator may have any of the properties and/or characteristics and/or behaviors described herein. Finally, in response to the end-of-life signal being provided, the solid state light source end-of-life indicator is activated to emit light, step 505, indicating that the compact fluorescent lamp has reached the end of its life. In embodiments where the light source of the lamp does not emit any light, due to the lamp having reached its end-of-life, the solid state light source end-of-life indicator will emit light so long as the lamp is receiving power and so long as the indicator itself, nor any of the components it relies on, have not failed.
It should be noted that, while embodiments herein have been described with regards to particular hardware components and/or configurations, certain elements and/or features may alternatively be executed via software instructions performed on a microprocessor, microcontroller, or the like, located within a lamp, without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, a microcontroller with a clocking/timing element and memory may be set, or otherwise programmed, with the expected time of the life of the lamp, and may then track the actual amount of time that the lamp is in service (i.e., on/emitting light). Comparisons between these values may then be used, for example, to determine whether the lamp has met an early end-of-life, or is at a near end-of-life situation, or has reached its end-of-life. Additionally, or alternatively, a lamp that exceeds its expected service life may also be identified, and in some such embodiments, an indicator may be activated in such circumstances to inform the user and/or others of this situation. Such an indicator may have the characteristics of, and/or may behave the same as or similar to, any of the indicators described herein. Further, particularly in embodiments that include a microprocessor or the like, non-visual end-of-life indicators may alternatively or additionally be used, such as but not limited to auditory indicators that make a sound or sounds, or alternate between different sounds, or make a first sound to indicate a first event (e.g., near end-of-life) and a second sound to indicate a second event (end-of-life). Thus, any auditory indicators used may behave in any of the ways described herein with respect to visual indicators.
The methods and systems described herein are not limited to a particular hardware or software configuration, and may find applicability in many computing or processing environments. The methods and systems may be implemented in hardware or software, or a combination of hardware and software. The methods and systems may be implemented in one or more computer programs, where a computer program may be understood to include one or more processor executable instructions. The computer program(s) may execute on one or more programmable processors, and may be stored on one or more storage medium readable by the processor (including volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements), one or more input devices, and/or one or more output devices. The processor thus may access one or more input devices to obtain input data, and may access one or more output devices to communicate output data. The input and/or output devices may include one or more of the following: Random Access Memory (RAM), Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID), floppy drive, CD, DVD, magnetic disk, internal hard drive, external hard drive, memory stick, or other storage device capable of being accessed by a processor as provided herein, where such aforementioned examples are not exhaustive, and are for illustration and not limitation.
The computer program(s) may be implemented using one or more high level procedural or object-oriented programming languages to communicate with a computer system; however, the program(s) may be implemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. The language may be compiled or interpreted.
As provided herein, the processor(s) may thus be embedded in one or more devices that may be operated independently or together in a networked environment, where the network may include, for example, a Local Area Network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), and/or may include an intranet and/or the internet and/or another network. The network(s) may be wired or wireless or a combination thereof and may use one or more communications protocols to facilitate communications between the different processors. The processors may be configured for distributed processing and may utilize, in some embodiments, a client-server model as needed. Accordingly, the methods and systems may utilize multiple processors and/or processor devices, and the processor instructions may be divided amongst such single- or multiple-processor/devices.
The device(s) or computer systems that integrate with the processor(s) may include, for example, a personal computer(s), workstation(s) (e.g., Sun, HP), personal digital assistant(s) (PDA(s)), handheld device(s) such as cellular telephone(s) or smart cellphone(s), laptop(s), handheld computer(s), or another device(s) capable of being integrated with a processor(s) that may operate as provided herein. Accordingly, the devices provided herein are not exhaustive and are provided for illustration and not limitation.
References to “a microprocessor” and “a processor”, or “the microprocessor” and “the processor,” may be understood to include one or more microprocessors that may communicate in a stand-alone and/or a distributed environment(s), and may thus be configured to communicate via wired or wireless communications with other processors, where such one or more processor may be configured to operate on one or more processor-controlled devices that may be similar or different devices. Use of such “microprocessor” or “processor” terminology may thus also be understood to include a central processing unit, an arithmetic logic unit, an application-specific integrated circuit (IC), and/or a task engine, with such examples provided for illustration and not limitation.
Furthermore, references to memory, unless otherwise specified, may include one or more processor-readable and accessible memory elements and/or components that may be internal to the processor-controlled device, external to the processor-controlled device, and/or may be accessed via a wired or wireless network using a variety of communications protocols, and unless otherwise specified, may be arranged to include a combination of external and internal memory devices, where such memory may be contiguous and/or partitioned based on the application. Accordingly, references to a database may be understood to include one or more memory associations, where such references may include commercially available database products (e.g., SQL, Informix, Oracle) and also proprietary databases, and may also include other structures for associating memory such as links, queues, graphs, trees, with such structures provided for illustration and not limitation.
References to a network, unless provided otherwise, may include one or more intranets and/or the internet. References herein to microprocessor instructions or microprocessor-executable instructions, in accordance with the above, may be understood to include programmable hardware.
Unless otherwise stated, use of the word “substantially” may be construed to include a precise relationship, condition, arrangement, orientation, and/or other characteristic, and deviations thereof as understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, to the extent that such deviations do not materially affect the disclosed methods and systems.
Throughout the entirety of the present disclosure, use of the articles “a” or “an” to modify a noun may be understood to be used for convenience and to include one, or more than one, of the modified noun, unless otherwise specifically stated.
Elements, components, modules, and/or parts thereof that are described and/or otherwise portrayed through the figures to communicate with, be associated with, and/or be based on, something else, may be understood to so communicate, be associated with, and or be based on in a direct and/or indirect manner, unless otherwise stipulated herein.
Although the methods and systems have been described relative to a specific embodiment thereof, they are not so limited. Obviously many modifications and variations may become apparent in light of the above teachings. Many additional changes in the details, materials, and arrangement of parts, herein described and illustrated, may be made by those skilled in the art.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 12870066 | Aug 2010 | US |
| Child | 13674784 | US |
