Patent Application
20180142872
The advent of light emitting diode (LED) based luminaires has provided sports arenas, stadiums, other entertainment facilities, and other commercial and industrial facilities the ability to achieve instant on-off capabilities, intelligent controls and adjustability while delivering excellent light quality, consistent light output, and improved energy efficiency. Because of this, users continue to seek improvements in LED lighting devices. For example, new and improved ways to direct light in multiple directions, and to provide luminaires with high light output in a compact package, are desired.
This document describes new illumination devices that are directed to solving the issues described above, and/or other problems.
In an embodiment, a method for performing self-diagnosis in a light fixture includes receiving data corresponding to environmental conditions from one or more sensors. The sensors are positioned in a sensor cavity of a light fixture, and a set of conduits provide a sealed path between a group of LED modules of the light fixture and the sensor cavity such that the LED modules. A processor will analyze the data to determine if at least one of the environmental conditions in the sealed path has undergone one or more of the following changes: a change so that a value of the at least one environmental condition exceeds a threshold level; a threshold change compared to a corresponding constant level; or a rate of change that is greater than a threshold value.
Optionally, the one or more sensors may include a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, a chemical substance sensor, a fire sensor, a particulate sensor, a biological agent sensor, a moisture sensor, an air speed detector, and/or an orientation sensor. The plurality of environmental conditions may include one or more of the following: pressure, temperature, humidity, chemical substance presence, or particulate matter presence.
In some embodiments, analyzing the data to determine if at least one of the plurality of environmental conditions has undergone at least one change may include comparing the received data corresponding to a plurality of environmental conditions with a set of optimal environmental conditions.
In at least one embodiment, data corresponding to the plurality of environmental conditions from the one or more may be received upon occurrence of a triggering event selected from one or more of the following: user instructions, turning on of the light fixture, turning off of the light fixture, manufacturing or quality testing of the light fixture, and/or occurrence of a fault in the light fixture.
In some embodiments, the processor may also executing a corrective measure in response to detecting a change that exceed the threshold level, the threshold change or the rate of change that is greater than the threshold value. Optionally, the one or more sensors may include an orientation sensor, the detected at least one change may include a change in orientation, and the corrective measure includes causing a motor to adjust an orientation of the light fixture. Alternatively/and/or additionally, one or more sensors may include a pressure sensor or a humidity sensor, the detected at least one change may include a change in pressure or a change in humidity. Optionally, the corrective measure may include turning off one or more of the LED modules, opening a vent to relieve pressure in the sealed path, and/or activating a pump to increase pressure in the sealed path. In some embodiments, the corrective measure may include one or more the following: shutting off power to one of the LED modules of the light fixture, or shutting off power to all of the LED modules of the light fixture.
Optionally, the corrective measure is performed for a predefined period of time, until the detected at least one change is reversed, or both.
In certain other embodiments, the processor may generate an alert in response to detecting a change that exceed the threshold level, the threshold change or the rate of change that is greater than the threshold value. Optionally, the alert may include information corresponding to one or more of the following: the detected at least one change, instructions for a user to perform at least one corrective action, or one or more corrective measures initiated by the processor. The information may be included in a visual pattern.
In one or more embodiments, the method may further include by the processor performing the self-diagnostic function in response to receiving data from the one or more sensors, and causing a transmitter configured to transmit the data from the one or more sensors, an output of the self-diagnostic function, or both to a remote receiver.
In an embodiment, the light fixture further may include a circuit board cavity that includes a circuit board with control electronics and the processor, and the plurality of conduits also provide a sealed path between the LED modules, the sensor cavity, and the circuit board cavity.
As used in this document, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. As used in this document, the term “comprising” means “including, but not limited to.”
When used in this document, terms such as “top” and “bottom,” “upper” and “lower”, or “front” and “rear,” are not intended to have absolute orientations but are instead intended to describe relative positions of various components with respect to each other. For example, a first component may be an “upper” component and a second component may be a “lower” component when a light fixture is oriented in a first direction. The relative orientations of the components may be reversed, or the components may be on the same plane, if the orientation of a light fixture that contains the components is changed. The claims are intended to include all orientations of a device containing such components.
“Electronic communication” refers to the ability to transmit data via one or more signals between two or more electronic devices, whether through a wired or wireless network, and whether directly or indirectly via one or more intermediary devices.
When this document uses the term “processor” or “processing device,” unless expressly stated otherwise it is intended to include embodiments that consist of a single data processing device, as well as embodiments that include two or more data processing devices that together perform various steps of a described process.
When this document uses the terms “memory,” “memory device,” “computer-readable memory,” “computer-readable medium,” or “data storage facility,” unless expressly stated otherwise it is intended to include embodiments that consist of a single memory device, embodiments that include two or more memory devices that together store a set of data or instructions, or one or more sectors or other portions of a memory device.
The opening of the housing 25 may be circular, square, or a square with round corners as shown in
The device's housing 25 includes a body portion 27 and an optional shroud portion 29. The body portion 27 serves as a heat sink that dissipates heat that is generated by the LED modules. The body/heat sink 27 may be formed of aluminum and/or other metal, plastic or other material, and it may include any number of fins 22a . . . 22n on the exterior to increase its surface area that will contact a surrounding cooling medium (typically, air). Thus, the body portion 27 or the entire housing 25 may have a bowl shape as shown, the LED modules 11-15 may fit within the opening of the bowl, and heat from the LED modules 11-15 may be drawn away from the LED modules and dissipated via the fins 22a . . . 22n on the exterior of the bowl.
While the LED modules are positioned at the front of body portion 27, the opposing side of the body portion may be attached to a power supply unit 30, optionally via a thermal interface plate. The power supply unit 30 may include a battery, solar panel, or circuitry to receive power from an external and/or other internal source. A power supply unit 30 may be positioned at the rear of the body (i.e., at the bottom of the bowl), and the interior of the unit may include wiring or other conductive elements to transfer power and/or control signals from the power supply unit 30 to the LED modules 11-15. The power supply 30 may be positioned at or near the rear of the body as shown, or it may be placed into the housing so that it is flush or substantially flush with the rear of the body 27, or it may be configured to extend to some point between being flush with the body portion 27 and an extended position. A sensor cavity 32 may be attached to the power supply and/or other part of the device as shown, and it may contain sensors and/or control and communications hardware for sensing parameters of and controlling the device, receiving commands, and transmitting data to remote control devices.
The housing 25 may be formed as a single piece, or it may be formed of two pieces that fit together as in a clamshell-type structure. In a clamshell design, a portion of the interior wall of the clamshell near its opening may include a groove, ridge, or other supporting structure that is configured to receive and secure the LED structure in the opening when the clamshell is closed. In addition, the fins 22a . . . 22n may be curved or arced as shown, with the base of each fin's curve/arc positioned proximate the opening/LED modules, and the apex of each fin's curve/arc positioned distal from the opening/LED modules to further help draw heat away from the LED modules. The housing may be attached to a support structure 40, such as a base or mounting yoke, optionally by one or more connectors 81. As shown, the connectors 81 may include axles about which the housing and/or support structure may be rotated to enable the light assembly to be positioned to direct light at a desired angle. The light fixture may include or be connected to a motor 82 that, when actuated, causes the housing to rotate about the connectors and adjust an orientation of the lighting device. Other motors may be used in different locations (such as attached to the mounting yoke) to adjust pitch, yaw, or other positional aspects of the lighting device.
The power supply unit 30 may be detachable from remainder of the lighting device's housing 25 so that it can be replaced and/or removed for maintenance without the need to remove the entire device from an installed location, or so that it can be remotely mounted to reduce weight. The power supply unit 30 and/or a portion of the lighting unit housing 25 may include one or more antennae, transceivers or other communication devices 85 that can receive control signals from an external source. For example, the illumination device may include a wireless receiver and an antenna that is configured to receive control signals via a wireless communication protocol. Optionally, a portion of the lighting unit housing 25 or shroud 29 (described below) may be equipped with an attached laser pointer that can be used to identify a distal point in an environment to which the lighting device directs its light. The laser pointer can thus help with installation and alignment of the device to a desired focal point.
The fins 22a . . . 22n may be positioned substantially vertically (i.e., lengthwise from a top portion of the LED array structure and shroud 29 to a bottom portion of the same). Optionally, one or more lateral supports may be interconnected with the fins to provide support to the housing. The lateral supports may be positioned substantially parallel to the axis of the fins, or they may be curved to extend away from the LED structure, or they may be formed of any suitable shape and placed in any position. Each support may connect two or more of the fins. The fins and optional supports form the body portion 27 as a grate, and hot air may rise through the spaces that exist between the fins and supports of the grate. In addition, precipitation may freely fall through the openings of the grate. In addition, any small debris (such dust or bird droppings) that is caught in the grate may be washed away when precipitation next occurs.
The conduits 44, 46, 48 may be made of aluminum, plastic, or another lightweight, weather-resistant material. The conduits 44, 46, 48 are sealed to the LED modules at one end and to the sensor cavity 32 at the other end, and thus provide a sealed path that is sealed to external elements and is airtight and water-resistant. In this way, the desired optimal conditions may be maintained in the conduit (sealed path), such as a constant air pressure, constant temperature, or the like. For example, in an embodiment, the sealed path may be maintained at a pressure of about 0.9 atm to about 1.1 atm. Furthermore, the sensors may be able to monitor the conditions within the sealed path without external influence, which may be used as an indication of the conditions associated with the LED modules and/or the LEDs. For example, the sensors may include a humidity, temperature, and/or pressure sensor positioned to monitor the air pressure, temperature, and/or the humidity within the sealed path. A chemical sensor may be included to detect the presence of one or more particular substances in the sealed path.
In an embodiment, the sensors may be connected directly to or proximate the rear of the LED modules. Alternatively and/or additionally, the sensors may be positioned so that one or more other components, such as the power supply and control board, are also in the sealed path. Because the path is sealed from the external environment, a single pressure sensor, a single temperature sensor, a single humidity sensor, and/or a single chemical sensor may be sufficient to monitor the pressure, temperature, humidity, or chemical substance within the electronics component housing, LED modules, and the intervening conduits.
The components of an illumination device may malfunction if the conditions surrounding the LED modules and/or other components vary from the desired optimal conditions (based on threshold values) and/or change suddenly. For example, humidity or moisture levels above a threshold level may cause short-circuiting, presence of particulates like dust above a threshold level may affect the quality of light, or other similar malfunctions. Alternatively and/or additionally, such changes in the conditions surrounding the LED modules and/or other components may be an indication of currently existing faults in the illumination device. Examples may include, without limitation, a change in temperature may be indicative of a fault with the heat sink of the illumination device which if unchecked may lead to breakdown of the illumination device; a change in pressure may be indicative of cracks or faults in the lens cover of an illumination device; presence of a chemical substance may be indicative of outgassing (such as from windings of an inductive magnetic coil) or of component degradation that can be adversely deposited upon a viewing surface; or the like. Hence, it is important to monitor the conditions surrounding the LED modules and/or other components of an illumination device, detect changes and/or rates of change, perform error corrective steps, and/or generate an alert in response to the detection. Hence, in an embodiment, the lighting device may include software and/or firmware that uses data detected by the sensors to perform a self-diagnostic function to detect changes and/or rates of change, perform corrective steps (such as activating a pump 83 to increase pressure or opening a vent 84 to relieve pressure in the sealed path), and/or generate an alert in response to the detection.
In an embodiment, the illumination device may include a control card and/or a processor that is in electronic communication with the sensor cavity so that it can receive data receive data generated from one or more sensors and process the above data to perform the self-diagnostic function. Alternatively and/or additionally, the processor may transmit the detected data to a remote device and receive instructions to perform some or all of the self-diagnostic functions.
The illumination device may also include a computer-readable medium containing programming instructions that, when executed, cause the illumination device's processor to analyze data received from the sensor cavity to detect changes and/or rates of change, perform error corrective steps and/or generate an alert in response to the detection.
The processor may analyze 702 the received sensor data to detect 703 changes in one or more optimal conditions of a sealed path (i.e., the conduit). In an embodiment, the processor may analyze the received sensor data by comparing the received values for a condition with a threshold range and/or value and detect a change if the received value is above or below a threshold value and/or outside the threshold range. For example, the processor may detect a change if the received pressure value is outside a threshold range of about 0.9 atm to about 1.1 atm. Alternatively and/or additionally, the processor may also analyze the data to detect changes in the conditions of the sealed path by measuring a rate of change of a condition and comparing it to a threshold value. For example, the processor may compare a measured rate to change and determine whether the rate of change is more than a threshold value (i.e., rapid change). The processor may determine the rate of change by analyzing the sensed data over a period of time.
In an embodiment, if the processor detects a change, it may initiate corrective measures 704 to rectify currently existing faults in the illumination device (if the change is caused by a currently existing fault) and/or prevent malfunctioning of one or more components of the illumination device. Corrective measures are actions to change a setting, function, or other physical property of the illumination device in order to enable the illumination device to continue functioning after a fault, or to protect the illumination device and/or nearby devices from potential faults. Examples of corrective measures include, without limitation: (i) activating a switch or otherwise interrupting current to shut off power to the LED module in response to detection of high humidity levels (i.e., a humidity sensor detecting a humidity level above a threshold in the sealed cavity, or a rate of change of the humidity level in the cavity exceeding a threshold) in order to avoid short-circuiting of components while other modules such as communication modules may be kept active; (ii) causing a motor to adjust a position of the device in response to detecting that the device is not property oriented; (iii) opening a vent (which may include a valve) in the sealed cavity to release pressure in the cavity until a threshold pressure is achieved; (iv) activating a pump to increase pressure in the cavity until a threshold pressure is achieved; or other protective actions. In an embodiment, the processor may shut down all LED modules of the illumination device rather than just a single module. In an embodiment, the processor may shut down the illumination device completely until the corrective action is complete.
Alternatively and/or additionally, the processor may also generate alerts 706 upon detection of a change and/or determines that the rate of change is above a threshold value. In an embodiment, the alert may include information relating to a detected change and/or instructions for a user to perform corrective actions. In an embodiment, an alert may also convey information regarding the corrective measures initiated by the processor (if any). In an embodiment, an alert may be associated with a specific pattern that may be configured to provide information about the detected change. For example, rapidly blinking lights may indicate a failure of the heat sink causing a change in temperature of the illumination device, blinking lights at a different rate may be associated with a change in humidity, or the like.
One possible corrective measure may include recalibration of air pressure inside the sealed cavity. In this embodiment, the system also may include a pump positioned to increase pressure in the sealed path when activated, and a vent positioned to relieve pressure in the sealed path when open. However, a pump may not be necessary in all embodiments. For example, pressure in the sealed path may be increased simply by heat generated by the LED modules and/or the power supply.
Embodiments that include a pump, the control card or other components may include a storage medium with programming (software and/or firmware) configured to cause a processor to activate the pump upon receipt of a signal from the pressure sensor indicating that the pressure in the sealed path has dropped below a lower threshold level, and to keep the pump running until pressure sensor data indicates that at least the lower threshold level has been restored. The software and/or firmware also may be configured to cause a processor to command the vent to open upon receipt of a signal from the pressure sensor indicating that pressure within the sealed path has risen below an upper threshold level, and to close the vent when the pressure has been relieved so that it has fallen below the upper threshold. The software and/or firmware also may be configured to cause a processor to command the LED modules to dim or turn off when the sensor(s) detect that pressure and/or humidity exceed an upper threshold value, or if at least a threshold amount of a chemical substance is present. The LED modules may remain dimmed or off for a set period of time, or until the sensor(s) detect that pressure and/or humidity and/or chemical substance concentration has dropped below a lower threshold value.
Optionally, the sensor cavity, control board, or other components of the system may be configured to transmit data from the sensor, an output of the self-diagnostic function, or both to a remote receiver. For example, in an embodiment, the illumination device may also include a wireless communication module configured to send and/or receive information to and/or from another device. In an embodiment, the communication module may be electrically connected (such as via an I2C communication protocol) to the sensors and may transmit detected data to a remote device. Examples communication methods may include, without limitation, a short-range communications such as near field communication (NFC), Bluetooth or Bluetooth low energy (BLE), ZigBee, radio frequency identification (RFID), LoRa or LoRaWAN, or long range communications such as Wi-Fi, over cellular networks, or the like.
Returning to
The fins 22a . . . 22n may be positioned substantially vertically (i.e., lengthwise from a top portion of the LED array structure and shroud 29 to a bottom portion of the same). Optionally, one or more lateral supports may be interconnected with the fins to provide support to the housing. The lateral supports may be positioned substantially parallel to the axis of the fins, or they may be curved to extend away from the LED structure, or they may be formed of any suitable shape and placed in any position. Each support may connect two or more of the fins. In this embodiment shown in
It is intended that the portions of this disclosure describing LED modules and control systems and methods are not limited to the embodiment of the illumination devices disclosed in this document. The LED modules, control systems and control methods may be applied to other LED illumination structures, such as those disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2014/0334149, titled “High intensity light-emitting diode luminaire assembly” (filed by Nolan et al. and published Nov. 13, 2014), and in U.S. Patent Application Pub. No., 2015/0167937, titled “High intensity LED illumination device” (filed by Casper et al. and published Jun. 18, 2015), the disclosures of which are fully incorporated herein by reference.
The features and functions described above, as well as alternatives, may be combined into many other systems or applications. Various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements may be made by those skilled in the art, each of which is also intended to be encompassed by the disclosed embodiments.
This patent document claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/388,760, filed Dec. 22, 2016 which in turn claims priority U.S. provisional patent application No. 62/271,488, filed Dec. 28, 2015, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62271488 | Dec 2015 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 15388760 | Dec 2016 | US |
| Child | 15857904 | US |
