Patent Grant
10371352
This application claims priority to Italian Patent Application Serial No. 102017000023131, which was filed Mar. 1, 2017, and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Various embodiments may generally relate to lighting devices.
One or more embodiments may refer to lighting devices employing electrically powered light radiation sources such as solid-state sources, e.g. LED sources.
In the lighting sector the use has spread of lighting modules adapted to be controlled by so-called light-engines, distributed along the length of the module (in the case of elongated linear modules) or on the area of the modules, e.g. with a plurality of driving circuits each of which controls a respective Single Electrical Unit (SEU).
Apart from the power supply, the elongated modules are not usually provided with a connection among the various SEUs, so that each unit operates independently, without accessing to information about the status of the previous or the following driving units.
In various applications, e.g. for smart lighting devices, it would be desirable to enable the various SEUs to communicate with each other, in order to share e.g. information about monitoring the status of the various SEUs distributed along the module and/or about the actions triggered by one or more sensors distributed along the length of the module.
In this respect, the proposal has been made to use smart components (such as microcontrollers or microprocessors) adapted to monitor the status of sensing elements and to consequently regulate the various light-engines.
Another approach has proposed the use of addressable linear lighting modules, wherein the various SEUs are sequentially connected via a common communication bus, which however is usually limited to a one-way information transmission.
In principle, the information may be transferred along the lighting module, specifically between the various Electronic Control Gear (ECG), by wireless communication systems (e.g. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, . . . ) or by cabled communication systems (e.g. based on the DALI or I2C standards, or via serial protocols, etc.).
In most cases, such solutions envisage employing rather expensive smart components and a number of electrical connections, which may affect the product size by requiring e.g. the presence of wider substrates (e.g. Flexible Printed Circuits, FPCs) or multiple-layer substrates, with a negative impact on the cost due the need both of a higher amount of material for implementing the substrate and of more complex FPC structures.
One or more embodiments may aim at providing advantageous solutions for sharing information along elongated lighting modules, e.g. without the need of employing smart components.
According to one or more embodiments, said object may be achieved with a lighting device having the features set forth in the claims that follow.
One or more embodiments may also refer to a corresponding method.
One or more embodiments may take advantage of the layered structure (practically a stack of different materials) of a linear lighting module (for example, but not necessarily, having a protection against the penetration of external agents, e.g. having an IP protection degree) in order to create at least one optical, e.g. short-range, communication channel.
In one or more embodiments, said system may be employed for sharing information along the length of the module, even in both directions, via optical signals and without affecting the performance of the lighting device.
One or more embodiments may envisage the use of at least one of said layers, so as to originate a structure substantially similar to an optical waveguide with total internal reflection.
When a wave coming from a first medium, having a high refractive index, impinges onto the boundary with another medium having a low reflective index, there exists a critical angle (known as angle of total internal reflection) above which the wave cannot pass through the surface, but rather is reflected in its entirety.
Such angle θcrit may be expressed as:
θcrit=sin−1(next-medium/nint-medium)
wherein sin−1 expresses the arcsin function, and next-medium as well as nint-medium denote the refractive indexes of both media, with next-medium referring to the more external material layer and with Nint-medium referring to the more internal material layer.
This may enable transmitting information collected e.g. by a sensor and/or sharing basic information concerning the status of a plurality of SEUs along the module.
One or more embodiments may lead to the implementation of a communication channel among a plurality of SEUs within a linear lighting module, without affecting the normal lighting performance and/or the flexibility of the module. One or more embodiments lead to sharing basic information within the module with a minimum increase in the number of components, without requiring a smart component such as a microcontroller or a microprocessor (and the related software) and/or a communication bus.
In one or more embodiments:
In one or more embodiments:
In the drawings, like reference characters generally refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead generally being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. In the following description, various embodiments of the invention are described with reference to the following drawings, in which:
In the following description, various specific details are given to provide a thorough understanding of various exemplary embodiments according to the present specification. The embodiments may be practiced without one or several specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In other instances, well-known structures, materials or operations are not shown or described in detail in order to avoid obscuring the various aspects of the embodiments. Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the possible appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring exactly to the same embodiment. Furthermore, particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
The headings provided herein are for convenience only, and therefore do not interpret the extent of protection or scope of the embodiments.
In the Figures, reference 10 generally denotes an elongated lighting device, having a lengthwise extension denoted as X10, e.g. of the so-called “flex” type.
In the present case, device 10 may be considered as having indefinite length, being adapted in one or more embodiments to be cut to length according to the application and usage needs.
In one or more embodiments, device 10 may include a ribbon-shaped support element or substrate 11, e.g. a so-called FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit).
In one or more embodiments, substrate 11 may have a front side (or upper side, above in the Figures) whereon there are distributed light radiation sources 12. In one or more embodiments, these sources may include electrically powered, e.g. solid-state, light radiation sources, such as LED sources.
Sources 12 may be connected to electrically conductive formations 14 (e.g. lines of a metal material such as copper or aluminium), adapted to extend e.g. along the front or upper side of support 11, which perform the function of supplying power to, and optionally controlling, the light radiation sources 12.
In one or more embodiments, said sources may be divided into a plurality of units, which may be named Single Electrical Units (SEUs).
In the Figures, the nature of such units is exemplified, in a deliberately schematic representation, by illustrating lines 14 as divided into a plurality of sections: of course, such a representation is merely exemplary because, in one or more embodiments, lines 14 may be implemented in such a way as to favour electric continuity (e.g. for the supply of sources 12) along the extension direction of device 10.
Apart from what will be described in further detail in the following, the presently considered kind of devices/modules is to be considered known in the art, which makes it unnecessary to provide a more detailed description herein.
Another well-known aspect is that such modules may be implemented, in one or more embodiments;
Said potting mass 16 may include a sort of protective sheath, which protects the module against the penetration of external agents (moisture, various particles, etc.) e.g. by imparting an IP degree protection.
One or more embodiments as exemplified in
In one or more embodiments, support 11 may therefore host one or more sources 18 (e.g. infrared LEDs) of an optical signal, which may be injected into the waveguide formed by layer 16. Said optical signal is adapted to propagate along the length of module 10, so as to be sensed by one or more photodetectors 20 arranged on substrate 11.
By using either a source 18 emitting the optical signal in one direction or a plurality of sources 18 emitting the optical signal in opposite direction, it is possible to obtain a signal transmission along the waveguide including layer 16, even when (as may occur in current applications) layer 10 is bent or twisted.
For example, if the potting mass 16 includes a silicone material (having a refractive index n approximately amounting to 1.41), the angle of total internal reflection has an approximate value of 45.2°. If the potting mass 16 includes a material such as polyurethane (n=1.5), said angle approximately amounts to 41.8°.
The sources 18 may include, for example, LEDs emitting either in the infrared range (far infrared, near infrared) or in the ultraviolet range, i.e. in a spectrum of electromagnetic radiation other than the spectrum (normally the visible spectrum) of the radiation emitted by the sources 12, i.e. the lighting sources. In this way, the transmission of the optical signal between the source(s) 18 and the detector(s) 20 may take place without interfering with the lighting action of module 10.
Therefore, it will be appreciated that, as used herein, the adjective “optical” (referring e.g. to the signal propagating along layer 16) is by no means to be construed as limited to the visible range.
One or more embodiments may employ one or more detectors 20 (e.g. infrared sensors, proximity sensors, etc.) arranged at different distances along module 10, offering therefore the possibility of acting correspondingly (e.g. via one or more locally driven switches) in those regions (in practice, in each SEU) wherein the signal is received.
The distance useful for the optical communication as previously outlined may be linked to factors such as:
An optical communication channel as exemplified herein may exhibit high flexibility: for example, it is possible to use a plurality of sources 18 at different positions of module 10, the single detectors 20 being adapted to distinguish, or at any rate to manage, the signals coming from different sources.
For example, if sources 18 emit a continuous optical signal, a single detector (sensor) 20 may be adapted to receive a plurality of optical components from different directions (e.g. from two sources 18) and to be triggered (e.g. by driving a switch) as soon as a given threshold has been reached.
More generally, by using modulated sources 18, the transmitted signal may be imparted an individual characterization (e.g. it may be customized, by employing different modulations, different widths, different delays) so as to enable each detector 20:
In one or more embodiments, substrate 11 may include a light permeable material, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), transparent polyimide (PI) or flexible glass.
Also in this case, it is possible to take advantage of the difference in the refractive indexes of air (usually having a low refractive index) and of the transparent substrate (having a higher refractive index), so as to originate an optical waveguide which may be used for transmitting the signals along module 10 in the direction of axis X10.
Such an option may be adopted also in the case of module 10 being a bare module, i.e. without potting mass 16.
On the other hand, solutions as exemplified in
At any rate, the optical waveguide implemented via a light permeable substrate 11 enables the transmission of short-range optical signals, the possibility being offered of sending both basic information (e.g. the on/off state of a SEU) and more complex information.
In one or more embodiments, the light radiation source(s) (e.g. infrared LEDs) may emit their radiation towards substrate 11 (i.e. downwards, with reference to the viewpoint of
As a consequence, the optical signal (and the information associated thereto) may be injected in opposite directions into the material of substrate 11, even from one source 18. At the same time, the characteristics of signal transmission are preserved even when module 10 is bent or twisted.
With reference to the previously mentioned materials, it may be observed that:
The signal emitted by one or more sources 18 may therefore be detected by one or more sensors 20 (e.g. an infrared sensor or a proximity sensor) located at different distances, the consequent possibility being given of acting (e.g. by driving a switch) on the single SEUs where the signal is received.
In one or more embodiments, the source 18 and the detectors 20 may be mounted on the front side of substrate 11 (where sources 12 are located), the possibility being given, as they are mounted downwards, of projecting the light radiation into substrate 11 and of capturing the light radiation propagating along substrate 11.
Also in this case, the transmission range may depend on different factors, such as:
In one or more embodiments as exemplified in
Also in this case, in the presence of a plurality of sources 18, the detector(s) may be adapted to manage the signals transmitted by a plurality of sources, for example.
For example, if the source(s) 18 emit a continuous optical signal, a single detector (sensor) 20 may be adapted to receive a plurality of optical components from different sources, in different directions, and may be adapted to be triggered (e.g. by driving a switch) when a predetermined threshold has been reached.
More generally, if modulated sources 18 are used, it is possible to impart to the transmitted signal an individual characterization (e.g. by customizing it through the use of different modulations, different widths, different delays), so that the individual detector 20 is adapted to receive a plurality of signals without mutual interferences, and/or to identify which source, among the various sources 18 arranged along module 10, has emitted a certain signal.
One or more embodiments, as exemplified in
The layer 11a may increase the efficiency of the waveguide formed in substrate 11 by performing a mirror-like reflection of the light radiation.
In one or more embodiments, as exemplified in
In one or more embodiments, a lighting device (e.g. 10) may include:
In one or more embodiments, said at least one light-permeable layer may include a protection layer applied onto said electrically-powered light radiation sources.
In one or more embodiments, said at least one light-permeable layer may include a substrate onto which said electrically-powered light radiation sources are arranged.
In one or more embodiments, said at least one light-permeable layer may be provided with a light-reflective coating (e.g. 11a).
In one or more embodiments, said substrate may include:
In one or more embodiments:
One or more embodiments may include a plurality of said optical signal sources configured for emitting optical signals selected out of:
In one or more embodiments:
In one or more embodiments, a method of providing lighting devices may include:
While the disclosed embodiments have been particularly shown and described with reference to specific embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosed embodiments as defined by the appended claims. The scope of the disclosed embodiments is thus indicated by the appended claims and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| MI17A3131 | Mar 2017 | IT | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20090129115 | Fine | May 2009 | A1 |
| 20120195598 | Dunn | Aug 2012 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2754956 | Jul 2014 | EP |
| 2006131924 | Dec 2006 | WO |
| 2011027095 | Mar 2011 | WO |
| Entry |
|---|
| Italian Search Report based on application No. 102017000023131 (9 pages) dated Nov. 21, 2017 (for reference purpose only). |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20180252390 A1 | Sep 2018 | US |
