The present invention relates generally to door handle assemblies.
Currently-used hotel room doors incorporate special door handle assemblies rather than the doorknobs used in conventional doorknobs normally found in residences. These door assemblies often incorporate electronic circuitry, such as an electronic key card reader, electronic latches, and other devices.
There are situations where there is insufficient lighting to locate the door handle, such as at nighttime, during a power outage, in the case of fire, etc. Although it may be possible to direct supplemental lighting to illuminate the door handle, the lighting will also lose power in the case of a power outage if it is connected to a central source, making it ineffective in emergency situations where there is a power loss. Moreover, there is currently no way to provide pathway lighting in emergency situations, nor is there any way to control lighting to respond to environmental conditions, such as a change in the amount of ambient light near the door handle assemblies. Conventional lighting used to illuminate the door handle itself may provide enough lighting for locating the door handle in darkened conditions, but it is insufficient to illuminate any area beyond the immediate vicinity of the door handle.
There is a desire for a device that provides a way to illuminate a pathway in the event of a power outage or other situation requiring supplemental lighting.
The invention is generally directed to a door handle device incorporating pathway lighting to illuminate a pathway when needed, such as during a power outage, fire, or other emergency. In one embodiment, the device includes at least one light source, such as a super-bright LED or other low current/power light source, that is mounted to a door and that is bright enough to illuminate a pathway. Power for the light source may be provided by an internal power source that is used to power other components (e.g., a lock, a key card reader, etc.) within the door handle device. In one embodiment, the device also includes a light sensor that detects the amount of ambient light surrounding the device and a controller that controls the operation of the light source based on the amount of ambient light.
By providing pathway lighting on the door handle device, the invention can illuminate a pathway in situations where other light sources are unavailable. As a result, the pathway lighting provides an additional measure of comfort to guide users toward the door and lead them toward a desired location, if needed, in the event that normal lighting is unavailable. The pathway lighting may also act as interior lighting to provide emergency lighting and/or act as a nightlight.
In the example shown in
To illuminate a pathway in the vicinity of the door handle device 100, the device 100 includes at least one light source 110. The light source 110 itself may be any light source that runs on low current/power and that can produce light with enough brightness to illuminate a pathway. Possible light sources include, for example, LEDs, electro-luminescent light sources, incandescent lights, etc. In the illustrated example, the light source 110 is a module 112 containing a plurality of super-bright LEDs 114. As shown in
Note that the light source 110 is not used simply to illuminate the door handle 100 and therefore cannot simply be, for example, a low-wattage incandescent light. Instead, the light source 110 should be bright enough so that the light sources 110 on multiple doors in a hallway, for example, delineate a pathway that can be easily seen and followed in an emergency situation even if there is no other available ambient lighting. For example, the light sources 110 may define and illuminate a pathway that leads toward an exit.
In one embodiment, as shown in
As shown in
The control unit used to power and control operation of the light source 110a in the embodiment shown in
Further, the control unit 118 may be configured so that the light sources 110, 110a operate differently under different ambient light conditions, if desired. For example, as shown in
Instead of or in addition to the sensors 120, 120a, a receiver 126 may be connected to the switch 122 or the controller 124 to receive a wireless message from, for example, a wireless messenger communication system (not shown). In this case, the message received by the receiver 126 acts as the control mechanism. The message may instruct the switch 122 or controller 124 to enable or disable the light source 110, 10a; in one example, in the case of a power outage, the messenger system can send a last message to turn on the light source 110, 110a to alert a guest of the location of their room or otherwise provide more customized control over the light source 110, 110a.
Incorporating a light source to serve as pathway lighting for a door handle device and powering the light source with a power source associated with the door itself provides a reliable, economical way to offer supplemental lighting in emergency situations. Moreover, controlling the intensity of the light output from the light source based on a detected amount of ambient light allows more efficient operation of the light source with minimized current draw.
It should be understood that various alternatives to the embodiments of the invention described herein may be employed in practicing the invention. It is intended that the following claims define the scope of the invention and that the method and apparatus within the scope of these claims and their equivalents be covered thereby.