Fluorescent lamps are widely used in a variety of applications, such as for general purpose lighting in commercial, industrial, office, home and residential locations, etc. Conventional fluorescent tubes used for general lighting cannot, in general, be directly plugged into alternating current (AC) voltage lines. Fluorescent lamps generally include a glass tube, linear, circular, spiral or other shaped bulb containing a gas at low pressure, such as argon, xenon, neon, or krypton, along with low pressure mercury vapor. A fluorescent coating is deposited on the inside of the lamp. As an electrical current is passed through the lamp, mercury atoms are excited and photons are released, most having frequencies in the ultraviolet spectrum. These photons are absorbed by the fluorescent coating, causing it to emit light at visible frequencies.
Electronic ballasts convert the input AC voltage supplied (typically at a low AC frequency of 50 or 60 Hz) power into generally a sinusoidal AC output waveform typically designed for a constant current output in the frequency range of above 20 to 40 kHz to typically less than 100 kHz and sometimes greater than 100 kHz. Magnetic ballasts limit the typically 50 or 60 Hz current to an appropriate value for the florescent tubes and lamps.
Fluorescent lamps can suffer from a number of disadvantages, such as a relatively short life span, flickering, and noisy ballasts, etc. However nowadays there are many high quality electronic ballasts that are available. Although the ballasts may be of high quality and long life, often the fluorescent tubes that are powered by the ballasts, suffer from a number of undesirable effects including reduced lifetime due, for example, to being switched on and off too often.
The present invention provides solid state lighting including a fluorescent replacement that, for example, powers a solid state lighting source such as, for example, but not limited to, a LED and/or OLED and/or QD lamp from a fluorescent fixture, including operating and being powered by electronic ballasts. Embodiments of the present invention also allow for digital lighting and a digital platform in general.
This summary provides only a general outline of some particular embodiments. Many other objects, features, advantages and other embodiments will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description. Nothing in this document should be viewed as or considered to be limiting in any way or form.
A further understanding of the various embodiments of the present invention may be realized by reference to the Figures which are described in remaining portions of the specification. In the Figures, like reference numerals may be used throughout several drawings to refer to similar components.
Solid state lighting systems, including solid state fluorescent lamp replacements, are disclosed herein that may be used to power one or more light-emitting diode (LED), organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and/or quantum dot (QD) or other solid state lamps from a fluorescent fixture, whether the fixture includes a ballast of any type or not, or from other sources. Various power supplies that draw power from the fluorescent fixture are disclosed to power one or more solid state lamps. Various dimming control systems are disclosed to receive and process control signals from one or more sources and to control one or more solid state lamps.
The present invention may use any type of circuit, integrated circuit (IC), microchip(s), microcontroller, microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP), application specific IC (ASIC), field gate programmable array (FPGA), complex logic device (CLD), analog and/or digital circuit, system, component(s), filters, etc. including, but not limited to, any method to provide a switched signal such as a PWM drive signal to the switching devices. In addition, additional voltage and/or current detect circuits may be used in place of or to augment the control and feedback circuits.
Some embodiments of the present invention comprise an LED Fluorescent Lamp Replacement that is remote dimmable and can also be Triac, Triac-based, forward and reverse dimmer dimmable, etc. Control systems can use or receive control signals/commands from, for example, but not limited to any or all of wired, wireless, optical, acoustic, voice, voice recognition, motion, light, sonar, gesturing, sound, ultrasound, ultrasonic, mechanical, vibrational, and/or PLC, etc., combinations of these, etc. remote control, monitoring and dimming, motion detection/proximity detection/gesture detection, etc.
In some embodiments, dimming or/other control can be performed using methods/techniques/approaches/algorithms/etc. that implement one or more of the following: motion detection, recognizing motion or proximity to a detector or sensor and setting a dimming level or control response/level in response to the detected motion or proximity, or with audio detection, for example detecting sounds or verbal commands to set the dimming level in response to detected sounds, volumes, or by interpreting the sounds, including voice recognition or, for example, by gesturing including hand or arm gesturing, etc. sonar, light, mechanical, vibration, detection and sensing, etc. Some embodiments may be dual or multiple dimming and/or control, supporting the use of multiple sources, methods, algorithms, interfaces, sensors, detectors, protocols, etc. to control and/or monitor including data logging, data mining and analytics.
Some embodiments of the present invention may use multiple dimming or control (i.e., accept dimming information, input(s), control from two or more sources).
Remote interfaces include, but are not limited to, 0 to 10 V, 0 to 2 V, 0 to 1 V, 0 to 3 V, etc., RS 232, RS485, DMX, WiFi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, IEEE 802, two wire, three wire, SPI, I2C, PLC, and others discussed in this document, etc. In various embodiments, the control signals can be received and used by the remote fluorescent lamp replacement ballast or by the LED, OLED and/or QD fluorescent lamp replacement or both.
The solid state lighting systems can include single and multi-color lights including RGB, White plus red-green-blue (RGB) LEDs or OLEDs or other lighting sources, RGB plus one or more colors, red yellow blue (RYB), other variants, etc. Color-changing/tuning can include more than one color including RGB, WRGB, RGBW, WRGBA where A stands for amber, etc. 5 color, 6 color, N color, etc.
Color-changing/tuning can include, but is not limited to, white color-tuning including the color temperature tuning/adjustments/settings/ etc., color correction temperature (CCT), color rendering index (CRI), etc. including but not limited to with one or more of a red, green, blue, amber, cool white (i.e., relatively high kelvin color temperature), warm white (i.e., relatively low Kelvin color temperature), etc., combinations of these, etc., combinations that produce full spectrum lighting, etc.
Color rendering, color monitoring, color feedback and control can be implemented using wired or wireless circuits, systems, interfaces, etc. that can be interactive using for example, but not limited to, smart phones, tablets, computers, laptops, servers, remote controls, etc. The present invention can use or, for example, make, create, produces, etc. any color of white including but not limited to soft, warm, bright, daylight, cool, etc. Color temperature monitoring, feedback, and adjustment can be performed in such embodiments of the present invention. Some embodiments of the present invention can change to different colors when using light sources capable of supporting such (i.e., LEDs, OLEDs and/or QDs including but not limited to red, green, blue, amber, white LEDs and/or any other possible combination of LEDs and colors).
Embodiments of the present invention have the ability to store color choices, selections, etc. and retrieve, restore, display, update, etc. these color choices and selections when using non-fluorescent light sources that can support color changing and can also coordinate, copy, duplicate color setting including but not limited to color settings that are stored, coded, interpreted, etc. in digital format.
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The EMI components are for illustrative purposes only and are not limited in any way or form to what is shown and depicted herein and may contain, but are not limited to, inductors, chokes, beads, capacitors, resistors, other types of passive and active components, etc., combinations of these, etc.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the rectification can be shared and common to both the ballast and AC line powered modes of operation, etc. In some embodiments of the present invention, power can also be by DC voltage including lower voltage DC such as 12 volts DC or even ˜3 volts DC.
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Embodiments of the on/off dimming implementations of the present invention can provide more than one way to turn on/off and/or dim including but not limited to 0 to 3 V, 0 to 10 V, 1 to 8 V, other voltage ranges, as well as providing forward or reverse phase cut dimming which can be selected including but not limited to manually, automatically, programmed, decision making, etc., powerline control in addition to one or more wireless (i.e., RF and/or optical, etc.) as well as other digital and/or analog interfaces, controls, etc. A non-limiting example of such a dimmer/switch is shown in
The present invention can have one or more integrated motion sensors of any type or operation as part of the housing and can also use auxiliary motion sensors and can also have integrated light/photocell sensor as well as auxiliary sensors, power, transmitters, etc.
The present invention can also respond to proximity sensors including passive or active or both, as well as voice commands and can be used to turn on, turn off, dim, flash or change colors including doing so in response to an emergency situation. The present invention can use wireless, wired, powerline, combinations of these, including but not limited to, Bluetooth, RFID, WiFi, ZigBee, ZWave, LiFi, 6LoWPAN, Thread, IEEE 801, IEEE 802, ISM, etc. In addition the present invention can be connected to fire alarms, fire alarm, smoke detectors, thermostats, power management, home management and control, monitoring equipment, etc.
The present invention can use a BACnet or other network to wireless converter box or BACnet to Bluetooth including Bluetooth low energy (BLE) converter. The present invention can also use infrared signals to control and dim the lighting and other systems. In some configurations of the present invention, the system may use one or more WiFi networks to transmit the control and monitoring communications signals from one location to another and then use a WiFi to Bluetooth (such as a Bluetooth mesh) adapter to locally control/monitor the lighting. Some embodiments of the present invention also include BACNET to wireless adapters including but not limited to BACNET to WiFi and/or BACNET to Bluetooth and/or BACNET to other frequencies including RF frequencies including but not limited to communications within a building or buildings including but not limited to indoor and outdoor lighting, temperature, water, humidity, HVAC, sprinklers, pressure, light levels, motion, sequencing, switching, scenes, etc.
Embodiments and implementations of the present invention allow for optional add-ons including but not limited to wired, wireless or powerline control to be added later and interfaced to the present invention as well as allowing sensors such as daylight harvesting/photo/light/solar/motion/sound/ voice/voice recognition/etc. sensors, other sensors, technologies, techniques, detectors, etc. sensors as well as motion/PIR/proximity/other types of motion, distance, proximity, location, etc., sensors, detectors, technologies, etc., combinations of these, etc. to be used with the present invention.
Examples of adding smart control and monitoring include having wires or connectors that allow the connection of any or all of the sensors, detectors, techniques, technologies, etc. discussed herein.
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In some embodiments of the present invention, the lighting can be set/programmed including but not limited to active and/or dynamic processing and scene selection(s), programming, synchronizing, artificial intelligence, sequencing the lighting so that, for example but not limited to, the lighting being on, turned on/off, dimmed, etc. in certain ways, paths, etc. from less than one second to more than one hour. Such embodiments allow for special effects including the appearance that the light is following, leading, shadowing, tracking, anticipating, dimming up and down, etc., combinations of these, etc. the movement, direction, destination, or location, etc. that one or more people, living creatures, persons with permission, persons without permission, etc. may be heading to, going toward, etc. Such embodiments may use but are not limited to one or more motion sensing, radar, movement, vibration, sonar, ultrasonic, ultrasound, camera(s), vision recognition, pattern recognition, photocells, photo detector(s), electric eye(s), RFID, cell phone signals, smart phone signals, tablet signals, RF signal strength/detection including but not limited to Bluetooth, other 2.4 GHz, sub-GHz, ISM, WiFi, 6LoWPAN, ZWave, ZigBee, other types, protocols, frequencies, etc. discussed herein, including elsewhere in this document, etc., combinations of these, as well as other information including methods of identification, badge/sign-in entry, time of day, database information, web based information, signals, data, etc., day, date, weather, temperature, humidity, light level, solar/Sunlight level, gesturing, facial expressions, movements, ambient conditions, environment, track speed including but not limited to of a person or persons, etc., animal(s), other living creatures, animate or inanimate objects, etc. Such embodiments can make the speed of on/off and or dimming to whatever is desired, needed, required including from extremely fast to extremely slow including but not limited to fading in and out at any desired speed including different speed and time durations for fading on or off, respectively. Such embodiments may be used for any application or use including but not limited to indoor and/or outdoor applications including but not limited to hallways, rooms, meeting locations, conference rooms, conference centers, convention centers, sports events centers, parking lots, other outdoor uses, etc. to and from locations such as bathrooms, open or closed/covered parking lots and locations, street lighting, including but not limited to for pedestrians and vehicles, freeway and highway road and other lighting, signage lighting including but not limited to roadside and billboard lighting. Embodiments of the present invention can use the cloud and in general the Internet, to communicate to and from, to store information, to control and monitor devices and store, log, etc. information, settings, etc. that are part of the present invention, etc. and can include nodes, edge devices and routers, etc.
Embodiments of the present invention can have a wireless or wired device provide one or more and especially more than one 0 to 3 V and/or 0 to 10 V or other analog and/or digital signals including but not limited to simple and/or complex pulsing including simple to complex and sophisticated PWM. Such embodiments can control/monitor/log/store/analyze/perform analytics, etc. on more than just the lighting and can also be used to do different things including but not limited to heat, cool, light, protect, detect, etc. A non-limiting example of such an embodiment of the present invention is shown in
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The buck converter can have OVP, OTP, OCP, shock hazard/pin safety protection, constant current, etc. Normally on (NO) and normally closed (NC) switches that are, for example single or double (or higher) and single (or higher) pole can be used.
The present invention can be used with AC line voltage including but not limited to 80 to 305 VAC 50/60 Hz, 347 VAC 50/60 Hz, 480 VAC 50/60 Hz other 50/60 Hz voltages, magnetic and electronic ballasts, low frequency and high frequency ballasts, instant start, rapid start, programmed start, program start, pre-start, warm, cold, hot types of ballasts, etc. In some embodiments a switch, including a mechanical, electromechanical, semiconductor, solid state, relay, etc., of any types and forms, etc., combinations, etc. can be used to connect and control power to the present invention.
Many embodiments and implementations of the present invention use the ballast itself to set the frequencies and time periods rather than using internally generated frequencies or periods. Some embodiments and implementations of the present invention use both the ballast generated signals and frequencies (and periods) and internally generated frequencies and periods as well as combinations of these, etc. Other embodiments and implementations may use internal signals, frequencies, periods, etc.
Embodiments of the present invention can also have lighting on the outside of, for example, the light bar, panel, etc. including direct lit, edge lit, back lit, etc. Some example embodiments are shown below which can also include one or multiple LEDs, OLEDs, QDs that can consist of one or more of white, red, green, blue, amber, yellow, orange, etc. In addition, such lighting can be used to convey information about the status of a situation including flashing lights which may convey emergency situations, etc.
Embodiments of the present invention can employ cost effective, energy efficient, fully controlled and protected electronics coupled with, for example, high quality, efficient color temperature controlled/maintained SSLs. Adaptive sensors and controls can communicate typically at low data rates with low data content to achieve energy usage reduction for the SSL FLR lighting products. Embodiments of the present invention can also be able to respond to voice commands. Smart phones and tablets can be connected in a number of ways with the implementations of the present invention to energy savings sensor systems including BACNET, LONNET, other building automation systems, Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and other ways without or with the internet or IPs. The present invention also supports all forms and sorts of intentional brown outs, load shedding, peak power reduction, etc. including those with signals and information provided by the utility companies or other sources of the power including on-grid and off-grid power sources.
The power supplies/drivers for the present invention can include compatibility with essentially all or specific dimming protocols such as but not limited to triac/forward/reverse dimmers and all digital dimming protocols; and is compatible with ambient light sensors. The power supplies and drivers for SSL FLRs can convert relatively high frequency (typically 40 to 100 kHz) AC input to DC output power, and are able to support various types of remote control/dimming, provide over-current (OCP), over-voltage (OVP), over-temperature (OTP) and short circuit protection (SCP). Embodiments of the present invention can be ultra-efficient, highly flexible and allow SSL FLRs to support white light, white color tuning and, for example, optional features including color tunable red/green/blue (RGB), RGB and amber (RGBA), etc. modes of SSL operation.
Embodiments of the present invention, in addition to being ballast-compatible SSL direct replacement FLRs that work with electronic ballasts including but not limited to, instant-start, rapid-start, etc. ballasts, are also able to bypass the ballast and be plugged directly into the AC 50/60 Hz line voltage should, for example, the ballast fail. Therefore, in addition, to ballast AC input to DC output power, these embodiments also are able to directly work with 50/60 Hz and have a high power factor (PF) and low total harmonic distortion (THD), are also able to support various types of remote control/dimming, provide over-current (OCP), over-voltage (OVP), over-temperature (OTP) and short circuit protection (SCP).
Implementations of the present invention can be wirelessly dimmed and can support both manual and daylight harvesting controls, including optional standard 0 to 10 V, DALI, DMX, and other interoperable protocols and interfaces including, but not limited to, interfaces that support standards including Building Automation Control Network (BACnet) and can be designed to be interoperable with other building automation system (BAS) vendors, manufacturers, suppliers, etc. to enhance and further enable the adoption of LED luminaires and FLRs in building automation.
The controls allow multiple control systems manufactured by different vendors to work together, sharing information via a common Web, cloud, internet, local area network, or other-based interface, etc. combinations of these, etc.
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Notably, all embodiments of the solid state lighting system can be adapted for use with multiple power sources including, but not limited to, the output of a ballast in a fluorescent lamp fixture and an AC line which may be accessed in some embodiments through a fluorescent lamp fixture. The omission of any inventive feature of the solid state lighting system from an example embodiment disclosed herein or depicted in the Figures should not be interpreted as an indication that the embodiment cannot include the feature, or that the invention is limited to the specific depictions in the Figures. For example, embodiments depicted without AC line inputs can be configured to accept power both from an output of a ballast and from an AC line input as disclosed elsewhere herein. Again, the embodiments disclosed and depicted in the Figures are non-limiting examples intended to depict example features which can be combined in any number of fashions depending on the application and requirements.
Furthermore, embodiments in which smart fluorescent lamp replacements provide an isolated power output to remote sensors, communications, control, IOT devices in general via a control system with peripheral interface, can include lighting power supplies such as, but not limited to, buck or other converters, and of course the inverse is also true. Thus, any particular embodiment can include the isolated power generation, the solid state lighting power generation, dimming control, and other features disclosed herein, or any subset of them, in any combination. Embodiments of the solid state lighting systems can include buck converters as shown in the Figures, or buck-boost, boost, boost-buck, Cuk, SEPIC, quasiresonant, Flyback, forward converters, push-pull, current mode, voltage mode, etc. combinations of these, etc. In general, any type of switching/storage power supply can be adapted for use in the solid state lighting systems.
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Lighting is becoming important as an integral part of many types of operations. Digitally addressable control of the lighting fixtures and associated circuits, for example, can be used to dim and/or turn the lights on and off depending on what is required or desired. Control of lighting can be a critical operations factor. The present invention includes smart lighting that provides control and dimming of lighting fixtures and associated circuits down to individual light/circuit level.
The present invention includes smart modules that are be able to recognize the lighting package configuration and what type of light fixture it is controlling through embedded firmware/software; this would allow lights of different functions and power requirements to, for example, be daisy chained, significantly reducing cable runs and installation costs.
Implementations of the present invention including smart modules, therefore, allow for the capability that, as lights are added to the system, the lights would self-configure and appear on the operator control panel in the correct lighting group. The proposed smart module solution would also eliminate the need for multiple configurations, set-up issues and complex and tedious troubleshooting while providing a simplified configuration that allows easy field replacement when a light is short circuited or not able to be turned on/off, dimmed, or flashed from the operator control panel. As a result, failures of any light would not affect the operation of any other light.
The present invention can address, but is not limited to, lighting fixtures that range from a single LED fixture to fixtures containing multiple LED strings (e.g., but not limited to 1-6 or higher) with different voltage (e.g., but not limited to˜less than 3 to greater than 120 VDC) and current (less than 20 mA to greater than 100 A) requirements.
The present invention also addresses the needs for reducing system cabling, minimizing system interconnections, etc. and can provide redundancy for fault tolerance, provides for on/off, flashing and dimming control of various lighting groups, configurations that can be incorporated into existing lighting fixtures or interconnection junction boxes while minimizing total system cost of ownership. The consolidated control of the total system can be of any form, type, approach, method, technology, protocol, interface(s), etc. including but not limited to those discussed herein, and, for example, over a mesh network including but not limited to a Bluetooth mesh or it could be over a local area network (LAN), WiFi, etc., combinations of these, etc.
Embodiments of the present invention can be isolated (galvanic) or non-isolated. Both the isolated and non-isolated embodiment of the present invention can be used for universal smart LED lighting including but not limited to with respective embedded firmware/software capable of having universal applications and are able to digitally control SSL including LED, OLED, QD, combinations of these, etc. A simple yet sophisticated wiring cable can be used for the present invention.
Embodiments of the present invention can include but are not limited to modular isolated forward or flyback converter and driver architecture and design including, for example, but not limited to, a buck (down) converter.
Embodiments of the present invention can provide extensive driver/power supply protection, safeguards and fault detection/redundancy/override detection/protection/response. For example, but not limited to, the power supplies and drivers for lighting (e.g., OLED, LED, CFL, CCFL) can be fully protected including protected against arcs, shorts, over voltage and over current, over power, etc. and can be either (or both) digital or analog controlled.
Embodiments of the present invention can provide for sophisticated, advanced, low-cost wired or powerline (or optionally wireless) control and monitoring and data and status/fault logging of each and every individual driver/power supply/module and LED lighting source including but not limited to extensive remote monitoring and control including auto/self-identification, configuring and commissioning and can also be used to monitor all key parameters including, but not limited to, input current, input voltage, inrush current, voltage spikes, power factor, true input power, Volt-Amp (VA) input power, output current, output voltage, output power, output voltage overshoot, output current overshoot, temperature at multiple locations, humidity (if desired), etc. Most of these parameters and especially the input parameters can be transmitted either as waveforms (e.g., amplitude vs. time) or as instantaneous or average data points.
Embodiments of the monitoring, interface and control can perform and permit self-configuration where the smart module will configure itself to the type of fixture and recognize how it fits into the configuration of one or more of a group or groups, mesh or meshes, system or systems, organization, room, home, building, office, suite, warehouse, etc., other types of buildings, housing, living space, hospitals, schools, etc., including but not limited to those discussed herein, combinations of these, etc. including for visible and infrared and other SSL including but not limited to LED lighting as well as, for example, essentially any indoor or outdoor application or use and also, for example, attempt to prevent SSL LED junction overheating SSL lighting while delivering maximum possible lifetime including under all conditions such as full on, flashing, maximum (deep) dimming The ‘self-configuring’ is an important aspect and feature for some embodiments of the present invention as well as thermal monitoring, control and management including both full and partial thermal interface and control systems that either completely turn off the LED at a prescribed temperature or gently reduce the power supplied to the LED once a specific temperature is reached with the power continually reduced to the LED until a maximum safe operation area (SOA) upper limit temperature is reached at which point the LED is fully turned off, respectively; of course all of these modes allow for ‘emergency’ overrides and in general, provide optimal protection while balancing all related trade-offs including providing maximum permissible light output for the SSL/LED lighting without fatally damaging or seriously degrading the SSL/LED source and being able to activate emergency override capability in case a situation, due to some unforeseen event or failure, occurs.
Embodiments of the present invention may use different materials, devices, thermal, mechanical and electrical parts, components, subsystems, etc. that may be incorporated into the digitally addressable and controlled power supplies and constant current and constant voltage drivers. Silicon carbide (SiC) or gallium nitride (GaN)-based semiconductor power devices including diodes and transistors may be used with the present invention to increase efficiency, switching frequencies and reliability while reducing size and mass and waste heat.
Some implementations of the present invention may use redundant circuits within a module or modules or redundancy in the modules so that if one circuit or module, respectively, fails, overheats, degrades, etc., the system can automatically switch over to the other circuit or module, respectively and can provide status and diagnostics including manual override of any automatic operation and remote reprogramming if deemed necessary. Implementations can include wired, wireless and powerline control and monitoring.
The present invention can use ‘self-configuration’, where the smart module will automatically self-configure itself to the type of fixture and be able to recognize how it fits into the configuration of the lighting in a room, in a building, in a ship, in an airplane, in a hotel, in a home, in a hospital, in a school, etc., any other type of building, facility, etc., in an outdoor setting, including but not limited to concerts, events, camping, mobile living, temporary living, field hospitals, military mobile units, others discussed herein, combinations of these, etc.
In the case of a power failure, there may be a short interruption, therefor implementations of the present invention can be designed to anticipate the possibility of a short interruption and not be negatively impacted, affected or impaired by such an interruption and could have, for example but not limited to, non-volatile memory to backup and maintain pertinent information including setup and self-configuration/identifying/addressing information, etc.
Any form, type, protocol, interface, etc. may be used for communications including, for example, but not limited to, RS485 and others discussed herein. Implementations of the present invention may use wiring redundancy and data redundancy.
Embodiments of the present invention can self-configure without user interaction. Some embodiments of the present invention may use an electronic identifier for each module or a physical connection to its neighbors to set, determine, ascertain, etc. such information as part of the automatic self-configuration. Dimming can be from 0% to 100% using, for example, but not limited to, pulse width modulation (PWM).
Implementations of the present invention include but are not limited to constant current source with adjustable current setting and adjustable compliance (i..e., maximum) voltage settings that support analog and digital dimming coupled with, for example, being dynamically adjustable and programmable. For example, a buck converter can be used to provide a constant output current to convert the input AC voltage down to a lower DC voltage at the desired constant current which can also be PWM digitally dimmed or optionally analog dimmed In general the AC to DC buck converter works equally well as a DC to DC buck converter. In other embodiments the buck converter can be replaced with other types of non-isolated converters such as boost, buck-boost, boost-buck, Cuk, etc. or an AC to AC or AC to DC isolation converter which, for example but is not limited to, could consist of one or more individual or power combined forward converters of any type but most likely a low noise, low EMI, current fed forward converter(s) or flyback converter(s).
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The intelligent controller 226 can contain a number of functional features and elements including but not limited to one or more digital to analog converters (DACs) with, for example but not limited to, at least one of the DACs providing a reference voltage for the buck converter 223 to use to set the output current to the SSL/LED light 225 or SSL/LED array light. Note that such a DAC current reference/set point can also be used to provide, for example, flashing or PWM digital dimming Analog to digital converters (ADCs) can be used to read a typically reduced (i.e., voltage divider) replica of LED forward voltage of the SSL/LED light which could be corrected for any wire/cable losses from the current output of the module. One or more optional photosensors (e.g., phototransistors) can be placed at an appropriate point(s) so as to not interfere with the SSL/LED lights and can effectively calibrated and used with the module to determine the real time efficacy (i.e., lumens/watt) of the SSL/LED light(s) and also flag any apparent degradation in the SSL/LED lighting.
As an example, two types of bidirectional communications between the module and central or distributed control include but are not limited to powerline communications (PLC) 230 to the AC lines (or optionally could be from a daisy-chained AC to AC or AC to DC and a serial connection 231 using low voltage and low current twisted pair wiring supporting one or more interfaces/protocols including but not limited to RS485, controller area network (CAN) bus, UARTs, SPI, I2C, etc. The ID circuit 232 is used to provide an ID type for the SSL/LED or SSL/LED array lamp. Such an ID can range from a simple analog identification such as a certain resistance value which corresponds to a particular LED lamp current and associated voltage to a simple integrated circuit (IC) or application specific IC (ASIC) that sends out an ID data byte or bytes when commanded to do so or a sophisticated code using discrete ICs and components or and ASIC. In other embodiments a low voltage, low current wire or wires can be used measure a resistor that is uniquely associated with a particular current and voltage LED light. In some embodiment of the present invention, a small IC or ASIC that contains an ID, calibration data, and could also measure and digitally transfer/transmit the current, voltage and power usage requirements of the SSL/LED or SSL/LED array light. Serial interfaces and UARTs as well as SPI, I2C, CAN Bus, Ethernet, etc. can be used. In some embodiments of the present invention, secure communications including cybersecure communications and related technologies, techniques, methods, methodologies, etc. can be used
Implementations of the present invention can also use only the power (DC current) lines to the SSL/LED elements or arrays and superimpose small AC signals that identify the particular light source.
Various embodiments of the present invention include some or all of the following features:
Various embodiments of the solid state lighting systems disclosed herein provide smart/intelligent replacement solutions to fluorescent linear lamp tubes that are fully compatible with sensors and control hardware that are both inexpensive and easily integrated, incorporated, and/or used in conjunction with existing office, home and building infrastructure. The system replaces, for example, but not limited to, T4, T5, T8, T10 and T12 as well as other linear fluorescent lamps and/or HID lamps but does not require the ballast to be replaced or rewired—literally a direct drop-in replacement—and yet can be fully dimmed and controlled and monitored while using virtually any existing ballast including magnetic and electronic ballasts that (i.e., the existing installed ballasts), have no capabilities to dim or be controlled including responding to sensors/detectors.
Embodiments of the present invention reduce wire/cabling and associated costs, complications, and logistics and provide extensive driver/power supply protection, safeguards and fault detection/redundancy/ override detection/protection/response can include but are not limited to a robust maximum power measurement, management and monitoring for the module and related systems including for the LED drivers, power supplies, and related electronics.
Implementations of the present invention can include N+1 redundancy and possibly N+2 redundancy where N=1 for, for example, the buck)or other) converter of the module and N may be greater than 1 for other critical components used in the module including monitoring and logging pertinent data and parameters including input current, input voltage, inrush current, voltage spikes, power factor, true input power, Volt-Amp (VA) input power, output current, output voltage, output power, output voltage overshoot, output current overshoot, optional temperature at multiple locations, humidity (if desired), etc. Most of these parameters and especially the input parameters can be transmitted via the candidate communications interface as either waveforms (e.g., amplitude vs. time) or as instantaneous or average data points.
The control and monitoring interface and control strategies performs and permits ‘self-configuration’ where the smart module will configure itself to the type of fixture and recognize how it fits into the overall, local, and/or global, etc. configuration of, for example, but not limited to, the SSL/LED lighting as well as, for example, attempt to prevent SSL LED junction overheating of the SSL/LED lighting while delivering maximum possible lifetime including under all conditions such as full on, flashing, maximum (deep) dimming, short detection, short circuit protection, etc.
Implementations of the present invention can use various ‘IDer’ and addressing/self-configuration approaches including but not limited to those discussed herein. Some embodiments could employ RS485 or RS485 derivatives including Profibus and Modbus as well as other serial protocols/interfaces. Implementations of the present invention can have redundant circuits within a modules or redundancy in the modules so that if one circuit or module, respectively, fails, overheats, degrades, etc., the system can automatically switch over to the other circuit or module, respectively and can provide status and diagnostics including manual override of any automatic operation and remote reprogramming if deemed necessary. The redundant modules can be built in or be stackable and hot swappable.
As a non-limiting example, implementations of the present invention can use but are not limited to, 2 ft. and 4 ft. T8 and T12 linear fluorescent tube sockets and receive power directly from electronic and also magnetic ballasts (i.e., instant start, rapid start, programmed start) and also from AC 50/60 Hz 80 to 305 VAC, 347 VAC, 480 VAC, etc. It should be noted that these retrofit SSLs and SSL systems do not necessarily need to have the same form factor or footprint as the original light sources (i.e., the LED lights and luminaires can be very different from what they are replacing). Implementations of the present invention can, for example, but not limited to, use wireless (and also, depending on the facility design and intended application and use, wired) signals to both control (e.g., dim) the SSL/LED FLRs and monitor the respective SSL/LED current, voltage and power. For example, a set of low cost, low power sensors allow for relative light output to be measured and wirelessly reported, monitored, and logged permitting analytics to be performed. Additional optional input power measurements allow total power usage, power factor, input current, input voltage, input real and apparent power to also be measured thus allowing efficiency to be measured. The wireless signals can be radio signals in the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) for lower cost/simplicity or Bluetooth, Bluetooth low energy (BLE or BTLE), ZigBee, ZWave, IEEE 802, WiFi, etc., and can be secure/encrypted. Occupancy/motion sensors, photo sensors, noise, proximity, ultrasonic, other sound, vision recognition, pattern recognition, voice recognition, other types of recognition(s), etc., other types of sensors and detectors discussed herein, etc., daylight harvesting controls, simple and low cost interfaces that allow existing or other brands, makes, and models of daylight harvesting controls, photo sensors, occupancy/motion sensors to be connected to and control/dim the wireless SSL/LED FLRs and other implementation of the SSL/LED lighting present invention.
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In some embodiments a switch, including a mechanical, electromechanical, semiconductor, solid state, relay, etc., of any types and forms, etc., combinations, etc. can be used to connect and control power to the present invention.
With, for example but not limited to, a diffuser the effective color can be varied from completely cool white to completely warm white with intermediate color blended combinations of cool and warm white in between. The diffuser or diffusers can essentially be of virtually any type, form, design, etc. This can be accomplished, for example but not limited to by dimming one or both the different color temperature smart and/or smart enabled FLRs. The simplistic rendering shows alternating cool and warm white lighting where the coloring has been exaggerated for clarity of presentation. Note, other form factors, implementations, etc. including but not limited to having both cool and warm LEDs in the same wireless controlled FLR as well as novel form factors can be employed in implementations of the present invention. As also discussed herein, embodiments and implementations of the present invention can also include one or more SSLs/LEDs with different color temperatures as well as one or more colors or LEDs including but not limited to red, green, blue (RGB), red, green, blue, amber (RGBA), whiteRGBA, multiple color temperatures of whiteRGB and multiple colors of whiteRGB, etc. other colors, wavelengths, etc. of SSLs/LEDs, etc. A capacitor can be put across the two legs of the ballast through, for example, the tombstones that carry the current to drive the SSL (e.g., LED and/or OLED, QD) fluorescent lamp replacement to effectively reduce the maximum voltage including the open circuit voltage of the ballast.
Some embodiments of the present invention allow for solid state lighting in fixtures with more than one lamp or socket, allowing for one or more of the fluorescent lamp replacements to be completely turned or dimmed off while permitting one or more of the remaining lamps to be on at dimming levels from zero to one hundred percent. This allows for any combination of color combination tuning and mixing, and color tuning and mixing.
Embodiments of the present invention including but not limited to those depicted in the Figs. can include but are not limited to various implementations of proximity sensors including passive or active or both, IR-based proximity detectors, capacitance-based proximity sensors, other types of proximity sensors, etc., as well as voice commands and can be used to turn on, turn off, dim, flash or change colors including doing so in response to an emergency situation.
The examples shown above are intended to provide non-limiting examples of the present invention and represent only a very small sampling of the possible ways, topologies, connections, arrangements, applications, etc. of the present invention. Based upon the disclosure provided herein, one of skill of the art will recognize a number of combinations and applications of solid state lighting system elements disclosed herein that can be used in accordance with various embodiments of the invention without departing from the inventive concepts.
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Motions (sensors) can be used to control lights, report occupancy, vacancy, hot spot (heat maps) and also set (e.g., security protection mode) to report intruders including turning or not turning the lights on, tracking movements, paths, etc., strobe the lights, flash or strobe other lights, auxiliary lights, etc. report events, movements, activate cameras, text, e-mail, phone, contact building owners, occupants, police, private security, fire departments, etc. Some embodiments of the invention can work with APPs and smartphones, tablets, laptop computers, desktop computers, Cloud, servers, mobile carrier modems, etc.
Tracking and identification from cellphones and other devices can be monitored or accessed by sensors in lighting systems and other interfaces. Such identification information can be monitored, reported, stored, etc. For example, such information can be retrieved by sensors in public places such as a university or school, and can be tracked for safety purposes. Such functionality can be included, for example, in motion sensing lights that can detect who has passed nearby based on their cellphone ID or other means.
Some embodiments of the invention use bar codes (and bar code readers) or Quick Response (QR) codes that can be scanned with code scanner, cellphones/tablets, etc. to read in the ID/Address/Name/etc. of each smart/intelligent lamp, dimmer, light, etc. so as to assign each to its proper place.
In some embodiments, voice commands are used to identify lights during provisioning or configuration of the solid state lighting system. A non-limiting example process of such an identification process is as follows: Speak Word Command(s)→Word Recognition→Word Parsing and Identification→Process Command→Perform Function→Wait for Next Command. Voice commands can be received by a sensor at a control circuit or by one or more microphones positioned at one or more locations, including in some embodiments in FLRs. Voice commands can also be used in some embodiments to control lights or lighting levels, for example with voice commands such as Light, dim level 3; Light, white dim level 7; Light, blue dim level 8.
Some embodiments of the present invention can use proximity and signal strength of Cellular phone, smart phone, tablet, RFID tag, etc. to turn on the lights if it recognizes the phone as someone walks past the smart dimmer switch with a known ID such as a known Bluetooth previously joined/connected phone. Such a turning on can be to a particular light intensity/dimming level and a particular color temperature. If an unknown ID, for example but not limited to, a Bluetooth ID passes by, the smart dimmer could do one of many things including but not limited to, flashing the lights on and off, alerting including alerting by one or more of alarm, e-mail, text message, web alert, sending photos, flashing the lights one or more color or color temperatures, making audible sounds, setting off alarms, including but not limited to audible alarms, silent alarms, sirens, etc., combinations of these, etc. or turning on the lights to a prescribed value and color temperature or color, etc.
Some embodiments of the present invention can have permission levels and priorities, etc. to distinguish between levels of users and also for the master user/controller to assign the levels of use including event based decisions and conflict overrides, etc.
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The SSL's/sensors/detectors/controllers/transducers (e.g., sirens, microphones, speakers, etc.) etc. can be connected using any suitable communications networks or combinations of networks to form a hybrid network, such as with combinations of WiFi, Bluetooth, ISM, other radio frequencies, etc. such that the lighting is able to communicate via such a hybrid network.
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When an electronic ballast is installed and functioning in the fluorescent lamp fixture, high frequency current flows between the bi-pins 561, 562 at one end of the lamp fixture and the bi-pins 563, 564 at the other end of the lamp fixture, and the solid state lighting power supply draws from this power to power a load connected to output nodes LEDP 592, LEDN 593. In ballast-powered operation, power is drawn through AC coupling capacitors 565, 566, 567, 568 and resistors 569, 570, which can be included along with, if desired, any other heater emulation or other input conditioning elements in any configuration to enable the ballast to function normally. Some or all of these capacitors may be optional in some embodiments of the present invention. For example, one or more resistors can each be connected in parallel with each of the input coupling capacitors 565, 566, 567, 568. One or more rectifiers 577 can be included, as well as signal conditioning components and/or EMI components which can be included as desired, such as, but not limited to, diodes 580, 581, 582, capacitors 584, as well as sensing components such as current sensing resistor(s) (e.g., 583) that can be used, for example, to sense the current through the output nodes LEDP 592, LEDN 593 which supply current to a solid state lighting load.
When the ballast is not installed in the fluorescent lamp fixture, AC line power is drawn from the pair of bi-pins 563, 564 at one end of the lamp fixture. An EMI filter/rectifier 594 filters and rectifies the input power to yield a rectified AC signal HV 595, which is at or near the line voltage and is therefore referred to herein as a high voltage signal in comparison with lower DC voltages (e.g., 15 VDC, 5 VDC, 3 VDC, etc.) that can be generated in the solid state lighting power supply to power circuits in the solid state lighting power supply or any other desired load including but not limited to sensors, IOT, controls, communications, etc. including but not limited to those discussed herein, combinations of these, etc.
A voltage regulator 597 regulates the rectified AC signal HV 595 to yield a lower voltage DC signal VDD1 601, used to power at least a pulse width modulation control circuit 602. The voltage regulator 597 can be a linear regulator or can comprise a buck converter circuit or, in other embodiments, as an example, most any other type of switching circuit such as, but not limited to, a buck-boost, boost, boost-buck, flyback, forward converter of any type including but not limited to resonant, push pull, half bridge, full bridge, current-mode, voltage-mode, current-fed, voltage-fed, etc. or any other type of switching circuit, converter, etc.
In some embodiments, a dither signal 598, over-current protection 599, under-voltage protection 600, or any other control and protection signals and circuits can be used with the PWM control or other type of pulse control 602, including but not limited to over-temperature protection, over-voltage protection, etc.
The pulse width modulation control circuit 602 generates a pulse width modulated control signal PWM_CTL 603 to control the current drawn from the rectified AC signal HV 595 and supplied to the output nodes LEDP 592, LEDN 593 in AC power mode. The pulse width modulated control signal PWM_CTL 603 controls a switch 604 which passes or blocks current between the rectified AC signal HV 595 and return signal LV 596 through the switch 604, a current sensing resistor 605 and an inductor 606 or transformer. The AC supply side is coupled to the output nodes LEDP 592, LEDN 593 by diodes 606, 608 and capacitor 612. In AC power mode, when the switch 604 is closed, current flows from the rectified AC signal HV 595, through inductor 606, diode 606 to output node LEDP 592, returning from output node LEDN 593, through diode 608, and capacitor 612. When the switch 604 is opened to control the average load current, power stored in inductor 606 flows through diode 606 to output node LEDP 592, returning from output node LEDN 593, through diode 608 and current sense resistor 609. Such a switching or storage circuit depicted in
In some embodiments, power can be obtained through a tagalong winding on inductor 606 for other purposes, yielding power signal VDD2 611 through diode 610 which can be used for any purpose.
Dimming control can be applied to the pulse width modulation control circuit 602 in any suitable manner to modify or control the pulse width of the pulse width modulated control signal PWM_CTL 603 from the pulse width modulation control circuit.
In some embodiments of the present invention, snubber and/or clamp circuits (e.g., including but not limited to capacitor 613, resistor 614 and diode 615) may be used with the rectification stages (which, for example, could be diodes or transistors operating in a synchronous mode) or elsewhere as shown; such snubbers could typically include capacitors, resistors and/or diodes or be of a lossless type of snubber where the energy is recycled or be made of capacitors only or resistors only, etc. Such snubbers can be of benefit in reducing radiated emissions and limiting the voltages seen by switching elements. Some embodiments of the present invention can use lossless snubbers.
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Dithering can be applied in the power conversion stage circuit, for example at nodes DitherA 620 and DitherB 621. Dithering of, for example, but not limited to, frequency, duty cycle, width, etc. may be used with the example embodiments shown herein and in general for the present invention to, for example, provide EMI dithering and reduction. The example dithering is not intended to be limiting in any way or form and is merely provided as a non-limiting example.
Other protection circuits can be used to control the power conversion stage circuit, for example by applying an overcurrent protection signal 599 at the inverting input to op-amp or comparator 639, an undervoltage protection signal 600 can be applied at the base of transistors 648, 649, etc. Again, the types of circuit protection and the circuit nodes at which they are applied are not limited to these examples. Other control signals (e.g., OptoA 643, OptoC 644) can be applied, for example through opto-isolator 641 and resistor 642. For example, output voltage limiting can be applied in this manner
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Again, various embodiments of the solid state lighting systems disclosed herein can include/use/incorporate power converters of any type or topology. The schematics shown for, for example but not limited to, the buck, buck-boost, boost-buck, boost, Flyback, forward converters, etc. are intended to be representative only and in no way or form limiting and are merely intended as simple example references for some of the approaches, topologies, circuits, drivers, power supplies, etc. discussed herein and previously incorporated in patents and patent applications. For example, in some embodiments the switching/storage inductor or inductors in the buck circuit may be placed in a different position relative to other components.
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Embodiments of the present invention can be used for both retrofit and replacement and operate (plug and play) together seamlessly including that the software is the same for the new construction retrofit and the old/existing replacement as well as other systems including BACNET systems made from, for example, Johnson Controls, Siemens, Honeywell, etc. As an example embodiment of the present invention, an interface can be implemented that takes the, for example, but not limited to, 24 volt system interfaces such as used by, for example, Johnson controls, Acuity, Lutron, and others.
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In some embodiments of the present invention, some or all of the sensors are incorporated into the implementations of the present invention or located close by and, for example, tethered by wires (or in some cases using wireless technology including but not limited to, wireless communications and wireless power transfer) with power being provided by the AC or ballast or indirectly powered, battery powered, solar powered, solar charged, etc., combinations of these, etc.
Some embodiments of a FLR replacement include tethered motion, sound, noise, ultrasonic, temperature, humidity, gas, other environmental sensors, detectors, controllers, etc.
and optional light sensors which could be attached to the fixture including the outside of the fixture past the diffuser, if there is a diffuser. The light sensor could include one or more of a projection, cover, lens, cone cylinder, etc. to block direct light from the FLRs reaching the light sensor(s).
Some embodiments of the present invention can recognize specific devices including but not limited to cell phones, smart phones, tablets, RFID tags, laptops, smart watches, wearables, remote devices, Bluetooth devices, etc., combinations of these, etc., other radio communications, voice identification, signal strength, etc., combinations of these. The wall switch also supports scheduling, sequencing, programming, synchronizing, adapting, etc.
Multiple light sensors at different angles with, in some embodiments, different focal points can be used as part of the present invention. The multiple sensors can be located in the same housing or disbursed, distributed, etc. and communicate by wired or wireless means. Some embodiments of the light sensor(s) include a sleek nearly 2-D (i.e., very thin) sensor that can be mounted at appropriate places including on the wall. Some embodiments of the invention provide plug and play installation while producing constant lumens outputs. The present invention can also support multiple temperature sensors that communicate, for example, but not limited to wired or wirelessly.
Some embodiments of the present invention use capacitors in series to limit AC line (50, 60, 400 Hz, etc.) input current and power and use capacitors in parallel to limit ballast (output) input (to the circuit) current and power which can also prevent mis-wiring which might cause damage. SCP can also be used in conjunction to also limit current and prevent damage.
Some embodiments of the present invention provide a USB port which can used to set addresses, ID, upload new versions, set priorities, set and program priority levels, etc.
Some embodiments of the present invention can be used to provide festive lighting including for holidays (Christmas, New Years, Halloween, Fourth of July, St Patrick's Day, etc.), favorite/local (high school, college, university, professional) team, company, state, personal, college, university, etc., colors, etc.
Some embodiments of the present invention provide the ability to disable current control (e.g., constant current/constant lumens) including remotely disable in ballast mode.
Some embodiments of the present invention include a fluorescent tube replacement such as a T4, T5, T8, T10, T12, etc. that can use a motor or similar device to raster or scan the SSL/LED lighting which could include but is not limited to one or more white color temperatures, one or more colors including but not limited to red, green, blue, amber, yellow, etc., combinations of these, etc. Some implementations of the present invention can include but are not limited to addressable arrays of LEDs including white color temperatures (W, WW, WWW, etc.) and colors such as RGB, RGBA, etc.
Some embodiments of the present invention can measure the input current, voltage, power, power factor, etc. of, for example, but not limited to, each unit (lamp), the group or groups of lamps controlled by a ‘wall dimmer’ of the present invention, etc. By measuring such input power used/consumed, implementations of the present invention can measure/calculate/determine/etc. the power/energy consumed and the both the energy (which essentially equals power×time) consumed and the energy saved for example, but not limited to, for the SSL/LED direct fluorescent replacement lamp that, for example, uses a ballast or a SSL/LED AC retrofit fluorescent replacement lamp that runs directly off the AC power and use such information to calculate the energy savings including but not limited to the energy savings based on the difference between the old/previous fluorescent lamp with ballast. Using such energy savings measurements/calculations/determinations/etc., the monetary savings value can be calculated/deduced/determined, etc. from the energy cost rate for example, but not limited to, by using the energy cost in, for example, but not limited to, multiplying the energy (equals power times time) in for example, but not limited to, kilowatthours (kWH) times the rate (in, for example, dollars per kWH=/kWH) to determine the financial monetary savings. Such monetary savings can be used as the basis for determining the return on investment or, for example, to determine the value of a leasing agreement, etc. Such information, determinations, processing, etc. can be done, stored, compiled performed, etc. by firmware, software, etc., stored anywhere in one or more locations, including but not limited and not necessarily in embodiments and implementations of the present invention, etc. (and more types of places, locations, facilities, etc.), the cloud, servers, internet, can use mobile carriers to communicate two-way information, controls, commands, monitoring, analytics, Big Data, events, alerts, security information, movements, heat maps, etc., combinations of these, etc.
Some embodiments of the present invention include dimming/control units that can also optionally measure and monitor and log data, information, performance, etc. Such embodiments can use 0 to 10 V, 0 to 3 V, other analog protocols, ranges, etc., powerline communications, wireless, wired other digital protocols, etc., forward or reverse phase dimming of any kind and type including ones that involve one or more of triacs, transistors, diodes, etc., combinations of these, etc. and can use light level motion, ultrasonic, noise, sound, voice, etc.
The present invention includes power supplies and drivers that are ballast replacements (ballast replacement power supplies and ballast replacement drivers (BRPS and BRD, respectively) designed specifically for SSL/LED FLRs).
Some embodiments of the present invention can be used to replace, for example, 32 W with a lower wattage that can be increased manually or automatically by, for example, but not limited to, switches, software, hardware, firmware, manual and/or automatic controls, etc.
Some embodiments of the present invention can use a smart circuit breaker(s) and/or switch(es) that, in addition to performing normal circuit breaker functions, can be turned on and off by wired, wireless and/or powerline communications
Some embodiments and implementations of the present invention can work with virtually any type of ballast including all types of magnetic and electronic ballasts and, regardless of the ballast type and ability (i.e., a fixed power, non-dimmable, non-controllable, etc. ballast) make the ballast and fluorescent lamp replacement into a smart and intelligent system capable of virtually any control and monitoring including but not limited to daylight harvesting, dimming, motion, noise, audio, ultrasonic, sonar, radar, proximity, cell phone, RFID, light, solar, time of day, week, month, date, etc., web, environment, etc. sensing and responding, etc. one or two way communications, data logging, analytics, fault reporting, etc. and other functions, features, modes of operation, etc. discussed herein. Such embodiment and implementations can also be implemented to work directly with AC and/or DC power. Although primarily discussed in terms of fluorescent lamp replacements, all of the functions, abilities, capabilities, features, modes of operation, approaches, methods, techniques, technologies, designs, architectures, topology, etc. apply directly and equally to high intensity discharge (HID) lighting including but not limited to metal halide, and all types of sodium and other gaseous low pressure and high pressure lighting, etc., other types of lighting discussed herein including various types of fluorescent lighting including but not limited to compact fluorescent lamps, PL and PLC fluorescent lamps, cold cathode fluorescent lamps, T1 through T13 fluorescent lamps including but not limited to T4, T5, T8, T12, fluorescent lamps of any length and shape including but not limited to linear, U-shaped, rectangular shape, one or more U-shaped, etc.
The heater emulation circuits may employ one more switches that can open or close as needed depending on for example, frequency of applied current, voltage, power, etc., temperature, operating conditions, etc., type of ballast, etc. Such one or more switches can be of any appropriate type or form including ones that are manually or automatically activated, mechanically or electrically activated, are semiconductor switches such as but not limited to field effect transistors (FETs) including but not limited to MOSFETs, JFETs, UFETs, etc., of both depletion and enhancement types, bipolar junction transistors including but not limited to PNP and NPN, heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs), unijunction transistors, triacs, silicon controlled rectifiers (SCRs), diacs, insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), GaN-based transistors including but not limited to GaNFETs, silicon carbide (SiC) based transistors including but not limited to SiCFETs, etc., solid state and mechanical relays, reed relays, electromechanical relays, latching relays, contactors, etc. photodiodes, phototransistors, optocouplers, etc. vacuum tubes, etc. thermistors, thermistor-based switches, etc. Temperature sensing can be accomplished using any technique including but not limited to thermistors, semiconductor junctions, thermocouple junctions, resistors, fuses, thermal methods, etc.
The present invention provides for convenient direct replacements for fluorescent, HID and other types of lighting using SSL including but not limited to LEDs, OLEDs, QDs, etc. that enables smart and intelligent operation where there was none before. Embodiments of the present invention provide for SSL FLRs that can perform smart and intelligent dimming and power reduction including autonomously, automatically, manually, with one-way or two-way (i.e., bidirectional) communications and reporting using smart local or remote sensors including but not limited to those discussed herein. Such sensors can be manually, automatically, programmed, modified, set, determined, changed, etc. including locally and remotely. For example, a motion sensor can be programmed/set by, for example, but not limited to, an app on a phone, tablet, laptop, other personal digital assistant, other device, etc. for sensitivity, time on, time off, trigger level, distance, reporting level and status, alarms, etc. either locally or remotely via, for example, but not limited to, an phone/tablet app. In addition, embodiments and implementations of the present invention can also be set to monitor and report back any fault conditions including but not limited to power interruptions, power loss, improper operation, too little power, too much power, too much voltage (over voltage), too little voltage (under voltage), too little current (under current), too much current (over current), too little light output, too much light output, too high of a temperature, too low of a temperature, etc., arcing, damage, combinations of these, etc. and alert/request maintenance/repair, etc.
In some embodiments, bathroom, closet, stairwell, garage, conference room, other locations which may or may not be used frequently, etc. can make use of the ballast-compatible direct fluorescent lamp replacement embodiments of the present invention including but not limited to the smart/intelligent ones discussed herein.
Embodiments of the present invention can also monitor and report power, current, voltage usage to, for example, but not limited to, measure, determine and calculate energy and cost savings and to also, but not limited to, determine SSL/LED usage in terms of hours on and current through the SSL/LEDs to determine, estimate, extrapolate, calculate, etc. lifetime remaining, SSL/LED degradation, depreciation, etc. Optional temperature and/or light sensors may also be used to keep track, track, log, perform additional analytics including but not limited on the lifetime, performance, degradation, decrease in lumens, lumens depreciation, etc. of the SSL/LEDs, etc.
Various embodiments of the present invention can be used to replace any and all types of gaseous lighting including but not limited to fluorescent, HID, metal halide, sodium, low and/or high pressure lamps, etc. for parking lights, street lights, outdoor lights, indoor lights, sports lights, gymnasium lights, office lights, stair well lighting, virtually any type of indoor or outdoor lighting, stair case lights, bathrooms, closets, bedrooms, living rooms, family rooms, hospitals, hospital rooms, surgery rooms, urgent care, emergency care, classrooms, auditoriums, offices, lobbies, gyms, sports centers, community centers, recreational centers, libraries including but not limited to libraries for schools, colleges, universities, public and private libraries, study areas, individual cubicle lighting including, for example, but not limited to individual lighting in a library where the lighting preference including, for example, but not limited to light intensity, color temperature, color rendering index (CRI), light pattern and location, etc., color lighting, etc. could be selected for/by, etc. each individual or user, etc. and also includes additional facilities, rooms, homes, residences, apartments, etc. Implementations of the present invention can also be used for cleanroom applications including but not limited to photolithography applications and locations where the wavelength and associated energy, color, etc. must be restricted to typically a yellow color or below (i.e., to the red wavelengths as opposed to the blue wavelengths). For such implementations yellow SSL including but not limited to yellow phosphor coated (PC) SSLs including LEDs, OLEDs, QDs, etc. can be used to provide the appropriate and needed color of light while still being highly efficient and with long life.
Some embodiments of the present invention can also use, employ, interact with, be controlled, respond to, etc., combinations of these, etc. emotion sensors and mood sensors.
Systems of SSL FLR, direct AC replacement kits, panels including panels of any size from inches (or less) on a side to feet on a size and larger including but not limited to 1×2 foot, 2×2 foot, 1×3 foot, 2×3 foot, 2×4 foot, 3×4 foot, 4×4 foot and larger (and also smaller), PLC lamps, PAR lamps, A lamps, R lamps, BR lamps, etc., any other type of lamp, light, light fixture, combinations of these, etc.
Embodiments of the present invention can control, monitor, color change, color temperature change, etc. all types of lighting which can all be controlled by the same interface and control.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the lighting can be set/programmed including but not limited to active and/or dynamic processing, programming, synchronizing, sequencing the lighting so that, for example but not limited to, the lighting being on, turned on/off, dimmed, etc. in certain ways, paths, etc. from less than one second to more than one hour. Such embodiments allow for special effects including the appearance that the light is following, leading, shadowing, tracking, anticipating, etc., combinations of these, etc. the movement, direction, destination, or location, etc. that one or more people, living creatures, persons with permission, persons without permission, etc. may be heading to, going toward, etc. Such embodiments may use but are not limited to one or more motion sensing, radar, movement, vibration, sonar, ultrasonic, ultrasound, camera(s), vision recognition, pattern recognition, photocells, photo detector(s), electric eye(s), RFID, cell phone signals, smart phone signals, tablet signals, RF signal strength/detection including but not limited to Bluetooth, other 2.4 GHz, ISM, WiFi, ZigBee, Zwave, 5LoWPAN, LoRa, PLC, other types, protocols, frequencies, etc. discussed herein, etc., combinations of these, as well as other information including methods of identification, badge/sign-in entry, time of day, database information, web based information, signals, data, etc., day, date, weather, temperature, humidity, light level, solar/Sunlight level, gesturing, facial expressions, movements, ambient conditions, environment, track speed including but not limited to of a person or persons, etc., animal(s), other living creatures, animate or inanimate objects, etc. Such embodiments can make the speed of on/off and or dimming to whatever is desired, needed, required including from extremely fast to extremely slow. Such embodiments may be used for any application or use including but not limited to indoor and/or outdoor applications including but not limited to hallways, rooms, meeting locations, conference rooms, conference centers, convention centers, sports events centers, to and from locations such as bathrooms, open or closed/covered parking lots and locations, street lighting, including but not limited to for pedestrians and vehicles, freeway and highway road and other lighting, signage lighting including but not limited to roadside and billboard lighting.
Embodiments of the present invention can have a wireless or wired device provide one or more and especially more than one 0 to 3 V and/or 0 to 10 V or other analog and/or digital signals including but not limited to simple and/or complex pulsing including simple to complex and sophisticated PWM as well as, in many cases, DC or, in some cases, AC. Such embodiments can control/monitor/log/store/analyze/perform analytics, etc. on more than just the lighting and can also be used to do different things including but not limited to heat, cool, light, protect, detect, etc. Such implementations can be used for more than lighting and include but are not limited to heating, cooling, HVAC, temperature, humidity, window coverings, entertainment, etc. as well as lighting including specialized lighting and general lighting.
Some embodiments of the present invention include implementations that can replace the ballast power with power supplies that effectively and essentially perform the same function as the ballast but are specifically designed to work with fluorescent lamp replacements (FLRs) and provide a constant AC or DC current to the FLRs. Such embodiments of the present invention can, for example, but not limited to, provide numerous additional functions, features, etc. including remote control, monitoring, logging, tracking, analytics, dimming, scheduling, etc. using, for example, but not limited to, wired, wireless, powerline control (PLC), etc. Such embodiments of the present invention can also have a maximum current level set and also a maximum voltage level set.
Some embodiments use a DC buss—for example, 24 V to supply all of the ballast (re-wire from AC line voltage (e.g., 120 VAC, 240 VAC, 277 VAC, 347 VAC) to DC) using, for example, a AC to DC power supply, an off-grid source such as, but not limited, to solar, geothermal, hydro, fuel cell, battery, etc., combinations of these, etc.
In some embodiments of the present invention, a wireless or wired or powerline interface may be added to a dimmable/controlled enabled FLR which can be hung, clipped, attached, etc. to the fixture, to the hanger (“hangar”). If higher than 24 V is needed, then a buck-boost, boost, boost-buck, flyback, forward converter, push-pull, SEPIC, Cuk, two-stage converter, inverter, etc. can be used. Such a system can use virtually any type of light source including solid state lighting to be powered off of fluorescent lamp fixtures using any type of power source including but not limited to ballasts and AC line voltage. Some embodiments of a hanger-based lighting system use a relatively low voltage out (e.g., 24 volts or less or so). Such a hanger-based lighting system allows modular, plug-in approach for lighting, supporting different plug in LEDs, lamps, etc. In some embodiments, the user can replace, mix and match, change, etc. light or power supply/driver or any type of accessories including but not limited to fans, microphones, speakers, sensors, sirens, horns, buzzers, strobes, detectors, cameras, IOT, etc.
Some embodiments of the invention make measurements of the external voltage and current to determine output power.
Some embodiments of the invention use daisy chain power drops. Some embodiments of the invention can detect shorts and are short circuited protected (SCP). Embodiments of the present invention can ensure that maximum power is not exceeded by measuring and determining the power being drawn.
The present invention supports/can use the low voltage hangar approach as well as AC to low voltage DC.
Some embodiments of the present invention can use powerline communications including but not limited to either AC or DC or both AC and DC power communications.
Some embodiments of the present invention can use the isolated dimming function with isolated voltage/power to safely power, for example, but not limited to, sensors including, but not limited to, motion, sound, voice, voice recognition, noise, proximity, sonar, radar, ultrasonic, daylight harvesting, solar, light, signal strength including wireless signal strength, etc., combinations of these, etc., in addition to others, etc.
Some embodiments of the invention can use one or more lighting fixtures of any type or form including ceiling, wall, desk, etc. to communicate, for example, but not limited to communicate sensor information regarding light intensity, sound, solar, photo, color, spectrum, motion, sound, voice, voice recognition, noise, proximity, sonar, radar, ultrasonic, daylight harvesting, solar, light, etc., combinations of these, etc., as well as other, etc. As an example, a desk lamp or other object, piece of equipment, computer, computer monitor, television, desk, wall, shelf, cabinet, etc.
In some embodiments of the invention, a desk lamp can be used to support, house, power, etc. one or more smart/intelligent sensors including, but not limited to, light intensity, sound, solar, photo, color, spectrum, motion, sound, voice, voice recognition, noise, proximity, sonar, radar, ultrasonic, daylight harvesting, solar, light, etc., combinations of these, etc., etc., etc. as well as others, etc., etc. that are incorporated into the desk lamp. For example, a desk lamp can have one or more photosensors that sense the light level and report, adjust, etc. the overhead lighting, including but not limited to the smart, dimmable FLRs.
Some embodiments of the invention use one or more hangars to hang/support lighting. Some embodiments of the invention use bar codes (and bar code readers) or the squares that cell phones/tablets read, etc. to read in the ID/Address/Name/etc. of each smart/intelligent lamp, dimmer, light, etc. so as to assign each to its proper place.
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In some embodiments, blue and amber OLEDs can be stacked with the blue and amber each having a least one separate electrode, respectively to provide current/power to the respective OLED or both OLEDs, providing the ability to turn on blue light, amber light, or both in a combination to yield a controllable and adjustable white light over a range of color temperatures.
In some embodiments, sensors and/or cameras of any numbers, types, models, functions, etc. are included in lighting panels, enabling monitoring of users or patients undergoing treatment for seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and other types of health issues including but not limited to Alzheimer's, Parkinson disease, mental health problems, physical health problems, depression, addiction, therapy, Jet Lag or Rapid Time Zone Change Syndrome, Shift Work Sleep Disorder, Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS), Advanced Sleep Phase Syndrome (ASPD), Non 24-Hour Sleep Wake Disorder, etc., combinations of these, etc. Such sensors and/or cameras can determine time periods and/or constancy of gaze of users looking at the lights for treatment periods. Resulting measurements can be recorded, can be provided to users, can be forwarded to treatment providers for review, etc.
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The SSL/LED lighting and associated electronics including drivers, power supplies, controls, etc. can be in any number of standard form factors including but not limited to T8, T12, T4, PL 2 pin and 4 pin, A lamp (E26 base), PAR 30, PAR 38, BR30, BR 40, R20, R30, R40, 2×2 ft panels, 2×4 ft panels, etc. in any white color temperature or one or more color temperatures, etc. with or without other colors as discussed herein as well as custom form factors.
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Implementations of the present invention can also use combinations of example embodiments of the present invention—for example, a buck (or buck-boost, boost-buck, boost, fly back, forward converter, push-pull, etc.) can be combined with a the ballast current control and other example embodiments shown herein to achieve implementations that can be used with universal AC line voltage up from below 80 VAC to greater than 305 VAC and even 347 VAC and 480 VAC 50/60 Hz (and also 400 Hz) as well as magnetic ballasts and electronic ballasts, including but not limited to, instant start, rapid start, programmed start, programmable start, dimming ballasts, pre-start, etc.
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Resistors 1516, 1517 and Zener diode 1518 along with optional capacitor 1515 form an example voltage reference (although other types of voltage references can be used to achieve a stable voltage reference including, but not limited to, bandgap references, precision voltage references, etc.). Resistors 1519, 1520 form a voltage divider that acts as a reference set point which could also be filtered by, for example, a capacitor (not shown) that is fed to the non-inverting terminal of a comparator 1522 (or similar function such as an op amp). The voltage from a sense resistor 1520 (e.g., the voltage across sense resistor 583 of
The negative pulse from comparator 1522 is fed to an inverter made up of MOSFET 1526 and resistors 1523, 1524. A time constant can be included to control the rise and/or fall time at the gate of the MOSFET 1526. The inverter output is fed to the base of a Darlington pair made up of bipolar junction transistors 1529, 1530 which acts as a shunting transistor and which can be used to shunt any desired signal in the solid state lighting system, such as a point upstream from the load current output, e.g., node Pre-LEDP 578 of
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The diode bridge 1706 can be replaced in some embodiments with a half wave bridge or other such circuits including circuits that perform/provide rectification or circuits that pass AC and use the AC, including but not limited to the frequency of the AC, to determine whether a ballast is present or not, etc., and which provide a DC voltage which may be limited by Zener diode 1712 to the gate of transistor 1720 which in turns off transistor 1722 and thus, for example, but not limited to turning off and blocking the electrical path through diode 1724 as shown in
In some embodiments of the present invention, one or more time constants may be used to provide feedback and control. An example of such is shown in
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Some embodiments of the invention include circuits to link to watches and in particular smart watches, wearable watches, health monitoring watches, FitBit, Apple. Nike, Android based smart watches and wearables, etc.
Some embodiments of the invention include circuits to link to watches and/or other types of wearables to interact with, control, dim, monitor, light and other systems.
Some embodiments of the invention include motion detectors for outdoor outside that can have motion sensor, ultrasonics, noise, etc. separate from the light source and connected via Bluetooth Smart, BLE, USB, use WEB and other info including but not limited to weather, wind, wind speed, could coordinate with other sensors, lights, etc. feedback information, etc.
Some embodiments of the invention includes lamps that can be all or partially screen printed, 3D printed, etc. including custom designs, customized designs, etc. using, for example, UL or CE approved, recognized, listed, etc. materials.
Some embodiments of the invention use proximity sensors and/or beacons, identifiers, etc. to identify who is near including by cellular/smart phone, smart watch, other Bluetooth devices, RFID, others, etc. and take appropriate actions including settings selection based on profile information stored, learned, taught, trained, memorized, etc, combinations of these, etc.
Some embodiments of the invention advertise and obtain Bluetooth and other ID, etc.
Some embodiments of the invention use display panels including but not limited to OLED panels, tablets, etc. as lighting panels.
Some embodiments of the invention use a synchronous bridge for the dimmer Some embodiments of the invention can also have a TRIAC that is, for example, but not limited to being in parallel with the diodes and transistors of embodiments of the present invention.
Some embodiments of the invention include motion sensing for either outdoor or indoor that can wirelessly, wired and/or powerline communications set, program, control, monitor, log, respond, alert, alarm, etc. including being able to be part of a cluster, group, community of lights, etc., that provides, for example, but not limited to, protection and security, etc., can, for example, but not limited to, detect a defective light, light (burned) out, can provide dimming, can use one or more colors of white, RGB, etc., can dim up and dim down, etc., Can control, set, program, sequence, synchronize, etc. all parameters including but not limited to distance, length of time on, sensitivity, ambient light level, response, synchronizing with outdoor and indoor motion sensors, response including but not limited to white color temperature and/or color choice(s), flashing or solid on, flashing, sequences of flashing, sequences of flashing and solid on, etc. of one or more colors including but not limited to one or more white colors, one or more white colors with one or more other colors, one or more colors,
Some embodiments of the invention include sensors in the light(s), sensors attached to and/or near the light(s), sensors remote from the lights including battery powered, AC powered, solar powered, energy harvested, battery charged, etc., combinations of these, etc., including, for example, but not limited to, solar power battery charging.
Some embodiments of the invention are adapted for use in stairwells, etc. especially ones that have doors to entry, use a device that makes a sound when the door is opened so that the light source ‘hears’ the sound and turns on. Can use any device, approach, method, etc. that can convey that the door is opened or someone has passed through the door including, for example, but not limited to, photoelectric beam and photoelectric eye, magnetic proximity switch, other types of detection of open door, etc., can use two tone or more tone frequency, etc.
Some embodiments of the invention can use active or passive or both high pass, low pass, bandpass, notch, other filters, combinations, etc. including with the voice, sound, noise detection.
Some embodiments of the invention can use isolated digital PWM that can be converted to analog near the control reference point.
Some embodiments of the invention can use proximity and/or signal strength to decide, for example, but not limited to turn on or off lights, etc.
Some embodiments of the invention can flash at the end of an allotted time to indicate that the next group is ready to use, for example, a conference room.
Some embodiments of the invention can listen for and respond to emergency sounds such as smoke, fire, carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (for, for example but not limited to, both health and occupancy information), etc. detectors, sensors, etc. by flashing, turning on, forwarding the information, alert, alarm, etc.
Some embodiments of the invention can be powered over Ethernet (POE), dimmed, controlled, monitored, logged, two way communicated with, data mined, analytics, etc. Can be powered, controlled, monitored, managed, etc. via wired or wireless or powerline control (PLC) including but not limited to serial communications, parallel communications, RS232, RS485, RS422, RS423, SPI, I2C, UART, Ethernet, ZigBee, Zwave, Bluetooth, BTLE, WiFi, cellular, mobile, ISM, Wink, powerline, etc., combinations of these, etc.
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Some embodiments of the present invention such as that in
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Some embodiments of the invention can include indoor and/or outdoor motion sensors. The lights and, for example, sensors can have auxiliary ports that allow both control signals and other types of sensors, detectors, features, functions, etc. including, for example, but not limited to, motion, sound, video, vision recognition, pattern recognition, etc., combinations of these, etc. The indoor and outdoor embodiments can be very similar except for weather-proof for outdoor uses. Embodiments of the present invention can use existing lighting fixtures, including those with or without motion sensing and make them motion sensing capable including having the motion sensing inside the light source or as an extension to the light source that can be plugged into the light source and control the turning on/off and dimming up/down of the light source(s), etc., other sensors, alarms, alerts, communications, etc. can be added to embodiments of the present invention as well as being capable of being compatible with existing/legacy lighting including, for example, but not limited to motion detection, security, photoelectric cell/dusk to dawn lighting, etc., combinations of these, etc., including for example but not limited to, detecting when a conventional, non-communicating motion detector light fixture turns on and wirelessly or wire (or, in some cases, PLC) reporting, communicating, logging, tracking, etc. such information, etc. Embodiments of the present invention can also completely set all parameters of the present invention including but not limited to, the light level, detection threshold, detection level, distance, proximity, etc., notify under what conditions, notify neighbors, etc., light level to turn on at, whether to flash or not, etc., detection, sniffing, identification, etc. of smart devices including but not limited to smart phones, cellular phones, tablets, smart watches, wrist watches, fitness, well being watches, other wearables, PDAs, mobile devices, RFID, wearables, sounds, noise, voice(s), one or more certain frequencies, other types of technologies that can be used in tandem, conjunction with the present invention, other signatures, signs, identification, etc., combinations of these. Embodiments of the present invention can use such information to decide or aid in deciding whether the detection is due to, for example, but not limited to, a friend or foe and an unidentified source or object, person, animal, wind, etc. Embodiments of the present invention can record, store, analyze, keep track of, for example, the frequency of such occurrences and incidents, including any new digital, electronic, or other information including unique information about the device or person, etc. such as cellular phone identifiers, RF/wireless IDs, names, user names, etc. In addition, embodiments and implementations of the present invention can use optical or other methods to act as a intruder alert system such that, for example, but not limited to, an optical beam that connects two or more of the present invention including, examples where the two or more embodiments of the present invention have direct line of sight to each other and effectively have a beam of light in between that is broken or disrupted, etc. Such a beam of light can be modulated with the user able to select one or more from a variety of modulations so as to make it more difficult to emulate the beam, etc. Such beam modulations and detection can be two or more way so as to add to the reliability and security, etc.
Some embodiments of the invention can be configured, controlled, monitored, etc., from/to smart devices using for example, but not limited to, Apps, laptops, desktops, servers, mobile and/or PDA devices of any type or form, combinations of these, etc.
Some embodiments of the invention can include motion sensors performing multiple duties—turning on/off lights, alerting that there are people there, heating or cooling spaces, burglar alarm, camera, image recognition, noise, voice, recognition, sound recognition, etc. accessories, thermal imagers, night vision, infrared cameras, infrared lit cameras, etc.
In some embodiments of the present invention, a small PWM pulse width can be the default pulse width such that the amount of power/current at the highest input voltage will limit the power applied without a signal to increase the pulse. This will allow a current/power limit in the event of, for example, a short circuit on the output since a small pulse to big pulse is needed for higher power in AC line voltage mode. The pulse width can be made larger by a circuit that measures the pulse width and allows the pulse width to increase until the desired current level is attained.
Some embodiments of the invention can include outdoor motion sensing with smart additional components, accessories, etc. Sense includes weather, including from any source such as a local weather station, personal weather station, web-based weather report, etc. Smart Motion sense can also dim, flash, change intensities, white colors, be color-changing, etc., communicate two or more way, etc., monitor weather locally, regionally, wind factor, have a wind indicator, etc., wind vane, wind generator, etc.
Implementations of the present invention are designed to be a cost-effective and complete solution that provides both forward and backward compatibility which is also ideal for retrofits and can use either wireless or wire (or both) communications.
Implementations of the present invention include comprehensive sensing and monitoring. Implementations of the present invention can be Web-based and/or WiFi-based (or other) and interface with smart phones, tablets, other mobile devices, laptops, computers, dedicated remote units, etc. and can support a number of wireless communications including, but not limited to, IEEE 802, ZigBee, Bluetooth, ISM, etc.
Implementations of the present invention can include, but not limited to, dimmers, drivers, power supplies of all types, switches, motion sensors, light sensors, temperature sensors, daylight harvesting, other sensors, thermostats and more and can include monitoring, logging, analytics, etc.
Embodiments of the present invention support and can include color changing, color tuning, etc. lights with numerous ways to interact with the lights.
Embodiments of the present invention can be integrated with video, burglar, fire alarm, etc. components, systems.
Other features and functions include but are not limited to detecting the frequency using a microprocessor, microcontroller, FPGA, DSP, etc. Use a switch including, for example, a transistor such as a field effect transistor (FET) such as a MOSFET or JFET to, for example, either turn on or turn off a circuit that operates in either ballast mode or AC line mode depending on the amplitude of the signal or with the inclusion of a time constant, the average, RMS, etc. voltage level. Embodiments of the present invention removes the requirement that a reference level and a comparison to the reference level is required to detect the amplitude of the waveform
The present invention can also have sirens, microphones, speakers, earphones, headphones, emergency lights, flashing lights, fans, heaters, sensors including, but not limited to, temperature sensors, humidity sensors, moisture sensors, noise sensors, light sensors, spectra sensors, infrared sensors, ultraviolet sensors, speech sensors, voice sensors, motion sensors, acoustic sensors, ultrasound sensors, RF sensors, proximity sensors, sonar sensors, radar sensors, etc., combinations of these, etc.
The present invention can also provide two or more side (multi-side) lighting for example, for a FLR where one side contains SSL that, for example, consists of white color or white colors of one or more color temperatures and another side contains SSL or other lighting of one or more wavelengths such as red, green, blue, amber, white, yellow, etc., combinations of these, subsets of these, etc. The two or more sided lighting can perform different functions—for example, the side that is primarily white or all white light of one or more color temperatures can provide primary lighting whereas the side that has one or more color/wavelengths of light can provide indication of location, status, code level in, for example, a hospital (i.e., code red, code blue, code yellow, etc.), accent lighting, mood lighting, location indication, emergency information and direction, full spectrum lighting, etc.
The present invention can work with all types of communications devices including portable communications devices worn by individuals, walkie-talkie types of devices, etc.
The present device can use combinations of wireless and wired interfaces to control and monitor; for example for a linear or other fluorescent replacement for, for example, but not limited to, T4, T5, T8, T9, T10, T12, etc., one (or more) of the replacement lamps can be wireless with wired connections from the one (or more) replacement lamp(s) to the other replacement lamps such that the one or more wireless replacement lamps acts as a master receiving and/or transmitting information, data, commands, etc. wirelessly and passing along or receiving information, data, commands, etc. from the other remaining wired slaved units. In other embodiments one or more wired masters/leaders may transfer, transmit, or receive, etc. information, data, commands from other wireless and/or wired equipped fluorescent lamp replacements, etc. of combinations of these.
The present invention can also have one or more thermometers, thermostats, temperature controllers, temperature monitors, etc., combinations of these, etc. that can be wirelessly or wired interfaced controlled, monitored, etc. Such one or more thermometers, thermostats, temperature controllers, temperature monitors, etc., combinations of these, etc. can be connected/interfaced, for example, but not limited to, by Bluetooth, Bluetooth low energy, WiFi, IEEE 801, IEEE 802, ZigBee, Zwave, other 2.4 GHz and related/associated standards, protocols, interfaces, ISM, other frequencies including but not limited to, radio frequencies (RF), microwave frequencies, millimeter-wave frequencies, sub millimeter-wave frequencies, terahertz (THz), mobile cellular network connections, combinations of these. Wired connections, interfaces, protocols, etc. include but are not limited to, serial, parallel, UART, SPI, I2C, RS232, RS485, RS422, other RS standards and serial standards, interfaces, protocols, etc. powerline communications, interfaces, protocols, etc. including both ones that work on DC and/or AC, DMX, DALI, 0 to 10 Volt, other voltage ranges including but not limited to 0 to 3 Volt, 0 to 5 Volt, 1 to 8 Volt, etc.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the thermometer(s) and/or thermostats may be remotely located. In other embodiments of the present invention, such a temperature sensor or sensors or thermostat or thermostats can use wireless or wired units, interfaces. protocols, device, circuits, systems, etc. In some embodiments the thermometer(s) and/or thermostat(s) can communicate with each other and relay, share, and pass commands as well as provide information and data to one another.
In addition, embodiments of the present invention can use switches that are remotely controlled and monitored to detect the use of power or the absence of power usage, to open or close garage or other doors by locally and/or remotely sending signals to garage door openers including acting as a switch to complete detection circuits, remembering the status of garage door opening or closing, working with other motion sensors, photosensors, etc. horizontal/vertical detectors, inclinometers, etc., combinations of these, etc. Embodiments of the present invention can both control and monitor the status of the garage or other door and sound alarms, send alerts, flash lights including flashing white lights and/or one or more color/wavelength lights, turn on lights, turn off lights, activate cameras, record video, images, sounds, voices, respond to sounds, noise, movement, include and use microphones, speakers, earphones, headphones, cellular communications, etc., other communications, combinations of these, etc. Such embodiments and implementations can use Bluetooth, Bluetooth low energy, WiFi, IEEE 801, IEEE 802, ZigBee, Zwave, other 2.4 GHz and related/associated standards, protocols, interfaces, ISM, other frequencies including but not limited to, radio frequencies (RF), microwave frequencies, millimeter-wave frequencies, sub millimeter-wave frequencies, terahertz (THz), mobile cellular network connections, combinations of these. Wired connections, interfaces, protocols, etc. include but are not limited to, serial, parallel, SPI, I2C, RS232, RS485, RS422, other RS standards and serial standards, interfaces, protocols, etc. powerline communications, interfaces, protocols, etc. including both ones that work on DC and/or AC, DMX, DALI, 0 to 10 Volt, other voltage ranges including but not limited to 0 to 3 Volt, 0 to 5 Volt, 1 to 8 Volt, etc., relays, switches, transistors of any type and number, etc., combinations of these, etc.
The present invention also allows various types of radio frequency (RF) devices such as, but not limited to, window shades, drapes, diffusers, garage door openers, cable boxes, satellite boxes, etc. to be controlled and monitored by replacing and integrating these functions into implementations of the present invention including being able to synthesize and reproduce the RF signals which are typically in the range of less than 1 kHz to greater than 5 GHz using one or more RF synthesizers including ones based on phase lock loops and other such frequency tunable and adjustable circuits with may also employ frequency multiplication, amplification, modulation, etc., combinations of these, etc., amplitude modulation, phase modulation, pulses, pulse trains, combinations of these, etc.
A global positioning system (GPS) can be included in the present invention to track the location and, for example, to also make decisions as to where and when the present invention should do certain things including but not limited to turning on or off, dimming, turn on heat or cooling, control and monitor the lighting, etc., control, water, monitor the lawn and other plants, trees etc.
Embodiments of the present invention can use/incorporate/include/etc. thermal imagers including but not limited to IR imagers, IR imaging arrays, non-contact temperature measurements including point temperature and array temperature measurements including in lighting such as T8 replacements where the imagers are powered, for example, but not limited to the ballast.
Embodiments of the present invention allow for dimming with both ballasts and AC line voltage.
Implementations of the present invention can use, but are not limited to, Bluetooth, Bluetooth low energy, WiFi, IEEE 801, IEEE 802, ZigBee, Zwave, other 2.4 GHz and related/associated standards, protocols, interfaces, ISM, other frequencies including but not limited to, radio frequencies (RF), microwave frequencies, millimeter-wave frequencies, sub millimeter-wave frequencies, terahertz (THz), mobile cellular network connections, combinations of these. Wired connections, interfaces, protocols, etc. include but are not limited to, serial, parallel, SPI, I2C, RS232, RS485, RS422, other RS standards and serial standards, interfaces, protocols, etc. powerline communications, interfaces, protocols, etc. including both ones that work on DC and/or AC, DMX, DALI, 0 to 10 Volt, other voltage ranges including but not limited to 0 to 3 Volt, 0 to 5 Volt, 1 to 8 Volt, etc.
Embodiments of the present invention include SSL/LED Direct Fluorescent Tube Lamp Replacements that can be used, for example, but not limited to, for daylight harvesting/occupancy uses and applications.
Embodiments of the present invention uses wireless signals to both control (i.e., dim) the LED fluorescent lamp replacements (FLRs) and monitor the LED current, voltage and power. The present invention includes but is not limited to fluorescent lamp replacements that work directly with existing electronic ballasts and requires no re-wiring and can be installed in the same amount of time or less than changing a regular fluorescent lamp tube. These smart/intelligent LED FLRs are compatible with most daylight harvesting controls and protocols. Optional sensors allow for relative light output to be measured and wirelessly reported, monitored, and logged permitting analytics to be performed. Embodiments of the present invention come in a diversity of lengths including but are not limited to two foot and four foot T8 standard/nominal linear lengths as well as T12. Additional optional input power measurements allow total power usage, power factor, input current, input voltage, input real and apparent power to also be measured thus allowing efficiency to be measured. The wireless signals can be radio signals in the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) for lower cost and simplicity or ZigBee, ZWave, IEEE 802, or WiFi or Bluetooth or any type of form. In addition to occupancy/motion sensors, photo sensors and daylight harvesting controls, simple and low cost interfaces that allow existing other brands, makes, and models of daylight harvesting controls, photo sensors, occupancy/motion sensors to be connected to and control/dim embodiments of the wireless SSL/LED FLRs. The SSL FLR can be switched on and off millions of times without damage as well as be dimmed up and down without damage. The wireless communications can be encrypted and secure. Such embodiments of the present invention FLRs do not require or need a dimmable ballast and work with virtually any T8 electronic ballast from all major ballast manufacturers (optionally with most T12 electronic ballasts).
The present invention can have integrated motion sensor as part of the housing and can also use auxiliary motion sensors and can also have integrated light/photocell sensor as well as auxiliary.
The present invention can also respond to proximity sensors including passive or active or both, as well as voice commands and can be used to turn on, turn off, dim, flash or change colors including doing so in response to an emergency situation. The present invention can use wireless, wired, powerline, combinations of these, etc., Bluetooth, RFID, WiFi, ZigBee, ZWave, IEEE 801, IEEE 802, ISM, etc. In addition the present invention can be connected to fire alarms, fire alarm monitoring equipment, etc.
Embodiments of the present invention permits enhanced circadian rhythm alignment and maintenance using sources of light. Such sources of light include, but are not limited to, computer screens, monitors, panels, etc., tablet screens, smart phone screens, etc., televisions (TVs), LCD and CRT displays of any type or form, DVD and other entertainment lighting and displays containing LEDs, OLEDs, CCFLs, FLs, CRTs, etc., displays, monitors, TVs, OLED, LED, CCFL, FL, incandescent lighting, etc.
The present invention can use smart phones, tablets, computers, dedicated remote controls, to provide lighting appropriate for circadian rhythm alignment, correction, support, maintenance, etc. that can be, for example, coordinated wake-up and sleep times whether on a ‘natural’ or shifted (i.e., night workers, shift workers, etc.) to set and align their sleep patterns and circadian rhythm to appropriates phases including time shifts and time zone shifts due to work and other related matters.
The present invention can use external and internal information gathered from a number of sources including clocks, internal and external lighting, time of the year, individual, specific input, physiological signals, movements, monitoring of physiological signals, stimuli, including but not limited to, EEG, melatonin levels, urine, wearable device information, sleep information, temperature, body temperature, weather conditions, etc., combinations of these, etc.
The present invention can use TVs essentially of any type or form, including, but not limited to smart TVs, and related and similar items, products and technologies including, but not limited to, computer and other monitors and displays that can either be remotely or manually controlled and, in some embodiments, monitored. The present invention can use smart phones, tablets, PCs, remote controls including programmable remote controls, consoles, etc., combinations of these etc., to control and set the content of the lighting (e.g., white or blue-enriched, etc. combinations of these, etc. for wake-up; yellow, amber, orange, red, etc., combinations of these, etc. for sleep-time, etc.) automatically to assist in circadian rhythm, sleep, SAD mitigation, reduction, elimination, etc. In some embodiments of the present invention, music, sounds, white noise, sea shore sounds, sound effects, narratives, live audio, inspirational audio including previously recorded, generated, synthesized, etc., soothing sounds, familiar sounds and voices, etc. and combinations of these to go to sleep with. Jarring, buzzing, alarming, beeping, interrupting sounds, alarm clock sounds and noises, sleep disruptive sounds, noises and/or voices, etc. accompanied by white light, blue color/wavelength light including, but not limited to, slowing dimming up to a preset, optimum, and/or maximum brightness or setting, etc. for wake-up in the morning. Embodiments of the present invention can provide multiple wake-ups to the same location and/or different locations including other locations in homes, houses, hotels, hospitals, dormitories including school and military and other types of barracks, dormitories, etc., assisted living homes and facilities, chronic care facilities, rehabilitation facilities, etc., children's hospitals and care facilities, etc. group living, elder living, etc., children's rooms and other family members whether in the same physical location or in different physical locations, friends and family, clients, guests, travelers, jet lagged and sleep deprived people and personnel, etc.
The present invention can have integrated motion sensor as part of the housing and can also use auxiliary motion sensors and can also have integrated light/photocell sensor as well as auxiliary. In some embodiments of the present invention, these can be stand-alone units that replace conventional fluorescent lamps including, but not limited to, T8, T12, T5, T10, T9, U-shaped, CFLs, etc. of any length, size and power as well as high intensity discharge lamps of any size, type, power, etc.
The present invention can also respond to proximity sensors including passive or active or both, as well as voice commands and can be used to turn on, turn off, dim, flash or change colors including doing so in response to an emergency situation. The present invention can use wireless, wired, powerline, combinations of these, etc., Bluetooth, RFID, WiFi, ZigBee, ZWave, IEEE 801, IEEE 802, ISM, etc. In addition the present invention can be connected to fire alarms, fire alarm monitoring equipment, etc.
The present invention can use a BACNET to wireless converter box or BACNET to Bluetooth including Bluetooth low energy (BLE) converter. The present invention can also use infrared signals to control and dim the lighting and other systems as well as other types of devices including but not limited to heating and cooling, thermostats, on/off switches, other types of switches, etc.
The present invention can have the motion proximity sensor send signals back to the controller/monitor or other devices including but not limited to cell phones, smart phones, tablets, computers, laptops, servers, remote controls, etc. when motion or proximity is detected etc. Embodiments of the present invention can have on/off switches for the ballasts where the ballasts connect to the AC lines and/or also where the ballasts connect to the present invention, etc.
Embodiments and implementations of the present invention allow for optional add-ons including but not limited to wired, wireless or powerline control which, for example, could be installed or added later and interfaced to the present invention as well as allowing sensors such as daylight harvesting/photo/light/solar/etc. sensors as well as motion/PIR/proximity/other types of motion, distance, proximity, location, etc., sensors, detectors, technologies, etc., combinations of these, etc. to be used with the present invention.
The present invention provides a means to improve circadian rhythm by providing the appropriate wavelengths of light at appropriate times.
Internal and external photosensors including wavelength specific or the ability to gather entire or partial spectrum, etc. and can use atomic clock(s) signals, other broadcast time signals, cellular phone, time, smart phone, tablet, computers, personal digital assistants, etc., remote control via dedicated units, smart phones, computers, laptops, tablets, etc.
The present invention can also have sirens, microphones, speakers, earphones, headphones, emergency lights, flashing lights, fans, heaters, sensors including, but not limited to, temperature sensors, humidity sensors, moisture sensors, noise sensors, light sensors, spectra sensors, infrared sensors, ultraviolet sensors, speech sensors, voice sensors, motion sensors, acoustic sensors, ultrasound sensors, RF sensors, proximity sensors, sonar sensors, radar sensors, etc., combinations of these, etc. The sound and/or noise sensors as well as other sensors, etc. can use one or more filters including one or more low pass, high pass, notch, bandpass including narrow bandpass filters, etc. Such filters can be realized by either or both analog and digital means, approaches, ways, functions, circuits, etc., combinations of these, etc. Such filter functions can be active or passive or both, can be manually and/or automatically set and adjustable, can be set, adjusted, programmed, etc. by an app, by other types and forms of software and hardware, by smart phone(s), tablet(s), laptops, servers, computers, other types of personal digital assistant(s), etc.
Embodiments of the present invention can have more than one wavelength or color of LEDs and/or SSLs and can include more than one array of LEDs, OLEDs, QDs, etc. that permit color selection, color blending, color tuning, color adjustment, etc. Embodiments of the present invention can include multiple arrays that can be switched on or off or in or out and/or dimmed with either power being supplied by a ballast or the AC line that can be remotely selected, controlled and monitored. Examples of the present invention include different wavelengths, combinations of colors and phosphors, etc. are used to obtain desired performance, effects, operation, use, etc. Embodiments can include one, two, three or more arrays of SSLs, including, but not limited to, side-by-side, 180 degrees from each other, on opposite sides, on multiple sides for example hexagon or octagon, etc. The SSLs including but not limited to LEDs, OLEDs, QDs, etc. may be put in series, parallel or combinations of series and parallel, parallel and series, etc. In other embodiments of the present invention, phosphors, quantum dots, and other types of light absorbing/changing materials that for example can effectively change wavelengths, colors, etc. for example by applying a voltage bias or electric field. The present invention can also take the form of linear fluorescent lamps from less than 1 foot to more than 8 feet in length and may typically be T4, T5, T8, T9, T10, T12, etc. Such embodiments of the present invention may use an insulating housing made from, for example but not limited to, glass or an appropriate type of plastic, which may or may not have a diffuser or be a diffuser in terms of the plastic. In some embodiments of the present invention plastic housings may be used that can include diffusers on the entire surface, diffusers on half the surface, diffusers on less than half the surface, diffusers on more than half of the surface, with the rest of the surface either being clear plastic, opaque plastic or a metal such as aluminum or an aluminum alloy.
Photon/wavelength conversion including down conversion can be used with the present invention including being able to adjust the photon/wavelength conversion electrically. Spectral/spectrum sensors can be used to detect the light spectral content and adjust the light spectrum by turning on or off certain wavelengths/colors of SSL. The spectral sensors could consist of color/wavelength sensitive detectors covering a range of colors/wavelengths of filters that only each only permit a certain, typically relatively narrow, range of wavelengths to be detected. As an example, red, orange, amber, yellow, green, blue, etc. color detectors could be included as part of the spectral/spectrum sensor or sensors. In some embodiments of the present invention, quantum dots can be used as part of and to implement the spectral/spectrum sensors.
Implementations of the present invention can include and consist of any number and arrangement of smart dimmers (by wired, wireless, powerline communications, etc. combinations of these, etc.) including ones that connect directly to the AC power lines that can control, but are not limited to, one or more of, for example, but not limited to, as an example, FLRs, A-lamps, PAR 30, PAR 38, PLC lamps, R20, R30, dimmable compact florescent lamps, incandescent bulbs, halogen bulbs, etc. as well as smart dimmable (i.e., by wired, wireless, powerline communications, etc., combinations of these, etc.), infrared controlled devices including heaters of any type or form, air conditioners of any type or form, color-changing, color-tunable, white color-changing, lighting of any type including but not limited to those discussed herein. Non-dimmable lamps and appliances and entertainment device can also be included in such implementations of the present invention and may be turned on and off by one or more of the smart on/off switches or a dimmer that is, for example, but not limited to, programmed to full on and full off only, etc. Such implementations of the present invention can also use one or more or all of the sensors, detectors, processes, approaches, etc. discussed herein and well as any other type or types of sensors, detectors, controls, etc. The smart lighting, dimmers, power supplies, sensors, controls, etc. can you any type or types of wired, wireless, and/or powerline communications. Any practical number of dimmers, lights, lighting, sensors, detectors, controls, monitoring, logging, analytics, heaters, air conditioners, fire, safety, burglar alarm(s), burglar protection, etc., appliances, entertainment devices, home safety, personal safety, thermometer(s), thermostat(s), humidifier(s), etc.
The present invention may use any type of circuit, integrated circuit (IC), microchip(s), microcontroller, microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP), application specific IC (ASIC), field gate programmable array (FPGA), complex logic device (CLD), analog and/or digital circuit, system, component(s), filters, etc. including, but not limited to, any method to provide a switched signal such as a PWM drive signal to the switching devices. In addition, additional voltage and/or current detect circuits may be used in place of or to augment the control and feedback circuits.
Some embodiments of the present invention can accept the output of a fluorescent ballast replacement that is designed and intended for a LED Fluorescent Lamp Replacement that is remote dimmable and can also be Triac, Triac-based, forward and reverse dimmer dimmable and incorporates all of the discussion above for the example embodiments. The remote fluorescent lamp replacement ballast can use or receive control signals/commands from, for example, but not limited to any or all of wired, wireless, optical, acoustic, voice, voice recognition, motion, light, sonar, gesturing, sound, ultrasound, ultrasonic, mechanical, vibrational, and/or PLC, etc., combinations of these, etc. remote control, monitoring and dimming, motion detection/proximity detection/gesture detection, etc. In some embodiments, dimming or/other control can be performed using methods/techniques/approaches/algorithms/etc. that implement one or more of the following: motion detection, recognizing motion or proximity to a detector or sensor and setting a dimming level or control response/level in response to the detected motion or proximity, or with audio detection, for example detecting sounds or verbal commands to set the dimming level in response to detected sounds, volumes, or by interpreting the sounds, including voice recognition or, for example, by gesturing including hand or arm gesturing, etc. sonar, light, mechanical, vibration, detection and sensing, etc. Some embodiments may be dual or multiple dimming and/or control, supporting the use of multiple sources, methods, algorithms, interfaces, sensors, detectors, protocols, etc. to control and/or monitor including data logging, data mining and analytics. Some embodiments of the present invention may be multiple dimming or control (i.e., accept dimming information, input(s), control from two or more sources).
Remote interfaces include, but are not limited to, 0 to 10 V, 0 to 2 V, 0 to 1 V, 0 to 3 V, etc., RS 232, RS485, DMX, WiFi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, IEEE 802, two wire, three wire, SPI, I2C, PLC, and others discussed in this document, etc. In various embodiments, the control signals can be received and used by the remote fluorescent lamp replacement ballast or by the LED, OLED and/or QD fluorescent lamp replacement or both. Such a Remote Controlled Florescent Ballast Replacement can also support color LED Fluorescent Lamp Replacements including single and multi-color including RGB, White plus red-green-blue (RGB) LEDs or OLEDs or other lighting sources, RGB plus one or more colors, red yellow blue (RYB), other variants, etc. Color-changing/tuning can include more than one color including RGB, WRGB, RGBW, WRGBA where A stands for amber, etc. 5 color, 6 color, N color, etc. Color-changing/tuning can include, but is not limited to, white color-tuning including the color temperature tuning/adjustments/settings/ etc., color correction temperature (CCT), color rendering index (CRI), etc. Color rendering, color monitoring, color feedback and control can be implemented using wired or wireless circuits, systems, interfaces, etc. that can be interactive using for example, but not limited to, smart phones, tablets, computers, laptops, servers, remote controls, etc. The present invention can use or, for example, make, create, produces, etc. any color of white including but not limited to soft, warm, bright, daylight, cool, etc. Color temperature monitoring, feedback, and adjustment can be performed in such embodiments of the present invention. The ability to change to different colors when using light sources capable of supporting such (i.e., LEDs, OLEDs and/or QDs including but not limited to red, green, blue, amber, white LEDs and/or any other possible combination of LEDs and colors). Embodiments of the present invention has the ability to store color choices, selections, etc. and retrieve, restore, display, update, etc. these color choices and selections when using non-fluorescent light sources that can support color changing. Embodiments of the present invention also have the ability to change between various color choices, selections, and associated inputs to do as well as the ability to modulate the color choices and selections.
A further feature and capability of embodiments of present invention is use of passive or active color filters and diffusers to produce enhanced lighting effects.
In addition, protection can be enabled (or disabled) by microcontroller(s), microprocessor(s), FPGAs, CLDs, PLDs, digital logic, etc. including remotely via wireless or wired connections, based on but not limited to, for example, a sequence of events and/or fault or no-fault conditions, sensor, monitoring, detection, safe operation, etc. An example of protection detection/sensing can include measuring/detecting/sensing lower current than expected due to, for example, a human person being in series with (e.g., in between) one leg of the LED, OLED and/or QD replacement fluorescent lamp and one side of the power being provided by the energized ballast. The present invention can use microcontroller(s), microprocessor(s), FPGA(s), other firmware and/or software means, digital state functions, etc. to accomplish protection, control, monitoring, operation, etc.
In addition to using a switching element, a linear regulation/ regulator instead of switching regulation/regulator can be used or both linear and switching regulation or combinations of both can be used in embodiments of the present invention.
Rapid start ballasts with heater connections may be made operable using resistors and/or capacitors. Certain implementations require less power and also evenly divide and resistance or reactive (e.g., capacitive and/or inductive) impedances so as to reduce or minimize power losses for the current supplied to the fluorescent lamp replacement(s). An example when having power supplied from an instant start or other ballast without heater(s) with only one electrical connection per ‘side’ of the fluorescent tube/lamp or fluorescent tube replacement (for a total of two connections) the resistors are effectively put into parallel thus reducing the resistance by a factor of four compared to being in serial for, for example, a heater emulation circuit or as part of a heater emulation circuit. Such heater circuits can contain resistors, capacitors, inductors, transformers, transistors, switches, diodes, silicon controlled rectifiers (SCR), triacs, other types of semiconductors and ICs including but not limited to op amps, comparators, timers, counters, microcontroller(s), microprocessors, DSPs, FPGAs, ASICs, CLDs, AND, NOR, Inverters and other types of Boolean logic digital components, combinations of the above, etc.
In some embodiments of the present invention, a switch may be put (at an appropriate location) in between the ballast output and the fluorescent lamp/fluorescent lamp replacement such that there is no completion of current flow in the fluorescent lamp replacement to act as a protection including shock hazard protection for humans and other living creatures in the event of an improper installation or attempt at or during installation. The detection of a such a fault or improper installation can be done by any method including analog and/or digital circuits including, but not limited to, op amps, comparators, voltage reference, current references, current sensing, voltage sensing, mechanical sensing, etc., microcontrollers, microprocessors, FPGAs, CLDs, wireless transmission, wireless sensing, optical sensing, motion sensing, light/daylight/etc. sensing, gesturing, sonar, infrared, visible light sensing, etc. A microprocessor or other alternative including, but not limited to, those discussed herein may be used to enable or disable protection and may be combined with other functions, features, controls, monitoring, etc. to improve the safety and performance of the present invention including before, during, after dimming, etc.
In embodiments of the present invention that include or involve buck, buck-boost, boost, boost-buck, etc. inductors, one or more tagalong inductors such as those disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/674,072, filed Nov. 11, 2012 by Sadwick et al. for a “Dimmable LED Driver with Multiple Power Sources”, which is incorporated herein for all purposes, may be used and incorporated into embodiments of the present invention. Such tagalong inductors can be used, among other things and for example, to provide power and increase and enhance the efficiency of certain embodiments of the present invention. In addition, other methods including charge pumps, floating diode pumps, level shifters, pulse and other transformers, bootstrapping including bootstrap diodes, capacitors and circuits, floating gate drives, carrier drives, etc. can also be used with the present invention.
The present invention can work with programmable soft start ballasts including being able to also have a soft short at turn-on which then allows the input voltage to rise to its running and operational level can also be included in various implementations and embodiments of the present invention.
Some embodiments of the present invention utilize high frequency diodes including high frequency diode bridges and current to voltage conversion to transform the ballast output into a suitable form so as to be able to work with existing AC line input PFC-LED circuits and drivers. Some other embodiments of the present invention utilize high-frequency diodes to transform the AC output of the electronic ballast (or the low frequency AC output of a magnetic ballast into a direct current (DC) format that can be used directly or with further current or voltage regulation to power and driver LEDs for a fluorescent lamp replacement. Embodiments of the present invention can be used to convert the low frequency (i.e., typically 50 or 60 Hz) magnetic ballast AC output to an appropriate current or voltage to drive and power LEDs using either or both shunt or series regulation. Some other embodiments of the present invention combine one or more of these. In some embodiments of the present invention, one or more switches can be used to clamp the output compliance current and/or voltage of the ballast. Various implementations of the present invention can involve voltage or current forward converters and/or inverters, square-wave, sine-wave, resonant-wave, etc. that include, but are not limited to, push pull, half-bridge, full-bridge, square wave, sine wave, fly-back, resonant, synchronous, etc.
For the present invention, in general, any type of transistor or vacuum tube or other similarly functioning device can be used including, but not limited to, MOSFETs, JFETs, GANFETs, depletion or enhancement FETs, N and/or P FETs, CMOS, PNP BJTs, triodes, etc. which can be made of any suitable material and configured to function and operate to provide the performance, for example, described above. In addition, other types of devices and components can be used including, but not limited to transformers, transformers of any suitable type and form, coils, level shifters, digital logic, analog circuits, analog and digital, mixed signals, microprocessors, microcontrollers, FPGAs, CLDs, PLDs, comparators, op amps, instrumentation amplifiers, and other analog and digital components, circuits, electronics, systems etc. For all of the example figures shown, the above analog and/or digital components, circuits, electronics, systems etc. are, in general, applicable and usable in and for the present invention.
The example figure and embodiments shown in herein are merely intended to provide some illustrations of the present inventions and not limiting in any way or form for the present inventions.
Using digital and/or analog designs and/or microcontrollers and /or microprocessors any and all practical combinations of control, protection, sequencing, levels, etc., some examples of which are listed below for the present invention, can be realized.
In addition to these examples, a potentiometer or similar device such as a variable resistor may be used to control the dimming level. Such a potentiometer may be connected across a voltage such that the wiper of the potentiometer can swing from minimum voltage (i.e., full dimming) to maximum voltage(i.e., full light). Often the minimum voltage will be zero volts which may correspond to full off and, for the example embodiments shown here, the maximum will be equal to or approximately equal to the voltage on the negative input of, for example, a comparator.
Current sense methods including resistors, current transformers, current coils and windings, etc. can be used to measure and monitor the current of the present invention and provide both monitoring and protection.
In addition to dimming by adjusting, for example, a potentiometer, the present invention can also support all standards, ways, methods, approaches, techniques, etc. for interfacing, interacting with and supporting, for example, 0 to 10 V dimming with a suitable reference voltage that can be remotely set or set via an analog or digital input such as illustrated in patent application 61/652,033 filed on May 25, 2012, for a “Dimmable LED Driver”, which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
The present invention supports all standards and conventions for 0 to 10 V dimming or other dimming techniques. In addition the present invention can support, for example, overcurrent, overvoltage, short circuit, and over-temperature protection. The present invention can also measure and monitor electrical parameters including, but not limited to, input current, input voltage, power factor, apparent power, real power, inrush current, harmonic distortion, total harmonic distortion, power consumed, watthours (WH) or kilowatt hours (kWH), etc. of the load or loads connected to the present invention. In addition, in certain configurations and embodiments, some or all of the output electrical parameters may also be monitored and/or controlled directly for, for example, LED drivers and FL ballasts. Such output parameters can include, but are not limited to, output current, output voltage, output power, duty cycle, PWM, dimming level(s), provide data monitoring, data logging, analytics, analysis, etc. including, but not limited to, input and output current, voltage, power, phase angle, real power, light output (lumens, lux), dimming level if appropriate, kilowatt hours (kWH), efficiency, temperature including temperatures of components, driver, LED or OLED array or array or strings or other types of configurations and groupings, etc.
In place of the potentiometer, an encoder or decoder can be used. The use of such also permits digital signals to be used and allows digital signals to either or both locally or remotely control the dimming level and state. A potentiometer with an analog to digital converter (ADC) or converters (ADCs) could also be used in many of such implementations of the present invention.
The above examples and figures are merely meant to provide illustrations of the present and should not be construed as limiting in any way or form for the present invention.
In addition to the examples above and any combinations of the above examples, the present invention can have multiple dimming levels set by the dimmer in conjunction with the motion sensor and photosensor/photodetector and/or other control and monitoring inputs including, but not limited to, analog (e.g., 0 to 10 V, 0 to 3 V, etc.), digital (RS232, RS485, USB, DMX, SPI, SPC, UART, DALI, other serial interfaces, etc.), a combination of analog and digital, analog-to-digital converters and interfaces, digital-to-analog converters and interfaces, wired, wireless (i.e., RF, WiFi, ZigBee, Zwave, ISM bands, 2.4 GHz, Bluetooth, etc.), powerline (PLC) including X-10, Insteon, HomePlug, etc.), etc.
The present invention is highly configurable and words such as current, set, specified, etc. when referring to, for example, the dimming level or levels, may have similar meanings and intent or may refer to different conditions, situations, etc. For example, in a simple case, the current dimming level may refer to the dimming level set by, for example, a control voltage from a digital or analog source including, but not limited to digital signals, digital to analog converters (DACs), potentiometer(s), encoders, etc.
The present invention can have embodiments and implementations that include manual, automatic, monitored, controlled operations and combinations of these operations. The present invention can have switches, knobs, variable resistors, encoders, decoders, push buttons, scrolling displays, cursors, etc. The present invention can use analog and digital circuits, a combination of analog and digital circuits, microcontrollers and/or microprocessors including, for example, DSP versions, FPGAs, CLDs, ASICs, etc. and associated components including, but not limited to, static, dynamic and/or non-volatile memory, a combination and any combinations of analog and digital, microcontrollers, microprocessors, FPGAs, CLDs, etc. Items such as the motion sensor(s), photodetector(s)/photosensor(s), microcontrollers, microprocessors, controls, displays, knobs, etc. may be internally located and integrated/incorporated into the dimmer or externally located. The switches/switching elements can consist of any type of semiconductor and/or vacuum technology including but not limited to triacs, transistors, vacuum tubes, triodes, diodes or any type and configuration, pentodes, tetrodes, thyristors, silicon controlled rectifiers, diodes, etc. The transistors can be of any type(s) and any material(s)—examples of which are listed below and elsewhere in this document.
The dimming level(s) can be set by any method and combinations of methods including, but not limited to, motion, photodetection/light, sound, vibration, selector/push buttons, rotary switches, potentiometers, resistors, capacitive sensors, touch screens, wired, wireless, PLC interfaces, etc. In addition, both control and monitoring of some or all aspects of the dimming, motion sensing, light detection level, sound, etc. can be performed for and with the present invention.
Other embodiments can use other types of comparators and comparator configurations, other op amp configurations and circuits, including but not limited to error amplifiers, summing amplifiers, log amplifiers, integrating amplifiers, averaging amplifiers, differentiators and differentiating amplifiers, etc. and/or other digital and analog circuits, microcontrollers, microprocessors, complex logic devices (CLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), etc.
The dimmer for dimmable drivers may use and be configured in continuous conduction mode (CCM), critical conduction mode (CRM), discontinuous conduction mode (DCM), resonant conduction modes, etc., with any type of circuit topology including but not limited to buck, boost, buck-boost, boost-buck, cuk, SEPIC, flyback, forward-converters, etc. The present invention works with both isolated and non-isolated designs including, but not limited to, buck, boost-buck, buck-boost, boost, cuk, SEPIC, flyback and forward-converters including but not limited to push-pull, single and double forward converters, current mode, voltage mode, current fed, voltage fed, etc. The present invention itself may also be non-isolated or isolated, for example using a tagalong inductor or transformer winding or other isolating techniques, including, but not limited to, transformers including signal, gate, isolation, etc. transformers, optoisolators, optocouplers, etc.
The present invention may include other implementations that contain various other control circuits including, but not limited to, linear, square, square-root, power-law, sine, cosine, other trigonometric functions, logarithmic, exponential, cubic, cube root, hyperbolic, etc. in addition to error, difference, summing, integrating, differentiators, etc. type of op amps. In addition, logic, including digital and Boolean logic such as AND, NOT (inverter), OR, Exclusive OR gates, etc., complex logic devices (CLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), microcontrollers, microprocessors, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc. can also be used either alone or in combinations including analog and digital combinations for the present invention. The present invention can be incorporated into an integrated circuit, be an integrated circuit, etc. It should be noted that the various blocks shown in the drawings and discussed herein may be implemented in integrated circuits along with other functionality. Such integrated circuits may include all of the functions of a given block, system or circuit, or a subset of the block, system or circuit. Further, elements of the blocks, systems or circuits may be implemented across multiple integrated circuits. Such integrated circuits may be any type of integrated circuit known in the art including, but are not limited to, a monolithic integrated circuit, a flip chip integrated circuit, a multichip module integrated circuit, and/or a mixed signal integrated circuit. It should also be noted that various functions of the blocks, systems or circuits discussed herein may be implemented in either software or firmware. In some such cases, the entire system, block or circuit may be implemented using its software or firmware equivalent. In other cases, the one part of a given system, block or circuit may be implemented in software or firmware, while other parts are implemented in hardware.
Embodiments of the present invention may also include short circuit protection (SCP) and other forms of protection including protection against damage due to other sources of power including but not limited to AC mains power lines and/or other types of devices, circuits, etc. Some embodiments of the present invention may use, for example, but are not limited to capacitors to limit the low frequency (examples include, but are not limited to, AC line mains at 50 Hz, 60 Hz, 400 Hz) voltage and/or current that can be applied to the load. In addition to capacitors, inductors and resistors may also be used in some embodiments of the present invention.
The present invention can also incorporate at an appropriate location or locations one or more thermistors (i.e., either of a negative temperature coefficient [NTC] or a positive temperature coefficient [PTC]) to provide temperature-based load current limiting.
As an example, when the temperature rises at the selected monitoring point(s), the phase dimming of the present invention can be designed and implemented to drop, for example, by a factor of, for example, two. The output power, no matter where the circuit was originally in the dimming cycle, will also drop/decrease by some factor. Values other than a factor of two (i.e., 50%) can also be used and are easily implemented in the present invention by, for example, changing components of the example circuits described here for the present invention. As an example, a resistor change would allow and result in a different phase/power decrease than a factor of two. The present invention can be made to have a rather instant more digital-like decrease in output power or a more gradual analog-like decrease, including, for example, a linear decrease in output phase or power once, for example, the temperature or other stimulus/signal(s) trigger/activate this thermal or other signal control.
In other embodiments, other temperature sensors may be used or connected to the circuit in other locations. The present invention also supports external dimming by, for example, an external analog and/or digital signal input. One or more of the embodiments discussed above may be used in practice either combined or separately including having and supporting both 0 to 10 V and digital dimming The present invention can also have very high power factor. The present invention can also be used to support dimming of a number of circuits, drivers, etc. including in parallel configurations. For example, more than one driver can be put together, grouped together with the present invention. Groupings can be done such that, for example, half of the dimmers are forward dimmers and half of the dimmers are reverse dimmers. Again, the present invention allows easy selection between forward and reverse dimming that can be performed manually, automatically, dynamically, algorithmically, can employ smart and intelligent dimming decisions, artificial intelligence, remote control, remote dimming, etc.
The present invention may be used in conjunction with dimming to provide thermal control or other types of control to, for example, a dimming LED driver. For example, embodiments of the present invention or variations thereof may also be adapted to provide overvoltage or overcurrent protection, short circuit protection for, for example, a dimming LED or OLED driver, etc., or to override and cut the phase and power to the dimming LED driver(s) based on any arbitrary external signal(s) and/or stimulus. The present invention can also be used for purposes and applications other than lighting—as an example, electrical heating where a heating element or elements are electrically controlled to, for example, maintain the temperature at a location at a certain value. The present invention can also include circuit breakers including solid state circuit breakers and other devices, circuits, systems, etc. that limit or trip in the event of an overload condition/situation. The present invention can also include, for example analog or digital controls including but not limited to wired (i.e., 0 to 10 V, RS 232, RS485, IEEE standards, SPI, I2C, other serial and parallel standards and interfaces, etc.), wireless including as discussed above, powerline, etc. and can be implemented in any part of the circuit for the present invention. The present invention can be used with a buck, a buck-boost, a boost-buck and/or a boost, flyback, or forward-converter design, topology, implementation, others discussed herein, etc.
A dimming voltage signal, VDIM, which represents a voltage from, for example but not limited to, a 0-10 V Dimmer can be used with the present invention; when such a VDIM signal is connected, the output as a function time or phase angle (or phase cut) will correspond to the inputted VDIM.
Other embodiments can use comparators, other op amp configurations and circuits, including but not limited to error amplifiers, summing amplifiers, log amplifiers, integrating amplifiers, averaging amplifiers, differentiators and differentiating amplifiers, etc. and/or other digital and analog circuits, microcontrollers, microprocessors, complex logic devices, field programmable gate arrays, etc.
Some embodiments include a circuit that dynamically adjusts such that the output current to a load such as a LED and/or OLED array is essentially kept constant by, for example, in some embodiments of the present invention shorting or shunting current from the ballast as needed to maintain the output current to a load such as a LED array essentially constant. Some embodiments of the present invention may use time constants to as part of the circuit.
Some embodiments include a circuit to power a protection device/switch such that the switch is on unless commanded or controlled to be set off in the event/situation/condition of a fault hazard. Such a control can be implemented in various and diverse forms and types including, but not limited to, latching, hiccup mode, etc. In some embodiments of the present invention such a circuit may have a separate rectification stage. In and for various embodiments of the present invention, the device/switch may be of any type or form or function and includes but is not limited to, semiconductor switches, vacuum tube switches, mechanical switches, relays, etc.
Some embodiments include an over-voltage protection (OVP) circuit that shunts/shorts or limits the ballast output and/or the output to the load such as a LED array in the event that the output voltage exceeds a set value.
Some embodiments include an over temperature protection (OTP) circuit that shunts/shorts or limits the ballast output and/or the output to the load such as a LED array in the event that the temperature at one or more locations exceeds a set value or set values.
Embodiments of the present invention may also include short circuit protection (SCP) and other forms of protection including protection against damage due to other sources of power including but not limited to AC mains power lines and/or other types of devices, circuits, etc. Some embodiments of the present invention may use, for example, but are not limited to capacitors to limit the low frequency (examples include, but are not limited to, AC line mains at 50 Hz, 60 Hz, 400 Hz) voltage and/or current that can be applied to the load.
Embodiments of the present invention include, but are not limited to, having a rectification stage (such as, but not limited to) consisting of a single full wave rectification stage to provide power/current to the output load such as an LED output load and a rectification stage (such as, but not limited to) consisting of a single full wave rectification stage to provide power to, for example, the hazard protection circuit.
Remote dimming can be performed using a controller implementing motion detection, recognizing motion or proximity to a detector or sensor and setting a dimming level in response to the detected motion or proximity, or with audio detection, for example detecting sounds or verbal commands to set the dimming level in response to detected sounds, volumes, or by interpreting the sounds, including voice recognition or, for example, by gesturing including hand or arm gesturing, etc. Some embodiments may be dual dimming, supporting the use of a 0-10 V dimming signal in addition to a Triac-based or other phase-cut or phase angle dimmer. Some embodiments of the present invention may multiple dimming (i.e., accept dimming information, input(s), control from two or more sources). In addition, the resulting dimming, including current or voltage dimming, can be either PWM (digital) or analog dimming or both or selectable either manually, automatically, or by other methods and ways including software, remote control of any type including, but not limited to, wired, wireless, voice, voice recognition, gesturing including hand and/or arm gesturing, pattern and motion recognition, PLC, RS232, RS422, RS485, SPI, I2C, universal serial bus (USB), Firewire 1394, DALI, DMX, etc. Voice, voice recognition, gesturing, motion, motion recognition, etc. can also be transmitted via wireless, wired and/or powerline communications or other methods, etc. In some embodiments of the present invention speakers, earphones, microphones, etc. may be used with voice, voice recognition, sound, etc. and other methods, ways, approaches, algorithms, etc. discussed herein.
The present invention includes implementations that contain various other control circuits including, but not limited to, linear, square, square-root, power-law, sine, cosine, other trigonometric functions, logarithmic, exponential, cubic, cube root, hyperbolic, etc. in addition to error, difference, summing, integrating, differentiators, etc. type of op amps. In addition, logic, including digital and Boolean logic such as AND, NOT (inverter), OR, Exclusive OR gates, etc., complex logic devices (CLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), microcontrollers, microprocessors, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc. can also be used either alone or in combinations including analog and digital combinations for the present invention. The present invention can be incorporated into an integrated circuit, be an integrated circuit, etc.
The present invention, although described primarily for motion and light/photodetection control, can and may also use other types of stimuli, input, detection, feedback, response, etc. including but not limited to sound, vibration, frequencies above and below the typical human hearing range, temperature, humidity, pressure, light including below the visible (i.e., infrared, IR) and above the visible (i.e., ultraviolet, UV), radio frequency signals, combinations of these, etc. For example, the motion sensor may be replaced or augmented with a sound sensor (including broad, narrow, notch, tuned, tank, etc. frequency response sound sensors) and the light sensor could consist of one or more of the following: visible, IR, UV, etc. sensors. In addition, the light sensor(s)/detector(s) can also be replaced or augmented by thermal detector(s)/sensor(s), etc.
The example embodiments disclosed herein illustrate certain features of the present invention and not limiting in any way, form or function of present invention. The present invention is, likewise, not limited in materials choices including semiconductor materials such as, but not limited to, silicon (Si), silicon carbide (SiC), silicon on insulator (SOI), other silicon combination and alloys such as silicon germanium (SiGe), etc., diamond, graphene, gallium nitride (GaN) and GaN-based materials, gallium arsenide (GaAs) and GaAs-based materials, etc. The present invention can include any type of switching elements including, but not limited to, field effect transistors (FETs) of any type such as metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) including either p-channel or n-channel MOSFETs of any type, junction field effect transistors (JFETs) of any type, metal emitter semiconductor field effect transistors, etc. again, either p-channel or n-channel or both, bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) again, either NPN or PNP or both, heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) of any type, high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) of any type, unijunction transistors of any type, modulation doped field effect transistors (MODFETs) of any type, etc., again, in general, n-channel or p-channel or both, vacuum tubes including diodes, triodes, tetrodes, pentodes, etc. and any other type of switch, etc.
The examples shown above are intended to provide non-limiting examples of the present invention and represent only a very small sampling of the possible ways, topologies, connections, arrangements, applications, etc. of the present invention. Based upon the disclosure provided herein, one of skill of the art will recognize a number of combinations and applications of solid state lighting system elements disclosed herein that can be used in accordance with various embodiments of the invention without departing from the inventive concepts.
It should be noted that the various blocks discussed in the above application may be implemented in integrated circuits along with other functionality. Such integrated circuits may include all of the functions of a given block, system or circuit, or a subset of the block, system or circuit. Further, elements of the blocks, systems or circuits may be implemented across multiple integrated circuits. Such integrated circuits may be any type of integrated circuit known in the art including, but are not limited to, a monolithic integrated circuit, a flip chip integrated circuit, a multichip module integrated circuit, and/or a mixed signal integrated circuit. It should also be noted that various functions of the blocks, systems or circuits discussed herein may be implemented in either software or firmware. In some cases, parts of a given system, block or circuit may be implemented in software or firmware, while other parts are implemented in hardware.
The herein described subject matter sometimes illustrates different components contained within, or connected with, different other components. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely exemplary, and that in fact many other architectures can be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively “associated” such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being “connected”, or “coupled”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewed as being “couplable”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples of couplable include but are not limited to physically mateable and/or physically interacting components and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wireles sly interacting components and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactable components. For example, op amp and comparator in most cases may be used in place of one another in this document.
While detailed descriptions of one or more embodiments of the invention have been given above, various alternatives, modifications, and equivalents will be apparent to those skilled in the art without varying from the spirit of the invention. Therefore, the above description should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/US16/52560 | 9/19/2016 | WO | 00 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62220140 | Sep 2015 | US | |
62220145 | Sep 2015 | US | |
62220151 | Sep 2015 | US |