The present disclosure relates to lighting devices and, more particularly, to electronically controlled lighting devices.
Power consumed by a light bulb that is not converted to light is dissipated as heat. When determining the efficiency of a light bulb, the heat dissipated from the light bulb is generally considered to be wasted power. High efficiency light bulbs, such as compact florescent lamps (CFLs) do not emit as much heat as conventional light bulbs, such as incandescent bulbs, and halogen lamps, for example. However, a large number of consumers prefer the light qualities of the less efficient conventional bulbs such as incandescent bulbs and halogen bulbs. In some situations, the heat released from the less efficient conventional bulbs may not be wasted because it may help to warm a room, for example. In these situations, the use of conventional bulbs may not be inefficient, especially in an environment where users would prefer the light qualities of incandescent bulbs or halogen bulbs.
Heat emitted from a light bulb is generally considered to be wasted energy. However, that is not always the case. For example, in some situations the heat emitted from an incandescent or halogen light bulb may be useful heat. In a cold ambient environment, a user may desire a heat emitting light bulb such as an incandescent bulb or a halogen bulb. A heat emitting bulb, such as a reading lamp that is located near a person, may save energy by providing enough extra heat in the vicinity of the person to reduce calls for heat from a conventional heating system. For example, the user of the heat emitting light may not need to adjust a thermostat, or the thermostat may not need to signal for heat from the conventional heating system as frequently as it otherwise would. Even if the heat emitted from a conventional light bulb is not delivered as efficiently as from other heat sources, the benefit of heat provided by the conventional light bulb is combined with the benefit of improved light quality that can be enjoyed when heat emissions are not undesirable.
The features, nature, and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the detailed description set forth below when taken in conjunction with the drawings in which like reference characters identify correspondingly throughout.
Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, this disclosure should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. As used herein the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items and may be abbreviated as “/”.
Multi-mode light bulbs are commonly used to provide light from more than one source. A common example of a multi-mode light bulb is a 3-way bulb such as the 3-way bulb 100 shown in
Aspects of the present disclosure include hybrid light bulb that is configured to automatically select a low heat emitting (low power) mode such as a CFL bulb portion when ambient temperature is above a predetermined threshold, and to select a high heat emitting (conventional incandescent or halogen bulb) portion when ambient temperature is below the predetermined threshold.
According to aspects of the present disclosure a hybrid light bulb is configured for use in a conventional light socket. The hybrid light bulb includes a first portion and a second portion and switching circuitry configured to selectively couple either the first portion or the second portion to a power source. The switching circuitry may be located within the hybrid light bulb and the power source may be coupled to the switching circuitry in the same manner as it is coupled to a conventional light bulb, e.g. via the light socket for example. The first portion is configured as an energy saving light bulb and draws less current than the second portion. For example, the first portion may be a compact florescent lamp (CFL) bulb portion. The second portion may be configured as a conventional incandescent bulb or a halogen bulb, for example, which draws more current and emits more heat than the first portion. The switching circuitry may include temperature sensing circuitry to determine when to switch between coupling power to the first portion and coupling power to the second portion.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the switching circuitry may be configured to turn on the first portion (e.g. CFL portion) when ambient temperature around the bulb is above predetermined or configurable temperature, and alternatively to turn on the second (incandescent or other high heat emitting light mode such as halogen) portion when the ambient temperature is below the configurable or predetermined temperature. One or more temperature sensing components, such as a thermistor, for example may be configured in the switching circuitry to determine the ambient temperature. According to one aspect of the disclosure, the determination may be made before either portion of the hybrid light bulb is turned on to so that the selected portion is determined based on ambient temperature before the sensing component is influenced by heat emitted by the bulb.
In another embodiment, the temperature sensing components may be located some distance from the bulb. For example, sensing components may be coupled to the switching circuitry via a wire or conductive ribbon extending away from the bulb socket. A ribbon connector coupled to switching circuitry within the hybrid bulb may hang down from a lamp socket to a distance of at least several inches from the bulb, toward the base of a lamp for example. In yet another embodiment, temperature sensing circuitry could be located even further away from the hybrid bulb and may communicate wirelessly (either directly, or via a wireless network, for example) with switching circuitry in the bulb. When a sensor is located remotely from the bulb, it may provide an accurate ambient temperature measurement even during operation of the bulb. In such embodiments, the switching circuitry may be configured to switch between the first portion and the second portion during operation of the bulb. In this configuration, when the ambient temperature reaches a predetermined temperature, the switching circuitry turns off the second portion.
Examples of particular embodiments may include portions that are structurally similar to a previously known hybrid bulb as depicted in
Unlike the previous hybrid bulb 200, rather than switching to CFL mode after a predetermined initial time, the presently disclosed device includes circuitry (400
According to aspects of the present disclosure, in one configuration the mode switching circuitry includes a heat sensing and/or ambient temperature sensing element such as a thermistor, selected to inform mode switching circuitry with regard to switching modes at or around a predetermined ambient temperature. According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a hybrid bulb may be permanently configured to switch between power modes at a particular temperature. An example may be a “72 degree Fahrenheit hybrid bulb” in which switching circuitry is configured turn on the low power portion when the ambient temperature is above 72 degrees Fahrenheit and alternatively to turn on the high power portion when the ambient temperature is below 72 degrees Fahrenheit. A similar “80 degree Fahrenheit hybrid bulb” may be permanently configured similarly to switch between modes at a threshold temperature of 80 degrees Fahrenheit. According to another aspect of the disclosure, a hybrid bulb may include threshold adjusting circuitry that allows a user to adjust the threshold temperature of the bulb for switching between the high power mode and the low power mode, for example.
A method for providing an efficient light source according to aspects of the present disclosure is described with reference to
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus for providing an efficient light source is disclosed. The apparatus includes means for sensing a transition of a light switch from an off state to an on state and means for sensing an ambient temperature in response to sensing the transition. The means for sensing the transition to on and means for sensing ambient temperature may be temperature sensing circuitry coupled to a power switch of a lamp. The temperature sensing circuitry may be located within a light bulb or external to the bulb, for example. The apparatus also includes means for coupling a power source to a low power portion of a hybrid bulb in response to sensing that the ambient temperature is above a predetermined threshold temperature and means for coupling a power source to a high power portion of the hybrid bulb in response to sensing that the ambient temperature is above a predetermined threshold temperature. The means for coupling a power source to the low power portion and means for coupling power source to the high power portion may be switching circuitry coupled to the temperature sensing circuitry, for example.
Controllable Light Bulb and/or Socket
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a light bulb socket adapter may include a built in wireless (e.g. radio frequency (RF), infrared, wi-fi, etc.) receiver. The socket adapter may also include wireless controlled switch circuitry coupled to the receiver circuitry and configured to control light bulb (e.g. by opening and closing power circuit to the bulb, or varying phase or power to the bulb) in response to wireless commands received on the receiver circuitry. Wireless commands may be transmitted to the light bulb socket adapter using a portable transmitter which may be incorporated in a standard TV remote control, for example. The wireless receiver and transmitter may operate on a frequency that matches the frequency and/or other wireless communication parameters of a conventional TV remote control or programmable universal remote control so no special remote control transmitter may be needed. The light bulb socket adapter may include a male threaded portion for screwing into an existing light fixture, and a female threaded portion for accepting a conventional light bulb. Additional or alternative functionality may be added to circuitry within the socket adapter to measure or control usage of the light bulb.
Self Reporting Light Bulb and/or Socket Adapter and Internally Switched Light Bulb and/or Socket Adapter
A light bulb or socket adapter may include a bar code other or machine recognizable code. A smartphone and/or other computing device such as an iPhone having a camera portion may capture a digital image of the code and/or may read the machine recognizable code and identifies a corresponding frequency or modulation code for wireless control of the bulb or socket based on the bar code or machine recognizable code. The light bulb may include an internal switch and or brightness control circuitry controllable wirelessly e.g. by radio frequency such as Wi-Fi or blue tooth. The smartphone or device can then be used as a wireless controller to turn off lights etc. and/or to read the state of a light source (e.g. on or off). In some embodiments, relay circuitry may relay control signaling and/or state measurement signaling via a wireless router, for example to and/or from the bulb or socket adapter. A smart phone application (or computer program) running on a smart phone or computer configured for communicating with the bulb or socket can optionally label different bulbs by location, e.g. to show on a display, a diagram of a house with representations of light source states such as bulbs with names like “bedroom” “bathroom” “downstairs hall” being shown as on or off, for example. Optionally bulbs can be wirelessly interrogated to check state e.g. on/off/dimmed or watts being used, for example.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “having,” “having,” “includes,” “including” and/or variations thereof, when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
It should be understood that when an element is referred to as being “connected” or “coupled” to another element (or variations thereof), it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected” or “directly coupled” to another element (or variations thereof), there are no intervening elements present.
It should be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements and/or components, these elements and/or components should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element and/or component from another element and/or component. Thus, a first element or component discussed below could be termed a second element or component without departing from the teachings of the present disclosure.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure, and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
Although the present disclosure has been described in connection with the embodiments of the present disclosure illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it is not limited thereto. Persons with skill in the art will recognize that embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to other types of memory devices. The above-disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative, and not restrictive, and the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications, enhancements, and other embodiments, which fall within the true spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Thus, to the maximum extent allowed by law, the scope of the present disclosure is to be determined by the broadest permissible interpretation of the following claims and their equivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited by the foregoing detailed description.
The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/747,484, filed Dec. 31, 2012 entitled TEMPERATURE DEPENDENT HYBRID LIGHT BULB, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61747484 | Dec 2012 | US |