Electric lamp and discharge devices: systems – Current and/or voltage regulation – Plural load device regulation
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-06
2001-10-23
Wong, Don (Department: 2821)
Electric lamp and discharge devices: systems
Current and/or voltage regulation
Plural load device regulation
C315S312000, C315S158000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06307331
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to the field of electrical lighting and more particularly to a system for permitting multiple light sensors to control the light levels in an open area.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Today, automation systems are being installed in more and more buildings, including both new construction and in structures that are being rebuilt. The incentives for putting automation systems into a building are numerous. High on the list are reduced operating costs, more efficient use of energy, simplified control of building systems, ease of maintenance and of effecting changes to the systems. Facility managers would prefer to install systems that can interoperate amongst each other. Interoperability is defined by different products, devices and systems for different tasks and developed by different manufacturers that can be linked together to form flexible, functional control networks.
An example of a typical automation system includes lighting controls, HVAC systems, security systems, fire alarm systems and motor drives all possibly provided by different manufacturers. It is desirable if these separate disparate systems can communicate and operate with each other.
Prior art automation systems generally comprised closed proprietary equipment supplied by a single manufacturer. With this type of proprietary system, the installation, servicing and future modifications of the component devices in the system were restricted to a single manufacturer's product offering and technical capability. In addition, it was very difficult or impossible to integrate new technology developed by other manufacturers. If technology from other manufactures could be integrated, it was usually too costly to consider.
An integral part of any automation control system are the sensors and transducers used to gather data on one or more physical parameters such as temperature and motion. One or more sensor functions may be placed in a device and be able to communicate with one or more control units, i.e., processing nodes, on the control network.
In many situations, it is desirable to control the amount of light provided in a given area. Large areas require many individual light sources to provide light coverage for the entire area. Typically, the light sources are either all controlled together or are grouped together into large groups where each group can be controlled. This method of controlling the light sources does not permit fine-tuning of the light level of individual areas within the larger area to be illuminated.
The level of light may be controlled by a light sensor that measures light in units of lux. Typically, the readings from the lux sensor ultimately control the level of light in an area. The disadvantage, however, of this is that in large areas, the reading from the lux sensor would realize a light level in one area of the room without taking into account other areas of the same room. This causes the light level to be either dimmed or too bright in one or more areas.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a system for maintaining the light level within an area. The invention comprises multiple lux sensor readers that function to measure the current light level within a finite area. One or more controllers are used to control the dimming level of each light source in accordance with the readings received from the plurality of lux sensors. The readings are averaged such that over time the extreme readings are averaged out. The light level of the plurality of light sources is adjusted in accordance with the averaged readings. This virtually eliminates areas in the room where the light is too dim or too bright. It also addressees the manufacturing and component tolerance variances that occur between each device.
In addition, the invention comprises the optional assignment of a weight factor to each reading or average to further provide the ability to give more importance to certain regions in the room over others thus further assisting in eliminating areas where the light is either too dim or too bright. For example, offices that are located along a wall having windows or those offices near a skylight where a lot of natural light enters, the ambient light reading units can be linked, averaged or weighted separately from those ambient reading devices in other areas of the office.
The system includes control units, lighting and HVAC controllers, mechanical, electrical and chemical window, skylight and shading controls, lighting loads and light sensors (lux readers) that are used to construct the lighting control system of the present invention. Readings from the one or more lux sensors are processed by one or more controllers and in response thereto, one or more commands are generated for directing the actions of controllers to which the lighting loads are attached.
There is provided in accordance with the present invention a system for measuring and controlling the level of light in an area comprising a plurality of lux sensors adapted to communicate over an automation system network, a plurality of lighting loads for illuminating one or more regions of the area and control means adapted to receive lux readings transmitted from the plurality of lux sensors via the automation system network, the control means adapted to store the lux readings in a database maintained therein and to average the lux readings so as to control the light output of the plurality of lighting loads in response thereto.
The automation system network may comprise the LonWorks automation system or CEBus automation system. The plurality of lighting loads may comprise one or more relay lighting loads, 0-10 V lighting loads, triac loads, dimmer loads, incandescent loads, fluorescent loads, natural lighting loads or 4-20 mA driver loads. In addition, the database comprises a plurality of fields for storing the following information: node ID, current lux reading, average lux reading.
There is also provided in accordance with the present invention a system for measuring and controlling the level of light in an area comprising a plurality of lux sensors adapted to communicate over an automation system network, a plurality of lighting loads adapted to communicate over the automation system network, the plurality of lighting loads for illuminating one or more regions of the area and control means adapted to receive lux readings transmitted from the plurality of lux sensors via the automation system network, the control means adapted to store the lux readings in a database maintained therein, assign a weight factor to readings received from each lux sensor, average the weighted lux readings so as to control the light output of the plurality of lighting loads in response thereto, the plurality of lighting loads controlled by the control means via the automation system network.
There is further provided in accordance with the present invention a system for measuring and controlling the level of light in an area comprising a plurality of lux sensors adapted to communicate over an automation system network, a plurality of lighting loads for illuminating one or more regions of the area and load controller means adapted to connect to and control the operation of the plurality of lighting loads, control means adapted to receive lux readings transmitted from the plurality of lux sensors via the automation system network, the control means adapted to store the lux readings in a database maintained therein, assign a weight factor to readings received from each lux sensor and to average the weighted lux readings so as to control the light output of the plurality of lighting loads in response thereto, the control means adapted to generate control messages for transmission to the load controller means via the automation system network.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5565855 (1996-10-01), Knibbe
patent: 5637964 (1997-06-01), Hakkarainen et al.
patent: 5703442 (1997-12-01), Notohamiprodjo et al.
patent: 5811940 (1998-09-01), Nutzel
patent: 5962989 (1999-10-01), Baker
patent: 5971597 (1999-10-01
Bonasia Gaetano
Eckel David P.
Alemu Ephrem
Leviton Manufacturing Co. Inc.
Sutton Paul J.
Wong Don
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