Lighting system for an environment and a control module for use therein

• US 10,057,964 B2
• Filed: 02/22/2016
• Issued: 08/21/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hayward Industries, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Hayward Industries, Inc.
• Inventors: Raposo, Danny, Carter, James, Fournier, Gregory, Murdock, James, Potucek, Kevin
• Primary Examiner(s): Hammond, Dedei K.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chai, Raymond R
• Application Number:
  US15/050,207
• Publication Number:
  US 20170006693A1
• Time in Patent Office: 911 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0362 with detection of 1D translations or rotations of an operating part of the device, e.g. scroll wheels, sliders, knobs, rollers or belts
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/038 Control and interface arrangements therefor, e.g. drivers or device-embedded control circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 45/20 Controlling the colour of the light
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/155 Coordinated control of two or more light sources
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/185 via power line carrier transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/19 via wireless transmission

Abstract

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to a lighting system that includes a line control module and light modules. The line control module can be configured to interrupt power to the light modules according to one or more power interruption schemes to control an operation of the light modules. The line control module can have user interface circuitry including a rotary encoder with a shaft and a push button, a preview circuit, and indicator light emitting diodes. A user can interact with the lighting system via the user interface circuitry, which can be configured to provide visual feedback of various settings of the lighting system.

Claims

1. A line control module for a light system including one or more light modules configured to output light in different colors, the line control module comprising:

one or more switches configured to selectively connect a line voltage at an input of the line control module to an output of the line control module;

a non-transitory computer-readable memory storing firmware;

a processing device operatively coupled to the one or more switches and the non-transitory computer-readable medium, the processing device programmed to execute the firmware to control the one or more switches to disconnect the line voltage from the output for a first duration of time and to reconnect the line voltage to the output after the first duration of time,

wherein the output of the line control module is operatively coupled to the one or more light modules, each of the one or more light modules including a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable memory storing a plurality of light show programs,

wherein the first duration of time for which the power is disconnected corresponds to a command for instructing the processor of the one or more light modules to retrieve one of the plurality of light show programs from the memory, the processor executing the retrieved light show program.

2. The line control module of claim 1, further comprising:

a rotary encoder having a shaft and a push button switch; and

indicator light emitting diodes encircling the shaft of the rotary encoder,

wherein the indicator light emitting diodes are energized and de-energized in response to rotation of the shaft to indicate a change to at least one of a setting of the line control module or an operation of the one or more light modules operatively coupled to the line control module.

3. The line control module of claim 1, wherein the light show program is a light show.

4. The line control module of claim 1, wherein the light show program sets an intensity of light output by the light module.

5. The line control module of claim 1, wherein the light show program sets a rate at which the light module cycles through a light show.

6. The line control module of claim 1, further comprising a preview circuit configured to output a preview of a light show capable of being output by the one or more light modules operatively coupled to the line control module.

7. The line control module of claim 1, wherein the firmware includes a plurality of power interruption operating modes, and the processing device is programmed to execute the firmware to operate according to one of the power interruption operating modes in response to a determination that the one or more light modules operatively coupled to the line control module include a plurality of versions of light module firmware.

8. The line control module of claim 1, further comprising:

a wireless transceiver operatively coupled to the processing device to facilitate wireless receipt of user input from a wireless device,

wherein the processing device is programmed to execute the firmware to issue one or more commands in response to the user input.

9. The line control module of claim 1, further comprising:

an ambient sensor operatively coupled to the processing device, the ambient sensor configured to output a sensor signal to the processing device representing an intensity of light incident on the ambient sensor,

wherein the processing device is programmed to execute the firmware to control an intensity of light output by light emitting diodes of the line control module.

10. The line control module of claim 1, further comprising:

a rotary encoder having a shaft and a push button switch; and

indicator light emitting diodes encircling the shaft of the rotary encoder,

wherein the indicator light emitting diodes are energized and de-energized according to a chase sequence to indicate a rate at which the one or more light modules operatively coupled to the line control module cycle through a selected light show.

11. The line control module of claim 10, wherein in response to a clockwise rotation of the shaft, the processing device controls the indicator light emitting diodes to increase a speed of the chase sequence to indicate an increase in the rate at which the one or more light modules operatively coupled to the line control module cycle through a selected light show.

12. The line control module of claim 10, wherein in response to a counterclockwise rotation of the shaft, the processing device controls the indicator light emitting diodes to decrease a speed of the chase sequence to indicate a decrease in the rate at which the one or more light modules operatively coupled to the line control module cycle through a selected light show.

13. The line control module of claim 1, further comprising:

a rotary encoder having a shaft and a push button switch; and

a preview circuit including light emitting diodes configured to output different colors of light,

wherein the processing device is configured to control the preview circuit to output a preview of an available light show and is configured to adjust a rate at which the preview of the available light show cycles through colors of the available light show in response to rotation of the shaft.

14. The line control module of Claim 1, comprising a set of commands that can be generated by the line control module, the set of commands being stored on the non-transitory computer-readable medium of the processing device.

15. The line control module of claim 14, wherein each command of the set of commands corresponds to a light show program stored on the non-transitory computer-readable memory of the one or more light modules.

16. The line control module of claim 14, wherein the amount of light show programs stored on the non-transitory computer-readable memory of the one or more light modules is greater than the amount of commands stored on the non-transitory computer-readable medium of the processing device.

17. A method of controlling an operation of light modules in a lighting system using a line control module configured to operatively couple a mains power supply to the light modules and to electrically isolate the mains power supply from the light modules, the method comprising:

initiating an operation for adjusting one or more settings of the light modules in response to actuation of a mode selection switch;

energizing one or more indicator light emitting diodes of the line control module to indicate a last setting of the light modules;

adjusting a quantity of the indicator light emitting diodes that are energized in response to rotation of a shaft of a rotary encoder of the line control module to indicate a new setting of the light modules; and

toggling power to the light modules by the line control module to instruct the light modules to adjust an output based on the new setting.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

controlling the indicator light emitting diodes to flash a specified quantity of times to indicate that the line control module instructed the light module based on the rotation of the shaft of the rotary encoder.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the light modules adjust an intensity of the light output by the light modules based on the new setting.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the light modules adjust a rate at which the light modules cycle through colors of a light show based on the new setting.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein the light modules adjust which light show is output by the light modules based on the new setting.

22. The method of claim 17, further comprising

initiating a further operation, the further operation for adjusting one or more settings of the line control module in response to actuation of a mode selection switch;

energizing one or more indicator light emitting diodes of the line control module to indicate a last setting of the line control module; and

adjusting a quantity of the indicator light emitting diodes that are energized in response to rotation of a shaft of a rotary encoder of the line control module to indicate a new setting of the line module.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein the light modules include a plurality of versions of firmware and the light modules operate according to a first version of firmware, and the method further comprises:

toggling power to the light modules according to a specified sequence to instruct the light modules to operate according to a second version of the firmware.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the line control module includes a plurality of power interruption operating modes, and the method further comprises:

selecting one of the power interruption operating modes to utilize in response to instructing the light module to operate according to the second version of firmware,

wherein commands issued according to the selected one of the power interruption operating modes are based on a quantity of times that power is disconnected from and reconnected to the light modules.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the line control module includes a plurality of power interruption operating modes, and the method further comprises:

selecting one of the power interruption operating modes to utilize in response to instructing the light module to operate according to the second version of firmware,

wherein commands issued according to the selected one of the power interruption operating modes are based on a duration of time that power is disconnected from the light modules during toggling of power.

26. The method of claim 23, wherein the line control module is configured to toggle power to the light modules in synchronization with the mains power supply.

27. A line control module for a pool system including one or more pool component modules configured to control a pool component, the line control module comprising:

one or more switches configured to selectively connect a line voltage at an input of the line control module to an output of the line control module;

a non-transitory computer-readable memory storing firmware;

a processing device operatively coupled to the one or more switches and the non-transitory computer-readable medium, the processing device programmed to execute the firmware to control the one or more switches to disconnect the line voltage from the output for a first duration of time and to reconnect the line voltage to the output after the first duration of time,

wherein the output of the line control module is operatively coupled to the one or more pool component modules, each of the one or more pool component modules including a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable memory storing a plurality of programs,

wherein the first duration of time for which the power is disconnected corresponds to a command for instructing the processor of the one or more pool component modules to retrieve one of the plurality of programs from the memory, the processor executing the retrieved program.