Photosensitive element assembly

• US 10,196,855 B2
• Filed: 08/14/2014
• Issued: 02/05/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lutron Technology Company LLC
• Original Assignee: Lutron Electronics Company Incorporated (Lutron Electronics)
• Inventors: Blair, Edward J., Lundy, Stephen, Szoke, Brandon L., Kirby, David A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, John
• Application Number:
  US14/459,825
• Publication Number:
  US 20160047163A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,636 Days
• CPC Class Codes: E06B 2009/6827 sensing light
• CPC Class Codes: E06B 9/68 Operating devices or mechanisms, e.g. with electric drive
• CPC Class Codes: E06B 9/72 comprising an electric motor positioned inside the roller

Abstract

A sensor assembly comprises a housing having a major face and a side edge. The side edge is formed of a material that is capable of conducting light. A photosensitive element is positioned within the housing and facing the major face of the housing. A reflector is positioned within the housing. The reflector is shaped to direct light entering through the side edge onto the photosensitive element.

Claims

1. A sensor assembly, comprising:

a housing having a major face and a side edge, wherein at least a portion of the major face and at least a portion of the side edge are formed of a material that is capable of conducting light;

a photosensitive element positioned within the housing, wherein the photosensitive element comprises a front face that faces the major face of the housing; and

a reflector positioned within the housing, the reflector shaped to direct light entering through the side edge onto the photosensitive element, and

wherein the reflector is further configured to block the front face of the photosensitive element from being exposed to light entering through the at least portion of the major face in a direction normal to a plane containing the front face of the photosensitive element.

2. The sensor assembly of claim 1, wherein the reflector has a first surface oriented so that a surface normal of the first surface is from about 30 degrees to about 60 degrees from the direction normal to the plane containing the front face of the photosensitive element.

3. The sensor assembly of claim 2, wherein the surface normal of the first surface is about 45 degrees from the direction normal to the plane containing the front face of the photosensitive element.

4. The sensor assembly of claim 2, wherein the first surface has a curvature, such that a projection of the first surface in the plane containing the front face of the photosensitive element curves around the photosensitive element.

5. The sensor assembly of claim 2, wherein the reflector has a second surface parallel to the major face to block the front face of the photosensitive element from being exposed to the light entering through the at least portion of the major face in the direction normal to the plane containing the front face of the photosensitive element.

6. The sensor assembly of claim 1, wherein the reflector is configured so that the photosensitive element has a greater response to a unit of light entering the housing at an angle of about 45 degrees away from normal to the plane containing the front face of the photosensitive element than to a unit of light entering the housing normal to the plane.

7. The sensor assembly of claim 1, wherein:

the housing has a back plate opposite the main face, the back plate configured to be mounted to a surface, and

the housing is rotatable with respect to the back plate, for permitting rotation of the sensor assembly after the back plate is mounted.

8. The sensor assembly of claim 2, wherein

the major face of the housing has a circular shape and a first area,

the side edge of the housing has an area projection smaller than the first area.

9. The sensor assembly of claim 1, wherein the reflector is arranged symmetrically with respect to the photosensitive element.

10. The sensor assembly of claim 1, wherein:

the reflector has a first surface oriented from about 30 degrees to about 60 degrees from the direction normal to the plane containing the front face of the photosensitive element;

the first surface has a curvature, such that a projection of the first surface in the plane containing the front face of the photosensitive element curves around the photosensitive element;

the reflector has a second surface parallel to the major face to block the front face of the photosensitive element from being exposed to the light entering through the at least portion of the major face of the housing in the direction normal to the plane containing the front face of the photosensitive element; and

the housing has a back plate opposite the main face, the back plate configured to be mounted to a surface, and the housing is rotatable with respect to the back plate, for permitting rotation of the sensor assembly after the back plate is mounted.

11. A controller for use in a load control system for controlling an electrical load, the controller comprising:

a processor configured to;

combine a first sensor signal and a second sensor signal from at least a first sensor assembly and a second sensor assembly, respectively, the first and second sensor signals representing light levels at a window, the first and second sensor assemblies oriented so that the first sensor assembly has a maximum response to light entering a housing of the first sensor assembly at a first angle with respect to a normal of a plane of the window and the second sensor assembly has a maximum response to light entering a housing of the second sensor assembly at a second angle with respect to the normal of the plane of the window; and

transmit a command to automatically control the electrical load based on the combined first and second sensor signals,

wherein the housing of the first sensor assembly has a major face and a side edge, wherein at least a portion of the major face and at least a portion of the side edge are formed of a material that is capable of conducting light, and wherein the first sensor assembly further comprises;

a photosensitive element positioned within the housing of the first sensor assembly, wherein the photosensitive element comprises a front face that faces the major face; and

a reflector positioned within the housing of the first sensor assembly, the reflector shaped to direct light entering through the side edge onto the photosensitive element, and

wherein the reflector is further configured to block the front face of the photosensitive element from being exposed to light entering through the at least portion of the major face in a direction normal to a plane containing the front face of the photosensitive element.

12. The controller of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to combine the first sensor signal and the second sensor signal by summing the first sensor signal and the second sensor signal.

13. The controller of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to:

identify a sensor failure when at least one of the first sensor assembly or the second sensor assembly is not operational; and

enter an operating mode for controlling the electrical load without using the first sensor signal and without using the second sensor signal, when the sensor failure is identified.

14. The controller of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to combine the first sensor signal and the second sensor signal by receiving the first sensor signal and the second sensor signal asynchronously, and summing a most recently received first sensor signal with a most recently received second sensor signal.

15. The controller of claim 14, wherein the processor is configured to sum the first sensor signal and the second sensor signal each time the processor receives either one of the first or the second sensor signals.

16. The controller of claim 11, wherein the first and second angles are different from each other.

17. The controller of claim 11, wherein the first and second angles are symmetric about the normal of the plane of the window.

18. The controller of claim 11, wherein the first and second sensor assemblies are oriented so that an outward facing normal to a plane of a front surface of a photosensitive element of the second sensor assembly is in an opposite direction from an outward facing normal to the plane of the front surface of the photosensitive element of the first sensor assembly.

19. The controller of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to transmit a command to automatically adjust a position of a motorized window treatment based on the combined first and second sensor signals.

20. A system comprising:

at least one motorized window treatment positioned adjacent to at least one window on a faç

ade of a building, the at least one motorized window treatment having a motor drive unit for varying a position of the at least one window treatment;

at least a first sensor assembly and a second sensor assembly for generating respective first and second sensor signals representing light levels at the at least one window, the first and second sensor assemblies oriented so that the first sensor assembly has a first field of view, the second sensor assembly has a second field of view different from the first field of view, and the first and second fields of view are symmetric about a direction normal to a major face of the at least one window, and wherein the first sensor assembly comprises;

a housing having a major face and a side edge, wherein at least a portion of the major face and at least a portion of the side edge are formed of a material that is capable of conducting light;

a photosensitive element positioned within the housing of the first sensor assembly, wherein the photosensitive element comprises a front face that faces the major face; and

a reflector positioned within the housing of the first sensor assembly, the reflector shaped to direct light entering through the side edge onto the photosensitive element, and

wherein the reflector is further configured to block the front face of the photosensitive element from being exposed to light entering through the at least portion of the major face in a direction normal to a plane containing the front face of the photosensitive element; and

a controller configured to combine a first sensor signal from the first sensor assembly and a second sensor signal from the second sensor assembly, and to transmit to the motor drive unit a command to automatically adjust a position of the at least one window treatment based on the combined first and second sensor signals.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein:

the at least one motorized window treatment includes a plurality of motorized window treatments on the faç

ade, including a leftmost motorized window treatment having a leftmost edge and a rightmost motorized window treatment having a rightmost edge, and

the first sensor assembly is mounted adjacent the leftmost edge and the second sensor assembly is mounted adjacent the rightmost edge.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein each of the plurality of window treatments comprises a respective motor drive unit for controlling the respective window treatment, the controller further configured to transmit to at least two of the plurality of motor drive units a same command to automatically adjust positions of the corresponding ones of the plurality of window treatments based on the combined first and second sensor signals.

23. The system of claim 20, wherein:

the at least one window comprises a single window, including a leftmost edge and a rightmost edge, and

the first sensor assembly is mounted adjacent to the leftmost edge and the second sensor assembly is mounted adjacent to the rightmost edge.

24. The system of claim 20, wherein:

the at least one window includes two windows on the faç

ade, including a left window and right window with a mullion therebetween,

the first sensor assembly is mounted on a left face of the mullion, and

the second sensor assembly is mounted on a right face of the same mullion as the first sensor assembly.

25. The system of claim 20, wherein:

the at least one window is adjacent to a first mullion and a second mullion;

the first sensor assembly is mounted on a first side face of the first mullion, facing in a first direction perpendicular to the major face of the at least one window; and

the second sensor assembly is mounted on a second side face of the second mullion, facing in a second direction opposite to the first direction.

26. The system of claim 20, wherein:

the at least one window is adjacent to one or more mullions;

the first sensor assembly is mounted on a first side face of one of the one or more mullions, facing in a first direction perpendicular to the major face of the at least one window; and

the second sensor assembly is mounted on a second side face of one of the one or more mullions, facing in a second direction opposite to the first direction.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the second sensor assembly is configured identically to the first sensor assembly.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein:

the first sensor assembly has a maximum response to light entering the housing at a first angle between 30 and 60 degrees away from a direction normal to a plane of the at least one window, and

the second sensor assembly has a maximum response to light entering a housing of the second sensor assembly at a second angle between 30 and 60 degrees away from the direction normal to the plane of the at least one window, such that the first angle and second angle are symmetric around the direction normal to the plane of the at least one window.

29. The system of claim 28, further comprising:

a third sensor assembly facing in the direction normal to the plane of the at least one window, for providing a third sensor signal representing a light level at the at least one window;

wherein the controller is further configured to select either the third sensor signal or the combination of the first and second sensor signals, and to transmit to the motor drive unit a second command to automatically adjust a position of the at least one motorized window treatment based on the selected signals.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the selection is based on whether a value of the third sensor signal is greater than a value of the combination of the first and second sensor signals.

31. The system of claim 29, wherein the selection is based on a solar angle of incidence of the faç

ade.

32. The system of claim 26, wherein:

the first sensor assembly has a maximum response to light entering the housing at a first angle between 40 and 50 degrees away from a direction normal to a plane of the at least one window, and

the second sensor assembly has a maximum response to light entering a housing of the second sensor assembly at a second angle between 40 and 50 degrees away from the direction normal to the plane of the at least one window, such that the first angle and second angle are symmetric around the direction normal to the plane of the at least one window.

33. The system of claim 26, wherein:

the first sensor assembly has a maximum response to light entering the housing at a first angle about 45 degrees away from a direction normal to a plane of the at least one window, and

the second sensor assembly has a maximum response to light entering the housing of the second sensor assembly at a second angle about 45 degrees away from the direction normal to the plane of the at least one window, such that the first angle and second angle are symmetric around the direction normal to the plane of the at least one window.

34. A method comprising:

combining a first sensor signal and a second sensor signal from at least a first sensor assembly and a second sensor assembly, respectively, the first and second sensor signals representing light levels at a window, the first sensor assembly having a first field of view, the second sensor assembly having a second field of view different from the first field of view, the first and second fields of view being symmetric about a direction normal to a major face of the window, and

transmitting a command to automatically adjust a position of a motorized window treatment based on the combined first and second sensor signals,

wherein the first sensor assembly comprises;

a housing having a major face and a side edge, wherein at least a portion of the major face and at least a portion of the side edge are formed of a material that is capable of conducting light;

a photosensitive element positioned within the housing, wherein the photosensitive element comprises a front face that faces the major face of the housing; and

a reflector positioned within the housing, the reflector shaped to direct light entering through the side edge onto the photosensitive element, and

wherein the reflector is further configured to block the front face of the photosensitive element from being exposed to light entering through the at least portion of the major face in a direction normal to a plane containing the front face of the photosensitive element.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein

the first sensor assembly has a maximum response to light entering the first sensor assembly at a first angle between 30 and 60 degrees away from the direction normal to the major face of the at least one window,

the second sensor assembly has a maximum response to light entering the second sensor assembly at a second angle between 30 and 60 degrees away from the direction normal to the major face of the at least one window, and

the first angle and the second angle are symmetric about the direction normal to the major face of the at least one window.

36. The method of claim 35, further comprising:

receiving a third sensor signal representing a light level at the window from a third sensor assembly facing in the direction normal to the major face of the window;

selecting either the third sensor signal or the combination of the first and second sensor signals; and

transmitting a second command to automatically adjust a position of the motorized window treatment based on the selection.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the selection is based on whether a value of the third sensor signal is greater than a value of the combination of the first and second sensor signals.

38. The system of claim 36, wherein the selection is based on a solar angle of incidence of the direction normal to the major face of the window.

39. The method of claim 34, wherein the combining includes summing the first sensor signal and the second sensor signal.

40. The method of claim 34, further comprising:

identifying a sensor failure when at least one of the first sensor assembly or the second sensor assembly is not operational; and

entering an operating mode for controlling the motorized window treatment without using the first sensor signal and without using the second sensor signal, when the sensor failure is identified.