CONTROL DEVICE FOR SELECTING THE COLOR OF LIGHT EMITTED BY A LIGHT SOURCE

• US 20090135021A1
• Filed: 01/18/2007
• Published: 05/28/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/25/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Inventors: JOOSEN, Bram Francois
• Granted Patent: US 8,274,361 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/825.220
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 45/20 Controlling the colour of the light

Abstract

The invention relates to a control device (1) for controlling hue (H) and saturation (S) of light (L) emitted by a light source (2). The device comprises a body (20) with a surface (21) containing a visible representation (10,11,12,13) of a plurality of selectable combinations of hue and saturation available for said light source. The device further has means (26) for generating at least one selection signal in response to a selection of a combination of hue and saturation on said surface, said selection signal comprising said selected hue and saturation, and means (27) for communicating said selection signal to said light source to control said hue and saturation of said light in accordance with said selected combination of hue and saturation. The control device (1) is simple and user intuitive.

Claims

1. A control device (1) for controlling hue (H) and saturation (S) of light (L) emitted by a light source (2), wherein said device comprises:

a body (20) with a surface (21) containing a visible representation (10,11,12,13) of a plurality of selectable combinations of hue and saturation available for said light source,

means (26) for generating at least one selection signal in response to a selection of a combination of hue and saturation on said surface, said selection signal comprising said selected hue and saturation, and

means (27) for communicating said selection signal to said light source to control said hue and saturation of said light in accordance with said selected combination of hue and saturation.

2. The control device (1) according to claim 1, wherein said control device is further capable of brightness control of said light, said device further comprising means (28) for detecting manipulation of said body (20) or surface (21) which generates a brightness selection signal in response to said detected manipulation of said body.

3. The control device (1) according to claim 1, wherein said body is a substantially spherical body (20) rotatably received in a housing (23) and said device comprises a sensor (24) for determining said selected combination of hue and saturation.

4. The control device (1) according to claim 3, wherein substantially each saturation (S) is represented twice on mutually opposite positions on said spherical body (20).

5. The control device (1) according to claim 3, wherein said spherical body (20) has a hue selection trajectory (22) defined along a perimeter of said body and a saturation selection trajectory defined along a partial further perimeter of said body substantially perpendicular to said hue selection trajectory.

6. The control device (1) according to claim 3, wherein said sensor (24) is accommodated within said housing (23) and said device comprises a light source (25) for illuminating a portion of said spherical body in said housing.

7. The control device (1) according to claim 3, wherein said control device is further capable of controlling brightness of said light and wherein said housing comprises a sensor (28) to determine translation (T) of said spherical body (20) and to generate a brightness selection signal in response to said sensed translation to control said brightness of said light (L).

8. The control device (1) according to claim 1, wherein said visible representation (10) is displayed as a circle.

9. The control device according to claim 1, wherein said visible representation (11,13) is displayed as a triangle.

10. The control device (1) according to claim 1, wherein said control device is further capable of controlling brightness of said light and wherein said surface comprises a deformable surface (21) and said device contains a sensor (28) capable of determining deformation of said surface and of generating a brightness selection signal in response to said sensed deformation to control said brightness of said light (L).