REMOTE MONITOR/CONTROL FOR BILLBOARD LIGHTING OR STANDBY POWER SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A monitor/controller for use with a remote billboard lighting system including plural billboards each having plural display faces with respective associated sets of lights for illuminating said display faces, said monitor/controller comprising:
- a utility power connection for providing utility power to the lights of a billboard;
plural sensors each coupled to a respective set of lights for providing plural output signals representing operating status of a set of lights;
plural relays each coupled to a respective set of lights;
at least one central controller operating in a wireless communications network;
a programmable signal processor coupled to said plural sensors and relays and in communication with said central controller via said wireless communications network for providing information to said central controller regarding the status of said sets of billboard lights, and for receiving and storing lighting operation commands from said at least one central controller and providing output signals to said relays for controlling the operation of each set of lights, in accordance with a predetermined schedule and the operating status of said sets of lights.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A lighting monitor/control system for remote billboards uses a cellular network to provide utility power and light status information to a central controller, which in response provides control signals to individual remote billboard lighting controllers for setting operating parameters such as multiple on/off times, lighting power adjustments for individual billboards, and custom lighting schedules based upon geographic and environmental considerations. Battery back-up is provided in the event of utility power outage with automatic reversion to utility power when restored. Immediate notification of failure of utility power or of individual lamp or ballast failure is provided by SMS messaging formatted so as to minimize the number of messages and reduce communications costs. The monitor/control system is also adapted for use in remote power monitoring applications to automatically switch to standby power (generator) in the absence of primary power and to return to primary power when restored.
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Citations
67 Claims
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1. A monitor/controller for use with a remote billboard lighting system including plural billboards each having plural display faces with respective associated sets of lights for illuminating said display faces, said monitor/controller comprising:
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a utility power connection for providing utility power to the lights of a billboard; plural sensors each coupled to a respective set of lights for providing plural output signals representing operating status of a set of lights; plural relays each coupled to a respective set of lights; at least one central controller operating in a wireless communications network; a programmable signal processor coupled to said plural sensors and relays and in communication with said central controller via said wireless communications network for providing information to said central controller regarding the status of said sets of billboard lights, and for receiving and storing lighting operation commands from said at least one central controller and providing output signals to said relays for controlling the operation of each set of lights, in accordance with a predetermined schedule and the operating status of said sets of lights. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A monitor/controller arrangement for use with a remote standby power source for energizing a load center in the absence of utility power being provided to the load center, wherein said load center distributes utility power, said monitor/controller arrangement comprising:
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a utility power connection for providing utility power to the load center; a first sensor coupled between said utility power connection and the load center for detecting a first voltage between said utility power connection and the load center and providing a first output signal representing said first voltage; an automatic transfer switch connected to the load center and responsive to a loss of utility power, said automatic transfer switch further coupled to the standby power source; a second sensor coupled between the load center and said automatic transfer switch for detecting a second voltage between the load center and said automatic transfer switch and providing a second output signal representing said second voltage; a third sensor coupled to said standby power source for providing a third output signal representing the status of the standby power source; at least one central controller operating in a wireless communications network; and a programmable signal processor coupled to said first, second and third sensors and responsive to said first, second and third output signals and further coupled to said automatic transfer switch, and wherein said signal processor is in communication with said central controller via said wireless communications network for providing information to said central controller regarding the status of utility power and the operation of the load center and the standby power source. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67)
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Specification