DIMMING BRIDGE MODULE

• US 20110140611A1
• Filed: 12/10/2009
• Published: 06/16/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Current Lighting Solutions, LLC (f/k/a GE Lighting Solutions, LLC) (American Industrial Partners)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Thomas, Edward, Elek, Joseph G., Aboumrad, Tony
• Granted Patent: US 8,212,485 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 315/130
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/19 via wireless transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/195 the transmission using visible or infrared light

Abstract

A lighting control system is coupled to one or more ballast/drivers operating one or more light sources. A low power control module receives analog, digital and/or DALI signals from one or more sources, processes the signals to provide an appropriate lighting response and outputs one or more commands related to light output of the one or more ballast/drivers operating one or more light sources. A gateway component receives wireless signals from the low power control module to relay to one or more control components. The control components provide instruction to modify the light output of the one or more ballast/drivers operating one or more light sources based at least in part upon the one or more commands received from the low power control module and/or the gateway component.

Claims

1. A lighting control system that is coupled to one or more ballast/drivers operating one or more light sources, comprising:

a low power control module that receives analog, digital and/or DALI signals from one or more sources, processes the signals to provide an appropriate lighting response and outputs one or more commands related to light output of the one or more ballast/drivers operating one or more light sources; and

a gateway component that receives wireless signals from the low power control module to relay to one or more control components, the control components provide instruction to modify the light output of the one or more ballast/drivers operating one or more light sources based at least in part upon the one or more commands received from the low power control module and/or the gateway component.

2. The lighting control system according to claim 1, the low power control module further including:

a status indicator that provides a visual representation of a current status of the low power control module.

3. The lighting control system according to claim 2, wherein the status indicator displays at least three states, a first state that indicates the low power control module is working properly, a second state that indicates the communication to the low power control module is malfunctioning and a third state that indicates the low power control module is malfunctioning.

4. The lighting control system according to claim 1, further including:

a controller that receives signals from the one or more sources, correlates information within each signal to one or more ballast/drivers within the system and outputs a command to modify power delivered to one or more light sources.

5. The lighting control system according to claim 4, further including:

an analog/DALI sensor access point that receives analog and/or DALI signals from the one or more sources, scales the analog and/or DALI signals and transmits the scaled analog and/or DALI signals to the controller.

6. The lighting control system according to claim 4, further including:

a digital sensor access point that receives digital signals from the one or more sources, scales the digital signals and transmits the scaled digital signals to the controller.

7. The lighting control system according to claim 4, further including:

a control interface that provides a signal to the ballast/driver to deliver appropriate power to one or more light sources coupled to the ballast/driver to provide an appropriate level of light output, based at least in part upon instruction from the controller.

8. The lighting control system according to claim 7, wherein the control interface provides an analog signal, a digital signal, a PWM signal and/or a DALI based signal that is related to a particular light level.

9. The lighting control system according to claim 1, further including:

a relay driver that receives signals from the controller to output a low power driver signal; and

a relay that receives the low power driver signal and toggles a high power signal to the ballast/driver to turn the ballast/driver on or off.

10. The lighting control system according to claim 1, wherein the wireless signals are sent via a wireless protocol.

11. The lighting control system according to claim 1, wherein the low power control module is powered between 10-30 VDC.

12. The lighting control system according to claim 1, wherein one or more ballast/drivers are coupled to a zone and each zone includes a plurality of ballast/drivers and light sources.

13. The lighting control system according to claim 12, wherein the one or more light sources are a gas-discharge lamp, a solid state lamp, an incandescent lamp and/or a halogen lamp.

14. A lighting control system, comprising:

one or more zones, each zone is related to a predetermined area and includes a plurality of ballast/drivers, light sources and one or more sensors;

a low power control module associated with each of the one or more zones, each low power control module receive signals from the one or more sensors related to the associated zone, processes the signals to provide an appropriate lighting response for the associated zone and outputs one or more commands related to light output of the one or more light sources within the associated zone; and

one or more ballast/drivers, associated with each of the light sources within one or more zones, which delivers power to the plurality of light sources based at least in part upon the one or more commands received from the low power control module.

15. The lighting control system according to claim 14, wherein each zone includes one or more of a sensor, a photocell, an occupancy/vacancy sensor, a timer and a controller.

16. The lighting control system according to claim 14, further including:

a gateway component that receives wireless signals from the low power control module; and

a system controller that receives signals from the gateway component and provides instruction to the low power control module.

17. The lighting control system according to claim 16, further including:

a remote management server that interfaces to a plurality of system controllers to facilitate centralized control of light sources within the lighting control system.

18. The lighting control system according to claim 16, further including:

a user interface that is coupled to each system controller to provide a graphical representation of control metrics within the system.

19. The lighting control system according to claim 16, wherein the wireless signals are sent via a ZigBee or equivalent protocol.

20. A method to provide control to a lighting system via a low power control module, comprising:

securing the control module to a predetermined support;

receiving a lower power input, outside a conduit, to deliver power to the control module;

receiving one or more of a digital, an analog and/or a DALI lighting sensor signals via the control module;

outputting a lower power relay driver signal to toggle line power to a ballast/driver based at least in part upon the lighting sensor signal; and

,

if line power is delivered to the ballast/driver, outputting a control signal to the ballast/driver based at least in part upon the lighting sensor signals to modify lighting sources coupled to the ballast/driver.