Ornamental Lighting

• US 20150084515A1
• Filed: 09/23/2014
• Published: 03/26/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/23/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Seasonal Specialties LLC (Seasonal Specialties)
• Original Assignee: Seasonal Specialties LLC (Seasonal Specialties)
• Inventors: Altamura, Steven J., Werner, Christine
• Granted Patent: US 9,491,826 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 315/131
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 4/10 with light sources attached to loose electric cables, e.g. Christmas tree lights
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 23/0471 the sensor detecting the proximity, the presence or the movement of an object or a person
• CPC Class Codes: F21W 2121/00 Use or application of lighting devices or systems for decorative purposes, not provided for in codes F21W2102/00 – F21W2107/00
• CPC Class Codes: F21W 2121/04 for Christmas trees
• CPC Class Codes: F21Y 2101/00 Point-like light sources
• CPC Class Codes: F21Y 2113/17 forming a single encapsulated light source
• CPC Class Codes: F21Y 2115/10 Light-emitting diodes [LED]
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 45/20 Controlling the colour of the light
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/115 by determining the presence or movement of objects or living beings
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/155 Coordinated control of two or more light sources
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/16 by timing means
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/175 by remote control
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/19 via wireless transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/1965 using handheld communication devices
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/1975 Gesture control
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/198 Grouping of control procedures or address assignation to light sources
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/1985 Creation of lighting zones or scenes
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 20/40 Control techniques providing energy savings, e.g. smart controller or presence detection

Abstract

Enhancements to ornamental or holiday lighting are disclosed including remote control ornamental illumination with color pallet control whereby a user can vary the color/intensity/appearance of an individual bulb or entire light string by selecting the electronic address of the bulb and selecting its attribute. Further disclosures include: motion responsive lights which respond to sensed movement, gesture controlled lights, adjustable white color/white led sets, connectable multi-function lights, controller to sequence lights to music or other input source, rotating projection led light/tree top/table top unit, and remote controlled sequencing icicle lights and ornament lighting system.

Claims

1. In an ornamental lighting system with a plurality of connected LED lamps, a method of controlling the perceived color temperature of the lamps comprising:

a. on at least one lamp, locating a warm white LED near to a cool white LED;

b. varying the apparent intensity of one of said LEDs relative to the other by selecting from one of the following;

1. increasing the actual light intensity of one LED relative to the other until the desired color temperature is perceived;

2. increasing the on-time of one LED relative to the other until the desired color temperature is perceived;

3. ramping up the intensity of one LED while ramping down the other LED relative thereto, until the desired color temperature is perceived;

4. flashing one LED with a longer on-time than the other LED until the desired color temperature is perceived;

5. flashing one LED while maintaining the other LED constantly on so and adjusting the flashing rate of said one LED until the desired color temperature is perceived.

2. A color temperature adjustable ornamental lighting system comprising:

a plurality of lamps wired into a string of lamps;

each lamp containing a cool white LED chip and a warm white LED chip near thereto,

each of said chips being controllable by an individual electronic address;

a processor associated with each address, for controlling the flow of power to said chips;

a remotely controlled device with a display screen;

a touch responsive selector configured to allow user control of each addressed lamp;

a touch responsive control for varying an illumination parameter of one of the LEDs relative to the other, so that the color temperature represented on the display can be adjusted to user preference;

a transmission link for transmitting said use preference color temperature to said lamps which are selected;

so that the user can select the color temperature of one or all lamps.

3. The system of claim 2 further including a polling algorithm for detecting the presence of lamps by their address and displaying a representation of said lamps on said screen.

4. The system of claim 2 wherein the cool white LED chip and the warm white LED chip are adjacent each other.

5. The system of claim 2 further including a diffuser, and wherein the cool white LED chip and the warm white LED chip are housed within the same diffuser.

6. The system of claim 2 wherein the device is wirelessly connected to the LEDs.

7. The system of claim 2 further including an ambient light sensor for measuring ambient light before illumination of the lamps and further matching the illumination of the LEDs to reproduce said ambient color temperature.

8. The system of claim 7 including a further verifying sensor proximate the ambient sensor for comparison of the color temperature of the LED output to the ambient color temperature.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the verifying sensor is configured to periodically compare the color temperature of the LEDs with the ambient sensor to maintain matched color temperature between the two.

10. A color temperature adjustable ornamental lighting system comprising:

a plurality of lamps wired in a string of lamps;

each lamp containing a three color RGB LED chip and a white LED chip adjacent thereto,

each of said chips being controllable by an individual electronic address;

a processor associated with each address, for controlling the flow of power to said chips;

a remotely controlled device with a display screen;

a touch responsive selector configured to allow user control of each addressed lamp;

a touch responsive control for varying the color balance of the RGB chip to achieve a user desired color,

a touch responsive control for varying the intensity of the white LED relative to the RGB LED to allow the user to achieve an overall designed color balance and temperature resulting from the mixing of RGB color and while light;

a transmission link for transmitting said use preference color temperature to said lamps which are selected;

so that the user can select the color and temperature of one or all lamps.

11. The system according to claim 10 wherein the white LED is a warm white LED.

12. The system according to claim 10 wherein the white LED is a cook white LED.

13. The system of claim 10 wherein the device is wirelessly connected to the LEDs.

14. The system of claim 10 further including an ambient light sensor for measuring ambient light before illumination of the lamps and further matching the illumination of the LEDs to reproduce said ambient color temperature

15. The system of claim 14 including a further verifying sensor proximate the ambient sensor for comparison of the color temperature of the LED output to the ambient color temperature.

16. The system of claim 10 wherein each color of the RGB is addressable and controllable by the device.

17. The system of claim 14 wherein the verifying sensor is configured to periodically compare the color temperature of the LEDs with the ambient sensor to maintain matched color temperature between the two.

18. The system of claim 14 wherein the verifying sensor is configured to periodically compare the color temperature of the LEDs with a previously obtaining reading from the ambient sensor to maintain matched color temperature between the two and prevent color drift as the LEDs age.