System for individual and remote control of spaced lighting fixtures
First Claim
1. A light dimming system comprising in combination:
- a fixture housing adapted for mounting in a ceiling;
said fixture housing having an interior volume and an open bottom;
a dimming ballast fixed within said interior volume of said fixture housing;
at least one lamp mounted within said interior volume of said fixture housing and connected to said ballast;
a fixture lens extending across the bottom of said fixture housing;
a radiation receiver circuit fixed within said fixture housing interior volume and having a radiation sensor;
said radiation receiver being connected to said dimming ballast interiorly of said fixture housing, and containing a dimmer control circuit therein and being operable to adjust the output of said dimming ballast to said at least one lamp in response to the reception of a coded radiation signal by said radiation sensor;
a portable hand-operated radiation transmitter for transmitting radiation toward said radiation sensor from a position removed from said fixture housing, to adjust the dimming level of said at least one lamp by adjusting the output of said radiation receiver;
and an elongated radiation lens having one end disposed adjacent said radiation sensor and a free end disposed in a position which is flush with or penetrates beyond a bottom of said fixture lens.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A plurality of spaced ceiling mounted fixtures or other controllable electrical appliances have radiation detectors mounted within each fixture and wired internally of the fixture to a dimming circuit or to a ballast. The radiation detectors have sensitivity over a wide angle and have elongated plastic radiation conduction rods which extend to or beyond the plane of the lens of the fixture to be located free of shadow effects of reflections of the fixture lens. A flexible end light fiber optics can be used in place of the acrylic rods. A narrow beam radiation transmitter selectively illuminates one of the rods or end light fiber optics without illuminating the others. The dimming circuits or ballasts within the fixtures can be further controlled by external dimmers, occupancy sensors, timeclocks, photosensors and other types of input devices. The radiation detector and ballast can occupy a common housing and share the same power supply and circuit board. The microcontroller for the radiation detector operates with a 4 of 4 voting mode until a valid signal is detected to switch the system to a 3 of 4 voting mode. A novel mounting adaptor for mounting a visible light fiber optic cable is disclosed with the visible light fiber optic cable conducting infrared radiation for up to 24 inches.
166 Citations
47 Claims
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1. A light dimming system comprising in combination:
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a fixture housing adapted for mounting in a ceiling; said fixture housing having an interior volume and an open bottom; a dimming ballast fixed within said interior volume of said fixture housing; at least one lamp mounted within said interior volume of said fixture housing and connected to said ballast; a fixture lens extending across the bottom of said fixture housing; a radiation receiver circuit fixed within said fixture housing interior volume and having a radiation sensor; said radiation receiver being connected to said dimming ballast interiorly of said fixture housing, and containing a dimmer control circuit therein and being operable to adjust the output of said dimming ballast to said at least one lamp in response to the reception of a coded radiation signal by said radiation sensor; a portable hand-operated radiation transmitter for transmitting radiation toward said radiation sensor from a position removed from said fixture housing, to adjust the dimming level of said at least one lamp by adjusting the output of said radiation receiver; and an elongated radiation lens having one end disposed adjacent said radiation sensor and a free end disposed in a position which is flush with or penetrates beyond a bottom of said fixture lens. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A light dimming system comprising in combination:
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a fixture housing adapted for mounting in a ceiling; said fixture housing having an interior volume and an open bottom; a dimming ballast fixed within the interior of said fixture housing; at least one lamp mounted within said interior volume of said fixture housing and connected to said ballast; a generally planar fixture cover extending in a plane across the open bottom of said fixture housing; a radiation receiver circuit fixed within said fixture housing and having a radiation sensor; said radiation receiver being connected to said dimming ballast interiorly of said fixture housing, and containing a dimmer control circuit therein and being operable to adjust the output of said dimming ballast to said at least one lamp in response to the reception of a coded radiation signal by said radiation sensor; a portable hand-operated radiation transmitter for transmitting radiation toward said radiation sensor from a position below said fixture housing, to adjust the dimming level of said at least one lamp by adjusting the output of said radiation receiver; and an elongated radiation lens having one end disposed adjacent said sensor extending through an opening in said fixture cover and having a free end, said free end being located flush with or penetrating beyond the bottom of the fixture housing to maximize the direct line-of-sight reception of radiation at said free end of said lens. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A lighting system comprising at least first and second lighting fixtures mounted in the ceiling of a room having a height of approximately 8 feet;
- each of said lighting fixtures having respective dimmer circuits and radiation sensors whereby the output light of each of said first and second lighting fixtures can be adjusted by illuminating said radiation sensors with infrared radiation;
said radiation sensors having respective portions thereof which extend beyond external surfaces of said lighting fixtures to be exposed to illumination by said infrared radiation, free of shadowing by the structure of said fixture;
said first and second lighting fixtures being spaced by greater than two feet; and
a portable radiation transmitter having an output infrared beam with a beam angle of about 8°
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each of said radiation sensors having an angle of reception which is greater than about 30°
, whereby the radiation sensor of either of said first or second lighting fixtures can be illuminated by the output beam of said radiation transmitter without illuminating the other. - View Dependent Claims (25)
- each of said lighting fixtures having respective dimmer circuits and radiation sensors whereby the output light of each of said first and second lighting fixtures can be adjusted by illuminating said radiation sensors with infrared radiation;
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26. A light dimming system comprising in combination:
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a fixture housing adapted for mounting in a ceiling; said fixture housing having an interior volume and an open bottom area; a dimming ballast fixed within said interior volume of said fixture housing; at least one lamp mounted within said interior volume of said fixture housing and connected to said ballast; a generally planar fixture cover extending in a plane across the bottom area of said fixture housing and being removable from said bottom area to permit the connection and removal of said at least one lamp; a radiation receiver circuit fixed within said fixture housing interior volume and having a radiation sensor; said radiation receiver being connected to said dimming ballast interiorly of said fixture housing, and containing a dimmer control circuit therein and being operable to adjust the output of said dimming ballast to said at least one lamp in response to the reception of a coded radiation signal by said radiation sensor; a portable hand-operated radiation transmitter for transmitting radiation toward said radiation sensor from a position removed from said fixture housing, to adjust the dimming level of said at least one lamp by adjusting the output of said radiation receiver; and an elongated radiation lens having one end disposed adjacent said radiation sensor and a free end disposed within said interior volume of said fixture housing in a position which is between a surface of said fixture cover and a plane which is parallel to the bottom of said fixture cover and is spaced therefrom by less than about 1/2 inch. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A light dimming system comprising in combination:
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a fixture housing adapted for mounting in a ceiling; a dimming ballast fixed within the interior of said fixture housing; at least one lamp mounted on said fixture housing and connected to said ballast; a radiation receiver circuit fixed within said fixture housing and having a radiation sensor; an elongated radiation lens having a first end disposed at the exterior of the fixture housing and extending from the exterior of said fixture housing to a second end disposed adjacent said radiation sensor; said radiation receiver containing a dimmer control circuit therein and being operable to adjust the output of said dimming ballast to said at least one lamp in response to the reception of a coded radiation signal by said radiation sensor; a portable hand-operated radiation transmitter for transmitting radiation toward said radiation sensor from a position below said fixture housing, to adjust the dimming level of said at least one lamp by adjusting the output of said radiation receiver. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. A light dimming system comprising in combination:
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a fixture housing adapted for mounting to a room surface; said fixture housing having an interior volume and a planar open bottom area; a dimming structure; at least one lamp mounted within said interior volume of said fixture housing and connected to said dimming structure; a radiation receiver circuit fixed adjacent said fixture housing interior volume and having a radiation sensor; said radiation receiver circuit being connected to said dimming structure, and containing a dimmer control circuit therein and being operable to adjust the output of said dimming structure to said at least one lamp in response to the reception of a coded radiation signal by said radiation sensor; a portable hand-operated radiation transmitter for transmitting radiation toward said radiation sensor from a position removed from said fixture housing, to adjust the dimming level of said at least one lamp by adjusting the output of said radiation receiver; and an elongated radiation lens having one end disposed adjacent said radiation sensor and a free end disposed in a position flush with or extending beyond the planar open bottom area of the fixture housing and which can be illuminated by infrared radiation from a remote transmitter so as to maximize direct line of sight reception of radiation at said free end of the lens. - View Dependent Claims (47)
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Specification