Underwater lighting assembly

• US 6,616,291 B1
• Filed: 12/20/2000
• Issued: 09/09/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Aqua Lighting Technologies, LLC
• Original Assignee: Rosstech Signals, Inc.
• Inventors: Love, David A.
• Primary Examiner(s): O'Shea, Sandra
• Assistant Examiner(s): Alavi, Ali
• Application Number:
  US09/748,742
• Time in Patent Office: 993 Days
• Field of Search: 362/101, 362/545, 362/800, 362/254, 362/240, 362/231, 362/267, 362/362, 315/185.R, 315/189, 315/193
• US Class Current: 362/101
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 8/00 Lighting devices intended for fixed installation F21S9/00, F21S10/00 take precedence; using a string or strip of light sources F21S4/00
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 17/12 by screwing
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 5/04 of lens shape
• CPC Class Codes: F21W 2131/401 for swimming pools
• 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 45/325 Pulse-width modulation [PWM]
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 45/46 having LEDs disposed in parallel lines
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/155 Coordinated control of two or more light sources
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 20/30 Semiconductor lamps, e.g. solid state lamps [SSL] light emitting diodes [LED] or organic LED [OLED]

Abstract

The present invention provides an under water lighting assembly including a housing and a plurality of LEDs mounted on a board within the housing. The LEDs are arranged in a plurality of banks such that are powered respectively. The banks are circular and concentric. A non-board programmable process or allows independent color switching and color modulation of the LED arrays.

Claims

1. An underwater lighting assembly comprising:

a waterproof housing for underwater submersion;

a round front access LED board disposed within a waterproof chamber of the housing;

a plurality of LEDs and a programmable controller mounted on said board within the housing, the LEDs arranged in a plurality of banks; and

a power supply that powers the controller and the LEDs, the controller configured to control the LEDs in response to switching of the power supply between on and off states.

2. The underwater lighting assembly of claim 1, wherein the LEDS of each bank of the plurality of banks is independently controllable to adjust intensity and corresponds to a different color.

3. The underwater lighting assembly of claim 1, wherein the plurality of banks include three banks.

4. The underwater lighting assembly of claim 1, further comprising a shunt capacitor charged by the power supply and that powers the controller while the power supply is switched off.

5. The underwater lighting assembly of claim 1, wherein the housing is mountable on a dry side of a pool wall, and further comprising a removable diffusing lamp having a front surface disposable on a water side of the pool wall, the diffusing lamp including a portion for extending through a hole in the pool wall and removably engaging the housing.

6. The underwater lighting assembly of claim 5, wherein the LED board is sized to pass the hole in the pool wall.

7. A control system for controlling a plurality of LEDs installed on a board in a housing of an underwater lighting assembly, comprising:

a power supply;

a non-board programmable controller for generating, in response to switching of the power supply between on and off states, operating signals for a predefined portion of a timing cycle; and

a plurality of switching transistors, the switching transistors interposed between the plurality of LEDs and said controller;

wherein said plurality of LEDs are arranged on said board in a plurality of banks and powered by the power supply, each of the banks having a group of LEDs being allocated for a different color;

the controller is operative to simultaneously fade at least a first color up in intensity and a second color down in intensity to continuously provide a constant light intensity of varying colors;

the controller is further operative, when an off state of the power supply is sensed, to provide at least a third color upon a switching on of the power supply.

8. The control system of claim 7, wherein the housing is installed in a wall of a pool and provides access to the board from a dry side of the wall.

9. A control system for controlling a plurality of LEDs installed on a board in a housing of an underwater lighting assembly, comprising:

a power supply that cycles between on and off states;

a non-board programmable controller for generating operating signals for a predefined portion of a timing cycle; and

a plurality of switching transistors, the switching transistors interposed between the plurality of LEDs and said controller;

wherein said plurality of LEDs are powered by the power supply and are arranged on said board in three banks, each of the banks having a plurality of LEDs being allocated for a different color;

wherein the controller is programmed to switch the transistors in response to the cycling of the power supply.

10. The control system of claim 9, wherein the predefined portion represents the duty cycle of a PWM signal and the timing cycle is the PWM period.

11. The control system of claim 9, further comprising as hunt capacitor that supplies a power to the controller such that the controller advances to a next mode in sequence.

12. The control system of claim 9, further comprising a non-board rectifier unit to convert AC power to DC power and wherein the plurality of LEDs are powered from a two-wire transmission with on/off switching.

13. The control system of claim 12, further comprising a voltage divider circuit unit having a shunt capacitor charged by the power supply through a series diode, the unit allowing the controller to monitor the incoming power, the controller operative for turning off all the plurality of LEDs in response to a power failure.

14. The control system of claim 12, wherein the controller further comprising a color switching mode, said color switching mode being used to switch from one of the first, second and third color banks to another of the first, second and third color banks by switching on a transistor connected to the one color bank and simultaneously switching off a transistor associated with both of the other color banks.

15. The control system of claim 14, wherein the controller further comprising a color modulation mode wherein color modulation is automatically implemented by switching on all of the transistors and ramping intensity of each said plurality of LEDs in each bank.

16. A method for controlling colors emitted from an underwater lighting assembly, said underwater lighting assembly having a housing and a plurality of LEDs mounted on a board within the housing arranged in first, second and third banks, said first, second and third banks operative to emit first, second and third colors, respectively, the method comprising the steps of:

cycling a power supply to the LEDs between on and off states to generate a sequencing signal;

selecting the first color by turning on a first switching transistor connected to the first bank of color;

simultaneously turning off a transistor connected to the second bank and a third transistor associated with the third bank;

after a first predetermined time, selecting the second color by turning on the second transistor, turning off the first transistor and keeping a third transistor off for the predetermined time;

after a second predetermined time, selecting the third color by turning off the second transistor, keeping the first transistor off and turning on the third transistor; and

maintaining an overall light intensity of the underwater lighting assembly by simultaneously fading the intensity of at least the first color up and the intensity of at least the second color down;

wherein the selecting steps are performed by a controller in response to the sequencing signal.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising the steps of:

confirming a modulation mode and flashing the first, second and third colors by switching on and off all switching transistors at random;

selecting a first specific color of the first, second and third colors at random and ramping its intensity for a first predetermined period and maintaining its intensity for a second predetermined period of time; and

selecting randomly a second specific color and ramping up the second specific while simultaneously ramping down the intensity of the first specific color.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of leaving the first specific color in full intensity for a random period of time, selecting a third specific color at random and fading into the third specific color after the predetermined period of time has expired.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising the sequencing signal providing power to the controller.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising a shunt capacitor providing power to the controller while the power supply is in the off state.