System for monitoring and testing of light sources
First Claim
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1. A monitoring system for a luminaire, comprising:
- a sensing unit attached to the luminaire so that the sensing unit can measure the electrical operating characteristics of the luminaire, wherein the electrical operating characteristics include the current and voltage at each of the input and the output;
a control unit operatively coupled to the sensing unit to receive measurements from the sensing unit, wherein the control unit changes a frequency at which the sensing unit measures the electrical operating characteristics of the luminaire if a problem is detected with the luminaire;
a monitor operatively coupled to the control unit to display an indication of the operative status of the luminaire.
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Abstract
A light monitoring system provides a sensing unit coupled to a luminaire. The sensing unit monitors both the input and the output of the luminaire for both current and voltage. In this manner, a variety of problems with the luminaire can be detected by the sensor and this information can be passed to monitoring equipment that is either hard-wired or remotely coupled to the sensing unit.
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Citations
43 Claims
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1. A monitoring system for a luminaire, comprising:
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a sensing unit attached to the luminaire so that the sensing unit can measure the electrical operating characteristics of the luminaire, wherein the electrical operating characteristics include the current and voltage at each of the input and the output;
a control unit operatively coupled to the sensing unit to receive measurements from the sensing unit, wherein the control unit changes a frequency at which the sensing unit measures the electrical operating characteristics of the luminaire if a problem is detected with the luminaire;
a monitor operatively coupled to the control unit to display an indication of the operative status of the luminaire. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 43)
a transmitter coupled to the control unit for the transmitting data indicative of a functional status of the luminaire;
a receiver coupled to the monitor for receiving the data transmitted from the control unit through the transmitter so that the monitor can display the indication of the operative status of the luminaire.
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3. The monitoring system of claim 1 wherein the monitor is operatively coupled to the Internet so that remote access is provided to the monitor.
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4. The monitoring system of claim 1 wherein the control unit acts to control an associated system, that is associated with the luminaire, when the control unit determines that the luminaire is inoperative and a backup means is not available.
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5. The monitoring system of claim 4 wherein the associated system is a traffic signal.
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6. The monitoring system of claim 4 wherein the associated system is a street light.
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7. The monitoring system of claim 4 wherein the associated system is an automatic teller machine.
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43. The monitoring system of claim 1 wherein the frequency at which the sensing unit measures the electrical operating characteristics of the luminaire is increased when the control unit determines that the luminaire is operating at less than a predetermined efficiency.
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8. A luminaire monitoring system, comprising:
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a current sensor operatively coupled to the luminaire for detecting electrical current flowing through the luminaire and producing a current signal indicative of any detected electrical current;
a voltage sensor operatively coupled to the luminaire for detecting the presence of an electrical voltage at a predetermined location of the luminaire and producing a voltage signal indicative of any detected electrical voltage;
a controller attached to the voltage sensor and the current sensor so as to receive the current signal and the voltage signal, and determine the operational status of the luminaire and produce a control signal indicative of the operational status; and
monitoring equipment coupled to the controller for receiving control signal and providing an indication of any unexpected operational status. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A monitoring system for monitoring the operational condition of a luminaire, the system comprising:
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sensing means operatively coupled to the luminaire for determining the electrical operating characteristics of the luminaire including current flow and voltage levels at predetermined locations of the luminaire;
control means attached to the sensing means for requesting information regarding the electrical operating characteristics of the luminaire and receiving signals from the sensing means indicative of the sensed operational characteristics, said control means for further determining operating status of the luminaire based on the electrical operational characteristic;
monitoring means coupled to the control means for communicating the operating status of the luminaire. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A monitoring system for monitoring the operation of a plurality of luminaires, comprising:
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a plurality of sensing units, each sensing unit coupled to a luminaire and comprising;
a current sensor for sensing the current at an input to the luminaire and at an output to the luminaire, the current sensor for further producing a current signal indicative of the sensed current; and
a voltage sensor for sensing the voltage at an input to the luminaire and at an output to the luminaire, the voltage sensor for further producing a voltage signal indicative of the sensed voltage;
a control unit coupled to the plurality of sensing units for receiving the plurality of voltage signals and the plurality of current signals, the control unit further capable of determining the operational status of each of the plurality of luminaires based on the received plurality of voltage signals and the received plurality of current signals, the control unit capable of producing a status output indicative of the operational status of each luminaire; and
a monitoring unit coupled to the control unit to receive the status output and provide an indication of the operational status. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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Specification