Temperature-to-color converter and conversion method

• US 7,119,503 B2
• Filed: 12/20/2004
• Issued: 10/10/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/01/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Polk Audio Incorporated (DEI Holdings Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: DEI Holdings Incorporated
• Inventors: Kemper, Jonathan T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Philogene, Haissa
• Application Number:
  US11/018,935
• Publication Number:
  US 20050162099A1
• Time in Patent Office: 659 Days
• Field of Search: 315/362, 315/312, 315/360, 315/309, 315/117, 315/118, 315/383, 345/690, 348/673, 348/655, 348/656, 362/800, 340/462, 340/636.18, 340/691.6
• US Class Current: 315/309
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 1/02 Means for indicating or recording specially adapted for thermometers
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 1/06 Arrangements for facilitating reading, e.g. illumination, magnifying glass
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 362/80 Light emitting diode

Abstract

A color-to-temperature converter senses temperatures of a device, translates the temperatures into light of different colors, and emits or displays the light. The color-to-temperature converter includes a tri-color light emitting diode (LED) assembly with inputs corresponding to red, green, and blue monochromatic LEDs within the assembly. The processor of the converter separately controls the intensity of each monochromatic LED of the assembly, and the outputs of the monochromatic LEDs converge to appear as one color to an observer. In typical operation, the relationship between the temperature input and the converged color imparts to the observer an intuitive understanding of the consequences of the sensed temperatures to operation of the device whose temperatures the converter monitors.

Claims

1. A system for monitoring temperature, the system comprising:

a color display capable of displaying a temperature object as a combination of a plurality of basic constituent colors of variable intensities so that the temperature object appears as an object of one color;

an electronic device comprising;

an input that receives temperature readings indicative of the temperature, and

a processor that determines a plurality of color intensity values for each temperature reading, one color intensity value per basic constituent color; and

a video card coupled to the color display and to the processor to receive the plurality of color intensity values from the processor and cause the color display to output the temperature object as a combination of the plurality of basic constituent colors with each basic constituent color having intensity determined by the color intensity value of said each basic constituent color.

2. The system for monitoring temperature of claim 1, further comprising an analog-to-digital converter that receives analog indications of temperature, and digitizes the analog indications of temperature to convert the analog indications of temperature into the temperature readings.

3. The system according to claim 2, further comprising a temperature sensor causing the analog indications of temperature to vary with temperature of the temperature sensor.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein the temperature sensor comprises a current source with substantially linear current-temperature dependence.

5. The system according to claim 3, wherein the temperature sensor comprises a thermistor.

6. The system according to claim 3, wherein the temperature sensor comprises a thermocouple.

7. The system according to claim 3, wherein the temperature sensor comprises a diode.

8. The system according to claim 3, wherein the temperature sensor comprises a resistance temperature device.

9. The system according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of basic constituent colors comprises red, green, and blue colors.

10. The system according to claim 2, wherein the processor runs under Windows operating system.

11. The system according to claim 3, wherein the temperature sensor is remote from the color display.

12. A method of displaying temperature as color, the method comprising:

step for obtaining temperature indications;

step for translating each temperature indication into a plurality of basic constituent colors by computing a plurality of color intensity values, one color intensity value per basic constituent color;

step for generating the colors of the plurality of basic constituent colors, each generated basic constituent color having intensity determined by the color intensity value of said each generated basic constituent color; and

step for converging the generated basic constituent colors.

13. An article of manufacture comprising a machine-readable storage medium with instruction code stored in the medium, said instruction code, when executed by a processor of a system comprising the processor, an output device capable of displaying a plurality of basic constituent colors, and an input that receives indications of temperature, causes the processor to perform the following steps to display the temperature indications as color:

receiving temperature indications;

translating each temperature indication into a plurality of basic constituent colors by computing a plurality of color intensity values, one color intensity value per basic constituent color; and

causing the output device to generate the colors of the plurality of basic constituent colors, each generated basic constituent color having intensity determined by the color intensity value of said each basic constituent color.

14. A method of displaying temperature of an automotive audio component as color, the method comprising:

obtaining temperature indications of the audio component;

translating each temperature indication into a plurality of basic constituent colors by computing a plurality of color intensity values, one color intensity value per basic constituent color;

generating the colors of the plurality of basic constituent colors, each generated basic constituent color having intensity determined by the color intensity value of said each basic constituent color; and

converging the generated basic constituent colors.