Step-wise intensity control of a solid state lighting system
First Claim
1. A lighting system, comprising:
- a first solid state light emitting element for emitting a color of light;
a second solid state light emitting element for emitting the color of light;
an optical processing element coupled to receive light emitted from the first and second solid state light emitting elements, for processing the received light to produce a virtual source of light of said color at a luminous output area of the lighting system;
a control circuit connected to the first and second solid state light emitting elements, wherein the control circuit is configured for;
(a) driving each of the first and second solid state light emitting elements to operate at a respective predetermined level whenever each respective one of the first and second solid state light emitting elements is activated; and
(b) selectively activating and deactivating the first and second solid state light emitting elements at the respective predetermined levels, in such a manner as to provide a plurality of discrete intensity levels for the virtual source of light of said color at the luminous output area of the lighting system;
a dimmer circuit for receiving an AC power signal and modifying a characteristic of the AC power signal in response to a user setting of the dimmer circuit; and
a discriminator for discriminating a plurality of discrete states of the modified characteristic of the AC power signal from the dimmer circuit;
wherein the control circuit is responsive to the discrete states detected by the discriminator to implement the selective activation and deactivation of the first and second solid state light emitting elements, in such a manner as to provide a selected one of the discrete intensity levels for the virtual source of light of said color at the luminous output area of the lighting system responsive to the user setting of the dimmer circuit.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A solid state lighting system controls overall light output level in a step-wise manner by discretely controlling the ON/OFF state of its light emitters. Solid state emitters that are ON at a given time are set and kept at a level intended to produce a desired output characteristic, e.g. at a level to produce a described color of light. The system utilizes optical processing of the generated light, for example by diffuse reflection in an optical integrating cavity, sufficient to convert the point source output(s) from the emitting elements into a uniform virtual source output. The virtual source output appears uniform regardless of how many emitters are ON or OFF, and only the perceptible intensity of the light output changes with the number of emitters that the system has ON.
114 Citations
37 Claims
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1. A lighting system, comprising:
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a first solid state light emitting element for emitting a color of light; a second solid state light emitting element for emitting the color of light; an optical processing element coupled to receive light emitted from the first and second solid state light emitting elements, for processing the received light to produce a virtual source of light of said color at a luminous output area of the lighting system; a control circuit connected to the first and second solid state light emitting elements, wherein the control circuit is configured for; (a) driving each of the first and second solid state light emitting elements to operate at a respective predetermined level whenever each respective one of the first and second solid state light emitting elements is activated; and (b) selectively activating and deactivating the first and second solid state light emitting elements at the respective predetermined levels, in such a manner as to provide a plurality of discrete intensity levels for the virtual source of light of said color at the luminous output area of the lighting system; a dimmer circuit for receiving an AC power signal and modifying a characteristic of the AC power signal in response to a user setting of the dimmer circuit; and a discriminator for discriminating a plurality of discrete states of the modified characteristic of the AC power signal from the dimmer circuit; wherein the control circuit is responsive to the discrete states detected by the discriminator to implement the selective activation and deactivation of the first and second solid state light emitting elements, in such a manner as to provide a selected one of the discrete intensity levels for the virtual source of light of said color at the luminous output area of the lighting system responsive to the user setting of the dimmer circuit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A lighting system, comprising:
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a first solid state light emitting element for emitting a color of light; a second solid state light emitting element for emitting the color of light connected in series with the first solid state light emitting element; an optical processing element coupled to receive light emitted from the first and second solid state light emitting elements, for processing the received light to produce a virtual source of light of said color at a luminous output area of the lighting system; a control circuit connected to the first and second solid state light emitting elements, wherein the control circuit is configured for; (a) driving each of the first and second solid state light emitting elements to operate at a respective predetermined level whenever each respective one of the first and second solid state light emitting elements is activated; and (b) selectively activating and deactivating the first and second solid state light emitting elements at the respective predetermined levels, in such a manner as to provide a plurality of discrete intensity levels for the virtual source of light of said color at the luminous output area of the lighting system, wherein the control circuit comprises; a current source connected to supply current for the series connected first and second solid state light emitting elements; a switch connected to a tap between the series connected first and second solid state light emitting elements, so as to disable one of the solid state light emitting elements when the switch is activated; and means responsive to an input specifying a desired brightness for selectively turning the current source ON and OFF and selectively activating and deactivating the switch in such a manner as to select one of the discrete intensity levels for the virtual source of light of said color at the luminous output area of the lighting system corresponding to the desired brightness. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A lighting system, comprising:
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a first solid state light emitting element for emitting a color of light; a second solid state light emitting element for emitting the color of light connected in series with the first solid state light emitting element; an optical processing element coupled to receive light emitted from the first and second solid state light emitting elements, for processing the received light to produce a virtual source of light of said color at a luminous output area of the lighting system; a control circuit connected to the first and second solid state light emitting elements, wherein the control circuit is configured for; (a) driving each of the first and second solid state light emitting elements to operate at a respective predetermined level whenever each respective one of the first and second solid state light emitting elements is activated; and (b) selectively activating and deactivating the first and second solid state light emitting elements at the respective predetermined levels, in such a manner as to provide a plurality of discrete intensity levels for the virtual source of light of said color at the luminous output area of the lighting system, wherein the control circuit comprises; a first switch connected across the first solid state light emitting element, so as to disable the first solid state light emitting element when the first switch is activated; a second switch connected across the second solid state light emitting element, so as to disable the second solid state light emitting element when the second switch is activated; and means responsive to an input specifying a desired brightness for selectively activating and deactivating the first and second switches in such a manner as to select one of the discrete intensity levels for the virtual source of light of said color at the luminous output area of the lighting system corresponding to the desired brightness. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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Specification