System for controlling light in dependence of time-of-flight signal

• US 8,212,499 B2
• Filed: 10/26/2007
• Issued: 07/03/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lite-On Technology Corporation
• Original Assignee: Lite-On It Corporation (Lite-On Technology Corporation)
• Inventors: Van Endert, Tony Petrus
• Primary Examiner(s): TRAN, THUY V
• Application Number:
  US12/739,764
• Publication Number:
  US 20100244751A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,712 Days
• Field of Search: 315/291, 315/308, 315/360, 700/306
• US Class Current: 315/360
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/94 characterised by the way in which the control signals are generated
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 2217/94005 activated by voice or sound
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/125 by using cameras
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 20/40 Control techniques providing energy savings, e.g. smart controller or presence detection

Abstract

A lighting system comprising a lamp arranged to transform electricity into a light beam having properties including intensity, color, color temperature, direction and beam cone angle; a light control system arranged to adjust said light beam properties; an ultrasonic transmitter arranged to transmit ultrasonic signals; an ultrasonic receiver arranged to receive reflected ultrasonic signals; and a processing system arranged to derive a time-of-flight signal representing the time differences between said transmitted and received ultrasonic signals and to send control signals to said light control system in dependence of said time-of-flight signal, wherein said processing means and said light control system are further arranged to change from adjustment of one of said light beam properties to adjustment of another one of said light beam properties, if a predetermined behavior in said time-of-flight signal is determined.

Claims

1. A lighting system comprising:

a lamp arranged to transform electricity into a light beam having properties including intensity, colour, colour temperature, direction and beam cone angle;

a light control system arranged to adjust said light beam properties;

an ultrasonic transmitter arranged to transmit ultrasonic signals;

an ultrasonic receiver arranged to receive reflected ultrasonic signals; and

a processing system arranged to derive a time-of-flight signal representing the time differences between said transmitted and received ultrasonic signals and to send control signals to said light control system in dependence of said time-of-flight signal,

wherein said processing system and said light control system are further arranged to change from adjustment of one of said light beam properties to adjustment of another one of said light beam properties, if a predetermined behaviour in said time-of-flight signal is determined.

2. The light system of claim 1, wherein said behaviour is a series of subsequently measured time-of-flight values that is substantially constant during a predetermined period.

3. The light system of claim 1, wherein said behaviour is a predetermined number of alternations of high and low measured time-of-flight values.

4. The light system of claim 1, wherein said behaviour is a predetermined number of alternations of the presence and absence of measured time-of-flight values.