Wall-mountable luminaire and associated systems and methods

• US 9,006,987 B2
• Filed: 05/07/2013
• Issued: 04/14/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lighting Science Group Corporation (Pegasus Capital Advisors, L.P.)
• Original Assignee: Lighting Science Group Incorporated
• Inventors: Maxik, Fredric S., Widjaja, Addy S., Regan, Matthew, Oostdyk, Mark Andrew, Bartine, David E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Owens, Douglas W
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chan, Wei
• Application Number:
  US13/888,564
• Publication Number:
  US 20140028210A1
• Time in Patent Office: 707 Days
• Field of Search: 315/200.R, 315/291, 362/640, 362641-659, 439/217, 439/218
• US Class Current: 315/200.R
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 8/035 by means of plugging into a wall outlet, e.g. night light
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 9/024 using a supplementary light source for emergency lighting
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 23/06 the elements being coupling devices , e.g. connectors
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/19 via wireless transmission

Abstract

A wall-mountable luminaire may include interchangeable adapter plugs having first and second male connectors, the first of which connects electrically and mechanically to an external electrical socket, and the second of which connects electrically and mechanically to an on-board multi-standard socket. A power supply may detect a plurality of electrical power types received from the multi-standard socket, and may condition that input power to drive LEDs. Remote computing devices may transmit control data wirelessly to direct a controller to selectively operate the LEDs to form a modified distribution pattern. A housing assembly may support wall mounting of the luminaire, and trim assembly may define a cavity that provides aesthetic and protective cover for the components carried by the housing assembly. A method aspect of the invention details steps for operating the luminaire.

Claims

1. A wall-mountable luminaire comprising:

a housing assembly;

a removable adapter plug removeably carried by the housing assembly, and configured to mechanically and electrically couple to an electrical outlet;

a multi-standard socket carried by the housing assembly, and configured to mechanically and electrically couple to the adapter plug;

a power supply carried by the housing assembly, and positioned in electrical communication with the multi-standard socket and configured to receive a plurality of power types;

a light source carried by the housing assembly, and positioned in electrical communication with the power supply and comprising a plurality of light-emitting elements each operable to emit a source light;

a controller carried by the housing assembly, and positioned in electrical communication with the light source and configured to generate control signals to selectively operate the plurality of light-emitting elements such that the source lights emitted by the plurality of light emitting elements combine to form a combined light; and

a trim assembly carried by the housing assembly, and configured to generally cover the housing assembly, the adapter plug, the multi-standard socket, the power supply, the light source, and the controller.

2. The wall-mountable luminaire according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of power types is selected from the group consisting of 120V AC, 240V AC, 12V DC, and 24V DC.

3. The wall-mountable luminaire according to claim 2 wherein the housing assembly comprises a substantially planar mounting and a recessed portion;

wherein the adapter plug is disposed adjacent to the recessed portion.

4. The wall-mountable luminaire according to claim 3 wherein the adapter plug comprises a plurality of adapter plugs, each of which are configured to receive at least one of the plurality of power types, are interchangeably connectable mechanically to the housing assembly, and are interchangeably connectable electrically to the multi-standard socket;

wherein the recessed portion is configured to individually receive each of the plurality of adapter plugs.

5. The wall-mountable luminaire according to claim 1 wherein at least one of the plurality of light-emitting elements comprises a light-emitting diode (LED).

6. The wall-mountable luminaire according to claim 5 wherein the power supply is configured to detect an input AC voltage and to convert the input AC voltage to an output DC voltage.

7. The wall-mountable luminaire according to claim 1 further comprising a wireless receiver in electrical communication with the controller and carried by the housing assembly;

wherein the controller is configured to receive control data from the wireless receiver defining light characteristics and to generate the control signals to selectively operate the plurality of light-emitting elements such that the combined light exhibits the light characteristics.

8. The wall-mountable luminaire according to claim 7 wherein the control data includes a light generation command selected from the group consisting of a dimmer command, an on/off command, a color change command, and a wash pattern redirect command.

9. The wall-mountable luminaire according to claim 7 further comprising a heat sink in thermal communication with the plurality of light-emitting elements and carried by the housing assembly;

wherein the housing assembly further comprises an electromagnetic interference shield that shields the wireless receiver from electromagnetic emissions from the heat sink.

10. The wall-mountable luminaire according to claim 1 wherein the trim assembly comprises a base, sidewalls extending upwardly from the base and a top carried by the sidewalls;

and further comprises an optic carried by the top and disposed adjacent to the light source to define an optical chamber;

wherein the combined light enters the optical chamber and passes through the optic to form a modified distribution pattern.

11. The wall-mountable luminaire according to claim 10 wherein the optic further comprises one of a substantially linear collimator, a curved emission surface, and a plurality of pillows configured to spread the combined light.

12. An illumination system providing remotely-configurable wall-wash illumination comprising:

a communication network;

a remote computerized device in data communication with the communication network; and

a wall-mountable luminaire comprising;

a housing assembly;

an adapter plug removeably carried by the housing assembly, and configured to mechanically and electrically couple to an electrical outlet;

a power supply carried by the housing assembly, and positioned in electrical communication with the adapter plug and configured to receive an electric current of a plurality of power types selected from the group consisting of 120V AC, 240V AC, 12V DC, and 24V DC;

a light source carried by the housing assembly, and positioned in electrical communication with the power supply and comprising a plurality of light-emitting elements each operable to emit a source light;

a wireless receiver carried by the housing assembly, and positioned in data communication with the communication network;

a controller carried by the housing assembly, and positioned in electrical communication with the light source and with the wireless receiver, and configured to generate control signals to selectively operate the plurality of light-emitting elements such that the source lights emitted by the plurality of light emitting elements combine to form a combined light; and

a trim assembly carried by the housing assembly, and configured to generally cover the housing assembly, the adapter plug, the power supply, the light source, the wireless receiver, and the controller.

13. The illumination system according to claim 12 wherein the remote computerized device is selected from the group consisting of a personal computer (PC), a tablet, a smartphone, a personal data assistant, and a wireless remote control.

14. The illumination system according to claim 12 wherein the wireless receiver is configured to receive data encoded to a standard network protocol of a type selected from the group consisting of 802.3 Ethernet, 802.11 Wi-Fi, 802.15.1 Bluetooth, 802.15.4 low rate personal area network (PAN), packet switching wide area networks (WAN), and cellular relay WAN.

15. The illumination system according to claim 12 wherein at least one of the plurality of light-emitting elements comprises a light-emitting diode (LED), and wherein the power supply is configured to detect an input AC voltage and to convert the input AC voltage to an output DC voltage.

16. The illumination system according to claim 12 wherein the wall mountable luminaire further comprise a wireless receiver in electrical communication with the controller and carried by the housing assembly;

wherein the controller is configured to receive control data from the wireless receiver defining light characteristics and to generate the control signals to selectively operate the plurality of light-emitting elements such that the combined light exhibits the light characteristics; and

wherein the control data includes a light generation command selected from the group consisting of a dimmer command, an on/off command, a color change command, and a wash pattern redirect command.

17. A method of producing wall-wash illumination using an illumination system comprising a wall-mountable luminaire comprising a housing assembly, an adapter plug, a multi-standard socket, a power supply, a light source, a controller, and a trim assembly, the method comprising:

mechanically and electrically coupling the multi-standard socket to the adapter plug;

positioning the adapter plug into a recessed portion of the housing assembly;

mechanically and electrically coupling the adapter plug to a standard electrical outlet with a mounting of the housing assembly positioned flush to a substantially flat surface of the standard electrical outlet;

receiving at the power supply one of a plurality of power types selected from the group consisting of 120V AC, 240V AC, 12V DC, and 24V DC; and

operating a plurality of light-emitting elements in the light source such that source lights emitted by the plurality of light emitting elements combine to form a combined light.

18. The method according to claim 17 wherein at least one of the plurality of light-emitting elements comprises a light-emitting diode (LED);

the method further comprising;

receiving at the power supply one of the plurality of power types selected from the group consisting of 120V AC and 240V AC, and defined as an AC voltage;

converting the AC voltage to a 12V DC voltage;

regulating the 12V DC voltage to drive the LED.

19. The method according to claim 17 wherein the wall-mountable luminaire further comprises a communication network, a remote computerized device, and a wireless receiver;

the method further comprising;

positioning the controller in data communication with the remote computerized device;

receiving by the wireless receiver control data wirelessly transmitted from the communication network and defining light characteristics; and

programming the controller responsive to the control data;

wherein the step of programming the controller causes the controller to generate control signals to selectively operate a subset of the plurality of light-emitting elements such that the combined light exhibits the light characteristics.

20. The method according to claim 17 wherein the wall-mountable luminaire further comprises a trim assembly having a base, sidewalls extending upwardly from the base and a top carried by the sidewalls;

and further comprising an optic carried by the top and disposed adjacent to the light source to define an optical chamber;

the method further comprising;

covering using the trim assembly the housing assembly, the adapter plug, the multi-standard socket, the power supply, the light source, and the controller;

directing the combined light into the optical chamber;

passing the combined light through the optic to form a modified distribution pattern.