Luminaire dimming module uses 3 contact NEMA photocontrol socket
First Claim
1. A dimmer plug that is coupleable to a three contact socket of a luminaire, the three contact socket having three female receptacles, the dimmer plug comprising:
- a housing having a first face;
only three male electrical contacts, the three male electrical contacts which extend from the first face of the housing, and arranged with respect to one another in a first arrangement;
a receiver housed by the housing and operable to receive input signals; and
circuitry housed by the housing and communicatively coupled to the receiver, the circuitry operable to provide an output signal via one of the three male electrical contacts based on the input signals received by the receiver and operable to control dimming of the luminaire without controlling a line power of the luminaire.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An article and circuit that controllably dims a luminaire, for example without controlling a line power of the luminaire. The luminaire includes a traditional three-contact socket to receive a photocontroller, such as that used for street lights. The article uses a desired dimming control signal to provide an output control signal that controls whether the light source in the luminaire is turned ON or turned OFF to thereby effect the desired amount of dimming. The output control signal may be a pulse width modulated (PWM) signal with a duty cycle that is related to the desired level of illumination or dimming. The system may use a dimming signal from a five or seven contact dimming photocontroller to provide such an output control signal to control the light-level for the luminaire.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A dimmer plug that is coupleable to a three contact socket of a luminaire, the three contact socket having three female receptacles, the dimmer plug comprising:
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a housing having a first face; only three male electrical contacts, the three male electrical contacts which extend from the first face of the housing, and arranged with respect to one another in a first arrangement; a receiver housed by the housing and operable to receive input signals; and circuitry housed by the housing and communicatively coupled to the receiver, the circuitry operable to provide an output signal via one of the three male electrical contacts based on the input signals received by the receiver and operable to control dimming of the luminaire without controlling a line power of the luminaire. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A dimmer plug that is coupleable to a three contact socket of a luminaire, the three contact socket having three female receptacles, the dimmer plug comprising:
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a housing having a first face; only three male electrical contacts, the three male electrical contacts which extend from the first face of the housing, and arranged with respect to one another in a first arrangement; a receiver housed by the housing and operable to receive an input signal that is not obtained from a light sensor; and circuitry housed by the housing and communicatively coupled to the receiver, the circuitry operable to provide an output signal via one of the three male electrical contacts based on the input signals received by the receiver. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
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Specification