ILLUMINATION APPARATUS AUTOMATICALLY ADJUSTED WITH TIME

• US 20150061525A1
• Filed: 03/26/2014
• Published: 03/05/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lextar Electronics Corporation
• Original Assignee: Lextar Electronics Corporation
• Inventors: Wu, En-Ming
• Granted Patent: US 9,198,265 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 315/201
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 45/10 Controlling the intensity of the light
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 45/385 using flyback topology
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/16 by timing means

Abstract

An illumination apparatus which comprises a timing module, a control module and a first power conversion module and can be automatically adjusted with time is provided. The timing module sets the time into N sessions, and generates an i^th timing signal according to the i^th session corresponding to the current time, wherein i and N are natural numbers and i≦N. The control module reads the i^th timing signal from the timing module, and outputs an i^th control signal. The first power conversion module, coupled to an AC power supply, the control module and a first light source, converts the AC power supply signal into a DC power signal and outputs the DC power signal to the control module, and outputs an i^th DC driving signal to drive the first light source to emit light of the i^th situation after receiving the i^th control signal.

Claims

1. An illumination apparatus automatically adjusted with time, comprising:

a timing module for setting the time into N sessions, and generating an i^th timing signal according to an i^th session corresponding to the current time, wherein i and N are natural numbers and i≦

N;

a control module for reading the i^th timing signal from the timing module and correspondingly outputting an i^th control signal; and

a first power conversion module, coupled to an AC power supply, the control module and a first light source, for converting a received AC power supply signal into a DC power signal and outputting the DC power signal to the control module, and correspondingly outputting an i^th DC driving signal to drive the first light source to emit light of an i^th situation after receiving the i^th control signal from the control module.

2. The illumination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each light of the i^th situation has a different color temperature and/or brightness level.

3. The illumination apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a switch module coupled between the AC power supply and the first power conversion module, wherein the user determines whether to output the AC power supply signal generated by the AC power supply to the first power conversion module to switch the illumination apparatus to a turn-on state or a turn-off state by using the switch module.

4. The illumination apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a switch detection module coupled between the switch module and the control module for detecting the number of switching the switch module within a period, wherein when the user turns on the switch module and then immediately turns off the switch module and turns on the switch module again within the period, the control module stops reading the i^th timing signal outputted from the timing module, and correspondingly generates a switch signal according to the number of switching, such that the control module outputs a control signal corresponding to a predetermined lighting situation to the first power conversion module according to the switch signal and the first power conversion module correspondingly outputs a driving current to the first light source.

5. The illumination apparatus according to claim 4, wherein when the first light source is driven by the driving current, the first light source emits a light with maximum brightness.

6. The illumination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control module and the first light source are coupled to a first node, the i^th DC driving signal generates an i^th sensing voltage signal at the first node after flowing through the first light source, and the control module comprises:

a first amplification unit, coupled to the first node, for amplifying the i^th sensing voltage signal to generate an i^th light source voltage signal;

a processing unit for reading the i^th timing signal from the timing module and determining the i^th session according to the i^th timing signal to correspondingly output an i^th reference level signal;

a first comparison unit coupled to the first amplification unit and the processing unit for receiving the i^th light source voltage signal and the i^th reference level signal, and correspondingly outputting an i^th feedback signal; and

a first regulation unit coupled to the first comparison unit for generating an i^th pulse width modulation signal used as the i^th control signal according to the i^th feedback signal.

7. The illumination apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the first comparison unit makes the level of the i^th light source voltage signal substantially equal to that of the i^th reference level signal.

8. The illumination apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the illumination apparatus further comprises:

a second power conversion module coupled to the AC power supply, the control module and a second light source, wherein the second power conversion module correspondingly outputs another i^th DC driving signal to drive the second light source after receiving another i^th control signal corresponding to the i^th timing signal from the control module.

9. The illumination apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the color temperature of the second light source is different from that of the first light source.

10. The illumination apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the control module and the second light source are coupled to a second node, the another i^th DC driving signal generates another i^th sensing voltage signal at the second node after flowing through the second light source, the processing unit further correspondingly output another i^th reference level signal according to the i^th timing signal, and the control module further comprises:

a second amplification unit, coupled to the second node, for amplifying the another i^th sensing voltage signal to generate another i^th light source voltage signal;

a second comparison unit, coupled to the second amplification unit and the processing unit, for receiving another i^th light source voltage signal and another i^th reference level signal, and correspondingly outputting another i^th feedback signal; and

a second regulation unit for generating another i^th pulse width modulation signal used as the another i^th control signal according to the another i^th feedback signal.

11. The illumination apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the processing unit comprises:

a database for storing a plurality of adjustment data, wherein the processing unit selects the i^th reference level signal and the another i^th reference level signal according to the i^th session and the adjustment data.

12. The illumination apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the second light source is realized by a light emitting diode (LED).

13. The illumination apparatus according to claim 8, wherein each of the first power conversion module and the second power conversion module comprises a full-wave rectifier and a low pass filter.

14. The illumination apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an auxiliary power module coupled to the timing module for providing power to the timing module.

15. The illumination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first light source is realized by an LED.