Programmable light display
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A light assembly, comprising:
- a series of light fixtures in electrical communication with each other, each light fixture having at least one microcontroller controlling operation of at least one lamp and a bypass circuit connected in serial with the microcontroller, the light assembly having at least one operating mode in which an operating status of the at least one lamp is controlled by an operating status control signal, and the bypass circuit being operative to be enabled and disabled by the microcontroller allowing some or all of the control signal to be blocked or passed to a next light fixture.
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Abstract
Programmable light assemblies that may function in various operating modes, such as to function as marker lights and/or emergency lights, or have other functions, are disclosed. The protocol and architecture of the light assemblies enables the associated light fixtures to provide a constant current output despite the presence of substantially large voltage ranges, and even when submerged in water. Alternative embodiments of the programmable light assemblies of the invention provide many other features as described herein.
35 Citations
53 Claims
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1. A light assembly, comprising:
a series of light fixtures in electrical communication with each other, each light fixture having at least one microcontroller controlling operation of at least one lamp and a bypass circuit connected in serial with the microcontroller, the light assembly having at least one operating mode in which an operating status of the at least one lamp is controlled by an operating status control signal, and the bypass circuit being operative to be enabled and disabled by the microcontroller allowing some or all of the control signal to be blocked or passed to a next light fixture.
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2. A light assembly, comprising:
a series of light fixtures in electrical communication with each other, each light fixture having at least one microcontroller controlling operation of at least one lamp, wherein the light assembly has at least one operating mode in which an operating status of the at least one lamp is controlled by an operating status control signal, and a bypass circuit connected in serial with the microcontroller, the bypass circuit being operative to be enabled and disabled by the microcontroller allowing some or all of the control signal to be blocked or passed to a next light fixture, wherein the bypass circuit is used by the microcontroller to determine an operating status of the at least one lamp independent of a predetermined address for the light fixture. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A light assembly, comprising:
a series of light fixtures in electrical communication with each other, each light fixture having at least one microcontroller controlling operation of at least one lamp, wherein the light assembly has at least one operating mode in which an operating status of the at least one lamp is controlled by an operating status control signal, and a bypass circuit connected in serial with the microcontroller, the bypass circuit being operative to be enabled and disabled by the microcontroller allowing some or all of the control signal to be blocked or passed to the next fixture, wherein the bypass circuit passes an operating status signal to successive light fixtures in the event of a failure or error without microprocessor control. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A light assembly, comprising:
a series of light fixtures in electrical communication with each other, each light fixture having at least one microcontroller controlling operation of at least one lamp, wherein the light assembly has at least one operating mode in which an operating status of the at least one lamp is controlled by an operating status control signal, and a bypass circuit connected in serial with the microcontroller, the bypass circuit being operative to be enabled and disabled by the microcontroller allowing some or all of the control signal to be blocked or passed to the next fixture, wherein the operating status of the at least one lamp in the light fixture is controlled by the operating status control signal based on a location of the light fixture in the series without reference to an address of the light fixture within the light assembly. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A light assembly, comprising:
a series of light fixtures in electrical communication with each other, each of the light fixtures having at least one microcontroller controlling operation of at least one lamp, wherein the light assembly has at least one operating mode in which the operating status of the at least one lamp is controlled by an operating status control signal having dominant and recessive signal levels, and a bypass circuit that is operative to be enabled and disabled in reference to a static condition of a fixture of the light assembly. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A light assembly, comprising:
a series of light fixtures in electrical communication with each other, each of the light fixtures having at least one microcontroller controlling operation of at least one lamp, wherein a control input to the fixtures utilizes a current source scheme providing tolerance to external loads that limits the input current to a fixed amount, increasing the dynamic range of the input for the external loads. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41)
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42. A light assembly, comprising:
a series of light fixtures in electrical communication with each other, each of the light fixtures having at least one microcontroller controlling operation of at least one lamp, wherein the at least one lamp include at least a first operating mode in which an operating status of the at least one lamp is controlled by a bit stream describing the next state of the fixtures. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A method for using a light assembly, the method comprising:
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providing a series of light fixtures in electrical communication with each other, each of the light fixtures having at least one microcontroller controlling operation of at least one or more lamp and a bypass circuit connected in serial with the microcontroller; and placing the light assembly into at least one operating mode in which an operating status of the at least one lamp is controlled by an operating status control signal, and the bypass circuit enabled and disabled by the microcontroller allows some or all of the control signal to be blocked or passed to the next fixture. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
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Specification