Momentary night light assembly

• US 8,941,306 B2
• Filed: 02/13/2013
• Issued: 01/27/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/02/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: John Alfred Ayres
• Original Assignee: John Alfred Ayres
• Inventors: Ayres, John Alfred
• Primary Examiner(s): Vo, Tuyet Thi
• Assistant Examiner(s): LUONG, HENRY T
• Application Number:
  US13/766,740
• Publication Number:
  US 20130169169A1
• Time in Patent Office: 713 Days
• Field of Search: 315149-159, 315/291, 315307-308, 362145-148, 362153-1531, 362/166, 362/205, 362641-642, 362230-231
• US Class Current: 315/152
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 33/0052 Audio or video equipment, e.g. televisions, telephones, cameras or computers; Remote control devices therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 45/12 using optical feedback

Abstract

This invention is a night light assembly containing a multiple LED light source and an electronic controller whereby the electronic controller causes the multiple LED light source to continually change its light output from a high intensity photopic light output to a low intensity scotopic light output in response to a transition from light to dark of an ambient light, matching a human eye response to a sudden decrease in ambient light.

Claims

1. A night light assembly containing a multiple LED light source and an electronic circuit, wherein said night light assembly is in a space normally lit by any ambient light;

and said multiple LED light source is operatively controlled by said electronic circuit to produce a light output from said night light assembly;

whereby said light output has a time varying intensity and a time varying light spectrum; and

where said light output is initially a higher intensity photopic light output and then changes to a lower intensity scotopic light output during a first time period;

where said first time period is less than or equal to the time period required by a normal human eye to adjust from photopic vision to scotopic vision following exposure of said human eye to a sudden reduction of an ambient light;

said multiple LED light source is first turned on by said electronic circuit in response to a light-to-dark transition of said ambient light to initially produce said higher intensity photopic light output;

said electronic circuit then gradually changes said higher intensity photopic light output from said multiple LED light source to said lower intensity scotopic light output during a said first time period;

said lower intensity scotopic light output remains on during a second time period following said first time period until said electronic circuit senses a dark-to-light transition of said ambient light, after which said electronic circuit turns off said multiple LED light source.

2. The night light assembly of claim 1 wherein said multiple LED light source consists of one or more white LEDs and one or more blue-green LEDs.

3. The night light assembly of claim 1 wherein said electronic circuit contains two or more 3-terminal devices that supply currents to the said multiple LED light source.

4. The night light assembly of claim 3 wherein said 3-terminal device is a bi-polar transistor, a field effect transistor, or a voltage variable resistor.

5. The night light assembly of claim 3 wherein said 3-terminal device is controlled by a light control program stored in a memory in said electronic circuit, wherein said light control program causes the said 3-terminal devices to change said currents in said multiple LED light source as a function of time, thereby changing a light output from said multiple LED light source from a photopic light output to a scotopic light output.

6. The night light assembly of claim 5 wherein said light control program is a set of resistor values in a resistor ladder network which is contained in said electronic circuit;

said resistor ladder network providing time varying voltage inputs to said 3-terminal devices to control said currents in said multiple LED light source to produce a light output from said multiple LED light source that changes from a photopic light output to a scotopic light output.

7. The night light assembly of claim 1 wherein said first time period is equal to or less than 30 minutes.

8. The night light assembly of claim 1 wherein a light control program is stored in a ROM (read only memory) which is a part of a micro controller that is contained in said electronic circuit;

whereby said micro controller outputs analog or digital signals as a function of time to activate said multiple LED light source to produce a light output from said multiple LED light source that changes from a photopic light output to a scotopic light output.

9. The night light assembly of claim 1 wherein the multiple LED light source consists of one or more red, one or more blue, and one or more green LEDs.

10. The night light assembly of claim 1 wherein said multiple LED light source consists of at least two different colored LEDs.

11. The night light assembly of claim 10 wherein said different colored LEDs can produce a photopic light with a peak sensitivity centered at 555 nanometers and a scotopic light with a peak sensitivity centered at 507 nanometers.

12. The night light assembly of claim 1 wherein said electronic circuit activates said multiple led light source sequentially as a function of time to provide a light output from said multiple LED light source that changes from said photopic light output to said scotopic light output.

13. The night light assembly of claim 12 wherein said sequential activation of said multiple LED light source is accomplished with a shift register in combination with a clock.

14. The night light assembly of claim 12 wherein said sequential activation of said multiple LED light source is accomplished with a micro controller in combination with a digital switch.