Lighting system

• US 9,232,601 B2
• Filed: 09/25/2013
• Issued: 01/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Fushimi, Shigemi
• Primary Examiner(s): PHAM, THAI N
• Application Number:
  US14/036,164
• Publication Number:
  US 20140091731A1
• Time in Patent Office: 832 Days
• Field of Search: 315/149, 315/291, 315/292, 315/307, 315/308, 700/90, 700/275, 700/295, 700/296, 700/297
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 45/20 Controlling the colour of the light
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/155 Coordinated control of two or more light sources
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/175 by remote control

Abstract

The lighting system includes lighting devices and a controller of the lighting devices. The controller includes a display unit and a storage unit which stores area information including target areas in which the lighting devices are arranged, the identification information of the lighting devices, the lighting information regarding different lighting conditions of the lighting devices, and scene setting information regarding a state change pattern for changing a lighting state of one or more lighting devices allotted to each target area. The control unit controls the display unit to display a scene operation screen having pictorial signs each indicating one piece of scene setting information, and selects, if one of the pictorial signs is touched, a corresponding scene setting information represented by the pictorial sign, and controls the display unit to display a state change pattern of each lighting device allotted to the selected piece of scene setting information.

Claims

1. A lighting system, comprising:

one or more lighting devices; and

a controller configured to set lighting control contents of the lighting devices, wherein the controller includes;

a display unit for displaying attribute information which includes identification information and lighting information of the lighting devices;

an operation unit incorporated in the display unit and configured to detect an operation instruction;

an input processing unit for acquiring coordinate information indicating a position of the operation instruction detected by the operation unit;

a storage unit for storing the attribute information;

a transmitting unit for transmitting, to one of the lighting devices, a control signal including attribute information of the one of the lighting devices; and

a control unit for controlling the transmitting unit to transmit the control signal in order to control lighting of one of the lighting devices based on the coordinate information acquired by the input processing unit,

wherein the storage unit stores;

area information including one or more target areas in which the lighting devices are arranged;

the identification information of the lighting devices;

the lighting information regarding different lighting conditions of the lighting devices; and

a piece of scene setting information regarding a state change pattern for changing a lighting state of the lighting devices allotted to each of the target areas,

wherein the control unit controls the display unit to display a scene operation screen having one or more pictorial signs each indicating one piece of scene setting information stored in the storage unit;

selects a piece of scene setting information represented by one of the pictorial signs of which the coordinate information is acquired by the input processing unit; and

controls the display unit to display a state change pattern of each of the lighting devices allotted to the piece of scene setting information,

wherein the each of the lighting devices determines whether or not the each of the lighting devices itself is a control target, based on the identification information included in the control signal received from the controller, and is turned on in accordance with the state change pattern when affirmative,

wherein the storage unit further stores a lighting condition curve that is obtained by correlating two lighting conditions of the lighting devices,

wherein, when one of the two lighting conditions is selected, the control unit selects the other of the two lighting conditions in accordance with the lighting condition curve,

wherein the storage unit further stores another lighting condition curve in which either one of the two lighting conditions of the each of the lighting devices is correlated with a transition time required until the each of the lighting devices allotted to the piece of scene setting information is turned on based on the piece of scene setting information, and

wherein, when the transition time is determined by the operation instruction, the control unit selects the one of the two lighting conditions in accordance with said another lighting condition curve, and selects the other of the two lighting conditions in accordance with the lighting condition curve.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the two lighting conditions are dimming ratio and color temperature of the lighting devices.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the input processing unit measures a time period for which the position of the operation instruction detected by the operation unit is being touched, and the control unit changes the transition time depending on a time period for which the indicated pictorial sign is being touched by the operation instruction on the scene operation screen.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller further includes an orientation sensor for detecting orientation of the controller,

wherein the input processing unit measures a time period for which the position of the operation instruction detected by the operation unit is being touched, and

wherein the control unit changes the transition time depending on a time period for which the indicated pictorial sign is being touch by the operation instruction on the scene operation screen and the orientation of the controller detected by the orientation sensor.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein, depending on the orientation of the controller detected by the orientation sensor, the control unit controls the display unit to change arrangement direction of the pictorial signs on the scene operation screen.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the input processing unit measures a travel length and a travel velocity of the operation instruction detected by the operation unit, and

wherein the control unit controls the display unit to display the pictorial signs in a scrolling manner on the scene operation screen depending on the travel length and the travel velocity of the operation instruction.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein, when one of the pictorial signs or a vicinity of the one of the pictorial signs is selected by the operation instruction on the scene operation screen, the control unit controls the display unit to arrange the selected pictorial sign at the center of the scene operation screen in a highlighted manner.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the storage unit stores the number of selection of each of the pictorial signs, and the control unit controls the display unit to display the pictorial signs on the scene operation screen depending on the number of selection of each of the pictorial signs stored in the storage unit.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the display unit to two-dimensionally or three-dimensionally display a first operation screen having a first image that symbolizes area information of a target area assigned to the piece of scene setting information and identification information of lighting devices in the assigned target area;

wherein, when one of the lighting devices in the first image is selected as a control target by the operation instruction on the first operation screen, the control unit controls the display unit to dialog-display a second operation screen having a second image that symbolizes lighting information of the selected lighting device such that the second operation screen is superposed on the first operation screen; and

wherein, when the lighting information of the lighting device is selected on the second operation screen, the control unit controls the display unit to display, on the first operation screen, the selected lighting device in a highlighted manner such that the selected lighting information is reflected on the first image.