Adaptable skylight

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10349489-B2
Application number	US-201715795786-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 27, 2017
Priority date	Oct 27, 2016
Publication date	Jul 9, 2019
Grant date	Jul 9, 2019

Abstract

An adaptable skylight includes a frame facing an interior of an enclosure having an opening for allowing light to pass. An opacity-control pane adjacent the opening allows a variable amount of light to pass, and an artificial light source illuminates the frame. An aircraft skylight assembly includes a variable pane, an artificial light source for illuminating portions of the skylight assembly, and a controller configured for adjusting an amount of external light transmission through the variable pane and an amount of artificial light illumination. An internal ambiance lighting system includes the adaptable skylight having a dimmable pane for providing transmission of a variable amount of external light into an enclosure, the artificial light illuminates the frame surrounding the adaptable skylight, and the controller automatically adjusts external light transmission through the adaptable skylight and illumination of the frame based on a lighting preference.

First claim

We claim:

1. An adaptable skylight for an enclosed area in a habitable space in a vehicle, the skylight comprising:
a frame in the vehicle defining an opening for allowing light to pass;
an opacity-control pane located in the opening, the opacity-control pane allowing for a variable amount of light to pass through the opening in the frame.

2. The skylight of claim 1 , comprising:
an artificial light source configured to illuminate a portion of the frame.

3. The adaptable skylight of claim 1 , wherein the enclosed area is a passenger cabin of an aircraft.

4. The adaptable skylight of claim 1 , further comprising an exterior pane disposed adjacent the opacity-control pane, the exterior pane facing an exterior of the enclosed area for receiving external light.

5. The adaptable skylight of claim 1 , wherein the artificial light source is disposed circumferentially around the frame.

6. The adaptable skylight of claim 5 , wherein the artificial light source is angled diagonally upward and inward toward the frame.

7. The adaptable skylight of claim 1 , further comprising a light lens configured for smoothing light from the artificial light source.

8. The adaptable skylight of claim 1 , further comprising a recess housing disposed between an exterior pane and the variable pane.

9. The adaptable skylight of claim 8 , the recess housing further comprising a annular wall having a conical frustum shape with a lower portion adjacent the variable pane and an upper portion adjacent the exterior pane, wherein the lower portion has a larger internal diameter than the upper portion.

10. The skylight of claim 1 , comprising:
a control system on the vehicle, the control system selectively changing the opacity of the opacity-control pane.

11. An adaptable skylight for an enclosed area in a habitable space in a vehicle, the skylight comprising:
a frame defining an opening for allowing light to pass;
an opacity-control pane located in the opening, the opacity-control pane allowing for a variable amount of light to pass through the opening in the frame;
a void formed within the recess housing between the variable pane and exterior pane, wherein the void provides thermal insulation between the interior and exterior of the enclosed area.

12. The adaptable skylight of claim 11 , wherein the void is used to form a vacuum for providing thermal insulation.

13. An aircraft skylight assembly providing variable external and artificial light, comprising:
a variable pane for varying an amount of external light transmission;
an artificial light source for illuminating portions of the skylight assembly; and
a controller configured for adjusting an amount of external light transmission through the variable pane and for adjusting an amount of artificial light illumination of the skylight assembly.

14. The skylight assembly of claim 13 , the controller being configured to automatically adjust the amount of external light transmission and the amount of artificial light illumination based on at least one of an ambiance setting, a measured intensity of exterior light, a measured intensity of interior light, a time of day, a phase of flight, and a desired interior intensity of light.

15. The skylight assembly of claim 13 , further comprising a light sensor for detecting an intensity of light, the light sensor being communicatively coupled with the controller for determining the amount of light transmission and the amount of light illumination.

16. The skylight assembly of claim 13 , further comprising an interface communicatively coupled to the controller for enabling a user to manually adjust the amount of external light transmission and the amount of artificial light illumination.

17. An internal ambiance lighting system, comprising:
an adaptable skylight having a dimmable pane for providing transmission of a variable amount of external light into an enclosure;
an artificial light configured to illuminate a frame surrounding the adaptable skylight;
a light sensor for measuring an intensity of light; and
a controller configured to automatically adjust external light transmission through the adaptable skylight and illumination of the frame using the artificial light based on a lighting preference and a measured intensity of light from the light sensor.

18. The internal ambiance lighting system claim 17 , wherein the lighting preference is configured to resemble one of night, dawn, dusk, or mid-day.

19. The internal ambiance lighting system claim 17 , wherein the lighting preference provides lighting for an activity selected from the group consisting of reading, watching a movie, sleeping, and eating.

20. The internal ambiance lighting system of claim 17 , wherein the lighting preference couples external light transmission from the adaptable skylight with illumination of the frame using the artificial light based on other sources of light in the enclosure.

21. The internal ambiance lighting system of claim 17 , wherein the controller is configured to automatically adjust an amount of external light transmission and an amount of artificial light illumination based on at least one of an ambiance setting, a measured intensity of exterior light, a measured intensity of interior light, a time of day, a phase of flight, and an amount of light transmission through the dimmable pane.

22. The internal ambiance lighting system of claim 17 , wherein the dimmable pane further comprises an opaque layer that is electrically controllable by the controller to transition between opaque and transparent.

23. An adaptable skylight for an enclosed area in a habitable space in a vehicle, the skylight comprising:
a frame defining an opening for allowing light to pass;
an opacity-control pane located in the opening, the opacity-control pane allowing for a variable amount of light to pass through the opening in the frame wherein the variable amount of light allowed to pass through the opening in the frame by the opacity-control pane includes a plurality of levels, a first level of opacity being substantially opaque, a second level of opacity being substantially transparent, and a third level of opacity being between the first and second levels of opacity.

Assignees

• Textron Aviation Inc
• Textron Innovation Inc

Inventors

• Robinson Michael Scott
• Rowe Frank Joseph
• Thisius Todd Alan

Classifications

• F21S10/023 Primary

  by selectively switching fixed light sources · CPC title

• H05B47/11 Primary

  by determining the brightness or colour temperature of ambient light · CPC title

• F21Y2115/10

  Light-emitting diodes [LED] · CPC title

• B64D2011/0038

  Illumination systems for cabins as a whole · CPC title

• G02F1/1334

  based on polymer dispersed liquid crystals, e.g. microencapsulated liquid crystals · CPC title