Light fixture control

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10721808-B2
Application number	US-201916410493-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 13, 2019
Priority date	Jul 1, 2012
Publication date	Jul 21, 2020
Grant date	Jul 21, 2020

Abstract

A fixture configuration module comprises fixture control circuitry and range control circuitry. The fixture control circuitry is configured to control a light fixture to produce light in accordance with a range of a lighting parameter. The range identifies at least a subset of values of the lighting parameter supported by the light fixture to produce light. The range control circuitry is communicatively coupled to the fixture control circuitry and comprises a mechanical switch. The range control circuitry is configured to designate the range to the fixture control circuitry in response to the mechanical switch being positioned into at least one of a plurality of switch positions into which the mechanical switch is positionable.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A fixture configuration module comprising:
fixture control circuitry configured to control a light fixture to produce light in accordance with a range of a lighting parameter, wherein the range identifies at least a subset of values of the lighting parameter supported by the light fixture to produce light;
range control circuitry communicatively coupled to the fixture control circuitry and comprising a mechanical switch, wherein the range control circuitry is configured to designate the range to the fixture control circuitry in response to the mechanical switch being positioned into at least one of a plurality of switch positions into which the mechanical switch is positionable.

2. The fixture configuration module of claim 1 , wherein a plurality of different ranges of the lighting parameter are associated with respective positions of the plurality of switch positions into which the mechanical switch is positionable.

3. The fixture configuration module of claim 2 , wherein to be positionable into the plurality of switch positions, the mechanical switch comprises a rotary dial that is rotatable into each of the switch positions.

4. The fixture configuration module of claim 2 , further comprising user interface circuitry communicatively coupled to the fixture control circuitry and configured to receive input and program at least one of the ranges in accordance with the input.

5. The fixture configuration module of claim 4 , wherein to receive the input, the user interface circuitry comprises radio circuitry configured to receive the input via radio communication.

6. The fixture configuration module of claim 2 , wherein the range control circuitry further comprises a read only memory configured to store at least one of the ranges.

7. The fixture configuration module of claim 1 , wherein the range control circuitry further comprises a further mechanical switch, wherein the mechanical switch and further mechanical switch are configured to designate ranges of different respective lighting parameters of the light fixture to the fixture control circuitry.

8. The fixture configuration module of claim 7 , wherein the ranges of the different respective lighting parameters comprise a color temperature range and a brightness range.

9. The fixture configuration module of claim 1 , further comprising:
user interface circuitry communicatively coupled to the fixture control circuitry and configured to receive one or more values of the lighting parameter;
wherein to control the light fixture to produce the light in accordance with the range of the lighting parameter, the fixture control circuitry is configured to control the light fixture to produce the light at such values of the lighting parameter received by the user interface circuitry that are within the range designated by the range control circuitry.

10. The fixture configuration module of claim 9 , wherein to receive the one or more values of the lighting parameter, the user interface circuitry comprises radio circuitry configured to receive the one or more values of the lighting parameter via radio communication.

11. The fixture configuration module of claim 10 , wherein the radio circuitry is configured to receive a software license enabling remote management of the light fixture, and control the light fixture to produce the light at such values of the lighting parameter received via the radio communication that are within the range designated by the range control circuitry in response.

12. The fixture configuration module of claim 1 , further comprising a mechanical reset button communicatively coupled to the range control circuitry and configured to produce a reset signal, wherein the range control circuitry is configured to override the range of the lighting parameter with a default range responsive to receiving the reset signal.

13. The fixture configuration module of claim 1 , further comprising a connector electrically coupled to the fixture control circuitry, wherein the connector is configured to removably couple with a corresponding connector of the light fixture and transfer electrical power from the light fixture to the fixture control circuitry while the connector is removably coupled to the corresponding connector of the light fixture.

14. A method of controlling a light fixture, implemented by a fixture configuration module, the method comprising:
receiving electrical power from the light fixture; and
responsive to a mechanical switch of the fixture configuration module being positioned into a selected position of a plurality of available switch positions, controlling the light fixture to produce light in accordance with a range of a lighting parameter corresponding to the selected position, wherein the range identifies at least a subset of values of the lighting parameter supported by the light fixture to produce light.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising selecting the range from a plurality of different ranges of the lighting parameter associated with respective positions of the plurality of available switch positions in response to the mechanical switch being positioned into the selected position.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the mechanical switch comprises a rotary dial that is rotatable into each of the switch positions, and controlling the light responsive to the mechanical switch being positioned into the selected position comprises controlling the light responsive to the rotary dial being rotated into the selected position.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising receiving input via a user interface and programming at least one of the ranges in accordance with the input.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the input via a user interface comprises receiving the input via radio communication using a radio of the user interface.

19. The method of claim 15 , further comprising storing at least one of the ranges in a read only memory.

20. The method of claim 14 , further comprising responsive to a further mechanical switch of the fixture configuration module being positioned into a different selected position of a plurality of further available switch positions, controlling the light fixture to produce light in accordance with a range of a different lighting parameter corresponding to the different selected position.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein controlling the light fixture to produce light in accordance with the range of the lighting parameter and the range of the different lighting parameter comprises controlling the light fixture to produce light in accordance with a color temperature range and a brightness range, respectively.

22. The method of claim 14 , further comprising overriding the range of the lighting parameter with a default range responsive to a mechanical reset button of the fixture configuration module being pressed.

23. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing software instructions for controlling a programmable fixture configuration module, wherein the software instructions, when executed by processing circuitry of the programmable fixture configuration module, cause the programmable fixture configuration module to:
responsive to a mechanical switch of the fixture configuration module being positioned into a selected position of a plurality of available switch positions, control the light fixture to produce light in accordance with a range of a lighting parameter corresponding to the selected position;
wherein the range

Assignees

• Ideal Ind Lighting Llc

Inventors

• Bowser Robert
• Roberts John
• Liszt Kory
• Harris Michael James
• Pickard Paul

Classifications

• H05B47/1985

  Creation of lighting zones or scenes · CPC title

• H05B47/196

  characterised by user interface arrangements · CPC title

• H05B47/18

  via data-bus transmission · CPC title

• H05B47/19 Primary

  via wireless transmission · CPC title

• H05B45/20 Primary

  Controlling the colour of the light · CPC title