Smart window and driving method thereof, and smart window system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11839008-B2
Application number	US-202117242458-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 28, 2021
Priority date	Sep 17, 2020
Publication date	Dec 5, 2023
Grant date	Dec 5, 2023

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a smart window and a driving method thereof and a smart window system. The smart window includes a glass module, a first controller, at least one light bar group and a light bar monitoring circuit. The glass module is coupled to the first controller; the at least one light bar group is coupled to the first controller; and the light bar monitoring circuit includes at least one light bar monitoring sub-circuit. The at least one light bar monitoring sub-circuit is coupled to the first controller and is coupled in a one-to-one correspondence to the at least one light bar group.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A smart window, comprising a glass module, a first controller, at least one light bar group and a light bar monitoring circuit; wherein
the glass module is coupled to the first controller, and light transmittance of the glass module is controlled by the first controller;
the at least one light bar group is coupled to the first controller and emits light under control of the first controller to indicate an operating state of the glass module; and
the light bar monitoring circuit comprises at least one light bar monitoring sub-circuit; the at least one light bar monitoring sub-circuit is coupled to the first controller and is coupled in a one-to-one correspondence to the at least one light bar group, so as to detect the operating state of the light bar group coupled to the at least one light bar monitoring sub-circuit and feed the operating state back to the first controller;
the smart window further comprises at least one light bar driving circuit which is coupled to the first controller and is coupled in a one-to-one correspondence to the at least one light bar group, wherein
each of the at least one light bar group comprises a display light bar and at least one backup light bar, and both the display light bar and the at least one backup light bar in each of the at least one light bar group are coupled to a corresponding light bar driving circuit; and
the first controller receives the operating state of the display light bar sent by the at least one light bar monitoring sub-circuit, and controls the corresponding light bar driving circuit to stop driving the display light bar and to drive one of the at least one backup light bar when the operating state of the display light bar is abnormal.

2. The smart window of claim 1 , wherein each of the at least one light bar monitoring sub-circuit comprises:
a sampling resistor, wherein a first end of the sampling resistor is coupled to a first end of the display light bar and a first end of the at least one backup light bar in a corresponding light bar group, and a second end of the sampling resistor is coupled to a reference power supply; and
a plurality of state acquiring circuits, wherein the plurality of state acquiring circuits are coupled in a one-to-one correspondence to the display light bar and the at least one backup light bar in the corresponding light bar group, and the plurality of state acquiring circuits are coupled to the first end of the sampling resistor, a second end of the display light bar or a second end of the at least one backup light bar in the corresponding light bar group, and the first controller.

3. The smart window of claim 2 , further comprising a memory coupled to the first controller, wherein the memory is configured to store voltages at the first and second ends of the display light bar acquired by the plurality of state acquiring circuits, a resistance value of the sampling resistor, and a current of the display light bar and voltages at the first and second ends of the display light bar during normal operation of the display light bar.

4. The smart window of claim 1 , further comprising a light bar driving board on which the light bar monitoring circuit, the at least one light bar driving circuit and the first controller are integrated.

5. The smart window of claim 1 , comprising a light adjusting region and a display region on at least one side of the light adjusting region, wherein the glass module is located in the light adjusting region and the at least one light bar group is located in the display region.

6. The smart window of claim 5 , further comprising a touch panel coupled to the glass module and configured to adjust the light transmittance of the glass module by touch control.

7. The smart window of claim 6 , wherein the touch panel comprises a surface touch control assembly and a surface touch control driving board, the surface touch control assembly is stacked with the glass module, the surface touch control driving board is coupled to the surface touch control assembly and the glass module, wherein
the surface touch control driving board comprises a surface touch control output circuit and a second controller, the surface touch control output circuit receives a first touch control signal input by the surface touch control assembly and transmits the first touch control signal to the second controller, and the second controller adjusts the light transmittance of the glass module according to the first touch control signal.

8. The smart window of claim 7 , wherein the touch panel further comprises a touch control key assembly and a touch control key driving board, the touch control key driving board is coupled to the touch control key assembly and the glass module, and the touch control key assembly is located in the display region of the smart window, wherein
the touch control key driving board comprises a touch control key output circuit and a third controller, the touch control key output circuit receives a second touch control signal input by the touch control key assembly and transmits the second touch control signal to the third controller, and the third controller adjusts the light transmittance of the glass module according to the second touch control signal.

9. The smart window of claim 6 , wherein the touch panel comprises a touch control key assembly and a touch control key driving board, the touch control key driving board is coupled to the touch control key assembly and the glass module, the touch control key assembly is located in the display region of the smart window, wherein
the touch control key driving board comprises a touch control key output circuit and a third controller, the touch control key output circuit receives a second touch control signal input by the touch control key assembly and transmits the second touch control signal to the third controller, and the third controller adjusts the light transmittance of the glass module according to the second touch control signal.

10. The smart window of claim 6 , wherein the touch panel further comprises a surface touch control assembly stacked with the glass module,
the smart window further comprises a first integrated driving board on which the light bar monitoring circuit, the at least one light bar driving circuit and the first controller are integrated;
the first integrated driving board is further provided with a surface touch control output circuit, and
the surface touch control output circuit is coupled to the surface touch control assembly and the first controller via a connecting structure on the first integrated driving board, and is configured to receive a first touch control signal input by the surface touch control assembly and to transmit the first touch control signal to the first controller; the first controller adjusts the light transmittance of the glass module according to the first touch control signal.

11. The smart window of claim 6 , wherein the touch panel comprises a touch control key assembly in the display region of the smart window,
the smart window further comprises a second integrated driving board on which the light bar monitoring circuit, the at least one light bar driving circuit and the first controller are integrated; and
the second integrated driving board is further provided with a touch control key output circuit, the touch key output circuit is coupled to the touch control key assembly and the first controller via a connecting structure on the second integrated driving board, the touch control key output circuit receives a second touch control signal input by the touch control key assembly and transmits the second touch control signal to the first controller, and the first c

Assignees

• Beijing Boe Sensor Technology Co Ltd
• Boe Technology Group Co Ltd

Inventors

• Wang Yongbo
• Meng Chen
• Ruan Yiping
• Han Shaobo
• Xu Siheng
• Hu Zhong
• Yu Kai

Classifications

• H05B47/29 Primary

  Circuits providing for substitution of the light source in case of its failure · CPC title

• G02F1/137

  characterised by the electro-optical or magneto-optical effect, e.g. field-induced phase transition, orientation effect, guest-host interaction or dynamic scattering · CPC title

• G02F1/13338

  Input devices, e.g. touch panels · CPC title

• H05B45/50

  responsive to malfunctions or undesirable behaviour of LEDs; responsive to LED life; Protective circuits · CPC title

• B60J3/04

  adjustable in transparency · CPC title