2804 results about "Daylight" patented technology

An energy saving device for an LED lamp mounted to an existing fixture for a fluorescent lamp where the ballast is removed or bypassed. The LEDs are positioned within a tube and electrical power is delivered from a power source to the LEDs. The LED lamp includes means for controlling the delivery of the electrical power from the power source to the LEDs, wherein the use of electrical power can be reduced or eliminated automatically during periods of non-use. Such means for controlling includes means for detecting the level of daylight in the illumination area of said least one LED, in particular a light level photosensor, and means for transmitting to the means for controlling relating to the detected level of daylight from the photosensor. The photosensor can be used in operative association with an on-off switch in power connection to the LEDs, a timer, or with a computer or logic gate array in operative association with a switch, timer, or dimmer that regulates the power to the LEDs. An occupancy sensor that detects motion or a person in the illumination area of the LEDs can be also be used in association with the photosensor and the computer, switch, timer, or dimmer, or in solo operation by itself. Two or more such LED lamps with a computer or logic gate array used with at least one of the lamps can be in network communication with at least one photosensor and / or at least one occupancy sensor to control the power to all the LEDs.

An energy saving device for an LED lamp mounted to an existing fixture for a fluorescent lamp where the ballast is removed or bypassed. The LEDs are positioned within a tube and electrical power is delivered from a power source to the LEDs. The LED lamp includes means for controlling the delivery of the electrical power from the power source to the LEDs, wherein the use of electrical power can be reduced or eliminated automatically during periods of non-use. Such means for controlling includes means for detecting the level of daylight in the illumination area of said least one LED, in particular a light level photosensor, and means for transmitting to the means for controlling relating to the detected level of daylight from the photosensor. The photosensor can be used in operative association with an on-off switch in power connection to the LEDs, a timer, or with a computer or logic gate array in operative association with a switch, timer, or dimmer that regulates the power to the LEDs. An occupancy sensor that detects motion or a person in the illumination area of the LEDs can be also be used in association with the photosensor and the computer, switch, timer, or dimmer, or in solo operation by itself. Two or more such LED lamps with a computer or logic gate array used with at least one of the lamps can be in network communication with at least one photosensor and / or at least one occupancy sensor to control the power to all the LEDs.

A wireless lighting control system comprises a daylight sensor for measuring a light intensity in a space and a dimmer switch for controlling the amount of power delivered to a lighting load in response to the daylight sensor. For example, the daylight sensor may be able to transmit radio-frequency (RF) signals to the dimmer switch. The system provides methods of calibrating the daylight sensor that allow for automatically measuring and / or calculating one or more operational characteristics of the daylight sensor. One method of calibrating the daylight sensor comprises a “single-button-press” calibration procedure during which a user is only required to actuate a calibration button of the daylight sensor once. In addition, the daylight sensor is operable to automatically measure the total light intensity in the space at night to determine the light intensity of only the electrical light generated by the lighting load.

Driver distraction is reduced by providing information only when necessary to assist the driver, and in a visually pleasing manner. Obstacles such as other vehicles, pedestrians, and road defects are detected based on analysis of image data from a forward-facing camera system. An internal camera images the driver to determine a line of sight. Navigational information, such as a line with an arrow, is displayed on a windshield so that it appears to overlay and follow the road along the line of sight. Brightness of the information may be adjusted to correct for lighting conditions, so that the overlay will appear brighter during daylight hours and dimmer during the night. A full augmented reality is modeled and navigational hints are provided accordingly, so that the navigational information indicates how to avoid obstacles by directing the driver around them. Obstacles also may be visually highlighted.

A programmable lighting control system integrates time-based, sensor-based, and manual control of lighting and other loads. The system includes one or more groups of controlled lighting areas, which may be, for example, floors of a building. Each group may have one or more lighting zones, which may be, for example, individual rooms or offices on a building floor. Each lighting zone includes occupancy and / or daylight sensors that may be wirelessly coupled to a gateway of the group. Each gateway is coupled to a network, such as, for example, a local area network (LAN). Control software, residing on a computer (e.g., a personal computer or a server) coupled to the network and accessible via the network, remotely communicates with and controls the lighting zones either individually, groupwise, or globally. Each lighting zone can also be locally controlled at the gateway and can function independently of the control software and the gateway.

A system and device for and a method of programming and controlling light fixtures is disclosed. A system in accordance with the present invention includes a stationary controller unit that is electrically coupled to the light fixtures. The stationary controller unit is configured to be remotely programmed with a portable commissioning device to automatically control the lights fixtures. The stationary controller unit and the portable commissioning device include light sensors, micro-computers and transceivers for measuring light levels, running programs, storing data and transmitting data between the stationary controller unit and the portable commissioning device. In operation, target light levels selected with the portable commissioning device and the controller unit is remotely programmed to automatically maintain the target level.

A system for automatic regulation of daylight admitted by a window in the presence of artificial illumination produced by a high-efficiency (e.g., fluorescent-type) electric lamp. A preferred embodiment, adaptive window covering system 10, consists of an illuminance sensor 11, a conventional control apparatus 12, and a conventional shading means 13. System 10 is used in conjunction with a conventional, high-efficiency, electric lamp 14 and a conventional window 18, in a room 19. Sensor 11 produces a signal dependent on power contained in a portion of the daylight spectrum, but substantially insensitive to power contained in the spectrum of artificial illumination produced by lamp 14. In a preferred embodiment, sensor 11 includes a silicon photodiode and optical low-pass filter to provide a spectral response which extends from approximately 800 to 1200 nanometers, which falls outside the spectrum produced by typical fluorescent lamps (e.g, 300 to 750 nanometers). Sensor 11 is oriented to sample the ambient illumination in room 19, which includes both daylight and artificial components. Control apparatus 12 produces an actuating signal dependent on the output of sensor 11. Shading means 13 varies the amount of daylight admitted by window 18 as a function of the actuating signal produced by control apparatus 12. Thus, system 10 varies the amount of daylight admitted by window 18 as a function of the power contained in a portion of the daylight spectrum, but independent of the power contained in the spectrum produced by lamp 14.

An illumination maintenance system for maintaining a desired illumination profile in a space throughout at least a portion of a day where the illumination sources include daylight and artificial light, the system comprising a first sensor for sensing an illumination level in at least a portion of the space, at least one window treatment for at least one opening for allowing daylight into the space, the window treatment selectively altering the amount of daylight entering the space, a plurality of electric lamps providing artificial light to supplement the daylight illumination of the space; the electric lamps being dimmable, a control system controlling the at least one window treatment and the plurality of electric lamps to maintain the desired illumination profile in the space, the control system controlling the plurality of electric lamps so that the dimming level of each lamp is adjusted to achieve the desired lighting profile and compensate for the daylight illumination in the space throughout at least the portion of the day; and the control system further operating to adjust the window treatment in the event of sun glare through the opening to reduce the sun glare and such that when the desired illumination profile within a defined tolerance is achieved, the control system stops varying the dimming levels of the lamps and the adjustment of the at least one window treatment.

A new lens design and method of implantation uses the change in pupil diameter of the eye concurrent with the changes induced by a contraction of the ciliary muscle during the accommodative reflex, in order to assist in focusing of nearby objects. This new intraocular lens consists of two parts. The posterior part or haptic part is inserted behind the iris and in front of the natural lens or artificial implant. Its main purpose is to participate in the accommodative mechanism and to prevent excessive lateral movement and luxation of the lens. An anterior or optical part is made of flexible material and is placed before the iris. Its diameter is variable but should be large enough to cover the pupillary margins to some degree under various conditions of natural dilation. The anterior and posterior part of the lens are separated by a compressible circular groove in which the iris will settle. The diameter of this groove is slightly larger than the pupillary diameter measured under normal photopic daylight conditions and for distance vision. Since the pupil becomes smaller in near vision, the iris will exert a slight pressure at the level of the groove of the lens which will cause a progressive and evenly distributed flexing of the anterior part of the intraocular lens, as the diameter of the compressible circular groove slightly decreases. This flexing will induce an increase in refractive power which corresponds to a variable part of the amount necessary for focusing nearby objects.

A motorized window treatment controls daylight entering a space through a window and includes a covering material, a drive shaft, lift cords received around the drive shaft and connected to the covering material, and a motor coupled to the drive shaft. It also includes a spring assist unit for the motor providing a torque that equals the torque provided by the weight on the lift cords at a position midway between fully-open and fully-closed positions, minimizing motor usage and conserving battery life. A photosensor for measuring the daylight outside the window and temperature sensors for measuring the temperatures inside and outside of the window may be provided. The position of the covering material is automatically controlled to save energy, or may also be controlled in response to an infrared or radio-frequency remote control.

A power saving device for a light emitting diode (LED) lamp mounted to an existing fixture for a fluorescent lamp having a ballast assembly and LEDs positioned within a tube and electrical power delivered from the ballast assembly to the LEDs. The LED lamp includes means for controlling the delivery of the electrical power from the ballast assembly to the LEDs wherein the use of electrical power can be reduced or eliminated automatically during periods of non-use. Such means for controlling include means for detecting the level of daylight in the illumination area of said least one LED in particular a light level photosensor and means for transmitting to the means for controlling a control signal relating to the detected level of daylight from the photosensor. The photosensor can be used in operative association with an on-off switch in power connection to the LEDs, or with a computer or logic gate array in operative association with a dimmer that controls the power to the LEDs. An occupancy sensor that detects motion or a person in the illumination area of the LEDs can be optionally used in association with the photosensor and the computer and dimmer. Two or more such LED lamps with one or more computers or logic gate arrays can be in network communication with the photosensors and the occupancy sensors to control the power to the LEDs.

System and method provide wireless distributed lighting control systems implementing a secure peer-to-peer, self-organizing and self-healing mesh network of actuators and system inputs. The system and method can be designed specifically for indoor and outdoor lighting where actuators include in-fixture, on-fixture and circuit control modules with ON / OFF and full range dimming capabilities, and system inputs include occupancy / vacancy sensors, daylight sensors and switches. A unique messaging protocol facilitates wireless and wired communication between actuators and system inputs, and provides web-based commissioning and monitoring of the lighting control system using a wireless access point accessible from a local network or Internet which can provide an intuitive and easy to use Graphical User Interface (GUI).

An illumination maintenance system for maintaining a desired illumination profile in a space throughout at least a portion of a day where the illumination sources include daylight and artificial light, the system comprising a first sensor for sensing an illumination level in at least a portion of the space, at least one window treatment for at least one opening for allowing daylight into the space, the window treatment selectively altering the amount of daylight entering the space, a plurality of electric lamps providing artificial light to supplement the daylight illumination of the space; the electric lamps being dimmable, a control system controlling the at least one window treatment and the plurality of electric lamps to maintain the desired illumination profile in the space, the control system controlling the plurality of electric lamps so that the dimming level of each lamp is adjusted to achieve the desired lighting profile and compensate for the daylight illumination in the space throughout at least the portion of the day; and the control system further operating to adjust the window treatment in the event of sun glare through the opening to reduce the sun glare and such that when the desired illumination profile within a defined tolerance is achieved, the control system stops varying the dimming levels of the lamps and the adjustment of the at least one window treatment.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid crystal display device which has a wide viewing angle and less color-shift depending on an angle at which a display screen is seen and can display an image favorably recognized both outdoors in sunlight and dark indoors (or outdoors at night). The liquid crystal display device includes a first portion where display is performed by transmission of light and a second portion where display is performed by reflection of light. Further, a liquid crystal layer includes a liquid crystal molecule which rotates parallel to an electrode plane when a potential difference is generated between two electrodes of a liquid crystal element provided below the liquid crystal layer.

A light emitting device capable of emitting light having various color temperatures is disclosed. The light emitting device includes a first light emitting part emitting a daylight color having a color temperature of 6000 K or more, a second light emitting part emitting white light having a color temperature less than 6000 K, and a third light emitting part emitting light in a visible range of 580 nm or more. The second and third light emitting parts are operable independently of the first light emitting part, and realize a warm white color having a color temperature of 3000 K or less with the white light emitted from the second light emitting part and the light emitted from the third light emitting part. The light emitting device realizes white light of various spectra and color temperatures corresponding to desired mood and utility. The light emitting device is controlled to emit light having a suitable wavelength or a suitable color temperature depending on the circadian rhythm of human, thereby enabling improvement of the user's health.

A wireless lighting control system comprises a daylight sensor for measuring a light intensity in a space and a dimmer switch for controlling the amount of power delivered to a lighting load in response to the daylight sensor. For example, the daylight sensor may be able to transmit radio-frequency (RF) signals to the dimmer switch. The system provides methods of calibrating the daylight sensor that allow for automatically measuring and / or calculating one or more operational characteristics of the daylight sensor. One method of calibrating the daylight sensor comprises a “single-button-press” calibration procedure during which a user is only required to actuate a calibration button of the daylight sensor once. In addition, the daylight sensor is operable to automatically measure the total light intensity in the space at night to determine the light intensity of only the electrical light generated by the lighting load.

Wireless control of lighting fixtures via a wireless radio network using a radio-controlled relay device located between a lighting fixture or a ballast of a fluorescent fixture and its power supply. The radio-controlled device receives signals from remote controllers or via a computer interface. The wireless device is also configured to monitor the power consumption of a lighting fixture (or ballast) and send that information to the network. In the wireless control network, light level sensors and motion sensors also send information to the network to allow lights to respond to daylight levels or occupancy.

The flight guiding blinds of this invention are characterized in that the tooth sides showing towards sun incidence have an angle of inclination β essentially smaller in the area of the irradiation portion and larger at a larger distance from the irradiation portion, and the angles of inclination β increase following a concave curve path increasingly ascending from the irradiation area towards the reflection area, and at the upper side of light guiding blinds retro-reflected reaction is concentrated and a concentration zone is formed near irradiation portion and the concentration zone is disposed either in front of blind in the irradiation portion and / or on the underside of upper blind behind the irradiation portion, and on the upper side of a light guiding blind light radiation may be reflected at the individual teeth at and angle αR<αS.

A load control system for a building having a lighting load, a window, and a heating and cooling system comprises a lighting control device for controlling the amount of power delivered to the lighting load, a daylight control device (such as a motorized window treatment) for adjusting the amount of natural light to be admitted through a window, and a controller for adjusting a setpoint temperature of the heating and cooling system to thus control a present temperature in the building. In response to receiving a demand response command, the controller controls the lighting control device, the daylight control device, and the heating and cooling system so as to decrease a total power consumption of the load control system. The load control system may comprise a controllable switching device for disconnecting power to or disconnecting the control lines to one or more components of the heating and cooling system.

A MOS or CMOS sensor for high performance imaging in broad spectral ranges including portions of the infrared spectral band. These broad spectral ranges may also include portions or all of the visible spectrum, therefore the sensor has both daylight and night vision capabilities. The sensor includes a continuous multi-layer photodiode structure on a many pixel MOS or CMOS readout array where the photodiode structure is chosen to include responses in the near infrared spectral ranges. A preferred embodiment incorporates a microcrystalline copper indium diselenide / cadmium sulfide photodiode structure on a CMOS readout array. An alternate preferred embodiment incorporates a microcrystalline silicon germanium photodiode structure on a CMOS readout array. Each of these embodiments provides night vision with image performance that greatly surpasses the GEN III night vision technology in terms of enhanced sensitivity, pixel size and pixel count. Further advantages of the invention include low electrical bias voltages, low power consumption, compact packaging, and radiation hardness. In special preferred embodiments CMOS stitching technology is used to provide multi-million pixel focal plane array sensors. One embodiments of the invention made without stitching is a two-million pixel sensor. Other preferred embodiments available using stitching techniques include sensors with 250 million (or more) pixels fabricated on a single wafer. A particular application of these very high pixel count sensors is as a focal plane array for a rapid beam steering telescope in a low earth orbit satellite useful for tracking over a 1500-meter wide track with a resolution of 0.3 meter.

The invention relates to phosphor-conversion (PC) sources of white light, which are composed of at least two groups of emitters, such as ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and wide-band (WB) or narrow-band (NB) phosphors that completely absorb and convert the flux generated by the LEDs to other wavelengths, and to improving the color quality of the white light emitted by such light sources. In particular, embodiments of the present invention describe new 2-4 component combinations of peak wavelengths and bandwidths for white PC LEDs with complete conversion. These combinations are used to provide spectral power distributions that enable lighting with a considerable portion of a high number of spectrophotometrically calibrated colors rendered almost indistinguishably from a blackbody radiator or daylight illuminant, and which differ from distributions optimized using standard color-rendering assessment procedures based on a small number of test color samples.

A dual LED and incandescent security lighting system uses a hybrid approach to LED illumination. It combines an ambient LED illuminator with a standard incandescent lamp on a motion control sensor. The LED illuminator will activate with the onset of darkness (daylight control) and typically remain on during the course of the night (“always on”). The LED illumination, typically amber, is sufficient to provide low to moderate level lighting coverage to the wall and ground area adjacent to and under the fixture. The incandescent lamp is integrated with a motion control circuit and sensor. When movement in the field of view is detected (after darkness), the incandescent lamp is switched on, providing an increased level of illumination to the area. Instead of an “always on” LED illuminator, the LEDs may also be switched off when the incandescent lamp is switched on.

The invention provides low solar reflectance, low-emissivity coatings. The invention also provides a pane bearing a low solar reflectance, low-emissivity coating. Further, the invention provides an insulating glass unit comprising first and second panes held in a spaced-apart configuration, wherein the panes have confronting inner surfaces oriented toward a between-pane space and opposed outer surfaces oriented away from the between-pane space, and wherein one of these inner surfaces bears a low solar reflectance, low-emissivity coating. Also provided are methods of producing coated substrates.

Illumination sources are turned ON and turned OFF in response to detected levels of illumination in an ambient environment reaching respective thresholds, which may be user set. The detection of these turn ON and turn OFF events is verified, for instance against expected events or conditions for the particular location, date and / or time. An alert or log entry may be generated if a detected event or condition appears to be invalid. For instance, if an amount of illumination in the environment is different than predicted by a threshold amount or if a time that the event occurs or is detected is different than expected or predicted by more than a threshold amount. A level of illumination may be decreased to some non-zero level after a specified time after turn ON, and increased at some specified time before turnOFF. Use of information from external sources (e.g., satellites, cell towers) may allow times to be using local time, including daylight savings if applicable.

An electronically generated simultaneous display of the local time within multiple time zones in the world is adjusted to accommodate local time arising from Daylight Saving Time. A preferred modified south polar projection of the Earth which schematically depicts the Northern Hemisphere is divided into geographical time zones. Each geographic time zone is associated with a time marker that points to an adjacent time scale. Either the geographical time zones or the time markers are adjusted in order to correctly display the ongoing time changes resulting from the continuous observation of Daylight Saving Time in time zones of the world. As further features, a user may adjust the display to present a hypothetical time and the corresponding times experienced in different time zones around the world. A user may have a specific time zone highlighted by invoking data, such as a city name, a telephone area code or an address book contact reference, which is associated with specific time zone. Conversely, highlighting a time zone may invoke a list of data associated with that time zone, e.g. city names, countries.

A display method and apparatus for a navigation system calculates and displays an estimated time of arrival (ETA) by a standard time at the destination and a POI (Point of Interest) open / close status at arrival, and a time zone change notice when a user crosses a boundary of the time zones. The display method includes the steps of: examining a position of a destination and monitoring a current position of a user during a travel to the destination; retrieving information on time zones and observation of daylight saving time at the current user position and the destination; calculating the ETA at the destination based on a local time and daylight saving time of the destination using the retrieved information; and displaying the ETA at the destination and a current time.

Adaptive vision-based vehicle detection methods, taking into account the lighting context of the images are disclosed. The methods categorize the scenes according to their lighting conditions and switch between specialized classifiers for different scene contexts. Four categories of lighting conditions have been identified using a clustering algorithm in the space of image histograms: Daylight, Low Light, Night, and Saturation. Trained classifiers are used for both Daylight and Low Light categories, and a tail-light detector is used for the Night category. Improved detection performance by using the provided context-adaptive methods is demonstrated. A night time detector is also disclosed.

A white-light electro-luminescent lamp having an adjustable spectral power distribution, including a first light-emitting element which emits light within each of three wavelength bands, 1) between 440 and 520 nm, 2) between 520 and 600 nm, and 3) between 600 and 680 nm. A second light-emitting element emits light within each of three wavelength bands, 1) between 440 and 520 nm, 2) between 520 and 600 nm, and 3) between 600 and 680 nm. A controller modulates the integrated spectral power of the light produced by the first and the second light-emitting elements such that the spectral power distribution of the light formed by combining the light produced by the modulated first and second light-emitting elements is substantially equal to a CIE standard daylight spectral power distribution for correlated color temperatures between 4000K-9500K.

Adaptive vision-based vehicle detection methods, taking into account the lighting context of the images are disclosed. The methods categorize the scenes according to their lighting conditions and switch between specialized classifiers for different scene contexts. Four categories of lighting conditions have been identified using a clustering algorithm in the space of image histograms: Daylight, Low Light, Night, and Saturation. Trained classifiers are used for both Daylight and Low Light categories, and a tail-light detector is used for the Night category. Improved detection performance by using the provided context-adaptive methods is demonstrated. A night time detector is also disclosed.