Modular Luminaire Display Cap for User-Friendly Sensor Indication
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing luminaires lack a user-friendly means to display environmental factors without requiring access to a control program, necessitating a modular and cost-effective solution for new and existing systems.
Innovation Solution
A display cap with a display surface that receives light from a light emitting component and displays symbols representing measurable environmental factors, featuring interchangeable designs for different interfaces and sensors, utilizing magnets, flanges, or threading for easy mounting, and optionally including an LED light source.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If luminaires are equipped with sensors to detect environmental factors, then the luminaire can react to conditions via internal drivers and report conditions to external applications, but the luminaire lacks a user-friendly display means without requiring access to control programs
Solution Approach 1:
The display function is segmented from the main luminaire body into a separate display cap that can be attached to the housing. This cap contains its own display elements (LEDs, display surface) and can be configured to show environmental factors without requiring users to access the luminaire's control programs. The segmentation allows the display function to be independently configured and accessed.
Solution Approach 2:
The display cap acts as an intermediary between the sensor system and the user. It receives environmental factor data from the luminaire's sensors and presents it in a user-friendly visual format on the display surface, eliminating the need for users to directly access control programs or interpret raw sensor data.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a display system is integrated into existing luminaire systems, then environmental factors can be displayed to users, but significant redesign of the luminaire system is required
Solution Approach 1:
The display functionality is provided as a separate, attachable cap rather than being integrated into the luminaire's housing. This allows the cap to be manufactured independently and attached to existing luminaires without requiring redesign of the main luminaire structure. The cap interfaces with the housing through a defined interface element.
Solution Approach 2:
The display cap is designed with universal applicability to different luminaire types. It can be configured to display various environmental factors (temperature, humidity, CO2, etc.) and can be attached to different housing types through standardized interface elements, making it adaptable to existing luminaire systems without requiring system-specific redesign.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple display options are provided for different environmental factors, then users can select appropriate display caps, but the system requires multiple cap designs for different interfaces and sensors
Solution Approach 1:
The display cap incorporates a standardized interface element that can interface with multiple types of sensors and luminaires. The cap itself can be configured with different display surfaces or LED arrangements to show different environmental factors, but the underlying mounting interface remains universal, reducing the need for completely different cap designs for each application.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the display cap can be configured with different display characteristics (different LED colors, different symbol patterns on the display surface) to represent different environmental factors. This allows a single cap design to potentially display multiple types of information through local variations in the display elements.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Provides a simple, cost-effective, and modular way to display sensor information, allowing easy integration with existing luminaire systems and enabling multiple display options through interchangeable caps without significant redesign.
Implementation Method 1
an optical receiver for receiving light from a light emitting component from the proximal end
Implementation Method 2
The at least one fixing magnet may, for example, be a ring of magnets or a single ring-shaped magnet for easily aligning the display cap with the interface component
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~2C
Figure 3
AI summary
A device and component of a system for displaying sensor information to a user, specifically from a luminaire system. The device comprises a display cap 100 for displaying sensor information to a user, the display cap 100 comprising a display cap body 110 which has a proximal end 111 and a distal end 112, wherein the proximal end 111 is configured to be inserted into or fixed onto an interface element 211; an optical receiver 120 for receiving light from a light emitting component from the proximal end 111; and a display surface 130 disposed at the distal end 112, which displays at least a symbol 131 representing a measurable environmental factor, wherein a portion of the display surface 130 is lit with the light received in the optical receiver 120. The system comprises a luminaire system 200 comprising a housing 210, the display cap 100, a controlling module 220, a sensing unit 230, and a controllable light source 240, wherein the sensing unit 230 is configured to measure a range of measurement levels of at least one environmental factor; wherein the housing 210 accommodates the interface element 211 which interfaces with the proximal end 111 of the display cap 100 to connect the display cap 100 to the housing 210, and a light guide 212, such as a fiber optic cable or an electrical cable, which either connects the optical receiver 120 of the display cap 100 to the controllable light source 240, or connects the controllable light source 150, 240 in the proximal end 111 of the display cap 100 to the controlling module 220; and wherein the controlling module 220 is configured to receive a signal from the sening unitr 230, and control an activation state of the controllable light source 240 based on the signal received from the sensing unit 230.