|Número de publicación||US4317071 A|
|Tipo de publicación||Concesión|
|Número de solicitud||US 05/957,216|
|Fecha de publicación||23 Feb 1982|
|Fecha de presentación||2 Nov 1978|
|Fecha de prioridad||2 Nov 1978|
|Número de publicación||05957216, 957216, US 4317071 A, US 4317071A, US-A-4317071, US4317071 A, US4317071A|
|Inventores||Peter S. E. Murad|
|Cesionario original||Murad Peter S E|
|Exportar cita||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Citas de patentes (2), Otras citas (2), Citada por (56), Clasificaciones (12)|
|Enlaces externos: USPTO, Cesión de USPTO, Espacenet|
The invention can provide any water pool, fountain, outdoor play area or theatrical stage with a kaleidoscope of color. The main purpose of this system is for public entertainment.
The present state of the art in lighting pools, fountains and theatrical stages consists of fixed intensity lighting and in select cases the capability to switch from fully on to fully off. The invention, known commercially as SPECTROMATIC, advances the state of the art in lighting by providing for changing the intensity of the light sinusoidally and simultaneously mixing several color frequencies to generate new colors continuously. The speed of continuous light rotation can be changed from one cycle per several minutes to as fast as one cycle per one second or less. This complete cycle of color rotation will generate most of the frequencies in the visible spectrum to which the eye is sensitive. The system provides a switch control to stop the rotation of these colors during any time of the cycle rotation. The third feature of SPECTROMATIC is to maintain the three colors at any level in intensity from minimum power to maximum, depending on the programming of the computer. The fourth feature provides the capability to program the light intensity to be sensitive to music. In this mode, SPECTROMATIC is programmed to start from zero light intensity, when the music is off, and increase in intensity sinusoidally depending on the loudness of the music. Mono sound can drive the lighting of a three color loop. When using six or more lamps in one rotation loop, each set of colors can be driven by one channel of stereo music.
The invention has been built and tested. The first breadboard system consisted of TTL devices and passive circuit elements such as resistors, capacitors and diodes. This integrated circuit was mounted on vector board 4"×6" and the pins were wirewrapped. Two of these systems were originally built which enabled rotating three and six lamps in one loop. Many tests were conducted on this computer and on the actual lights immersed in a pool to show their feasibility and to improve the operation of the system.
The second version was changed utilizing printed board triacs to drive the lamps and pulse transformers to trigger the triacs. Many tests were performed on this brassboard system both in the laboratory and in the field where actual lamps were driven by the computer while they were immersed in water. One of the systems was installed in a pool and has been operating continuously and successfully since May 1978. It has proved very reliable and successfully exhibits all the capabilities as discussed herein. The present production version uses a double sided copper clad printed board with optical couplers to drive the triacs. Several sample production systems were built, tested and proven very successful.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the system of the invention;
FIGS. 2A-2D illustrate operational relationships and features of the invention.
The system can allow for three or more lamps to be placed in a loop with a fixed electrical angle separation among them. Their output is then varied sinusoidally. For example, the three lamps, initial phasing is illustrated in FIG. 2B. This is one of the situations where there are three lamps L1, L2 and L3 in a loop. At the beginning of the cycle, the output intensities of these lamps are illustrated in FIG. 2C. Each of these lamps is initially preset by setting counter "A" in FIG. 1 to a certain binary position which designates its initial position output in the loop. Each one of these lamps has a counter, e.g. counter "A" in FIG. 1. The binary information in counter "A" can be shifted up or down to move the position of the lamp in the loop, hence changing its intensity.
One of the lamp circuits acts as a master to synchronize the position of the other lamps to a specific point in the 60 cycle power frequency. As shown in FIG. 1, when Flip-Flop D is triggered into its reset state, differentiator DIF passes a pulse on line d to each counter A to reset each counter A to the initial setting. Counter "A" moves up or down between two limits determined by NAND GATES 1 and 2. When counter "A" counts up to a certain limit, the output of NAND GATE 1 will trigger Flip Flop D and shut off NAND GATE 6. This enables NAND GATE 5 and NAND GATE 2 to stop counter "A" from moving up. The low frequency clock oscillator shifts counter "A" up or down depending on the state of Flip-Flop D. The speed of the low frequency clock will determine the period of one cycle rotation of counter "A". This period is also equal to one cycle of lamp rotation. Therefore, changing the frequency of the low frequency oscillator will change the period of the lamp rotation. Counter "A" consists of 8 Flip-Flops which have the capability of counting 256 Bits either up or down. When the light rotates, the high frequency oscillator remains at fixed frequency equivalent to 30.72 KHz. The total period of 256 pulses of the high frequency oscillator is equivalent to half the cycle period of the 6 OHz line supply, FIG. 2A. Therefore, for each half cycle of the power line, counter "B" counts approximately 256 Bits. When the binary number of counter "A" matches the binary number of Counter "B" a positive pulse is produced from the digital comparator C which determines the firing position of the triac. The triac drops out after the reversal of the power supply frequency polarity and triggers on the second half of the supply cycle. FIG. 2D illustrates six lamps in one loop with constant and equal phasing between each adjacent lamp.
Fixed blending can be achieved when the high frequency oscillator has a constant frequency of 30.72 KHz. Stopping the low frequency oscillator from producing pulses causes counter "A" to remain at fixed binary count thus stopping the rotation of the light and maintaining the light intensity fixed, depending on the count of counter "A". The low frequency oscillator is stopped by bringing one of its terminals to ground through the fixed selection color blending switch as indicated in FIG. 1.
This computer can be programmed to determine the lamp firing position which corresponds to the amplitude of the sound envelope frequency. OR GATE 4 is enabled by both the selector switch and the NAND GATE 3 to stop counter "A" from counting and to maintain the binary number in counter "A" at low lamp intensity. When there is no sound, the firing point of the triac trigger is at the zero power of the cycle and the lamps remain in a low power output. The sound varies the frequency of the high frequency oscillator depending on its amplitude. The higher the sound amplitude, the higher the frequency of the high frequency oscillator. Hence, counters "A" and "B" will be matched prior to the zero crossing of the power supply and thereby increase the lamp intensity output. The sound signal is fed to an envelope signal detector, clipping the negative part of the signal and passing only the positive part. The output of this circuit passes through an inverter amplifier which changes the time constant of the high frequency oscillator hence changing its frequency output. A potentiometer is provided to control the gain of the sound loop.
The computer can be programmed to stop the rotation of the lamps at any position and maintain them at the same intensity level. This is performed by NAND GATE 3 and OR GATE 4 and the selector switch. The difference between this mode of operation and the sound modulation results from shifting one of the input signals of GATE 3 from the binary number of the most significant bit of the eighth counter "A" to prime number, hence shifting the position of NAND GATE 3 in the 6 OHz line supply by 128 bits from the zero crossing. Thus, the match between counter "A" and "B" will occur near half of the 6 OHz supply voltage and trigger the triac to produce half power output.
The circuitry of the SPECTROMATIC computer system can be easily deposited on one chip in a monolithic form and be produced very inexpensively in large quantities and in a very small package.
|Patente citada||Fecha de presentación||Fecha de publicación||Solicitante||Título|
|US4037135 *||3 Jun 1976||19 Jul 1977||Eli Bridge Company||Solid state timer-stepper with soft switch-on and switch-off load control|
|US4071809 *||13 Nov 1975||31 Ene 1978||Weiss J M||Apparatus for synthesizing of colors|
|1||Bean, Chromachase 4, Practical Wireless, Dec. 1976, pp. 676-681.|
|2||Disco Lights, Elector, Sep. 1975, pp. 924-926.|
|Patente citante||Fecha de presentación||Fecha de publicación||Solicitante||Título|
|US4484190 *||26 May 1981||20 Nov 1984||General Electric Company||System for load output level control|
|US4675578 *||23 Sep 1985||23 Jun 1987||Brighter Light Liturgical Furnishings, Inc.||Electric votive light controller|
|US4792731 *||16 Mar 1987||20 Dic 1988||Lightolier Incorporated||Multi-room controlled for individual light controls|
|US5371444 *||20 Abr 1993||6 Dic 1994||The Genlyte Group Incorporated||Electronic ballast power supply for gas discharge lamp including booster start circuit responsive to power up condition|
|US5420482 *||31 Ago 1994||30 May 1995||Phares; Louis A.||Controlled lighting system|
|US6285140||21 Abr 1999||4 Sep 2001||Pharos Innovations Inc.||Variable-effect lighting system|
|US6611114 *||15 May 2002||26 Ago 2003||Jen-Yen Yen||Control circuit assembly for fountain display apparatus|
|US6774584||25 Oct 2001||10 Ago 2004||Color Kinetics, Incorporated||Methods and apparatus for sensor responsive illumination of liquids|
|US6781329||25 Oct 2001||24 Ago 2004||Color Kinetics Incorporated||Methods and apparatus for illumination of liquids|
|US6801003||10 May 2002||5 Oct 2004||Color Kinetics, Incorporated||Systems and methods for synchronizing lighting effects|
|US6869204||25 Oct 2001||22 Mar 2005||Color Kinetics Incorporated||Light fixtures for illumination of liquids|
|US6967448||25 Oct 2001||22 Nov 2005||Color Kinetics, Incorporated||Methods and apparatus for controlling illumination|
|US7161311||4 Nov 2003||9 Ene 2007||Color Kinetics Incorporated||Multicolored LED lighting method and apparatus|
|US7161313||14 Abr 2005||9 Ene 2007||Color Kinetics Incorporated||Light emitting diode based products|
|US7186003||13 Mar 2001||6 Mar 2007||Color Kinetics Incorporated||Light-emitting diode based products|
|US7187141||16 Jul 2004||6 Mar 2007||Color Kinetics Incorporated||Methods and apparatus for illumination of liquids|
|US7274160||26 Mar 2004||25 Sep 2007||Color Kinetics Incorporated||Multicolored lighting method and apparatus|
|US7352339||15 Jun 1999||1 Abr 2008||Philips Solid-State Lighting Solutions||Diffuse illumination systems and methods|
|US7427840||14 May 2004||23 Sep 2008||Philips Solid-State Lighting Solutions, Inc.||Methods and apparatus for controlling illumination|
|US7449847||11 Ago 2004||11 Nov 2008||Philips Solid-State Lighting Solutions, Inc.||Systems and methods for synchronizing lighting effects|
|US7453217||16 Nov 2004||18 Nov 2008||Philips Solid-State Lighting Solutions, Inc.||Marketplace illumination methods and apparatus|
|US7462997||10 Jul 2007||9 Dic 2008||Philips Solid-State Lighting Solutions, Inc.||Multicolored LED lighting method and apparatus|
|US7482764||25 Oct 2001||27 Ene 2009||Philips Solid-State Lighting Solutions, Inc.||Light sources for illumination of liquids|
|US7572028||22 Ene 2007||11 Ago 2009||Philips Solid-State Lighting Solutions, Inc.||Methods and apparatus for generating and modulating white light illumination conditions|
|US7598686||26 Abr 2007||6 Oct 2009||Philips Solid-State Lighting Solutions, Inc.||Organic light emitting diode methods and apparatus|
|US7659674||9 Feb 2010||Philips Solid-State Lighting Solutions, Inc.||Wireless lighting control methods and apparatus|
|US7884556||21 Ene 2009||8 Feb 2011||Advanced Color Lighting, Inc.||Color-changing light array device|
|US7959320||22 Ene 2007||14 Jun 2011||Philips Solid-State Lighting Solutions, Inc.||Methods and apparatus for generating and modulating white light illumination conditions|
|US7986101||20 Nov 2007||26 Jul 2011||Seasonal Specialties, Llc||Variable effect light string|
|US8373347||12 Feb 2013||Seasonal Specialties, Llc||Variable effect light string|
|US8400745 *||30 Abr 2008||19 Mar 2013||Netapp, Inc.||Fuse apparatus|
|US8786203||24 Ene 2013||22 Jul 2014||Seasonal Specialties, Llc||Variable effect light spring|
|US8818530 *||29 Oct 2008||26 Ago 2014||Pentair Water Pool And Spa, Inc.||LED light controller system and method|
|US9066385||7 May 2012||23 Jun 2015||Samir Gandhi||Control system for color lights|
|US20020048169 *||13 Mar 2001||25 Abr 2002||Dowling Kevin J.||Light-emitting diode based products|
|US20020130627 *||25 Oct 2001||19 Sep 2002||Morgan Frederick M.||Light sources for illumination of liquids|
|US20030076281 *||15 Jun 1999||24 Abr 2003||Frederick Marshall Morgan||Diffuse illumination systems and methods|
|US20030206411 *||13 Mar 2001||6 Nov 2003||Dowling Kevin J.||Light-emitting diode based products|
|US20040052076 *||19 Dic 2002||18 Mar 2004||Mueller George G.||Controlled lighting methods and apparatus|
|US20040090191 *||4 Nov 2003||13 May 2004||Color Kinetics, Incorporated||Multicolored led lighting method and apparatus|
|US20040212993 *||14 May 2004||28 Oct 2004||Color Kinetics, Inc.||Methods and apparatus for controlling illumination|
|US20050035728 *||11 Ago 2004||17 Feb 2005||Color Kinetics, Inc.||Systems and methods for synchronizing lighting effects|
|US20050040774 *||4 Oct 2004||24 Feb 2005||Color Kinetics, Inc.||Methods and apparatus for generating and modulating white light illumination conditions|
|US20050044617 *||16 Jul 2004||3 Mar 2005||Color Kinetics, Inc.||Methods and apparatus for illumination of liquids|
|US20050151489 *||16 Nov 2004||14 Jul 2005||Color Kinetics Incorporated||Marketplace illumination methods and apparatus|
|US20050236998 *||8 Mar 2005||27 Oct 2005||Color Kinetics, Inc.||Light emitting diode based products|
|US20050285547 *||14 Abr 2005||29 Dic 2005||Color Kinetics Incorporated||Light emitting diode based products|
|US20060152172 *||4 Oct 2004||13 Jul 2006||Color Kinetics, Inc.||Methods and apparatus for generating and modulating white light illumination conditions|
|US20070115658 *||22 Ene 2007||24 May 2007||Color Kinetics Incorporated||Methods and apparatus for generating and modulating white light illumination conditions|
|US20070115665 *||22 Ene 2007||24 May 2007||Color Kinetics Incorporated||Methods and apparatus for generating and modulating white light illumination conditions|
|US20070195526 *||1 May 2007||23 Ago 2007||Color Kinetics Incorporated||Wireless lighting control methods and apparatus|
|US20080084327 *||25 Oct 2005||10 Abr 2008||John Rubis||Multicolor illumination system|
|US20080143267 *||20 Nov 2007||19 Jun 2008||Neuman Robert C||Variable effect light string|
|US20090121651 *||21 Ene 2009||14 May 2009||Samir Gandhi||Color-Changing Light Array Device|
|US20090204239 *||29 Oct 2008||13 Ago 2009||Netzel Sr Robert J||LED Light Controller System and Method|
|EP2914069A1||16 Ago 2006||2 Sep 2015||Pharos Innovations Inc.||Variable-effect lighting system|
|Clasificación de EE.UU.||315/312, 315/293, 315/323|
|Clasificación internacional||H05B37/02, H02M5/257, H05B39/08|
|Clasificación cooperativa||H05B39/083, H05B37/029, H02M5/2576|
|Clasificación europea||H05B37/02S, H02M5/257C2, H05B39/08R|