EP0669788B1 - Illumination dimmer system for fluorescent lamps - Google Patents

Illumination dimmer system for fluorescent lamps Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0669788B1
EP0669788B1 EP95101639A EP95101639A EP0669788B1 EP 0669788 B1 EP0669788 B1 EP 0669788B1 EP 95101639 A EP95101639 A EP 95101639A EP 95101639 A EP95101639 A EP 95101639A EP 0669788 B1 EP0669788 B1 EP 0669788B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
illumination
illumination zone
fluorescent lamps
zone
photometer
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP95101639A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0669788A1 (en
Inventor
Yoshio R&D Dept. Endo Lighting Corp. Takemoto
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Endo Lighting Corp
Original Assignee
Endo Lighting Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
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Application filed by Endo Lighting Corp filed Critical Endo Lighting Corp
Publication of EP0669788A1 publication Critical patent/EP0669788A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0669788B1 publication Critical patent/EP0669788B1/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
    • H05B41/00—Circuit arrangements or apparatus for igniting or operating discharge lamps
    • H05B41/14—Circuit arrangements
    • H05B41/36—Controlling
    • H05B41/38—Controlling the intensity of light
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
    • H05B41/00—Circuit arrangements or apparatus for igniting or operating discharge lamps
    • H05B41/14—Circuit arrangements
    • H05B41/36—Controlling
    • H05B41/38—Controlling the intensity of light
    • H05B41/39—Controlling the intensity of light continuously
    • H05B41/392—Controlling the intensity of light continuously using semiconductor devices, e.g. thyristor
    • H05B41/3921—Controlling the intensity of light continuously using semiconductor devices, e.g. thyristor with possibility of light intensity variations
    • H05B41/3922—Controlling the intensity of light continuously using semiconductor devices, e.g. thyristor with possibility of light intensity variations and measurement of the incident light
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
    • H05B41/00—Circuit arrangements or apparatus for igniting or operating discharge lamps
    • H05B41/14—Circuit arrangements
    • H05B41/36—Controlling
    • H05B41/38—Controlling the intensity of light
    • H05B41/39—Controlling the intensity of light continuously
    • H05B41/392—Controlling the intensity of light continuously using semiconductor devices, e.g. thyristor
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
    • H05B47/00—Circuit arrangements for operating light sources in general, i.e. where the type of light source is not relevant
    • H05B47/10—Controlling the light source
    • H05B47/17—Operational modes, e.g. switching from manual to automatic mode or prohibiting specific operations

Definitions

  • This invention relates to an illumination dimmer system for fluorescent lamps in which an illuminated location is divided up into a plurality of illumination zones and the intensity of light is adjusted in each illumination zone upon taking into overall consideration a change in the luminous flux of the fluorescent lamps due to aging, soiling of a lamp device or wall thereof, weather, time, distance from a window and purpose for which the location is used.
  • the characteristic of a fluorescent lamp is such that the luminous flux thereof decreases by 20% approximately 4000 hours after start of use and then by a further 10% after an additional 10,000 hours, at which point the lamp reaches it useful service life.
  • a feature of such a fluorescent lamp is that power consumption during this time is substantially constant (irrespective of gradual darkening of the lamp).
  • the initial brightness is set beforehand to be considerably greater than the brightness finally required upon taking into consideration the characteristic of the decline in luminous flux as well as other factors. Subsequent dimming usually is not carried out.
  • a setting means for setting and entering a design illuminance, which is different for each illumination zone, in said controllers of all illumination zones, allows to raise or lower zone light levels via switches located within the zones.
  • An object of the present invention is to provide an illumination dimmer system for fluorescent lamps which improves upon the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art.
  • Another object of the present invention is to provide an illumination dimmer system in which intensity of light can be adjusted upon taking into overall consideration a decrease in the luminous flux of a fluorescent lamp, soiling of the lamp device or wall thereof, weather, time and purpose of use, and in which power consumption can be reduced to a marked degree.
  • the setting means is operated by wireless remote control.
  • an illuminated location is divided up into a plurality of illumination zones for each of which the design illuminance is decided upon taking into account the use of the zone as well as other factors.
  • the design illuminance decided is set and fed into the controller of each illumination zone in advance.
  • the controller reads in a change in the output of the photometer and, in dependence upon the change in value, alters the output current values of all of the high-frequency constant-current feeder devices of this illumination zone, whereby the brightness of the illumination zone is corrected so as to be held at the originally set design illuminance.
  • Changeover means in the controller switch between a maintenance mode having comparatively long time intervals at which the current value of the high-frequency constant-current feeder device is altered, and a daylight utilization mode in which the time intervals are much shorter than those of the maintenance mode.
  • a correction is applied to achieve the original design illuminance in each illumination zone upon taking into overall consideration all factors such as a decrease in the luminous flux of the fluorescent lamps, which advances gradually over an extended period of time, a decline in illuminance caused by contamination of the reflective surface of the lamp device, and a change in illuminance ascribable to the influence of outdoor light, which depends upon the weather that changes every day, the time of day, etc.
  • Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the illumination dimmer system for fluorescent lamps
  • Fig. 2 is a characteristic diagram showing a change in the luminous flux of a fluorescent lamp with the passage of time.
  • a large room is divided up into four illumination zones.
  • the four illumination zones are a zone near windows on the east side, a zone near windows on the south side, a zone near a hall partitioned by glass, and a central zone distant from both windows and the hall.
  • brightness conditions all differ from one another depending upon the time, the brightness in each individual illumination zone is substantially uniform.
  • Each illumination zone is provided with eight inverters 1, and nine fluorescent-lamp lighting fixtures 2 are connected to each inverter 1.
  • the inverters 1 are high-frequency constant-current feeder devices which convert commercial power to high-frequency (e.g., 65 Hz) current and supply constant current to the fluorescent-lamp lighting fixtures 2 connected thereto.
  • the output current values of the inverters 1 are altered and controlled at prescribed time intervals by a controller 3, which is provided for each illumination zone.
  • Each fluorescent-lamp lighting fixture 2 is a combination of two 40-W fluorescent lamps.
  • One photometer 4 is provided on the ceiling of each of the four illumination zones substantially at the center, and the output signal produced by the photometer 4 is fed into the controller 3 of the particular illumination zone.
  • the photometer 4 has a case provided with a shade in such a manner that light from the fluorescent-lamp lighting fixtures 2 will not enter the case directly. Thus it is so arranged that only light reflected from the illuminated objects in the illumination zone, such as a desk, floor and walls, will impinge upon the photometer 4.
  • a sensor 5 which receives a signal from a remote controller is provided inside the case (or separately of the case) of the photometer 4, and the output signal of the sensor 5 is applied to setting means of the controller 3. The frequency of the signal from the remote controller differs for each of the four illumination zones.
  • a portable transmitting unit 6 that transmits the remote control signal is equipped with channel changeover means for designating the four illumination zones, and an up/down button for entering the design illuminance.
  • the controller 3 When an up signal or down signal is fed into the controller 3 of each illumination zone via the transmitting unit 6 and sensor 5, the controller 3 raises or lowers, through prescribed increments, the current values of all of the inverters 1 of the particular illumination zone and stores the final value as the design illuminance. Thereafter, the controller 3 detects the output signal from the photometer 4 at prescribed time intervals, alters the current values of all the inverters 1 all at one and performs control in such a manner that the output signal of the photometer 4 comes into agreement with the stored design illuminance.
  • the control time interval in a maintenance mode which is suited to an illumination zone that receives almost no influence from outdoor daylight, is different from that of a daylight utilization mode, which is suited to an illumination zone that is influenced by outdoor daylight.
  • the time interval is 24 hours if the maintenance mode is selected.
  • the user chooses the time interval from among three stages, namely 20 minutes, 30 minutes and 40 minutes, beforehand in dependence upon the degree to which the illumination zone is influenced by outdoor daylight.
  • the design illuminance of each illumination zone is decided upon considering the use of the zone and other factors.
  • the user takes a photometer in hand in the first illumination zone, sets the channel changeover means of the transmitting unit 6 to channel 1 and then presses the up/down button. When this is done, the brightness of illumination changes.
  • the controller 3 of the first illumination zone stores the final value as the design illuminance.
  • the design illuminance in each of the second, third and fourth illumination zones is entered in the same manner to complete the settings.
  • the controller 3 of each illumination zone automatically detects the output signal from the photometer 4 at the prescribed time intervals, alters the current values of the inverters and exercises control in such a manner that the brightness of the illumination zone is maintained at the design illuminance.
  • an operation identical to that described above is performed on each occasion to enter and set the new design illuminance in the controller 3 of this illumination zone.
  • Fig. 2 shows how the luminous flux of a fluorescent lamp changes with time. If the initial design illuminance is set to give a brightness that corresponds to the final luminous flux of the fluorescent lamp, power corresponding to the portion indicated by the shading at the upper part of Fig. 2 can be conserved while brightness is held constant over a period of time up to the end of lamp life.
  • the number of illumination zones into which a location is divided is not limited to that set forth in the foregoing embodiment; the number can be changed as necessary depending upon the size of the room and various other circumstances. Further, the number of inverters provided in each illumination zone and the number of fluorescent-lamp lighting fixtures connected to each inverter also can be changed as needed depending upon the size of the illumination zone, the rating of the inverters, etc.
  • the setting means of the controller is operated by a wireless remote controller. However, it goes without saying that inputs can be made by directly manipulating the controller by hand.
  • the time intervals for control in the maintenance mode and daylight-utilization mode are not limited to those of the foregoing embodiment. What is essential is that a comparatively long time interval be established in the maintenance mode since only a decline in the luminous flux of the fluorescent lamps, which advances gradually over time, need be corrected in this mode, and that a comparatively short time interval that allows changes in outdoor daylight to be followed up be established in the daylight-utilization mode.
  • the reason for providing the maintenance mode is as follows: In the daylight-utilization mode, the effects of disturbances are significant owing to the nature of this mode. For example, a photometer can react very sensitively even when a person wearing bright clothing passes near the photometer, in which case the output current values from the fluorescent-lamp lighting fixtures would be decreased. Such an unnecessary over-correction in the daylight-utilization mode can be excluded from the start by providing the maintenance mode.
  • the illumination dimmer system for fluorescent lamps performs optimum adjustment of light intensity in each of a plurality of demarcated illumination zones upon taking into overall consideration all factors such as a change in the luminous flux of the fluorescent lamps due to aging, soiling of a lamp device or wall thereof over a long period of time, weather, time, distance from windows and purpose for which the location is used. Not only can an ideal lighting environment at a constant brightness be produced but it is also possible to reduce power consumption over an extended period of time. Power consumption can be reduced significantly particularly over a period of time shortly after use of the fluorescent lamps starts. If the arrangement in which the setting means is operated by a wireless remote controller is adopted, the operation carried out when entering design illuminance is very simple. In addition, by providing the maintenance mode, it is possible to prevent unnecessary over-correction by the daylight-utilization mode in an illumination zone that is not susceptible to the effects of outdoor daylight.

Landscapes

  • Circuit Arrangement For Electric Light Sources In General (AREA)
  • Discharge-Lamp Control Circuits And Pulse- Feed Circuits (AREA)
  • Selective Calling Equipment (AREA)
EP95101639A 1994-02-24 1995-02-07 Illumination dimmer system for fluorescent lamps Expired - Lifetime EP0669788B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP49929/94 1994-02-24
JP6049929A JP2745379B2 (ja) 1994-02-24 1994-02-24 蛍光灯照明調光システム
JP4992994 1994-02-24

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0669788A1 EP0669788A1 (en) 1995-08-30
EP0669788B1 true EP0669788B1 (en) 2000-05-03

Family

ID=12844713

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP95101639A Expired - Lifetime EP0669788B1 (en) 1994-02-24 1995-02-07 Illumination dimmer system for fluorescent lamps

Country Status (6)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0669788B1 (ja)
JP (1) JP2745379B2 (ja)
KR (1) KR0154652B1 (ja)
CN (1) CN1049319C (ja)
DE (1) DE69516565T2 (ja)
TW (1) TW302431B (ja)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US9581303B2 (en) 2011-02-25 2017-02-28 Musco Corporation Compact and adjustable LED lighting apparatus, and method and system for operating such long-term

Families Citing this family (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5812422A (en) * 1995-09-07 1998-09-22 Philips Electronics North America Corporation Computer software for optimizing energy efficiency of a lighting system for a target energy consumption level
CN1058364C (zh) * 1997-11-12 2000-11-08 鲁沂 气体放电光源亮度调控和信息发送的装置和方法
US6681110B1 (en) 1999-07-02 2004-01-20 Musco Corporation Means and apparatus for control of remote electrical devices
US7176635B2 (en) * 2004-02-24 2007-02-13 Musco Corporation Apparatus and method for compensating for reduced light output of a light source having a lumen depreciation characteristic over its operational life
US7956556B1 (en) 2004-02-24 2011-06-07 Musco Corporation Apparatus and method for compensating for reduced light output of a solid-state light source having a lumen depreciation characteristic over its operational life
US7956551B1 (en) 2004-02-24 2011-06-07 Musco Corporation Apparatus and method for discretionary adjustment of lumen output of light sources having lamp lumen depreciation characteristic compensation
US7982404B2 (en) 2006-12-22 2011-07-19 Musco Corporation Method and apparatus and system for adjusting power to HID lamp to control level of light output and conserve energy (ballast multi-tap power output)
US8288965B1 (en) 2007-02-23 2012-10-16 Musco Corporation Apparatus and method for switching in added capacitance into high-intensity discharge lamp circuit at preset times
US8247990B1 (en) 2008-12-05 2012-08-21 Musco Corporation Apparatus, method, and system for improved switching methods for power adjustments in light sources
CN102595703A (zh) * 2012-01-06 2012-07-18 深圳中科光华科技有限公司 一种具有红外和照度感应的照明控制装置

Family Cites Families (8)

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS6025198A (ja) * 1983-07-20 1985-02-07 松下電工株式会社 放電灯点灯装置
JPH0745958B2 (ja) * 1984-12-28 1995-05-17 株式会社竹中工務店 床置設備ユニツト
JPH0266879A (ja) * 1988-08-31 1990-03-06 Tokyo Electric Co Ltd 照明システム
DE4039161C2 (de) * 1990-12-07 2001-05-31 Zumtobel Ag Dornbirn System zur Steuerung der Helligkeit und des Betriebsverhaltens von Leuchtstofflampen
EP0482680A1 (en) * 1991-02-27 1992-04-29 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Programmable illumination system
US5523656A (en) * 1991-04-10 1996-06-04 U.S. Philips Corporation High pressure discharge lamp operating circuit with light control during lamp run up
US5177404A (en) * 1991-06-13 1993-01-05 Wila Leuchten Gmbh Removable power service module for recessed lighting system
JPH05152077A (ja) * 1991-11-29 1993-06-18 Kyocera Corp 自動調光システム

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US9581303B2 (en) 2011-02-25 2017-02-28 Musco Corporation Compact and adjustable LED lighting apparatus, and method and system for operating such long-term

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JPH07235390A (ja) 1995-09-05
TW302431B (ja) 1997-04-11
KR950035533A (ko) 1995-12-30
DE69516565D1 (de) 2000-06-08
CN1110045A (zh) 1995-10-11
CN1049319C (zh) 2000-02-09
DE69516565T2 (de) 2001-02-08
JP2745379B2 (ja) 1998-04-28
EP0669788A1 (en) 1995-08-30
KR0154652B1 (ko) 1998-12-15

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