EP0844361B1 - Sun protecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

The installation includes a solar protection blind (1) which can be displaced between a retracted position and a deployed position and is supported on a roller (2). A motor (3) is provided to operate the blind and is associated with a control system (4,10). The control system has a detector (10) which senses the solar radiation and provides a signal when a threshold is exceeded. The sensor is linked to a logic processing unit (4) which includes a timer that enables the system to respond when the sun's intensity changes, but without responding to every temporary change. Further sensors (11,12) provide astronomical information and detect twilight conditions in order to provide more appropriate control of operation of the blind.

Description

The invention relates to a protective installation solar including a sun protection element movable between a raised position and a position deployed, a drive motor for this element of sun protection and control means of this motor comprising a threshold detector of sunshine delivering a signal, a logical unit processing said signal and controlling the motor comprising means for delaying the sending of a order to the engine when the sun disappears, so-called "disappearance" delay.

Such an installation is described in the document FR-A-2 544 887. It also includes a appearance delay. The timers of appearance and disappearance are intended to avoid unnecessary and disturbing untimely movements of the sun protection element during brief passages of clouds in front of the sun. The atmosphere is considered as sunny if the sun is present for a defined time and as darkened if the sun disappears for a defined time. These timers are fixed in the factory.

However, it turns out that such installations do not provide the comfort desired by the user. Indeed, in case of sky loaded with clouds, user is bothered by movement unnecessarily frequent protection element solar and he is unhappy with the lack of reaction immediately upon the first appearance of the sun at early morning or its disappearance at dusk. In the first case the timers are therefore considered as too short and in other cases as too long. The user certainly has the possibility to adjust the sunshine threshold, but he surrenders quickly realize that whatever the threshold setting triggering the automation, it has the same genes and, weary, he would prefer to give up automation by disengaging. The duration of the timers being a compromise, the correction of one of the genes will not that increase the other and the opportunity offered to the user to set the sunshine threshold does not solve the problem.

The first step therefore consisted in identifying and clearly state the problem and the second to him provide a solution.

The problem to solve is to get a reaction automation, and starting from the element of sun protection, when the sun, a sufficiently long time delay in progress to avoid unwanted movements during cloudy sky case and fast reaction when the sun disappears for a period prolonged, especially at the end of the day.

In order to satisfy these conflicting requirements, the sun protection installation according to the invention is characterized in that the time delay of disappearance starts from the moment when the threshold of sunshine is crossed, down, that is to say goes below the threshold and in that the duration of the disappearance delay varies inversely the amount of sunshine since the last exceeding the sunshine threshold.

The appearance delay can be either deleted, be kept. In the second case, it will be, from preferably less than 3 minutes.

The automation will therefore react almost immediately at the first appearance of the sun, for example the morning of a sunny day or after disappearance morning mists and longer was the continuous presence of the sun, minus the automation will wait before reacting to activate the element of sun protection when the sun disappears. The consecutive passage of clouds, corresponding to relatively short periods of sunshine, would therefore has no effect on the protective element solar, which would then generally stay in position deployed, while a long period of sunshine due to a cloudless sky and preceding the disappearance of the sun for the night will almost lift the sun protection element.

The action can be a raising or lowering, depending on the installation concerned.

It is possible to further increase the comfort of the installation by providing it with means ensuring in all cases the immediate actuation of the element sunscreen at sunset.

According to an embodiment, the installation is associated to an astronomical clock and the logical unit of processing includes means for calculating the time of the sunset and integrating this hour into calculating the disappearance delay so to introduce a correction of this time delay in time function, in particular to reduce or even cancel, the disappearance delay when the time on the astronomical clock is close to the time of the sunset.

According to another embodiment, the installation includes a solar collector providing information on the height of the sun above the horizon and the logical processing unit comprises means integration of the information delivered by the sensor to make a correction to the value of the calculated delay, in particular to reduce, see cancel, the time delay when the sun is about to disappear or disappear.

According to another embodiment, the installation includes a twilight sensor delivering to the ULT a signal when the light reaches a selected value as representing twilight and the ULT is programmed to control actuation immediately of the sun protection element upon receipt of the twilight sensor signal.

The accompanying drawing shows, by way of example, a mode of execution, as well as variants, of the installation according to the invention.

Figure 1 is a schematic view of the embodiment main of the installation, view in which two variants are also shown and recognizable by arrows in broken lines.

Figure 2 shows the program flowchart stored in the logical processing unit.

Figure 3 is a first example of a function of the variation of the disappearance delay.

Figure 4 is a second example of this same function.

Figure 1 shows schematically a blind fabric solar 1 winding on a winding drum 2 driven by an electric motor 3. The motor 3 is controlled by a logical processing unit (ULT) 4 comprising a computer 5, a clock 6, a memory ROM 7 and RAM 8 and interface inputs / outputs 9. The installation also includes a photosensitive probe 10. Such a probe is widely used in current installations. It is used to determine a sunshine threshold, i.e. the presence of direct illumination of the probe by the Sun.

In the RAM memory 8 of the ULT 4, a program whose organizational chart is shown in the figure 2.

In the program as shown, the time delay of appearance is zero.

The program having been initialized, the ULT tests the presence of the sun, i.e. if the threshold has been reached. In the affirmative, the ULT immediately orders the deployment of the sun protection and simultaneously initializes a counting of sunshine time. The presence of sun continues to be tested. As soon as the sun disappears, the ULT calculates a time delay of disappearance according to a registered function, for example one of the functions shown in Figure 3 or 4.

Whatever the registered function, in all case the duration of the disappearance delay varies inversely as a function of the sunshine time elapsed since the last crossing of the threshold of sunshine, i.e. the time measured by the counter. The calculated delay is immediately initialized. During this time delay, the ULT continues to test the presence of sunshine. Also as long as the sun is absent, the time delay of disappearance continues. However, if the sun returns during this time delay, the counter of sunshine time, which had just been set to zero, starts again and the program resumes from this new time count initialization sunshine.

If the disappearance timer expires without the sun coming back, sun protection is raised and the program starts again at the beginning.

It is possible to enter a time delay of appearance in this program between the first detection of the presence of the sun (threshold ) and the deployment of protection solar. On the other hand, this timeout has no effect on the start of time counting sunshine. The duration of the delay appearance is fixed at the factory. It is less than three minutes. As we have seen, it can be zero.

The sunshine threshold can be either adjustable by the user is fixed at the factory. In the second case, its value is generally fixed at 10 klux.

The functions giving the value of the time delay of disappearance as a function of sunshine time measured since the last crossing of the threshold of sunshine shown in Figures 3 and 4 do are just examples. Such functions are easily integrated into the ULT.

For the user, these functions mean that more long was the presence of the sun, minus the automation will wait before reacting. During consecutive passages clouds, the disappearance delay will be relatively long, so that nuisance movements of the sun protection. Through against, at the end of the day, after a long period sunshine, the disappearance delay will be very short, so that the sun protection will be raised quickly after the sun disappears.

The installation can be further improved by providing the ULT with additional information.

According to a first improvement, the ULT 4 has access to an astronomical clock 11 which allows him to know sunrise and sunset times. The ULT can thus integrate, when calculating the duration of the disappearance delay, the actual time of the day. When calculating the time delay of disappearance according to one of the functions shown, if time of day is close to bedtime of the sun known from the astronomical clock, the disappearance delay is, for example, reduced at a value less than three minutes. However, in mid-day, when the sky is very bright, the user will be much less sensitive to a variation in ambient light and will only wish not that his sunscreen pulls off and gives it the impression of always moving. Therefore, in this case the duration of the disappearance delay will be increased.

Information provided by the astronomical clock will also allow the automation to do the difference, at the end of the day, between the passage of a cloud and twilight. Also, at dusk, the automation can take the information into account received from the astronomical clock to rush the rising sun protection whatever the season.

According to another improvement, the ULT 4 is associated with a twilight sensor 12, as used, by example, to activate public lighting. The automation will be able to distinguish a cloud at dusk and immediately order the lifting of sun protection at dusk determined by the twilight sensor.

The twilight sensor can be the probe photosensitive 10 itself.

The twilight sensor 12 can be replaced by a solar collector capable of tracking the elevation of the Sun. Such sensors are well known and give information on solar time which the ULT can take into account to modify the duration of the delay of disappearance.

Claims (5)

1. Solar protection system comprising a solar protection member (1) that can move between a rolled-up position and a deployed position, a motor (3) for driving this solar protection member and means (4, 10) for controlling this motor, comprising a sunshine threshold detector that delivers a signal, a logic processing unit (LPU) (4) for processing the said signal and for controlling the motor, which unit includes a delay means that delays sending a command to the motor upon disappearance of the sun, the delay being called the "disappearance delay", characterized in that the disappearance delay starts from the moment when the insolation drops below the sunshine threshold and in that the duration of the disappearance delay varies inversely with the insolation time elapsed since the last time the sunshine threshold was exceeded.
2. System according to Claim 1, characterized in that it includes a delay means that delays sending a command to the motor upon appearance of the sun, called "the appearance delay", the duration of this delay being less than 3 minutes.
3. System according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it is combined with an astronomical clock (11) and in that the logic processing unit (4) includes means for calculating the sunset time and for integrating this time into the calculation of the disappearance delay so as to introduce a correction into this delay depending on the time, in particular to reduce, or even cancel, the disappearance delay when the time of the astronomical clock (11) is close to the sunset time.
4. System according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it includes a solar sensor that delivers information about the height of the sun above the horizon and in that the logic processing unit (4) includes means for integrating the information delivered by the sensor in order to make a correction to the value of the calculated delay, in particular to reduce, or even cancel, the delay when the sun is on the point of disappearing or has disappeared.
5. System according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it includes a twilight sensor (12) that delivers a signal to the logic processing unit (4) when the light reaches a value chosen as being representative of twilight and in that the logic processing unit (4) is programmed so as to immediately actuate the solar protection member upon receiving the signal from the twilight sensor (12).

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