JP2009230879A - Lighting device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lighting device in which light is faded out when lighting off by operation of a remote control means without arranging and installing a circuit especially for fade-out. <P>SOLUTION: The lighting device includes: a lighting circuit OC in which a discharge lamp DL as a light source is totally lighted and lighted with dimming within a prescribed range; a remote control RC as the remote control means for selectively operating operations of total lighting, dimming lighting, and lighting-off of the light source; and a control circuit CC in which a dimming function of the lighting circuit is acted at the time of lighting-off by the remote control, and the discharge lamp is lighted off by fade-out controlling down to a darker level than the prescribed range. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a lighting device capable of dimming a light source.

  A discharge lamp lighting device configured to perform fade-out control when a lighting discharge lamp is turned off is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In addition, a remote control receiver is attached to a lighting fixture equipped with a dimmable discharge lamp lighting device, and the discharge lamp is adjusted to a desired dimming level by operating a remote control transmitter equipped with a dimming level up switch and down switch. A discharge lamp lighting device configured to be turned on is known (for example, see Patent Document 2).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-076967 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 06-075667

  A conventional discharge lamp lighting device which fades out and extinguishes needs to be provided with a special circuit such as a DC voltage superposition circuit provided with a charging capacitor for fading out, which increases costs.

  Further, a discharge lamp lighting device that switches a lighting state of a discharge lamp by operating a conventional remote controller cannot be faded out when the lamp is turned off.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a lighting device that fades out and turns off when the remote control means is turned off by operation without providing a special circuit for fading out.

  The lighting device of the present invention includes a lighting circuit for lighting a light source with all light and dimming within a predetermined range; remote control means for selectively operating the light source's full light lighting, dimming lighting and extinguishing operations; And a control circuit for fading out the light source to a level darker than a predetermined range by operating the dimming function of the lighting circuit when the control means performs a light-off operation.

  The present invention allows the following aspects.

  First, the lighting circuit will be described. The lighting circuit is circuit means for lighting the light source, but the light source can be turned on in any desired manner of all light or dimming based on an operation from a remote control means described later. Note that the total light generally refers to when the light source is lit with the rated lamp power, but in the present invention, it refers to when the light source is lit with the maximum power within the set range. In addition, dimming means when lighting is performed with less power than in the case of all light. Therefore, at the time of dimming lighting, the brightness of light emission of the light source is lower than that at the time of all light lighting.

  Further, the lighting circuit can set the dimming level, that is, the brightness level at the time of dimming as desired within a predetermined range set in advance, for example, up to 60% of the total light as a dimming lighting mode. It is configured to be able to. The lighting circuit and the remote control means are configured so that the dimming level can be continuously changed as desired. For example, the dimming level is changed continuously or stepwise by operating a down switch or an up switch. If the dimming level changing operation is stopped when the desired dimming level is reached and the dimming level at that time is stored, the dimming level can be easily set. In addition to the dimming level setting switch, a fade-in / fade-out operation button is provided on the remote control so that fade-in / fade-out dimming can be enjoyed during illumination, and a control circuit for the lighting circuit is provided. It can also be configured to follow the remote control operation.

  Furthermore, the specific circuit configuration for lighting the light source is not particularly limited. When the light source is a discharge lamp, a circuit configuration that performs high-frequency lighting is preferable because it is easy to control, has high luminous efficiency, does not flicker in brightness, and can be started immediately. In this case, it is convenient to use an inverter circuit to generate a high frequency voltage. In addition, when the light source is not a discharge lamp, various known lighting circuits suitable for the light source may be used.

  In the case where the light source is a discharge lamp and the discharge lamp is dimmed, the power supplied from the lighting circuit to the discharge lamp may be reduced. Therefore, in order to change the dimming level, it is only necessary to change the degree of reduction of the electric power supplied to the discharge lamp with respect to the electric power when all the lights are turned on. In order to reduce the electric power supplied to the discharge lamp, the output voltage of the lighting circuit may be reduced or / and the frequency may be changed. In the latter, the ballast disposed in the load circuit is generally constituted by reactance such as an inductor, and the value of the reactance changes according to the frequency. Therefore, the reactance is thrown into the discharge lamp by changing the frequency. The power can be changed.

  A preferable configuration for reducing the output voltage of the lighting circuit is to reduce the DC input voltage of the inverter circuit. For example, a circuit having a DC voltage adjusting function such as a chopper circuit may be disposed on the input side of the inverter circuit, that is, in the DC power source. Then, the output voltage of the inverter circuit changes correspondingly according to the input voltage. The chopper circuit can be appropriately selected from known chopper circuits such as a step-up chopper and a step-down chopper based on the correlation between the DC power supply voltage and the required DC output voltage.

  The lighting circuit can be configured not to be feedback-controlled during normal lighting, that is, all-light lighting and dimming lighting. As a result, the circuit can be simplified. In this case, the oscillation frequency of the inverter circuit can be made constant. However, if desired, it is also possible to illuminate using both the output voltage control and frequency control of the lighting circuit. Also, the frequency electrode or / and the output voltage can be varied to preheat the filament electrode of the discharge lamp and apply the required voltage when starting.

  In order to turn off the discharge lamp by the fade-out control, the dimming function of the lighting circuit is operated to perform dimming until the lamp exceeds the lower limit of the predetermined range and is turned off. When dimming beyond the lower limit of the predetermined range, if the discharge becomes unstable immediately before turning off and brightness flickers, stop the oscillation operation of the inverter circuit before the brightness flickers occur. For example, the operation of the lighting circuit can be stopped and turned off.

  It is preferable to control so that the rate of brightness reduction, that is, the speed in the fade-out control when the light is turned off, fades out more than the rate when the dimming level is continuously reduced within a predetermined range. Then, it becomes easy to distinguish between normal continuous light control and fade-out for turning off, and it is possible to perform a high-quality and high-quality turn-off operation by fading out. However, if desired, the light may be turned off by fading out at a reduction rate that is substantially the same as or slower than normal continuous light control. Moreover, it is preferable to perform the light extinction by fading out not only at the time of dimming lighting at the lowest level within the predetermined range, but also at any dimming level or from all light lighting.

  When an inverter circuit is used, the circuit system can be freely selected. However, a half-bridge inverter is simple in circuit configuration and easy to miniaturize and can be obtained at a relatively low cost.

  Furthermore, the lighting circuit includes a load circuit. The load circuit provides ballast action for the discharge lamp and also adjusts the voltage of the output voltage waveform of the inverter circuit to a sine wave, making it easier to apply the starting voltage by controlling the frequency when starting the discharge lamp. Perform the action. For this purpose, the load circuit includes a resonance circuit. The resonant lamp is applied, and the discharge lamp is connected to the load circuit so as to be connected in series with the ballast.

  Next, the remote control means will be described. The remote control means is not particularly limited as long as the remote control means is a means for remotely controlling the light source from a remote position. A remote control can be adopted as the remote control means. The remote control includes a remote control device and a remote control receiver. The remote control is generally a wireless system, but may be a wired system if desired. In the case of a wireless system, infrared communication is generally used as a communication medium, but various known media such as radio waves can also be used as a communication medium.

  The remote controller is a means that becomes the operation side when switching the operation of the light source, for example, the discharge lamp, and is operated by the user at a distance from the luminaire and selects at least all-light lighting, dimming lighting, and extinguishing Can be operated manually. In the case of dimming, the level can be set to be adjustable according to the user's preference. For this purpose, an operation switch for turning on all light, turning on and off the light, and an up switch and a down switch for changing the light control level can be provided.

  The remote control receiver is disposed on the lighting fixture side, receives a remote control signal modulated by the operation signal transmitted from the remote control operator, demodulates it, and is input to the control circuit. For this reason, the remote control receiver is disposed at a position where at least the receiving unit easily receives the remote control signal of the lighting fixture, for example, on the lower surface side.

  Next, the control circuit will be described. The control circuit is a circuit means for controlling the lighting circuit according to an operation by the remote controller. For this purpose, the control circuit can be mainly composed of a digital device such as a microcomputer and a DSP (digital signal processor) or an analog IC. Thereby, it becomes easy to perform each control mentioned above of a lighting circuit as desired. In addition, it can comprise so that protection operation | movement, such as end-of-life determination of a discharge lamp and discharge lamp mounting | wearing presence / absence determination, may be performed if desired. Along with this, known circuit means such as a lamp voltage and lamp current detection circuit can be added to the lighting circuit.

  Other configurations will be described.

  The light source emits light to illuminate when energized. Various known light sources such as a discharge lamp, a light emitting diode, and an incandescent bulb can be selected and used as the light source. In the case of a discharge lamp, a desired discharge lamp such as a fluorescent lamp can be used as appropriate.

  A security light as an auxiliary light source can be selectively turned on as a night light when the light source is turned off. A low-power incandescent bulb or light-emitting diode can be used as a safety light. If desired, the brightness at the time of turning on the security light can be set by switching in multiple stages. In this case, the switching can be performed by the remote control means.

  According to the present invention, when the remote control is turned off, the dimming function of the lighting circuit is operated to control the light source to fade out to a darker level than the predetermined range of dimming, thereby turning off the light. Without disposing a circuit, it can be faded out and turned off by remote control operation, and a high-quality and high-quality lighting effect can be performed.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  1 to 3 show an embodiment for implementing the lighting device of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of the lighting device arranged on the lighting device side, and FIG. 2 is a lighting device and remote control means. FIG. 3 is a graph showing the relationship between the total light of the light source, the dimming and the brightness when the light is turned off.

  As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the lighting device disposed on the lighting fixture side includes a lighting circuit OC, a remote controller RC, and a control circuit CC. The remote controller RC includes a remote controller transmitter RT and a remote controller receiver RR, and the remote controller receiver RR is disposed on the lighting fixture side.

  The lighting circuit OC includes a rectifier circuit Rec, a boost chopper BUC, an inverter circuit INV, and a load circuit LC. And the low frequency alternating current power supply AC is received, and the discharge lamp DL as a light source is lighted at high frequency.

  The rectifier circuit Rec is composed of a bridge-type full-wave rectifier circuit, and its input end is connected to the low-frequency AC power supply AC. A DC voltage having a full-wave rectified waveform is obtained from the output end.

  The step-up chopper BUC has a known circuit configuration although internal circuit connection is not shown. That is, in the illustrated circuit block of the step-up chopper BUC, a series circuit of an inductor and a switching element is connected between output terminals of the rectifier circuit Rec, and a series circuit of a diode and a smoothing capacitor C1 is connected between both ends of the switching element. ing. Therefore, the inductor and the diode are connected in series between the positive terminal of the output terminal of the rectifier circuit Rec and the switching element Q1 of the inverter circuit INV described later. Then, the voltage is boosted between the output terminals, that is, between both ends of the smoothing capacitor C1, and a smoothed variable DC voltage is output.

  The inverter circuit INV is a half-bridge inverter circuit including a pair of switching elements Q1 and Q2 connected in series between output terminals of the boost chopper BUC, and outputs a rectangular wave high-frequency voltage from both ends of the switching element Q2.

  The load circuit LC is composed of a series circuit of a DC cut capacitor C2, an inductor L1, and a resonance capacitor C3, and is connected between the output terminals of the inverter circuit INV. Inductor L1 and resonant capacitor C3 form a series resonant circuit.

  The control circuit CC is composed mainly of a microcomputer μ-Com and includes an oscillation function Osc1 and an oscillation function Osc2. Note that the oscillation function Osc1 and the oscillation function Osc2 can be handled by the microcomputer μ-Com. The oscillation function Osc1 supplies a drive signal to the switching element of the boost chopper BUT. The oscillation function Osc2 alternately supplies drive signals to the pair of switching elements Q1 and Q2 of the inverter circuit INV.

  The remote control receiver RR includes an infrared light receiver, a demodulation circuit, an amplifier, and the like, and controls and inputs the received operation signal to the control circuit CC.

  The discharge lamp DL is composed of a fluorescent lamp, and the pair of filament electrodes are connected to the load circuit LC by being inserted in series with the load circuit LC at both ends of the resonance capacitor C3.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the lighting fixture 10 equipped with the discharge lamp lighting device of the present invention includes a lighting fixture body 11, a lighting circuit OC, a remote control receiver RR, and a discharge lamp DL. The remote control receiver RT is placed at a position separated from the lighting fixture 10.

  The luminaire main body 11 is a ceiling-mounted luminaire mainly composed of a base body 11a, a reflector 11b, and a shade 11c. The base 11a has a shallow dish shape and is attached to the lower surface of the ceiling. The reflecting plate 11b covers the lower surface of the base 11a, and the outer surface is a white reflecting surface, and forms a space in which the lighting circuit OC and wiring members are disposed between the reflecting plate 11b and the base 11a. The shade 11c is made of translucent plastics and is detachably attached to the lower surface open end of the base 11a.

  The lighting circuit OC has the configuration shown in FIG. And it arrange | positions inside the space which the base | substrate 11a and the reflective surface 11b of the lighting fixture main body 11 form, The high frequency output is supplied to the discharge lamp DL via the socket which is abbreviate | omitting illustration.

  The remote control receiver RR is disposed on the outer surface of the reflecting surface 11b, and is easily disposed to receive an infrared remote control signal transmitted when the remote control transmitter RT is operated from below the lighting fixture 10. That is, the infrared light receiver is attached downward to the reflecting surface 11b so as to face the shade 11b.

  The discharge lamp DL is composed of, for example, an annular fluorescent lamp, and is detachably mounted on the reflecting surface 11b.

  The remote control transmitter RT is used for remote operation when switching the operation of the discharge lamp DL, and includes the all-light switch 12, the dimming switch 13, the up switch 14, the down switch 15, the safety light switch 16 and the extinguishing switch 17. And the corresponding infrared remote control signal is transmitted when these are selectively operated.

When the all-light switch 12 is operated, the discharge lamp DL is switched to all-light lighting. When the dimming switch 13 is operated, the discharge lamp DL is switched to dimming lighting. The up switch 14 is set to the dimming level when the operation is stopped and the dimming level increases when the up switch 14 is operated. The down switch 15 is set to the dimming level when the operation is stopped, and the dimming level is lowered when the down switch 15 is operated. When the safety light switch 16 is operated, a safety light (not shown) is turned on. When this switch is operated, the discharge lamp DL is switched off by fade-out control as will be described later. Further, when operated when the security light is on, the safety light is turned off. Next, the operation will be described. In FIG. 1, a low-frequency AC voltage from a low-frequency AC power source AC is converted into a non-smooth DC voltage by a rectifier circuit Rec of the lighting circuit OC, and further converted into a smoothed DC voltage of a desired voltage by a boost chopper BUC. Applied to the DC input terminal of the circuit INV. When the inverter circuit INV is operated, a high frequency voltage is output, and the waveform is shaped by the load circuit LC and applied between the pair of filament electrodes of the discharge lamp DL, the filament electrode is preheated, and then the starting voltage is applied to the discharge lamp DL. When applied, the discharge lamp DL starts and lights up.

  When switching the lighting mode of the discharge lamp DL, the remote control transmitter RT may be operated as required. For example, in order to turn on all light, the all light switch 12 is operated. Then, an infrared remote control signal for switching to all-light lighting is transmitted. When the remote control receiver RR of the luminaire 10 shown in FIG. 2 receives the infrared remote control signal, it is demodulated and an all-light operation signal is controlled and input to the control circuit CC shown in FIG.

  The microcomputer μ-Com of the control circuit CC generates a driving signal whose on-duty supplied to the switching element of the step-up chopper BUC is controlled for all-light lighting from the oscillation function Osc1, and supplies it to the switching elements Q1 and Q2 of the inverter circuit INV. A drive signal whose frequency is controlled for all-light lighting to be supplied is generated from the oscillation function Osc2 and supplied to the boost chopper BUC and the inverter circuit INV. As a result, the discharge lamp DL is turned on all light.

  Similarly, the dimming switch 13 is operated when the dimming is turned on. When the dimming switch is simply operated, the dimming level is set in advance so that the memory dimming level is, for example, 70%. When a dimming level other than the memory dimming level is desired, either the up switch 14 or the down switch 15 is selectively operated as desired. Then, a desired dimming level can be set within a predetermined range extending above and below the memory dimming level.

  To turn off the discharge lamp DL, the turn-off switch 16 is operated. As a result, an unlit infrared remote control signal is transmitted from the remote control transmitter RT, which is received by the remote control receiver RR. As a result, since the control circuit CC controls the drive signals generated from the oscillation functions Osc1 and Osc2, the boost chopper BUC sequentially decreases its output voltage, and the inverter circuit INV sequentially increases the oscillation frequency, so that the discharge lamp DL Since the fade-out control is performed in which the lamp power input to is reduced below the dimming lower limit, the discharge lamp DL eventually turns off.

  When the discharge lamp DL is extinguished by fade-out control, there are a method of lowering the DC input voltage of the inverter circuit INV and a method of raising the oscillation frequency of the inverter circuit INV in addition to the above.

  When the down switch 15 of the remote control transmitter RT is operated to turn on the discharge lamp DL continuously from dimming of brightness level α1 to continuous dimming, as shown in FIG. 3, the dimming lower limit within a predetermined range is reached at time T1. To reach. The brightness level at this time is α2.

  Next, when the extinguishing switch 16 of the remote control transmitter RT is operated at the dimming level of the dimming lower limit, the brightness level is further lowered from that at the dimming lower limit by the fade-out control, and the light is turned off at time T2. Assuming that the brightness level at this time is α3, the ratio A of the brightness decrease due to the fade-out control at the time of extinguishing is A = (α2−α3) / T2. On the other hand, the ratio B of the decrease in brightness during dimming within a predetermined range is B = (α1-α2) / T1. In this embodiment, the relationship between the brightness reduction ratios A and B is set so that A> B. The extinguishing switch 16 may be operated by either dimming lighting at an arbitrary dimming level or full light lighting. For example, even if the extinguishing switch 16 is operated in the middle of a predetermined range as shown in FIG.

The circuit diagram of the discharge lamp lighting device arrange | positioned by the lighting fixture side in one form for implementing the discharge lamp lighting device of this invention Similarly, schematics of lighting fixtures and remote control Similarly, a graph showing the relationship between the total light of the discharge lamp, dimming, and brightness when extinguished

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Lighting fixture, 11 ... Lighting fixture main body, 12 ... All-light switch, 13 ... Dimming switch, 14 up switch, 15 ... Down switch, 16 ... Safety light switch, 17 ... Light-off switch, BUC ... Boost chopper, CC ... Control circuit, DL ... Discharge lamp, INV ... Inverter circuit, LC ... Load circuit, OC ... Lighting circuit, Osc1, Osc2 ... Oscillation function, RC ... Remote control, Rec ... Rectifier circuit, RR ... Remote control receiver, RT ... Remote control transmitter

Claims (3)

A lighting circuit for lighting the light source with all light and dimming within a predetermined range;
Remote control means capable of selectively operating the operation of turning on, turning off and turning off the light source;
A control circuit that turns off the light source by fading out the light source to a level darker than a predetermined range by operating the dimming function of the lighting circuit when the remote control means is turned off;
The lighting device characterized by comprising.   2. The lighting according to claim 1, wherein the light source is a discharge lamp, and the fade-out control when the light is turned off is performed by reducing power supplied from the lighting circuit to the discharge lamp until the discharge lamp is turned off. apparatus.   The lighting device according to claim 1, wherein the lighting circuit is configured to light the discharge lamp without performing feedback control.

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