WO2010051614A1

WO2010051614A1 - Ambient illumination system and illumination method using it

Info

Publication number: WO2010051614A1
Application number: PCT/BR2009/000374
Authority: WO
Inventors: Rogerio Soares Brisola; Andrei Tres; Daniel Oliveira De Barros; Rogério FERREIRA Negrão
Original assignee: Whirlpool S.A.
Priority date: 2008-11-10
Filing date: 2009-11-10
Publication date: 2010-05-14
Also published as: KR20110101150A; BRPI0804923A2; CN102265096A

Abstract

The present invention refers to an ambient illumination system (5) for air conditioner apparatus, comprising a microcontroller (10), a sensor (10) and a receptor (20) connected to said microcontroller (30), receiving signals from the ambient and user, respectively, transmitting corresponding signals to said microcontroller, said microcontroller (30) receiving signals coming from said sensor (10) and receptor (20) and sending them to a generator (60), which, relying on these signals, drives an emitter device (40), where said illumination provided by the emitter sensor (40) corresponds to a comparison of a signal coming from said sensor (10) and signal coming from said receptor (20). Said air conditioner apparatus further comprises a front panel (70; 70'; 70") having edges (75'; 75"), wherein said emitter device (40) can be disposed behind, or embedded in, said panel. Alternatively, a shield (80) can be applied to the front of the panel for dispersing light emitted by said emitter device (40) to said edges (75'; 75") of said front panel. This invention also provides an illumination method using such system.

Description

"ENVIRONMENTAL LIGHTING SYSTEM AND LIGHTING METHOD

Using the same "

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a lighting system and more particularly to a room lighting system used in air conditioners and other household appliances as well as a lighting method using the same.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Several ambient lighting systems are already known in the prior art, such as those described in Japanese documents JP 5-126392 and JP 2004-237891.

JP 5-126392 describes a lighting system that detects both the temperature and humidity of a given location through sensors. A switch selects which of the two signals will be used in the site lighting process. The lighting is generated according to a predefined map associating temperature and humidity to a certain color, not allowing adjustments by the user. The color definition is performed so that when detecting, for example, high temperatures on site, cooler colors are projected, thus trying to relieve the user's thermal sensation.

JP 2004-237891 suggests a lighting system that emits warm color illumination when the air conditioner is operating in heating mode and cool colors when operating in cooling mode, thereby enhancing the effect of the air conditioner. Colors are further influenced by the temperature differential between the local temperature and the thermostat set temperature. Additionally, such color variation can still occur depending on the speed variation of the air conditioner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an ambient lighting system which provides the user of an air conditioner or the like with lighting of the environment as well as the product itself through the use of at least one LED and a temperature and ventilation speed sensor.

An object of the present invention is to provide an ambient lighting system that allows the user to adjust the colors to be used in the lighting as well as the use of colors predefined by the manufacturer.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an ambient lighting system that returns a visual effect to the user according to the ventilation speed of the apparatus and the temperature of the environment where the apparatus having the system is installed.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an ambient lighting system that directs lighting to the environment, to the apparatus itself or even to both the environment and the apparatus.

The objects of the present invention are achieved by providing an ambient lighting system for an air conditioner comprising a microcontroller, a sensor connected to said microcontroller to receive an ambient signal and transmit a corresponding signal to the microcontroller, a receiver connected to said microcontroller to receive a user signal from a particular configuration and transmit a corresponding signal to the microcontroller, the microcontroller receiving the sensor and receiver signals and sending them to a generator which, based on these signals, triggers a sender device, where the illumination provided by the sender corresponds to a comparison of the signal from the sensor and the signal from the receiver.

The objects of the present invention are further achieved by providing an ambient lighting method using an ambient lighting system for air conditioner, comprising defining temperature x color settings to be used, controlling the operation of the air conditioner. for a given temperature, detect ambient information, ^{^} send ambient information- and the configured settings to a generator, compare the information received with the comparison result, define which color the emitting device should display and vary the color and intensity / brightness according to the change in the environment information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The present invention will be better understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a block diagram of the ambient lighting system of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of an air conditioner apparatus using a first embodiment of the ambient lighting system of the present invention;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of an air conditioner apparatus using a second embodiment of the ambient lighting system of the present invention;

Figures 4A-4C illustrate different LED locations of the ambient lighting system of the present invention with respect to the panel of an air conditioner;

Figures 5A-5C illustrate different front panel shapes of the air conditioner apparatus having the ambient lighting system of the present invention; and

Figure 6 is a flow chart of the operation of the ambient lighting system of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Figure 1 depicts the ambient lighting system 5 of the present invention comprising a sensor 10 and a receiver 20 connected to a microcontroller 30 which in turn is connected to a transmitter 40, preferably by means of a generator 60. Preferably, sensor 10 is a temperature sensor, the receiver in an infrared receiver and the emitter 40 is a light-emitting diode (LED). When operating the air conditioner 50 to operate, the user outputs a signal to the receiver 20, at which time sensor 10 will detect the temperature of the location where the apparatus is installed. Both signals are sent to the microcontroller 30. The signal emitted by the receiver contains data regarding the color and brightness selection made by the user, either by selecting custom colors and brightness, or by selecting color and brightness preset by the manufacturer of the air conditioner. air or a certain illumination pattern (color / intensity) as a function of the signal emitted by the sensor and / or fan air velocity. The signal from sensor 10 contains information about the ambient temperature of the place where the device is installed, as mentioned above.

Such signals are then converted by microcontroller 30 into a signal that is sent to generator 60. The generator processes the signal against the user-selected selection (custom or not) and outputs a signal to transmitter 40 to take charge of the signal. Provide visual feedback through the selected color and brightness.

Figure 2 illustrates a first embodiment of the ambient lighting system of the present invention which enables both the color change of the environment and the air conditioner 50 itself. In this embodiment, the air conditioner has a front panel 70 of material. translucent. Thus, the projection of light on panel 70 would illuminate the entire front of the device as well as the environment.

Already in Figure 3, which deals with a second embodiment of the air conditioner 50, the front panel 70 can be seen with opaque material on its front and translucent material on its edges 75. Instead of opaque material, the front panel 70 can be present an additional bulkhead. In this case, the light would be shifted to the edges 75 of panel 70 as well as to the environment.

In both Figures 2 and 3, the colors to be applied to both the device and the environment can be manufacturer-defined color ranges and brightnesses, as well as user-defined ranges that would override the manufacturer's settings. For example, in an alternative, the user selects the temperature of 18 ° C for device operation without changing the factory settings. At this time The temperature sensor 10 will detect the ambient temperature, for example 25 ° C. When initiating room cooling, LED 40 will illuminate based on the preset color range, changing the emitted colors as the environment cools to a user-determined temperature of 18 ° C. The manufacturer may have determined a blue color for temperatures from 11 to 20 ° C and green for 21 to 30 ° C, and within these ranges the intensity of the blue and green color is increased, thus having ten intensities of blue and green. each track. The LED 40 would then have five different intensities of green color and finally three intensities of blue, thus reaching a temperature of 18 ° C.

In the event that the user has previously determined the color ranges, overriding the manufacturer's, LED 40 will vary colors based on this new color matching table. For example, the user determined that the temperature range from 11 to 30 ° C would correspond to the color blue. Thus, we would have a variation of twenty intensities of blue and, within these, eight of them would be presented to the user. Here it should be made clear that the amount of intensity of a given color as well as the amount of colors to be emitted by LED 40 are predefined by the manufacturer based on the components it uses to manufacture the system. More complex components would provide more color and color intensities.

Referring now to Figures 4A to 4C, it can be seen from Figures

4A and 4B, front panel 70 of the first embodiment of the ambient lighting system, illustrated in Figure 2. In Figure 4A, LED 40 is placed behind panel 70, providing illumination only at the front of the panel. Already in Figure 4B, LED 40 is recessed into panel 70, which provides illumination of the panel on both its front and its edges.

Finally, Figure 4C illustrates LED 40 being embedded in the front panel 70 which has a screen 80 applied to its front. This configuration causes illumination to be provided only at the edges 75 of the panel 70, since the light meets the bulkhead 80 and can only be dispersed around the edges of the panel, such as be the only part of the panel with translucent material.

The intensity of the light emitted by LED 40 may further be varied by the chamfering of the front panel edge, as can be seen from Figures 5A to 5C, using, for example, the configuration illustrated in Figure 4C.

The variation of the bevel of the front panel edge giving the best light intensity is as shown in Figure 5B, followed by the variation shown in Figure 5A and finally the variation of Figure 5C. Importantly, other chamfer variations can be foreseen and the variations pointed out by the present figures are for illustration only. The variation of light intensity is conferred by changing the refractive angle of the translucent material to the environment.

For example, the translucent material used on the front panel may be any transparent acrylic type polymer or other rigid and transparent thermoplastic material or some type of glass, among others. The opaque material can be brushed steel, mirror finish, an opaque polymer, among others.

Although the above description refers to preferred embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the details of the above teachings.

Figure 6 is a flow chart depicting an exemplary method of ambient lighting using the system of the present invention.

First, in step 100 the user will define whether to use the temperature x color settings predefined by the manufacturer. If not, proceed to step 10 to configure the settings that will override the factory settings. Then, in step 120, the user commands the operation of the air conditioner to a desired temperature, when the sensor will detect the ambient temperature, for example for later comparison. At step 130, the ambient temperature and desired temperature data are sent to the generator, and then the generator compares the data (step 140) to define which color the emitting device should display (step 150). After setting the initial color to display, the system proceeds to step 160, where the color variation will occur. and intensity / brightness as temperature increases / decreases.

It will be appreciated that variations, modifications and changes of the invention described herein are possible to those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention or equivalents thereof, encompassed by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. Ambient lighting system (5) for air conditioner, characterized by comprising:

a microcontroller (10);

A sensor (10) connected to said microcontroller (30), receiving an environment signal and transmitting a corresponding signal to the microcontroller;

a receiver (20) connected to said microcontroller (30), receiving a user signal from a particular configuration, and transmitting a corresponding signal to the microcontroller; and

10 the microcontroller (30) receives the signals from the sensor (10) and the receiver (20) and sends them to a generator (60) which, based on these signals, drives an transmitting device (40);

wherein the illumination provided by the emitter (40) corresponds to a comparison of the signal from the sensor (10) and the signal from the receiver (20). 15

Ambient lighting system (5) according to Claim 1,

CHARACTERIZED by the fact that sensor (10) is a temperature sensor and the signal received by said sensor is the temperature of the environment in which the system (5) is located.

Ambient lighting system (5) according to claim 0, characterized in that the air conditioner has a front panel (70) having edges (75).

Ambient lighting system (5) according to Claim 3, characterized in that the emitting device (40) is positioned behind the front panel (70).

Ambient lighting system (5) according to Claim 3,

CHARACTERIZED by the fact that the emitting device (40) is embedded in the front panel (70).

Ambient lighting system (5) according to Claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the front panel has a screen (80) at the rear of the in front of you.

Ambient lighting system (5) according to claim 3, characterized in that the edges (75) have a chamfer (90) of a predetermined configuration.

Ambient lighting system (5) according to claim 7,

CHARACTERIZED by the fact that the chamfer (90) has a claw configuration.

9. Ambient lighting method using an ambient lighting system for air conditioning apparatus, the method being characterized by comprising:

define (100) temperature x color settings to be used;

controlling (120) the operation of the air conditioner for a given temperature;

detecting (120) environmental information;

send (130) the environment information and settings configured for a generator;

compare (140) the information received;

With the result of the comparison, define (150) which color the emitting device should display; and

vary (160) the color and intensity / brightness according to the change in environmental information.

A method according to claim 9, characterized in that defining the configuration to be used comprises customizing the color to be displayed within a given temperature range.

A method according to claim 9, characterized in that defining the configuration to be used comprises selecting configurations predefined by the manufacturer.

Method according to claim 9, characterized in that the environmental information is temperature.

A method according to claim 9, characterized in that defining the configuration to be used comprises defining a certain illumination pattern as a function of the signal emitted by the sensor and / or fan air velocity.