Abstract:
An adjustable lighting system for fluorescent lamp, which includes a lighting unit, a sensing apparatus and a control apparatus, is provided. The lighting unit can emit a light. The sensing apparatus can sense if a target exists and generate a sensing signal accordingly. The sensing apparatus further generates and outputs a modulating signal based on the sensing signal. The control apparatus can receive the modulating signal from the sensing apparatus, adjust a supporting current of a power source and support the pulse width and phase level of the supporting current to the lighting unit, to control the strength of the light emitted by the lighting unit. Particularly, if the target exists, the modulating signal drives the control apparatus to provide a larger pulse width and phase level of the supporting current, so as to increase the strength of the light, or the modulating signal drives the control apparatus to provide a smaller pulse width and phase level of the supporting current, so as to decrease the strength of the light.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to an adjustable lighting system and sensing apparatus for a fluorescent lamp, in particular, this invention relates to light emitting and light adjustment system and its sensing apparatus for fluorescent lamp with power saving function. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Recently, due to the impact of global warming, the price rise of raw material and the issue of energy shortage, lots of environmental policies are implemented by many governments around the world, and the related manufacturers also invest on the development and manufacturing of power saving device. 
         [0003]    For example, power saving lamp is one of the most popular power saving apparatus under development. In addition to the invention of power saving devices such as T5 fluorescent lamp and light emitting diode, there are also light emitting adjustment systems that achieve the power saving objective through the use of the changes of many kinds of adjustment ways. For example, the lighting number of lamp is controlled in section way through manual switch. However, it is very power-consuming during the point of lamp lighting, in the mean time, too frequent on and off of the lamp might lead to the damage of the bulb or the lamp tube, the switch button and the power circuit, etc. 
         [0004]    Furthermore, the lighting equipment can be installed with infrared sensor for human body, then through the sensing of the existence of human activity in the neighborhood, the ON or OFF of the light lamp is then decided. Although such design has the advantage of high automation, yet when the human entrance and exit is frequent, there is still the issue of easy damage of bulb or lamp tube. 
         [0005]    Furthermore, the lighting equipment can be installed with environment brightness sensor, then through the sensing of the level of environment brightness, the ON or OFF of the lighting lamp is decided. Although such design has the advantage of high automation, yet the lamp of such design is more suitable for general road or public site, for some internal sites that do not need high illumination of long time, for example, indoor parking lot or underground parking lot, it will consume lots of electricity and energy in the regular time if high illumination is given; however, if the brightness is too low when people is there, people might not be able to work due to low environmental brightness. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    Therefore, in the present invention, adjustable lighting system for fluorescent lamp accompanied with human body infrared sensor is used to provide a method for energy saving and carbon reduction, that is, in the regular time when there is no people in the work site, the lamp will continuously reduce the light emitting brightness and use smaller watts for light emission. Moreover, when human and car passes through that site or when personnel enter that site to work, then after sensing and recognition is made in that system, light of maximal strength can be raised to illuminate the work site; such adjustable lighting system fluorescent lamp with light brightness management function, after accompanying with human body infrared sensor, can manage the light emitting brightness in the most effective way and achieve the maximal energy saving and carbon reduction function. 
         [0007]    Therefore, one scope of the present invention is to provide adjustable lighting system for fluorescent lamp based on human body and environmental sensing so as to solve the prior art problem. According to one preferred embodiment, the adjustable lighting system for fluorescent lamp includes light emitting unit, sensing apparatus and control apparatus. 
         [0008]    Among them, light emitting unit can emit light. Sensing apparatus can sense the existence of the target object so as to generate first sensing signal, meanwhile, based on first sensing signal, modulation signal is generated and sent out through wired or radio frequency way. In addition, control apparatus is connected respectively to the light emitting unit, sensing apparatus and power so as to receive modulation signal through wired or radio frequency wireless way from sensing apparatus; meanwhile, based on the modulation signal, the pulse width and phase level of the supplied current of the power is adjusted, and the supplied current is provided to light emitting unit so as to control the intensity of light emitted by the light emitting unit. 
         [0009]    Particularly, when the target object exists, the modulation signal generated according to a first sensing signal can be sent back to the control apparatus of adjustable lighting system through the transmission line, or sent back to the control apparatus through the wireless transmission line, hence, the control apparatus can raise the pulse width and phase level of the supplied current so as to further raise the intensity of the light emitted by the light emitting unit. On the contrary, when the target object does not exist, the generated modulation signal will be sent back to the control apparatus so that the control apparatus can reduce the pulse width and phase level of the supplied current, accordingly, the light intensity emitted by the light emitting unit can be reduced. Furthermore, when the time is longer, the system can automatically further reduce the pulse width and phase level of the supplied current so as to further reduce light intensity and to achieve the objective of energy saving and carbon reduction. 
         [0010]    Yet another scope of the present invention is to provide a sensing apparatus of adjustable lighting system for fluorescent lamp. According to an embodiment, the adjustable lighting system of the fluorescent lamp includes light emitting unit and control apparatus, and sensing apparatus includes a first sensing unit, processing unit and output unit. 
         [0011]    The first sensing unit can sense the existence of target object in the neighborhood so as to generate a first sensing signal. The processing unit is connected to a first sensing unit to receive signal and to generate modulation signal according to the first sensing signal. In addition, the output unit is connected to a processing unit so as to receive the modulation signal sent from the processing unit and to convert it into modulation signal of the wired circuit or the wireless remote control, then the modulation signal is sent to the control apparatus of an adjustable lighting system of the fluorescent lamp through wired or radio frequency way, and control apparatus can follow the modulation signal to adjust the pulse width and phase level of the supplied current of the driving circuit, meanwhile, pulse widths and phase levels of different supplied currents are provided to light emitting unit so as to control the light intensity emitted. 
         [0012]    Particularly, when the target object exists, the modulation signal generated according to a first sensing signal can let the control apparatus raise the pulse width and phase level of the supplied current so as to raise light intensity emitted by the light emitting unit. On the contrary, when the target object does not exist, then based on the generated modulation signal, the control apparatus will reduce the pulse width and the phase level of the supplied current so as to further reduce light intensity emitted by the light emitting unit. 
         [0013]    For the advantages and spirit regarding the present invention, further understanding can be achieved through the following detailed description and attached drawings of the present invention. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0014]      FIG. 1A  illustrates adjustable lighting system of fluorescent lamp based on one embodiment of this invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 1B  illustrates adjustable lighting system of fluorescent lamp based on another embodiment of this invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 1C  illustrates light emitting unit and control apparatus of adjustable lighting system of fluorescent lamp based on one embodiment of this invention. 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  illustrates sensing apparatus of adjustable lighting system of fluorescent lamp based on one embodiment of this invention. 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  illustrates control apparatus of adjustable lighting system of fluorescent lamp based on one embodiment of this invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0019]    The present invention provides an adjustable lighting system for the fluorescent lamp and its sensing apparatus. In the followings, we are going to describe preferred embodiments and practical application cases of the present invention so as to fully describe the features, spirit and advantages of the present invention. 
         [0020]    Please refer to  FIG. 1A  to  FIG. 3 . In  FIG. 1A , an illustration of adjustable lighting system for fluorescent lamp of an embodiment based on the present invention is drawn;  FIG. 1B  is an illustration of adjustable lighting system for fluorescent lamp of an embodiment based on the present invention;  FIG. 1C  is an illustration of the light emitting unit and the control apparatus of the adjustable lighting system of the fluorescent lamp of an embodiment based on the present invention;  FIG. 2  is an illustration of sensing apparatus of adjustable lighting system of fluorescent lamp of an embodiment of the present invention; figure is an illustration of control apparatus of adjustable lighting system of fluorescent lamp of an embodiment based on the present invention. 
         [0021]    As shown in  FIG. 1A , adjustable lighting system  1  of fluorescent lamp of this invention can contain a light emitting unit  10 , sensing apparatus  12  and control apparatus  14 . 
         [0022]    The light emitting unit  10 , for example but not limited to, fluorescent lamp tube, bulb, fluorescent lamp, power saving lamp/bulb, light emitting diode, etc., can emit light. The sensing apparatus  12  can sense the existence of target object (For example, but not limited to, human, animal and vehicle, etc) so as to generate a first sensing signal, meanwhile, modulation signal is generated and sent out according to a first sensing signal. 
         [0023]    Furthermore, the control apparatus  14  is connected respectively to the light emitting unit  10 , sensing apparatus  12  and alternating current power  2  so as to receive modulation signal from sensing apparatus  12 ; meanwhile, based on the modulation signal, the supplied voltage and current of alternating current power  2  is adjusted, furthermore, different pulse width and phase level of supplied current is provided to light emitting unit  10  so as to control the light intensity emitted by light emitting unit  10 . 
         [0024]    Particularly, when the target object exists, the modulation signal generated based on a first sensing signal can let control apparatus  14  raise the pulse width and phase level of the supplied current so as to further raise the intensity of light emitted by light emitting unit  10 . On the contrary, when target object does not exist, then the modulation signal generated based on a first sensing signal can let control apparatus  14  reduce the pulse width and phase level of the supplied current, and the intensity of light emitted by light emitting unit  10  is further reduced. 
         [0025]    As shown in the figure, in this embodiment, one sensing apparatus  12  can be connected to a plurality set of control apparatuses  14  and light emitting units  10 . In other words, in practical application, the result sensed by one sensing apparatus  12  can be used to control the light intensities of several light emitting units  10 . For example, sensing apparatus  12  can be set up at the center of a room installed with many sets of control apparatus  14  and light emitting unit  10 , hence, when someone enters the room, sensing apparatus  12  can sense human activity to generate corresponding sensing signal so as to drive each control apparatus  14  to control the light emission of light emitting unit  10 , and accordingly, the intensity of the emitted light is increased. When there is no human activity in the room, sensing apparatus  12  will generate corresponding sensing signal so as to drive each control apparatus  14  to reduce the light intensity emitted by the light emitting unit  10 . 
         [0026]    In practical application, the adjustable lighting system  1  of fluorescent lamp of this invention can also contain a plurality of sensing apparatuses  12  and one set or several sets of control apparatuses  14  and light emitting units  10 . For example, several sensing apparatuses  12  can be placed respectively at several entrances of the parking lots, hence, when someone enters the parking lot through any entrance, corresponding sensing apparatus  12  installed at that entrance will then generate according sensing signal so as to drive the connected one or several control apparatuses  14  to control the light emission of light emitting unit  10  and to increase the intensity of the light emitted. 
         [0027]    In addition, as shown in  FIG. 1B , the above mentioned control apparatus can further include light modulation circuit  146  and wireless remote control receiving circuit  147 ; moreover, sensing apparatus  12  can, through radio frequency wireless way, send the modulation signal, through wireless remote control receiving circuit  147 , to the light modulation circuit  146  to achieve the objective of the above mentioned adjustment of the light intensity emitted by light emitting unit  10  based on the sensing result of sensing apparatus  12 . 
         [0028]    Furthermore, as shown in  FIG. 1C , light emitting unit  10  of the current invention can be, together with part of control apparatus  14  (the low voltage power supply circuit,  142 , wireless remote control receiving circuit  147  and the driving circuit  148  as shown in the figure) or full of it, integrated into power saving lamp or other types of light emitting devices. 
         [0029]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , sensing apparatus  12  of this embodiment can include infrared sensor (passive infra-red, PIR)  120 , CDS sensor  121 , lens  122 , amplification circuit  123 , detection circuit  124 , processing unit  125 , output unit  126 , power supply circuit  127 , low brightness selection switch  128  and all kinds of light emitting brightness delay time selection switch  129 . 
         [0030]    Infrared sensor  120  can sense whether the above mentioned or other target object exists in the neighborhood so as to generate first sensing signal. In the real application, other appropriate sensor can be used to replace the infrared sensor  120  as mentioned in this article. CDS sensor  121  can sense the environmental brightness in the neighborhood so as to generate the second sensing signal. Lens  122  can help the focusing of infrared sensor  120 . 
         [0031]    Amplification circuit  123  is connected respectively to infrared sensor  120  and CDS sensor  121  to amplify the first sensing signal generated by infrared sensor  120  and the second sensing signal generated by CDS sensor  121 . Detection circuit  124  is connected to amplification circuit  123  to detect the potential of first sensing signal and second sensing signal. Processing unit  125  is connected to detection circuit  124 , for example, SoC (System-on-Chip) processor or other suitable processing unit, to receive and to generate modulation signal according to first sensing signal and second sensing signal. Output unit  126  is connected to processing unit  125  to receive and output modulation signal, in actual application, the output unit  126  can be digital output driving circuit, which is connected, directly with cable or other connection wire, to control apparatus, or, output unit  126  can also be RF output driving circuit or other type of wireless output circuit, which controls control apparatus through wireless remote control signal (that is, control apparatus uses remote way to control receiving circuit  147  to receive modulation signal), then it will be forced to receive command to control light emitting unit to emit light of different intensities. 
         [0032]    In practice, when the environmental brightness is lower than the first default value, the modulation signal generated according to second sensing signal can let control apparatus  14  raise the pulse width and phase level of the supplied current, which in turn raises the light intensity; on the contrary, when the environmental brightness is higher than the second default value, modulation signal generated according to second sensing signal can let control apparatus  14  lower the pulse width and phase level of the supplied current, which in turn lowers the intensity of the emitted light. In practice, the above mentioned first default value can be equal to or smaller than second default value. 
         [0033]    Please note that in real application, we can give different weights to first sensing signal and second sensing signal sensed by sensing apparatus  12  so as to generate and output appropriate modulation signal. For example, we can let the weighting of first sensing signal be larger than second sensing signal, hence, no matter what the environmental brightness is (For example, no matter it is day time, evening or the night), as long as target object is sensed, sensing apparatus  12  will generate modulation signal so that control apparatus  14  can raise the pulse width and phase level of the supplied current, which in turn will raise the intensity of the light emitted to the default brightness (For example, have it raised to the full brightness of light emitting unit  10 ). Or, as long as target object is not sensed, sensing apparatus will generate modulation signal so that control apparatus  14  can reduce the pulse width and phase level of supplied current, which in turn will reduce the intensity of light emitted to the default value (For example, with a reduction to ½ brightness of light emitting unit  10 ). 
         [0034]    In addition, we can let the weighting of second sensing signal be larger than first sensing signal, hence, no matter target object is sensed or not, as long as the environmental brightness is lower than the default value, sensing apparatus  12  will then generate modulation signal so that control apparatus  14  will raise pulse width and phase level of the supplied current, which in turn will raise the intensity of light emitted to default value (For example, the raise of it to the full brightness of light emitting unit  10 ). Or, as long as the environmental brightness is higher than the default value, sensing apparatus  12  will then generate modulation signal so that control apparatus  14  will lower the pulse width and phase level of the supplied current, which in turn will reduce the light intensity to the default brightness (For example, lower to ⅓ brightness of light emitting unit  10 , or let light emitting unit  10  not to emit light). 
         [0035]    Of course, in practice, sensing apparatus  12  can simultaneously follow first sensing signal and second sensing signal to generate and output modulation signal. For example, sensing apparatus  12  can, according to second sensing signal first (based on environmental brightness) to limit the modulation signal scope, then first sensing signal is based (based on the existence of target object) to select specific modulation signal; which is true on the contrary. 
         [0036]    In addition, low brightness selection switch  128  and all kinds of light brightness delay time selection switches  129  are connected respectively to processing unit  125  to perform corresponding modulation. For example, low brightness selection switch  128  can control processing unit  125  so that when it receives first sensing signal representing that the infrared sensor  120  does not sense the existence of target object, and/or second sensing signal representing that the CDS sensor  121  senses an environmental brightness higher than second default value, it will then generate modulation signal representing low brightness or no brightness. Take another example, all kinds of brightness delay time selection switches  129  can control processing unit  125  to add high brightness light emission delay time (For example, but not limited to, light emission in high brightness for 10 seconds, 1 minute, 10 minutes and one hour) information to the modulation signal. 
         [0037]    In real application, sensing apparatus  12  can also include correspondence table (not drawn) to store a plurality of sensing signals regarding to first sensing signal and/or second sensing signal and a plurality of modulation signal values corresponding respectively to a plurality of sensing signal values so that processing unit  125  can follow first sensing signal and/or second sensing signal to search the correspondence table so as to find out corresponding modulation signal value, then, based on it, it will generate and output modulation signal corresponding to modulation signal value. Therefore, sensing apparatus  12  of this invention can, based on the existence statuses of all kinds of different target object and/or environmental light source situation, generate corresponding modulation signal so as to more delicately control light intensity emitted by light emitting unit  10 . 
         [0038]    In addition, power supply circuit  127  is connected to each unit/circuit of the above mentioned sensing apparatus  12  so as to supply power needed by sensing apparatus  12 . Power supply circuit  127  can, depending on the situation, be connected to alternating current (For example, mains electricity), and include alternating current/direct current converting circuit, filtering circuit, stabilizing circuit, step-down circuit, or other suitable circuit. Power supply circuit  127  can also be connected directly to DC current (For example, 12V DC current) to save the above mentioned complicated circuit. 
         [0039]    As shown in  FIG. 3 , control apparatus  14  of this embodiment can include converter circuit  140 , low voltage power supply circuit  142 , power factor adjustment circuit  144 , light adjustment circuit  146  and driving circuit  148 . 
         [0040]    Converter circuit  140  is generally connected to AC current (For example, main electricity), and include AC/DC converter circuit, filtering circuit, stabilizing circuit or other suitable circuit. Low voltage power supply circuit  142  is connected to converter circuit  140  so as to lower the voltage of the DC current converted from converter circuit  140  into low voltage DC power. Power factor adjustment circuit  144  is coupled to converter circuit  140  so as to adjust the power of the alternating current mains electricity generated during the conversion of converter circuit  140 . 
         [0041]    Light adjustment circuit  146  is coupled respectively to low voltage power supply circuit  142 , power factor adjustment circuit  144  and sensing apparatus  12  so as to receive modulation signal and follow modulation signal to control power factor adjustment circuit  144 . Please note that in practical application when sensing apparatus uses wireless way to transmit modulation signal, control apparatus  14  can further include the above mentioned wireless remote control receiving circuit  147  so that modulation circuit  146  can, through wireless remote control receiving circuit  147 , receive modulation signal. Driving circuit  148  is connected respectively to power factor adjustment circuit  144 , light adjustment circuit  146  and light emitting unit  10  so as to receive adjusted voltage and current from power factor adjustment circuit  144  and supply it to driving circuit  148  to control light intensity as expected and emitted by light emitting unit  10 . 
         [0042]    Please note that in real application, the adjustable lighting system of fluorescent lamp of this invention and its contained each main unit/device (That is, light emitting unit, sensing apparatus and control apparatus) or secondary unit/device can include other suitable unit and device, etc.; meanwhile, its quantity, size, deployment way and connection relationship can, without deviating from the spirit and scope of this invention, be adjusted according to real situation, and of course, it is not limited to the description of this invention. For example, each unit and device can, depending on the real situation, be combined into single hardware or be separated into several parts. 
         [0043]    In addition, in real application, take the above mentioned parking lot as an example, adjustable lighting system of fluorescent lamp uses 28 W T5 fluorescent lamp of prior art, hence, when the sensing apparatus of adjustable lighting system of fluorescent lamp of this invention detects when there is human activity in the neighborhood of the detection area, adjustable lighting system of fluorescent lamp will light up in full wattage. But when in the night, there is no people entering the parking lot, adjustable lighting system of fluorescent lamp will then light up in half wattage, or in ⅔ of wattage, or other more suitable wattage to light up fluorescent lamp in that area so as to achieve the objective of energy saving and carbon reduction. 
         [0044]    To sum up, the adjustable lighting system and its sensing apparatus of fluorescent lamp of this invention can, based on the existence of target object and/or environmental brightness, adjust the intensity of light emitted by light emitting unit. Particularly, when target object does not exist, adjustable lighting system and its sensing apparatus of fluorescent lamp of this invention can still control light emitting unit to emit light of specific lower intensity (For example, but not limited to light emitting unit ½, ⅓ and ¼ brightness of light emitting unit) so that a lower brightness illumination can be provided. Therefore, adjustable lighting system of fluorescent lamp of this invention can be applied to sites that need continuous illumination, for example, parking lot, basement, campus corner, landscape, stairway walkway and escape exit, that is, safety and energy saving function can be achieved simultaneously. 
         [0045]    Although the present invention is disclosed through a better embodiment as above, yet it is not used to limit the present invention, anyone that is familiar with this art, without deviating the spirit and scope of the present invention, can make any kinds of change, revision and finishing; therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be based on the scope as defined by the following attached “what is claimed”.