APPARATUS FOR FOLLOWING SUN LIGHT

Abstract: In apparatus for following sun light, at least two pairs of diametrically facing light-receiving elements (30a, 30c and 30b, 30d) are provided along the periphery of a circular end plane of incidence (24) of an optical fiber cable (20) where sun light is condensed by way of a lens 14. The deviation of a condensed light area from the circular end plane of incidence (24) will be effectively detected by the light-receiving elements to control a drive unit (46) which drives an equatorial (18) carrying an optical system including the lens (14) and the end plane of incidence (24) of the optical fiber cable (20). In one embodiment, another light-receiving element (50i) is provided at the center of the end plane of incidence (24) to detect when light condensing area is deviated to a great extent. The output signal of this light-receiving element (50i) is used to perform speed control of the drive unit (46). In another embodiment, a circuit arrangement for detecting abnormal state of the optical system is also used.

Description: This invention relates generally to apparatus for following sunlight, and particularly to apparatus which is used with sunlight collecting apparatus arranged to condense sunlight and to send it to a place where sunlight is needed via an optical fiber cable. Various apparatus for following sunlight are known. For example, one apparatus is arranged to sense sunlight, one is arranged to perform numerical control through computation of the path of the sun, one is arranged to move a focal point portion (e.g. a parabolic mirror), and one is arranged to utilize a fixed device which is inclined in a manner of south side down and north side up. Another type of sunlight condensing apparatus condenses sunlight using a Fresnel lens and automatically changes its angle to face the sun, and sends condensed sunlight via an optical fiber cable to a place where the light is needed. An example of this apparatus is the sunlight automatic condensing and transmission apparatus known as "HIMAWARI" produced by La Foret Engineering Co. Ltd. When using a Fresnel lens for condensing sunlight, a slight difference in angle of several degrees or less between the light and the Fresnel lens results in serious difficulty in condensing the sunlight. Therefore, high precision apparatus for following the sunlight is required. In addition, axis deviation or misalignment may occur due to electrical or mechanical error even though an equatorial mounting is controlled in accordance with orbital computation. For such reason, a method which combines sunlight sensing and numerical control through orbital computation is generally adopted. An example of known sunlight sensing apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent provisional publication 59-15809. According to the technique disclosed in this publication a casing provided separately from a Fresnel lens is accurately directed to the sun, and a plurality of photo-sensors are provided within the casing to detect the difference in intensity of light thereby correcting axis deviation. The abovementioned conventional apparatus has the following problems since the sunlight sensor is located remote from the light-condensing portion where a Fresnel lens and the end of the optical fiber cable are located: (1) A high precision in mounting the apparatus is required for determining the position and direction of the sunlight sensor in accordance with the position and direction of a Fresnel lens. (2) Diffused light which cannot be used by the sunlight condensing apparatus undesirably influences the sunlight sensor. The present invention has been developed in order to reduce or remove the abovedescribed drawbacks inherent in the conventional apparatus for following sunlight and which is capable of providing a higher accuracy in tracking at a lower cost. EP-A2-0050189 discloses sunlight-following apparatus arranged to perform normal tracking in accordance with data including (i) longitude, (ii) latitude, (iii) a geographical location of the apparatus, (iv) the number of days after vernal equinox, and (v) time, having two pairs of light-detecting means provided on opposed peripheral edges of a first region which is disposed between the lens and a second region on to which the sunlight is to be condensed. The apparatus also includes a signal processing circuit responsive to the output from the light detecting means, for producing a control signal in response to differences in the light incident on a pair of light-detecting means, caused by misalignment of the apparatus. Furthermore, means are provided for interrupting the normal tracking in the presence of such a control signal and for moving the sunlight condensing apparatus in a direction to realign the apparatus. The characteristics of the present invention are set out in claim 1. Thus with the present invention at least two pairs of light-receiving means provided at opposite positions along the periphery of an end plane of incidence of an optical fibre, i.e. a circular portion where sunlight is to be condensed by a lens, are provided to produce a control signal when there is a difference in incident light intensity on the members of a pair, and in response to this the tracking direction is corrected. Preferably, when only one of the two opposite light-detecting means senses sunlight, a control signal is produced to interrupt normal tracking operation and to move the light-condensing apparatus in a given direction. Thus, if a portion where light is condensed by a lens protrudes beyond an end plane of incidence of an optical fibre cable, light-detecting means located at a place of such protrusion detects this to perform position control in a direction of correcting the protrusion. Furthermore, in an abnormal case in which the light-condensing portion protrudes into two opposite portions of the end plane of incidence of the fibre cable, it cannot be determined in which direction a position correction is to be made, and therefore no position correction is made. Thus, as the additional light-detecting means is also provided within the end plane of an optical fibre cable to detect sunlight, thereby to control the moving speed of the equatorial mounting, the moving speed of the equatorial mounting may be selected for correcting the deviation of the sunlight condensing area from the end plane in dependence upon the degree of such deviation. As a further preferred feature, means for receiving sunlight not through an optical system of condensing apparatus are provided in addition to the structure of the first embodiment to detect an abnormal condition of the optical system by comparison with means for receiving sunlight through the optical system which may be an additional detector on one or more of the detectors used for maintaining the alignment of the system. Thus, sunlight which has not passed through an optical system including e.g. a filter and a lens, of light condensing apparatus and sunlight which has passed through the optical system are respectively detected, and therefore an abnormal condition of the optical system may be detected to produce an alarm signal. Furthermore, by utilizing light-detecting means already provided in the optical system this feature may be easily combined with other features of the invention. The invention will be further described by way of non-limitative example with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:- Fig. 1 is a schematic structural view of apparatus for collecting sunlight utilizing sunlight condensing apparatus having a first embodiment of the apparatus for following sunlight according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the arrangement of a plurality of optical fibers for detecting sunlight which are arranged along the periphery of a light condensing portion within the apparatus of Fig. 1, and light-receiving elements responsive to optical signals sent via the optical fibers; Figs. 3 and 4 are diagrams showing the positional relationship between end plane of incidence of Fig. 2 and condensed sunlight; Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a control signal producing circuit to which output signals from light-receiving elements of Fig. 2 are inputted, and a drive unit which performs position control of the equatorial shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an end plane of incidence of the optical fiber in a second embodiment of the apparatus for following sunlight according to the present invention; Fig. 7 is a diagram showing light-receiving elements responsive to optical signals from respective optical fibers shown in Fig. 6, signal processing circuit and speed control circuit both connected thereto, and drive unit which performs position control of the equatorial; Figs. 8 and 9 are diagrams showing positional relationship between end plane of incidence and sunlight in the second embodiment; Fig. 10 is a diagram showing a third embodiment of the apparatus for following sunlight according to the present invention; and Fig. 11 is a timing chart showing the operation of the circuit arrangement of Fig. 10. Reference is now made to Fig. 1 which shows apparatus for collecting sunlight in which a first embodiment of the apparatus for following sunlight according to the present invention is incorporated. More specifically, the apparatus for collecting sunlight comprises sunlight following apparatus 18, an equatorial mounting 16, light-condensing portion casing 10, and light-conducting optical fiber cable 20 all mounted on a base 22. Sunlight is condensed by a Fresnel lens 14 to be incident on an end plane 24 of the optical fiber cable 20 with infrared rays being eliminated by a filter 12 attached to a front portion of the light-condensing portion casing 10. In order to track sunlight, the equatorial mounting 16 and sunlight-following apparatus 18 according to the present invention are provided. The Fresnel lens 14 is made of transparent PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate), and has radius of 150 mm and focal length of 412 mm. The optical fiber cable 20 may use a plastic optical fiber. The angle of view (40°) of the Fresnel lens 14 is made smaller than the opening angle (60°) of such a plastic optical fibre. The radius of the sun is 6.95 x 10⁵ km, and the distance to the earth is 1.5 x 10⁸ km. Due to the earth's elliptical orbit the visual angle varies slightly and is approximately 32 minutes. Therefore, when the focal point of the Fresnel lens 14 is placed on the end plane of incidence 24 of the optical fiber cable 20, the diameter of a resultant image of the sun is 3.8 mm. Actually, a condensing area 36 is slightly larger than the above due to an unsharpened image caused by aberration in the Fresnel lens 14. The optical fiber cable 20 has a diameter of 7.5 mm and comprises a tube tightly filled with 39 plastic optical fibres each having a diameter of 1 mm. The sunlight-following apparatus 18 performs position control normally to follow moving incident sunlight in accordance with the following equations: For the direction of declination: δ = 23.5° X sin(2πT/365) + 54.5 (1) wherein δ is declination of the sun; and T is the number of days counted from vernal equinox. Therefore, the movement of the sun from winter solstice to summer solstice in terms of angle is 47°. For the direction of right ascension: H = 15° X (t - 12 + p / 15 + e) (2 ) wherein H is right ascension of the sun; t is time; p is (longitude of the mounting point - longitude of standard time (135° E); and e is equation of time (+16.4 14.3m) Thus, the sun moves 360° a day, i.e. 15° an hour, and the equatorial 16 is moved in units of 0.76 second. The accuracy of polar axis setting of the equatorial mounting 16 is within 3 minutes, the light-guidance error of the sun light following apparatus 18 during operation is approximately 20 minutes, and since the frequency of a crystal oscillator used for generating a basic clock of a timer of the sunlight-following apparatus 18 is calibrated to 5 digits, the overall accuracy is within 26 seconds per month (i.e. 6.5 minutes in terms of right ascension per month). Fig. 2 shows an arrangement of light-receiving means used for apparatus for following sunlight according to the present invention. Around the end plane of incidence 24 of the optical fiber cable 20 are arranged the ends of four optical fibers 30a, 30b, 30c and 30d equidistantly, such that 30a and 30c are on opposite ends of a diameter and 30b and 30d are on opposite ends of a second diameter. The other ends of these optical fibers 30a to 30d are connected to light-receiving elements 32a, 32bj, 32c and 32d, such as photodiodes, to detect deviation in light condensation at the periphery of the end plane 24 of the optical fiber cable 20. A member 34 is used to mount the light-receiving elements 32a to 32d, and is attached at an appropriate position within the equatorial mounting 16 or the sunlight following apparatus 18 of Fig. 1. Figs. 3 and 4 are top plan views of the end plane 24 of the optical fiber cable 20 of Fig. 2. The end plane 24 of the optical fiber cable 20 is circular, and during normal tracking operation sunlight is condensed to be applied to the entire area of the circular end plane 24 by way of the Fresnel lens 14 as shown by a hatched area in Fig. 3. At this time, none of the optical fibers 30a to 30d receives sunlight. In Fig. 3, the direction from 30b to 30d is the direction of right ascension and the direction from 30a to 30d is the direction of declination. On the other hand, when axis deviation occurs due to some reason, such as an electrical or mechanical error during normal tracking operation based on the formulas (1) and (2), correction is then required. Fig. 4 shows a state where condensed sunlight is applied beyond the circular portion of the end plane 24 to protrude to a side of the optical fiber 30d. In this case, only the light-receiving element 30d detects sun light to produce an output signal. Fig. 5 shows a diagram of a circuit which generates a control signal by processing output signals from the light-receiving elements 32a to 32d. The references 38a to 38d are lead wires of the light-receiving elements 32a to 32d. The references 40a to 40d are AND gates whose one input terminal is an inverted input, and each of them is responsive to electrical signals from each pair of light-receiving elements 32a to 32d responsive to optical signals from each pair of diametrically opposite optical fibers 30a to 30d. The reference 42 is a NOR gate which is responsive to an output signal from output signals from the AND gates 40a to 40d. Under the light condensing state of Fig. 4, only the light-receiving element 32d responsive to the optical fiber 30d senses the incident light, whereas others do not sense the incident light, and thus only the AND gate 40d produces logic "1". In response to the signal of logic "1" the NOR gate 42 outputs logic "0". Outputs of the respective AND gates 40a to 40d and the NOR gate 42 are inputted to a drive unit control circuit 44. An output signal from the drive unit control circuit 44 is connected to a drive unit 46 which performs direction control of the equatorial 16 in accordance with output signals from the drive unit control circuit 44. When logic "1" output from the NOR gate 42 turns to logic "0", normal tracking operation performed till this time in accordance with the formulas (1) and (2) is interrupted, and is switched to position control on the basis of the output signals from the AND gates 40a to 40d. More specifically, the drive unit control circuit 44 includes a switching circuit (not shown) responsive to the output signal from the NOR gate 42, and in the presence of logic "0" signal from the NOR gate 42, the drive unit control circuit 44 is becomes responsive to the output signals from the AND gates 40a to 40d. The relationship between the state of sun light incident on respective optical fibers 30a to 30d and the control direction of the equatorial mounting 16 is shown in the following table. In this table, the reference ON indicates sun light incidence and the reference OFF indicates the absence of sun light incidence. Arrows in the column of control direction of the equatorial mounting 16 indicates various directions, i.e. right, left, up and down in Fig. 3. When the incident light is not applied to any of the optical fibers 30a to 30d, i.e. in OFF state, the NOR gate 42 produces logic "1" to restore normal tracking operation. Although four optical fibers 30a to 30d are used in the present embodiment such that two pairs of light-receiving means are arranged along the periphery of the end plane of incidence 24 with an interval of 90°, the number of pairs of light-receiving means may be any number as long as it is 2 or more. Fig. 6 shows a second embodiment of the present invention in which four pairs of light-receiving means, i.e. eight optical fibers 50a to 50h are arranged along the periphery of the end plane of incidence 24. Respective optical fibers 50a to 50h are respectively connected to corresponding light-receiving elements 52a to 52h in the same manner as shown in Fig. 2, where output signals from the light-receiving elements 52a to 52h are fed to a signal processing circuit of Fig. 7. The signal processing circuit illustrated in Fig. 7 includes AND gates 54a to 54h each having an inverted input terminal, a control direction determining circuit 56 and and a NOR 57 gate both receiving output signals from the AND gates 54a to 54h. The control direction determining circuit 56 is used to determine the direction of the movement of the equatorial 16 performed by a drive unit 60 on the basis of the output signals from the AND gates 54a to 54h. More specifically, control direction of the equatorial mounting 16 is determined by which optical fiber or fibers is/are receiving incident sun light. In the case two or more optical fibers detect incidence of sunlight the control direction is selected to be a middle of end planes of incidence of such plural optical fibers. In order determine the control direction, a memory map may be used. The NOR gate 57 is arranged to produce an output signal for interrupting and restarting normal tracking operation in the same manner as in the first embodiment of Fig. 5. In the second embodiment of Figs. 6 and 7, not only the number of pairs of light-receiving means has been increased compared to the first embodiment of Figs. 2 to 5, but also additional light-receiving means 50i has been provided within the end plane of incidence 24. The additional light-receiving means 50i is an optical fiber like other light-receiving means 50a to 50h, and is connected to a corresponding light-receiving element 52i. An output signal from the light-receiving element 52i is inputted to a speed control circuit 58. The speed control circuit 58 is arranged to produce a speed control signal which causes the drive unit 60 to operate at a high speed when the light-receiving element 52i does not detect sun light, and to operate at a low speed when sun light is detected. More specifically, as shown in Fig. 8 when an irradiated portion 36 as a result of sun light condensation deviates to one side so that the center of the end plane of incidence 24 is not irradiated, the equatorial mounting 16 is moved at a high speed. Then as shown in Fig. 9, when the irradiated portion 36 is moved to include the center portion, then the moving speed of the equatorial mounting 16 is reduced. With such speed control, position control of the equatorial mounting 16 is effected within a short period of time and also the occurrence of hunting is effectively prevented. Fig. 10 shows a third embodiment which includes a circuit arrangement for detecting abnormal condition of the optical system of the sunlight condensing apparatus. This embodiment also comprises an optical fiber 50i for detecting irradiating condition at the center of the end plane 24 in the same manner as in the second embodiment of Figs. 6 and 7. In addition, another optical fiber 62 is provided at place where sunlight is applied without passing through the filter 12 and the Fresnel lens 14 which constitute the optical system of the sunlight condensing apparatus, and a light-receiving element 64 responsive to the optical fiber 62 is provided. An abnormal condition of the optical system is determined on the basis of output signals from the light-receiving elements 52i and 64 to output an alarm such as a buzzer signal. In the circuit of Fig. 10, the output signal from the light-receiving element 52 is applied to an input of a monostable multivibrator (MSMV) 68 and to an inverted input of an AND gate 66. The monostable multivibrator 66 is arranged to cause its output logic level to be zero for a predetermined period of time when triggered by a rising edge (trailing edge) of the output signal from the light-receiving element 52i. This predetermined period of time is set to a period of time (for instance 10 seconds) which is longer than a maximum period of time normally required until the irradiated portion 36 which is deviated from the end plane 24 is moved to be completely within the end plane 24 through position control of the equatorial mounting 16. The output signal from the monostable multivibrator 68 is applied to an input of the AND gate 66. An output signal from the light-receiving element 64 is also applied to the AND gate 66. The output signal from the AND gate 66 is fed to an alarm 70. Any alarm device which emits sound like a buzzer or a bell or which flashes a lamp or the like may be used as this alarm 70. The combination of the optical fiber 62 which directly receives sun light and light-receiving element 64 is referred to as external light-receiving means, and the combination of the optical fiber 50i provided within the end plane of incidence 24 and light-receiving element 52i is referred to as internal light-receiving means. The relationship between sun light detecting condition by the external light-receiving means and by the internal light-receiving means, the output signal from the monostable multivibrator 68, and the output signal from the AND gate 66 is shown in Fig. 11. Let us assume that sun light incidence on the sun light condensing apparatus is interrupted at time t1 for a short period of time (till t2) by clouds, birds or the like. Both the external light-receiving means and the internal light-receiving means detect this interruption and thus the monostable multivibrator 68 produces a signal of logic "0" till time t3. Therefore, the output signal of the AND gate 66 is kept logic "0" even after time t3 and no alarm is issued. Let us suppose that an error occurs in the normal tracking operation of the equatorial 16 and as a result, the internal light-receiving means does not detect sun light incidence at time t4. While the monostable multivibrator 68 produces a signal of logic "0" till time t5 as being triggered, the output of the AND gate 66 is continuously kept logic "0" even thereafter, and therefore no alarm is issued. Suppose incidence of sun light is interrupted for a long period of time from time t6 to time t8 by clouds or the like. In this case, although the output of the monostable multivibrator 68 turns to logic "1" at time t7, the output of the AND gate 66 is maintained logic "0" because the external light-receiving means does not detect sun light even thereafter. As a result, no alarm is issued. Let us suppose that serious abnormality, such as breakage, warping or the like, has occurred in the filter 12, the Fresnel lens 14 or the like of Fig. 1. Since sun light condensation and application of the same to the end plane of incidence 24 is interrupted for a long period of time, the output of the AND gate 66 turns to logic "1" at time t10 and thus the alarm 70 is driven. By using the circuit arrangement of Fig. 10, an alarm is issued only when abnormal condition occurs in the optical system through detection of the same. Therefore, this embodiment is advantageous in connection with maintenance of the sun light condensing apparatus. Furthermore, the circuit arrangement of Fig. 10 may be provided with the circuit arrangement for speed control shown in Fig. 7, and in such a case, the optical fiber 50i and the light-receiving element 52i may respectively be used in common to both circuit arrangements. The apparatus for following sunlight according to the present invention described in detail in the above have the following advantages. First of all, since plural pairs of light-receiving means for detecting tracking error, i.e. axis deviation, are arranged along the periphery of the circular portion where sun light is to be condensed, high accuracy in mounting position and direction of each light-receiving means is not required to be as high as conventional systems. Furthermore, since sunlight is detected after being condensed by a Fresnel lens of sunlight condensing apparatus, there is no undesirable influence by diffused light as in the conventional apparatus. Furthermore, in the second embodiment of the present invention, in addition to the above features since the degree of axis deviation is detected to control the moving speed of the equatorial driven by the drive unit, axis deviation can be corrected within a short period of time, while hunting is effectively prevented. Furthermore, in the third embodiment of the present invention, in addition to the features of the first embodiment since abnormal condition of the optical system is detected to issue an alarm, the apparatus is advantageous in view of maintenance. Especially, the third embodiment is advantageous because light-receiving means provided within the end plane of sunlight incidence which is used in the second embodiment can be used in common as sun light detecting means for detecting such abnormal condition.

Claims: Apparatus adapted to follow sunlight comprising a sunlight condensing apparatus (10) with a lens (14), said apparatus for following sunlight being arranged to perform normal tracking in accordance with data including longitude and latitude, the geographical location of the apparatus, the number of days after vernal equinox, and time, and comprising at least two pairs of light-detecting means (30a, 30c; 30b, 30d; 32a, 32c; 32b, 32d and 50a, 50e; 50b, 50f; 50c, 50g; 50d, 50h; and 52a, 52e; 52b, 52f; 52c, 52g; 52d, 52h) a signal processing circuit (40a, 40b, 40c, 40d, 44) (54a, 54b, 54c, 54d, 54e, 54f, 54g, 54h, 56) responsive to output signals from said light-detecting means (30a, 30c; 30b, 30d; 32a, 32c; 32b, 32d and 50a, 50e; 50b, 50f; 50c, 50g; 50d, 50h; and 52a, 52e; 52b, 52f; 52c, 52g; 52d, 52h) for producing a control signal in response to differences between the incident light on the light-detecting means of a pair caused by misalignment of the apparatus, and means (42, 46) for interrupting said normal tracking in the presence of said control signal and means (6)) for moving said sunlight condensing apparatus (10) in a direction to realign the apparatus; characterized in that the light-detecting means of each pair are provided at opposite positions along the periphery of a circular region (24) on to which said sunlight is to be condensed; each of said light-detecting means, includes an optical fibre cable (30a, 30c; 30b, 30d, 50a; 50e; 50b, 50f; 50c, 50g; 50d, 50h); said signal processing circuit comprises gate circuits (40a, 40b, 40c, 40d) (54a, 54b, 54c, 54d, 54e, 54f, 54g, 54h) responsive to opposing pairs of light-detecting means, the number of said gate circuits being equal to the number of said light-detecting means; additional light-detecting means (52i) is provided to detect light within said region (24) onto which sunlight is to be condensed; and in that speed controlling means (58) is provided for controlling the speed of said means (60) for moving said sunlight condensing apparatus (10), said speed control means (58) being arranged to cause said sunlight condensing apparatus (10) to move at a higher speed when said additional light-detecting means (50i, 52i) does not detect incidence of sunlight, and to cause said sunlight condensing apparatus (10) to move at a lower speed when said additional light-detecting means (50i, 52i) detects incidence of sunlight. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said control signal is produced when one member of a pair of light detecting means produces a detection signal and the control apparatus (17, 18) moves the light condensing apparatus (10) in a direction towards the member which produced the detection signal. Apparatus for following sunlight as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said means (44) (56) for moving is arranged to interrupt and restart said normal tracking in response to an output signal from another gate circuit (42) (57) which is responsive to all output signals from said gate circuits (40a, 40b, 40c, 40d) (54a, 54b, 54c, 54d, 54e, 54f, 54g, 54h). Apparatus for following sunlight as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said additional light-detecting means (50i) is arranged to detect incidence of light at a substantially center portion of said region (24). Apparatus for following sunlight according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising external light-detecting means (62) arranged to detect sunlight not via the condensing optical system (12, 14) of the said sunlight condensing apparatus, and means (66, 68, 70) responsive to output signals from said external light-detecting means (62) and additional light-detecting means (50i) detecting light within the condensing optical system for producing an alarm signal only when an output signal from said external light-detecting means is output, and an output signal from said internal light-detecting means is absent for a predetermined period of time. Apparatus for following sunlight as claimed in claim 5, wherein said means for producing an alarm signal comprises a monostable multivibrator (68) responsive to an output signal from said internal light-detecting means (50i), a gate circuit (66) response to respective output signals from said external light-detecting means (62), internal light-detecting means (50i) and said monostable multivibrator (68), and an alarm (70) arranged to be driven by an output signal from said gate circuit.

Inventors: FUSE, MASAKI, ICHIMURA, KIYOSHI, ITO, HIDEAKI, SUEMATSU, CHIAKI, SUZUKI, SHINGO, TAKAHASHI, SATOSHI
Applicants: MITSUBISHI RAYON CO., LTD.
Application year: 1988
Main classification: G01S3
IPC codes: G01J1, G05D3, G02B6, F21S11, G01C1, G01S3, F21V8, G02B7