Abstract:
Embodiments of the present invention are related to a lighting system comprising a control unit that manages a lighting device with an LED board within an optical chamber. The LED board includes a first string of LEDs and a second string of LEDs. The control unit and the LED board are configured to electrically couple to first and second wires. The first string of LEDs and the second string of LEDs are configured to emit light having different spectral power distributions within the visible spectrum. The first string of LEDs is oriented in an electrically opposite direction than the second string of LEDs. The control unit comprises a switch configured to direct current between the first wire and second wire. The wire to which current is directed is designated active. The designated active wire activates one of the first string of LEDs and second string of LEDs.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/192,380 titled Systems and Methods of Lighting and Control the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to systems and methods for optimizing power and control of a multicolored lighting system. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Standard connected lighting as depicted in  FIG. 1  and found in the prior art, includes a plurality of bulbs  112  with two power supply lines connected thereto. A first power supply line, defined as an active line  103  provides a forward biasing electrical current in a direction toward the bulb  112 . A second power supply line, defined as a neutral line  104  accommodates little to no current directed away from the bulb  112 . Customary light emitting diode (LED) technology involves using individual bulbs  112  that act as housing for an antenna  114 , a radio  115 , a power supply  101 , and a board containing LEDs defined as an LED Board  102 . An LED consists of semiconducting material doped with impurities to create a p-n junction. The diode within the LED allows current to flow easily from the p-side, or anode, to the n-side, or cathode. However, current does not flow easily in the reverse direction. When forward biasing current reaches a threshold voltage, the LED emits light. In a connected lighting system, a series of LED bulbs are connected using the same active line  103  and neutral line  104  whereby the active line provides current with sufficient voltage to illuminate the LEDs on each respective bulb. 
     Operating connected lighting in this manner creates inefficiency. More specifically, since the power supply  101  regulates the current and electrical communication with the individual bulbs  112 , it accumulates much of the wear on the bulb. Indeed, it is known in the art that power supply failure is one of the most common modes of LED bulb failure. Therefore, when the power supply  101  on the bulb  112  is no longer operable, the entire bulb  112  must be replaced. This is true for the antennae  114  and radio  115  as well. When these components become damaged over time, the entire bulb  112  must be replaced. 
     Another inefficiency found in modern LED connected lighting technology is that delivered current only operates one LED string within each bulb  112 . This in turn only emits one color associated with that particular LED string. Therefore, should a user desire differently colored light, the entire bulb  112  must be replaced. 
     This background information is provided to reveal information believed by the applicant to be of possible relevance to the present invention. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the present invention. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     With the above in mind, embodiments of the present invention are related to a lighting system comprising a control unit and a lighting device. The lighting device may include an LED board within an optical chamber. The LED board may include a first string of LEDs and a second string of LEDs. The control unit and the LED board may be configured to electrically couple to first and second wires. The first string of LEDs and the second string of LEDs may be configured to emit light having different spectral power distributions within the visible spectrum. The first string of LEDs may be oriented in an electrically opposite direction than the second string of LEDs. The control unit comprises a switch configured to direct current between the first wire and second wire. The wire to which current is directed may be designated active. The designated active wire may activate one of the first string of LEDs and second string of LEDs. 
     The lighting system may include the first string of LEDs configured to emit light having a first color and the second string of LEDs configured to emit light having a second color. The first and second strings of LEDs may be alternately activated to emit light having a perceived third color defined as a perceived combined light. The alternate activation of the first and second strings of LEDs may be faster than can be detected by the human eye and may create a perceived third color different from the first color and the second color. 
     The control unit may include a timer configured to communicate a time of day. The first color, the second color, or third perceived color may be changed based on the time of day that is communicated by the timer. The control unit may further be operable to alternate the designated active wire between the first wire and second wire within a range from every 16 milliseconds to every 32 milliseconds, which, in turn, activates the respective LED string. 
     The lighting device within the lighting system may emit a first color as one of a red colored light, a blue colored light, or green colored light. The second color may be one of a red colored light, a blue colored light, or green colored light that is not emitted by the first string of LEDs. 
     The ratio of active time between the first string of LEDs and the second string of LEDs may be a ratio of 1:1 or may be a ratio of 2:1. Furthermore, the ratio of activation between the first string of LEDs and the second string of LEDs may be any combination capable of producing a perceivable color from the spectrum of combinatory colors ranging between the color emitted by the first string of LEDs and the color emitted by the second string of LEDs. 
     The lighting device may be configured to maintain a consistent emission of colored light designated by one of the color emitted by the first string of LEDs, the color emitted by the second string of LEDs, or a color from the spectrum of combinatory colors ranging between the color emitted by the first string of LEDs and the color emitted by the second string of LEDs. 
     The control unit may include a dimmer, a luminosity indicator, a color synthesizer, a color indicator, a driver circuit, and a power supply. The dimmer may be configured to control the amount of voltage delivered to a first wire and a second wire. The luminosity indicator may be configured to display the luminosity of a lighting device electrically coupled to the first wire and second wire. The color indicator may be configured to display one of an emitted color and a perceived emitted color of the lighting device. The color synthesizer may include a switch configured to alternate a frequency of forwardly biased current between the first wire and the second wire. Additionally, the wire that receives forwardly biased current may be designated active when the respective string of LEDs to emit light is operable. 
     The lighting device may include a plurality of lighting devices within a lighting system. The driver circuit and power supply may be configured to drive the plurality of lighting devices. 
     The control unit may be managed by at least one of a remote control and a computerized device. The control unit may also include an electrical outlet adapter configured to receive a plurality of electrical plugs from lighting devices and manage the emitted color and luminosity thereof. The color synthesizer may be configured to alternate a designated active wire between the first wire and second wire within the range from every 16 milliseconds to every 32 milliseconds. 
     Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to a luminaire. The luminaire may include a bulb defined by an optical chamber and an Edison base. It may also include an LED board within the optical chamber comprising a first string of LEDs and a second string of LEDs. The first string of LEDs and the second string of LEDs may be configured to emit a differently colored light. The first string of LEDs may be oriented in an electrically opposite direction than the second string of LEDs. The luminaire may be configured to maintain a consistent emission of colored light designated by one of the color emitted by the first string of LEDs, the color emitted by the second string of LEDs, or a perceived color from the spectrum of combinatory colors ranging between the color emitted by the first string of LEDs and the color emitted by the second string of LEDs. 
     The first string of LEDs may be configured to emit one of a red colored light, a blue colored light, and green colored light. Similarly, the second string of LEDs may be configured to emit one of a red colored light, a blue colored light, and green colored light that is not emitted by the first string of LEDs. 
     The first string of LEDs may be configured to emit light having a first color. The second string of LEDs may be configured to emit light having a second color. The first and second strings of LEDs may be alternately activated to emit light having a perceived third color. The perceived third color may be defined as a perceived combined light. The alternate activation of the first and second strings of LEDs is faster than can be detected by the human eye, and the perceived third color is different from the first color and the second color. 
     The luminaire may include a ratio of activation between the first string of LEDs and the second string of LEDs of 2:1. The luminaire may maintain a frequency of activation between the first string of LEDs and the second string of LEDs that includes a ratio capable of producing a perceivable color from the spectrum of combinatory colors ranging between the color emitted by the first string of LEDs and the color emitted by the second string of LEDs. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a connected lighting system as found in the prior art. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a system for optimizing power and control found in standard connected lighting according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectioned view of the interior of a bulb containing separate LED strings according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIGS. 4 a - b    show directional currents utilized in the system illustrated in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 5  is a demonstrative view according to the present invention of operation of the bulb illustrated in  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 6  shows an embodiment of a control unit utilized in the system illustrated in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 7  shows alternative embodiments of the system illustrated in  FIG. 2 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Those of ordinary skill in the art realize that the following descriptions of the embodiments of the present invention are illustrative and are not intended to be limiting in any way. Other embodiments of the present invention will readily suggest themselves to such skilled persons having the benefit of this disclosure. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. 
     Although the following detailed description contains many specifics for the purposes of illustration, anyone of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that many variations and alterations to the following details are within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the following embodiments of the invention are set forth without any loss of generality to, and without imposing limitations upon, the claimed invention. 
     In this detailed description of the present invention, a person skilled in the art should note that directional terms, such as “above,” “below,” “upper,” “lower,” and other like terms are used for the convenience of the reader in reference to the drawings. Also, a person skilled in the art should notice this description may contain other terminology to convey position, orientation, and direction without departing from the principles of the present invention. 
     Furthermore, in this detailed description, a person skilled in the art should note that quantitative qualifying terms such as “generally,” “substantially,” “mostly,” and other terms are used, in general, to mean that the referred to object, characteristic, or quality constitutes a majority of the subject of the reference. The meaning of any of these terms is dependent upon the context within which it is used, and the meaning may be expressly modified. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2, 3, 4   a  and  4   b , the present invention will now be discussed. The present invention utilizes a control unit  105  to obviate the power supply  101 , antenna  114 , and radio  115  of the prior art illustrated in  FIG. 1 . Therefore, each individual bulb  112  only contains an LED board  102  encased therein, and in some embodiments, minimal control circuitry to operate the LED board  102  managed by a control unit  105 . By consolidating the antenna  114 , radio  115 , and power supply  101  within a single control unit  105 , a user is only required to replace the individual component or control unit  105  upon its respective failure. This is opposed to replacing each individual bulb  112  each time an individual component within the bulb  112  fails as well as reduces the cost of each individual bulb  112 . 
     Additionally, the present invention utilizes an LED board  102  comprising at least two different LED strings. By way of non-limiting example,  FIG. 3  depicts a bulb with two strings of LEDs. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the LED board  102  comprises a first string  106  of LEDs operable to emit light having a first spectral power distribution, corresponding to a first color or correlated color temperature (CCT). Furthermore, the LED board  102  comprises a second string  107  of LEDs operable to emit light having a second spectral power distribution, corresponding to a second color or CCT. The first spectral power distribution may be different from the second spectral power distribution, and the first color or CCT may be different from the second color or CCT. The first string  106  may be oriented in an electrically opposite direction than the second string  107 , such that the forward direction for each of the strings is opposite to the other. Accordingly, whether the first or second string  106 ,  107  emits light may be determined by the direction of current within the circuit. 
     Referring additionally to  FIG. 4 , the control unit  105  determines which string is the active line  103 . Moreover, the control unit  105  may act as a switch to determine which wire receives enough voltage to activate the respective string of LEDs. Accordingly, the first string of LEDs  106  and the second string of LEDs  107  may be alternately activated to emit light having a perceived third color. The perceived third color  120  may be defined as a perceived combined light. The alternate activation of the first and second strings of LEDs  106 ,  107  is faster than can be detected by the human eye. The perceived third color  120  is different than the first color and the second color. 
     In  FIG. 4 a    the control unit  105  delivers forward biasing current to a first wire  108  in order to operate the first string  106  of LEDs depicted in  FIG. 3 . In this embodiment the first string  106  LED diodes are oriented so that the first wire  108  allows forward biasing current to flow into the p-side, or anode, and through to the n-side, or cathode, thereby making the first wire  108  the active wire and the second wire  109  the neutral wire. This causes the first string  106  of LEDs within each of the individual LED bulbs  112  to emit light with the first string  106  colored light. 
     Additionally, should a user desire a differently colored light than the first string  106 , the user may switch the control unit  105  to the mode of operation demonstrated by  FIG. 4 b   . This mode of operation enables a second wire  109  to receive forward biasing current and thereby activate the second string  107  LEDs. In this embodiment the second string  107  LED diodes are oriented so that the second wire  109  allows forward biasing current to flow into the p-side, or anode, and through to the n-side, or cathode, thereby making the second wire  109  the active wire and the first wire  108  the neutral wire. This causes the LEDs within the individual LED bulbs  112  to emit second string  107  colored light. 
     By switching the active line between the first wire  108  and the second wire  109 , a user is able to change or alternate the emitted light color within the same connected lighting system without replacing individual bulbs  112  to do so. It also obviates the need to purchase traditional color-changing bulbs that typically require use of a computerized device to communicate with the bulb or manipulation of an output selector on the bulb itself. 
     Referring now additionally to  FIGS. 5 and 6 , another function of the present invention may include creating the perception of combined color  120  when the emitted colors of the first string  106  and the second string  107  are repeatedly alternated by the control unit  105  faster than the human eye can detect. This may optimally be achieved at rate within a range of 60 Hz to 480 Hz. Alternatively, the control unit  105  may be operable to alternate the designated active wire between the first wire  108  and the second wire  109  within a range from every 16 milliseconds to every 32 milliseconds. By way of non-limiting example, a first string color  106  may be red and a second string color  107  may be green within the same bulb. By alternating 16 milliseconds of green emitted light with 16 milliseconds of red emitted light, a human observer would perceive the light being emitted from a single bulb as yellow. Furthermore, by changing the ratio of how often the emitted colors are alternated, differently perceived colors may be achieved. Again, by way of non-limiting example, if the alternating ratio between red and green is changed from 1:1 to 2:1 respectively, the light emitted by the bulb may be perceived as orange. In this example, the red colored string would be emitted for 32 milliseconds while the green colored string would be emitted for 16 milliseconds. Conversely, if the ratio of red to green colored light emission was 1:2, meaning 16 milliseconds of red alternated with 32 milliseconds of green, the light emitted by the bulb may be perceived as blue. 
     The control unit  105  may include a dimmer  116 , a luminosity indicator  117 , a color synthesizer  118 , and a color indicator  119 . The control unit  105  may also include a driver circuit and a power supply  101 . The dimmer  116  may be adjusted by a user to control the amount of voltage delivered to the respective LED string within its threshold operating voltage range, i.e., the amount of voltage delivered to each of the first wire  108  and the second wire  109 . The luminosity indicator  117  may be a series of indicating lights located on the control unit  105  that indicate the brightness of either an individual LED string or all connected bulbs within a connected lighting system. More particularly, the luminosity indicator  117  may be configured to display luminosity of the lighting device electrically coupled to the first wire  108  and the second wire  109 . 
     The color indicator  119  may be configured to display one of emitted color and the perceived emitted color of the lighting device. The color synthesizer  118  located on the control unit  105  may operate to combine the colors within the individual bulbs  112 . In one embodiment the color synthesizer  119  may represent the first string  106  at a first end and a second string  107  at a second end. The distance between the first and second end may represent the spectrum of colors between the first string  106  and second string  107 . In some embodiments, the ends may represent different points along the Planckian locus. By manipulating the color synthesizer between the first and second end, a user may manipulate the amount of emitted colored light of each LED string and therefore control the overall combined color of the emitted light. Likewise, the color indicator  118  may be a series of indicating lights representing the spectrum of colors between the first string  106  and the second string  107  at a respective first and second end. When the color synthesizer is positioned to emit a certain colored light at or between the first string  106  and second string  107 , the color indicator  118  may display the color indicating the user&#39;s selection. In one embodiment, the color synthesizer  118  may include a switch configured to alternate the frequency of forwardly biased current between the first wire  108  and the second wire  109 . The wire that receives forward bias current is designated active when a respective string of LEDs is operable. 
     In another embodiment, the lighting device may include a plurality of lighting devices within the lighting system. The driver circuit and the power supply  101  may be configured to drive the plurality of lighting devices  112 . Referring now to  FIG. 7 , another embodiment of the present invention may include the control unit  105  being managed remotely via smart phone or other mobile device. The control unit  105  may be managed by at least one of a remote control or a computerized device. More specifically, the control unit may be managed remotely by Bluetooth Low Energy controls  150  for easy and efficient management. In this embodiment a user may be able to manipulate the luminosity and color of the emitted bulbs  112  without physically touching the control unit  105 . Another embodiment includes adapting the control unit  105  to a standard outlet whereby a standard lamp may be managed similarly. 
     Yet another embodiment may include the control unit  105  including a timer. In this embodiment, the color synthesizer  119  may be managed by pre-set user instructions. Further, the timer may be configured to communicate a time of day to the color synthesizer  119 . The color synthesizer  119  may then activate a particular color within the lighting system based on the time of day. By way of non-limiting example, a user may desire a light emission with a higher color temperature during the morning hours of the day and a light emission with a lower color temperature during the evening hours. In this example a user would set the timer to communicate to the color synthesizer to activate the desired color in the morning then communicate to the color synthesizer to change the color in the evening. In another non-limiting example, a user may set the timer to a specific range of time whereby the emitted color would gradually shift from a starting color to an ending color based on a user input range of time and color. 
     Some of the illustrative aspects of the present invention may be advantageous in solving the problems herein described and other problems not discussed which are discoverable by a skilled artisan. 
     While the above description contains much specificity, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of any embodiment, but as exemplifications of the presented embodiments thereof. Many other ramifications and variations are possible within the teachings of the various embodiments. While the invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best or only mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims. Also, in the drawings and the description, there have been disclosed exemplary embodiments of the invention and, although specific terms may have been employed, they are unless otherwise stated used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention therefore not being so limited. Moreover, the use of the terms first, second, etc. do not denote any order or importance, but rather the terms first, second, etc. are used to distinguish one element from another. Furthermore, the use of the terms a, an, etc. do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced item. 
     Thus the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, and not by the examples given.