Patent Publication Number: US-8981670-B2

Title: Luminaire and lighting control system

Description:
INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE 
     The present invention claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-066686 filed on Mar. 27, 2013. The content of the application is incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
     FIELD 
     Embodiments described herein generally relate to a luminaire and a lighting control system. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Hitherto, for example, in office buildings, various facilities, and the like, a lighting control system that remotely controls lighting loads such as a luminaire arranged in each of lighting areas such as floors and areas has been adopted. 
     In the lighting control system, a plurality of lighting devices is communicably connected to a central control unit, which is a lighting control apparatus, via transmission lines. The respective lighting devices are controlled by signals transmitted from the central control unit. Since the central control unit and the plurality of lighting devices communicate via the transmission lines, the central control unit can comprehensively manage the lighting devices. 
     In the lighting system in the past, a plurality of lighting loads can be collectively controlled as groups. However, for example, when the groups are discretely lit, a user present at an end of the groups tends to feel the lighting dark. If all the groups around the user are lit, unnecessary lighting loads are also lit. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a configuration diagram showing the overall configuration of a lighting control system according to an embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of an allocation information table stored in a ROM of the lighting control system; 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram showing the configuration of a luminaire; 
         FIG. 4  is a plan view schematically showing an example of a layout of a plurality of LED devices disposed on a ceiling surface; 
         FIG. 5  is a plan view schematically showing another example of the layout of the plurality of LED devices disposed on the ceiling surface; 
         FIG. 6  is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of a setting information table; 
         FIG. 7  is a flowchart for explaining an example of lighting control in a control section of the luminaire; and 
         FIG. 8  is a flowchart for explaining the example of the lighting control in the control section of the luminaire. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In general, according to an embodiment, a luminaire includes a light source section, a storing section, a receiving section, and a control section. The storing section stores a first group address allocated to the luminaire, stores the first group address allocated to another luminaire as a second group address, and stores control information corresponding to the second group address. The receiving section receives a control signal. The control section subjects, when the receiving section receives a control signal including the second group address, the light source section to lighting control on the basis of the control information corresponding to the second group address stored in the storing section. 
     It is possible to realize the lighting control system that can subject color temperatures of LED devices allocated to a plurality of groups to lighting control without causing a sense of discomfort. 
     An embodiment is explained below with reference to  FIGS. 1 to 8 . 
       FIG. 1  is a configuration diagram showing the overall configuration of a lighting control system  1 . 
     The lighting control system  1  shown in  FIG. 1  includes a central control unit  2  configured to remotely control luminaire set in each of lighting areas such as floors and areas of, for example, office buildings and various facilities. 
     A plurality of LED devices L (LED devices L 1  to L 18 ) configuring after-mentioned dimmable luminaire is connected to the central control unit  2  via a transmission line  3 . 
     In the explanation in this embodiment, the dimmable LED device L is used as the luminaire. However, the luminaire may be a luminaire capable of changing a color temperature. Instead of the LED device L, the luminaire may be an OLED device including a light source such as an organic light emitting diode (hereinafter referred to as OLED) capable of changing a color temperature. 
     The plurality of LED devices L is controlled by the central control unit  2  via the transmission line  3 . That is, the central control unit  2  comprehensively controls the system. 
     The plurality of LED devices L is respectively allocated to predetermined groups. Information concerning the allocation is stored in a ROM  10  of the central control unit  2  as a table. 
       FIG. 2  is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of an allocation information table  11  stored in the ROM  10 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the LED devices L 1  to L 4  are allocated to a group G 1 , the LED devices L 5  to L 8  are allocated to a group G 2 , the LED devices L 9  to L 12  are allocated to the group G 3 , and the LED devices L 13  to L 16  are allocated to a group G 4 . Similarly, four LED devices L are set as one group for a group G 5  and subsequent groups. However, the groups are not shown in the figure. 
     The number of LED devices L allocated to the respective groups is not limited to four. Other numbers of LED devices L may be allocated. Different numbers of LED devices L may be allocated to the groups. 
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram showing the configuration of the LED device L. The LED device L includes a communication section  4  functioning as a receiving section for communicating with the central control unit  2  via the transmission line  3 , a control section  5 , a storing section  6 , a light source section  7 , and a power supply section  8 . The control section  5  subjects the light source section  7  to dimming or lighting and extinguishing control. The control section  5  can store control information transmitted via the transmission line  3  and control state of the control section  5  in the storing section  6  and read out information from the storing section  6 . The light source section  7  is, for example, an LED. The light source section  7  can irradiate a lighting area. 
       FIG. 4  is a plan view schematically showing an example of a layout of the plurality of LED devices L set on the ceiling. One square indicates one LED device L. Numbers 1 to 12 described in squares indicate group addresses allocated to the LED devices L. 
     That is, in  FIG. 4 , forty-eight LED devices L in total are classified into twelve groups G 1  to G 12  with four LED devices L 1  set as one group. 
     In this embodiment, when one group G is subjected to lighting control, the LED devices L included in the same group G are controlled the same. The LED devices L surrounding the controlled group G are also subjected to the lighting control. 
     That is, although the one group G itself is configured by the four LED devices L, four or more LED devices L are actually controlled. 
     For example, in  FIG. 4 , the group G 6  subjected to the lighting control is indicated by half-tone dot meshing. The LED devices L lit around the group G 6  are indicated by hatching. In this way, when the group G 6  is subjected to the lighting control, only the LED devices L adjacent to the group G 6  among the eight groups G 1 , G 2 , G 3 , G 5 , G 7 , G 9 , G 10 , and G 11  adjacent to the group G 6  are subjected to the lighting control. 
     The LED devices L subjected to the lighting control around the group G 6  are preferably subjected to the lighting control at illuminance lower than the illuminance of the LED devices L of the group G 6 . Consequently, when a desired group G is subjected to the lighting control, feeling of brightness of a user staying in an illumination region illuminated by the LED devices L of the group G is improved and feeling of isolation of the user is reduced. The feeling of brightness indicates a degree that the user recognizes that a space is bright. The feeling of brightness can be quantitatively measured from a subjective evaluation or illuminance by indirect light entering the eyes. 
       FIG. 6  is a diagram for explaining an example of the setting information table  12  stored in the storing section  6  of the LED device L. One of the LED devices L adjacent to the groups G 7 , G 10 , and G 11  among the LED devices L set as the group G 6  in  FIG. 4  is explained. As shown in  FIG. 6 , in the setting information table  12 , an own ID serving as an ID set for the LED device L itself, an own group serving as a first group address allocated to the LED device L, and peripheral groups serving as second group addresses are set. In this embodiment, maximum eight groups can be set as the peripheral groups. However, more than eight groups may be set. In explanation, three groups G 7 , G 10 , and G 11  are set as the peripheral groups. In the own group and the peripheral groups, a dimming degree and a ratio are set as control information. For the other LED devices L, own groups and peripheral groups are respectively set. For example, for ten LED devices L indicated by hatching in  FIG. 5 , the group G 6  is set as the peripheral group. 
     First, in an initial state, only own IDs of the LED devices L are stored in the storing sections  6 . 
     Subsequently, when the setting information table  12  is transmitted from the central control unit  2  to the own IDs, the respective LED devices L store the setting information table  12  including the own IDs in the storing sections  6 . Since adjacent groups of the respective LED devices L are different, the central control unit  2  needs to transmit the setting information table  12  equivalent to the number of the LED devices L. All the LED devices L may have the same dimming degree and the same ratio as control information for the peripheral groups or each of the LED devices L may have a different kind of control information. 
     Further, operation programs of the setting information table  12  are transmitted from the central control unit  2  and stored in the respective LED devices L. The operation programs may be transmitted all together or may be individually transmitted. When the operation programs are individually transmitted, the operation programs are transmitted from the central control unit  2  together with the setting information table  12  and stored in the storing sections  6  of the LED devices L. 
     When, for example, a control signal including the group G 6  is transmitted from the central control unit  2 , the LED device L allocated with the group G 6  as the own group is lit, for example, at a preset dimming degree of 70% on the basis of the setting information table  12 . 
     Further, for the ten LED devices L disposed around the group G 6  and indicated by hatching, the group G 6  is set as the peripheral group. When the LED devices L indicated by hatching receive the control signal including the group G 6 , the LED devices L read out dimming degrees from control information corresponding to the group G 6  of the peripheral group and subject the light source sections  7  to lighting control. For example, when it is assumed that a dimming degree of 30% is set for the peripheral group of the LED devices L indicated by hatching as in the setting information table  12 , the LED devices L indicated by hatching are also lit at the dimming degree of 30%. When a control signal for lighting the group G 6  at a dimming degree of 80% is transmitted from the central control unit  2 , the LED device L for which the group G 6  is set as the own group selects a ratio  1  from the setting information table  12  and is lit at the dimming degree of 80%. On the other hand, the LED device L for which the group G 6  is set as the peripheral address is controlled at a value obtained by multiplying the dimming degree 80% with a ratio stored as control information. For example, if it is assumed that a ratio 0.5 is set to correspond to the group G 6  set as the peripheral group, the LED device L is lit at a dimming degree of 40%. 
       FIG. 5  shows a state in which the group G 11  is further subjected to the lighting control in the lighting state shown in  FIG. 4 . In the figure, the LED devices L adjacent to the group G 11  among the groups G 7 , G 8 , G 10 , and G 12  and indicated by hatching are further lit as the peripheral groups. Both of the LED device L arranged at the lower right in the group G 6  and the LED device L arranged at the upper left in the group G 11  are lit as the own groups and lit as the peripheral groups as well. In such a case, the control sections  5  of the LED devices L perform the lighting control while prioritizing the control information of the own groups. When the control information of the own groups is extinction, the control sections  5  prioritize lighting of the peripheral groups. 
     For the LED device L arranged at the upper right in the group G 7  and the LED device L arranged at the lower left in the G 10 , the groups G 6  and G 11  are set as the peripheral groups. In such a case, when different dimming degrees and different ratios are set for the groups G 6  and G 11  as the control information of the peripheral groups, the control sections  5  perform the lighting control while prioritizing the control information with a large dimming degree, i.e., a large output. 
     In this way, in this embodiment, it is possible to realize, while realizing energy saving, an illumination environment in which feeling of brightness is improved and feeling of isolation is suppressed. Further, it is possible to perform complicated gradation control simply by transmitting a control signal including group addresses to be controlled from the central control unit  2 . That is, after the setting information table  12  is set for all the LED devices L once, the central control unit  2  only has to perform control for the groups set in the ROM  10  of the central control unit  2 . Therefore, compared with control performed by transmitting all kinds of control information from the central control unit  2 , a communication network is not complicated and setting work in the central control unit  2  and control content can be simplified. In particular, when the central control unit  2  controls a plurality of groups, in performing priority control among the peripheral groups of the groups, the central control unit  2  does not need to perform the control after grasping states of the LED devices L. 
     Action of the luminaire according to this embodiment is explained with reference to  FIGS. 7 and 8 .  FIGS. 7 and 8  are flowcharts for explaining an example of the lighting control in the control section  5  of the LED device L. 
     The control section  5  of the LED device L reads out a computer program for executing processing from the storing section  6  and executes the computer program. The computer program is, for example a computer program executed when a control signal is received from the central control unit  2 . 
     When the control section  5  receives a control signal, in processing in Step S 1 , the control section  5  determines whether a group address of the LED device L is included in the control signal. When the group address of the LED device L is included in the control signal, the control section  5  shifts to processing in Step S 2 . 
     In processing in Step S 2 , the control section  5  subjects the LED device L to the lighting control according to control information included in the control signal or control information stored in the storing section  6 , i.e., control information corresponding to the own group and ends the flow. 
     When determining in the processing in Step S 1  that the group address of the LED device L is not included in the control signal, the control section  5  shifts to processing in Step S 3 . In the processing in Step S 3 , the control section  5  determines whether a peripheral group is included in the control signal. When a peripheral group is not included in the control signal, the control section  5  returns to Step S 1 . When determining that a peripheral group is included in the control signal, the control section  5  shifts to processing in Step S 4 . 
     In the processing in Step S 4 , the control section  5  determines whether the LED device L is subjected to the lighting control as the own group. When the LED device L is subjected to the lighting control as the own group, the control section  5  returns to Step S 1 . When the LED device L is not subjected to the lighting control as the own group, the control section  5  shifts to processing in Step S 5 . 
     In the processing in Step S 5 , the control section  5  determines whether the LED device L is subjected to the lighting control as the peripheral group. When the LED device L is subjected to the lighting control as the peripheral group, the control section  5  shifts to (1). When the LED device L is not subjected to the lighting control as the peripheral group, the control section  5  shifts to processing in Step S 6 . 
     In the processing in Step S 6 , the control section  5  determines whether an instruction for a dimming degree is included in the control signal. When the instruction of a dimming degree is included in the control signal, the control section  5  shifts to processing in Step S 7 . In Step S 7 , the control section  5  reads out a ratio corresponding to a peripheral group address from the control information stored in the storing section  6 , multiplies the dimming degree included in the control information with the read-out ratio to calculate a dimming degree as the peripheral group, subjects the LED device L to the lighting control at the calculated dimming degree, and ends the flow. 
     On the other hand, when determining in the processing in Step S 6  that a dimming degree is not included in the control signal, the control section  5  shifts to processing in Step S 8 , reads out a dimming degree corresponding to the peripheral group address from the control information stored in the storing section  6 , subjects the LED device L to the lighting control at the read-out dimming degree, and ends the flow. 
     A flow performed after the control section shifts to (1) when determining in Step S 5  that the LED device L is already lit as the peripheral group is explained with reference to  FIG. 8 . 
     The flow is a flow for subjecting, when the LED device L is set as a plurality of peripheral groups and is to be subjected to the lighting control at different dimming degrees, the LED device L to the lighting control while prioritizing a state in which a dimming degree is higher. 
     In processing in Step S 9 , the control section  5  determines whether an instruction for a dimming degree is included in the control signal. When the instruction for a dimming degree is included in the control signal, the control section  5  shifts to processing in Step S 10 . In Step S 10 , the control section  5  reads out a ratio corresponding to the peripheral group address from the control information stored in the storing section  6 , multiplies the dimming degree included in the control information with the read-out ratio to calculate a dimming degree as the peripheral group, and shifts to processing in Step S 12 . 
     On the other hand, when it is determined in the processing in Step S 9  that a dimming degree is not included in the control signal, the control section  5  shifts to processing in Step S 11 , reads out a dimming degree corresponding to the peripheral group address from the control information stored in the storing section  6 , and shifts to processing in Step S 12 . 
     In the processing in Step S 12 , the control section  5  compares a current dimming degree with the dimming degree calculated or read out in Step S 10  or Step S 11 . When determining that the dimming degree is larger than the current dimming degree, the control section  5  shifts to processing in Step S 13  and subjects the LED device L to the lighting control at the dimming degree calculated in Step S 12 . 
     On the other hand, when determining in the processing in Step S 12  that the dimming degree is smaller than the current dimming degree, the control section  5  shifts to (2) and returns to the processing in Step S 1  in  FIG. 7 . 
     As explained above, the luminaire (the LED device L) and the lighting control system  1  store the group address of the luminaire and the peripheral group addresses in the luminaire and reflect a control signal transmitted to the other luminaires on the lighting control for the luminaire. Consequently, the luminaire (the LED device L) and the lighting control system  1  can perform fine gradation control. Since the own group and the peripheral groups are set on the luminaire side, it is unnecessary to cause the central control unit  2  to perform complicated setting and control. The transmission line  3  is not congested. That is, the central control unit  2  can realize gradation control simply by subjecting a set group to the lighting control. 
     The execution order of the acts in the flowcharts in this specification may be changed, a plurality of the acts may be simultaneously executed, or the acts may be executed in different order every time the acts are executed as long as this is not against the characteristics of the acts. 
     While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodiments described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions,