U.S. patent application number 15/437269 was filed with the patent office on 2017-06-08 for lighting an environment through a light valve.
The applicant listed for this patent is Telelumen, LLC. Invention is credited to Steven Paolini.
Application Number | 20170159912 15/437269 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 54769274 |
Filed Date | 2017-06-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170159912 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Paolini; Steven |
June 8, 2017 |
LIGHTING AN ENVIRONMENT THROUGH A LIGHT VALVE
Abstract
A system may include a light valve exposed to incident light
from an external light source. The light valve may independently
modulate multiple wavelength bands of the incident light that are
transmitted through the light valve and into an environment that
the system illuminates. A control system can operate the light
valve to control a spectral distribution of light transmitted
through the light valve.
Inventors: |
Paolini; Steven; (Saratoga,
CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Telelumen, LLC |
Saratoga |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
54769274 |
Appl. No.: |
15/437269 |
Filed: |
February 20, 2017 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
14299317 |
Jun 9, 2014 |
9574747 |
|
|
15437269 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F21V 14/003 20130101;
F21S 11/007 20130101; F21S 19/005 20130101; E06B 2009/2464
20130101; F21V 9/02 20130101; G02F 1/13473 20130101; E06B 9/24
20130101; G02F 1/13318 20130101; G02F 1/23 20130101; E06B 2009/2417
20130101; G02F 1/13306 20130101 |
International
Class: |
F21V 14/00 20060101
F21V014/00; G02F 1/133 20060101 G02F001/133; F21V 9/02 20060101
F21V009/02; F21S 19/00 20060101 F21S019/00; F21S 11/00 20060101
F21S011/00 |
Claims
1. A lighting system comprising: a light valve configured to
receive incident light on a first side of the light valve, the
first side being outside an environment to be illuminated, the
light valve independently filtering a plurality of wavelength bands
of the incident light to produce from a second side of the light
valve illumination of the environment.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the light valve independently
filters at least five different wavelength bands.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the light valve is further
positioned to receive at least a portion of the incident light from
a natural light source.
4. The system of claim 3, wherein the natural light source is the
sun.
5. The system of claim 1, further comprising a mounting structure
to mount the light valve in a light passage through a barrier that
is part of a building containing the environment, the incident
light being from a second environment on a side of the barrier
opposite from the environment.
6. The system of claim 5, wherein the environment to be illuminated
comprises an interior space in the building, and the barrier is one
of a wall, a ceiling, and a floor of the interior space.
7. The system of claim 6, wherein the second environment is an
exterior space outside the building containing the environment to
be illuminated.
8. The system of claim 5, wherein: the environment to be
illuminated comprises a first room in the building; and the second
environment comprises a second room in the building.
9. The system of claim 1, further comprising a broadband source
configured to provide at least a portion of the incident light.
10. The system of claim 9, wherein the broadband source includes
one or more light sources selected from a group consisting of a
High-Intensity Discharge (HID) lamp, a halogen lamp, a laser, a
source of collimated light, and a source of polarized light.
11. The lighting system in claim 1, further comprising: a control
system connected to operate the light valve to control a spectral
distribution of the illumination.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein the control system is operable
to select a script from among a plurality of scripts that describe
different illumination schemes and to control respective
modulations of the wavelength bands in accordance with the script
selected.
13. The system of claim 11, wherein the control system comprises a
communication interface to communicate with one or more lighting
elements that cooperate with the system to illuminate the
environment.
14. The system of claim 11, further comprising a sensor selected
from a group consisting of a temperature sensor, a motion sensor,
an occupancy sensor, a chemical sensor, and an environmental
condition sensor.
15. The system of claim 11, further comprising a sensor, wherein
the control system selects operating parameters of the light valve
based on measurements from the sensor.
16. The system of claim 15, wherein the sensor measures spectral
content of the illumination.
17. The system of claim 15, wherein the sensor measures one or more
characteristics of the incident light.
18. The system of claim 15, further comprising a learning system
executed by the control system, wherein the learning system
processes data from the sensor and adapts the operating parameters
of the light valve based on a characteristic learned from the
data.
19. The system of claim 15, wherein the control system modifies
intensity or spectrum of the illumination transmitted through the
light valve to warn of a sensed condition.
20. The system of claim 15, wherein the control system modifies the
illumination based on sensed activity of one or more users in the
environment.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This patent document is a continuation and claims benefit of
the earlier filing date of U.S. patent application Ser. No.
14/299,317, filed Jun. 9, 2014, which is hereby incorporated by
reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Light from the sun may be the least expensive and most
available daytime light source for lighting and most buildings have
windows that pass sunlight or light from an exterior environment
into the interior of the building. Curtains, blinds, and other
window shades are commonly used to regulate the amount of sunlight
that enters an environment. However, the capabilities of current
windows and window controls are limited.
SUMMARY
[0003] In accordance with an aspect of the invention, a lighting
system can employ an electronic light valve or other electrically
controllable device in a window or other light passage to receive
external light such as natural sunlight and modulate the received
light to control spatial, directional, angular, temporal, or
spectral variation of the lighting of an environment. In one
specific configuration, the light valve may include a panel having
a structure similar to structures found in liquid crystal display
(LCD) or reflective display technology. The light valve may
particularly be deployed as, on, or adjacent to a window, a
skylight, or other passage that passes light from one environment
into another, e.g., from an exterior environment to an interior
environment or other at least partially sheltered environment. The
light valve may operate in conjunction with a control system such
as a general purpose computer or dedicated hardware that interprets
light control information to control the spatial, temporal, and
spectral characteristics of light transmitted through the light
valve. The control information may take the form of lumen scripts
that may be stored locally or streamed to the control system or the
light valve.
[0004] One specific implementation is a system for illuminating an
environment. The system includes a light valve to independently
modulate transmission of several wavelength bands from a light
source such as the sun, through the light valve and into the
environment that the system illuminates. The control system may
operate the light valve to control a spectral distribution of light
transmitted through the light valve and thereby to control the
illumination of the environment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] FIG. 1 shows an implementation of a system using an external
light source to light an interior environment.
[0006] FIG. 2 shows an implementation of a light valve system.
[0007] FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a light valve in accordance
with an implementation using stacked, spectral filters.
[0008] FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a light valve in accordance
with an implementation using laterally-distributed, spectral
filters.
[0009] FIGS. 5A and 5B show implementations of luminaires employing
a manmade light source and a light valve to alter the spectral,
temporal, angular, or spatial distributions of the illumination of
an environment.
[0010] The drawings illustrate examples for the purpose of
explanation and are not of the invention itself. Use of the same
reference symbols in different figures indicates similar or
identical items.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0011] A lighting system can employ an external light source such
as the sun and provide an interior or sheltered environment with
lighting or illumination having spatial, angular, temporal, or
spectral variations controlled according to illumination data
sometimes referred to herein as a script. FIG. 1 shows an example
of a system 100 providing lighting or illumination to interior
environments 112 and 116, which may be rooms, compartments, or
other spaces inside a building 110. Interior environment 112 may
include a building portion that receives light directly from the
outside of building 110, e.g., a room with windows, doors, or
skylights, and interior environment 116 may include a building
portion that indirectly receives exterior light through an
intervening compartment of building 110. Building 110 may be, for
example, a home, store, office building, healthcare facility,
hospital, warehouse, or any other building. Environments 112 and
116 may, for example, be an interior space such as a room, an
attic, a basement, the whole of the interior of building 110, or
any compartment separated, for example, by walls, ceilings, or
floors of building 110.
[0012] The environment outside of building 110 includes one or more
external light sources 120. In examples described herein, external
light source 120 is daylight which may include: sunlight directly
from the sun; sunlight scattered by air, e.g., blue sky; scattered
by other meteorological phenomena, e.g., by clouds; or scattered or
reflected by other natural or manmade objects, e.g., from the moon,
mountains, and bodies of water. The sun produces light having a
broad spectrum and a high intensity on most days, but incident
light 122A, 122B, 122C, and 122D, generically referred to herein as
light 122, varies depending on factors such as the time of day and
conditions in the exterior environment. In particular, light 122
may include sunlight, which often includes bright, nearly
collimated light from the direction of the sun and diffuse light
from other directions in the sky. Further, sunlight may be
scattered, reflected, or filtered by meteorological conditions such
as clouds, by natural features such as snow covered or forested
mountains, bodies of water, or other terrain, or by manmade
features such as neighboring buildings or other structures. FIG. 1
illustrates an example including a light collection system 128,
e.g., mirrors on a sun-tracking mount, that reflect or otherwise
collect sunlight to increase the amount of incident light 122
available for interior lighting. Accordingly, the direction, the
angular distribution of culmination, and spatial distribution of
incident light 122 may vary. The spectral composition of incident
light 122 may also vary. For example, daylight generally varies
with direction and time. In particular, diffuse daylight often has
a higher color temperature than does direct sunlight.
[0013] Daylight is free and a high quality illumination source of
incident light 122, and the sun is described herein as a primary
example of an external light source 120 that may provide interior
lighting. However, other external light sources 120 such as the
moon, stars, or manmade light sources that happen to be in the
exterior environment might alternatively be available or may
contribute to incident light 122A, 122B, 122C, and 122D.
[0014] Building 110 includes one or more active light passages 130
such as windows, doors, skylights, or other light passages that
pass light 122 from external sources 120 into interior environment
112. In the example of FIG. 1, embodiment building 110 includes a
window 130A and a skylight 130B on the sunny side of building 110
and a window 130C and a skylight 130D on a shady side of building
110. Windows 130A and 130C and skylights 130B and 130D may occupy
large areas, e.g., widths or heights on the order of tens of
centimeters to one or more meters. Window 130A and skylight 130B
may face south in the northern hemisphere (or north in the southern
hemisphere) to receive intense and significantly collimated
daylight during most of the day, or may face east in the morning or
west in the evening. Window 130C and skylight 130D may face north
in the northern hemisphere (or south in the southern hemisphere) to
receive diffuse light during most of the day or may face east or
west in the evening or morning.
[0015] Windows 130A and 130C and skylights 130B and 130D may
include conventional structures such as frames and glass panes, but
one or more of light passages 130A to 130D may additionally or
alternatively include respective light valves 132A to 132D that are
capable of modulating multiple spectral components of incident
light 122A to 122D reaching light passages 130A to 130D from
external sources 120. In one configuration, each of light valves
132A to 132D fits into openings adjacent to conventional windows,
skylights, or other light passages. In another configuration, one
or more of light valves 132A to 132D may replace a traditional
transparent, diffuse, or translucent structure such as glass or
plastic panes in respective light passages. As mentioned, each of
light valves 132A to 132D may employ color or spectral filtering
technology such as employed in LCD or reflective displays, but each
of light valves 132A to 132D may be able to modulate more spectral
bands than display systems generally accommodate. Also, light
valves 132A to 132D may not require the spatial or "pixel"
resolution normally required for video displays because light
valves 132A to 132D are primarily intended for illumination and not
for displaying an image for viewing. Although, in some cases, a
light valve 132A, 132B, 132C, or 132D may both provide illumination
for an interior environment and have a viewable image on the light
valve. When displaying an image is not required, a light valve may
uniformly modulate the spectral content of transmitted or reflected
light across the entire area of a window or skylight.
Alternatively, a light valve may contain an array of independent
modulation areas, and each area may have dimensions typical of
current displays or may have larger pixels with dimensions on the
order of millimeters to meters. An array of independent modulation
areas may be particularly desirable for creating spatial variations
in lighting, for example, to create a bright light source or
sources that move in the illuminated environment in a manner
similar to movement of the sun, the moon, or stars. Similarly, a
light valve with an array of independent modulation areas can
create the effect that clouds or other variable phenomena might
have on lighting in the illuminated environment and could
simultaneously create an image of the clouds or other phenomena on
the surface of the light valve.
[0016] Each light passage 130 in the illustrated implementation
further has valve control electronics 134, which are shown in more
detail in FIG. 2. In general, the light valve 132 of a light
passage 130 is physically located within the light passage, e.g.,
in the window, skylight, or other opening through a building
barrier, and a frame or other appropriate mounting structure 250
can hold light valve 132 in place. Valve control electronics 134 is
not required to be in the opening of light passage 130, so that all
or portions of valve control logic 134 may be remote from the
opening. Valve control electronics 134 may be local in the sense
that it controls a single light passage location, but valve control
electronics 134 may work co-operatively with other control systems.
In the implementation of FIG. 2, valve control electronics 134
includes a communication interface 210 capable of communicating
with similar communication interfaces in the valve control
electronics of one or more light passages 130 or with a main
control system 140. For example, communication interface 210 may
communicate with main control system 140 or with other light valve
systems through a network such as a wireless (e.g., Bluetooth,
Zigbee, or Wi-Fi) or hardwired (e.g., Ethernet) network. Control
logic 220, which may include a microcontroller and memory storing
control programs or scripts, may employ communication interface 210
to implement the suitable communications protocols.
[0017] During operation of system 100 of FIG. 1, each light valve
132 may receive incident light 122 and independently modulate or
filter multiple spectral bands in multiple areas to produce
transmitted light 114 that is at least part of the illumination of
interior environment 112. Control logic 220 operates drivers 230 of
an active light passage 130, for example, to apply respective bias
voltages to an array of regions and to thereby control the
transmission percentages for light in different wavelength bands
passing through areas of the associated light valve 132. Such
control is generally subject to programming, but control logic 220
may also be able to access one or more sensors 240 and operate
driver circuits 230 based on sensor measurements in order to
control the light transmission characteristics of multiple
independently controllable areas of the corresponding light valve
132.
[0018] In the illustrated implementation, control electronics 134
includes one or more sensors 240. Sensors 240 may be of any type
including light sensors, temperature sensors, motion sensors,
occupancy sensors, or sensors of other atmospheric components or
other conditions of environment 112. Light sensors, in particular,
may be capable of measuring one or more characteristics of incident
light 122 and/or one or more characteristics of transmitted light
114. Some light characteristics that could be measured include the
intensity, direction, collimation, and spectral distribution of
incident light 122 or transmitted light 114. Control logic 220 may
use such light measurements or may send measurement data to main
control system 140, for example, to be used in a learning program
or in coordinating operation of light valve 132 with operation of
other light sources illuminating an environment. For example,
control logic 220 or main control system 140 may collect and
process data from sensors 240 to learn the characteristics of a
particular light valve 132 or of incident light 122 at the light
valve 132, and a learning program may then automatically adapt the
operating parameters of light valve 132 to provide desired
performance of an active light passage 130. Control logic 134 or
main control system 140 may also change lighting in environment 112
based on other types of measurements. If sensors 240 (or sensors
148) include occupancy or motion sensors, control logic 220 or main
control system 140 may modify the intensity or spectrum of light
transmitted through light passage 130 according to the number or
location of people in environment 112. If sensors 240 (or sensors
148) include chemical or environmental condition sensors, control
logic 220 modify the intensity or spectrum of light transmitted
through light passage 130 to provide a warning or notification of a
sensed condition. Sensors 240 may also be used in predictive
programming of light, for example, to anticipate the light needs or
desires of users based on sensed activity of the users.
[0019] In the system of claim 1, operation of light valves 132A to
132D may be coordinated through main control system 140.
Alternatively, some, all, or none of light passages 130A to 130D
may operate autonomously to control the characteristics of
transmitted light 114A to 114D according to the specific
programming of that light passage 130. In one implementation, each
of light passages 130A to 130D may filter incident light 122A to
122D so that its transmitted light 114A to 114D has a spectral
distribution set or programmed for that light passage. For example,
one or more of light passages 130A to 130D may be programmed to
compensate for a cloudy day by transmitting a higher percentage of
incident red light so that the corresponding internal lighting 114A
to 114D has a spectral distribution of a sunny day. More generally,
valve control system 134A to 134D or main control system 140 may be
operable to select a script from among a library of scripts that
describe different illumination schemes and according to the script
selected, to control respective transmission percentages for the
wavelength bands through the light valves 132A to 132D.
[0020] Illumination of interior environment 112 may include just
transmitted light 114A to 114D from light passages 130A to 130D or
may additionally include light from additional light sources 150.
Additional light sources 150 may be light sources that are not
operating cooperatively with light passages 130A to 130D. For
example, light sources 150 may be conventional light fixtures or
conventional light passages not having a light valve or other
spectral control system or may otherwise be independent of or not
in communication with main control system 140 or light passages
130A to 130D. Alternatively, additional light sources 150 may
include one or more luminaires that operate cooperatively with
light passages 130A to 130D and may produce light with spectral
distributions under control of main control system 140. For
example, additional light sources 150 may include a luminaire such
as described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,021,021, entitled "Authoring,
Recording and Replication of Lighting" or U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No.
2012/022904, entitled "Luminaire System," both of which are hereby
incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.
[0021] Main control system 140 may be a computer system or a light
player such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,021,021 and may be able
to process illumination data or scripts as described in U.S. Pat.
App. Pub. No. 2012/0229048. Main control system 140 may
particularly be a computer or data processing system including data
storage or memory containing program code and lighting data or
scripts 142, a processor capable of executing the program code to
implement an interpreter 144, a user interface (not shown), and a
network interface 146. In general, lighting data such as scripts
142 may be purchased separately from control system 140 and
downloaded to storage in control system 140 or alternatively may be
streamed to control system 140 or light passages 130 as needed for
on-the-fly control of lighting. Main control system 140 may further
include a sensor system 148 that may be any type of sensor
including light sensors, temperature sensors, motion sensors,
occupancy sensors, or sensors of other atmospheric components or
other conditions of environment 112. A light sensor, for example,
may measure the spectral content or other characteristics of
internal light 114 or external light 122 at one or more locations
in interior environment 112 or outside of building 110. However,
main control system 140 could employ measurements of any type in
control process such as described above, for example, to change
lighting in environment 112 adapt to lighting conditions, according
to the number of users present in environment 112, to give warning
or notification of conditions in environment 112, or to predict the
light needs or desires of users based on the activity of the users.
As already mentioned, main control system 140 may not be necessary,
and light passages 130A to 130D and light sources 150 may be able
to communicate and cooperate with each other, e.g., through
peer-to-peer network, without need of main control system 140.
[0022] System 100 may generally operate to allow a user to select a
script 142 from among multiple scripts 142, e.g., a library of
scripts, that may have been installed in memory of main control
system 140 or control electronics 134A, 134B, 134C, or 134D, e.g.,
during manufacture or as a result of a subsequent user acquisition,
e.g., purchases, downloads, or streams. The selected script 142 may
represent a lighting scheme that the user desires for interior
environment 112. For example, a user may select a script 112 that
provides spatial, directional, angular, temporal, and spectral
variations in illumination of environment 112 that: the user finds
soothing, invigorating, or is otherwise intended to affect the
user's mood or performance; provides lighting thought to be healthy
or medically therapeutic; displays the contents of environment 112
in an aesthetically appealing, appalling or other chosen manner;
displays or highlights items for retail sales; facilitates an
activity undertaken in environment 112; or is coordinated with a
multimedia or other presentation or performance occurring in
environment 112. Main control system 140 interprets the selected
script 112 and may send lighting data or instructions to the light
passages 130A to 130D and any luminaires among light sources 150 in
communication with main control system 140. In the control process,
main control system 140 (or other control system) may take into
account sensor measurements of illumination in environment 112 as
described in U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2013/0307419, entitled
"Lighting System with Sensor Feedback," which is hereby
incorporated by reference in its entirety. Main control system 140
may also take into account measurements of the spectral
distribution of incident light 122 from the external light sources
120. Alternatively, control may be independent of sensor
measurements even when such measurements are available.
[0023] Light valves 132A, 132B, 132C, and 132D alter respective
incident light 122A, 122B, 122C, and 122D to produce transmitted
light 114A, 114B, 114C, and 114D, and the alterations may differ
and be coordinated by main control system 140 or a peer system of
control electronics 134A, 134B, 134C, and 134D. In particular,
transmitted light 114A, 114B, 114C, and 114D may have different
spectral distributions selected according to the selected script
142 for lighting of environment 112. Some characteristics of the
illumination of environment 112 that a user may control include
current spectral, spatial, angular, or directional distributions of
the illumination and evolution of time variations of spectral,
spatial, angular, or directional distributions of illumination. For
example, incident light 122A and 122B may have a strong directional
or collimated component, which allows control of collimated
components of the illumination of environment 112 according to a
desired directional or angular distribution for lighting.
Similarly, incident light 122C and 122D may be more diffuse
allowing control of diffuse components of the illumination of
environment 112.
[0024] FIG. 1 shows main control system 140 as a separate and
centralized device, but the functions of main control system 140
may be included in or distributed among one or more other devices
including but not limited to light passages 130A to 130D or their
control electronics 134A to 134D.
[0025] Control methods and systems of illumination of an
environment such as environment 112 that receives direct lighting
from external sources 120 through light valves 132A to 132D can
also be applied to an environment such as environment 116 that
receives indirect lighting. In particular, environment 116 may
receive light through a light passage 160 from environment 112. In
effect, environment 112 may mix light from light valves 132A to
132D and other sources 150 and a portion of that light may pass
through light passage 140 to indirectly light environment 116.
Light passage 160 in general may be a passive structure that
permits the passage of light through a building barrier such as a
wall, floor, or ceiling, or light passage 160 may include a light
valve that controllably filters spectral components of light. For
example, light passage 160 could be substantially identical to
light passages 130A to 130D. In one configuration, light passage
160 (or light passages 130A to 130D) could occupy the entirety of a
building barrier such as a wall, ceiling, floor, or roof
section.
[0026] Light valves 132A to 132D under control of valve control
electronics 134A to 134D or main control system 140 can
independently modulate multiple wavelength or frequency bands of
the broad spectrum incident light 122A to 122D. For example, a
light valve 132 may control transmissive, reflective, or
transflective effects that one or more modulation areas have on
specific wavelength bands of light. A light valve structure capable
of such modulation can be based on modification of display
technology currently employed in computer monitors, flat panel
television, and e-readers. For example, layers from commonly
available LCD panels with standard red-green-blue (RGB) filters
could be used as a light valve. A deconstructed computer monitor
can provide an LCD matrix able to implement the basic principles of
a light valve described above, but the maximum intensity with a
"white" screen may be about 50% or less of the incident intensity.
Also, when unpowered or "all black," such a matrix may leak about
10% of the incident intensity. Technologies and structures used in
reflective displays may provide higher maximum intensity or less
undesired leakage. However, conventional display technologies may
provide only three modulated wavelength bands, e.g., red, blue, and
green or cyan, magenta, and yellow. A higher number of filters,
e.g., four, five or more, may be desired to provide finer control
of spectral distributions. A lower spatial resolution light valve,
e.g., with larger pixels or only a single pixel, may be well suited
to broad spectrum, high quality illumination.
[0027] FIG. 3 shows a cross-section that schematically illustrates
one example of a light valve 300, which may be used for light
valves of FIG. 1. Light valve 300 includes N, where N is three or
more and preferably five or more, selectively transmissive layers
310-1 to 310-N, generically referred to herein as layers 310. Each
layer 310 may be activated to transmit a controllable fraction of
the incident light 330 in a corresponding wavelength band. Each
layer 310 may transmit all or most light in the wavelength bands
corresponding to other layers 310. Such layers 310 may be
constructed using a variety of technologies that are in current use
in displays or may employ techniques that are yet to be developed.
In one example, layer 310-1 to 310-N contain a liquid crystal
material to which different dyes are bound and electric potentials
are applied across layers 310-1 to 310-N to control how effective
the dye is at absorbing or reflecting light in a wavelength band
associated with the dye.
[0028] In the example of FIG. 3, each of layers 310-1 to 310-N has
an array of upper electrodes 312-1 to 312-N and an array of lower
electrodes 314-1 to 314-N made of a transparent conductor such as
indium tin oxide (ITO), and voltages between upper and lower
electrodes may activate or change the percentages of incident light
that each layer 310-1 to 310-N absorbs or reflects from the
respective wave length bands. Upper plates 312-1 to 312-N or lower
plates 314-1 to 314-N may be divided into areas that define
independent modulation areas or what might be referred to as pixels
in display technology. However, a single "pixel" area covering the
entire area of light valve 300 may be sufficient, or multiple
separate "pixel" areas may be large or may be controlled at the
same potential if uniform behavior is desired across the area of
the light valve 300. If desired, a multi-pixel light valve 300 may
create spatial variation in the transmitted light. Driver circuitry
320 is electrically connected to the electrodes 312-1 to 312-N and
314-1 to 314-N and may correspond to all or a portion of valve
control electronics 134A or 134B of FIG. 1. By separate modulation
of the wavelength bands corresponding to layers 310-1 to 310-N,
light valve 300 can pass transmitted light 340 having a different
spectral distribution from incident light 330.
[0029] A light valve may alternatively employ laterally distributed
modulation areas or sub-pixels that transmit different wavelength
bands. FIG. 4, for example, shows a portion of a light valve 400
including one or more pixels 410, each containing M laterally
spaced modulation areas 412-1 to 412-M, generically referred to
herein as modulation areas 412. The M modulation areas 412-1 to
412-M in each pixel 410 may include N (N.ltoreq.M) different types
of filters that modulate the intensity of light in N different
spectral bands. For example, in a configuration in which each pixel
410 contains nine modulation areas 412 corresponding to nine
different wavelength bands, each pixel may be able to independently
control the relative intensities of up to nine different wavelength
bands. In one implementation, each modulation area 412-1 to 412-M
transmits a controllable fraction of incident light having a
wavelength within a wavelength band corresponding to the modulation
area 412-1 to 412-M and absorbs or reflects light having
wavelengths outside the wavelength band corresponding to the
modulation area 412-1 to 412-M. FIG. 4 shows an example in which
modulation areas 412-1 to 412-M includes respective active layers
413-1 to 413-M, generically referred to herein as active layers
413. Active areas 413-1 to 413-M overlie respective filter areas,
414-1 to 414-M, which may differ chemically, e.g., contain
different dyes. In one configuration, each of modulation areas
413-1 to 413-M transmits a percentage of the incident light, and
each of the associated filters 414-1 to 414-M only transmits light
in a wavelength band corresponding to the associated modulation
areas 412-1 to 412-M. The percentages that modulation areas 412-1
to 415-M transmit depend on respective voltages applied to
respective transparent, terminal pairs 415-1 to 415-M, generically
referred to herein as terminal pairs 415. Driver circuits 420 may
be connected to pixels 410 or modulation areas 412 to control
voltages applied across electrode pairs 415 and thereby control
transmission percentages of modulation areas 412 of light valve
400.
[0030] The examples of structures of light valves 300 and 400
illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 may be altered or combined in many
ways. For example, two independent or cooperative light valves
could be stacked or provided on opposite sides of a pane of glass
or other intervening transparent layer. The light valve structures
described may also be combined with other optical elements or
controls for other characteristics of the transmitted light. For
example, spectral filtering may be combined with overall intensity
control device such as an eletrochromic device. Optical elements
could control coherence or diffusion of the light or use an
interference to change spatial distribution of the transmitted
light. The polarization or direction of the transmitted light could
be similarly controlled.
[0031] A multi-channel light valve such as shown in FIG. 3 or 4 can
be used with broadband light sources other than the sun and
particularly with manmade light sources to create a luminaire with
a controllable illumination spectrum and without the need of an
external light source. FIG. 5A, for example, illustrates a
luminaire 500A including a light valve 132 that filters incident
light 512 from a light source 510 to produce a programmable
spectral distribution for illumination 514 of an environment. Light
source 510 is a manmade, broadband light source and may contain one
or more High-Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps, halogen lamps, LEDs,
lasers, collimated light sources, or polarized light sources. A
valve control system 134, which may be substantially the same as
described above with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, can be used to
control the respective transmission percentages that occur for N
wavelength bands where N is three, four, five, or more. Luminaire
500 may then be used in substantially the same manner as luminaires
containing multiple distinct types of light sources such as
described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,021,021 or U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No.
2012/0229048.
[0032] Luminaire system 500A has its own light source 510 and does
not need to be mounted in a light passage. Accordingly, a mounting
system 550 may be employed to mount or set luminaire 500A anywhere.
Luminaire 500B as shown in FIG. 5B uses a frame or mounting system
250 that permits mounting of luminaire 500B in a light passage such
as a window, door, or skylight as described above. In such
configurations, light source 510 may be retractable, transparent,
or have openings that pass sufficient external light 122 that light
valve 132 can be used to modulate the characteristics of incident
daylight 122 (with or without a contribution from light source 510)
for internal use as described above with reference to FIG. 1. When
the external light may be insufficient, e.g., at night, light
source 510 in luminaire 500B may be activated, so that light source
510 alone or with an available external light source provides light
incident on light valve 132. For example, luminaire 500B, when
employed in a light passage, may transition between solely
transforming incident daylight 122 according to a lighting scheme
chosen for illumination 514 of an environment and powering up light
source 510 to provide incident light 512 as needed to maintain the
lighting scheme chosen for illumination 514 of the environment.
[0033] Some elements of the above-described systems can be
implemented in a computer-readable media, e.g., a non-transient
media, such as an optical or magnetic disk, a memory card, or other
solid state storage containing instructions that a computing device
can execute to perform specific processes that are described
herein. Such media may further be or be contained in a server or
other device connected to a network such as the Internet that
provides for the downloading or streaming of data and executable
instructions.
[0034] Although particular implementations have been disclosed,
these implementations are only examples and should not be taken as
limitations. Various adaptations and combinations of features of
the implementations disclosed are within the scope of the following
claims.
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