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US 11,168,480 B2Granted
Skylight dimmer
AssigneeSolatube International, Inc.
InventorsDavid Rillie, Joseph Prenn, Kalen Eidenschink
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A dimmer mechanism is movable by a motor that is powered by solar-charged supercapacitors between a first configuration, in which the dimmer mechanism blocks little of the interior of a skylight tube to maximize light throughput into a room, and a second configuration, in which the dimmer mechanism blocks more of the interior of a skylight tube to reduce light throughput into the room.
Claims17
An assembly, comprising:
- at least one light conveying structure having an upper end configured to be covered by a transparent cover and a lower end, the light conveying structure being configured to guide sunlight entering the transparent cover through the lower end into a room;
- a dimmer mechanism in the light conveying structure;
- at least one motor;
- at least one power supply coupled to the motor to energize the motor;
- at least one photovoltaic (PV) cell coupled to the power supply to charge the power supply;
- at least one wireless receiver configured to receive commands;
- at least one remote control (RC) configured for communicating the commands to the wireless receiver to activate the motor to move the dimmer mechanism between a first configuration, in which the dimmer mechanism blocks a first amount of a cross-sectional area of the light conveying structure, and a second configuration, in which the dimmer mechanism blocks a second amount of the cross-sectional area of the light conveying structure, the first amount being different from the second amount;
- and
- at least one controller configured to receive commands from the RC, the controller configured to maintain the dimmer mechanism in a closed configuration responsive to a voltage from a light sensor indicating low or no sunlight.
6 more elements
An assembly, comprising:
- at least one light conveying structure having an upper end configured to be covered by a transparent cover and a lower end, the light conveying structure being configured to guide sunlight entering the transparent cover through the lower end into a room;
- a dimmer mechanism in the light conveying structure;
- at least one motor;
- at least one power supply coupled to the motor to energize the motor;
- at least one photovoltaic (PV) cell coupled to the power supply to charge the power supply;
- at least one wireless receiver configured to receive commands;
- at least one remote control (RC) configured for communicating the commands to the wireless receiver to activate the motor to move the dimmer mechanism,
- wherein the RC comprises a single-button control element for activating the motor in both directions and the assembly comprises:
- at least one switch operatively associated with the motor to cause the motor to stop turning regardless of whether the single-button control element remains actuated to transmit the commands responsive to a first angular position being reached.
6 more elements
An assembly, comprising:
- at least one light conveying structure having an upper end configured to be covered by a transparent cover and a lower end, the light conveying structure being configured to guide sunlight entering the transparent cover through the lower end into a room;
- a dimmer mechanism in the light conveying structure;
- at least one motor;
- at least one power supply coupled to the motor to energize the motor;
- at least one photovoltaic (PV) cell coupled to the power supply to charge the power supply;
- at least one wireless receiver configured to receive commands;
- at least one remote control (RC) configured for communicating the commands to the wireless receiver to activate the motor to move the dimmer mechanism, wherein a controller is configured to delay activating the motor responsive to the dimmer mechanism being fully open or fully closed before reversing the motor.
4 more elements
An assembly comprising:
- at least one light conveying structure;
- at least one movable dimmer mechanism in the light conveying structure;
- at least one motor coupled to the dimmer mechanism to move the dimmer mechanism;
- at least one power supply configured to energize the motor;
- at least one photovoltaic (PV) cell configured to charge the power supply;
- at least one wireless receiver configured to receive commands;
- and
- at least one controller configured to deenergize the wireless receiver responsive to a voltage from at least one light sensor indicating low or no sunlight.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.