Motorized window treatment

A motor drive unit for a motorized window treatment, the motorized window treatment including a covering material, a drive shaft, and at least one lift cord rotatably received around the drive shaft and extending to a bottom of the covering material for raising and lowering the covering material between a fully-open and fully-closed position and to any position intermediate the fully-open and fully-closed positions, the motorized window treatment further comprising a battery-powered supply having at least one battery for generating a battery voltage for powering the motor drive unit, the motor drive unit comprising:

• a motor coupled to the drive shaft, such that the motor drive unit raises and lowers the covering material by rotating the drive shaft;
• and
• a controller for controlling the motor to raise and lower the covering material;
• wherein the controller monitors the magnitude of the battery voltage of the battery-powered supply when the motor is not raising or lowering the covering material and has a low-battery mode which is entered when the magnitude of the battery voltage drops below a first predetermined low-battery threshold to move said covering material at a reduced speed in the low-battery mode.

A motorized window treatment comprising:

• a covering material;
• a motor drive unit including a motor moving the covering material between a fully-open position and a fully-closed position;
• and
• a battery-powered supply for providing a battery voltage for powering the motor drive unit;
• wherein the motor drive unit monitors the state of charge of the battery and, when the state of charge is reduced below a first predetermined threshold, operates the motor at a reduced motor speed.

A motorized window treatment comprising:

• a covering material;
• a motor drive unit including a motor coupled to said covering material to move the covering material between a fully-open position and a fully-closed position;
• a battery-powered supply connected to and providing a voltage for powering the motor drive unit;
• and
• wherein the motor drive unit determines when the magnitude of the voltage is too low for continued operation and reserves enough energy in the battery to allow for at least one additional movement of the covering material to the fully-open position.

A motor drive unit for a motorized window treatment, the motorized window treatment including a covering material, a drive shaft, and at least one lift cord rotatably received around the drive shaft and extending to a bottom of the covering material for raising and lowering the covering material between a fully-open and fully-closed position and to any position intermediate the fully-open and fully-closed positions, the motorized window treatment further comprising a battery-powered supply having at least one battery for generating a battery voltage for powering the motor drive unit, the motor drive unit comprising:

• a motor coupled to the drive shaft, such that the motor drive unit raises and lowers the covering material by rotating the drive shaft;
• a controller for controlling the motor to raise and lower the covering material;
• and
• a power supply for receiving the battery voltage and generating a DC supply voltage having a first nominal magnitude for powering the controller;
• wherein the controller increases the magnitude of the DC supply voltage to a second increased magnitude greater than the first magnitude when the controller is driving the motor to rotate the drive shaft.

A motorized window treatment comprising:

• a covering material for the window moveable between a fully-open and fully-closed position and any position intermediate the fully-open and fully-closed positions:
• a drive shaft;
• at least one lift cord rotatably received around the drive shaft and extending to a bottom of the covering material for raising and lowering the covering material;
• a motor drive unit having a motor coupled to the drive shaft such that the motor drive unit raises and lowers the covering material by rotating the drive shaft, the motor drive unit having a sensor arrangement coupled to the drive shaft for sensing movement of the drive shaft and used for determining the position of the bottom of the covering material, the motor drive unit having a control unit coupled to the sensor arrangement for determining from at least one sensor signal from the sensor arrangement the position of the bottom of the covering material between the fully-open and fully-closed positions, the motor drive unit having a memory in the control unit for storing data related to the determined position;
• a battery-powered supply for powering the motor drive unit;
• a supplemental power source for the control unit;
• said supplemental power source maintaining a charged voltage for a period of time adequate to maintain covering material position data when the battery powered supply is removed and changed;
• whereby the battery-powered supply can be removed without loss of the position data.

A motorized window treatment comprising:

• a covering material for a window moveable between a fully-open and fully-closed position and any position intermediate the fully-open and fully-closed positions:
• a drive shaft;
• at least one lift cord rotatably received around the drive shaft and extending to a bottom of the covering material for raising and lowering the covering material;
• a motor drive unit having a motor coupled to the drive shaft such that the motor drive unit raises and lowers the covering material by rotating the drive shaft, the motor drive unit having a sensor arrangement coupled to the drive shaft for sensing movement of the drive shaft and used for determining the position of the bottom of the covering material, the motor drive unit having a control unit coupled to the sensor arrangement for determining from at least one sensor signal from the sensor arrangement the position of the bottom of the covering material between the fully-open and fully-closed positions;
• and
• a battery-powered supply for powering the motor drive unit;
• wherein the control unit for the motor drive unit prevents the motor drive unit from operating to lower the covering material until an upper limit for the covering material is reset after a loss of power.

A motorized window treatment comprising:

• a covering material for a window moveable between a fully-open and a fully-closed position and any position intermediate the fully-open and fully-closed positions:
• a drive shaft;
• at least one lift cord rotatably received around the drive shaft and extending to a bottom of the covering material for raising and lowering the covering material;
• a motor drive unit having a motor coupled to the drive shaft such that the motor drive unit raises and lowers the covering material by rotating the drive shaft, the motor drive unit having a sensor arrangement coupled to the drive shaft for sensing movement of the drive shaft and used for determining the position of the bottom of the covering material, the motor drive unit having a control unit coupled to the sensor arrangement for determining from at least one sensor signal from the sensor arrangement the position of the bottom of the covering material between the fully-open and fully-closed positions;
• wherein the covering material is engageable by a user to manually position the covering material at any position between the fully-open and fully-closed positions and wherein the sensor arrangement provides said at least one sensor signal to the control unit so that the control unit can determine the position of the covering material when the covering material is manually adjusted.

A battery-powered motorized window treatment comprising:

• a covering material for a window moveable between a fully-open and a fully-closed position and any position intermediate the fully-open and fully-closed positions:
• a drive shaft;
• at least one lift cord rotatably received around the drive shaft and extending to a bottom of the covering material for raising and lowering the covering material;
• and
• a motor drive unit having a motor coupled to the drive shaft such that the motor drive unit raises and lowers the covering material by rotating the drive shaft, the motor drive unit having a sensor arrangement coupled to the drive shaft for sensing movement of the drive shaft and used for determining the position of the bottom of the covering material, the motor drive unit having a control unit coupled to the sensor arrangement for determining from at least one sensor signal from the sensor arrangement the position of the bottom of the covering material between the fully-open and fully-closed positions, the control unit further comprising a microprocessor having a sleep mode, the microprocessor using reduced electrical power during the sleep mode to conserve battery power;
• wherein the covering material is engageable by a user to manually position the covering material at any position between the fully-open and fully-closed positions and wherein the sensor arrangement provides said at least one sensor signal to the control unit so that the control unit can determine the position of the covering material when the covering material is manually adjusted, the motor producing an electromotive force when the window treatment is moved manually, the electromotive force being coupled to an input of the control unit to cause the microprocessor to change from the sleep mode to an active mode, whereby the control unit receives and processes the sensor signal to determine the position of the covering material when the covering material is manually adjusted.

A wireless digital signal receiver designed to conserve battery power comprising:

• a receiver circuit for detecting edge-encoded digital data signals, the digital data signals comprising bits, each having a bit width;
• and
• a control circuit for turning on the receiver circuit for an on-time during which on-time the receiver circuit senses whether a digital data signal is present and turns off the receiver circuit for an off-time if a digital data signal is not present, the on-time being greater than the bit width of the digital data signals and the longest off-time between digital data signals so that it is ensured that if a digital data signal is present it will be detected;
• the digital data signals being transmitted by a transmitter circuit in a packet, the packet being repeated a plurality of times for a single data transmission.

A motorized window treatment comprising:

• a covering material;
• a drive shaft;
• at least one lift cord rotatably received around the drive shaft and extending to a bottom end of the covering material, such that the lift cord provides a torque on the drive shaft;
• a motor drive unit having a motor coupled to the drive shaft, such that the motor drive unit raises and lowers the covering material by rotating the drive shaft;
• and
• a spring assist assembly coupled to the drive shaft for providing torque on the drive shaft in a direction opposite a direction of the torque provided on the drive shaft by the lift cord;
• wherein an amount of energy required by the motor to drive the drive shaft is reduced by the spring assist assembly.

A motorized window treatment comprising:

• a covering material for a window, the covering material moveable between a fully-closed and a fully-open position;
• a drive shaft;
• at least one cord rotatably wound around the drive shaft for raising and lowering the covering material when the drive shaft is rotated in first and second directions, the cord providing a torque on the drive shaft due to the weight of the covering material;
• a motor drive unit comprising a motor for driving the drive shaft and a controller for controlling the direction of rotation of the motor and the speed of the motor;
• and
• a spring assist unit coupled to the drive shaft for providing a torque on the drive shaft opposite a torque provided by the at least one cord, the spring assist unit providing a torque to the drive shaft to raise the covering material to a position approximately midway between the fully-closed and fully-open position without substantial energy being provided by said motor, the spring assist unit assisting the motor to raise the covering material above the midway position to the fully-open position, the spring assist unit acting to provide a torque on the drive shaft resisting downward motion of the covering material when the covering material is lowered from the fully-open position to the fully-closed position;
• wherein the motor provides a torque on the drive shaft to wind up the spring assist unit when the covering material is lowered from the midway position to the fully-closed position.

A motorized window treatment comprising:

• a covering material;
• a drive shaft;
• at least one lift cord rotatably received around the drive shaft and extending to a bottom end of the covering material, such that the lift cord provides a torque on the drive shaft;
• a motor drive unit having a motor coupled to the drive shaft, such that the motor drive unit raises and lowers the covering material by rotating the drive shaft;
• a first battery-powered supply for powering the motor drive unit;
• a spring assist assembly coupled to the drive shaft for providing a torque on the drive shaft in a direction opposite a direction of the torque provided on the drive shaft by the lift cord;
• a control unit for controlling the motor drive unit, the control unit having a memory for retaining position data related to the position of the covering material between the fully-open and fully closed positions;
• and
• a second battery-powered supply for providing electrical power to the control unit independent of said first battery powered supply for said motor drive unit.