Granted Patent B2

US 11,882,636 · App. 17/406,559 · Granted Jan 23, 2024

Inventors: David T. Saveri, III (Nazareth, PA); Andrew Peter Schmalz (Macungie, PA); Akshay Bhat (Allentown, PA)

Assignee: Lutron Technology Company LLC

H05B47/11H02J50/80H05B47/13H05B47/19Y02B20/40

Abstract

Claims (54)

1. A load control device for controlling an electrical load, comprising:

a receiver configured to receive messages; and

a processor configured to:

associate a daylight sensor with the load control device;

associate one or more of an occupancy sensor, a vacancy sensor, or a user-activated RF device with the load control device;

receive at least one message from the daylight sensor; and

determine to turn the electrical load on or off, wherein:

a first message from the daylight sensor is sufficient to cause the load control device to determine to turn the electrical load off responsive to a measured light intensity greater than a first threshold value; and

a second message from the daylight sensor is not sufficient to cause the load control device to determine to turn the electrical load on responsive to a measured light intensity less than a second threshold value, unless the load control device also receives a third message indicating the space is occupied.

2. The load control device of claim 1 , wherein the third message includes a message from at least one of: the occupancy sensor, the vacancy sensor, or the user-activated RF device.

3. The load control device of claim 1 wherein to associate the daylight sensor with the load control device, the processor to further:

receive, from the daylight sensor, an association message that includes data representative of a unique identifier associated with the daylight sensor; and

cause a storage of the received data representative of the unique identifier associated with the daylight sensor in memory circuitry communicatively coupled to the processor.

4. The load control device of claim 1 wherein to associate with the load control device the one or more of: the occupancy sensor, the vacancy sensor, or the user-activated RF device, the processor to further:

receive from one or more of: the occupancy sensor, the vacancy sensor, or the user-activated RF device, an association message that includes data representative of a unique identifier associated with respective ones of the occupancy sensor, the vacancy sensor, or the user-activated RF device; and

cause a storage, in memory circuitry communicatively coupled to the processor, of the received data representative of the unique identifier associated with at least one of: the occupancy sensor, the vacancy sensor, or the user-activated RF device.

5. The load control device of claim 1 , further comprising:

a remote switching pack disposed between an electric power source and the electrical load, the remote switching pack reversibly transitionable between a CONDUCTIVE state and a NON-CONDUCTIVE state.

6. The load control device of claim 5 wherein to determine to turn the electrical load off, the processor to further:

receive the first message that includes data indicative that a level of ambient illumination is greater than a defined ambient illumination threshold value from the daylight sensor; and

cause the remote switching pack to transition to the NON-CONDUCTIVE state responsive to receipt of the first message.

7. The load control device of claim 6 wherein to determine to turn the electrical load on, responsive to receipt of the second message and the third message, the processor to further:

receive the second message that includes data indicative that a level of ambient illumination is less than the defined ambient illumination threshold value from the daylight sensor;

receive the third message that includes one or more of:

data indicative the space is occupied received from the occupancy sensor;

data indicative the space is occupied received from the vacancy sensor; or

data indicative of a user activation of an input from the user-activated RF device; and

cause the remote switching pack to transition to the CONDUCTIVE state responsive to receipt of the second message and the third message.

8. A load control method for controlling an electrical load operatively coupled to a load control device, comprising:

associating, by a load control device processor, a daylight sensor with the load control device;

associating with the load control device, by the load control device processor, one or more of: an occupancy sensor, a vacancy sensor, or a user-activated RF device;

receiving, by the load control device processor via receiver circuitry, at least one message from the daylight sensor; and

determining, by the load control device processor, to turn the electrical load off responsive to receipt of a first message from the daylight sensor sufficient to cause the load control device to turn the electrical load off responsive to a measured light intensity greater than a first threshold value; and

determining, by the load control device processor, to turn the electrical load on responsive to receipt of:

a second message from the daylight sensor sufficient to cause the load control device to turn the electrical load on responsive to a measured light intensity less than a second threshold value; and

a third message indicating the space is occupied.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein determining to turn the electrical load on responsive to receipt of the third message indicating the space is occupied further comprises:

determining, by the load control device processor, to turn the electrical load on, responsive to receipt of the third message from at least one of: the occupancy sensor, the vacancy sensor, or the user-activated RF device.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein associating the daylight sensor with the load control device, further comprises:

receiving from the daylight sensor, by the load control device processor, an association message that includes data representative of a unique identifier associated with the daylight sensor; and

causing, by the load control device processor, a storage of the received data representative of the unique identifier associated with the daylight sensor in memory circuitry communicatively coupled to the processor.

11. The method of claim 8 wherein associating with the load control device one or more of: the occupancy sensor, the vacancy sensor, or the user-activated RF device, further comprises:

receiving from one or more of the occupancy sensor, the vacancy sensor, or the user-activated RF device, by the load control device processor, an association message that includes data representative of a unique identifier associated with respective ones of the occupancy sensor, the vacancy sensor, or the user-activated RF device; and

causing, by the load control device processor, a storage in memory circuitry communicatively coupled to the processor of the received data representative of the unique identifier associated with at least one of: the occupancy sensor, the vacancy sensor, or the user-activated RF device.

12. The method of claim 8 wherein determining to turn the electrical load off, further comprises:

receiving, by the load control device processor, the first message that includes data indicative a level of ambient illumination is greater than a defined ambient illumination threshold value from the daylight sensor; and

causing, by the load control device processor, a remote switching pack disposed between an electric power source and the electrical load to transition to a NON-CONDUCTIVE state responsive to receipt of the first message.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein determining to turn the electrical load on, responsive to receipt of the second message and the third message, further comprises:

receiving, by the electric load control device, the second message that includes data indicative the level of ambient illumination is less than the defined ambient illumination threshold value from the daylight sensor;

receiving, by the electric load control device, the third message that includes one or more of:

data indicative the space is occupied received from the occupancy sensor;

data indicative the space is occupied received from the vacancy sensor; or

data indicative of a user activation of an input from the user-activated RF device; and

causing, by the electric load control device, the remote switching pack to transition to the CONDUCTIVE state responsive to receipt of the second message and the third message.

Continuity (8)