| Patent Number |
Title Of Patent |
Date Issued |
| 6994145 |
Motorized drapery pull system |
February 7, 2006 |
| A quiet drapery pull system includes an elongated track that receives a master car and auxiliary cars. The track defines a pair of curved surfaces for nested receipt of roller members of the cars to facilitate linear tracking of the cars. The cars preferably include tires that are ma |
| 6992612 |
Infrared hand-held remote control |
January 31, 2006 |
| An infrared hand-held remote control for handling a single or plural devices such as lights, shades, drapes and the like contains ergonomically selected and placed control buttons that are self-describing and easy to use. It allows explicit, easy-to-use control of different functions |
| 6983783 |
Motorized shade control system |
January 10, 2006 |
| A motorized shade control system includes electronic drive units (EDUs) having programmable control units directing a motor to move an associated shade in response to command signals directed to the control units from wall-mounted keypad controllers or from alternate devices or control |
| 6982528 |
Thermal protection for lamp ballasts |
January 3, 2006 |
| The output current of a ballast is dynamically limited when an over-temperature condition is detected in the ballast according to one of (i) a step function or (ii) a combination of step and continuous functions, so as to reduce the temperature of the ballast while continuing to oper |
| 6969959 |
Electronic control systems and methods |
November 29, 2005 |
| An apparatus in an electronic control system allows two or three wire operation. A power supply can supply power to the enclosed circuitry in both two and three wire installations. Two separate zero cross detectors are used such that timing information can be collected in both two and |
| 6935403 |
Motorized drapery pull system |
August 30, 2005 |
| A quiet drapery pull system includes an elongated track that receives a master car and auxiliary cars. The track defines a pair of curved surfaces for nested receipt of roller members of the cars to facilitate linear tracking of the cars. The cars preferably include tires that are made f |
| 6927547 |
System bridge and timeclock for RF controlled lighting systems |
August 9, 2005 |
| A method for operatively interconnecting a first and second lighting control subnet is disclosed. In the method, a link claim is transmitted to the first and second lighting control subnets from a bridge. The link claim directs the first and second lighting control subnets to wait for a |
| 6917167 |
Method and apparatus for tracking sequences of an electrical device controllable from multiple l |
July 12, 2005 |
| In an electric system that controls electrical or state variable devices through inputs received from device operators such as switches, buttons and the like, where some of the button control or set sequences for the electrical devices and others predefined "presets", an automatic sequen |
| 6845806 |
Roller shade weighting assembly |
January 25, 2005 |
| A weighting assembly for a roller shade fabric includes an elongated hem bar having opposite open ends and defining an internal cavity communicating with the open ends. A spline secured to an end of the fabric is slidingly received in a pocket defined within the cavity through one of |
| 6839165 |
Dimmer control system having remote infrared transmitters |
January 4, 2005 |
| A control system includes an electrical load control device responsive to radiant energy and a transmitter. The transmitter includes two sets of radiant energy generators connected to an electrical circuit such that polarity of the sets is reversed. A transmissive enclosure includes |
| 6803728 |
System for control of devices |
October 12, 2004 |
| A wireless control system for lighting or the like has a central processor that receives commands from keypads and other control devices, and sends commands to dimmers and other controlled devices. The central processor also receives status reports from the dimmers and sends updates to t |
| 6796357 |
Extension panel for a folding shade |
September 28, 2004 |
| A shade system includes a plurality of panels that are supported by opposite first and second tracks for translation of the panels between retracted and extended positions. The shade system further includes an extension panel supported for translation with a terminal shade panel. An |
| 6796356 |
Folding shades having minimal sag when folded |
September 28, 2004 |
| A folding shade system includes a shade having a plurality of panels secured in an end-to-end fashion and cables suspended from opposite tracks to define a first curved profile. The folding shade system further includes at least one receiver for each of the cables secured to the shade |
| 6794830 |
System for individual and remote control of spaced lighting fixtures |
September 21, 2004 |
| A plurality of spaced ceiling mounted fixtures or other controllable electrical appliances have radiation detectors mounted within each fixture and wired internally of the fixture to a dimming circuit or to a ballast. The radiation detectors have sensitivity over a wide angle and have |
| 6791279 |
Single-switch electronic dimming ballast |
September 14, 2004 |
| An electronic ballast for a fluorescent lamp has a single-switch flyback inverter including a magnetizing inductance, a resonant circuit connected to the output of the inverter including a tank inductor, and a clamp circuit including a diode coupled to the primary winding of the flyback |
| 6774328 |
Dimmer having a thermally insulated faceplate fastener |
August 10, 2004 |
| A light dimmer capable of receiving a faceplate fastener while thermally insulating the fastener from a heat-generating device, such as a triac or a field-effect transistor, is presented. In a preferred embodiment, the dimmer includes a thermally insulating boss integrally formed with th |
| 6734381 |
Wallbox dimmer switch having side-by-side pushbutton and dimmer actuators |
May 11, 2004 |
| A wallbox dimmer switch includes an actuator mounting frame having a platform portion that is receivable in a rectangular wallplate opening having standard toggle-type dimensions. The dimmer switch includes a pushbutton actuator for a switch and an adjacently located dimmer actuator |
| 6727446 |
Wallbox dimmer switch having side-by-side pushbutton and dimmer actuators |
April 27, 2004 |
| A wallbox dimmer switch includes an actuator mounting frame having a platform portion that is receivable in a rectangular wallplate opening having standard toggle-type dimensions. The dimmer switch includes a pushbutton actuator for a switch and an adjacently located dimmer actuator |
| 6687487 |
Repeater for transmission system for controlling and determining the status of electrical device |
February 3, 2004 |
| A repeater for use in a two way communication system for retransmitting information between a first device and a second device to help ensure reliable two way communication between the devices, comprising: a transmitter/receiver, the transmitter/receiver receiving signals from the fi |
| 6674248 |
Electronic ballast |
January 6, 2004 |
| An electronic ballast for driving a gas discharge lamp includes a rectifier, a valley-fill circuit, an inverter having first and second series-connected controllably conductive device having complementary duty cycles, a control circuit for controlling the controllably conductive devi |
| 6667578 |
System for individual and remote control of spaced lighting fixtures |
December 23, 2003 |
| A plurality of spaced ceiling mounted fixtures or other controllable electrical appliances have radiation detectors mounted within each fixture and wired internally of the fixture to a dimming circuit or to a ballast. The radiation detectors have sensitivity over a wide angle and have |
| 6646843 |
Short circuited semiconductor switch detection |
November 11, 2003 |
| A method and apparatus are provided for detecting a short circuited semiconductor switch. The apparatus comprises a semiconductor switching device and a short circuited switch detection device. The semiconductor switching device comprises an input, an output, and a control input for |
| 6642669 |
Electronic dimming ballast for compact fluorescent lamps |
November 4, 2003 |
| The operating frequency of a ballast is sufficiently far from resonance that, when a compact fluorescent lamp is dimmed to about one percent light output level, the ballast is operating with an open loop gain below a predetermined level, such as, for example, 15, and is operating with an |
| 6545434 |
Multi-scene preset lighting controller |
April 8, 2003 |
| A lighting control device for controlling the light intensity level of a least one lamp. The device is capable of storing preset light intensity levels in a memory. The method for storing the preset light intensity levels is simple and straight forward. The user adjusts the desired light |
| 6528957 |
Power/energy management control system |
March 4, 2003 |
| A power management system controls power and energy drawn by a load monitoring total drawn power and energy and modifying load usage. A power meter monitors power drawn by a load and provides a control circuit with an indication of power draw. The control circuit controls the power d |
| 6497267 |
Motorized window shade with ultraquiet motor drive and ESD protection |
December 24, 2002 |
| A motorized shade control system is described in which electrostatic charges, generated by a shade fabric being reeled on to and off of a roller are conducted to and grounded by the shaft of a remote drive motor. The drive motor is ultraquiet, and includes a worm gear drive and singl |
| 6452344 |
Electronic dimming ballast |
September 17, 2002 |
| An electronic dimming ballast has a parallel loaded resonant output circuit plus a combination of pulse width modulation and frequency variation to accomplish the dimming of compact fluorescent lamps. The ballast operates at a fixed frequency throughout a selected range of light levels, |
| 6380696 |
Multi-scene preset lighting controller |
April 30, 2002 |
| A lighting control device for controlling the light intensity level of at least one lamp. The device is capable of storing preset light intensity levels in a memory. The method for storing the preset light intensity levels is simple and straight forward. The user adjusts the desired ligh |
| 6347028 |
Load control system having an overload protection circuit |
February 12, 2002 |
| A load control circuit having an overload circuit capable of protecting a switching element from overload conditions over a wide range of operating conditions. The overload circuit limits the maximum average power dissipation of the switching element in accordance with a comparison of an |
| 6300727 |
Lighting control with wireless remote control and programmability |
October 9, 2001 |
| A remotely controllable and programmable power control unit for controlling and programming the state and power level, including special functions, of one or more electrical devices. The electrical device can be an electric lamp. The system includes a user-actuatable remote transmitter u |
| 6188181 |
Lighting control system for different load types |
February 13, 2001 |
| An improved signal generator that is capable of providing a multitude of control schemes to connected ballasts or transformers to adjust the luminous output of an attached lamp or light source. The control scheme is preferably at least one of the type 0 to 10V sink, 0 to 10V source, puls |
| 6169377 |
Lighting control with wireless remote control and programmability |
January 2, 2001 |
| A remotely controllable and programmable power control unit for controlling and programming the state and power level, including special functions, of one or more electrical devices. The electrical device can be an electric lamp. The system includes a user-actuatable remote transmitter u |
| 6091205 |
Phase controlled dimming system with active filter for preventing flickering and undesired inten |
July 18, 2000 |
| A phase controlled dimming system having an active filter for receiving the AC line voltage waveform, and for recovering the AC fundamental waveform therefrom is disclosed. The recovered AC fundamental waveform is supplied to a zero crossing detector that provides zero crossing indicatio |
| 6046550 |
Multi-zone lighting control system |
April 4, 2000 |
| A diagnostic apparatus for use in a light dimming circuit of the tape which selectively controls the current flow through a lighting load to adjust its luminous output. The dimming circuit has a controllably conductive device, such as a triac, connectable in series between an A.C. power |
| 6037721 |
System for individual and remote control of spaced lighting fixtures |
March 14, 2000 |
| A plurality of spaced ceiling mounted fixtures or other controllable electrical appliances have radiation detectors mounted within each fixture and wired internally of the fixture to a dimming circuit or to a ballast. The radiation detectors have sensitivity over a wide angle and have |
| 6005308 |
Electrical switch and dimmer control device |
December 21, 1999 |
| An electrical switch and dimmer device for controlling current applied to a load comprises a bezel assembly (16) which includes a bezel housing (17), a switch actuator (18) and a dimmer actuator (19). The bezel housing supports both switch and dimmer actuators for respective movement bet |
| 5990635 |
Multi-zone lighting control system |
November 23, 1999 |
| A lighting dimmer for controlling the current through a lighting load includes circuitry for applying a predetermined dimming level control signal to a control circuit in response to the absence of a dimming level control signal and the cycling OFF and ON of a circuit breaker. The dimmer |
| 5987205 |
Infrared energy transmissive member and radiation receiver |
November 16, 1999 |
| An infrared energy transmissive member for conducting infrared energy from a first end of the infrared energy transmissive member to a second end disposed adjacent an infrared responsive circuit component of an infrared receiver, the member comprising a flexible hollow plastic tube. |
| 5982103 |
Compact radio frequency transmitting and receiving antenna and control device employing same |
November 9, 1999 |
| A radio frequency antenna for use with a wall mounted transmitter and/or receiver for receiving and/or transmitting signals adapted to control a control device and/or indicate status of the control device. The antenna includes an insulating substrate sized to fit within an area defined b |
| 5962979 |
Asymmetrical bus capacitors |
October 5, 1999 |
| A capacitor network includes a plurality of capacitors in series. Each capacitor has a preselected capacitance and breakdown voltage. The sum of the breakdown voltages of all the capacitors is at least equal to a desired voltage value. The capacitances of the capacitors are chosen to |
| 5949200 |
Wall mountable control system with virtually unlimited zone capacity |
September 7, 1999 |
| A wall mountable control panel for controlling power levels delivered to electrical loads, such as lighting loads defining zones, has a zone select switch for scrolling through multiple zones, so as to permit a single control unit (having a power level adjustment switch and a power level |
| 5942727 |
Universal mounting plate for lamp ballasts |
August 24, 1999 |
| A universal ballast mounting structure for fluorescent lamp fixtures has two spaced mounting plates on opposite sides of the ballast. One of the plates is adapted to be pivotally mounted to the cover of a junction box, and has an opening therethrough to enable wiring to extend from the |
| 5909087 |
Lighting control with wireless remote control and programmability |
June 1, 1999 |
| A remotely controllable and programmable power control unit for controlling and programming the state and power level, including special functions, of one or more electrical devices. The electrical device can be an electric lamp. The system includes a user-actuatable remote transmitter u |
| 5905442 |
Method and apparatus for controlling and determining the status of electrical devices from remot |
May 18, 1999 |
| Apparatus for controlling an electrical device by remote control including a control device coupled to the electrical device by a wire connection for providing power to the electrical device, the control device having an actuator for adjusting the status of the electrical device and a ra |
| 5864212 |
Control system for providing power to a gas discharge lamp |
January 26, 1999 |
| A dimming control circuit provides power from an ac source to a compact fluorescent lamp. The circuit generally includes a resonant half-bridge inverter driven by a pulse-duration-modulated voltage, for providing a high-frequency ac voltage between the lamp electrodes. A combination |
| 5848054 |
Repeater for transmission system for controlling and determining the status of electrical device |
December 8, 1998 |
| A repeater for use in a two way communication system for retransmitting information between a first device and a second device to help ensure reliable two way communication between the devices, comprising: a transmitter/receiver, the transmitter/receiver receiving signals from the fi |
| 5841239 |
Circuit for dimming compact fluorescent lamps |
November 24, 1998 |
| A dimming control circuit provides power from an ac source to a compact fluorescent lamp. The circuit generally includes a resonant half-bridge inverter driven by a pulse-duration-modulated voltage, for providing a high-frequency ac voltage between the lamp electrodes. A combination |
| 5838226 |
Communication protocol for transmission system for controlling and determining the status of ele |
November 17, 1998 |
| A communication protocol for a two way transmission system having at least one first transmitter/receiver device, at least one second transmitter/receiver device and at least one repeater for relaying signals between the first and second devices. The protocol includes the steps of tr |
| 5808417 |
Lighting control system with corrugated heat sink |
September 15, 1998 |
| A dimmer panel for controlling the intensity of a plurality of electric light sources includes a plurality of dimming circuits. Each dimming circuit has a control circuit, a heat producing controllably conductive power switch such as a triac, and a heat producing coil such as a choke. |
| 5798581 |
Location independent dimmer switch for use in multiple location switch system, and switch system |
August 25, 1998 |
| A wall mountable dimmer switch for controlling the level of AC power delivered to a load, such as a lighting load. The switch is capable of being used as a single pole, three-way or four-way dimmer switch. The switch is responsive to signals supplied by auxiliary devices to increase, |
