Sensor System for a Light Fixture Having Ultraviolet Sterilization Functionality

Abstract

A sensor system useable in conjunction with one or more environmental fixtures is disclosed. Each of the fixtures preferably includes illumination functionality as well as UV sterilization functionality provided by a fan and UV LED chips in the fixture. One of the fixtures is preferably programmed as a master which executes a control algorithm to control and/or monitor the system. The sensor module includes a plurality of sensors for sensing different environmental conditions where the system is utilized. These sensed conditions are provided to the master fixture, whose control algorithm can use the sensed conditions to control one or more functions in each of the fixtures, such as illumination, UV sterilization, and/or fan speed. The master fixture can output necessary controls to other secondary fixtures in the environment. The system may further communicate with or include external devices that can wirelessly communicate with the system using an application.

1 . A system positionable in an environment, comprising:
 a sensor module comprising
 a plurality of sensors each configured to sense different environmental conditions in the environment, and 
 first telemetry circuitry configured to wirelessly transmit the sensed environmental conditions; and 
   a master fixture comprising
 second telemetry circuitry configured to wirelessly receive the transmitted sensed environmental conditions; 
 a fan configured to draw air from the environment into the fixture; and 
 a sterilization box configured to receive the drawn air and to output sterilized air for inclusion back into the environment, wherein the sterilization box comprises a plurality of ultra violet (UV) radiation sources configured to irradiate the drawn air with UV radiation along at least one path to produce the sterilized air; and 
 controller circuitry configured with a control algorithm to automatically control one or more of the fan and the UV radiation sources in accordance with the sensed environment conditions. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein automatically controlling one or more of the fan and the UV radiation sources comprises one or more of: turning on or off the fan; adjusting a speed of the fan; turning on or off the UV radiation sources; or adjusting an intensity of the UV radiation sources. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the master fixture further comprises illumination sources configured to provide illumination to the environment. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the control algorithm is configured to automatically control one or more of the fan, the UV radiation sources, or the illumination sources in accordance with the sensed environment conditions. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein automatically controlling one or more of the fan, the UV radiation sources, or the illumination sources comprises one or more of: turning on or off the fan; adjusting a speed of the fan; turning on or off the UV radiation sources; or adjusting an intensity of the UV radiation sources; turning on or off the illumination sources; or adjusting an intensity of the illumination sources. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein each at least one path is non-linear. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the UV radiation sources comprise UV LED chips configured to produce the UV radiation with a peak wavelength in the range from 200 to 280 nm. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the sensor module and the master fixture are configured to be affixed to a ceiling in the environment. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the sensor module further comprises a battery. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the sensor module further comprises white LEDs to provide illumination to the environment, wherein the white LEDs are configured to receive power from the battery. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising an alert indicator, wherein the control algorithm is configured to issue an alert to be broadcast by the alert indicator depending on the sensed environment conditions. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising an application configured to be executed on an external device in wireless communication with the master fixture, and to generate a graphical user interface on the external device. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the application is configured to receive at the graphical user interface a user input to initiate the control algorithm to automatically control the one or more of the fan and the UV radiation sources in accordance with the sensed environment conditions. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the application is further configured to receive at the graphical user interface one or more inputs to cause the control algorithm to manually control the one or more of the fan and the UV radiation sources in accordance with the one or more inputs. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the application is further configured to receive at the graphical user interface a user selection of a program to cause the control algorithm to control the one or more of the fan and the UV radiation sources in accordance with the selected program. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising one or more secondary fixtures identical in construction to the master fixture but differently programmed from the master fixture, each secondary fixture also comprising:
 second telemetry circuitry;   a fan configured to draw air from the environment into the fixture; and   a sterilization box configured to receive the drawn air and to output sterilized air for inclusion back into the environment, wherein the sterilization box comprises a plurality of ultra violet (UV) radiation sources configured to irradiate the drawn air with UV radiation along at least one path to produce the sterilized air.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the control algorithm in the master fixture is configured to automatically control one or more of the fan and the UV radiation sources in the master fixture and the one or more secondary fixtures in accordance with the sensed environment conditions. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the second telemetry circuitry in the master fixture is further configured to wirelessly transmit one or more control signals to each of the secondary fixtures to automatically control the one or more of the fan and the UV radiation sources in the one or more secondary fixtures. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the second telemetry circuitry in each of the one more secondary fixtures is configured to receive the one or more control signals. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the primary fixture and the one or more secondary fixtures further comprise illumination sources configured to provide illumination to the environment, wherein the control algorithm is configured to automatically control one or more of the fan, the UV radiation sources, or the illumination sources in the primary fixture and each of the one or more secondary fixtures in accordance with the sensed environment conditions.