EP0507365A2

EP0507365A2 - System for operating a set of blinds

Info

Publication number: EP0507365A2
Application number: EP92200588A
Authority: EP
Inventors: George Christiaan Van De Zande
Original assignee: Hunter Douglas Industries BV
Current assignee: Hunter Douglas Industries BV
Priority date: 1991-03-06
Filing date: 1992-03-02
Publication date: 1992-10-07
Also published as: GB9104703D0; EP0507365A3; GB2253495A

Abstract

A system for controlling a set of at least two motorised blinds having at least one motor per blind, said system comprising a plurality of inter-connected control units for selectively activating one or more associated motorised blinds and at least one operating unit, the system being adapted to produce a first type of command signal whereby only one of the plurality of control units activates the motorised blind with which it is associated, and a second type of command signals whereby all of the control units activate the motorised blinds with which they are associated.

Description

The present invention relates to a system for controlling sets of blinds, for example venetian blinds, or vertical slat blinds.
According to the invention there is provided a system for controlling a set of at least two motorised blinds having at least one motor per blind, said system comprising a plurality of inter-connected control units for selectively activating the motorised blind with which it is associated, and a second type of command signals whereby all of the control units activate the motorised blinds with which they are associated.
With the invention, control units are interconnected via power and control lines. According to the invention, a selected one or more of the control units may be used to activate a respective blind or blinds or alternatively each of the interconnected control units may be used to activate the activated motorised blind(s). The selection in the first instance may take the form of direct connection of an operating unit to the control unit in the case of an electrically controlled system, as or in an electrically controlled system by designation of a control unit by encoding of command signals, or by signals provided in a bus.
When an electrically constituted embodiment of the invention is used, it should be noted that which separate power and control lines are described, the invention may readily be operated with one set of lines fulfilling both functions, albeit only quasi-simultaneously, via multiplexers.
When a blind is to be actuated in two or more of its degrees of freedom, the necessary parts of the system, e.g control units may be doubled up as appropriate, so that for example, a blind may be both tilted and raised/lowered in the case of a horizontal blind or both turned leftward/rightward and opened/closed in the case of a vertical blind.
The invention will further be understood from the following description, when taken together with the attached drawings which are given by way of example only and in which;

Fig 1 is a schematic disclaim of a control system according to the invention.
Fig 2 shows a set of pin connectors for use in a control unit according to the invention.
Fig 3 is a circuit diagram of a control unit according to the invention.
Fig 3a shows a battery charging circuit suitable for use with the invention.
Fig 4 is a schematic of a control unit according to the invention.
Fig 5 is a circuit diagram of a first embodiment of the invention.
Fig 6 is a circuit diagram of a decoder of a second embodiment of the invention.
Fig 6 is a circuit diagram of a decoder of a second embodiment of the invention.
Fig 7 shows a set of pin connectors for use in the second embodiment of the invention.
Fig 8 shows a system for controlling the blinds of various rooms of a building.
Fig 9 shows a set of control systems similar to that shown in Fig 8, all independently controlled from a single central computer.
Fig 10 shows an alternative means of interconnecting the control units.

Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of one embodiment of the invention. Control units 10, 12 and 14, each associated with a set of motorised blinds, are interconnected by control lines and power lines. Power is input to the system at 20. This input power may take the form of direct current sufficient to power the system on a real-time basis, or may consist of trickle charging to batteries disposed within the system, and preferably within each of the control units. Also shown in Figure 1 are two operating units 16 and 18. In a manner to be described below, in this instance operating unit 18 is connected to control unit 14, such that only the blinds associated with control unit 14 are actuatable when operating unit 18 is operated. Operating unit 16 is connected to both the power input 20 and the control unit 10. This latter connection is arranged so that via the mutual connections between operating units 10, 12 and 14, operation of operating unit 16 cause the blinds associated with control unit 10, 12 and 14 to be actuated.
Referring to Figure 2, the connector pins for a control unit are shown. Each control unit comprises three groups 25, 30 and 35 of four pins respectively. Set 25 comprises two power input pins 26 and 27, an L input 28 and an R input 29. These two latter inputs are for receiving signals indicative of an instruction to the control unit to actuate a blind in a leftward or rightward direction. This may take the form of the rotation of blind slats in respective directions, or the opening and closing or raising and lowering of a blind itself. Pin set 25 is indicative of group operation of blinds. It is therefore necessary, in order to achieve group operation, to connect set 25 to the output pin set of another control box.
Pin set 30 is such an output set, in which case pins 31 and 32 are power output pins from the control unit, and are arranged in the same polarity as the input power pins 26 and 27 and are intended to supply power from the system power input 20 to the rest of the system via the control units. Pins 33 and 34 are for connection to equivalent pins 28 and 29 on the next control unit to be connected to the system. These are for outputting signals indicative of group operation of the blind control system.
Pin set 35 is for connection to a control unit; and comprises power output pins 36 and 37 in the reverse polarity from the power input pins 28 and 29, and command signal input pins for instructing the control unit to actuate it associated set of blinds in a leftward or rightward direction. The degrees of freedom of actuation are the same as for pins 28 and 29.
Figure 3 shows a diagram of a circuit 40 for use in the control units to be used in the invention. Input buffers 45 and 50 are provided for receiving command signals indicative of leftward or rightward operation of the blinds associates with the control unit. Each buffer comprises an input for individual operation (R', L') and inputs for group operation (L,R). The operation of input buffers 45 and 50 is identical in many respects therefore only that of 45 will be described. In the case of a command signal being output from an operating unit to pin 39 of a control unit, the input R' becomes high and this signal is amplified via transistors T3 and T8 in order that the DC motor 100 is actuated in the rightward direction. In the case of a command signal being input at pin 29, the reversal of polarities between the power input pins 26, 27 and power output pins 36 and 37 means that input R will be earthed, at which point the collector of transistor T2 becomes high. The signal is then amplified as before and DC motor 100 is actuated as before.
The operation of input buffer 50 is identical apart from the provision of connection 80 which, via transistor T7 and relay 90, causes DC motor 100 to be actuated in the leftward direction. Relay 90 is biased for the polarity of signals to DC motor 100 to cause it to actuate blinds in the rightward direction. The base of transistor T7 becomes high whenever a leftward signal, whether it be of the individual group command type is input to buffer 50. This causes relay 90 to reverse the polarity of the power input to DC motor 100.
Also shown in Figure 3 is a feed back control, which operates via resistors R10, R_var and R11. Should the operation of motor 100 be hindered, the coil current passing through resistors R10, R_var and transistor T8 will rise, causing the base potential of transistor T4 to rise, whereby the power supplied to the DC motor via transistor T8 may be reduced.
In order that the control unit be operable with a set of blinds the actuation of which requires more than one motor, R_var is provided, so that the feed back control may be calibrated to take into account the increased coil current which will need to be supplied.
The input buffers 45 and 50 are connected together via diodes D1 and D2, so that the output of say buffer 45 does not cause connection 80 to become high, in which case the reverse operation from that desired would occur.
The system of figure 3 may be doubled up, as appropriate, for actuation of a blind in each of its degrees of freedom.
Fig 3a shows a battery suitable for use in the circuit 40 of figure 3. Power input to the circuit at 20 is input to the charging circuit 60 at input 66. This trickle charges battery 4, or may alternatively be used to produce Vcc. Typically input 66 is at 6v above earth potential during charging. When no power is input at 66, the diode 62 prevents current flowing back to input 66 and 20.
The advantage of using a trickle charging system is that the lines feeding power to the overall system may be made more finely, since the energy to drive the system momentarily may be supplied to it continuously.
Figure 4 shows a schematic of a control unit, in which a driver and combining unit similar to those shown in Figure 3 are used to control a motor to actuate a first blind and a set of motors to actuate a second blind. The inputs to the combining unit, instead of the input buffers 45 and 50 shown in Figure 3 comprise decoder units as shown in Figure 5.
Figure 6 shows a decoder unit for use in a second embodiment of the invention. When individual operation of the lines is required, the input L to the decoder is earthed, whereupon T1 conducts and causes the output to D3 to be high. In the case of group operation, L is connected to VCC, whereupon transistor T1' conducts, thus causing the output to D4 to become high. In either case, the outputs of diodes D3 and D4 are sent to the combining unit. When group operation is selected, the output L', becomes high, whereupon a command signal may be sent to other control units via the output pins to be described below.
Figure 7 shows the pin connections in the second embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the connection of the operating unit is to pin set 120 only. Power is taken from output pins 121 and 122 to the operating unit. The high/low command signals are then input to pins 123 and 124 as described above and these are sent to respective decoders, such as R shown in Figure 6. Pin sets 125 and 130 are identical, each set comprising power input/output pins 126, 127 and 131, 132, the connections being in the same polarity as for pins 121 and 122. Each pin set also comprises leftward, and rightward group operation input/output pins. In this case it will be noted that should the operating unit to this control unit be instructed to actuate the group of blinds, pins 128, 129, 133 or 134 may be used as output pins. They are also used as input pins for receiving group command signals from the other control units.
Figure 8 shows an assembly comprising a control system according to the invention, in which the blinds of individual rooms are connected to respective controllers, the controllers of different rooms being interconnected. Each controller controls the blinds of its respective room, via drive means associated with each motor needed to drive a particular blind. A system operating unit is provided which may communicate with any one of the control units via e.g a direct pin connection, or via an ultrasonic, or other radiant energy link. In this case, the pin connections described in the two embodiments on the invention previously, are replaced by a multiplexer, or equivalent decoding system. A power supply to applied to the interconnected control units, which supplies the power to each of the control units and its associated motors.
Figure 9 shows an alternative arrangement to the system shown in Figure 8, in which each of the rooms of a face of a building are provided with an associated control unit, each set of control units being provided with a dedicated power supply. The command signals to each of the sets of control units are produced independently from a central computer, linked to each of the control unit sets.
Figure 10 shows an alternative method of connecting the control units. In this embodiment, the control units are connected via a bus, and respective bus taps are provided to connect each control unit to the bus. Thus a central computer may control each control until, or set of control unit provided with a single bus tap individually.

Claims

A system for controlling a set of at least two motorised blinds having at least one motor per blind, said system comprising a plurality of inter-connected control units for selectively activating one or more associated motorised blinds and at least one operating unit, the system being adapted to produce a first type of command signal whereby only one of the plurality of control units activates the motorised blind with which it is associated, and a second type of command signals whereby all of the control units activate the motorised blinds with which they are associated.
A system according to claim 1, wherein each control unit comprises means for receiving and storing electrical energy.
A system according to claim 2, wherein the control units each comprise means for connection to another control unit and at least one of the control units comprises means for connection to an operating unit.
A system according to claim 3, wherein the means for connection to the operating unit are such that only the motorised blind associated with that control unit is driven.
A system according to claim 3, wherein the means for connection to the operating unit are such that each of the control units driven the motorised blinds associated with them.
A system according to claim 3, wherein the means for connecting to the operating unit are such that upon selection only the motorised blind associated with the control unit is driven or the motorised blinds associated with each control unit are drive.
A system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein each control unit comprises buffered input means for receiving either of the first or second type of command signals and means for driving the associated motorised blinds in accordance with the signal received.
A system according to claim 7, the control unit comprising means for determining the direction of motor travel in accordance with the signal received.
A system according to any preceding claim, wherein the operating unit comprises means for producing signals indicative of the direction of blind actuation.
A system according to any of the preceding claims wherein the control unit comprises decoders for receiving first and second types of command signal indicative of given directions respectively, a combining unit connected to first outputs of the decoders and motor drive means where the combining unit is provided with means for producing drive signals to the motor drive means.
A system according to claim 10, wherein the decoder is provided with first and second inputs for receiving first and second types of command signals respectively and means for producing an output signal to the first output if the first or second input receive command signal of the first or second type respectively.
A system according to claim 11, wherein the first input is suitable to be connected to an operating unit for actuating the motorised blinds associated with the control unit and the second input is suitable to be connected to an operating unit or other control units for actuating the motorised blinds associated with all control units.
A system according to claim 10 wherein the decoder is provided with a first input for receiving first and second types of command signals a second input/out put and means for producing an output signal to the first output if the first input receives a first or second type of command signals or the second input/output receives a second type of command signals to the second input/output if the first input receives a second type of command signals.
A system according to claim 13, wherein the first input is suitable to be connected to an operating unit for actuating the motorised blinds associated with the control unit or the motorised blinds associated with all control units and the second input is suitable to be connected to other control units for actuating motorised blinds associated with all control units.
A system according to any preceding claim wherein the control unit comprises motor drive means and variable feed back means for controlling the power supplied to the motor drive means.
A system according to any of the claims 10 - 14, wherein the drive signals comprise a start signal and may comprise in addition a reversing signal where the motor drive means include a relay biased to drive the motor(s) in a first predetermined direction in the presence of the start signal and are adapted to drive the motor(s) in the opposite direction in the presence of the start signal and the reversing signal.
A system according to claim 16, wherein the control unit is provided with a first and second decoder respectively where the combining unit produces the start signal upon receiving an output signal of the first decoder and produces the start signal of the second decoder.
A system according to claim 15 to 17 wherein the combining unit comprises said feedback means.
A system according to any preceding claim, wherein electrical connections are provided between the operating unit and the control unit, and between the control units respectively.
A system according to any of claims 1 to 18, wherein electromagnetic radiation means are provided for transmitting the command signals between the operating unit and control unit.
A system according to any one of claims 1 to 18, wherein ultrasonic transmission means are provided for transmitting the command signals between the operating unit and control unit.
A system according to any preceding claim, wherein the motors are adapted to tilt the slates of a blind, or to open and close the blind.
A system according to any preceding claim, wherein the blinds are of the horizontal type.
A system according to any of claims 1 to 22, wherein the blinds are of the vertical type.
A system according to any preceding claims, wherein the control units are connected via a bus.
A system according to any preceding claim, wherein power supply means are provided with connection means to all of the control units.
An integrated system being provided with a central computer and a number of control systems according to any preceding claims where the central computer is provided with means for independently controlling the respective control system.
An integrated system according to claim 27 wherein the central computer is suitable for generating second types of command signals for controlling motorised blinds associated with all control units of a control system.
An integrated system according to claim 27 and 28 wherein each control system controls motorised blinds associated with one face of a building.
A system for operating blinds constructed and arranged to operate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the attached drawings.