Disinfecting Circadian Lighting Device

Abstract

A disinfection circadian lighting device includes a housing and two means of lighting. The first means of lighting is a general lighting means and it includes a first light source, a first lens, and a first driver. The second means of lighting is a germicidal lighting means and it includes a second light source, a second lens, and a second driver. The second light source is a far UVC light source with its spectral power distribution mainly in the wavelength range 200 nm to 230 nm. The first light source may comprise a third light source and a fourth light source, where third light source is a blue-depleted light source and the fourth light source is a blue-enriched light source. A circadian controller can mix the light output of the third and the fourth light sources according to a circadian schedule.

Claims

1. A disinfecting lighting device, comprising a housing; a first light source; a second light source; a first lens; a second lens; a first driver; and a second driver, wherein: the housing houses the first light source, the second light source, the first lens, the second lens, the first driver, and the second driver, the first light source is configured to emit a first light with a wavelength in a range of 400 nm to 700 nm, the second light source is configured to emit a second light with a wavelength in a range of 200 nm to 230 nm, the first light source is configured to emit the first light through the first lens, the second light source is configured to emit the second light through the second lens, the first light source, the first lens, and the first driver together form a first means of lighting, which is a general lighting means, configured to convert an external power to an internal power suitable for activating the first light source, and the second light source, the second lens, and the second driver together form a second means of lighting, which is a germicidal lighting means, configured to convert an external power to an internal power suitable for activating the second light source.

2. The disinfecting lighting device of claim 1, wherein the first means of lighting and the second means of lighting are configured to be turned on and off independently.

3. The disinfecting lighting device of claim 1, further comprising an occupancy senor configured to turn on the first means of lighting upon a motion detection and turn off the first means of lighting after detecting no motion for a preconfigured time, without affecting an operation of the second means of lighting.

4. The disinfecting lighting device of claim 1, further comprising a vacancy senor configured to turn off the second means of lighting upon a motion detection and turn on the second means of light after detecting no motion for a preconfigured time, without affecting an operation of the first means of lighting.

5. The disinfecting lighting device of claim 1, wherein the second light source comprises a rare gas comprising Krypton-Chloride (Kr-Cl), Krypton-Bromine (Kr-Br) or a combination thereof, wherein the second light source is contained inside the second lens, and wherein the second driver is capable of electric discharge and configured to excite molecules of the rare gas so that an excited rare gas molecule releases an excitation energy as a UV photon in a wavelength range of 200 nm to 230 nm.

6. The disinfecting lighting device of claim 5, wherein a type of electric discharge by the second driver comprises dielectric barrier discharge (DBD).

7. The disinfecting lighting device of claim 1, wherein the second light source comprises one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs).

8. The disinfecting lighting device of claim 1, wherein the second light source is configured to emit the second light with a spectral power distribution (SPD) greater than 95% in a wavelength range of 200 nm to 230 nm.

9. The disinfecting lighting device of claim 1, wherein the second lens comprises quartz.

10. The disinfecting lighting device of claim 1, wherein the second lens comprises a bandpass optical filter configured to remove any wavelength outside of a wavelength range of 200 nm to 230 nm.

11. The disinfecting lighting device of claim 1, further comprising a light-filtering medium which is used on the second light to produce a filtered light with a spectral power distribution (SPD) greater than 95% in a wavelength range of 200 nm to 230 nm.

12. The disinfecting lighting device of claim 11, wherein the light-filtering medium comprises an optical lens external to the second lens.

13. The disinfecting lighting device of claim 11, wherein the light-filtering medium comprises a light-filtering coating on a surface of the second lens.

14. The disinfecting lighting device of claim 11, wherein the light-filtering medium comprises a light-filtering coating on a surface of the second light source.

15. The disinfecting lighting device of claim 1, wherein the first light source comprises one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs).

16. The disinfecting lighting device of claim 1, wherein the first driver is dimmable and is capable of dimming the first light continuously.

17. The disinfecting lighting device of claim 1, wherein the second light source is replaceable without using any tool.

18. The disinfecting lighting device of claim 17, wherein the housing comprises an electric socket comprising G13, G5, R17D, FA8,2G11, or G24Q, and wherein the second light source has a corresponding electric base so the second light source is configured to be inserted into the electric socket on the housing without any tool.

19. The disinfecting lighting device of claim 1, wherein the first light source further comprises a third light source and a fourth light source, and wherein the disinfecting lighting device further comprises a circadian controller, wherein: the housing further houses the circadian controller, the third light source is configured to emit a third light with a spectral power distribution (SPD) less than 5% in a wavelength range of 410 nm to 490 nm, the fourth light source is configured to emit a fourth light with a SPD greater than 15% in a wavelength range of 410 nm to 490 nm, and the circadian controller is configured to mix the third light and the fourth light to generate a light output for the first means of lighting.

20. The disinfecting lighting device of claim 19, wherein an operation of the circadian controller is performed manually by a user.

21. The disinfecting lighting device of claim 19, wherein an operation of the circadian controller is performed automatically according to a circadian schedule.

22. The disinfecting lighting device of claim 21, wherein the circadian controller has a memory module configured to store the circadian schedule.

23. The disinfecting lighting device of claim 19, wherein each of the third light source and the fourth light source comprises one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] The accompanying drawings are included to aid further understanding of the present disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of the present disclosure. The drawings illustrate a select number of embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the detailed description below, serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure. It is appreciable that the drawings are not necessarily to scale, as some components may be shown to be out of proportion to size in actual implementation in order to clearly illustrate the concept of the present disclosure.

[0031] FIG. 1a schematically depicts a diagram of a disinfecting circadian troffer fixture with a lens covered over the circadian light sources.

[0032] FIG. 1b schematically depicts a diagram of the same troffer fixture with the lens over the circadian light sources removed.

[0033] FIG. 1c schematically depicts a straight-down view of the same troffer fixture with the lens over the circadian light sources removed.

[0034] FIG. 2 schematically depicts a straight-down view of another disinfecting circadian troffer fixture with the lens over the circadian light sources removed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Overview

[0035] Various implementations of the present disclosure and related inventive concepts are described below. It should be acknowledged, however, that the present disclosure is not limited to any particular manner of implementation, and that the various embodiments discussed explicitly herein are primarily for purposes of illustration. For example, the various concepts discussed herein may be suitably implemented in a variety of germicidal lighting device having different form factors.

[0036] The present disclosure discloses a disinfection circadian lighting device includes a housing and two means of lighting. The first means of lighting is a general lighting means and it includes a first light source, a first lens, and a first driver. The second means of lighting is a germicidal lighting means and it includes a second light source, a second lens, and a second driver. The second light source is a far UVC light source with its spectral power distribution mainly in the wavelength range 200 nm to 230 nm. The first light source may comprise a third light source and a fourth light source, where third light source is a blue-depleted light source and the fourth light source is a blue-enriched light source. A circadian controller can mix the light output of the third and the fourth light sources according to a circadian schedule.

Example Implementations

[0037] In FIG. 1a-1c, an embodiment of the present disclosure in the form of a 2′×4′ troffer fixture 100. In FIG. 1a, the lens 105 is shown whereas in FIG. 1b, the lens is removed, so that the circadian light sources 102a, 102b, 103a, and 103b can be seen. In FIG. 1c, the same fixture is shown with a straight-down view. The fixture 100 has a housing 101 that houses all other components. The circadian light sources 102a, 102b, 103a, 103b are made of a strip of LED, and they emit lights with a wavelength in a range of 400 nm to 700 nm. Moreover, the light source 102a, 102b is blue-depleted light source and emits a light with an SPD less than 5% in the 410-490 nm wavelength range. The light source 103a, 103b is blue-enriched light source and emits a light with an SPD greater than 15% in the 410-490 nm wavelength range. The light sources 102a, 102b, 103a, 103b emit their lights through the lens 105. The driver 107 converts an external power to an internal power for activating the light sources 102a, 102b, 103a, 103b. The general lighting means of the fixture includes the light sources 102a, 102b, 103a, 103b, the lens 105, the dimmable driver 107, and the occupancy sensor 109. The occupancy sensor 109 will turn on the light sources 102a, 102b, 103a, 103b upon a motion detection, and it will turn off these light sources after detecting no motion for a preconfigured time (e.g., 5 minutes) for energy savings.

[0038] The light source 104 is a rare gas, Krypton-Chloride (Kr-Cl), and is contained inside a tubular lens 106. The driver 108 uses dielectric barrier discharge for exciting the Krypton-Chloride molecule so that the excited Krypton-Chloride molecule releases its excitation energy in the form of a 222 nm UV photon, emitting through the lens 106. While the light generated by the Krypton-Chloride molecule is highly concentrated around 222 nm, there may still be a residual wavelength outside the wavelength range of 200 nm to 230 nm, depending on the composition ratio of Krypton-Chloride gas. The lens 106 also functions as a bandpass filter for removing any wavelength outside of the wavelength range of 200 nm to 230 nm.

[0039] The germicidal lighting means of the fixture includes the light source 104, the lens 106, the driver 108, and the vacancy sensor 110. The vacancy sensor 110 will turn off the light source 104 upon a motion detection, and it will turn on the light source 104 after detecting no motion for a preconfigured time (e.g., 3 minutes). The motion sensor 109 and the occupancy sensor 110 operates independent of each other, and therefore the turning on/off the light sources 102a, 102b, 103a, 103b and the turning on/off the light source 104 are also independent of each other.

[0040] The lens 106 has two G13-based endcaps 111a, 111b, and these two endcaps can be inserted into a pair of G13 socket on the housing 101. Therefore, the replacement of the light source 104 along with the lens 104 and the two G13-based endcaps 111a, 111b can be performed without using any tool.

[0041] The driver 107 is dimmable and can dim the light sources 102a, 102b, 103a, 103b continuously. Moreover, a circadian controller 112 can mix the light output of the light sources 102a, 102b, 103a, 103b to generate a combined light output according to a circadian schedule stored in a memory module 113. During daytime, the circadian schedule will generate a blue-enriched light based on the blue-enriched light source 103a, 103b, and during nighttime the circadian schedule will generate a blue-depleted light based on the blue-depleted light source 102a, 102b. During dawn, the circadian schedule will transition from a blue-depleted light to a blue-enriched light, and during dusk from a blue-enriched light to a blue-depleted light.

[0042] FIG. 2 shows another linear troffer. It has the same construction as the troffer shown in FIG. 1a-1c with the exception that the linear troffer 200 in FIG. 2 uses LED for the germicidal light source 204. An external driver 208 activates the light source 204. It is possible to use an embedded driver inside the lens 206 for activating the LED light source 204. There is a lens for covering the circadian light sources 202a, 202b, 203a, 203b but not shown in FIG. 2.

Additional and Alternative Implementation Notes

[0043] Although the techniques have been described in language specific to certain applications, it is to be understood that the appended claims are not necessarily limited to the specific features or applications described herein. Rather, the specific features and examples are disclosed as non-limiting exemplary forms of implementing such techniques.

[0044] As used in this application, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive “or.” That is, unless specified otherwise or clear from context, “X employs A or B” is intended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both A and B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any of the foregoing instances. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appended claims should generally be construed to mean “one or more,” unless specified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singular form.