A touch-controllable illuminated bench and a method for illuminating a bench

Abstract

 A touch-controllable illuminated bench comprising: at least one transparent or translucent wall (205) illuminated by illumination means (102); a controller (105) configured to control the illumination means (102); at least one touch sensor (103, 108) connected to the controller (105); wherein the controller (105) is configured to control the illumination means (102) in response to the signal received from the touch sensor (103, 108).

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to a touch-controllable illuminated bench.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Recently, attempts have been made to improve typical public outdoor furniture, such as benches, by making it more colorful and bright, especially by providing internal lighting.

[0003] A PCT application WO0223514 discloses self-powered outdoor public advertising board comprised of illuminated clear panels enclosed in a rigid frame available as a bench, planter or any other structure suiting the surrounding urban environment. The lighting is supplied by a variable number of rechargeable batteries running on electricity, solar power or a fuel burning engine, requiring no external power source.

[0004] A PCT application WO9940557 discloses a bench with an illuminated display board on both sides of the upright vertical part of the bench used as a backrest and support for those sitting on the bench.

[0005] A US patent US5329716 discloses an outdoor advertising bench to be used as a medium upon which advertising indicia may be displayed and be clearly visible during the day and night, including a bench having a pair of spaced support members, a seating platform supportably disposed therebetween, and a seat back assembly supportably disposed between the support members, the seat back assembly having a pair of opposite side panels, and a back panel, mid panel, and front panel, disposed between the side panels. The front panel is transparent so as to make an exposed face of the mid panel visible therethrough, the exposed face of the mid panel having advertising indicia and high visibility lights thereon to draw attention to the advertising indicia and to provide an attractive appearance.

[0006] There is a need to further improve the known structures of benches in order to provide additional user-friendly functionality.

SUMMARY

[0007] The object of the invention is a touch-controllable illuminated bench comprising: at least one transparent or translucent wall illuminated by illumination means; a controller configured to control the illumination means; at least one touch sensor connected to the controller; wherein the controller is configured to control the illumination means in response to the signal received from the touch sensor.

[0008] Preferably, the bench further comprises a timer, wherein the controller is configured set the timer in response to the signal received from the touch sensor and to control the illumination means in response to the timer value.

[0009] Preferably, the touch sensor is a weight sensor configured to detect a seating occupant on the bench.

[0010] Preferably, the bench further comprises a proximity sensor configured to detect a presence of a person next to the bench.

[0011] Preferably, the illumination means comprise a plurality of individually controllable light emitting diode modules.

[0012] Preferably, each LED module comprises a plurality of LEDs, arranged in layers wherein each layer comprises LEDs of a particular color.

[0013] Another object of the invention is a method for illuminating a bench as described above, the method comprising the steps of: detecting a first input to the touch interface; configuring the illumination means to illuminate an illumination scheme.

[0014] Preferably, the method further comprises the steps of: starting a timer; adjusting the illumination scheme of the illumination means based on the timer value.

[0015] Preferably, the method further comprises the steps of: detecting a second input to the touch interface; adjusting the illumination scheme of the illumination means based on the second input.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0016] These and other objects of the invention presented herein, are accomplished by providing an illuminated bench. Further details and features of the present invention, its nature and various advantages will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments shown in a drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 presents a modular schematic of the system for operating the illuminated bench according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 depicts an example embodiment of the illuminated bench;

Fig. 3 presents a LED module; and

Fig. 4 presents a diagram of the method of operating the bench according to the present invention.

Fig. 5 presets another embodiment of the method of illuminating a bench

NOTATION AND NOMENCLATURE

[0017] Some portions of the detailed description which follows are presented in terms of data processing procedures, steps or other symbolic representations of operations on data bits that can be performed on computer memory. Therefore, a computer executes such logical steps thus requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities.

[0018] Usually these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated in a computer system. For reasons of common usage, these signals are referred to as bits, packets, messages, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like.

[0019] Additionally, all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Terms such as "processing" or "creating" or "transferring" or "executing" or "determining" or "detecting" or "obtaining" or "selecting" or "calculating" or "generating" or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the memories or registers or other such information storage.

[0020] A computer-readable (storage) medium, such as referred to herein, typically may be non-transitory and/or comprise a non-transitory device. In this context, a non-transitory storage medium may include a device that may be tangible, meaning that the device has a concrete physical form, although the device may change its physical state. Thus, for example, non-transitory refers to a device remaining tangible despite a change in state.

[0021] As utilized herein, the term "example" means serving as a non-limiting example, instance, or illustration. As utilized herein, the terms "for example" and "e.g." introduce a list of one or more non-limiting examples, instances, or illustrations.

DETAILED DESCRPTION

[0022] Fig. 1 presents a modular schematic of the system for operating the illuminated bench according to the present invention.

[0023] The system may be realized using dedicated components or custom made FPGA or ASIC circuits. The system comprises a data bus 101 communicatively coupled to a memory 104. Additionally, other components of the system are communicatively coupled to the system bus 101 so that they may be managed by a controller 105.

[0024] The memory 104 may store computer program or programs executed by the controller 105 in order to execute steps of the method as described herein.

[0025] The controller 105 may configure and read a state of a timer 107 module used for synchronizing illumination time.

[0026] The illumination is effected by at least one light emitting diode (LED) module that may generally be defined as illumination means 102.

[0027] Further, the controller is communicatively connected to at least one sensor that may be in a form of a weight sensor 108 and/or a touch sensitive sensor 103 and/or a proximity sensor 106.

[0028] Such sensors provide input signals for the controller 105, which based on these signals configures the illumination means 102.

[0029] Fig. 2 presents an example embodiment of a bench according to the present invention, wherein the bench comprises the system of Fig. 1. The simple embodiment of Fig. 2 has a form of a cuboid with a front wall 201, back wall 202, side walls 203, 204 and a top wall 205 for seating thereon. The bench has illumination means 102 mounted behind at least a portion of at least one wall, which is transparent or translucent, so that the illumination can be seen from outside. In the embodiment of Fig. 2, the illumination means 102 are mounted below the top wall 205, therefore the whole seating area is illuminated. Alternatively, the other walls may be illuminated as well, such as side walls 203, 204, and/or the front wall 201 and/or the back wall 202. In more elaborate embodiments, the bench may have other elements, such as arm rests, a back support, a roof, etc. Alternatively, the bench may have only a single transparent or translucent illuminated wall, such as a top wall 205, and the other components such as the front wall 201, back wall, side walls 203, 204 may be implemented in alternative ways, for example they can be made of non-transparent plastic, steel or wood.

[0030] The illumination means 102 comprise a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) that may be installed on a plurality of modules 300 such as shown in Fig. 3. Each LED module 300 may comprise LEDs of different colors, for example white, red, green and blue LEDs. The LEDs may be arranged in layers 310, 320, 330, 340, as shown in Fig. 3, wherein each layer comprises LEDs of a particular color, for example layer 310 comprises white LEDs 311, layer 320 comprises green LEDs 321, layer 330 comprises blue LEDs 331 and layer 340 comprises red LEDs 341. Each layer may be powered by a separate wiring 312, 322, 332, 342. In more elaborate embodiments, each layer and each diode may be powered independently to allow display of graphical images on the bench. A plurality of layers and/or diodes may be powered at the same time to allow mixing of colors.

[0031] In other words, each LED module 300 may comprise an array of light emitting diodes 311, 321, 331, 341 arranged in a three-dimensional space at equal distances between consecutive light emitting diodes present on a given plane 310, 320, 330, 340 of the space.

[0032] A touch sensitive sensor 103 may be such that it detects touch on a large area of the bench or even substantially full external surface of the bench (preferably a multi-touch detection is supported). A plurality of touch sensitive sensors 103 may alternatively be applied for this purpose.

[0033] In one embodiment, a touch-sensitive sensor 103 or a weight sensor 108 may be applied at the top wall 205 of the bench, i.e. at the seating surface, whole or portions thereof, to detect presence of a person seating on the bench.

[0034] In another embodiment, touch-sensitive sensors 103 may be applied at the side walls 203, 204 of the bench to let the user activate the sensor by tapping a side wall 203, 204 of the bench.

[0035] In another embodiment, a proximity sensor 106 may be applied at the front wall 201 and/or the back wall 202 and/or the side walls 203, 204 of the bench to detect pedestrians moving in the proximity of the bench.

[0036] Any combination of the features mentioned above is possible in other alternative embodiments.

[0037] Fig. 4 presents a diagram of the method of operating the bench according to the present invention. First, the system awaits to be activated by one of the sensors 103, 106, 108 in step 401. Preferably, the system is able to independently detect more than one activation, for example the system is able to be independently activated by two persons sitting on the bench at different times. Then, initial illumination is started in step 402, which may for example depend on the particular section of the bench a person sits on.

[0038] For example, if a person sits in the middle of the bench, only the middle portion of the seat 205 may be illuminated. Alternatively, all portions other than the portion on which the person is seating may be activated. Furthermore, if a person taps on a left side wall 203 of the bench, the left or right portion of the seat 205 may be illuminated. Furthermore, if a person walks by the bench, the seat 205 may be gradually illuminated along with the walking person. Illumination of a particular portion of the bench may be effected by delivering power to the particular LED modules 300 present at the particular portion of the bench.

[0039] Next, the system may assign a timer to each detected object and start the timer in step 403.

[0040] Subsequently, at step 404, the sensors await for detection of further interaction with the system. This interaction may for example be effected with a use of the touch interface, for example by knocking on the sensor of the bench or by touching the sensor with a palm. It is to be understood that different gestures may be applied for the purpose of interaction with the system.

[0041] Next, at step 405, there is executed adjustment of the illumination scheme based on the above interaction and timer state that is assigned to each object. This leads to updating 406 the illumination module with a new illumination scheme. Lastly, the system awaits 407 for new interaction or detection of non-presence of any object in proximity or on the sensors of the system.

[0042] The illumination is kept until the user presence is detected by the sensors 103, 106, 108 or until a time set for the timer elapses. Therefore, the bench may be illuminated as long as the user sits on the bench, or it may be illuminated for some more time (e.g. to indicate that the bench has been recently used).

[0043] Such approach allows for different functions, including the ones described below.

[0044] For example, the system may be configured to let the users adapt the color of the bench. For example, the length of touch detected in step 404 may determine the change of color, i.e. when the user touches the touch sensor in step 404 the color may gradually change until a desired color is reached, then the user releases the touch. Alternatively, the color may be changed by tapping the touch sensor a plurality of times, e.g. a single tap may activate white illumination, a double-tap may activate green illumination, a tripe-tap may activate blue illumination, a quadruple-tap may activate red illumination, by powering appropriate layers 310, 320, 330, 340 of LEDs.

[0045] In a manner similar to described above, the intensity of lighting may be effected, by delivering different levels of power to the LED modules.

[0046] In one particular application, a user who wishes to sit at the desk alone may use the touch interface such as to set the color of the bench to red. Alternatively, a user who wishes to be accompanied by another user may use the touch interface such as to set the color of the bench to green.

[0047] Fig. 5 presets another embodiment of the method of illuminating a bench. The process starts at step 501 from presenting a default illumination, for example a bench illuminated in green indicates that it is not occupied and is easily recognizable from a distance. When a person approaches the bench and sits in step 502 (which is detected as previously described), the bench changes its state to occupied by for example presenting a red illumination 503. Subsequently, at step 504, the system may obtain users mood state by asking few questions and based on answers to these questions the illumination of the system may be adjusted 505. Responses to displayed questions may be input via the touch sensitive input interface of the system. This in turn leads to updating 506 the illumination module with a new illumination scheme.

[0048] The present invention implements a system for visually informing potential users of different objects about a state of such object. Therefore, the invention provides a useful, concrete and tangible result.

[0049] The implementation of the invention is effected by a bench equipped with the particular system of Fig. 1 and a computer-implemented method of Figs. 4-5. Thus the machine or transformation test is fulfilled and that the idea is not abstract.

[0050] It can be easily recognized, by one skilled in the art, that the aforementioned method for control of an illuminated bench may be performed and/or controlled by one or more computer programs. Such computer programs are typically executed by utilizing the computing resources in a computing device. Applications are stored on a non-transitory medium. An example of a non-transitory medium is a non-volatile memory, for example a flash memory while an example of a volatile memory is RAM. The computer instructions are executed by a processor. These memories are exemplary recording media for storing computer programs comprising computer-executable instructions performing all the steps of the computer-implemented method according the technical concept presented herein.

[0051] While the invention presented herein has been depicted, described, and has been defined with reference to particular preferred embodiments, such references and examples of implementation in the foregoing specification do not imply any limitation on the invention. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the broader scope of the technical concept. The presented preferred embodiments are exemplary only, and are not exhaustive of the scope of the technical concept presented herein.

[0052] Accordingly, the scope of protection is not limited to the preferred embodiments described in the specification, but is only limited by the claims that follow.

Claims

1. A touch-controllable illuminated bench comprising:

- at least one transparent or translucent wall (205) illuminated by illumination means (102);

- a controller (105) configured to control the illumination means (102) characterized in that it further comprises:

- at least one touch sensor (103, 108) connected to the controller (105);

- wherein the controller (105) is configured to control the illumination means (102) in response to the signal received from the touch sensor (103, 108).

2. The bench according to claim 1, further comprising a timer (107), wherein the controller (105) is configured set the timer (107) in response to the signal received from the touch sensor (103, 106, 108) and to control the illumination means in response to the timer (107) value.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the touch sensor (103, 108) is a weight sensor (108) configured to detect a seating occupant on the bench.

4. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a proximity sensor (106) configured to detect a presence of a person next to the bench (102).

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the illumination means (102) comprise a plurality of individually controllable light emitting diode (LED) modules (300).

6. The system according to claim 5, wherein each LED module (300) comprises a plurality of LEDs (311, 321, 331, 341), arranged in layers (310, 320, 330, 340) wherein each layer comprises LEDs of a particular color.

7. A method for illuminating a bench according to any of claims 1-6, comprising the steps of:

- detecting (401) a first input to the touch interface (103, 108);

- configuring (402) the illumination means (102) to illuminate an illumination scheme.

8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising the steps of:

- starting (403) a timer;

- adjusting (405) the illumination scheme of the illumination means (102) based on the timer value.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, further comprising the steps of:

- detecting (404) a second input to the touch interface (103, 108);

- adjusting (405) the illumination scheme of the illumination means (102) based on the second input.

Drawing