Intellectual Property for Automated Window Shading

Give your automated shading product a compelling competitive advantage!

  • Unmatched glare control and thermal management capabilities for increased comfort and energy savings
  • Reduced cost
  • Easier installation and set-up
  • Compatibility with all major smart-home and building-automation platforms
  • Ability to operate without need for an app, home-automation hub, building-automation system, or cloud connectivity

Current IP Portfolio

  • IntelliBlind smart blind actuator on host blind
IP Type: product reference design
IntelliBlind™ – turns any blind into the smartest smart blind
  • Leverages all of the IP in our automated shading portfolio
  • Instantly converts any wand-operated blind into an inexpensive, state-of-the-art automated shading system
  • Offers energy-savings and glare-control capabilities far beyond those of any other blind-automation product
  • Can operate fully autonomously, but is also compatible with virtually all building-automation systems and smart-home platforms

IP available for license or sale​

  • IntelliLux headrail and window thumbnails
IP Type: product reference design
IntelliLux™ – the smartest smart sensors for smart shading
  • Wireless sensors leverage patented and patent-pending innovations in sensors, algorithms, and electronics
  • Enable existing RF-enabled automated shading products to provide advanced glare control and thermal management capabilities for increased occupant comfort and energy savings
  • Compatible with a wide range of building-automation systems and smart-home platforms

IP Available for license or sale​

  • A responsive daylight-control system using our multi-spectral sensor
IP Type: U.S. Utility Patent 11,041,752
Multi-spectral glare sensor for automated shading
  • Senses daylight glare far more reliably than conventional sensors; enables highly effective responsive daylight control
  • Leverages inexpensive sensor technology developed for smartphones; costs little more than a conventional daylight sensor
  • Optionally insensitive to LED and fluorescent illumination; enables use in both open-loop and closed-loop control applications
  • Applicable to a wide range of automated shading products and systems

IP available for license or sale​

  • Retrofittable motorized actuator
IP Type: U.S. Utility Patent 11,414,927
Retrofittable motorized actuator for wand-operated blinds
  • Compatible with virtually all wand-operated blinds
  • Easy tool-free installation
  • Enables all moving parts to be concealed behind cover
  • More amenable to integration of sensors, batteries, RF modules, solar cells, and other electronics than alternative retrofit motorization approaches
  • Offers lower BOM and production costs than alternative motorization approaches

IP available for license or sale​

  • Illustration of applications of our thermal-gradient sensing technology
IP Type: U.S. Utility Patent 11,913,281
Thermal gradient sensor and algorithm for automated shading
  • Enables an automated shading system to respond to the actual thermal energy transfer across its host window
  • Enables greater reduction in HVAC loads than alternative sensing and control approaches at minimal added cost
  • Requires no interface to the HVAC system, making it interoperable with all thermostats and HVAC systems regardless of design or vintage
  • Can be applied to many automated shading installations as a software update without need for hardware modifications
  • Applicable to a wide range of automated shading devices and systems

IP available for license or sale​

  • Our fluctuation-mitigation technology is both simple and highly effective
IP Type: Pending U.S. Utility Patent 18/764,113
Fluctuation-mitigation technology for responsive daylight control with automated shading
  • Sensing and control algorithm for automated daylight control with motorized window coverings
  • Eliminates annoying shading adjustments due to sustained irradiance fluctuation caused by moving clouds
  • Maintains responsiveness to isolated daylight fluctuations
  • Maximizes occupant satisfaction while also increasing the energy savings achievable through daylighting
  • Applicable to a wide range of automated shading products and systems
  • Can be applied to many existing products as a software update without need for hardware modifications

IP available for license or sale​

  • Block diagram of a representative implementation of our correction algorithm technology for closed-loop daylight control with a horizontal blind
IP Type: Pending U.S. Utility Patent 18/608,923
Closed-loop daylight sensing algorithm for horizontal venetian blinds
  • Overcomes unique challenges associated with closed-loop daylight control with horizontal venetian blinds
  • Enables better control of the perceived daylight level—with simpler and cheaper hardware—than open-loop or alternative closed-loop approaches
  • Applicable to a wide range of automated shading products and systems
  • Can be applied to many existing products as a software update without need for hardware modifications

IP available for license or sale​

  • Modular headrail-mounted power system thumbnail
IP Type: Pending U.S. Utility Patent 18/823,597
Modular headrail-mounted power system for smart blinds
  • Gives purchasers of headrail-mounted blind-automation products a choice of easy-to-install power sources
  • Separate, easy-to-install battery module reduces size and cost of host module by eliminating need for integrated battery holder
  • Choice of either right or left-side connection of battery module and power cable ensures compatibility with all blinds
  • Photovoltaic panel can be integrated into headrail-mounted host module, eliminating need for separate window-mounted panel and associated wiring
  • Potentially applicable to any headrail-mounted smart blind product

IP available for license or sale​

Intellectual Property for Automated Window Shading

Give your automated shading product a compelling competitive advantage!

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