Intellectual Property for Automated Window Shading
Give your automated shading product a compelling competitive advantage!
Current IP Portfolio
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
IP Type: Pending U.S. Utility Patent 63/882,277
Illumination Healthiness Sensor for Human-Centric Shading and Lighting Automation
- Enables a compelling new health-and-wellness value-proposition for automated shading
- Measures the healthiness of ambient illumination, including its influence on the circadian rhythm and other important biologic processes
- Enables health-and-wellness-oriented automation of window shading and lighting systems
- Easy to integrate in automated shading, lighting, and sensor products; also includes algorithms that enable new health-and-wellness-oriented apps
IP available for license or sale
Intellectual Property for Automated Window Shading
Give your automated shading product a compelling competitive advantage!