Patents by Inventor Jordan H. Crafts

Jordan H. Crafts has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20170133878
    Abstract: A load control system may include multiple control devices that may send load control messages to load control devices for controlling an amount of power provided electrical loads. To prevent collision of the load control messages, the load control messages may be transmitted using different wireless communication channels. Each wireless communication channel may be assigned to a load control group that may include control devices and load control devices capable of communicating with one another on the assigned channel. A control device may send load control messages to a load control device within a transmission frame allocated for transmitting load control messages. The transmission frame may include equal sub-frames and load control messages may be sent at a random time within each sub-frame. Control devices may detect a status event within a sampling interval to offset transmissions from multiple control devices based on detection of the same event.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 13, 2017
    Publication date: May 11, 2017
    Applicant: Lutron Electronics Co., Inc.
    Inventors: John H. Bull, Jordan H. Crafts, James P. Steiner
  • Publication number: 20170123390
    Abstract: A load control system may include control devices for controlling power provided to an electrical load. The control devices may include a control-source device and a control-target device. The control-target device may control the power provided to the electrical load based on digital messages received from the control-source device. The control devices may include a load control discovery device capable of sending discovery messages configured to discover control devices within a location. The discovered control devices may be organized by signal strength and may be provided to a network device to enable association of the discovered control devices within a location. The discovery messages may be transmitted within an established discovery range. The discovery range may be adjusted to discover different control devices. Different control devices may be identified as the load control discovery device for discovering different control devices.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 28, 2016
    Publication date: May 4, 2017
    Applicant: Lutron Electronics Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Kyle Thomas Barco, Bryan Robert Barnes, Erica L. Clymer, Brian Michael Courtney, Jordan H. Crafts, William Bryce Fricke, Galen Edgar Knode, Sanjeev Kumar, Jonathan T. Lenz, Stephen M. Ludwig, Sandeep Mudabail Raghuram, Richard M. Walsh, III
  • Patent number: 9590453
    Abstract: A load control system may include multiple control devices that may send load control messages to load control devices for controlling an amount of power provided electrical loads. To prevent collision of the load control messages, the load control messages may be transmitted using different wireless communication channels. Each wireless communication channel may be assigned to a load control group that may include control devices and load control devices capable of communicating with one another on the assigned channel. A control device may send load control messages to a load control device within a transmission frame allocated for transmitting load control messages. The transmission frame may include equal sub-frames and load control messages may be sent at a random time within each sub-frame. Control devices may detect a status event within a sampling interval to offset transmissions from multiple control devices based on detection of the same event.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2017
    Assignee: LUTRON ELECTRONICS CO., INC.
    Inventors: John H. Bull, Jordan H. Crafts, James P. Steiner
  • Publication number: 20170041886
    Abstract: A load control system may include control devices capable of being associated with each other at one or more locations for performing load control. Control devices may include control-source devices and/or control-target devices. A location beacon may be discovered and a unique identifier in the location beacon may be associated with a unique identifier of one or more control devices. Upon subsequent discovery of the location beacon, the associated load control devices may be controlled. The beacons may be communicated via radio frequency signals, visible light communication, and/or audio signals. The visible light communication may be used to communicate other types of information to devices in the load control system. The visible light communication may be used to identify link addresses for communicating with load control devices, load control instructions, load control configuration instructions, network communication information, and/or the like.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 5, 2016
    Publication date: February 9, 2017
    Applicant: Lutron Electronics Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Rhodes B. Baker, Kyle Thomas Barco, Bryan Robert Barnes, John H. Bull, Richard S. Camden, Jordan H. Crafts, David J. Dolan, Jason Groller, Sanjeev Kumar, Jonathan T. Lenz, Miguel Aguado Pelaez, Daniel L. Twaddell
  • Publication number: 20150189725
    Abstract: A faceplate remote control device may be attached to a wall-mounted mechanical light switch that has a toggle actuator. The faceplate remote control device may include a toggle indicator that detects operation of the toggle actuator of the mechanical switch. The toggle indicator may cause the generation of an indication of detected operation of the toggle actuator. The toggle indicator may comprise a sliding member that is configured to move with the toggle actuator. The toggle indicator may comprise an obstruction detection device that includes an infrared (IR) transmitter and an IR receiver. The faceplate remote control device may include a control circuit and a wireless communication circuit. The control circuit may be configured to cause the wireless communication circuit to transmit one or more messages in response to detecting operation of the toggle actuator of the mechanical switch.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 19, 2014
    Publication date: July 2, 2015
    Applicant: Lutron Electronics Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Jeffrey Karc, Jamie Steffie, Jordan H. Crafts
  • Publication number: 20150185751
    Abstract: A load control system, such as a lighting control system, may be configured to control a first electrical load in response to a sensed operational characteristic of a second electrical load. The load control system may include a load control device electrically connected to the first electrical load, and a load-sensing remote control device that is configured to sense an operational characteristic of the second electrical load. The load-sensing remote control device may be configured to communicate with the load control device via wireless communication. The load-sensing remote control device may be configured to transmit messages to the load control device in response to sensing a change in the operational characteristic of the second electrical load. The load control device may be configured to, upon receiving messages from the load-sensing remote control device, control an amount of power that is delivered to the first electrical load.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 19, 2014
    Publication date: July 2, 2015
    Applicant: Lutron Electronics Co., Inc.
    Inventors: JEFFREY KARC, JORDAN H. CRAFTS
  • Publication number: 20150179058
    Abstract: A load control system may include devices for performing communications for controlling an amount of power provided to an electrical load. The devices may include load control devices that may communicate by transmitting digital messages. A user device having an adjustable wireless communication range may be used for discovering devices, configuring devices, and/or diagnosing devices in the load control system. The user device may detect whether devices are within an established wireless communication range of one another for performing communications. The user device may detect digital messages transmitted from a device and/or digital messages received at a device to determine whether the digital messages are correctly communicated in the load control system. The user device may provide an indication to a user indicating whether a digital message is correctly transmitted or received by a device in the load control system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 19, 2014
    Publication date: June 25, 2015
    Applicant: Lutron Electronics Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Jordan H. Crafts, Kyle Thomas Barco, Bryan Robert Barnes, David J. Dolan, William Bryce Fricke, Joel Hnatow, Jonathan T. Lenz
  • Publication number: 20150015377
    Abstract: A load control system may include multiple control devices that may send load control messages to load control devices for controlling an amount of power provided electrical loads. To prevent collision of the load control messages, the load control messages may be transmitted using different wireless communication channels. Each wireless communication channel may be assigned to a load control group that may include control devices and load control devices capable of communicating with one another on the assigned channel. A control device may send load control messages to a load control device within a transmission frame allocated for transmitting load control messages. The transmission frame may include equal sub-frames and load control messages may be sent at a random time within each sub-frame. Control devices may detect a status event within a sampling interval to offset transmissions from multiple control devices based on detection of the same event.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 11, 2014
    Publication date: January 15, 2015
    Applicant: Lutron Electronics Co., Inc.
    Inventors: John H. Bull, Jordan H. Crafts, James P. Steiner
  • Publication number: 20120281606
    Abstract: A low-power RF receiver has a decreased current consumption. The receiver may be used in control devices, such as battery-powered motorized window treatments and two-wire dimmer switches. The receiver uses an RF sub-sampling technique to check for RF signals and then puts the receiver to sleep for a sleep time that is longer than a packet length of a transmitted packet to conserve battery power. The receiver compares detected RF energy to a threshold that may be increased to decrease the sensitivity of the receiver and increase the battery lifetime. After detecting an RF signal, the receiver is put to sleep for a snooze time that is longer than the sleep time and just slightly shorter than the time between two consecutive transmitted packets.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 8, 2012
    Publication date: November 8, 2012
    Inventors: Andrew Karl Cooney, Jordan H. Crafts, Stuart W. Dejonge, Galen E. Knode, Jonathan T. Lenz, Justin J. Mierta, Donald R. Mosebrook