Granted Patent B2

US 7,521,875 · App. 11/374,873 · Granted Apr 21, 2009

Abstract

Claims (42)

1. A circuit for driving an electronic light generating element, said circuit comprising:

an input circuit coupled to said input terminals and operable to convert a sinusoidal signal to a signal that is independent of negative current attributes;

a switch control circuit coupled to said input circuit and operable to generate a switching signal having pulses; and

a switching element coupled to said input circuit and said switch control circuit and operable to generate an output signal formed as a series of bursts, at least one of the series of bursts having a peak amplitude above a maximum forward current rating of the electronic light generating element, and being applied to the electronic light generating element to produce light, and each said burst having a frequency sufficiently high so that a human eye is incapable of noticing flicker in the light produced by said electronic light generating element.

2. The circuit according to claim 1 , wherein said switching element generates the series of bursts for a duty cycle less than a maximum operating cycle over which an electronic light generating element may be at least partially catastrophically damaged in response to the output signal.

3. The circuit according to claim 1 , wherein the electronic light generating element is a light emitting diode.

4. The circuit according to claim 1 , wherein the duty cycle is less than approximately ten percent.

5. The circuit according to claim 1 , wherein the series of bursts are substantially periodic.

6. The circuit according to claim 1 , wherein said switch control circuit varies at least one of an amplitude and a frequency of said switching signal in order to effect dimming of the light produced by said electronic light generating element.

7. The circuit according to claim 1 , wherein the circuit is included in a light bulb including a housing and a base.

8. The circuit according to claim 7 , wherein at least a portion of the circuit is located in the base of the light bulb.

9. The circuit according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a pair of input terminals coupled to the input circuit; and

a comparator coupled to said input terminals and operable to sense a change in voltage input to the input circuit to alter the output signal.

10. The circuit according to clam 9 , wherein the alteration of the output signal includes adjusting the frequency of the series of bursts.

11. A method for driving an electronic light generating element, said method comprising:

converting a sinusoidal signal to a signal independent of negative current attributes;

generating a switching signal having pulses;

generating an output signal formed as a series of bursts, at least one of the series of bursts having a peak amplitude above a maximum forward current rating of said electronic light generating element; and

applying the output signal to the electronic light generating element to produce light, each said burst having a frequency sufficiently high so that a human eve is incapable of noticing flicker in the light produced by said electronic light generating element.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein said generating an output signal generates the bursts for a duty cycle less than a maximum operating duty cycle over which an electronic light generating element may be at least partially catastrophically damaged in response to the output signal.

13. The method according to claim 11 , wherein said applying the output signal to the electronic light generating element includes applying the output signal to a light emitting diode.

14. The method according to claim 11 , wherein said generating the output signal produces the duty cycle of less than approximately ten percent.

15. The method according to claim 11 , wherein said generating of said switching signal includes varying at least one of an amplitude and a frequency of said switching signal in order to effect dimming of the light produced by said electronic light generating element.

16. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the driving of the electronic light generating element is performed within a light bulb.

17. The method according to claim 16 , wherein said converting of the sinusoidal signal is performed within a base of the light bulb.

18. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:

sensing a change in the sinusoidal signal prior to said converting; and

altering the output signal in response to said sensing a change in the sinusoidal signal.

19. The method according to claim 18 , wherein said altering the output signal includes changing the frequency of the series of bursts.

20. A device for driving an electronic light generating element, said device comprising:

means for converting a sinusoidal signal to a signal independent of negative current attributes;

means for generating a switching signal having pulses;

means for generating an output signal in communication with said means for converting; and

means for generating a switching signal, the output signal formed as a series of bursts having peak amplitudes above a maximum forward current rating for the electronic light generating element; and

means for applying the output signal to the electronic light generating element to produce light, each said burst having a freciuency sufficiently high so that a human eye is incapable of noticing flicker in the light produced by said electronic light generating element.

21. The device according to claim 20 , wherein said means for generating an output signal further comprises:

means for producing the series of pulses for a duty cycle less than a maximum operating duty cycle over which an electronic light generating element may be at least partially catastrophically damaged in response to receiving the signal independent of negative current attributes.

22. The device according to claim 20 , further comprising:

means for sensing a change in the sinusoidal signal prior to said converting; and

means for altering the output signal in response to said means for sensing a change in the sinusoidal signal indicating a change to said means for altering.

23. The device according to claim 20 , wherein said means for generating said switching signal includes means for varying at least one of an amplitude and a frequency of said switching signal in order to effect dimming of the light produced by said electronic light generating element.

Assignments (9)