AC delay angle control for energizing a lamp

1. A control circuit for a lamp in a lamp system wherein said lamp system is used in conjunction with an alternating current (AC) variable voltage power source to energize the lamp, said control circuit comprising:

a voltage sensing component for sensing the voltage of an voltage input signal as a function of time, said voltage input signal provided by the power source for energizing the lamp;

a controller configured to estimate a delay angle for the voltage input signal as a linear function of the sensed voltage; and

an AC converter for modifying the voltage input signal according to the estimated delay angle to generate an AC voltage output signal having a constant root mean square voltage for energizing the lamp.

2. The control circuit of claim 1 wherein the voltage sensing component includes a first resistor and a second resistor for electrically connecting to the power source for sensing a stepped-down voltage of the voltage input signal as a function of time.

3. The control circuit of claim 1 wherein the lamp is an auxiliary lamp in the lamp system.

4. The control circuit of claim 1 wherein the lamp is an incandescent lamp in the Lamp system.

5. The control circuit of claim 1 wherein the AC converter includes a triac for selectively operating between in a conductive operating mode or a non-conductive operating mode as a function of the calculated first and second delay angles, wherein said triac conducts the voltage input signal in the conductive operating mode and said triac does not conduct the voltage input signal in the non-conductive operating mode.

6. A method for controlling a lamp of a lamp system wherein said lamp system receives a variable voltage input signal for energizing the lamp from an alternating current (AC) voltage power source, said method comprising:

detecting a voltage value of the input voltage signal at selected time intervals, said voltage input signal having a cycle as a function of time, wherein the cycle includes a positive half cycle and a negative half cycle; and

determining a delay angle for each positive and negative half cycle as a linear function of said detected voltage value, wherein the voltage input signal is modified according to the determined delay angle to provide an AC voltage output signal having a constant root mean square voltage for energizing the lamp.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein said detecting includes detecting a first voltage value and a second voltage value near a first zero crossing of a particular cycle of the voltage input signal and detecting a third voltage value and a fourth voltage value near a second zero crossing of the particular cycle of the voltage input signal, and wherein said determining includes determining a delay angle for the positive half cycle of the particular cycle based on the detected first and second voltage values and determining a delay angle for the negative half cycle of the particular cycle based on the detected third and fourth voltage values.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein said detecting includes detecting a maximum voltage value of a cycle of the voltage input signal, and wherein said determining includes determining a delay angle for the positive and negative half cycles of said cycle as a linear function of the detected maximum voltage value for the cycle.

9. The method of claim 6 wherein the lamp is an auxiliary lamp.

10. A control circuit for a lamp of a lamp system wherein said lamp system is used in conjunction with an alternating current (AC) variable voltage power source to energize the lamp, said control circuit comprising:

an input channel for receiving an AC voltage input signal from the AC voltage power source, said received input signal having a cycle as a function of timer wherein the cycle includes a positive half cycle and a negative half cycle;

a voltage sensing component for detecting a first voltage value and a second voltage value of the input signal during the positive half cycle of said input signal, wherein said first voltage value is detected within a predefined time period of a zero crossing in which the input signal is increasing as a function of time, and wherein said second voltage value is detected within a predefined time period of a zero crossing in which the input signal is decreasing as a function of time;

a controller configured to calculate a first delay angle as a linear function of the detected first voltage value and to calculate a second delay angle as a linear function of the detected second voltage value; and

an AC converter for modifying the AC voltage input signal to generate an AC voltage output signal having a constant root mean square voltage for energizing the lamp, wherein said modifying includes modifying the positive half cycle of the input signal according to the calculated first delay angle and modifying the negative half cycle of the input signal according to the calculated second delay angle.

11. The control circuit of claim 10 wherein the lamp is an auxiliary lamp in the lamp system.

12. The control circuit of claim 9 wherein the AC converter includes a triac for selectively operating between in a conductive operating mode or a non-conductive operating mode as a function of the calculated first and second delay angles, wherein said triac conducts the voltage input signal in the conductive operating mode and said triac does not conduct the voltage input signal in the non-conductive operating mode.

13. A method for controlling a lamp of a lamp system wherein said lamp system receives an alternating current (AC) voltage input signal for energizing the lamp from an AC variable voltage power source, said input signal having a cycle as a function of time, said method comprising:

receiving a first voltage value of the input signal, said first voltage value being measured near a zero crossing of the input signal during a portion of the cycle in which the input signal is positive and increasing as function of time;

receiving a second voltage value of the input signals said second voltage value being measured near a zero crossing of the input signal during a portion of the cycle in which the input signal is positive and decreasing as a function of time;

determining a first delay angle as a linear function of the first voltage value, wherein said first delay angle is applied to the portion of the cycle in which the input signal is positive; and

determining a second delay angle as a linear function of the second voltage value, wherein said second delay angle is applied to a portion of the cycle in which the input signal is negative;

wherein an output voltage signal having a constant root mean square voltage is provided to the lamp when the determined first and second delay angles are applied to the input signal.

14. The method of claim 13 further calculating a first voltage difference, wherein said first voltage difference is the difference between the first voltage value and a pre-defined threshold voltage value, and wherein said determining a first delay angle includes determining a first delay angle as a linear function of the calculated first voltage difference.

15. The method of claim 13 further comprising calculating a second voltage difference, wherein said second voltage difference is the difference between the first voltage value and the second voltage value, and wherein said determining a second delay angle includes determining a second delay angle as a linear function of the calculated second voltage difference.

16. The method of claim 13 further comprising identifying a frequency of the input signal and wherein said determining a first delay angle includes determining a first delay angle as a linear function of the first voltage value and said identified frequency and wherein said determining a second delay angle includes determining a second delay angle as a linear function of the second voltage value and said identified frequency.

17. The method of claim 13 wherein the lamp is an auxiliary lamp.

18. A control circuit for a lamp of a lamp system wherein said lamp system is used in conjunction with an alternating current (AC) variable voltage power source to energize the lamp;

a voltage sensing component for measuring a maximum voltage value for each AC cycle of a voltage input signal provided by the power source for energizing the auxiliary lamp;

a controller configured to calculate a delay angle as a linear function of the measured maximum voltage; and

an AC converter for modifying the voltage input signal according to the calculated delay angle to generate an output voltage signal having a constant root mean square voltage for energizing the lamp.

19. The control circuit of claim 18 wherein the lamp is an auxiliary lamp in the lamp system.

20. The control circuit of claim 18 wherein the AC converter includes a triac for selectively operating between in a conductive operating mode or a non-conductive operating mode as a function of the calculated first and second delay angles, wherein said triac conducts the voltage input signal in the conductive operating mode and said triac does not conduct the voltage input signal in the non-conductive operating mode.

21. A method for controlling a lamp of a lamp system wherein said lamp system receives a variable voltage input signal for energizing the lamp from an alternating current (AC) power source, said input signal having a cycle as a function of time, said method comprising: receiving a maximum measured voltage value of the voltage input signal for each cycle, said cycle including a positive half cycle and a negative half cycle: and determining a delay angle for each positive and negative half cycle as a linear function of the received maximum measured voltage value for the cycle; wherein an output voltage signal having a constant root mean square voltage is provided to the lamp when the determined delay angle is applied to the input signal.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein said receiving a maximum measured voltage value includes receiving a plurality of voltage values measured from the input signal at pre-determined time intervals, wherein said maximum measured voltage value is the largest received voltage value of the plurality.

23. The method of claim 21 further comprising identifying a frequency of the input signal and wherein said determining a delay angle for each positive and negative half cycle includes determining a delay angle for each positive and negative half cycle as a linear function of the received maximum measured voltage value for the cycle and said identified frequency.

24. The method of claim 21 wherein determining a delay angle includes determining a first delay angle for each positive cycle as a linear function of the received maximum measured voltage value for the cycle and determining a second delay angle for each negative cycle, wherein said second delay angle is the sum of the first delay angle and a time period corresponding to half of the cycle.

25. The method of claim 21 wherein the lamp is an auxiliary lamp.