Granted Patent B2

US 12,604,378 · App. 18/812,181 · Granted Apr 14, 2026

Inventor: Stuart W. DeJonge (Riegelsville, PA)

Assignee: Lutron Technology Company LLC

H05B45/14H02M3/33507H05B45/327H05B45/382H05B45/39H05B45/10

Abstract

Claims (61)

1 . A load control device for controlling an amount of power delivered to light-emitting diode (LED) lighting load, the load control device comprising:

a load regulation circuit that includes an inverter circuit; and

a control circuit configured to:

cause the inverter circuit to transition between:

an active state period during which the inverter circuit is active; and

an inactive state period during which the inverter circuit is inactive;

receive a target intensity input indicative of a target intensity of an operatively coupled LED lighting load;

determine a target load current based on the received target intensity input;

determine whether the target load current is at or below a threshold load current; and

responsive to the determination that the target load current is at or below the threshold load current, cause the load regulation circuit to operate in a burst mode that includes a plurality of burst mode periods;

wherein each of the burst mode periods includes at least one active state period and at least one inactive state period; and

wherein, for at least some of the burst mode periods, the control circuit adjusts a burst duty cycle by varying the duration of the at least one inactive state period while fixing the duration of the at least one active state period.

2 . The load control device of claim 1 wherein to adjust the burst duty cycle by varying the duration of the at least one inactive state period while fixing the duration of the at least one active state period constant, the control circuit to further:

adjust the burst duty cycle by varying the duration of the at least one inactive state period while fixing the duration of the at least one active state period using open loop control.

3 . The load control device of claim 1 wherein the control circuit to further:

determine whether the target load current is above the threshold load current; and

responsive to the determination that the target load current is above the threshold load current, cause the load regulation circuit to operate in a normal mode to provide a constant active state period, a constant inactive state period, and an adjustable target load current to the LED lighting load.

4 . The load control device of claim 3 wherein the control circuit to further:

receive at least one feedback signal from the load regulation circuit;

wherein the at least one feedback signal indicative of an average load current provided to the LED lighting load; and

adjust the target load current based on the received at least one feedback signal using closed loop control.

5 . A load control method to control an amount of power delivered to light-emitting diode (LED) lighting load, the method comprising:

causing, by an LED lighting controller, an inverter circuit included in a load regulation circuit operatively coupled to the LED lighting controller to transition between:

an active state period during which the inverter circuit is active; and

an inactive state period during which the inverter circuit is inactive;

receiving, by the LED lighting controller, a target intensity input indicative of a target intensity of an operatively coupled LED lighting load;

determining, by the LED lighting controller, a target load current based on the received target intensity input;

determining, by the LED lighting controller, whether the target load current is at or below a threshold load current; and

responsive to the determination that the target load current is at or below the threshold load current:

causing, by the LED lighting controller, the load regulation circuit to operate in a burst mode that includes a plurality of burst mode periods, wherein each of the burst mode periods includes at least one active state period and at least one inactive state period; and

adjusting, by the LED lighting controller, a burst duty cycle by varying the duration of the at least one inactive state period while fixing the duration of the at least one active state period.

6 . The method of claim 5 wherein adjusting the burst duty cycle by varying the duration of the at least one inactive state period while fixing the duration of the at least one active state period constant, the control circuit to further:

varying, by the LED lighting controller, the duration of the at least one inactive state period while fixing the duration of the at least one active state period using open loop control.

7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

determining, by the LED lighting controller, whether the target load current is above the threshold load current; and

responsive to the determination that the target load current is above the threshold load current:

causing, by the LED lighting controller, the load regulation circuit to operate in a normal mode to provide a constant active state period, a constant inactive state period; and

causing, by the LED lighting controller, the load regulation circuit to adjust the target load current to the LED lighting load.

8 . The method of claim 7 wherein causing the load regulation circuit to adjust the target load current to the LED lighting load further comprises:

receiving, by the LED lighting controller, at least one feedback signal indicative of an average load current provided to the LED lighting load from the load regulation circuit; and

causing, by the LED lighting controller, the load regulation circuit to adjust the target load current based on the received at least one feedback signal using closed loop control.

9 . A non-transitory, machine-readable, storage device that includes instructions that, when executed by an light-emitting diode (LED) lighting controller, cause the LED lighting controller to:

cause an inverter circuit included in a load regulation circuit operatively coupled to the LED lighting controller to transition between:

an active state period during which the inverter circuit is active; and

an inactive state period during which the inverter circuit is inactive;

receive a target intensity input indicative of a target intensity of an operatively coupled LED lighting load;

determine a target load current based on the received target intensity input;

determine whether the target load current is at or below a threshold load current; and

responsive to the determination that the target load current is at or below the threshold load current:

cause the load regulation circuit to operate in a burst mode that includes a plurality of burst mode periods, wherein each of the burst mode periods includes at least one active state period and at least one inactive state period; and

adjust a burst duty cycle by varying the duration of the at least one inactive state period while fixing the duration of the at least one active state period.

10 . The non-transitory, machine-readable, storage device of claim 9 wherein the instructions that cause the LED lighting controller to adjust the burst duty cycle by varying the duration of the at least one inactive state period while fixing the duration of the at least one active state period constant further cause the LED lighting controller to:

vary the duration of the at least one inactive state period while fixing the duration of the at least one active state period using open loop control.

11 . The non-transitory, machine-readable, storage device of claim 10 wherein the instructions, when executed by the LED lighting controller, further cause the LED lighting controller to:

determine whether the target load current is above the threshold load current; and

responsive to the determination that the target load current is above the threshold load current:

cause the load regulation circuit to operate in a normal mode to provide a constant active state period, a constant inactive state period; and

cause the load regulation circuit to adjust the target load current to the LED lighting load.

12 . The non-transitory, machine-readable, storage device of claim 11 wherein the instructions that cause the LED lighting controller to cause the load regulation circuit to adjust the target load current to the LED lighting load further cause the LED lighting controller to:

receive at least one feedback signal indicative of an average load current provided to the LED lighting load from the load regulation circuit; and

cause the load regulation circuit to adjust the target load current based on the received at least one feedback signal using closed loop control.

Continuity (9)

References Cited (120)