Motorola Corporation

Osram Sylvania Inc.

Motoral, Inc.

Jeffrey D Merwin

Dennis L Stephens

John G Konopka

Philip D Gunderson

Peter Doikas

David Geis

Steven J Purdy

A drive circuit for a power device includes a power transistor utilized to drive the power device. The drive circuit utilizes a resonant circuit that drives the power transistor at a high current level when the gate of the power transistor is in its Miller region. In one embodiment, the drive circuit includes dual transistors and an inductor tuned to the gate capacitance to drive the gate of the power transistor. The drive circuit may be useful in a variety of areas, such as with a valve controller for a camless engine.

Quasi resonant gate controller for a power driver

A method (,) for providing an electrical ground connection between a printed circuit board (,) and a metallic substrate (,) comprises the steps of: (i) providing an aperture (,) in the substrate (,); (ii) forming a ground plug (,) out of a metallic blank (,); (iii) inserting the ground plug (,) into the aperture in the substrate (,); (iv) compressing the ground plug (,) into the aperture (,) in the substrate (,); (v) placing the printed circuit board (,) onto the substrate (,); and (vi) applying solder into the aperture in the printed circuit board (,) and onto the ground plug (,). The steps of forming (,), inserting (,), and compressing (,) are carried out in a single punching operation (,). The method (,) efficiently provides a high quality electrical ground connection and avoids any need for sophisticated machinery.

Method for providing an electrical ground connection between a printed circuit board and a metallic substrate

An electronic ballast (100) for powering at least one gas discharge lamp (10) comprises an inverter (200) and an output circuit (300). Output circuit (300) comprises a resonant inductor (310), a resonant capacitor (330), a DC blocking capacitor (360), a first rectifier (350), and a second rectifier (370). Output circuit (300) prevents excessive current flow and power dissipation in the event of lamp removal or failure, and provides automatic ignition following lamp replacement. In an alternative embodiment, a ballast (160) for powering two lamps (10,20) includes a pair of modified output circuits (500,600) and a ground-referenced lamp return wire (504) for accommodating conventional instant-start type wiring.

Electronic ballast with fault-protected series resonant output circuit

An electronic power supply (100) receives power from an AC source (10) and supplies power to a load (20) that is referenced to earth ground (30). Power supply (100) comprises a power converter (200) and a voltage regulator (400). Power converter (200) draws a ground leakage current from AC source (10) and is capable of providing a steady-state output current having an average value that is greater than that of the ground leakage current. Voltage regulator (400) limits the output voltage of the power converter (200) to a predetermined level. In a preferred embodiments power converter (200) is implemented as a self-oscillating converters and power supply (100) draws a ground leakage current that is sufficiently small to meet regulatory limits and to avoid tripping of conventional ground-fault interrupters.

Leakage current power supply

An energy control system (10) comprises at least one controllable load (110), a master controller (200), a traveler wire (300) and at least one remote switch (400). The master controller (200) transmits control commands that effect corresponding control actions in the controllable load (110). The remote switch (400) transmits remote commands to the master controller (200) over the traveler wire (300). The energy control system (10) is well suited for installation in standard three-way switch or four-way switch electrical systems and requires neither additional wiring nor complicated installation procedures.

Energy control system with remote switching

A power supply (10) for powering a load (500) includes an inverter (100), a series resonant output circuit (200), and a bootstrap power source (300) for supplying operating power to an inverter driver circuit (110). The bootstrap power source (300) is coupled in series with the load (500) via a dc blocking capacitor (240) and provides automatic shutdown of the inverter (100) by ceasing to supply operating power to the inverter driver circuit (110) when the load (500) fails to conduct current or is removed.

Power supply and electronic ballast with low-cost inverter bootstrap

A power-line communication system (10) for use with a conventional AC source (12) having a hot wire (14) and a neutral wire (16). The communication system (10) includes a pulse transmitter (16) and at least one receiver (18) connected downstream from the pulse transmitter (16). The pulse transmitter (16) is coupled between the hot wire (14) of the AC source (12) and either the neutral wire (16) of the AC source (12) or earth ground. Each receiver (14) is coupled to the AC source (12). The pulse transmitter (16) includes a control circuit (30) for controlling the conduction of a shunt circuit (32) and sends messages to the receivers (20) by inducing momentary pulses in the AC voltage supplied by the AC source (12). The shunt circuit (32) includes a power switch (52) and an energy clamp circuit for limiting the amplitude and the duration of the current through the power switch (52) and the pulse induced in the AC line voltage. Each receiver (18) detects the momentary pulses and translates a given sequence of pulses into its corresponding message. In a preferred embodiment, the pulse transmitter (16) is used to send control commands to one or more controllable electronic ballasts (22) for powering fluorescent lamps (24).

Power-line communication system using pulse transmission on the AC line

An energy monitoring and control system (10) for use with a conventional AC source (12) having a hot wire and a neutral wire (28). The energy monitoring and control system (10) includes a control station (14) and a number of controllable loads (20). The control station (14) is coupled in series with the hot wire of the AC source and is physically located between the AC source (12) and the loads (20). The individual loads are connected in parallel with each other and are coupled to the AC surce (12) and the control station (14). The control station (14) can communicate with the loads in various ways, a preferred scheme being a power-line communication method. Each of the loads is equipped with circuitry for receiving and executing commands sent by the control station (14). The control station (14) can receive information from the loads (20) by observing the AC supply current drawn by the loads (20).

Growing community of inventors

Buffalo Grove, IL, United States of America

Jeffrey D Merwin