The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 03, 1994
Filed:
Jun. 30, 1993
Hilmer I Swanson, Quincy, IL (US);
Harris Corporation, Melbourne, FL (US);
Abstract
A pulse step modulator (PSM) is disclosed herein and having particular use in AM radio broadcasting. This modulator includes a plurality of series connected unit step voltage modules each including a DC voltage source and an associated actuatable switch for, when actuated, turning on the associated module to provide a unit step voltage of a given magnitude. An output circuit is connected to the modules for providing an output voltage to a load wherein the magnitude of the output voltage is a multiple of a unit step voltage in dependence upon the number of modules that are turned on. Each module exhibits the characteristic of dissipating heat when the module is turned on with the amount of heat dissipated being a function of the time duration that the module is turned on. Thermal loading of the modules is equalized by thermally coupling selected ones of the modules together as a group with the modules of each group being selected such that the average amount of heat being dissipated by each group is essentially equalized.