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:
Jan. 28, 1997
Filed:
Mar. 10, 1995
Applicant:
Inventor:
Kiyokazu Shirai, Kawasaki, JP;
Assignee:
Sony/Tektronix Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H05B / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
3151 / ; 315160 ; 315363 ; 361 23 ; 361 27 ; 361800 ; 34082582 ; 345 82 ; 345212 ; 345134 ; 345905 ;
Abstract
A plurality of LEDs are divided into multiple groups with the LEDs in each group being connected in series and being driven by a single current source. A region to be illuminated is divided into many areas with no spacing between adjacent ones of the areas. The LEDs in each group are positioned in different areas such that each area includes many LEDs from different groups. If one of the current sources and/or one of the LEDs of one group breaks down, the broken current source and/or LED does not affect the current sources and/or LEDs of the other groups.