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:
Aug. 26, 1997
Filed:
Aug. 15, 1996
Robert E Cassidy, Lebanon, NH (US);
Douglas J Livingston, Wilmot Flat, NH (US);
Astronics Corporation, East Aurora, NY (US);
Abstract
A current consumption control system for controlling the current draw of an electric power-consuming device, e.g., a modular strip lighting unit for a lighting system including at least one said unit, in which the strip lighting unit includes at least one light source element operatively coupled to a lighting circuit. The lighting circuit may illustratively comprise at least one pair of primary conduction lines connectable to a voltage source, and coupled in electrical circuit relationship with a current regulating circuit. The current regulating circuit includes an operational amplifier which is coupled with the primary conduction lines to generate a reference voltage, and which is coupled with positve and negative current input lines, with at least one power-consuming device coupled to the current output of the operational amplifier, and to the negative current input line. In such arrangement, the operational amplifier compares (i) the reference voltage to (ii) the voltage differential between the positive current input and the negative current input of the operational amplifier, and responsively adjusts current at the current output of the operational amplifier to the power-consuming element, to maintain a selected power consumption level by the electrical power-consuming element, independent of the input voltage across the primary conduction lines.