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:
Jul. 27, 1999
Filed:
Mar. 13, 1998
George C Henry, Huntington Beach, CA (US);
Linfinity Microelectronics, Garden Grove, CA (US);
Abstract
A power conversion circuit drives a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) while requiring minimal number of external components. The circuit includes a controller, a direct drive network responsive to control inputs from the controller and coupled to receive a power signal, and a secondary network coupled to the CCFL. The direct drive network is low Q circuit comprising a plurality of switching transistors and a primary winding of a transformer such that an impedance of the direct drive network consists essentially of an inductance of the primary winding and capacitance of the direct drive network consists essentially of parasitic capacitance reflected from the secondary winding. The Q of the direct drive network is less than about 0.5 so that a square wave voltage signal is provided across the primary winding of the transformer. However, the inductance of the transformer is sufficiently high such that the voltage across a secondary winding of the transformer is sinusoidal. The secondary network comprises the secondary winding of the transformer coupled to the CCFL through a connector to provide a sinusoidal current to the CCFL. The controller controls the current passing through the CCFL by pulse width modulating the control inputs to the direct drive network.