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:
Jun. 12, 2001
Filed:
Aug. 03, 1999
David C. Salerno, New Boston, NH (US);
Texas Instruments Incorporated, Dallas, TX (US);
Abstract
A boost regulator circuit is designed to maintain nearly constant intensity from a flashlight lamp, compensating for the drop in battery voltage over an operating lifetime. The quality of the light output is improved, and battery life is extended. An asynchronous boost regulator circuit and two synchronous boost regulator circuits are shown. The regulator circuit begins boosting after battery voltage has fallen by 15-20%, and maintains output voltage at a substantially constant level until a major portion of the stored battery energy has been consumed. A circuit assembly is shown that can be used to retrofit existing flashlights. The circuit assembly resides on a disk-shaped circuit board that can be placed between the lamp and an adjacent battery. Contacts formed on the circuit board provide connections to the battery, the lamp, and to a common connection point such as ground.