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:
Mar. 28, 2006
Filed:
Jul. 29, 2003
Peter W. Shackle, Madison, AL (US);
Peter W. Shackle, Madison, AL (US);
Universal Lighting Technologies, Inc., Madison, AL (US);
Abstract
An LED light source drive includes an LED current generating circuit and an LED drive controller. The current generating circuit is operable to receive power from a power source and to generate a dc current that can be used to the drive an LED light source. The drive controller is operable to control the dc current to ensure that the light output of the light source remains approximately constant over its operating lifetime. In one embodiment, the drive controller ensures that the effective light output of the light source remains approximately constant by automatically increasing the dc current in predetermined amounts at predetermined times. In an alternative embodiment, the drive controller includes an LED light sensor that is operable to generate a light signal indicative of the effective light output of the light source and the controller uses this light signal to control the dc current output.