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. 27, 2007
Filed:
Apr. 01, 2005
Ernest C. Weyhrauch, Cookeville, TN (US);
George B. Kendrick, Lexington, KY (US);
Matthew B. Ballenger, Lexington, KY (US);
Ernest C. Weyhrauch, Cookeville, TN (US);
George B. Kendrick, Lexington, KY (US);
Matthew B. Ballenger, Lexington, KY (US);
Osram Sylvania Inc., Danvers, MA (US);
Abstract
A method of operating a power controller that converts a line voltage to an RMS load voltage includes a soft start in which a conduction angle of a phase-control clipping circuit is gradually increased to a steady state value that defines the RMS load voltage. The controller has a circuit with a time-based signal source that triggers conduction independently of line voltage magnitude and a transistor switch whose gate receives signals from the time-based signal source to trigger the circuit. When starting the power controller, a microcontroller increases the conduction angle of the phase-control clipping circuit in plural steps to provide the soft start.