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:
Nov. 15, 2016
Filed:
Nov. 17, 2015
Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd., Osaka, JP;
Shinji Miyoshi, Osaka, JP;
Abstract
A semiconductor light source driving apparatus includes a light source unit which has a plurality of series-connected light source modules. Each light source module includes: a switching element which is controlled to turn on/off by a control signal; series-connected light source elements; and an overvoltage detection circuit in which a zener diode and a light emitting element are connected in series and a light detecting element is disposed to face the light emitting element, the switching element, the light source elements, and the overvoltage detection circuit being connected in parallel to each other. The semiconductor light source driving apparatus further includes: a DC (Direct Current) power supply which supplies a DC voltage to the light source unit; a switching element driving unit which drives the switching element of each of the light source modules to turn on/off the switching element; and a controller which controls the switching element driving unit so that the switching element is turned on according to detection of light by the light detecting element.