ELECTRONIC CONTROL SYSTEMS AND METHODS
First Claim
1. A dimmer switch for controlling the amount of power delivered from a power source to a lighting load, the dimmer switch comprising:
- a controllably conductive device connectable between the power source and the lighting load;
a control circuit for controlling the controllably conductive device, the control circuit having a three wire mode of operation wherein the dimmer switch operates with a neutral wire connection, and a two wire mode of operation wherein the dimmer switch operates without a neutral wire connection; and
a detector circuit that is adapted to cause the control circuit to switch from the two wire mode of operation to the three wire mode of operation upon detection of the presence of a neutral zero cross detection signal.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus in an electronic control system allows two or three wire operation. A power supply can supply power to the enclosed circuitry in both two and three wire installations. The system may have a high efficiency switching type power supply in parallel with a low frequency controllably conductive device. A control circuit may control the controllably conductive device. The control circuit may switch from the two wire mode of operation to the three wire mode of operation upon the detection of a zero cross detection signal. A detector circuit may be used to detect the presence of an output signal from a zero cross detector. Two separate zero cross detectors may be used such that timing information can be collected in both two and three wire installations. Both zero cross detectors may be monitored and used to automatically configure the electronic control.
-
Citations
15 Claims
-
1. A dimmer switch for controlling the amount of power delivered from a power source to a lighting load, the dimmer switch comprising:
-
a controllably conductive device connectable between the power source and the lighting load;
a control circuit for controlling the controllably conductive device, the control circuit having a three wire mode of operation wherein the dimmer switch operates with a neutral wire connection, and a two wire mode of operation wherein the dimmer switch operates without a neutral wire connection; and
a detector circuit that is adapted to cause the control circuit to switch from the two wire mode of operation to the three wire mode of operation upon detection of the presence of a neutral zero cross detection signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
-
-
7. A dimmer switch for controlling the amount of power delivered from a power source to a lighting load, the dimmer switch comprising:
-
a control circuit responsive to a user input signal representative of a predetermined amount of power to be delivered from the power source to the lighting load, the control circuit having a three wire mode of operation wherein the dimmer switch operates with a neutral wire connection, and a two wire mode of operation wherein the dimmer switch operates without a neutral wire connection; and
a detector circuit that is adapted to cause the control circuit to switch from the two wire mode of operation to the three wire mode of operation upon detection of the presence of a neutral zero cross detection signal. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A dimmer switch for controlling the amount of power delivered from a power source to a lighting load, the dimmer switch comprising:
-
a control circuit having a three wire mode of operation wherein the dimmer switch operates with a neutral wire connection, and a two wire mode of operation wherein the dimmer switch operates without a neutral wire connection; and
a detector circuit that is adapted to detect the presence of an output signal from a zero cross detector and to cause the control circuit to switch from the two wire mode of operation to the three wire mode of operation upon detection of the presence of a neutral zero cross detection signal. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
-
Specification