Remote control of electronic light ballast and other devices
First Claim
1. An on/off switching system for at least one electronic ballast for at least one lamp, of at least one lighting fixture, said system comprising said at least one ballast having power electronics, said system further having a remote switch function, said remote switch function remotely located apart from said ballast, said remote switch function operating with a low amount of control current and little power loss, said on/off switching system further comprising at least one connection connecting said remotely located switch function to a single ballast resident isolation circuit for providing both on/off and intensity control, said at least one ballast providing high electrical isolation between said remote switch function and said ballast power electronics to each said lamp.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic ballast system controls one or more ballasts of HID or fluorescent lamps, which are controlled in an “on/off” manner by a ultra low power controller that is isolated for a primary power circuit or derives its very low switch power from the ballast itself. The on/off control provides a near lossless control system. This system may be applied to electronic ballast for operates at fractional power levels corresponding to different lighting intensities and with conventional occupancy sensors. The system may also be applied to other electronically compatible end-use devices and applications.
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Citations
28 Claims
- 1. An on/off switching system for at least one electronic ballast for at least one lamp, of at least one lighting fixture, said system comprising said at least one ballast having power electronics, said system further having a remote switch function, said remote switch function remotely located apart from said ballast, said remote switch function operating with a low amount of control current and little power loss, said on/off switching system further comprising at least one connection connecting said remotely located switch function to a single ballast resident isolation circuit for providing both on/off and intensity control, said at least one ballast providing high electrical isolation between said remote switch function and said ballast power electronics to each said lamp.
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7. An on/off switching system for a plurality of ballasts for a plurality of electrical lighting fixtures comprising:
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an isolation integrated circuit providing high electrical isolation between an external control signal and power electronics in at least one ballast; wherein, to turn on said at least one ballast, a power source supplies voltage to said isolation circuit through a remote switch, said circuit having a light from an LED exciting a photo transistor reducing its equivalent resistance into conduction thereby, causing a higher current to flow in a resistor, said resistor and said photo transistor forming a voltage divider, said voltage divider causing a base-emitter voltage of a control transistor to fall below conduction, causing its collector-emitter junction to become highly resistive and non-conducting, thus blocking a current path for diodes to a power supply return and allowing inverter gates to remain in a high impedance state and thus unencumbered to function as part of a self-excited power oscillation inverter servicing at least one lamp driven by said at least one ballast, wherein further when no voltage is applied on an input of said isolation circuit, said gates are clamped to a potential of a return of said power supply, causing said gates to be placed in a non-conductive state, thereby interrupting said power oscillator/inverter and causing said at least one lamp driven by said at least one ballast to go off.
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- 14. An on/off switching function system for at least one electronically interfaceable end-use appliance device which functions through on/off control, said device having an on/off switch function, said system having power electronics, said system further having a remote switch function, said remote switch function remotely located apart from said device resident power electronics, said remote switch function operating with a low amount of control current and little power loss, said on/off switching system further comprising at least one connection connecting said remotely located switch function to a single isolation circuit with high electrical isolation to said power electronics, said power electronics providing electrical computability between said switch function and the operation of said device.
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22. An on/off switching system for at least one electronic ballast for at least one lamp, of at least one lighting fixture, said system comprising:
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said at least one ballast having power electronics; said system further having a remote switch function in said at least one ballast; said remote switch function remotely located apart from said ballast; said remote switch function operating with a low amount of control current and little power loss; at least one connection connecting said remotely located switch to a ballast resident isolation circuit with associated interfacing electronics within said at least one ballast; said at least one ballast providing high electrical isolation between said remote switch function and said ballast power electronics to each said lamp; and a plurality of lead wires connecting said remote switch function, a low current power source, a light emitting diode (LED) at an input of said isolation circuit.
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23. An on/off switching system for at least one electronic ballast for at least one lamp, of at least one lighting fixture, said system comprising:
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said at least one ballast having power electronics; said system further having a remote switch function in said at least one ballast; said remote switch function remotely located apart from said ballast; said remote switch function operating with a low amount of control current and little power loss; at least one connection connecting said remotely located switch to a ballast resident isolation circuit with associated interfacing electronics within said at least one ballast, said connection being a modular phone connector using telephone wire as leads wire in a flat multi-conductor cable; said at least one ballast providing high electrical isolation between said remote switch function and said ballast power electronics to each said lamp; and said at least one ballast is a plurality of ballasts of a plurality of light fixtures, each said light fixture having at least one lamp, each said ballast being connected by a multi-way coupler at each ballast and a plurality of said multi-conductor cables, one said cable having reversed connectors at each end connecting an output of said multi-way coupler to the input of the next said multi-way coupler, wherein said plurality of ballasts are connected in cascade configuration to said single remote switch such that all connecting ballasts of said plurality of ballasts respond to on/off switching action of said remote switch function.
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24. An on/off switching system for at least one electronic ballast for at least one lamp, of at least one lighting fixture, said system comprising:
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said at least one ballast having power electronics; said system further having a remote switch function in said at least one ballast; said remote switch function remotely located apart from said ballast; said remote switch function operating with a low amount of control current and little power loss; at least one connection connecting said remotely located switch to a ballast resident isolation circuit with associated interfacing electronics within said at least one ballast; said at least one ballast providing high electrical isolation between said remote switch function and said ballast power electronics to each said lamp; and said remote switch function is controlled to switch rapidly and with a proportional on time that is proportional to a controlled power level.
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- 25. An on/off switching function system for at least one electronically interfaceable end-use appliance device which functions through on/off control, said device having an on/off switch function, said system having power electronics, said system further having a remote switch function, said remote switch function remotely located apart from said device resident power electronics, said remote switch function operating with a low amount of control current and little power loss, said on/off switching system further comprising at least one connection connecting said remotely located switch function to a isolation circuit with high electrical isolation to said power electronics, said power electronics providing electrical computability between said switch function and the operation of said device, and a plurality of lead wires connecting said remote switch, a low current power source and a light emitting diode (LED) at an input of said isolation circuit.
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28. An on/off switching function system for at least one electronically interfaceable end-use appliance device which functions through on/off control, said device having an on/off switch function, said system having power electronics, said system further having a remote switch function, said remote switch function remotely located apart from said device resident power electronics, said remote switch function operating with a low amount of control current and little power loss, said on/off switching system further comprising at least one connection connecting said remotely located switch function to a isolation circuit with high electrical isolation to said power electronics, said connection being a modular phone connector with flat multi-conductor cable containing telephone wire as a plurality of lead wires, said power electronics providing electrical computability between said switch function and the operation of said device.
Specification