Digital ballast
First Claim
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1. A ceiling fan, comprising:
- a ceiling-mountable fan housing containing a fan motor;
a plurality of fan blades coupled to the fan motor to be turned by the fan motor;
at least one gas discharge lamp ballast; and
at least one gas discharge lamp driven by said ballast,wherein the gas discharge lamp ballast comprises;
a switching section generating an AC drive current for driving the gas discharge lamp;
a switching section controller for supplying switching signals to the switching section to control the switching frequency of the switching section; and
a microcontroller providing a pulse width modulated signal to the switching section controller, wherein the microcontroller controls the pulse width of the pulse width modulated signal to control the drive current supplied by the switching section and wherein the microcontroller controls dimming of the at least one gas discharge lamp by producing a first pulse width modulated signal to the switching section controller to dim the at least one gas discharge lamp and by producing a second pulse width modulated signal to the switching section controller to brighten the lamp.
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Abstract
A ceiling fan including a lamp ballast in which the drive current frequency is controlled by a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) that is capable of precise output frequency control. The VCO frequency is controlled by a microcontroller. The microcontroller may control the VCO frequency in response to various input signals including a triac signal, a manual dimmer control signal, a remote control receiver signal, a light monitor signal, a motion detector signal, or a communication interface signal.
26 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A ceiling fan, comprising:
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a ceiling-mountable fan housing containing a fan motor; a plurality of fan blades coupled to the fan motor to be turned by the fan motor; at least one gas discharge lamp ballast; and at least one gas discharge lamp driven by said ballast, wherein the gas discharge lamp ballast comprises; a switching section generating an AC drive current for driving the gas discharge lamp; a switching section controller for supplying switching signals to the switching section to control the switching frequency of the switching section; and a microcontroller providing a pulse width modulated signal to the switching section controller, wherein the microcontroller controls the pulse width of the pulse width modulated signal to control the drive current supplied by the switching section and wherein the microcontroller controls dimming of the at least one gas discharge lamp by producing a first pulse width modulated signal to the switching section controller to dim the at least one gas discharge lamp and by producing a second pulse width modulated signal to the switching section controller to brighten the lamp. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A ceiling fan, comprising:
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a ceiling-mountable fan housing containing a fan motor; a plurality of fan blades coupled to the fan motor to be turned by the fan motor; at least one fluorescent lamp ballast; and at least one fluorescent lamp driven by said ballast, wherein the fluorescent lamp ballast comprises; a switching section generating an AC drive current for driving the fluorescent lamp; a switching section controller for supplying switching signals to the switching section to control the switching frequency of the switching section; and a microcontroller providing a pulse width modulated signal to the switching section controller, wherein the microcontroller controls the pulse width of the pulse width modulated signal to control the drive current supplied by the switching section and wherein the microcontroller controls dimming of the at least one fluorescent lamp by producing a first pulse width modulated signal to the switching section controller to dim the at least one fluorescent lamp and by producing a second pulse width modulated signal to the switching section controller to brighten the lamp.
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21. A ceiling fan, comprising:
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a ceiling-mountable fan housing containing a fan motor; a plurality of fan blades coupled to the fan motor to be turned by the fan motor; at least one gas discharge lamp ballast; and at least one gas discharge lamp driven by said ballast, wherein the gas discharge lamp ballast comprises; a switching section generating an AC drive current for driving the gas discharge lamp; a switching section controller for supplying switching signals to the switching section to control the switching frequency of the switching section, wherein the switching section controller includes a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) supplying said switching signals to the switching section, VCO control logic supplying a VCO control signal to the VCO to control the frequencies of the switching signals supplied by the VCO in response to a lamp current feedback signal and a lamp current control signal, and a signal conditioner generating said lamp current control signal such that the lamp current control signal has a voltage corresponding to a pulse width of a pulse width modulated signal; and a microcontroller providing the pulse width modulated signal to the switching section controller, wherein the microcontroller controls the pulse width of the pulse width modulated signal to control the drive current supplied by the switching section and wherein the microcontroller controls dimming of the at least one gas discharge lamp by producing a first pulse width modulated signal to the switching section controller to dim the at least one gas discharge lamp and by producing a second pulse width modulated signal to the switching section controller to brighten the lamp.
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Specification