Capacitance reducing method for a pulsed activated device and associated devices

• US 8,362,704 B2
• Filed: 04/30/2010
• Issued: 01/29/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/08/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Richard Landry Gray
• Original Assignee: Richard Landry Gray
• Inventors: Gray, Richard Landry, Tsai, Po Ming
• Primary Examiner(s): Owens, Douglas W
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chen, Jianzi
• Application Number:
  US12/770,727
• Publication Number:
  US 20100283403A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,005 Days
• Field of Search: 315/119, 315/125, 315/127, 315/128, 315/177, 315/186, 315/193, 315/200.R, 315/206, 315/209.R, 315/219, 315/224, 315/225, 315/276, 315/283, 315/287, 315/291, 315/297, 315/299, 315/306, 315/307, 315/360, 315/362
• US Class Current: 315/209.R
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/15 using active elements
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/425 using a single converter stage both for correction of AC input power factor and generation of a high frequency AC output voltage
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 7/53803 with automatic control of output voltage or current
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 41/28 using static converters
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 41/2828 using control circuits for the switching elements H05B41/2827 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 20/00 Energy efficient lighting technologies, e.g. halogen lamps or gas discharge lamps
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/10 Technologies improving the efficiency by using switched-mode power supplies [SMPS], i.e. efficient power electronics conversion e.g. power factor correction or reduction of losses in power supplies or efficient standby modes

Abstract

The present invention relates to a capacitance reducing method for a pulsed activated device and associated devices, especially to a pulsed activated device having a capacitor, which improves power factor as well as eliminating the need for large capacitance. The method comprises acts of rectifying an AC voltage to a pulsating DC voltage, sensing a zero-crossing point of the pulsating DC voltage, synchronizing the pulsating DC voltage, setting pulse duration in a pulse period and turning ON and OFF of a pulsed activated device. The device comprises a load, a rectifier, a capacitor, a driver, a controller and an optional PFC circuit.

Claims

1. A capacitance reducing method for a pulsed activated device comprising acts of:

rectifying an AC voltage to a pulsating DC voltage rectifying an AC voltage to a pulsating DC voltage;

sensing a zero-crossing point of the pulsating DC voltage sensing the zero voltage of the pulsating DC voltage;

synchronizing the pulsating DC voltage synchronizing frequency and phase of a clock signal to the pulsating DC voltage;

setting pulse duration in a pulse period setting at least one rising time and at least one falling time of the clock signal corresponding to the pulsating DC voltage; and

turning ON and OFF of the pulsed activated device turning the pulsed activated device ON and OFF for at least one interval corresponding to the clock signal.

2. The capacitance reducing method for a pulsed activated device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the interval has an ON time portion and an OFF time portion and the OFF time portion is selected from a group consisting of 10% to 90% of duty cycle.

3. The capacitance reducing method for a pulsed activated device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the clock signal is a pulse-width modulation (PWM) signal.

4. A device comprising:

a load that being accepted with pulse supply;

a rectifier being connected to an external AC power source, and rectifying an AC voltage to a pulsating DC voltage;

a capacitor having a capacitance and being connected to the rectifier, wherein the capacitance is a measure of the amount of charge stored for a given electric potential;

a driver driving the load that using the charge stored on the capacitor that draws current from the capacitor; and

a controller being connected between the rectifier and the driver, and generating a signal that turns the driver OFF for at least one interval when the pulsating DC waveform voltage approaches zero voltage, wherein the signal is synchronized to the pulsating DC voltage.

5. The device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the rectifier is a full bridge rectifier.

6. The device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the load is a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL), an external electrode fluorescent lamp (EEFL) or a carbon nanotube lamp (CNL), and the driver is an inverter.

7. The device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the load is a light emitting diode (LED) lamp and the driver is a constant current source.

8. The device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the load is an organic light emitting diode (OLED) lamp and the driver is a constant voltage source.

9. The device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the signal generated by the controller is a pulse-width modulation (PWM) signal to turn the driver OFF and ON.

10. The device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the controller comprises

a PLL circuit being connected to the rectifier, sensing frequency and voltage of the pulsating DC voltage and generating a clock signal based on the frequency of the pulsating DC voltage;

and

a duty cycle selector being connected to the PLL circuit and the driver, receiving the clock signal from the PLL circuit and generating the PWM signal synchronized to the clock signal, which turns ON and turns OFF the driver.

11. The device as claimed in claim 10, wherein the PWM signal has at least one ON time portion and at least one OFF time portion and the OFF time portion is selected from a group consisting of 10% to 25% of duty cycle.

12. The device as claimed in claim 4, further comprising a power factor correction (PFC) circuit that improves power factor of the device.

13. The device as claimed in claim 12, wherein the PFC is an active PFC circuit.

14. The device as claimed in claim 12, wherein the PFC is an active PFC circuit with voltage isolation.