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Universal phase dimming module

  • US 9,401,588 B2
  • Filed: 04/18/2014
  • Issued: 07/26/2016
  • Est. Priority Date: 04/18/2013
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A dimmer circuit, comprising:

  • a power supply that operates over a wide voltage range by detecting an input voltage and adjusting its operation based on the input voltage to provide at least one output voltage for components of the dimmer circuit, wherein the output voltage is independent of the input voltage;

    a microcontroller that is powered by the power supply and that supports reverse phase cut, forward phase cut, and hybrid phase cut dimming modes, wherein the microcontroller outputs a PWM (pulse width modulation) control signal;

    an ON/OFF and slew rate control circuit that provides gate drive control for a plurality of power switching devices in a dimmer output circuit and transition time control, wherein the microcontroller controls the ON/OFF and slew rate control circuit using the PWM control signal;

    a wave shaping circuit, wherein the wave shaping circuit provides additional transition time control when the dimmer circuit provides reverse phase cut dimming or hybrid phase cut dimming; and

    the dimmer output circuit that powers a load based on the PWM control signal, the transition time control provided by the ON/OFF and slew rate control circuit, and the additional transition time control provided by the wave shaping circuit,wherein the dimmer output circuit includes MOSFET or IGBT power switching devices.

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