LED array having an active shunt arrangement
US6153980A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 4, 1999 |
| Grant date | Nov 28, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 4, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S362/80
- WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A device, e.g., a luminaire, that includes a plurality of LEDs connected in series, and an active shunt arrangement for sensing a failure of one or more of the LEDs and for shunting current that would have otherwise flowed through a failed LED, to thereby maintain a flow of current through remaining ones of the plurality of LEDs. In one exemplary embodiment, the active shunt arrangement includes a plurality of active shunts connected in parallel across respective ones of the LEDs, and remote sense and digital control logic for detecting an open-circuit condition of the normally closed circuit, and for sequentially activating the active shunts until the normally closed circuit has been restored to a closed-circuit condition. In another exemplary embodiment, the active shunt arrangement includes a plurality of active shunts connected in parallel across respective ones of the LEDs, a plurality of sense circuits operatively associated with respective ones of the LEDs, each of the sense circuits being configured to sense a failure condition of its associated LED, and to produce a sense output signal upon sensing a failure condition of its associated LED, and a plurality of control circu…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.