# US 10,375,779 B2 · Lighting apparatus > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,375,779 B2 - Document ID: US10375779B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/000,729 - Filed: 2018-06-05 - Published: 2018-10-11 - Granted: 2019-08-06 - Earliest claimed: 2016-02-22 - Assignees: Lumens Co., Ltd. - Applicants: Lumens Co., Ltd. - Inventors: Tai-Hyun Kim; Jong-il Kim; Hyun-Pyo Hong; Jun-Hyung Lim; Tae-Kwan Lee; Young-Jun Lee - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10375779B2 ## CPC - H05B 45/30: Driver circuits - H05B 45/48: having LEDs organised in strings and incorporating parallel shunting devices - H05B 45/56: involving measures to prevent abnormal temperature of the LEDs - H05B 45/44: with an active control inside an LED matrix - H05B 45/46: having LEDs disposed in parallel lines - Y02B 20/30: Semiconductor lamps, e.g. solid state lamps [SSL] light emitting diodes [LED] or organic LED [OLED] - H05B: ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL - Y02B: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS, e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USER APPLICATIONS ## Abstract Disclosed herein is a lighting apparatus capable of uniformly maintaining power consumed by light emitting units even in the case in which various voltages are applied, and increasing power efficiency while minimizing a heating problem by adjusting a reference voltage applied to a connection structure of the light emitting units and a distribution switch according to magnitude of the applied voltage. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A lighting apparatus comprising: a power supply unit generating alternating current (AC) power; a light emitting unit connected in series with the power supply unit and including a first light emitting unit and a second light emitting unit that each have at least one light emitting diode element; a voltage detecting unit connected in series with the power supply unit and measuring a voltage value input from the power supply unit; and a reference voltage controlling unit selectively controlling a first distribution switch unit and a second distribution switch unit which are separately connected to the first light emitting unit and the second light emitting unit, according to the voltage value measured by the voltage detecting unit, wherein the reference voltage controlling unit supplies a first distribution switch reference voltage to the first distribution switch unit and the second distribution switch unit when the voltage value measured by the voltage detecting unit is smaller than a switching control reference voltage, wherein the reference voltage controlling unit supplies a first distribution switch reference voltage to the first distribution switch unit, and supplies a second distribution switch reference voltage having a value greater than the first distribution switch reference voltage to the second distribution switch unit, when the voltage value measured by the voltage detecting unit is greater than a switching control reference voltage, and wherein the first light emitting unit includes one or more backdraft prevention units connected in series with a rear stage of the light emitting diode element. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The lighting apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a switch unit connected in series with between the power supply unit and the second light emitting unit, turned on to connect the first light emitting unit and the second light emitting unit in parallel to each other, when the voltage value measured by the voltage detecting unit is smaller than a switching control reference voltage, and turned off to connect the first light emitting unit and the second light emitting unit in series with each other, when the voltage value measured by the voltage detecting unit is greater than the switching control reference voltage. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The lighting apparatus of claim 2, when the switch unit is turn on, according to the voltage value increase of the power supply unit, the light emitting diode elements included in the first light emitting unit and the light emitting diode elements included in the second light emitting unit are sequentially turned on. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The lighting apparatus of claim 2, when the switch unit is turn on, the currents flowing through a light emitting diode element included in the first light emitting unit and the currents flowing through a light emitting diode element included in the second light emitting unit are the same. ### Claim 5 (depends on 2) The lighting apparatus of claim 2, when the switch unit is turn on, the first distribution switch is driven. ### Claim 6 (depends on 2) The lighting apparatus of claim 2, when the switch unit is turn off, according to the voltage value increase of the power supply unit, the light emitting diode elements included in the first light emitting unit are sequentially turned on, and then the light emitting diode elements included in the second light emitting unit are sequentially turned on. ### Claim 7 (depends on 2) The lighting apparatus of claim 2, when the switch unit is turn off, the currents flowing through a light emitting diode element included in the first light emitting unit is smaller than the currents flowing through a first light emitting diode element included in the second light emitting unit. ### Claim 8 (depends on 2) The lighting apparatus of claim 2, when the switch unit is turn off, the first distribution switch and the second distribution switch are driven. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The lighting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the reference voltage controlling unit includes a first distribution switch reference voltage supplying unit supplying a first distribution switch reference voltage; and a second distribution switch reference voltage supplying unit supplying a second distribution switch reference voltage having a value greater than the first distribution switch reference voltage. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The lighting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first distribution switch unit and the second distribution switch unit include one or more transistors which are turned on at a specific voltage among voltages input from the power supply unit, and the reference voltage controlling unit changes distribution switch reference voltages applied to the transistors so that the transistors are turned on only at the specific voltage, according to the voltage value measured by the voltage detecting unit. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The lighting apparatus of claim 10, wherein the first light emitting unit and the second light emitting unit each include N light emitting groups including a plurality of light emitting diode elements, and the transistors are connected to a rear stage of each of the N light emitting groups, and have the same number as 2*N, which is the number of the light emitting groups. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The lighting apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a first variable resistor unit connected between the first distribution switch unit and a ground, and including a variable resistor; a second variable resistor unit connected between the second distribution switch unit and the ground, and including a variable resistor. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The lighting apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a power controlling unit changing resistance values of the variable resistors included in the first variable resistor unit and the second variable resistor unit according to the voltage value measured by the voltage detecting unit to uniformly maintain power consumed by the first light emitting unit and the second light emitting unit. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The lighting apparatus of claim 13, wherein the power controlling unit changes the resistance values of the variable resistor of the first variable resistor unit and the variable resistor of the second variable resistor unit to the same resistance value when the voltage value measured by the voltage detecting unit is smaller than a switching control reference voltage. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The lighting apparatus of claim 13, wherein the power controlling unit changes the resistance values of the variable resistor of the first variable resistor unit and the variable resistor of the second variable resistor unit to different resistance values when the voltage value measured by the voltage detecting unit is greater than the switching control reference voltage. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The lighting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the power supply unit includes: an AC power generating unit generating an AC waveform; and a rectifying unit rectifying the AC power output from the AC power generating unit.