# US 2019/0377017 A1 · Trailer lighting outage detection circuit > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2019/0377017 A1 - Document ID: US20190377017A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 16/210,236 - Filed: 2018-12-05 - Published: 2019-12-12 - Earliest claimed: 2015-10-14 - Assignees: Grote Industries, Inc. - Applicants: Grote Industries, Inc. - Inventors: Timothy W. Brooks; Eric Thorstensen; Christopher Busse - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20190377017A1 ## CPC - G01R 31/006: {on road vehicles, e.g. automobiles or trucks (testing of ignition installations peculiar to internal combustion engines F02P17/00)} - B60Q 1/305: {Indicating devices for towed vehicles} - B60Q 11/005: {for lighting devices, e.g. indicating if lamps are burning or not} - G01R 31/44: Testing lamps - H05B 45/58: involving end of life detection of LEDs - B60Q 2900/10: Retrofit arrangements - G01R: MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES (indicating correct tuning of resonant circuits H03J3/12) - B60Q: ARRANGEMENT OF SIGNALLING OR LIGHTING DEVICES, THE MOUNTING OR SUPPORTING THEREOF OR CIRCUITS THEREFOR, FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL - H05B: ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL ## Abstract A vehicle LED lighting outage detection circuit is disclosed for detecting a fault in the LED light and automatically increasing the power drawn from the light power supply in response to the fault. A complementary detection circuit is also disclosed for detecting the increased power draw and signaling a fault to an operator. The increased power draw can be selected to be in the form of a pulse that settles to a lower power draw state after a time to avoid excessive and wasteful power draw. The system can be mounted in a vehicle and, more particularly, to a semi-tractor truck. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A circuit for detecting outage of an LED, comprising: a load element electrically coupled between a power supply and a ground reference; a detection circuit adapted to detect outage of an LED; and an increase circuit responsive to one or more electrical variances of the detection circuit, the increase circuit adapted to: induce increased electrical current flowing between the load element and the ground reference; induce increased electrical current flowing between the load element and the power supply; or both, wherein the increase circuit is configured to automatically induce said increasing of current flow when said detection circuit detects a failure in the LED. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The circuit of claim 1, wherein said LED is illuminated using power from said power supply. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The circuit of claim 2, wherein the current used to power said LED and said circuit for detecting outage of an LED flows between said power supply and said ground reference. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The circuit of claim 1, wherein said increase circuit comprises said load element. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The circuit of claim 1, wherein said increase circuit induces an increased electrical current flow of at least four amps. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1, 5) The circuit of claim 5, wherein said increase circuit induces an increased electrical current flow of less than seven amps. The circuit of claim 1 wherein said load element is a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) thermistor. ### Claim 8 (depends on 3) The circuit of claim 3 wherein the detection circuit is configured to detect decreased power consumption by the LED. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The circuit of claim 1 wherein the detection circuit is configured to monitor the current draw of the LED, a voltage across the LED, a voltage in series with the lamp, or a voltage in parallel with the lamp. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The circuit of claim 1 wherein the circuit for detecting outage of an LED and the LED are housed in the same enclosure. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The circuit of claim 1, further comprising: a socket configured to retain the LED, the socket having electrical terminals configured to electrically connect to the LED; and an outer casing configured to retain the LED, the outer casing having electrical terminals configured to electrically connect to the LED and socket terminals; wherein the circuit for detecting outage of an LED is mounted in the outer casing. ### Claim 12 A circuit for detecting outage of an LED, comprising: means for detecting outage of an LED; said LED electrically coupled to a power supply and a ground reference wherein the LED is powered by current flowing between said power supply and said ground reference; and means for increasing current flowing between said power supply and said ground reference automatically in response to detection of said outage of an LED. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The circuit of claim 12 wherein said increased current flow is substantially larger than the nominal current flow induced by powering said LED. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The circuit of claim 12 wherein the current flow changes after the detection of a fault in the LED lamp from a first flow rate at a first time to a second flow rate at a second time, wherein the first flow rate is greater than the second flow rate and wherein the power supply voltage at the first time is substantially equal to the power supply voltage at the second time. ### Claim 15 (depends on 12) The circuit of claim 12 wherein the detection circuit comprises a Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT). ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The circuit of claim 15 wherein the base of the BJT is electrically connected to an anode of the LED lamp and the detection circuit is configured such that current passes from the anode to the base of the BJT. ### Claim 17 (depends on 1) The circuit of claim 1, further comprising: a fault detection circuit electrically coupled to the load element and an LED fault signal, the fault detection circuit configured to detect the increased current flow caused by the increase circuit and automatically activate the LED fault signal in response to the increased current flow. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The circuit of claim 17, wherein the fault detection circuit is mounted to a truck, the truck configured for use with a trailer. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The circuit of claim 18, wherein the detection circuit, load element, LED, and increase circuit are mounted to a trailer. ### Claim 20 (depends on 1, 17) The circuit of claim 17, further comprising a second load element, a second LED, a second detection circuit, and a second increase circuit; wherein the second increase circuit, second load element, or a combination of the two is adapted to induce an increased current flow having a substantially different waveform than the circuit of claim 1. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The circuit of claim 20, wherein the fault detection circuit is further adapted to differentiate between the two waveforms generated by the different increase circuit/load element combinations and activate two different LED fault signals accordingly.