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US 6,271,635 B1Granted
Dimming system and method for magnetically ballasted gaseous discharge lamps
AssigneeAdvanced Lighting Technologies, Inc.
InventorEdmond Daniel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A dimming system and method suitable for any type of magnetic ballast operating a gaseous discharge lamp. The dimming system operates to selectively vary the number of turns of the ballast winding in operative connection with the lamp to thereby effect a change in the impedance of the ballast, the power provided to the lamp, and ultimately the brightness of the lamp. The system may be operated such that the brightness of the lamp is selected responsive to the detection of an external stimulus such as motion or sound within the space to be illuminated.
Claims62
A gaseous discharge lamp ballast comprising:
- (a) a magnetic core;
- (b) a power winding coupled to said magnetic core and being adapted for connection to an a.c. power source;
- (c) a lamp winding coupled to said magnetic core and connected to the lamp;
- (d) a dimming winding coupled to said magnetic core;
- and
- (e) switch means for selectively connecting said dimming winding in series with the lamp and said lamp winding to effect a change in the impedance of the ballast to thereby effect a change in the power provided to the lamp at a substantially constant voltage to thereby effect sustained illumination of the lamp in a bright mode or in a dim mode.
3 more elements
In a gaseous discharge lamp ballast comprising a core which magnetically couples (i) a primary winding adapted for receiving power from an a.c. power source, and (ii) a secondary winding adapted for providing power to the lamp at a substantially constant voltage, the improvement comprising:
- switch means for selectively uncoupling a portion of said secondary winding to change the impedance of the ballast to thereby change the power provided to the lamp from (i) a power of about the rated power for the lamp effecting the illumination of the lamp in a bright mode to a power between about fifty percent and about sixty percent of the rated power effecting illumination of the lamp in a dim mode or (ii) a power between about fifty percent and about sixty percent of the rated power of the lamp effecting illumination of the lamp in a dim mode to a power of about the rated power of the lamp effecting illumination of the lamp in a bright mode.
In a gaseous discharge lamp ballast comprising:
- (a) a magnetic core which couples (i) a primary winding connected to an a.c. power source, (ii) a secondary winding connected to the lamp, and (iii) a tertiary winding;
- and
- (b) means for selectively effecting illumination of the lamp in a dim mode;
- the improvement wherein said means selectively connects or disconnects said tertiary winding from a series connection with the lamp and said secondary winding to change the power provided to said lamp from (i) about the rated power of the lamp effecting illumination of the lamp in a bright mode to a power less than the rated power of the lamp effecting illumination of the lamp in a dim mode or (ii) a power less than the rated power of the lamp effecting illumination of the lamp in a dim mode to about the rated power of the lamp effecting illumination of the lamp in a bright mode.
1 more element
A dimming system comprising:
- a gaseous discharge lamp suitable for sustained illumination in a blight mode and in a dim mode having a first and a second terminal;
- a magnetic ballast comprising:
- (a) a magnetic core,
- (b) a primary winding coupled to said core and being adapted for connection to an a.c. power source, and
- (c) a secondary winding coupled to said core, said secondary winding having a first and a second terminal, said first secondary winding terminal being connected to said first lamp terminal;
- and
- a dimming circuit comprising:
- (a) a dimming winding coupled to said core, said dimming winding having a first terminal and a second terminal, said first dimming winding terminal being connected to said second lamp terminal;
- and
- (b) a dimming control means for selectively illuminating said lamp in a bright mode or in a dim mode, said dimming control means comprising:
- (i) a dimming switch means for selectively connecting and disconnecting said dimming winding from a series connection with said lamp and said secondary winding, said dimming switch means having a first dimming switch contact comprising said second secondary winding terminal, a second dimming switch contact comprising said second dimming winding terminal, and a third dimming switch contact comprising said second lamp terminal, said dimming switch means having a first switch position wherein said first dimming switch contact is connected to said second dimming switch contact to thereby connect said dimming winding in series with said lamp and said lamp winding, said dimming switch means having a second switch position wherein said first dimming switch contact is connected to said third dimming switch contact to thereby connect said lamp in series with said secondary winding;
- (ii) an electromagnetic dimming relay for controlling the switch position of said switch means;
- and
- (iii) an energization means for controlling the energization and the deenergization of said dimming relay, said energization means being operatively connected to the a.c. power supply and to said dimming relay to effect the energization of said relay responsive to an external stimulus, and to effect the deenergization of said relay when the external stimulus is absent for a predetermined time;
- whereby said lamp is illuminated in a bright mode responsive to an external stimulus and remains illuminated in a bright mode until the stimulus is absent for a predetermined time, whereby said lamp is illuminated in a dim mode.
12 more elements
A magnetic ballast suitable for use with different HID lamp types operable over a wide range of voltages, said ballast comprising a core which magnetically couples (i) a primary winding adapted for receiving power from an a.c. power source and (ii) a secondary winding adapted for providing power at a substantially constant voltage to the HID lamp;
- and switch means for selectively uncoupling a portion of said secondary winding to vary the impedance of the ballast to thereby vary the power provided to the lamp to thereby effect the illumination of the lamp in either (i) a bright mode at about the rated power of the lamp or (ii) a dim mode at a power between about fifty percent and about seventy-five percent of rated power,
- said switch means operating responsive to the detection or non-detection of one or more external stimuli from the group consisting of sound and motion.
A ballast suitable for operating a gaseous discharge lamp from an a.c. power source providing a substantially constant voltage to the lamp, said lamp operating in either a bright mode at about the rated power of the lamp or a dim mode at a power between about fifty percent to about seventy-five percent of the rated power of the lamp, said ballast comprising:
- (a) a pair of a.c. power receiving terminals;
- (b) a pair of lamp connection terminals;
- (c) a magnetic core;
- (d) a primary winding coupled to said core and being operatively connected to said power receiving terminals;
- (e) a secondary winding coupled to said core and being operatively connected to said lamp connection terminals;
- and
- (f) dimming means for operatively disconnecting a portion of said secondary winding from said lamp connection terminals, said ballast providing to the lamp a power of about either the rated power of the lamp or a power between about fifty percent to about seventy-five percent of the rated power of the lamp,
- wherein said dimming means comprises a dimming switch operated in only a first or a second switch position;
- said dimming switch operated in said first switch position to operatively connect said secondary winding portion to said lamp connection terminals;
- said dimming switch operated in said second switch position to operatively disconnect said secondary winding portion from said lamp connection terminals.
7 more elements
A method of illuminating a gaseous discharge lamp from an a.c. power source comprising the steps of:
- providing a magnetic ballast, said ballast comprising a core which magnetically couples a primary winding and a secondary winding;
- applying a.c. power to said primary winding;
- illuminating the lamp by operatively connecting the lamp to said secondary winding;
- and
- varying the brightness of the lamp by removing a portion of said secondary winding from operative connection with the lamp to thereby change the power provided to the lamp while maintaining the voltage provided to the lamp substantially constant so that the lamp is illuminated at either a the brightness of the lamp operating at about the rated power for the lamp or about the brightness of the lamp operating at about the power below which the lamp will extinguish.
2 more elements
A method of varying the brightness of a magnetically ballasted gaseous discharge lamp comprising the steps of:
- illuminating the lamp from a magnetic ballast comprising a magnetic core which couples (i) a primary winding adapted for connection to an a.c. power source, (ii) a secondary winding connected to the lamp, and (iii) a tertiary winding connected in series with the lamp and said secondary winding;
- and
- varying the brightness of the lamp by disconnecting said tertiary winding from the series connected lamp and secondary winding to thereby effect illumination of the lamp at either the brightness of the lamp operating at about the rated power of the lamp or the brightness of the lamp operating at between about fifty percent to about sixty percent of the rated power of the lamp.
A method of operating a gaseous discharge lamp from an a.c. power source comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a gaseous discharge lamp;
- (b) ballasting said lamp from a magnetic ballast comprising a magnetic core which couples a primary winding and a secondary winding;
- (c) providing a.c. power to said primary winding;
- (d) illuminating said lamp by providing power at a substantially constant voltage to said lamp in series connection with said secondary winding;
- and
- (e) varying the power provided to said lamp by disconnecting a portion of said secondary winding from the lamp so that the power provided to the lamp is either a power of about the rated power of the lamp or a power of about fifty percent and about seventy-five percent of the rated power of the lamp.
3 more elements
A method comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a gaseous discharge lamp;
- (b) providing a magnetic ballast comprising a magnetic core which couples primary, secondary, and tertiary windings;
- (c) providing a switch means having a first and a second switch position, said first switch position connects said tertiary winding in series with said lamp and said secondary winding, said second switch position disconnects said tertiary winding from said series connected lamp and secondary winding;
- (d) illuminating said lamp by providing a.c. power to said primary winding and positioning said switch means in said first switch position to provide power to said lamp from the series connected secondary and tertiary windings;
- and
- (e) varying the power provided to said lamp by positioning said switch means in either said first or said second switch position the power provided to the lamp being either a power of about the rated power of the lamp or a power of about fifty percent to about sixty percent of the rated power of the lamp.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.