Audio amplifier power and temperature controller having network detecting and associated methods

An audio amplifier power and temperature controller comprising:

• power receiving means for receiving power from a power source to an audio amplifier, said power receiving means including a power receiving circuit with a plurality of conductors positioned to receive power from a power source, power sensing circuitry and switch circuitry, a plurality of fuses connected to said conductors;
• a damping capacitor connected to said conductors;
• and a main power transformer connected to one of said fuses and one of said conductors;
• power condition switching control means responsive to said power receiving means for switching components of an audio amplifier during a plurality of power conditions, said power condition switching control means including thermal status monitoring and controlling means for monitoring thermal status of operating values of audio amplifier components and responsively decreasing power to the audio amplifier components to protect the audio amplifier components against damage caused by excess heat and for responsively increasing power when the audio amplifier components return to normal thermal operating conditions, output monitoring means to protect said amplifier during a high current condition, input power discriminating means responsive to said power receiving means for discriminating between incoming audio component signals to switch said audio amplifier to the on-state, and brown-out protecting means for preventing said audio amplifier from going into and remaining in a circuit protection or sleep mode by continuously monitoring said audio amplifier for normal current conditions and responsively resuming normal current amplifier operations when normal current conditions occur;
• soft starting means within said power condition switching control means responsive to said power receiving means for limiting inrush current from said power receiving means and for slowly ramping up to an audio amplifier on-state, said soft start means including a power level detection circuit to detect voltage changes by sensing frequency changes and voltage null points, a micro-controller responsive to said power level detection circuit to monitor low power conditions and high power conditions, and a voltage regulating circuit connected to a voltage supply which regulates input voltage to said soft start circuit;
• wave analyzing embedded software within said micro-controller for analyzing the sinusoidal waves detected by said power level detection circuit to determine a voltage null so as to allow said audio amplifier to turn on just prior to a voltage null and to gradually ramp up to a fully on-start or high power condition;
• visual feedback means responsive to said power condition switching control means for providing visual operating and error status conditions, said visual feedback means including indicating means for indicating at least one predetermined visual signal and a plurality of light sources responsive to said indicating means to visually display light representing the at least one predetermined visual signal;
• and
• network condition monitoring means for monitoring network conditions of the audio amplifier to protect and enhance performance an audio amplifier within a network.

A method of controlling power to an audio amplifier comprising the steps of:

• receiving power from a power source;
• switching components in said audio amplifier by limiting inrush current from said power source, slowly ramping up said power to an audio amplifier on-state, monitoring the thermal status of the operating values of said audio amplifier components, responsively decreasing power to said audio amplifier components to protect said audio amplifier components against damage caused by excess heat, and responsively increasing power when said audio amplifier components return to normal thermal operating conditions;
• further switching components in said audio amplifier by monitoring current output circuits of said audio amplifier to protect said audio amplifier during a high current condition by disconnecting a load to the current output circuits and reconnecting the load to the current output circuits when normal operating current conditions resume, discriminating between incoming audio component signals to switch the audio amplifier to the on-state and transient line voltage to momentarily sense the signal but not activating the audio amplifier to the on-state, and protectively preventing the audio amplifier from going into and remaining in a circuit protection made by continuously monitoring the audio amplifier for normal current conditions and responsively resuming normal amplifier operations when normal current conditions occur;
• further limiting said inrush current by sensing frequency changes and voltage null points and monitoring low power conditions and high power conditions;
• monitoring the output current circuits to determine if a full shut down of said audio amplifier is desirable to protect the audio amplifier and other system components when connected thereto;
• and
• providing visual operating and error status feedback for enhancing diagnosis of operating and error status conditions.

An audio amplifier power and temperature controller comprising:

• power receiving means for receiving power from a power source to an audio amplifier, said power receiving means including, a power receiving circuit with a plurality of conductors positioned to receive power from a power source, power sensing circuitry and switch circuitry;
• power condition switching control means responsive to said power receiving means for switching components of an audio amplifier during a plurality of power conditions, said power condition switching control means including thermal status monitoring and controlling means for monitoring thermal status of operating values of audio amplifier components and responsively decreasing power to the audio amplifier components to protect the audio amplifier components against damage caused by excess heat and for responsively increasing power when the audio amplifier components return to normal thermal operating conditions;
• network condition monitoring means for monitoring network conditions of the audio amplifier to protect and enhance performance an audio amplifier within a network;
• and
• wherein said switch circuitry consists of resistors and diodes in a resistor-diode network.

An audio amplifier power and temperature controller comprising:

• power receiving means for receiving power from a power source to an audio amplifier;
• power condition switching control means responsive to said power receiving means for switching components of an audio amplifier during a plurality of power conditions, said power condition switching control means including thermal status monitoring and controlling means for monitoring thermal status of operating values of audio amplifier components and responsively decreasing power to the audio amplifier components to protect the audio amplifier components against damage caused by excess heat and for responsively increasing power when the audio amplifier components return to normal thermal operating conditions;
• network condition monitoring means for monitoring network conditions of the audio amplifier to protect and enhance performance an audio amplifier within a network;
• and
• wherein said power receiving means includes a power receiving circuit with a plurality of conductors positioned to receive power from a power source, a plurality of fuses connected to said conductors, a damping capacitor connected to said conductors, and a main power transformer connected to one of said fuses and one of said conductors for supplying power to said power condition switching control means.

An audio amplifier power and temperature controller comprising:

• power receiving means for receiving power from a power source to an audio amplifier;
• power condition switching control means responsive to said power receiving means for switching components of an audio amplifier during a plurality of power conditions, said power condition switching control means including thermal status monitoring and controlling means for monitoring thermal status of operating values of audio amplifier components and responsively decreasing power to the audio amplifier components to protect the audio amplifier components against damage caused by excess heat and for responsively increasing power when the audio amplifier components return to normal thermal operating conditions;
• network condition monitoring means for monitoring network conditions of the audio amplifier to protect and enhance performance an audio amplifier within a network;
• wherein said power condition switching control means includes a power condition switching control circuit which switchingly controls power from said power receiving means to other components of the audio amplifier;
• wherein said power condition switching control circuit includes soft starting means consisting of a soft start circuit responsive to said power receiving circuit for limiting inrush current from said power receiving circuit and for slowly ramping up to an audio amplifier on-state;
• and
• wherein said soft starting circuit includes a power level detection circuit to detect voltage changes by sensing frequency changes and voltage null points, and a micro-controller responsive to said power level detection circuit to monitor low power conditions and high power conditions.

An audio amplifier power and temperature controller comprising:

• power receiving means for receiving power from a power source to an audio amplifier;
• power condition switching control means responsive to said power receiving means for switching components of an audio amplifier during a plurality of power conditions, said power condition switching control means including thermal status monitoring and controlling means for monitoring thermal status of operating values of audio amplifier components and responsively decreasing power to the audio amplifier components to protect the audio amplifier components against damage caused by excess heat and for responsively increasing power when the audio amplifier components return to normal thermal operating conditions;
• network condition monitoring means for monitoring network conditions of the audio amplifier to protect and enhance performance an audio amplifier within a network;
• wherein said power condition switching control means includes a power condition switching control circuit which switchingly controls power from said power receiving means to other components of the audio amplifier;
• wherein said power condition switching control circuit includes soft starting means consisting of a soft start circuit responsive to said power receiving circuit for limiting inrush current from said power receiving circuit and for slowly ramping up to an audio amplifier on-state;
• wherein said soft starting circuit includes a voltage regulating circuit connected to a voltage supply which regulates input voltage to said soft start circuit;
• and
• wherein said voltage regulating circuit is comprised of a voltage regulator, one or more Zener or other diodes and capacitors connected to power and ground, a power transformer, a bridge rectifier connected to said power transformer, a capacitor connected to ground, and a capacitor positioned to rectify the voltage from the power transformer.

An audio amplifier power and temperature controller comprising:

• power receiving means for receiving power from a power source to an audio amplifier;
• power condition switching control means responsive to said power receiving means for switching components of an audio amplifier during a plurality of power conditions, said power condition switching control means including thermal status monitoring and controlling means for monitoring thermal status of operating values of audio amplifier components and responsively decreasing power to the audio amplifier components to protect the audio amplifier components against damage caused by excess heat and for responsively increasing power when the audio amplifier components return to normal thermal operating conditions;
• network condition monitoring means for monitoring network conditions of the audio amplifier to protect and enhance performance an audio amplifier within a network;
• wherein said power condition switching control means includes a power condition switching control circuit which switchingly controls power from said power receiving means to other components of the audio amplifier;
• and
• wherein said power condition switching control circuit includes input power discriminating means responsive to said power receiving means for discriminating between incoming audio component signals to switch said audio amplifier to the on-state.

An audio amplifier power and temperature controller comprising:

• power receiving means for receiving power from a power source to an audio amplifier;
• power condition switching control means responsive to said power receiving means for switching components of an audio amplifier during a plurality of power conditions, said power condition switching control means including thermal status monitoring and controlling means for monitoring thermal status of operating values of audio amplifier components and responsively decreasing power to the audio amplifier components to protect the audio amplifier components against damage caused by excess heat and for responsively increasing power when the audio amplifier components return to normal thermal operating conditions;
• network condition monitoring means for monitoring network conditions of the audio amplifier to protect and enhance performance an audio amplifier within a network;
• wherein said power condition switching control means includes a power condition switching control circuit which switchingly controls power from said power receiving means to other components of the audio amplifier;
• and
• wherein said power condition switching control circuit includes brown-out protecting means for preventing said audio amplifier from going into and remaining in a circuit protection or sleep mode by continuously monitoring said audio amplifier for normal current conditions and responsively resuming normal current amplifier operations normal current conditions occur.

A method of controlling power to an audio amplifier comprising the steps of:

• receiving power from a power source;
• switching components in said audio amplifier by limiting inrush current from said power source, slowly ramping up said power to an audio amplifier on-state, monitoring the thermal status of the operating values of said audio amplifier components, responsively decreasing power to said audio amplifier components to protect said audio amplifier components against damage caused by excess heat, and responsively increasing power when said audio amplifier components return to normal thermal operating conditions;
• and
• within said switching step, the further step of monitoring of current output circuits of said audio amplifier to protect said audio amplifier during a high current condition by disconnecting a load to the current output circuits and reconnecting the load to the current output circuits when normal operating current conditions resume, discriminating between incoming audio component signals to switch the audio amplifier to the on-state and transient line voltage to momentarily sense the signal but not activating the audio amplifier to the on-state, and protectively preventing the audio amplifier from going into and remaining in a circuit protection mode by continuously monitoring the audio amplifier for normal current conditions and responsively resuming normal amplifier operations when normal current conditions occur.

A method of controlling power to an audio amplifier comprising the steps of:

• receiving power from a power source;
• switching components in said audio amplifier by limiting inrush current from said power source, slowly ramping up said power to an audio amplifier on-state, monitoring the thermal status of the operating values of said audio amplifier components, responsively decreasing power to said audio amplifier components to protect said audio amplifier components against damage caused by excess heat, and responsively increasing power when said audio amplifier components return to normal thermal operating conditions;
• limiting said inrush current sensing frequency changes and voltage null points and monitoring low power conditions and high power conditions;
• and
• monitoring output current circuits of said audio amplifier to determine if a full shut down of said audio amplifier is desirable to protect said audio amplifier and other system components when connected thereto.