Controlling a light assembly
AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
InventorHyeon-Yong Jang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for operating a light assembly with fewer peripheral devices than is currently required is presented. The apparatus of the invention includes a lamp unit, a current restricting unit coupled to the lamp unit, and a current sensing unit that is coupled to the current restricting unit. Upon detecting a current output exceeding a predetermined magnitude for at least a predetermined time period, the current restricting unit increases the load on one of the lamps. The current sensing unit senses the output from each of the lamps as modified by the current restricting unit, and sums the outputs to determine a total current flow through the lamps. A current control unit that is coupled to the current sensing unit uses the total current flow to adjust the current input to the lamps.
Claims27
An apparatus for controlling a light assembly, the apparatus comprising;
- a lamp unit having a load;
- a current restricting unit that changes a path of a current flowing through the lamp unit when an amount of the current is larger than a predetermined magnitude, so as to adjust the load on the lamp unit, wherein the current restricting unit is coupled to the lamp unit;
- a current sensing unit that determines a total current flow through the lamp unit, wherein the current sensing unit is coupled to the current restricting unit;
- and
- a current control unit that adjusts a current supply to the lamp unit based on the total current flow.
An apparatus for controlling a light assembly, the apparatus comprising:
- a first lamp and a second lamp coupled in a parallel configuration;
- a first current restricting subunit that is coupled to the first lamp and changes a path of a first current flowing through the first lamp when an amount of the first current is larger than a predetermined magnitude, so as to adjust a first load on the first lamp, and a second current restricting subunit that is coupled to the second and changes a path of a second current flowing through the second lamp when an amount of the second current is larger than the predetermined magnitude, so as to adjust a second load on the second lamp;
- a first current sensing subunit that is coupled to the first lamp for determining a first current flow through the first lamp and a second current sensing subunit that is coupled to the second lamp for determining a second current flow through the second lamp;
- and
- a current control unit that sums the first current flow and the second current flow to generate a total current flow, and adjusts a current supply to the first lamp and the second lamp based on the total current flow.
A method of controlling a light assembly, the method comprising:
- monitoring a current output from each of a plurality of lamps;
- increasing a load on one of the lamps upon detecting a current output exceeding a first predetermined magnitude for at least a predetermined time period;
- summing the current output from each of the plurality of lamps to determine a total current flow through the lamps;
- and
- adjusting a current input to the lamps based on the total current flow;
- wherein a path of a current flowing through each of the lamps is changed when an amount of the current is larger than a second predetermined magnitude.
A display apparatus comprising:
- a liquid crystal panel assembly;
- and
- a light assembly coupled to the liquid crystal panel assembly, the light assembly including:
- a lamp unit;
- a current restricting unit that changes a path of a current flowing through the lamp unit when an amount of the current is larger than a predetermined magnitude, so as to adjust a load on the lamp unit, wherein the current restricting unit is coupled to the lamp unit;
- a current sensing unit that determines a total current flow through the lamp unit, wherein the current sensing unit is coupled to the current restricting unit;
- and
- a current control unit that adjusts a current supply to the lamp unit based on the total current flow.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.