Power supply for electronic switch
AssigneeME Electronic Products Limited
InventorWai Hung To
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A remote power switch uses the initial portion of each AC positive and negative going current pulse to generate power for the controller. This is accomplished by removing the gate signal from an electronic power delivery component at each zero cross and restoring the gate signal after sufficient power has been stored to power the controller for the remainder of each AC current pulse. The majority of each current pulse is delivered through the electronic power delivery component to the load. One embodiment employs a transistor oscillator with transformer feed back to produce a self-regulating power supply. An aspect of the present invention relates to color-coding of a switch cover of the remote power switch to match the color of the corresponding actuation key on the remote controller.
Claims14
An electronic power switch for connecting a line-in to a line-out comprising:
- a source of alternating current (AC) electrical power applied to the line-in, said alternating current including regularly spaced zero crossings between positive and negative going current pulses;
- an electrically actuated power delivery device responsive to the presence of a gate signal to electrically connect the line-in to the line-out to deliver said alternating current to a load and in the absence of said gate signal to disconnect said line-in and line-out at the next zero crossing of said alternating current;
- a power supply connected between said line-in and line-out to convert a portion of each positive and negative going current pulse to direct current (DC);
- a capacitor arranged to store said direct current (DC);
- a control device connected to receive direct current (DC) from said power supply and said capacitor, said control device responsive to an input to generate said gate signal and arranged to detect a predetermined voltage at a node in said power supply;
- and
- a zero cross detector for detecting each zero cross of the alternating current (AC) and delivering a zero cross signal to said control device,
- wherein said control device is responsive to said zero cross signal to remove said gate signal from said power delivery device, said power delivery device disconnecting said line-in from said line-out in the absence of said gate signal, and said power supply using an initial portion of each positive and negative going current pulse to charge said capacitor, said control device generating said gate signal upon detection of said predetermined voltage, said capacitor delivering direct current to said control device for the remainder of each current pulse.
An electronic power switch having an on state where electrical power is delivered to a load and an off state where electrical power is disconnected from the load comprising:
- an electronic power delivery component responsive to a gate signal to deliver alternating current (AC) electrical power present on a line-in to a line-out, said alternating current (AC) including positive and negative going current pulses separated by regularly spaced zero crossings;
- a control device for generating said gate signal in response to at least one input;
- and
- a power supply comprising:
- a pulse generating circuit for generating pulses of electrical energy from each current pulse of said alternating current (AC);
- a circuit for generating DC power for said control device, said power supply magnetically coupled to said pulse generating circuit;
- and
- a power storage component for accumulating said DC power from said circuit and delivering said DC power to said control device over time,
- wherein when said electronic power switch is in the on state, said control device removes said gate signal at each zero cross to allow said power supply to use an initial portion of each current pulse to charge said power storage device and upon detection of a predetermined voltage in said power supply, said control device restores said gate signal whereby a remainder of each current pulse is delivered Through said electronic power delivery component to said line-out.
A method for supplying power to a controller in an electronic power switch including an electronic component responsive to a gate signal to deliver alternating current carried by a line-in to a line-out, said alternating current (AC) including regularly spaced zero crossings between positive and negative going current pulses, said method comprising the steps of:
- configuring said controller to delay actuation of the electronic component after each zero cross so that said electronic power delivery component does not deliver an initial portion of each current pulse to said line-out;
- and
- using said initial portion of each current pulse to provide power to said controller.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.