Computer lighting control
AssigneeWaterloo Semiconductor LLC
InventorMichael T. Mueller
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention relates to a method and system that provides independent control over lighting within a computer case. Each inverter module is provided with its own switch to facilitate independent control of illumination. Preferably, the switches are located in a bus that fits within a drive bay and the inverter is directly mounted onto the housing that contains the switch. In another embodiment, the inverter is integrated in a printed circuit board that is inserted into the card slots (e.g. ISA, VESA, PCI, and PCI-Express card slot) on the mother board of the computer. Therefore, the on and off of CCFL inverter can be controlled by software application through the ISA, VESA, PCI, or PCI-Express bus.
Claims16
A system for independently controlling cold cathode florescent lamp (CCFL) lighting within a computer case comprising:
- at least one CCFL, each said CCFL being separately connected to its own dedicated high voltage cable and receives a high voltage power to emit light of color;
- at least one CCFL inverter, each said CCFL inverter is separately connected to said corresponding CCFL through said connected cable and energizes said connected CCFL through said connected cable, each said CCFL inverter is mounted on a printed circuit board for receiving electricity;
- and
- multiple switches, each said switch being connected to said corresponding CCFL inverter through circuits on said printed circuit board, a connector, or a cable and controlling on and off of electricity supplied to said connected CCFL inverter through said printed circuit board, connector, or cable and independently controlling lighting of said connected CCFL.
A system for independently controlling cold cathode florescent lamp (CCFL) lighting within a computer case comprising:
- a printed circuit board, having an edge connector which mates with a card slot on a computer board;
- at least one CCFL inverter, each CCFL inverter mounted onto said printed circuit board;
- at least one CCFL, connecting via a cable to the output of said CCFL inverter module;
- and
- at least one electrically-actuated switch mounted on said printed circuit board and connected to an input of the CCFL inverter module, whereby each of said CCFL inverter modules can be independently controlled by said corresponding switch, each of said electrically-actuated switches receiving a control signal from said computer via an edge connector of said printed circuit board.
A system for independently controlling cold cathode florescent lamp (CCFL) lighting within a computer case comprising:
- at least one CCFL, each said CCFL is separately connected to its own dedicated high voltage cable and receives a high voltage power to emit light of color;
- at least one CCFL inverter, each said CCFL inverter is separately connected to said corresponding CCFL through said connected cable and energizes said connected CCFL through said connected cable, each said CCFL inverter is mounted on a printed circuit board for receiving electricity, said printed circuit board being inserted into a card slot of a computer;
- and
- at least one switch, each said switch is connected to said corresponding CCFL inverter through circuits on said printed circuit board, a connector, or a cable and controls on and off of electricity supplied to said connected CCFL inverter through said printed circuit board, connector, or cable and independently controls lighting of said connected CCFL.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.