# US 9,439,250 B2 · Driving light emitting diode (LED) lamps using power received from ballast stabilizers > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 9,439,250 B2 - Document ID: US9439250B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 14/053,377 - Filed: 2013-10-14 - Published: 2014-03-27 - Granted: 2016-09-06 - Earliest claimed: 2012-09-24 - Assignees: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. - Applicants: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. - Inventors: Bong Jin Lee - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9439250B2 ## CPC - H05B 47/115: by determining the presence or movement of objects or living beings - H05B 45/20: Controlling the colour of the light - H05B 45/37: Converter circuits - H05B 45/60: Circuit arrangements for operating LEDs comprising organic material, e.g. for operating organic light-emitting diodes [OLED] or polymer light-emitting diodes [PLED] - Y02B 20/40: Control techniques providing energy savings, e.g. smart controller or presence detection - H05B: ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL - Y02B: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS, e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USER APPLICATIONS ## Abstract A circuit drives a light emitting diode (LED) lamp based on alternating current (AC) power received from a ballast stabilizer. The circuit includes an inductive load, a rectifying circuit, and an output circuit. The inductive load is coupled to and receives the AC power from the ballast stabilizer. The rectifying circuit is electrically coupled to the inductive load and rectifies the AC power to produce a unidirectional current. The output circuit receives the unidirectional current from the rectifying circuit, and produces an output current for driving the LED lamp. Various additional circuits and illuminating apparatuses for producing light from AC power using a LED lamp are also provided. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A circuit for driving a light emitting diode (LED) lamp including a plurality of LEDs based on alternating current (AC) power received from a ballast stabilizer configured to drive a lamp, the circuit comprising: an inductive load coupled to the ballast stabilizer and configured to receive the AC power at terminals thereof; a rectifying circuit, electrically coupled to the inductive load and configured to rectify the AC power to produce a unidirectional current; and an output circuit configured to receive the unidirectional current from the rectifying circuit, and to produce an output current for driving the LED lamp, wherein the inductive load comprises at least two input windings each coupled between two of at least three input terminals receiving the AC power. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The circuit of claim 1, wherein the inductive load is directly connected to the ballast stabilizer. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The circuit of claim 1, wherein the inductive load is a transformer configured to receive the AC power at terminals of an input winding, and to produce a transformed AC power at terminals of an output winding. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The circuit of claim 3, wherein the transformer is an isolation transformer. ### Claim 5 (depends on 3) The circuit of claim 3, wherein the rectifying circuit comprises a rectifying diode coupled to a terminal of the output winding of the inductive load. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The circuit of claim 5, wherein the output circuit comprises: a low-pass filter including an inductor and configured to produce the output current for driving the LED lamp from an output terminal of the low-pass filter; and a free-wheeling diode coupled between input terminals of the low-pass filter. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The circuit of claim 1, wherein the rectifying circuit includes a full-wave rectifier. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The circuit of claim 1, wherein the rectifying circuit includes a half-wave rectifier. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The circuit of claim 1, further comprising a thermistor connected in series with the inductive load to receive the AC power. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The circuit of claim 1, further comprising a parallel interconnection of a resistor and a switch, wherein the parallel interconnection is coupled in series with the inductive load to receive the AC power. ### Claim 11 An illuminating apparatus for producing light using a light emitting diode (LED) lamp including a plurality of LEDs based on alternating current (AC) power received from a ballast stabilizer configured to drive a lamp, the illuminating apparatus comprising: a transformer coupled to the ballast stabilizer, configured to receive the AC power and to output transformed AC power having an amplitude appropriate for driving the LED lamp; a rectifying circuit configured to receive the transformed AC power from the transformer, and to rectify the AC power into direct current (DC) power for driving the LED lamp; and an output circuit configured to receive and filter the rectified DC power from the rectifying circuit, and to drive the LED lamp using the filtered DC power, wherein the transformer includes two output windings each coupled between two of at least three output terminals of the transformer. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The illuminating apparatus of claim 11, wherein the transformer is directly connected to the ballast stabilizer. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The illuminating apparatus of claim 11, wherein the output circuit comprises an inductor. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The illuminating apparatus of claim 13, wherein the output circuit further comprises: a filter circuit including the inductor and driving the LED lamp; and a free-wheeling diode coupled between input terminals of the filter circuit and configured to cause the filter circuit to provide DC power to the LED lamp when the rectifying circuit is turned off. ### Claim 15 (depends on 11) The illuminating apparatus of claim 11, wherein the transformer comprises at least two input windings each coupled between two of at least three input terminals receiving the AC power, such that a voltage difference exists between two input terminals of each input winding. ### Claim 16 (depends on 11) The illuminating apparatus of claim 11, wherein the rectifying circuit includes a full-bridge diode rectifier. ### Claim 17 (depends on 11) The illuminating apparatus of claim 11, wherein the rectifying circuit includes a half-wave diode rectifier. ### Claim 18 (depends on 11) The illuminating apparatus of claim 11, wherein the output circuit comprises at least one of a DC-DC converter and a linear regulator driving the LED lamp using the filtered DC power. ### Claim 19 (depends on 11) The illuminating apparatus of claim 11, wherein the rectifying circuit is a full-wave rectifier including two rectifying diodes each coupled to one of the two output windings. ### Claim 20 A circuit for driving a light emitting diode (LED) lamp based on alternating current (AC) power received from a ballast stabilizer configured to drive a lamp, the circuit comprising: an inductive load coupled to the ballast stabilizer and configured to receive the AC power at terminals thereof; a rectifying circuit coupled to the inductive load and configured to produce rectified direct current (DC) power at a pair of output terminals; and a filter circuit comprising a series interconnection of an inductor and a capacitor, wherein the series interconnection is coupled between the pair of output terminals of the rectifying circuit, and wherein a voltage across the capacitor drives the LED lamp, wherein the inductive load includes two output windings each coupled between input terminals of the rectifying circuit. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The circuit of claim 20, further comprising at least one of a DC-DC converter and a linear regulator driving the LED lamp using the voltage across the capacitor. ### Claim 22 (depends on 20) The circuit of claim 20, wherein the ballast stabilizer is configured to drive a fluorescent lamp. ### Claim 23 (depends on 20) The circuit of claim 20, wherein the ballast stabilizer is configured to drive a halogen lamp. ### Claim 24 An illuminating apparatus comprising: a plate including a light emitting diode (LED) lamp comprising a plurality of LEDs, and a circuit for driving the LED lamp based on alternating current (AC) power received from a ballast stabilizer configured to drive a lamp; a housing having the plate mounted therein, and configured to protect the plate, LED lamp, and driving circuit; and a socket disposed in an end portion of the plate and configured to receive the AC power from the ballast stabilizer at a pair of terminals, wherein the circuit for driving the LED lamp disposed on the plate comprises: an inductive load coupled to the pair of terminals of the socket and configured to receive the AC power from the ballast stabilizer; a rectifying circuit, electrically coupled to the inductive load and configured to rectify the AC power to produce a unidirectional current; and an output circuit configured to receive the unidirectional current from the rectifying circuit, and to produce an output current for driving the LED lamp, and wherein the inductive load comprises at least one of: two input windings coupled between three input terminals receiving the AC power from the ballast stabilizer; and two output windings coupled between three output terminals of the rectifying circuit. ### Claim 25 (depends on 24) The illuminating apparatus of claim 24, wherein the inductive load is a transformer directly connected to the pair of terminals of the socket to receive the AC power from the ballast stabilizer, and configured to receive the AC power at terminals of an input winding of the transformer and to produce a transformed AC power at terminals of an output winding of the transformer. ### Claim 26 (depends on 25) The illuminating apparatus of claim 25, wherein the rectifying circuit comprises a rectifying diode coupled to a terminal of the output winding of the inductive load. ### Claim 27 (depends on 26) The illuminating apparatus of claim 26, wherein the output circuit comprises: a low-pass filter including a series interconnection of an inductor and a capacitor, wherein the LED lamp is coupled in parallel with the capacitor; and a free-wheeling diode coupled between input terminals of the low-pass filter. ### Claim 28 (depends on 24) The illuminating apparatus of claim 24, wherein each LED of the plurality of LEDs comprises: a substrate; a first conductivity-type semiconductor layer disposed on the substrate; an active layer disposed on the first conductivity-type semiconductor layer; a second conductivity-type semiconductor layer disposed on the active layer; and first and second electrodes electrically connected to the first and second conductivity-type semiconductor layers, respectively. ### Claim 29 (depends on 28) The illuminating apparatus of claim 28, wherein the first electrode of each LED includes a first electrode layer extending through one or more contact holes extending through the active layer and the second conductivity-type semiconductor layer, and the first electrode layer is electrically insulated from the second conductivity-type semiconductor layer and the active layer by an insulating layer. ### Claim 30 (depends on 28) The illuminating apparatus of claim 28, wherein each LED of the plurality of LEDs comprises a plurality of nano light emitting structures, and each nano light emitting structures includes a nanocore having a rod structure and formed of the first conductivity-type semiconductor layer, the active layer disposed on the nanocore, and the second conductivity-type semiconductor layer disposed on the active layer. ### Claim 31 (depends on 28) The illuminating apparatus of claim 28, wherein each LED is located in a chip scale package (CSP) disposed on the plate and including: a package body having the LED disposed thereon; a plurality of electrodes disposed in the package body and electrically connected to the first and second electrodes of the LED; and a lens disposed above the package body and configured to guide light emitted by the LED. ### Claim 32 (depends on 28) The illuminating apparatus of claim 28, wherein the plate comprises: a metal layer; an insulating layer disposed on the first metal layer; and a second metal layer disposed on the insulating layer, wherein the plate includes a region located at an edge of the plate and in which the insulating layer does not have the second metal layer disposed thereon.