EP0247086A1 - Lampe stroboscopique a faible puissance d'alimentation - Google Patents

Lampe stroboscopique a faible puissance d'alimentation

Info

Publication number
EP0247086A1
EP0247086A1 EP86906581A EP86906581A EP0247086A1 EP 0247086 A1 EP0247086 A1 EP 0247086A1 EP 86906581 A EP86906581 A EP 86906581A EP 86906581 A EP86906581 A EP 86906581A EP 0247086 A1 EP0247086 A1 EP 0247086A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
circuit
light
light emitting
constant voltage
emitting diode
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP86906581A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Lucien H. Beauley
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
NCDI Inc
Original Assignee
NCDI Inc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by NCDI Inc filed Critical NCDI Inc
Publication of EP0247086A1 publication Critical patent/EP0247086A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
    • H05B45/00—Circuit arrangements for operating light-emitting diodes [LED]
    • H05B45/30—Driver circuits
    • H05B45/32—Pulse-control circuits
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
    • H05B45/00—Circuit arrangements for operating light-emitting diodes [LED]
    • H05B45/30—Driver circuits
    • H05B45/395—Linear regulators
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
    • H05B45/00—Circuit arrangements for operating light-emitting diodes [LED]
    • H05B45/40—Details of LED load circuits
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
    • H05B45/00—Circuit arrangements for operating light-emitting diodes [LED]
    • H05B45/30—Driver circuits
    • H05B45/34—Voltage stabilisation; Maintaining constant voltage
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02B—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS, e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USER APPLICATIONS
    • Y02B20/00—Energy efficient lighting technologies, e.g. halogen lamps or gas discharge lamps
    • Y02B20/30—Semiconductor lamps, e.g. solid state lamps [SSL] light emitting diodes [LED] or organic LED [OLED]

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to strobe lights, and, more particularly, to a low power, high intensity LED circuit comprising at least one LED; a triggerable constant voltage circuit operably connected across the LED; a d.c. power source operably connected to the constant voltage circuit and the LED so that when the constant voltage circuit is triggered the LED has sufficient voltage and current applied thereto to cause it to emit light; and, muIti-vibrator circuit means connect the volt to the power source for periodically triggering the constant voltage circuit for only the time duration necessary to. cause the LED to emit a visually detectable pulse of light.
  • LED's light emitting diodes
  • LED's provide a useful source of warning light for personal use such as on the body of a person or pet.
  • United States Letters Patent No. 3,944,803 describes an illuminated device which can comprise the collar of a pet or a belt of a person.
  • Patent No. 4,231,079 discloses a so-called safety hat on which LED's have been mounted.
  • Patent No. 4,283,756 and Patent No. 4,523,258 show belts employing flashers thereon.
  • Patents 4,161,018 and 4,264,845 both disclose circuits for driving a plurality of LED's when used in such devices.
  • the low power, high intensity LED circuit of the present invention comprising at least one LED; a triggerable constant voltage circuit operably connected across the LED; a d.c. power source operably connected to the constant voltage circuit and the LED so that when the constant voltage circuit is triggered the LED has sufficient voltage and current applied thereto to cause it to emit light; and, multi-vibrator circuit means connectable to the power source for periodically triggering the constant voltage circuit for only the time duration necessary to cause the LED to emit a high intensity visually detectable pulse of light.
  • the LED comprises a plurality of LED's electrically connected in series and parallel in a manner to minimize power consumption at a desired voltage and the multi-vibrator circuit means comprises two mono-stable pulse generators connected back to back. Additionally in the preferred embodiment, the plurality of LED's are disposed in a box having a reflective inner surface and an opening covered with a lens whereby the light from the LED's is reflected and directed through the lens.
  • FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of the preferred circuit for driving the LED's in the present invention.
  • Figure 2 is a timing diagram of current use by the circuit of Figure 1.
  • Figure 3 is a plan view of an enclosure for the LED's in the present invention according to one possible embod i ment.
  • Figure 4 is a cutaway view of the embodiment of Figure 3 and the plane IV-IV.
  • Figure 5 is a plan view of a second possible embodiment for an enclosure for LED's according to the present invention.
  • Figure 6 is a cutaway view of the embodiment of Figure 5 and plane VI-VI.
  • Figure 7 is a circuit diagram of a second embodiment of a circuit for driving the LED's in the present i nvent ion.
  • the novel circuit of the present invention is shown in Figure 1.
  • the circuit of Figure 1 comprises four major functional areas. which provide for a high intensity strobe light pulse with low power consumption.
  • the first major functional area is a source of d.c. power which is provided by 9-volt battery 10.
  • Battery 10 is hooked in series with switch 12 so that the strobe lighting can be turned on and off.
  • the second major area is comprised of the clustered LED's 14 which are electrically interconnected between a single anode point at 16 and a cathode point at 18 in series and parallel so as to minimize power consumption at the voltage of the battery 10.
  • the LED's 14 are then connected to the negative side of the battery 10 through a variable resistor 20 (also designated R6) by which the c u r r e n t l eve l i s s e t.
  • the third major component is a constant voltage circuit generally indicated as 22 comprising transistors 24 (Q1) and 26 (Q2), resistor 28 (R5) and zener diode (Z1).
  • the constant voltage circuit 22 maintains a constant voltage to annode point 16 of the LED's 14 regardless of fluctuations in the battery 10. Since the LED's 14 are fed by a constant voltage circuit, resistor 20 (R6) acts as a constant current level setting.
  • the final major component is a multi-vibrator circuit 32 which has a one second oscillation which, in turn, is used to trigger the constant voltage circuit 22 to strobe the LED's 14.
  • a current versus time diagram for the multi-vibrator circuit 32 is shown in Figure 2.
  • the output of the muIti-vibrator circuit 32 (which will be discussed in greater detail shortly) appears on the line labeled 34 which is connected to pin 9 of the integrated circuit 36.
  • pin 9 of the integrated circuit 36 produces narrow width pulses 38 on substantially a one-second period basis.
  • an approximate 50 milliamp current pulse of 20 millisecond duration appears at the anode point 16 of the LED's 14. This is of sufficient time duration and current level to cause the LED's to produce a strobe level intensity light emission.
  • the integrated circuit 36 (labeled ICl) can comprise an RCA part No. CD45388 or a Motorola part MC145388.
  • the integrated circuit 36 (ICl) is a CMOS device containing mono-stable oscillators 040 and 42 (MONO 1 and MONO 2, respectively).
  • the mono-stable oscillators 40, 42 are normally used as separate units to produce pulses.
  • the mono-stable oscillators 40, 42 are interconnected back-to-back in conjunction with capacitors 44 and 46 (C1 and C2, respectively) and resistors 48 and 50 (R1 and R2, respectively) which provide the two RC time constants to set the one second oscillator.
  • Resistors 52 and 54 are, of course, merely a voltage divider to provide the proper voltage level into transistor 24 (Q1).
  • the value of the various components were as foIlows: LED's - L200CWR2K (Ledtronics); R1 - 8.2 meg ohm; R2 - 220 K ohm; R3 - 4.7 K ohm; R4 - 47 K ohm; R5 - 330 ohm;
  • R6 - 3 ohm all resistors being one-forth watt
  • C1 and C2 - .1 micro ferrard 5V.D.C. tantalum
  • Z1 - .5 watt 5.1 volt (dictated by the LED's employed)
  • Q1 - 2N2907A Q1 - 2N2907A
  • the current (and therefore power) consumption of the multi-vibrator circuit 32 is less than 100 microamps.
  • the current desired (100 or more milliamps) to light the LED's is consumed during the period corresponding to the negative pulse 38 which is only 2 percent of the total oscillation period. Because of this low power of operation, a nine volt carbon battery was tested and lasted 350 hours before any noticeable loss of light output was perceived.
  • the use of the Darlington transistor at Q2 would allow the same circuit to be used with, for example, a zenon flash lamp replacing the LED's 14.
  • FIGS. 3 and 4 show one possible embodiment employing 6 LED's 14 while Figures 5 and 6 show an alternate embodiment employing 5 LED's.
  • a box 58 is divided having an opening 60 over which a lens 62 is affixed.
  • the inner surfaces of the box 58 are coated with a highly reflective material 64.
  • the typical LED is of approximately 1/4 inch in diameter in tested embodiments it has been found that it is convenient to make the box 58 in the form of a rectangle, as shown, approximately one inch by two inches.
  • Both the box 58 and lens 62 are easily formed of a plastic such as acrylic or polycarbonate and the reflected material 64 applied thereto in any of the film depositing methods well known to those skilled in the art. Preferred operation appears to be achieved when at least one LED 14 is placed adjacent each of the corners of the box 58 and the optical axes 56 are disposed to be normal to the optical axis 66 of the lens 62.
  • the arrangements as shown in the embodiments of Figures 3 and 4 and Figures 5 and 6 result in the light from the LED's being reflected and directed by the reflective material 64 and their positioning through the lens 62 to provide maximum light through the lens 62 from each illumination of the LED's 14.
  • FIG. 7 A second embodiment of the invention is shown in Figure 7.
  • a log rithimic current pulse is achieved by using and discharging the capacitor c-2 through the LED's by switching on amplifier Q2. Because the LED's have a logrithmic temperature versus a light output degradation curve, which are caused by instantaneous high currents, more effective use of current pulse operation is achieved by this alternative arrangement.
  • the capacitor is discharged only during a 20 milli-second period, or less, and effectively does not use battery power during the discharge period because of the two stage amplifier arrangement, Q 1 and Q 2 . Since the average current drain on the battery is very little, the effective ampere/hour rating of any given battery (9V alkaline or 7V lithium) is greatly increased,
  • Figure 7 contains suggested values for an arrangement of the second embodiment of the invention.
  • the disclosed values and the part numbers for the elements are provided only for illustration purposes and are not intended to be interpreted in the limiting sense.

Landscapes

  • Circuit Arrangement For Electric Light Sources In General (AREA)
  • Led Devices (AREA)

Abstract

La lampe stroboscopique à faible puissance d'alimentation et à forte intensité utilise des diodes électro-luminescentes (DELs). Une pluralité de DELs (14) sont connectées électriquement en série et en parallèle de manière à approcher la résistance d'une seule DEL. Elles sont montées dans un boîtier ayant une surface intérieure réfléchissante et une ourverture recouverte d'une lentille de sorte que la lumière provenant des DELs (14) est réfléchie et dirigée au travers de la lentille. Les DELs (14) sont sélectionnées électriquement par un circuit comprenant une source d'alimentation de puissance à courant continu (10) connectée de manière opérative à un circuit de tension constante déclenchable (22) qui, à son tour, est excité par un circuit multivibrateur (32) qui déclenche périodiquement le circuit à tension constante (22) seulement pendant la durée nécessaire pour provoquer de la part des DEls (14) une émission d'une impulsion de lumière de haute intensité et visuellement détectable.
EP86906581A 1985-10-09 1986-10-09 Lampe stroboscopique a faible puissance d'alimentation Withdrawn EP0247086A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US78574085A 1985-10-09 1985-10-09
US785740 1985-10-09

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0247086A1 true EP0247086A1 (fr) 1987-12-02

Family

ID=25136493

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP86906581A Withdrawn EP0247086A1 (fr) 1985-10-09 1986-10-09 Lampe stroboscopique a faible puissance d'alimentation

Country Status (3)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0247086A1 (fr)
AU (1) AU6521886A (fr)
WO (1) WO1987002542A1 (fr)

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2711884B1 (fr) * 1993-10-29 1996-01-05 Solartec Sarl Dispositif de signalisation notamment pour la signalisation routière, aéronautique ou maritime.
JP4288553B2 (ja) * 2000-07-25 2009-07-01 富士フイルム株式会社 カメラのストロボ装置

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3901121A (en) * 1972-02-02 1975-08-26 Carl J Kleiner Light emitting device
US4161018A (en) * 1977-04-13 1979-07-10 Briggs James B Lighted ornamental devices
FR2477804A1 (fr) * 1980-03-06 1981-09-11 Plessis Hubert Clignoteur electronique
US4423473A (en) * 1982-09-29 1983-12-27 Jog-O-Lite, Inc. Safety light or the like

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
See references of WO8702542A1 *

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
AU6521886A (en) 1987-05-05
WO1987002542A1 (fr) 1987-04-23

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Inventor name: BEAULEY, LUCIEN, H.