"The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people."
Karl Marx
Make the Most of Our Site
See this month's Top Inventors and Most Cited Patents.
Stay on top of the latest innovations by subscribing to an RSS feed.
Registered users: Manage your profile.
| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8143741 | Electric power generation control device for motor vehicle An electric power generation control device for a motor vehicle is provided which ensures a satisfactory regenerative effect without entailing flickering of or reduction in life of headlights even if the headlights are turned on at all times. The electric power gene... | 03/27/2012 |
| 8125101 | Digitally encoded vehicle lamp switch system with fault tolerance A digitally encoded vehicle lamp switch system provided that supplies signals for controlling the lighting functions of a vehicle. The lamp switch system includes a multi-position switch circuit having a plurality of contacts. The multi-position switch contacts sele... | 02/28/2012 |
| 8120201 | LED vehicle lighting apparatus An LED vehicle lighting apparatus including a fail-safe function can supply a plurality of LEDs connected in series with a requisite voltage that is larger than a supply voltage of a battery. The vehicle lighting apparatus can include a DC-DC convertor and a subsidi... | 02/21/2012 |
| 8097976 | Lighting controller for a vehicle lamp A lighting controller has current driving means which include a shunt resistor connected in series to each of multiple LEDs to detect an LED driving current, a PMOS transistor connected to the positive electrode side of each of the LEDs, and an amplifier for sending... | 01/17/2012 |
| 8053923 | Light-emitting diode lighting apparatus and vehicle light lighting apparatus using the same A light emitting diode apparatus that includes a single DC/DC converter section that has two circuits connected in parallel: a flyback type boosting circuit and a boosting circuit. The former includes a transformer and a switching device and the like to boost DC vol... | 11/08/2011 |
| 8044532 | Wiring arrangement for a vehicle A motorcycle includes a main switch, a main switch wiring connected to the main switch and extending downward from the main switch, and a headlight stay for supporting a headlight part provided in a vicinity of a lower part of the main switch as seen from a side of ... | 10/25/2011 |
| 8022570 | Systems and methods for lighting control in flight deck devices Systems and methods for illuminating flight deck devices are disclosed. In one embodiment, a flight deck panel illumination system includes at least one illuminated panel having at least one illumination source, and a power supply coupled to the at least one illumin... | 09/20/2011 |
| 7964987 | Light emitting apparatus A light emitting apparatus includes a light source block with semiconductor light sources connected in series to each other. A resistor is connected in parallel with one or more of the semiconductor light sources and is connected to two detecting target portions in ... | 06/21/2011 |
| 7964988 | Lighting controller of lighting device for vehicle A lighting controller of a lighting device for a vehicle includes a switching regulator for supplying a driving current to first to Nth (N is an integer of one or more) semiconductor light sources; first to Nth current driving portions; and a control portion. The fi... | 06/21/2011 |
| 7830034 | Connecting structure of component in wire harness A connecting structure of a component in a wire harness includes a relay box connected to a circuit at a power supply side and a circuit at a headlamp side, and a control unit connected to the relay box. A connecting section of the relay box is configured to be sele... | 11/09/2010 |
| 7825534 | Relay assembly for fog lights A relay assembly for a fog light is disclosed which comprises a relay housing having a first terminal adapted to being connected to a switch for operating another light and operation of the switch for illuminating a fog light. ... | 11/02/2010 |
| 7759819 | Illumination control device for vehicle An illumination control unit includes an automatic control function for automatically controlling the turning on and off of vehicle head lights depending on brightness of an environment around a vehicle. A sensitivity adjuster is installed on a lever extending from ... | 07/20/2010 |
| 7737576 | Vehicle mounted accessory with multiplexing A control for a vehicle mounted accessory that has an electrically operable device. The accessory is operated by a switch that is mounted on the vehicle remote from the accessory. The switch and the electrically operable device are electrically connected by programm... | 06/15/2010 |
| 7485985 | Rotary switch A rotary switch for vehicles including a plurality of fixed rotational positions and several spring-loaded axial positions. A first axial position is activated by a pushing movement and a second axial position is activated by a pulling movement. ... | 02/03/2009 |
| 7446429 | Interior vehicular illuminator having a controllably dimmed light source A vehicular illuminator having a design board, behind which a sensing electrode having an aperture is located. Arranged between the design board and the sensing electrode is an LED serving as a light source and a light guide plate to defuse light from the LED. The s... | 11/04/2008 |
| 7443050 | Power device for multiple light sources with switching and charge pump circuit To control individually a plurality of loads to be turned on by combining a switching regulator with a charge pump circuit using some of the components of the switching regulator. An LED is controlled to be turned on by a switching regulator having an NMOS transisto... | 10/28/2008 |
| 7440828 | Operation checking method for adaptive front lighting system An operation checking method for an adaptive front lighting system (AFS), which is applicable to on-line automobile inspections involves an operation checking program prepared to activate the AFS in a manner to perform its prescribed headlamp illumination redirectin... | 10/21/2008 |
| 7432798 | Method that achieves the theft-proof function of a car by detecting the parking light system of a car A method includes detecting the parking light system of a car to achieve the theft-proof function. It can detect and learn the how many flashes, the turn on/off time in each period and the voltage value of the parking light, which is produced when using a keyless tr... | 10/07/2008 |
| 7425777 | Lighting circuit A lighting circuit includes a DC/DC converting circuit for boosting an input DC voltage so as to produce boosted DC power, a detecting circuit for producing a detection signal in response to the output voltage of the DC/DC converting circuit, a DC/AC converting circ... | 09/16/2008 |
| 7414328 | Light control apparatus for vehicle Disclosed is a light control apparatus for a vehicle, in which a control function is activated when an ignition switch or an accessory switch is turned on, and which, when the switch is turned off with headlights and/or sidemarker lights kept ON, keeps the headlight... | 08/19/2008 |
| 7414524 | Lighting control circuit for vehicle lighting equipment A higher voltage out of a battery voltage applied to an ignition voltage terminal or a control voltage applied to a control voltage terminal is supplied to a switching regulator via a diode. Then, a supply of current to an LED in the switching regulator is controlle... | 08/19/2008 |
| 7378753 | Vehicular automatic light control apparatus A headlight is turned on if an external illuminance value outside of the vehicle is equal to or lower than a first threshold value if the non-rainfall state is judged from windshield wiper activation, and is permitted to be turned on if the external illuminance valu... | 05/27/2008 |
| 7372210 | Method and apparatus for lamp heat control A lamp drive circuit includes an electronic switch in series with the lamp and a source of DC voltage, a control input of the switch being pulse-width-modulated by a control circuit which includes a temperature-sensing circuit for reducing the pulse-width-modulation... | 05/13/2008 |
| 7363175 | Query based electronic battery tester An electronic battery tester for testing a storage battery provides a test output indicative of a condition of the battery. Electronic measurement circuitry provides a measurement output related to a condition of the battery. The battery condition is determined base... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7355347 | Auxiliary lighting system for vehicles A vehicle lighting system has primary and auxiliary systems, which operate exclusively depending upon the selected operational mode. The problem addressed is availability of civilian vehicles for alternative operations including military operations, where the conven... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7342325 | Universal fleet electrical system A universal fleet electrical system includes a central power distribution panel, which includes a fuse panel and a lighting selector junction box, together with a universal wiring harness. A dash mounted console is provided for operator control of accessory devices.... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7339465 | Vehicle-to-trailer light connection verification tester A vehicle-to-trailer light-connection verification tester (10) designed to be located within a towing vehicle (20), a towed trailer (30) or within a cable adapter (24) that is connected between the vehicle (20) and the trailer (... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7339774 | Automatic battery disconnect system A safety battery disconnect system for disconnecting a vehicle battery from the electrical system of the vehicle when an impact exceeding a predetermined magnitude is detected while maintaining electrical power input from the battery to selected portions of the vehi... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7339321 | Discharge-lamp ballast in particular for a vehicle headlight Ballast comprising input terminals receiving a DC voltage coming from a supply source on the vehicle, a chopping supply circuit functioning at a predetermined chopping frequency in order to supply as an output a voltage supplying the discharge lamp, and a filtering ... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7332830 | Rainfall determination apparatus and method A rainfall determination apparatus for determining rainfall based on data relating to a wiping operation of a wiper. The apparatus includes a detection device for detecting the wiping operation every time this operation is performed; a timer for starting to clock a ... | 02/19/2008 |
| 7329994 | Lighting system for vehicle A lighting system for a vehicle includes a lamp and a deciding circuit to detect the number of abnormal light emitting elements or the abnormal elements in the lamp. The deciding circuit may be connected to a disconnection detecting circuit by one signal line to det... | 02/12/2008 |
| 7327051 | Lighting control circuit for vehicle lamps The supply of a predetermined current to LEDs is controlled by using series regulators. In accordance with the controlled states of the series regulators, a switching regulator adjusts an output voltage relative to the LEDs to the maximum voltage. When a ground faul... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7325934 | Image sensing system for a vehicle An image sensing system for a vehicle includes an imaging sensor having a two-dimensional array of light sensing photosensor elements, and a logic and control circuit having an image processor for processing image data derived from the imaging sensor. The logic and ... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7319304 | Shunt connection to a PCB of an energy management system employed in an automotive vehicle A method of coupling a shunt to a printed circuit board (PCB) of an energy management system is provided. The method includes coupling flexible electrical connectors to the shunt and soldering the flexible electrical connectors to connection points on the PCB of the... | 01/15/2008 |
| 7301285 | Control method for discharge lamp A method for controlling a discharge lamp by a power controlling device on an automobile vehicle includes a starting step and a switching step. The device supplies electricity to the lamp. In the starting step, the discharge lamp starts to emit a light such that the... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7301284 | Lighting control circuit for vehicle lighting equipment When an H signal of H/L binary signals is input into a control signal input terminal, a PWM signal is output from a multivibrator. When this PWM signal is input into a power supply circuit via a voltage converter circuit, such a control is repeated that a rated curr... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7295936 | Electronic battery tester with relative test output An electronic battery tester for testing a storage battery determines a condition of the battery. The condition is a relative condition and is a function of a dynamic parameter of the battery and an empirical input variable. ... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7294968 | Signal transmisson system and vehicular lamp There is provided a vehicular lamp that can be miniaturized by reducing signal lines connected to a vehicle main body. The vehicular lamp that is used for a vehicle includes a light source unit, and a signal line that connects the light source unit and a light sourc... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7291017 | Power interface device for trailer hitches A power adaptor includes an elongated and portable body having a pair of axially opposed end portions. The body includes a pair of diametrically offset L-shaped arms protruding outwardly therefrom. Another of the body end portions and the L-shaped arms define a plur... | 11/06/2007 |
| 7291989 | Lighting control circuit for vehicle lighting equipment This disclosure relates to protecting a switching regulator by sensing immediately a change in an input voltage when the input voltage of the switching regulator is changed suddenly. When an input voltage of a switching regulator 12 is changed suddenly and an... | 11/06/2007 |