Bizarre Patents
Method and apparatus for making a drink hop along a bar or counter
A method for generating a drink which appears to hop from a remote spot on the bar or counter and take one or more leaps, before landing in a patron's glass.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 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 |
| 7339331 | Dimmer circuit with improved ripple control A dimmer circuit arrangement is disclosed including a second control circuit for controlling the operation of a triac for delivering current to a load, and a first control circuit for controlling the operation of an IGBT power semiconductor switch for controlling th... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7332878 | Electric candle flame simulator A method, apparatus and system for electrical simulation of a flame that provides for the projection of light that is a mixture of at least two colors. At least one of the two colors of light is projected over time according to a complex light intensity pattern. The... | 02/19/2008 |
| 7327096 | Electrode temperature differential operation of a discharge lamp The invention relates to a method for operating a discharge lamp 11 including two electrodes 12,13. The method comprises applying to the electrodes an alternating current ILamp. In order to improve the performance of the lamp and to increase... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7304633 | Inverter device, liquid crystal display device using the inverter device, and method of monitoring lamps of the liquid crystal display device using the inverter device An inverter device for a liquid crystal display includes a transformer for receiving an inverter drive voltage, converting the received drive voltage into an AC lamp drive voltage and supplying the AC lamp drive voltage to a high path of a backlight lamp, a low path... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7283131 | Image display apparatus An image display apparatus having a plurality of image forming devices. In an output circuit provided between constant voltage supplies and wiring for driving each of the image forming devices, MOSFETs are successively turned on from the one having a higher ON resis... | 10/16/2007 |
| 7274155 | Flash lamp drive circuit The invention provides a power supply or drive circuit for a pulsed flashlamp which utilizes a two-core component having common windings as both an inductor for arc mode drive and for breakdown triggering of the lamp. Discharge of a capacitor through the inductor an... | 09/25/2007 |
| 7259522 | Lighting method, lighting apparatus and components used therefor A current to light emitting devices when an application voltage is at or higher than the lower limit voltage for lighting determined by the arrangement of the light emitting devices, and an identification circuit that outputs a current identification signal in accor... | 08/21/2007 |
| 7242150 | Dimmer having a power supply monitoring circuit A two-wire dimmer for control of a lighting load from an alternating-current (AC) power source includes a semiconductor switch, a power supply, and a control circuit. The power supply includes an energy storage input capacitor that is able to charge only when the se... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7224125 | Dimmable fluorescent lamp package A lamp package includes a base for insertion into an electrical socket, a complete dimmable ballast circuit contained within and electrically connected to the base, and a fluorescent lamp, including a CFLP, connected to and dimmed through the ballast circuit. The ba... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7221106 | Cordset based appliance controller An apparatus and method for distributed control of an electrical appliance having a plug and a load and two power carrying conductors connecting the plug to the load, comprising locating power control elements completely within the plug, connecting interface element... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7208884 | Discharge lamp lighting circuit with an open protection circuit A discharge lamp lighting circuit includes an open protection circuit. The discharge lamp lighting circuit includes an open protection circuit and an over-voltage detecting circuit. The open protection circuit detects whether any of the discharge lamps are unlit, an... | 04/24/2007 |
| 7190600 | Single output EL driver producing reduced current spikes An inverter for supplying alternating current to an EL lamp includes a first charging path, a first discharging path, a second charging path, a second discharging path, the paths intersecting at a node, wherein the node is the output of the inverter from which the a... | 03/13/2007 |
| 7122975 | Filament lamp light quantity control method and filament lamp light quantity control unit and filament lamp light source unit The invention relates to a light source unit control method and a light source control unit, and a light source unit comprising a filament lamp with a characteristic of having a light quantity changing almost in proportion to a control voltage, which comprise: a cur... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7109690 | Fast-disabled voltage regulator circuit with low-noise feedback loop and operating method thereof A low-noise voltage regulator circuit with quick disablement is disclosed. The voltage regulator circuit includes an amplifier for outputting a driving voltage according to a reference voltage, a feedback voltage on a feedback node, and an enable signal; an output t... | 09/19/2006 |
| 6969978 | DC-DC converter with reduced electromagnetic interference A DC-DC converter includes a variable frequency oscillator, a control system and a power train. The DC-DC converter is well suited for use in a cell phone. The control system uses the output of the oscillator to control the power train. The oscillator varies its fre... | 11/29/2005 |
| 6949888 | Dimming ballast control IC with flash suppression circuit A dimming electronic ballast control provides flash suppression by igniting the fluorescent lamp at a high power level, and then reducing the power output level to the appropriate dimming set level. The electronic ballast includes an integrated circuit that uses clo... | 09/27/2005 |
| 6909245 | Ballast circuit for control of lamp power A ballast circuit for operating a discharge lamp equipped with a control loop for controlling the power consumed by the lamp. A first circuit part is coupled to the discharge lamp and to input terminals for connection to a source of supply voltage for the ballast ci... | 06/21/2005 |
| 6903319 | Method and apparatus for controlling electric power for high-frequency dielectric heating A high-frequency dielectric heating power control method comprises: detecting the input current of an inverter circuit for rectifying the voltage of an AC power source to convert the rectified voltage into an AC voltage of a predetermined frequency; rectifying the d... | 06/07/2005 |
| 6841936 | Fast recovery electron multiplier An improved electron multiplier bias network that limits the response of the multiplier when the multiplier is faced with very large input signals, but then permits the multiplier to recover quickly following the large input signal. In one aspect, this invention pro... | 01/11/2005 |
| 6495969 | Series-resonant ballast having overload control An inverter is powered from a DC voltage whose instantaneous absolute magnitude is equal to that of the AC power line voltage except for being prevented from falling below a level equal to half the peak of the power line voltage. The inverter's output is ... | 12/17/2002 |
| 6091201 | Method and apparatus for accommodating multiple dimming strategies An input circuit for a dimming circuit control unit having a single input signal protocol includes a first input line to receive a first input voltage signal and a second input line to receive a second input voltage signal. A first voltage divider is elec... | 07/18/2000 |
| 5986412 | Single ballast for powering plural high intensity discharge lamps A ballast circuit for a plurality of serially connected, high pressure gas discharge lamps comprises an electromagnetic ballast arrangement receptive of an input power signal, providing an output ballast voltage for driving the plurality of lamps, and pro... | 11/16/1999 |
| 5962979 | Asymmetrical bus capacitors A capacitor network includes a plurality of capacitors in series. Each capacitor has a preselected capacitance and breakdown voltage. The sum of the breakdown voltages of all the capacitors is at least equal to a desired voltage value. The capacitances of... | 10/05/1999 |
| 5959411 | One pin IC control circuit for a discharge lamp A circuit arrangement for supplying a discharge lamp comprises a control circuit which is provided with an integrated circuit. Means for generating a signal which is a measure of the lamp voltage are coupled to one pin of the integrated circuit. The perio... | 09/28/1999 |
| 5854539 | Electroluminescent lamp driver circuit with signal tracking An electroluminescent lamp is driven by a driving circuit that can supply an approximately sinusoidal signal, a bi-directional sawtooth signal or a single-ended sawtooth signal. Switches selectively transfer energy from a battery to an inductor and then f... | 12/29/1998 |
| 5804926 | Lighting circuit that includes a comparison of a "flattened" sinewave to a full wave rectified sinewave for control A gas discharge lamp electronic ballast circuit including a gas discharge lamp (51); a rectifier circuit (11a, 11b, 11c, 11d, 13) responsive to AC power for providing a full wave rectified sinewave voltage across output terminals of the rectifier circuit;... | 09/08/1998 |
| 5625258 | Clocked power supply A clocked power supply is proposed which contains a fault current detection means (32) which evaluates a voltage drop occurring at an ohmic measuring resistor (25), and emits a switch-off signal (40) to a clocked voltage converter (5). The ohmic measuring... | 04/29/1997 |
| 5583395 | Fluorescent device having a fluorescent starter which precisely controls heating time and absolute synchronism of fire point A new fluorescent device including an electronic fluorescent starter, a phase leading capacitor, a ballast, a bridge rectifier, a fluorescent lamp, a brightness compensation circuit, and a control circuit, the electronic fluorescent starter consisting of ... | 12/10/1996 |
| 5491388 | Power regulator of discharge lamp and variable color illumination apparatus using the regulator A current supplied to a discharge lamp (100) is an A.C. current having a predetermined frequency from an inverter circuit (70), and its power control is carried out by changing the current setting (setting signal) of a chopper circuit (40) constituting a ... | 02/13/1996 |
| 5485058 | Touch dimmer system A key touch dimmer includes a switching device through which AC line current is passed to brighten a lamp in response to a control signal generated by a microprocessor. The microprocessor receives an input indicative of the zero crossing points of the AC ... | 01/16/1996 |
| 5477109 | Discharge lamp fast preheat circuit independent of type of ballast A circuit arrangement for preheating electrodes of a discharge lamp connected in series with a ballast by means of a supply voltage of alternating polarity. The circuit arrangement is provided with a switching element (S) which shunts the lamp and which i... | 12/19/1995 |
| 5455491 | Power saving circuitry Power saving circuitry is provided for use with fluorescent lights, inductive loads and resistive loads. The circuitry comprises a power circuit connectable to an alternating circuit power supply and a control circuit. The power circuit includes a bilater... | 10/03/1995 |
| 5319285 | Starting circuit for a high intensity discharge lamp A starting circuit is used in combination with a high intensity discharge lamp having electrodes. An inductor is in series with the electrodes of the lamp, and a first switching transistor is arranged in series with a diode and a load resistor. The first ... | 06/07/1994 |
| 5291101 | Electronic ballast for a discharge lamp with current sensing An electronic ballast for use with a fluorescent lamp. A pair of oppositely poled diodes connected in parallel with a transformer used to drive the switching transistors of an inverter in the ballast, ensuring operation of the transistors at zero current ... | 03/01/1994 |
| 5266869 | Discharge lamp lighting apparatus having output impedance which limits current flow therethrough after start of discharging A discharge lamp lighting apparatus comprises a transformer for stepping up an AC power source voltage from an AC power source to produce a high voltage as an output voltage required for lighting a discharge lamp. Particularly, the lighting apparatus furt... | 11/30/1993 |
| 5255277 | Electronic pulse width controller for flashlamp pumped lasers A flashlamp pumped laser is controlled to emit a series of narrow pulse width laser pulses in quick succession. A control circuit associated with the flashlamp receives firing signals of limited pulse duration and serves to ignite and extinguish the flash... | 10/19/1993 |
| 5214354 | Electronic control module (ECM) for controlling lighting functions of a lamp bulb and method of manufacture A new and improved electronic control module (ECM) for controlling lighting functions of an incandescent light bulb and method of manufacturing the ECM. The ECM is installed, such as by press fitting into a dielectric insulating material at the socket end... | 05/25/1993 |
| 5204587 | Fluorescent lamp power control A fluorescent lamp power control having an input conditioning section, a lamp driver section, and a power command interface and control section to control power to fluorescent lamps. An external power command input is compared to an internally generated, ... | 04/20/1993 |
| 5187413 | Low pressure discharge lamp apparatus A low pressure discharge lamp apparatus has a low pressure discharge lamp with an arc tube. The arc tube has a first end and a second end, each with electrodes which define a discharge space therebetween. A mercury/rare gas is sealed in the arc tube. The ... | 02/16/1993 |
