Did You Know...
...that power steering was invented by independent inventor Francis W. Davis? As chief engineer in the 1920s of the truck division of the Pierce Arrow Motor Car Company, he saw how hard it was to steer heavy vehicles. So that he would be able to keep the profits from his future invention, Davis left his job, rented a small engineering shop in Waltham, Mass., and developed a hydraulic power steering system that led to power steering.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7417556 | Wireless addressable lighting method and apparatus An improved technique of utilizing a centralized control protocol for lighting devices such as DALI. A technique is disclosed for utilizing such protocols in a wireless environment. The first step involves associating particular slave devices with a specified master... | 08/26/2008 |
| 7248230 | Ornament apparatus, system and method Embodiments of the present invention are directed to an ornamental system, apparatus and method that is dynamically modifiable. Embodiments of the ornament system comprise a processor, at least one ornamental member and a data controller. The processor is a computer... | 07/24/2007 |
| 7202607 | Year-round decorative lights with time-multiplexed illumination of interleaved sets of color-controllable LEDS A decorative lighting apparatus provides user-selectable color schemes corresponding to several holidays and other occasions for year-round use. In one illustrative example, the decorative lighting apparatus includes control circuitry which has a plurality of color-... | 04/10/2007 |
| 7202613 | Controlled lighting methods and apparatus Described herein are lighting units of a variety of types and configurations, including linear lighting units suitable for lighting large spaces, such as building exteriors and interiors. Also provided herein are methods and systems for powering lighting units, cont... | 04/10/2007 |
| 7042173 | Controllable lighting system with a second communication protocol and appliances for this purpose The invention relates to an electronic ballast and to a controller which drives this ballast, in which two communication protocols are provided for the digital drive. ... | 05/09/2006 |
| 6980122 | Dimmer control system with memory A dimmer control system has a communication control loop that connects a master unit in series with a plurality of remote units, and it is superimposed in series on the dimmer load line so as to allow two-way communication between the master unit and remote units wi... | 12/27/2005 |
| 6867558 | Method and apparatus for networked lighting system control A method and apparatus are described for a networked lighting system that may be controlled either remotely or locally by a power line communication (PLC) link. The components of the system, addressable lamp ballasts and addressable wall switches, replace their conv... | 03/15/2005 |
| 6784628 | Fluorescent light control circuit A control system for selectively illuminating fluorescent light units in a fluorescent fixture having a plurality of fluorescent light units. A control system employs a first relay which when energized connects one of the light units to energizing power and a second... | 08/31/2004 |
| 6545586 | Method and apparatus for establishing and using hierarchy among remotely controllable theatre devices A theatre system operating in compliance with the DMX512 protocol is also able to support remote channel assignment of the various theatre devices included therein as well as other auxiliary operating modes by establishing a device hierarchy based on uniq... | 04/08/2003 |
| 6380696 | Multi-scene preset lighting controller A lighting control device for controlling the light intensity level of at least one lamp. The device is capable of storing preset light intensity levels in a memory. The method for storing the preset light intensity levels is simple and straight forward. ... | 04/30/2002 |
| 6369524 | Addressable light dimmer and addressing system An addressable lighting device and control system uses a DMX-512 protocol controller or other serial network protocol controller to selectively generate an electronic address for the addressable lighting device on which the device will respond to all futu... | 04/09/2002 |
| 6069457 | Method and apparatus for controlling lights and other devices A dimmer for dimming gas discharge and incandescent lamps can be installed in place of a standard wall-mounted light switch and connected to existing wiring. The dimmer has a switch coupling one or more full wave bridge rectifiers to a main AC source and ... | 05/30/2000 |
| 6020659 | Ramping electronic switch system The present invention relates to an electronic switch system for controlling AC power to a load. The switch has ON, OFF and RAMP down modes that can be selected by means of momentary touch switches. When put into the RAMP down mode, the power to the load ... | 02/01/2000 |
| 5962984 | High intensity lighting circuit To provide a high intensity lighting circuit of improved efficiency and reduced electromagnetic interference generation, a DC xenon lamp is driven by a three phase AC source through a three phase, full wave bridge rectifier.... | 10/05/1999 |
| 5866994 | Illumination apparatus and frame to which the illumination apparatus is attached An illumination apparatus for illuminating paintings at least a part of which is painted by a particular paint that emits or reflects light upon reception of ultraviolet ray, has a first illumination lamp constituted of an ultraviolet lamp and a second il... | 02/02/1999 |
| 5642018 | Display panel sustain circuit enabling precise control of energy recovery An energy efficient driver circuit for driving a display panel having panel electrodes and panel capacitance includes an inductor means coupled to the panel electrodes; a driving voltage source; a voltage supply for providing a supply voltage of a magnitu... | 06/24/1997 |
| 5629587 | Programmable lighting control system for controlling illumination duration and intensity levels of lamps in multiple lighting strings A programmable lighting control system for advertising, decorative, artistic, and Christmas lighting applications, consists of a standalone controller, an optional power booster device, and a personal computer compatible software program. The controller r... | 05/13/1997 |
| 5569983 | Electronic apparatus for producing variable spectral output An electronic apparatus for producing a wide variety of spectral outputs comprising at two dissimilar light sources, a source of alternating current, a means for specifying the desired spectral output, electronic means for varying the alternating current ... | 10/29/1996 |
| 5500575 | Switchmode AC power controller A switchmode AC power controller for controlling the current through a load such as a large lamp array connected to an alternating current source. The controller contains an AC solid state switch, a synchro-flywheel, an output inductor and capacitor. The ... | 03/19/1996 |
| 5493182 | Fluorescent lamp operating circuit, permitting dimming of the lamp To provide for dimmer operation of a fluorescent lamp (L) with a minimum of circuit components, the d.c. output level at an output terminal (C1) of an energy supply source, such as a switched mode power supply (10, 10'), is controlled in accordance with t... | 02/20/1996 |
| 5493183 | Open loop brightness control for EL lamp An EL lamp characterized by non-linear brightness decay is driven to constant brightness for the life of the lamp by an inverter controlled by a microprocessor. The microprocessor controls the inverter in accordance with a table containing data which is t... | 02/20/1996 |
| 5463286 | Wall mounted programmable modular control system A wall mountable, fully modular lighting control system, is disclosed wherein several possible lighting scenes are user defined and stored in the lighting control system for recall by the user upon depression of a selected one of a plurality of scene sele... | 10/31/1995 |
| 5440208 | Driver circuit for electroluminescent panel An electronic device (100) is disclosed including an electroluminescent (EL) backlight panel (140) and an EL driver circuit (210). The EL driver circuit (210) provides power to the EL backlight (140), as well as panel aging compensation and user adjustmen... | 08/08/1995 |
| 5436535 | Multi-color display unit A multi-color display unit includes at least a first and second plurality of dot-type light sources, such as LED or small lamps, which are arranged in different geometrical patterns and may be powered in any desired order or combination thereof. Each plur... | 07/25/1995 |
| 5430356 | Programmable lighting control system with normalized dimming for different light sources A lighting control system is adapted to dim a plurality of groups of light sources in a room to any one of a number of different preset levels to achieve a like number of different lighting scenes. Each group of light sources defines a lighting zone of th... | 07/04/1995 |
| 5414328 | Stage lighting control console including assignable macro functions A control console for controlling stage lighting includes a panel on which there are mounted a multiplicity of control elements in the form of switches, slider potentiometers and others which can be used by an operator to input control data to the console... | 05/09/1995 |
| 5396155 | Self-dimming electronic ballast A self-dimming electronic ballast for a gas discharge lamp includes a converter having an unregulated boost circuit coupled to a variable frequency inverter having a series resonant, parallel loaded output. The inverter includes a variable frequency drive... | 03/07/1995 |
| 5381074 | Self calibrating lighting control system A lighting control system with self calibration for employing the entire physical travelling range of a dimmer switch. A lookup table and linear interpolation are used in conjunction with the voltage output of the dimmer switch in order to identify the ap... | 01/10/1995 |
| 5352957 | Appliance control system with programmable receivers A control system for a plurality of appliances in distributed arrangement, in particular lighting fittings, having a command generator (1), a receiver (10) associated with each appliance (40), a control line (2) which connects the command generator (1) to... | 10/04/1994 |
| 5309067 | Cascade lighting system An electronic switching circuit with driver which may be used to turn on an incandescent light after a predetermined delay and which circuit output may be utilized to trigger either itself or a like circuit connected in series. The electronic circuitry ma... | 05/03/1994 |
| 5300864 | Programmable lighting control system A programmable lighting control system for decorative, artistic, and Christmas lighting applications, includes a plurality of outlet receptacles for connection thereto of series or parallel connected Christmas tree lighting strings or the like, a pluralit... | 04/05/1994 |
| 5191265 | Wall mounted programmable modular control system A wall mountable, fully modular lighting control system, is disclosed wherein several possible lighting scenes are user defined and stored in the lighting control system for recall by the user upon depression of a selected one of a plurality of scene sele... | 03/02/1993 |
| 5177404 | Removable power service module for recessed lighting system A recessed lighting fixture system comprising a power service module which includes sockets for receiving fluorescent light lamps, a ballast for driving each of the light lamps, and a field adjustable connector which is electrically connected to the socke... | 01/05/1993 |
| 5150012 | Low pressure xenon lamp and driver circuitry for use in theatrical productions and the like Disclosed is a low pressure xenon lamp and the driver circuitry therefore for producing relatively short bursts of intense light from the lamp. The lamp, including its associated driver circuitry, can be used in theatrical, stage, movie and/or video produ... | 09/22/1992 |
| 4825130 | Dispatch board system An electronic dispatch board for use with a voice message recording-playback machine. The dispatch board lights certain lamps responsive to signals sent from the message recording-playback machine when a message has been placed in a certain voice mailbox.... | 04/25/1989 |
| 4792731 | Multi-room controlled for individual light controls A multi-room controller for controlling a plurality of individual light controls, each associated with a room of a partitionable space. The individual light controls each control the light individually in the control's room. An assignment panel associated... | 12/20/1988 |
| 4772825 | Panel for controlling lighting scene A panel controlling multiple lighting intensities of a multiplicity of lights in conjunction with a remote lighting dimmer module which utilizes operators mechanically movable to operate potentiometers. Each potentiometer is capable of setting an intensit... | 09/20/1988 |
| 4766353 | Lamp switching circuit and method A lamp switching circuit and method for selectively energizing one or more lamps of a bank of lamps and thereafter energizing other of the lamps when power is interrupted and next applied. The lamp switching circuit and method is also effective in selecti... | 08/23/1988 |
| 4716344 | Microprocessor controlled lighting system A system for directing a plurality of lighting instruments in accordance with an operator designed sequence. The system includes a control module and a plurality of satellite modules where each satellite module is, in turn, connected in a controlling rela... | 12/29/1987 |
| 4649322 | Energizing arrangement for controlling the luminous intensity of at least one discharge lamp and use of such arrangement The arrangement of the invention enables control of a light emitting element comprising at least one discharge tube. Firing of the tube is effected by a generator which provides voltage pulses at predetermined periodic intervals (Tr). The lumin... | 03/10/1987 |
