Did You Know...
...that in the early 1940s GE engineer James Wright was charged with a task of utmost importance to the war effort: develop a cheap substitute for rubber that could be used to produce tires, gas masks and a whole host of military gear. Wright tackled the task diligently -- and wound up inventing Silly Putty.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8120288 | Light emitting diode (LED) driving circuit A light emitting diode (LED) driving circuit is provided. The LED driving circuit includes a voltage adjusting unit, a switch unit, and a control unit. The control unit is coupled to the voltage adjusting unit and the switch unit. The voltage adjusting unit outputs ... | 02/21/2012 |
| 7728533 | Backlight control circuit with two transistors An exemplary backlight control circuit (20) includes: at least two load circuits (210), a pulse width modulation integrated circuit (PWM IC) (250) having a current sampling pin (251), a switching circuit (270), and an input circuit... | 06/01/2010 |
| 7413845 | Elimination of write head plating defects using high activation chemically amplified resist Methods of forming a component of a thin film magnetic head and improving the plating of a component of a thin film magnetic head are provided. The methods include the use of a high activation energy chemically amplified photoresist (CARS) that is contacted with a l... | 08/19/2008 |
| 7405524 | Light management system device and method A lighting control system is disclosed. The lighting control system is electrically coupled to a load circuit for controlling indoor and/or outdoor lighting. The lighting control system includes a control module with a night light for providing low-level night light... | 07/29/2008 |
| 7394213 | Multi-lamp driver A multi-lamp driver t disclosed, comprising a power driver coupled to a plurality of lamps to supply power thereto, a feedback circuit coupled to at least one of the lamps to generate a feedback signal, a control circuit coupled between the feedback circuit and the ... | 07/01/2008 |
| 7358685 | DC-DC converter having protective function of over-voltage and over-current and led driving circuit using the same The invention relates to a DC-DC converter having over-current/over-voltage protection function and an LED driving circuit using the same. The DC-DC converter adjusts a width of a switching pulse outputted from a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) controller to control on... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7327102 | Portable fluorescent task lamp A portable hand held fluorescent task lamp comprising at least two compact fluorescent lamp (“CFL”) bulbs of any wattage and of either a non-starting type or a self-starting type; an electronic ballast circuit; and an SPST function switch disposed in series with... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7250732 | High pressure discharge lamp control system and method A system for providing a controllable current to a high intensity discharge lamp is provided. The system includes a current controller that is configured to receive input power and to provide an output current waveform to the high intensity discharge lamp. This curr... | 07/31/2007 |
| 7148628 | Photosensitive control with dynamic calibration A method and circuit arrangement dynamically calibrate a photosensitive control for a light source that includes a voltage divider circuit coupled to a resistive light detector and configured to output to a comparison circuit a variable voltage signal that varies wi... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7088059 | Modulated control circuit and method for current-limited dimming and color mixing of display and illumination systems A control circuit for a lighting system allows analog control over a first range of illumination intensities in which the intensity of the illumination source varies in proportion to the voltage level of the control signal. The circuit provides for improved dimming ... | 08/08/2006 |
| 6958581 | High-intensity discharge lamp operating device and method for controlling the high-intensity discharge lamp A high-intensity discharge lamp operating device includes a power supplier configured to supply power to a high-intensity discharge lamp, a memory containing a starter power data set, an identifying power data set and steady power data sets, a detector configured to... | 10/25/2005 |
| 6933686 | Programmable AC power switch An AC controller provides programmable switching of AC power flow, together with producing a source of DC power for the AC controller. The AC controller is connected in series with only one side of the AC power source and the AC load, and uses a microcontroller or a... | 08/23/2005 |
| 6911789 | Power supply for a hot-filament cathode In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a switch-mode power supply to generate the heating current for a hot-filament electron-emitting cathode. The power supply directly couples, without an output transformer, the output from a... | 06/28/2005 |
| 6876159 | Electronic ballast system for emergency lighting applications An electronic ballast system with emergency lighting features is presented. Especially, the electronic ballast system is relative to a single-stage converter configuration. The electronic ballast system serves as a regular ballast, a regular/emergency ballast, a bat... | 04/05/2005 |
| 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 |
| 6762570 | Minimizing standby power in a digital addressable lighting interface A Digital Addressable Lighting Interface (DALI) receives power from a high voltage power circuit when in a standby mode. The DALI remains in a standby mode until signal activity on a DALI bus is detected, or the DALI may periodically switch from the standby mode to ... | 07/13/2004 |
| 6731080 | Multiple ballast and lamp control system for selectively varying operation of ballasts to distribute burn times among lamps A control device and signaling are provided to operate selected numbers of the ballasts in a multi-ballast, multi-lamp luminaire. The luminaire has a control input for receiving a control signal from a wall switch, for example. The number of ballasts operated by the... | 05/04/2004 |
| 6642666 | Method and device to emulate a railway searchlight signal with light emitting diodes A railway searchlight signal uses a printed circuit board populated by three arrays (green, red and yellow) of LEDs. The LEDs are lit by a standard color light power supply unit (PSU). As only one array of LEDs is lit at a time, an interface between the P... | 11/04/2003 |
| 6489733 | Multi-purpose lighting system for airports, roads or the like A lighting system, which may be used, for example, as an airport lighting system, as a street lighting system, as an obstruction warning light, as an illuminated sign, as a warning light, or as a signal light or the like. The lighting system includes a de... | 12/03/2002 |
| 6483260 | Apparatus for operating respective single lamps among multiple lamps coupled to the same ballast An apparatus and method are provided for operating one of a plurality of lamps employed within a luminaire via a single ballast, thereby extending the operational life of the luminaire. The operating lamp disables the lamps downstream from itself by preve... | 11/19/2002 |
| 6459210 | Switch mode energy recovery for electro-luminescent lamp panels High voltage and low voltage switch mode circuits and methods serve to recover the charge stored on electro-luminescent lamp panels that would otherwise be dissipated during the discharge cycle of a drive circuit. The high voltage circuits and methods ope... | 10/01/2002 |
| 6400103 | Networkable power controller A networkable power controller includes a mode selector for selectively conducting of a plurality of input signals to an output of the networkable power controller, where the input signals and the output signals satisfy the same signaling protocol. The ne... | 06/04/2002 |
| 6346781 | Signal generator and control unit for sensing signals of signal generator A signal generating circuit coupled to an AC supply, the circuit comprising at least one first switch device coupled to the AC supply, at least one triggerable switch device coupled to the first switch device, operation of the first switch device causing ... | 02/12/2002 |
| 6313588 | Signal generator and control unit for sensing signals of signal generator A signal generating circuit coupled to an AC supply, the circuit comprising at least one first switch device coupled to the AC supply, at least one triggerable switch device coupled to the first switch device, operation of the first switch device causing ... | 11/06/2001 |
| 6300727 | Lighting control with wireless remote control and programmability A remotely controllable and programmable power control unit for controlling and programming the state and power level, including special functions, of one or more electrical devices. The electrical device can be an electric lamp. The system includes a use... | 10/09/2001 |
| 6169377 | Lighting control with wireless remote control and programmability A remotely controllable and programmable power control unit for controlling and programming the state and power level, including special functions, of one or more electrical devices. The electrical device can be an electric lamp. The system includes a use... | 01/02/2001 |
| 6138241 | Apparatus for and method of inhibiting and overriding an electrical control device An apparatus for and method of inhibiting and overriding the normal operating mode of one or more input devices connected to a communications network. The present invention functions within an electrical network made up of a plurality of input devices whe... | 10/24/2000 |
| 6023131 | Backlight device for a liquid crystal display A backlight device for a color liquid crystal display includes a high-voltage generating means including a d.c. power source, an inverter and a switch interposed between the d.c. power source and the inverter to control the output supplied from the high-v... | 02/08/2000 |
| 6020692 | Marco lamp life extension in installation for ADI, AEI A circuit for use with optical inspection lamps, e.g., tungsten-halogen or Marco lamps, in semiconductor fabrication machines performing ADI and AEI operations, that will lower the operating voltage of the lamps when the machine is not being used by an op... | 02/01/2000 |
| 6011329 | Electrical circuit cycling controller A time delay power controller has a power input for receiving alternating electrical power from an external source; a timer activation device connected in parallel to a one or more timers, each timer having an associated delay time and an output for deliv... | 01/04/2000 |
| 5955844 | Smart logic switching uninterruptible power source An uninterruptible power source for emergency lighting in an AC powered electrical system utilizes X-10 protocol transmitters and receivers for transmitting and receiving data signals over existing wiring to emergency wall switches interposed in the wirin... | 09/21/1999 |
| 5663612 | Apparatus for dimming discharge lamp having electromagnetic regulator with selectively tapped capacitance winding An apparatus for dimming a discharge lamp is provided which comprises an electromagnetic regulator. The electromagnetic regulator has a primary winding connected to an AC power supply, a secondary winding connected to the lamp, and a tertiary winding. A c... | 09/02/1997 |
| 5610448 | Universal switching device and method for lighting applications A universal electronic switching device which may be mounted inside various types of lighting fixtures to switch A.C. power to one or more loads, either individually or in groups, within the fixture in a predetermined pattern in response to an interruptio... | 03/11/1997 |
| 5504396 | Discharge lamp control system A new method of control of high voltage gaseous conductor lamps is herein provided allowing the selective control of the operation of such lamps in a single, or multiple lamp series-connected, current regulated supply circuit, through selective shorting o... | 04/02/1996 |
| 5317238 | Electromagnetic field sensitive animated ornamental display An electronic display for amusement or ornamentation includes a CMOS counter chip connected to a low voltage DC source, with each counter output connected directly to one of a plurality of LEDs. An antenna wire, which can be a short length of wire or a wi... | 05/31/1994 |
| 5304896 | Lighting system for use in cabin of automotive vehicle A lighting system for use in a cabin of a vehicle is disclosed, in which when a room lamp for a seat occupied by a passenger is in gradual light reduction due to the passenger getting-in, gradual light reduction of the room lamp is continued even if anoth... | 04/19/1994 |
| 5300863 | Auxiliary lighting circuit for a gaseous discharge lamp A non-arcing electrical switch is disclosed wherein a solid-state switching element is operated in response to current flow within an external circuit. The switch is particularly suitable for use within an auxiliary lighting circuit of a gaseous discharge... | 04/05/1994 |
| 5192895 | Synchronously-controlled light string A synchronously-controlled light string includes a plurality of light string units, each of which has a plug in one end and a socket in the other end, thereby allowing the light string units to be coupled together. Each light string unit has a control cir... | 03/09/1993 |
| 5182494 | Multiplexed control devices for a set of electrical devices, e.g. in a motor vehicle A system for controlling a set of electrical devices, e.g. in a motor vehicle, having a decoding module for a group of such devices, the decoding module receiving an electrical signal containing instructions to switch on and to switch off the electrical d... | 01/26/1993 |
