Did You Know...
...that the Eveready Battery began as an invention called the "electric flowerpot," which was a tube with a battery and light bulb inside? The idea was to fasten this gizmo to the side of a flowerpot so it would illuminate the flowers from the bottom. The idea died on the vine and the businessman who licensed the flower pot, Conrad Huber, was left with a pile of useless tubes -- until he found a way to market them as batteries to light the world!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7633782 | 100% duty-cycle buck-derived and 0% duty-cycle boost-derived power factor corrected (PFC) 3-phase Ac-Dc power converters This invention teaches power factor corrected 3-phase ac-dc power converters in which the duty-cycles are determined by “natural modulation”, that is, they are forced by a fixed algorithm that has been optimized for efficient switching. The duty-cycles do not re... | 12/15/2009 |
| 7616465 | Energy storage and hold-up method and apparatus for high density power conversion A method and apparatus for adaptively configuring an array of voltage transformation modules is disclosed. The aggregate voltage transformation ratio of the adaptive array is adjusted to digitally regulate the output voltage for a wide range of input voltages. An in... | 11/10/2009 |
| 7554827 | Electromagnetic coupling galvanic isolated solid state relay with output feedback A solid state relay is provided herein, which utilizes an electromagnetic coupling device for galvanic isolation and providing feedback from the output side to the system side. The solid state relay contains a system-side driving circuit, an electromagnetic coupling... | 06/30/2009 |
| 7548441 | Universal AC adapter A method and apparatus for adaptively configuring an array of voltage transformation modules is disclosed. The aggregate voltage transformation ratio of the adaptive array is adjusted to digitally regulate the output voltage for a wide range of input voltages. An in... | 06/16/2009 |
| 7542316 | Switching power supply unit A switching power supply unit capable of simplifying its structure by reducing the number of parts for wiring is provided. A rectifier circuit has a diode inserted between a first secondary winding and a second secondary winding to form a series circuit therewith, a... | 06/02/2009 |
| 7443705 | Apparatus and method for power conversion having diode in charging and discharging circuit A power converting apparatus includes a rectifying circuit having a pair of AC power input terminals and a pair of rectified voltage output terminals; a reactor; and a charging and discharging circuit connected between the rectified voltage output terminals. The cha... | 10/28/2008 |
| 7408795 | Energy storage and hold-up method and apparatus for high density power conversion A method and apparatus for adaptively configuring an array of voltage transformation modules is disclosed. The aggregate voltage transformation ratio of the adaptive array is adjusted to digitally regulate the output voltage for a wide range of input voltages. An in... | 08/05/2008 |
| 7403406 | Electronic current limiter An electronic current limiter includes a power supply transformation circuit to transform an alternating-current power supply into a direct-current power supply, a current detection circuit to sense and detect a current from the input terminals of the power supply t... | 07/22/2008 |
| 7375989 | AC/DC converter and method of modulation thereof A method and apparatus for modulating a discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) Boost Rectifier having a switchable booster section is disclosed. A modulation signal is defined according to the equation, TON(φ)=f1(φ)+f2(φ)+f3(φ). Here, φ defines a phase ... | 05/20/2008 |
| 7362596 | Transformer balance circuit A balancing circuit for systems having at least first and second transformers. The transformers' primary sides are connected to one another. The transformers' secondary sides also are connected to one another. The balancing circuit includes a branch connecting one t... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7362601 | Power supply device A power supply device includes two input ports, two output ports, a transformer having primary and secondary windings, a switch device, and a controller. The switch device includes a switching element connected in series with the primary winding, and a capacitor. Th... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7358620 | Methods and apparatus for ride-through operation of a complementary device to a transient power source In accordance with certain exemplary embodiments, the present technique provides methods and apparatus for providing operating power to a complementary device to an induction device based uninterruptible power source (UPS) via a direct current (dc) bus. In one embod... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7342321 | Bicycle electric power unit A bicycle electric power unit supplies electric power to a bicycle motor unit having a power source, a power source controller, a power source voltage detector, a first power source switch and a second power source switch. The power source controller turns off the f... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7339485 | Rectifier for supplying double voltage and RFID tag thereof Disclosed is a rectifier for supplying double voltage and an RFID tag thereof. The rectifier includes a charging part for charging an input voltage induced to input ends by a received radio frequency (RF) signal; a power provider for charging a sum voltage correspon... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7330364 | Device for converting high voltage alternating current (AC) to low voltage direct current (DC) and method therefor A method and circuit for converting high voltage AC to low voltage DC using a switched power supply and rising edge conduction has an alternating current (AC) power source. A rectifier is coupled to the AC power source. A switching device is coupled to the rectifier... | 02/12/2008 |
| 7321483 | Power converter A power converter comprising: a rectifier arrangement (D1-D4) having inputs coupled to AC power supply terminals; a pair of series-connected capacitors (C1, C2) coupled across output terminals of the rectifier arrangement; a switch (S1... | 01/22/2008 |
| 7321218 | Bicycle derailer generator A derailler with a set of gears powered by bicycle chain to drive an AC generator. A bridge rectifier to convert AC to DC to charge the battery and to energize the head light and the tail light. A set of switches to control the head light, tail light, and battery. | 01/22/2008 |
| 7317303 | Rectified power supply A power supply creates a voltage difference between high and low power supply rails. The power supply has a voltage signal source, a capacitive coupling element, energy storage element 12, first and second rectifying diodes, a regulator, and bypass means for ... | 01/08/2008 |
| 7312582 | Electronic ballast An electronic ballast for driving at least one lamp comprising a rectifying circuit operatively connectable to an AC line; a current drawing circuit connected across said rectifying circuit; and an inverter circuit connected to said rectifying circuit that supplies ... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7283377 | Method for controlling firing angle under line dip situations A method and apparatus for converting AC power into DC power are disclosed, where the method includes receiving the AC power, and converting the AC power into the DC power by way of a rectification device, where the rectification device is capable of being controlle... | 10/16/2007 |
| 7274579 | Converter circuit and motor driving apparatus A converter circuit for converting an output voltage from an AC power supply includes a rectifier circuit for rectifying the output voltage of the AC power supply; first and second capacitors connected in series, for smoothing the output of the rectifier circuit; an... | 09/25/2007 |
| 7272025 | Method and apparatus to control either a regulated or an unregulated output of a switching power supply Techniques are disclosed to control output power from a switching power supply. For example, a switching regulator according to aspects of the present invention includes a switch to be coupled to an energy transfer element of a power supply. A controller is coupled ... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7256560 | Circuit arrangement for supplying a control electronics system in electric machines A circuit configuration for supplying the control electronics in an electrical machine is specified, which includes a passive transformer circuit, which is powered by a phase current IP of the electrical machine and which generates an auxiliary voltage VA that is us... | 08/14/2007 |
| 7257010 | Power supply circuit A power supply circuit comprises a bridge circuit that has four rectifier elements connected and produces a rectified voltage between a positive side output terminal and a negative side output terminal of the power supply circuit, two of the four rectifier elements ... | 08/14/2007 |
| 7252088 | Methods of powering medical equipment for the treatment of sleep apnea An uninterruptible D.C. battery backup power supply is designed to operate medical respiratory treatment equipment such as a machine for the treatment of sleep apnea. A power supply with D.C. backup consists of a rectifier/charger, a rechargeable battery and a D.C.-... | 08/07/2007 |
| 7245469 | DC backup power supply device and method for diagnosing the same A reliable uninterruptible DC power supply device. The DC backup power supply device includes an AC/DC converter, a DC/DC converter, voltage step-up/down choppers and a battery connected to a DC path of a main circuit connected with a load via a switch, and a microc... | 07/17/2007 |
| 7236383 | Detection of the zero crossing of an A.C. voltage A circuit for detecting the zero crossing of a variable voltage across at least one switching element, including circuitry for measuring the slope of the voltage when it varies in a given direction, and for indicating a zero crossing if this slope is comprised withi... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7236380 | Rectifier system having different rectifier elements A rectifier system, in particular a rectifier bridge for a three-phase generator, includes a plurality of rectifier elements, specifiable rectifier elements being different from the other rectifier elements in at least one property. The rectifier elements are, for e... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7218088 | Control circuit of DC-DC converter and control method thereof There are provided a control circuit of a DC-DC converter of a synchronous rectification system which can realize rapid lowering of an output voltage with low power consumption at the stop of power supply, and a control method thereof. While a power supply stop sign... | 05/15/2007 |
| 7204623 | Bicycle lighting device A bicycle lighting device is configured to make possible the efficient illumination of an LED while controlling power loss between the generator and the LED. An LED unit has at least one LED. A protector circuit controls the flow of current to each LED according to ... | 04/17/2007 |
| 7199528 | Control circuit for maintaining constant power in power factor corrected electronic ballasts and power supplies The control circuit for maintaining constant power in power factor corrected electronic ballasts and power supplies maintains constant power in a variable load. This constant power control circuit provides a closed loop constant power management process for gas disc... | 04/03/2007 |
| 7190143 | Pulse width modulation (PWM) rectifier with variable switching frequency A method for controlling a device including a plurality of switching devices operated in accordance with a pulse width modulation technique includes receiving a reference voltage signal associated with a first pair of the switching devices. A switching signal is gen... | 03/13/2007 |
| 7187566 | Three-phase rectifier A capacitor-input type three-phase rectification circuit comprises a three-phase AC power supply (1), a diode rectifier circuit (4), and a low-frequency filter connected between the three-phase AC power supply (1) and the diode rectification cir... | 03/06/2007 |
| 7180762 | Cascoded rectifier A high voltage rectifier device exhibiting low forward resistance and fast switching time formed of a high voltage structure connected in a cascode configuration with a low voltage structure. The high voltage structure is a bidirectional normally on semiconductor sw... | 02/20/2007 |
| 7170405 | Method and apparatus for interfacing a power line carrier and an appliance A method and apparatus for communicating between an appliance and a power line carrier communication system includes at least one power line carrier connection, at least one appliance connection, and processing circuitry for translating between an appliance communic... | 01/30/2007 |
| 7161307 | Power factor correction apparatus with embedded DC—DC converter A power factor correction apparatus with an embedded direct-current to direct-current (DC-DC) converter is provided. The apparatus includes a power factor controller, a high-voltage adapter and a low-voltage adapter. The power factor controller, which receives an AC... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7157887 | Direct amplitude modulation for switch mode power supplies In one aspect, a switch mode power supply comprises a first inductive element; a first switching element, wherein a first end of the first switching element is connected to a second end of the first inductive element; a second inductive element; a second switching e... | 01/02/2007 |
| 7126831 | DC-AC converter, and method for supplying AC power First and second semiconductor switches which are activated alternately are provided between ends of a primary winding and a common potential point, wherein a DC power supply voltage is supplied to a center tap. An electric current flowing into a load is fed back to... | 10/24/2006 |
| 7122917 | Control arrangement and isolated power supplies for power electronic system A control method and arrangement is provided that monitors the condition and operating parameters of a power electronic system having power electronic devices to optimize operation of the power electronic system. Further, electrically isolated power supplies to indi... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7102251 | Bi-directional multi-port inverter with high frequency link transformer This invention is a multi-port power converter where all ports are coupled through different windings of a high frequency transformer. Two or more, and typically all, ports have synchronized switching elements to allow the use of a high frequency transformer. This c... | 09/05/2006 |