Rejecting noise transients while turning off a fluorescent lamp using a starter unit

Number of patents in Portfolio can not be more than 2000

United States of America Patent

PATENT NO 9247628
APP PUB NO 20130320876A1
SERIAL NO

13961544

Stats

ATTORNEY / AGENT: (SPONSORED)

Importance

Loading Importance Indicators... loading....

Abstract

See full text

A local minimum of a current monitoring signal is identified by a starter unit that turns off a fluorescent lamp without using a wall switch. Closing a main switch in the starter unit stops an illuminating current from flowing through a gas in the lamp. The local minimum of the current monitoring signal is reached when an increasing valid sample is identified following four valid samples. A sample is valid if it does not differ from the preceding valid sample by more than a threshold difference based on known properties of the signal. By skipping invalid samples, the local minimum is accurately determined to have been reached despite transient noise spikes in the signal that would trip any voltage threshold used to locate the local minimum. When the main switch is opened at a predetermined time after the local minimum, the illuminating current does not again flow through the gas.

Loading the Abstract Image... loading....

First Claim

See full text

Family

Loading Family data... loading....

Patent Owner(s)

Patent OwnerAddress
ZILOG INCA CA CORP CAMPBELL CA

International Classification(s)

  • [Classification Symbol]
  • [Patents Count]

Inventor(s)

Inventor Name Address # of filed Patents Total Citations
Ball, Roger Seattle, US 9 221
Khalsa, Kamlapati San Jose, US 9 43

Cited Art Landscape

Load Citation

Patent Citation Ranking

Forward Cite Landscape

Load Citation

Maintenance Fees

Fee Large entity fee small entity fee micro entity fee due date
11.5 Year Payment $7400.00 $3700.00 $1850.00 Jul 26, 2027
Fee Large entity fee small entity fee micro entity fee
Surcharge - 11.5 year - Late payment within 6 months $160.00 $80.00 $40.00
Surcharge after expiration - Late payment is unavoidable $700.00 $350.00 $175.00
Surcharge after expiration - Late payment is unintentional $1,640.00 $820.00 $410.00