Ground leakage power supply for dimming applications

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9812969-B2
Application number	US-201414554697-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 26, 2014
Priority date	Nov 26, 2014
Publication date	Nov 7, 2017
Grant date	Nov 7, 2017

Abstract

A dimmer is provided for controlling power to a load, the dimmer having a ground leakage power supply deriving power from a connection of the dimmer to ground. The power supply may be a switching-mode power supply that can be the sole or primary power supply to power operation of the dimmer, including operation of the controller.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A dimmer for controlling power to a load, the dimmer comprising:
a phase input terminal configured to couple to an AC power source;
a ground terminal configured to couple to a ground connection of the AC power source;
a load output terminal configured to couple to the load;
a switching circuit electrically coupled between the phase input terminal and the load output terminal;
a controller configured to control the switching circuit such that power to the load is selectively controlled; and
a ground leakage power supply, wherein the ground leakage power supply is a switched mode power supply electrically coupled to the phase input and ground terminals, wherein the ground leakage power supply derives power only from the phase input and ground terminals;
wherein the controller receives power from the ground leakage power supply.

2. The dimmer of claim 1 , wherein operation of the dimmer is powered fully by the ground leakage power supply.

3. The dimmer of claim 1 , wherein the dimmer comprises one or more secondary power sources.

4. The dimmer of claim 3 , wherein the ground leakage power supply is configured to provide a majority of the power needed to power the operation of the dimmer.

5. The dimmer of claim 1 , wherein the ground leakage power supply is configured to power operation of the dimmer absent a connection of the dimmer to a neutral of the AC power source.

6. The dimmer of claim 1 , wherein the power derived by the ground leakage power supply is regulated by maintaining a current flowing through the ground terminal below a threshold current.

7. The dimmer of claim 6 , wherein the threshold current comprises 500 microamperes or less.

8. The dimmer of claim 1 , wherein the ground leakage power supply provides a minimum of 5 volts.

9. The dimmer of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to perform:
regulating a clock speed of the controller based on priority of a task selected to run, wherein the controller decreases clock speed based on a task of relatively low priority being selected to run.

10. The dimmer of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to perform:
providing a signal to the switching circuit to selectively control power to the load, the signal to the switching circuit comprising a plurality of pulses, and the signal provided starting at a firing angle of a half-cycle of the AC power source.

11. The dimmer of claim 10 , wherein providing the signal comprises providing the plurality of pulses to have a duration therebetween of less than an unlatching time of the switching circuit.

12. The dimmer of claim 10 , wherein providing the signal comprises providing the plurality of pulses to have a duration of 8-12 microseconds and to have a duration therebetween of 8-12 microseconds.

13. A dimmer for controlling power to a load, the dimmer comprising:
a phase input terminal configured to couple to an AC power source;
a ground terminal configured to couple to a ground connection of the AC power source;
a load output terminal configured to couple to the load;
a switching circuit electrically coupled between the phase input terminal and the load output terminal, wherein the controller is configured to provide a signal to the switching circuit to selectively control power to the load, the signal provided starting at a firing angle of a half-cycle of the AC power source, and the signal comprising a plurality of pulses provided during the half-cycle of the AC power source;
a controller configured to control the switching circuit such that power to the load is selectively controlled; and
a ground leakage power supply, wherein the ground leakage power supply is a switched mode power supplyelectrically coupled to the phase input and ground terminals, wherein the ground leakage power supply derives power only from the phase input and ground terminals;
wherein the controller receives power from the ground leakage power supply.

14. The dimmer of claim 13 , wherein the plurality of pulses have a duration therebetween of less than an unlatching time of the switching circuit.

15. The dimmer of claim 13 , wherein the plurality of pulses have a duration of 8-12 microseconds and have a duration therebetween of 8-12 microseconds.

16. A dimmer for controlling power to a load, the dimmer comprising:
a phase input terminal configured to couple to an AC power source;
a ground terminal configured to couple to a ground connection of the AC power source;
a load output terminal configured to couple to the load;
a switching circuit electrically coupled between the phase input terminal and the load output terminal, wherein the controller is configured to provide a signal to the switching circuit to selectively control power to the load, the signal comprising a plurality of pulses provided during a half-cycle of the AC power source, and the plurality of pulses having a duration of 8-12 microseconds and having a duration therebetween of 8-12 microseconds;
a controller configured to control the switching circuit such that power to the load is selectively controlled; and
a ground leakage power supply, wherein the ground leakage power supply is a switched mode power supply electrically coupled to the phase input and ground terminals, wherein the ground leakage power to supply derives power only from the phase input and ground terminals;
wherein the controller receives power from the ground leakage power supply.

17. The dimmer of claim 6 , wherein the ground leakage power supply regulates the power derived by the ground leakage power supply.

18. The dimmer of claim 6 , wherein the controller regulates the power derived by the ground leakage power supply.

19. The dimmer of claim 13 , wherein the power derived by the ground leakage power supply is regulated by maintaining a current flowing through the ground terminal below a threshold current, wherein the threshold current comprises 500 microamperes or less.

20. The dimmer of claim 16 , wherein the power derived by the ground leakage power supply is regulated by maintaining a current flowing through the ground terminal below a threshold current, wherein the threshold current comprises 500 microamperes or less.

Assignees

• Leviton Manufacturing Co

Inventors

• Papismedov Levan
• Lombardi Alfred
• Ostrovsky Michael
• Keser Ozgur

Classifications

• H02M3/33507 Primary

  with automatic control of the output voltage or current, e.g. flyback converters (H02M3/33561, H02M3/33569 take precedence) · CPC title

• H02M5/2573

  with control circuit · CPC title

• H02M1/083

  for the ignition at the zero crossing of the voltage or the current · CPC title

• Y02B70/16

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• H02M2001/0006

  Electricity · mapped topic