Patents Assigned to Novitas Incorporated
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Patent number: 5811963Abstract: A line powered supply for a wall mounted lighting load control system includes a power MOSFET in series with a load control relay and a second MOSFET in parallel with the load control relay. When the lighting load is off, the MOSFET in parallel with the load relay is selectively opened to charge a capacitor feeding a regulator used to provide control system power. When the lights are on, the capacitor provides control system power. The MOSFET in series with the load control relay is open circuited to provide AC to recharge the capacitor whenever the regulator drop out voltage is reached. The MOSFET conducts for all but a very small portion of the AC cycle so that substantially all the AC power is applied to the lighting load. A second AC to DC power converter uses similar MOSFET switching to use partial AC voltage cycles to charge a capacitor and provide low voltage DC power from higher AC voltages.Type: GrantFiled: April 11, 1997Date of Patent: September 22, 1998Assignee: Novitas IncorporatedInventor: Brian E. Elwell
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Patent number: 5392631Abstract: A scaled, isolated range test chamber is provided for testing motion sensors, such as ultrasonic occupancy detectors, in which the detector to be tested is mounted on a drawer and slid into an enclosed chamber. The enclosed chamber includes multiple motion simulators, such as rods rotated by stepper motors, which are controlled by computer to provide an accurate and repeatable scaled test environment. The ultrasonic radiation is concentrated by the scaled test environment to avoid testing anomalies resulting from time and temperature changes or human error factors. A master sensor is calibrated to detect the predetermined minor motion of the movement of a human hand in an arc through a discrete distance of one foot in one second. The motion simulators are adjusted to rotate through a larger arc at a closer distance to be detected by the master sensor in order to determine the equivalent simulated minor motion.Type: GrantFiled: June 21, 1994Date of Patent: February 28, 1995Assignee: Novitas, IncorporatedInventor: Brian E. Elwell
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Patent number: 5394035Abstract: A rate of change comparator uses an RC charging circuit and a separate RC discharging circuit to follow a transducer output. The resistor component of each RC circuit is shunted by a diode, each biased in a different orientation so that the charging circuit charges quickly through its diode but discharges slowly through its resistor and the discharging circuit discharges quickly through its diode and slowly through its resistor. The difference in output between the charging and discharging circuits is detected with a comparator, biased off by a threshold bias voltage developed from one of the circuits. The comparator is unaffected by slow changes in transducer signals due to drift, ambient condition and similar changes because the differential voltage between the circuits is minimized for transducer signal changes below the level set by a threshold bias level.Type: GrantFiled: August 25, 1993Date of Patent: February 28, 1995Assignee: Novitas, IncorporatedInventor: Brian E. Elwell
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Patent number: 5363688Abstract: A scaled, isolated range test chamber is provided for testing motion sensors, such as ultrasonic occupancy detectors, in which the detector to be tested is mounted on a drawer and slid into an enclosed chamber. The enclosed chamber includes multiple motion simulators, such as rods rotated by stepper motors, which are controlled by computer to provide an accurate and repeatable scaled test environment. The ultrasonic radiation is concentrated by the scaled test environment to avoid testing anomalies resulting from time and temperature changes or human error factors. A master sensor is calibrated to detect the predetermined minor motion of the movement of a human hand in an arc through a discrete distance of one foot in one second. The motion simulators are adjusted to rotate through a larger arc at a closer distance to be detected by the master sensor in order to determine the equivalent simulated minor motion.Type: GrantFiled: August 12, 1993Date of Patent: November 15, 1994Assignee: Novitas IncorporatedInventor: Brian E. Elwell
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Patent number: D376130Type: GrantFiled: April 20, 1995Date of Patent: December 3, 1996Assignee: Novitas IncorporatedInventors: Brian E. Elwell, Jon Oswaks