Patents Examined by Thai Pham
  • Patent number: 11291093
    Abstract: A load control device for regulating an average magnitude of a load current conducted through an electrical load may operate in different modes. The load control device may comprise a control circuit configured to activate an inverter circuit during an active state period and deactivate the inverter circuit during an inactive state period. In one mode, the control circuit may adjust the average magnitude of the load current by adjusting the inactive state period while keeping the active state period constant. In another mode, the control circuit may adjust the average magnitude of the load current by adjusting the active state period while keeping the inactive state period constant. In yet another mode, the control circuit may keep a duty cycle of the inverter circuit constant and regulate the average magnitude of the load current by adjusting a target load current conducted through the electrical load.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: Lutron Technology Company LLC
    Inventor: Steven J. Kober
  • Patent number: 11282679
    Abstract: A plasma control apparatus for controlling plasma to be uniformly distributed in a plasma chamber and a plasma processing system including the same are provided. The plasma control apparatus includes a transmission line configured to deliver radio frequency (RF) power to a plasma chamber through at least two frequencies, a matching circuit configured to control impedance for maximum delivery of the RF power, and a plasma control circuit configured to selectively and independently control harmonics at a very high frequency (VHF) among the at least two frequencies and to control plasma distribution in the plasma chamber by producing resonance for the harmonics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Donghyeon Na, Hyosin Kim, Seungbo Shim, Hadong Jin, Dougyong Sung, Minyoung Hur
  • Patent number: 11284492
    Abstract: A lighting system that can thermally balance the usage of elements of the system to manage the wear rates of lifetime limiting components. The lighting system includes multiple light emitting diode illumination sources, each of which driven by a light emitting diode driver positioned in a separate housing remotely from a luminaire. A controller supervises all of the light emitting diode drivers and can adjust the power out of any of the light emitting diode drivers that are experiencing a faster loss of lifespan due to local conditions. The controller may also activate a thermal cooling device positioned in the housing of the light emitting diode driver to stabilize the temperature of a light emitting diode driver with an out of balance temperature, thereby reducing the loss of lifetime relative other drivers operating at lower temperatures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Assignee: M3 Innovation, LLC
    Inventors: Christopher D. Nolan, Joseph R. Casper
  • Patent number: 11283156
    Abstract: Disclosed is an electronic device including a housing including a first plate facing a first direction, a second plate facing a second direction opposite to the first direction, and a lateral member surrounding a space between the first plate and the second plate, a first antenna structure disposed to be substantially parallel with the second plate in the space, and including a substrate disposed in the space, and at least one antenna element disposed on the substrate to face at least the second plate, a conductive member disposed in the space and spaced apart from the at least one antenna element by a predetermined interval when the second plate is viewed from above.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Inventors: Seunggil Jeon, Namwoo Kim, Seongbeom Hong, Kyunghoon Moon, Yunbum Lee
  • Patent number: 11280482
    Abstract: A directionally manipulatable view enhancement apparatus including a fixed base, a rotatable support supported on the fixed base and rotatable about a pan axis, a yoke disposed on and pivotable with respect to the rotatable support about a tilt axis substantially perpendicular to the pan axis, a pan motor that rotates the rotatable support and yoke about the pan axis, a tilt motor that rotates the yoke about the tilt axis, and a first clutch between the rotatable support and the pan motor permitting the rotatable support to rotate relative to the fixed base independently of the pan motor or a second clutch between the yoke and the tilt motor allowing the yoke to rotate relative to the rotatable support independently of the tilt motor. The yoke retains an electrical component and the pan motor and tilt motor are in electrical communication with a controller remote from the fixed base.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Assignee: WHELEN ENGINEERING COMPANY, INC.
    Inventors: David J. Sousa, Kevin M. Smith, Sean Brown, Tomasz J. Walczak
  • Patent number: 11265986
    Abstract: An LED controller is used with a video source and at least one LED unit, and includes a control signal generator and a driver. The control signal generator performs pulse width modulation based on a first clock signal, a second clock signal and a data signal, which is generated by the video source, to generate at least one control signal. The first and second clock signals are independent of a vertical synchronization signal that is generated by the video source. The driver generates, based on the at least one control signal, at least one drive signal that is related to light emission of the at least one LED unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: NOVATEK MICROELECTRONICS CORP.
    Inventors: Wei-Jen Lai, Neng-Chieh Hsu, Zhen-Guo Ding, Kang-Fan Yeh
  • Patent number: 11265984
    Abstract: A lighting module may receive control signal having a first control scheme, the lighting module including a driver including at least one channel; and a control module; where the control module translates the received first control scheme into a predetermined second control scheme, when the first control scheme is different from the predetermined second control scheme; wherein the control module generates an identity voltage correlated with the received first control scheme; wherein the control module outputs to the driver a driver control signal including the predetermined second control scheme, and the identity voltage; and wherein the driver generates a driver output based on the identity voltage and the driver control signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: Bridgelux, Inc.
    Inventors: Brian Cumpston, Shiva Rai, Linden Willis-Kilgroe, Sudeep Reddy Dodda
  • Patent number: 11264734
    Abstract: According to various embodiments, an electronic device may include: a housing including a side member including a conductive member and a non-conductive member coupled with the conductive member; and at least one antenna structure disposed in an internal space of the housing and including a substrate disposed to face the side member, and at least one antenna element which is disposed on the substrate such that a beam pattern is formed through the non-conductive member in a direction in which the side member faces, wherein: when the side member is viewed from the outside, a boundary region between the conductive member and the non-conductive member is disposed in a region not overlapping the substrate; in the boundary region, the conductive member includes at least one concave part formed to at least partially receive the non-conductive member; and the at least one concave part includes two or more stepped parts which gradually get higher or lower as the stepped parts are further leftward or rightward from the
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Sungyoung Lee, Sanghun Park, Gunwoo Lee, Jongjoo Je
  • Patent number: 11264219
    Abstract: Provided are a radical monitoring apparatus capable of monitoring electrical diagnosis of a radical produced by direct plasma or remote plasma and the amount of change of the produced radical, and a plasma apparatus including the radical monitoring apparatus. The plasma apparatus includes a process chamber in which a plasma process is performed, a dielectric film in the process chamber and surrounding sides of a plasma discharge space in the process chamber, and a sensor inside the dielectric film and configured to monitor plasma to thereby monitor a radical generated in the plasma.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Inventors: Kwangtae Hwang, Jinyong Kim, Iksoo Kim, Geumbi Mun, Junwon Lee, Jiwoon Im
  • Patent number: 11259388
    Abstract: Techniques for employing an enhanced light device to determine desirable information to a user are presented. Such light device(s) can comprise or be associated with a light management component (LMC) that can employ sensors to monitor respective characteristics or conditions of a device, an environment, and/or a user to determine respective contexts for the device, environment, or user, wherein the user can interact with or be in proximity to the device or environment. The light device(s) collects data, including sensor data, relating to the device or environment from the device, the environment, or other data sources. The LMC determines a desirable subset of information to present to the user based on the respective contexts. The LMC facilitates presenting the desirable subset of information to the user via the light device or a communication device of the user that is communicatively connected to the light device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Assignee: RESILIENCE MAGNUM IP, LLC
    Inventors: Steven Rosen, Ronald Cozean, Eric Allen, David Edward Mordetzky, Megan Horvath, Anthony John Pyros, John Elwood, Michael Chang, Elie Attarian
  • Patent number: 11259379
    Abstract: A lighting fixture for powering multiple LED groups to generate a selectable color temperature. The lighting fixture provides varying amounts of power to each group of LEDs to achieve a selected color temperature. Current from a driver may be divided between the LED groups based on a selected operational state, which is selected using a switch or other configurable input. The operational states may turn the LED groups on or off or may control an amount of current received by the LED groups. In some configurations, all of the LED groups are always at least partially powered.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Assignee: ABL IP Holding LLC
    Inventor: Yan Rodriguez
  • Patent number: 11258298
    Abstract: Reliability of devices such as lighting fixtures, is improved by replacing an inductor based voltage inverter to power the device with a switching constant current PWM controller. Avoiding use of an inductor and matching capacitor is made possible by a high voltage power input that exceeds the voltage requirements of the device. The power is pulse width modulated with a current feedback to control duty cycle, and thus average device current.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Inventor: Marvin Motsenbocker
  • Patent number: 11251021
    Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus includes a plasma processing chamber, a coil having an uncoiled length L disposed adjacent to the plasma processing chamber, and a plurality of retractable conductors each configured to make electrical contact with the coil in an extended position. A first tap position is located substantially at a distance L/2 measured from a first end along the coil, a second tap position neighboring the first tap position and located substantially at the distance L/2 measured from the first end along the coil, and a third tap position located substantially at the first end of the coil. A controller is configured to operate the plasma processing apparatus in a first operating mode to sustain an inductively coupled plasma and in a second operating mode to sustain a capacitively coupled plasma using subsets of the retractable conductors in the extended position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Peter Ventzek, Alok Ranjan, Mitsunori Ohata, Michael Hummel
  • Patent number: 11252804
    Abstract: An OLED driving device includes an overdrive controller (ODC) which executes an overdrive of applying to an OLED an electric current larger than a rated electric current for the OLED for a predetermined period (period for the overdrive) to cause the OLED to emit brighter light for the predetermined period than at the rated electric current for the OLED for light emitting. The controller (ODC) executes a PWM control to the electric current flowing to the OLED for the predetermined period, and sets a PWM signal in the predetermined period so that at least one pulse of a pulse before the OLED starts the light emitting and a pulse at a just time when the OLED starts the light emitting has a width larger than a width of a pulse after the OLED starts the light emitting.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: CCS INC.
    Inventor: Hidekazu Takagi
  • Patent number: 11242001
    Abstract: A method of operating an aircraft cabin illumination system, having a plurality of light modules with a set spatial distribution across an aircraft cabin, includes receiving an image; mapping the image to the set spatial distribution of the plurality of light modules; generating an illumination command set, including an operating command for each of the plurality of light modules, on the basis of the mapping of the image to the set spatial distribution of the plurality of light modules; and issuing the illumination command set to the plurality of light modules.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignee: GOODRICH LIGHTING SYSTEMS GMBH
    Inventors: Andreas Ueberschaer, Andre Hessling-Von Heimendahl, Christian Schoen
  • Patent number: 11242965
    Abstract: A lighting system configured for daylight emulation. The system includes a plurality of light sources for generating a daylight-emulating output light spectrum. The system also includes a controller for dynamically controlling at least one of the intensity, directionality and color temperature to emulate sun position for at least one of a geography and time of day. The system further includes a networking facility that facilitates data communication with at least one external resource.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignee: ABL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Michael Forbis, Jonathan King Mapel
  • Patent number: 11234313
    Abstract: A smart light switch includes a housing, a light actuator, and a processor and memory. The processor is adapted to selectively turn an electrical load on and off in accordance with a programmed set of light activation rules stored in memory. The processor is operable to determine whether the smart light switch is in an On or Off state and create a historical record of the On or Off state of the smart light switch over time. A user is selectively able to place the smart light switch in a vacation mode. The processor suspends the programmed set of light activation rules, determines a probability that the smart light switch would have been turned on based upon the historical record, and probabilistically activates and deactivates the smart light switch for a period of time based upon the historical record while the smart light switch was not in vacation mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2022
    Assignee: ECOBEE INC.
    Inventors: Sahaj Chema, Jonathan Yeap, Casey Mckinnon
  • Patent number: 11229098
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a high-precision dimming circuit. A dimming circuit (107) includes an input stage (IN) and an output stage (OUT). The input stage (IN) includes a plurality of amplifiers (AMP1 to AMP3) which have non-inverted input terminals (+) thereof inputted with different dimming input voltages (DCDIM1, DCDIM2 and VH), respectively, and inverted input terminals (?) thereof inputted with a common dimming output voltage (V3). The output stage (OUT) is connected between respective output terminals of the plurality of amplifiers (AMP 1 to AMP3) and an output node of the diming output voltage (V3), and outputs, among the plurality of dimming input voltages (DCDIM1, DCDIM2 and VH) respectively inputted to the plurality of amplifiers (AMP1 to AMP3), a lowest voltage as the dimming output voltage (V3).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2022
    Assignee: Rohm Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Daisuke Kanbara
  • Patent number: 11223138
    Abstract: An apparatus may include a substrate assembly having a first side and a second side. The apparatus may further include a waveguide antenna element positioned on the first side of the substrate assembly. The apparatus may also include a first reference ground plane positioned on the first side of the substrate assembly and enclosing the waveguide antenna. The apparatus may include a stripline positioned within the substrate assembly. The apparatus may further include a second reference ground plane positioned on the second side of the substrate assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2022
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventor: John E. Rogers
  • Patent number: 11224106
    Abstract: The described embodiments relate to system, methods, and apparatuses for compensating sensor data from a luminaire based on an ambient temperature estimate that is generated from operating characteristics of the luminaire. The sensor data can be provided from a sensor, such as a passive infrared sensor, that is connected to the luminaire, and by compensating the sensor data, more accurate metrics can be generated from the sensor data. For instance, the compensated sensor data can be used to generate occupancy metrics that can be used as a basis for controlling a network of luminaires or other devices that can be influenced by occupants of an area. The compensated sensor data can also be used to calibrate the sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2022
    Assignee: SIGNIFY HOLDING B.V.
    Inventor: Abhishek Murthy