Patents by Inventor Steven L. Pickles

Steven L. Pickles has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 8729870
    Abstract: A current-driven load such as LEDs or laser diodes is driven by a current driver having a two stages (or phases), the outputs of which have ripple which is forced to be out-of-phase with one another. In analog embodiments, an output (ripple or switching) of a master stage hysteresis controller is phase-shifted and scaled, and modulates the input of a slave stage hysteresis controller so that the slave stage pulls into a ripple-canceling phase. In digital embodiments, a faster of the two phases is designated “master”, maximum and minimum thresholds are set, and the slave phase's on time is based on a previous cycle's slave phase ON time, the master stage OFF time and an offset. The slave controller may “lock” to the anti-phase of the master stage (or phase). The ripple currents at the summed output of the master and slave stages substantially cancel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2014
    Assignee: Analog Modules, Inc.
    Inventors: Ian D. Crawford, Jeffrey T. Richter, Steven L. Pickles, John A. Harwick, Noal Chandler
  • Publication number: 20120268026
    Abstract: A current-driven load such as LEDs or laser diodes is driven by a current driver having a two stages (or phases), the outputs of which have ripple which is forced to be out-of-phase with one another. In analog embodiments, an output (ripple or switching) of a master stage hysteresis controller is phase-shifted and scaled, and modulates the input of a slave stage hysteresis controller so that the slave stage pulls into a ripple-canceling phase. In digital embodiments, a faster of the two phases is designated “master”, maximum and minimum thresholds are set, and the slave phase's on time is based on a previous cycle's slave phase ON time, the master stage OFF time and an offset. The slave controller may “lock” to the anti-phase of the master stage (or phase). The ripple currents at the summed output of the master and slave stages substantially cancel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 25, 2012
    Publication date: October 25, 2012
    Applicant: ANALOG MODULES INC.
    Inventors: Ian D. Crawford, Jeffrey T. Richter, Steven L. Pickles, John A. Harwick, Noal Chandler
  • Patent number: 8207711
    Abstract: A current-driven load such as LEDs or laser diodes is driven by a current driver having a two stages (or phases), the summed outputs of which have ripple which is forced to be out-of-phase with one another. In analog embodiments, an output (ripple or switching) of a master stage hysteresis controller is phase-shifted and scaled, and modulates the input of a slave stage hysteresis controller so that the slave stage pulls into a ripple-canceling phase. In a digital embodiment, a faster of the two phases is designated “master”, maximum and minimum thresholds are set, and the slave phase's on time is based on a previous cycle's slave phase ON time, the master stage OFF time and an offset. The slave controller preferentially “locks” to the anti-phase of the master stage (or phase) and the ripple current at the summed output substantially cancels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2012
    Assignee: Analog Modules, Inc.
    Inventors: Ian D. Crawford, Jeffrey T. Richter, Steven L. Pickles, John A. Harwick
  • Publication number: 20100207543
    Abstract: A current-driven load such as LEDs or laser diodes is driven by a current driver having a two stages (or phases), the summed outputs of which have ripple which is forced to be out-of-phase with one another. In analog embodiments, an output (ripple or switching) of a master stage hysteresis controller is phase-shifted and scaled, and modulates the input of a slave stage hysteresis controller so that the slave stage pulls into a ripple-canceling phase. In a digital embodiment, a faster of the two phases is designated “master”, maximum and minimum thresholds are set, and the slave phase's on time is based on a previous cycle's slave phase ON time, the master stage OFF time and an offset. The slave controller preferentially “locks” to the anti-phase of the master stage (or phase) and the ripple current at the summed output substantially cancels.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 15, 2009
    Publication date: August 19, 2010
    Applicant: ANALOG MODULES INC.
    Inventors: Ian D. Crawford, Jeffrey T. Richter, Steven L. Pickles, John A. Harwick