This application claims priority of Taiwanese Application No. 100134766, filed on Sep. 27, 2011.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light emitting system, more particularly to a light emitting system with light emitting power stabilization.
2. Description of the Related Art
The forward voltage of a light emitting diode (LED) is influenced by the ambient temperature.
Referring to
The detection module 10 is operable to receive light emitted from the LED 15 and to detect the light emitting power of the LED 15 so as to generate a detection voltage (V3) having a magnitude that is in a positive relation to the light emitting power detected by the detection module 10. The light emitting power is defined by the equation of P=VF×I, where P, VF, and I are the light emitting power, a forward voltage, and an operating current of the LED 15, respectively.
The detection module 10 includes a light detector 101 and a front-end amplifier 102. Since a description of the operations of these components may be found in the specification of the aforesaid Taiwanese Application, these components will not be described hereinafter for the sake of brevity.
The signal source 11 is operable to generate a reference voltage (V1) that has a magnitude greater than that of the detection voltage (V3) and dynamically configurable according to a target light emitting power.
The integration module 12 is connected electrically to the signal source 11 and the detection module 10 for respectively receiving the reference voltage (V1) and the detection voltage (V3) therefrom, and is operable to output an integration voltage (V2) based on an integration of a difference between the reference voltage (V1) and the detection voltage (V3). When the detection voltage (V3) is reduced as a result of a reduction in the light emitting power, the difference between the reference voltage (V1) and the detection voltage (V3) is increased, causing the integration voltage (V2) to increase. On the other hand, when the detection voltage (V3) is increased as a result of an increase in the light emitting power, the difference between the reference voltage (V1) and the detection voltage (V3) is decreased, causing the integration voltage (V2) to decrease.
The driving module 13 is connected electrically to the integration module 12 for receiving the integration voltage (V2) therefrom, and is connected electrically to the LED 15 for providing to the LED 15 the operating current having a magnitude that is in a positive relation to the integration voltage (V2) received by the driving module 13. The driving module 13 includes an amplifier 131 having an adjustable gain, and a driving unit 132 electrically connected electrically to the amplifier 131. Since a description of the operations of these components may be found in the specification of the aforesaid Taiwanese Application, these components will not be described hereinafter for the sake of brevity.
When the forward voltage of the LED 15 is decreased as a result of an increase in the ambient temperature, the light emitting power is reduced, the detection voltage (V3) generated by the detection module 10 is decreased while the reference voltage (V1) remains unchanged, and the difference between the reference voltage (V1) and the detection voltage (V3) is thus increased such that the integration voltage (V2) and hence the operating current are, as a result, increased. This increase in the operating current serves to compensate for the reduction in the forward voltage, thereby achieving a light emitting power stabilization effect.
It can be understood from the above that the conventional light emitting power control circuit 1 stabilizes the light emitting power through adjusting the operating current according to variations in the detection voltage (V3), which correspond to variations in light detected by the light detector 101 of the detection module 10.
However, since the LED 15 suffers from poor directivity, factors such as distance between and positions of the light detector 101 and the LED 15, ambient light pollution, and sensitivity of the light detector 101 may cause errors in stabilization of the light emitting power, such that the conventional light emitting power control circuit 1 may not be able to effectively stabilize the light emitting power of the LED 15 in response to variations in the ambient temperature.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a light emitting system capable of alleviating the aforesaid drawbacks of the prior art.
According to the present invention, a light emitting system with light emitting power stabilization includes:
a solid-state light emitting component having an anode and a cathode, one of which is disposed to receive an input voltage, and having a forward voltage that has a magnitude dependent on ambient temperature when driven under a constant current condition; and
a power control device including
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
Before the present invention is described in greater detail, it should be noted that like elements are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the disclosure.
Referring to
The solid-state light emitting component 20 has a forward voltage (VF) having a magnitude that is in a negative relation to ambient temperature when driven under a constant current condition, and has an anode disposed to receive an input bias voltage (VDD), and a cathode.
The power control device 3 includes a detection module 4 and a compensation voltage module 5.
The detection module 4 includes a voltage detecting unit 40 and a current control unit 41.
The voltage detecting unit 40 is connected electrically across the anode and the cathode of the solid-state light emitting component 20 for detecting the forward voltage (VF), and is operable to generate a detection voltage according to the forward voltage (VF) detected thereby. The detection voltage is in a positive relation to the forward voltage (VF). Thus, when the ambient temperature changes, the forward voltage (VF) satisfies equation 1
VF=VLED+ΔVLED (1)
where VLED represents a value of the forward voltage (VF) when the ambient temperature is equal to “t”, and ΔVLED represent a change in value of the forward voltage (VF) when a variation in ambient temperature is equal to “Δt”.
In this embodiment, the voltage detecting unit 40 includes a first amplifier (OP1), and a variable gain resistor (RG) connected electrically to the first amplifier (OP1). The first amplifier (OP1) is an instrumentation amplifier having a gain that may be adjusted through adjusting the variable gain resistor (RG).
The first amplifier (OP1) has non-inverting and inverting input terminals connected electrically and respectively to the anode and the cathode of the solid-state light emitting component 20 for detecting the forward voltage (VF), is operable to generate the detection voltage according to the forward voltage (VF) detected by the first amplifier (OP1), and further has an output terminal for outputting the detection voltage, wherein the detection voltage has a magnitude that is dependent on the forward voltage (VF) detected by the first amplifier (OP1). In this embodiment, since the variable gain resistor (RG) is adjusted such that the first amplifier (OP1) has unity gain, the detection voltage is substantially identical to the forward voltage (VF).
The current control unit 41 is connected electrically to the cathode of the solid-state light emitting component 20, and is operable to control flow of an operating current (ILED) through the solid-state light emitting component 20 according to a compensation voltage received by the current control unit 41. The operating current (ILED) has a magnitude that is in a positive relation to the compensation voltage received by the current control unit 41.
In this embodiment the current control unit 41 includes a voltage-to-current converting unit 43 and a first buffer unit 44.
The voltage-to-current converting unit 43 includes a transistor (M), a second amplifier (OP2), and a resistor (RE).
The transistor (M) has a first terminal that is connected electrically to the cathode of the solid-state light emitting component 20, a second terminal that is connected to ground via the resistor (RE), and a control terminal. In this embodiment, the transistor (M) is an n-type metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) having a drain terminal, a source terminal, and a gate terminal that serve as the first terminal, the second terminal, and the control terminal, respectively.
The second amplifier (OP2) is an operational amplifier that has an inverting terminal connected electrically to the second terminal of the transistor (M), a non-inverting terminal disposed to receive the compensation voltage, and an output terminal connected electrically to the control terminal of the transistor (M). The second amplifier (OP2) is operable to output a control voltage via the output terminal thereof for controlling switching of the transistor (M) and hence provision of the operating current (ILED) through the solid-state light emitting component 20 according to the compensation voltage received by the second amplifier (OP2).
The resistor (RE) has a resistance value of RE. A voltage at the second terminal of the transistor (M) is equal to a product of the operating current (ILED) and the resistance value RE, and serves as a feedback voltage. Due to a virtual short circuit effect between the inverting and non-inverting input terminals of the second amplifier (OP2), the operating current (ILED) is equal to a result of division of the compensation voltage by the resistance value RE.
The first buffer unit 44 includes a third amplifier (OP3) serving to increase an input impedance, and having a non-inverting input terminal that is connected electrically to the second terminal of the transistor (M) for receiving the feedback voltage therefrom, and an inverting input terminal and an output terminal that are connected electrically to each other. The third amplifier (OP3) is an operational amplifier operable to generate an operating voltage (VRE) according to the feedback voltage received thereby, and to output the operating voltage (VRE) via the output terminal thereof, wherein the operating voltage (VRE) has a magnitude identical to that of the feedback voltage, which is dependent on the operating current.
It is to be noted that, in a modification where the first buffer unit 44 is omitted (see
The compensation voltage module 5 is connected electrically to the detection module 4 for receiving the detection voltage and the operating voltage (VRE) therefrom, is disposed to receive a reference voltage (Vref), and is configured to generate the compensation voltage for provision to the detection module 4 according to the detection voltage, the operating voltage (VRE), and the reference voltage (Vref) received by the compensation voltage module 5.
The compensation voltage module 5 includes an analog-to-digital conversion unit 50, a processing unit 51, a digital-to-analog conversion unit 52, and a second buffer unit 53.
The analog-to-digital conversion unit 50 is connected electrically to the third amplifier (OP3) for receiving the operating voltage (VRE) therefrom, is connected electrically to the first amplifier (OP1) to receive the detection voltage therefrom, is disposed to receive the reference voltage (Vref), and is operable to perform analog-to-digital conversion upon the operating voltage (VRE), the detection voltage, and the reference voltage (Vref) received by the analog-to-digital conversion unit 50 so as to generate a digital operating signal, a digital detection signal, and a digital reference signal, respectively.
The processing unit 51 is connected electrically to the analog-to-digital conversion unit 50 for receiving the digital operating signal, the digital detection signal, and the digital reference signal therefrom, and is operable to generate a digital compensation signal according to the signals received by the processing unit 51. The digital compensation signal thus generated satisfies equation 2
VCdG×{Vrefd−[VREd×Vdetd]} (2)
where VCd represents the digital compensation signal, G represents a gain, Vrefd represents the digital reference signal, VREd represents the digital operating signal, and Vdetd represents the digital detection signal.
In practice, the analog-to-digital conversion unit 50 and the processing unit 51 may be implemented using a microprocessor.
The digital-to-analog conversion unit 52 is connected electrically to the processing unit 51 for receiving the digital compensation signal therefrom, and is operable to generate a compensation voltage signal according to the digital compensation signal received by the digital-to-analog conversion unit 52. The digital-to-analog conversion unit 52 includes a current generator 54 and a current-to-voltage converter 55.
The current generator 54 is connected electrically to the processing unit 51 for receiving the digital compensation signal therefrom, and is operable to generate a compensation current signal according to the digital compensation signal received by the current generator 54.
The current-to-voltage converter 55 is connected electrically to the current generator 54 for receiving the compensation current signal therefrom, and is operable to generate the compensation voltage signal according to the compensation current signal received by the current-to-voltage converter 55. In this embodiment, the current-to-voltage converter 55 includes a feedback resistor (R1) and a fourth amplifier (OP4), which is an operational amplifier.
The fourth amplifier (OP4) has a grounded non-inverting input terminal, an inverting input terminal connected electrically to the current generator 54 for receiving the compensation current signal therefrom, and an output terminal connected electrically to the inverting input terminal via the feedback resistor (R1), and is operable to generate the compensation voltage signal for output via the output terminal.
The second buffer unit 53 includes a fifth amplifier (OP5) serving to increase an input impedance, and having a non-inverting input terminal that is connected electrically to the output terminal of the fourth amplifier (OP4) for receiving the compensation voltage signal therefrom, an output terminal connected electrically to the non-inverting input terminal of the second amplifier (OP2), and an inverting input terminal connected electrically to the output terminal of the fifth amplifier (OP5). The fifth amplifier (OP5) is an operational amplifier operable to generate the compensation voltage according to the compensation voltage signal received thereby via the non-inverting input terminal, and to output the compensation voltage to the second amplifier (OP2) via the output terminal of the fifth amplifier (OP5), wherein, in this embodiment, the fifth amplifier (OP5) is configured such that the compensation voltage has a magnitude identical to that of the compensation voltage signal. Thus, the compensation voltage varies according to the forward voltage (VF), thereby achieving light emitting power stabilization.
It is to be noted that, in a modification where the second buffer unit 53 is omitted (see
In the aforesaid configuration, based on equations 1 and 2, the operating current generated by the detection module 4 satisfies equation 3
Equation 4 may be obtained by substituting VRE=ILED×RE into equation 3.
It can be understood from equation 4 that, when the ambient temperature rises, the change in value of the forward voltage (VF) is negative (i.e., ΔVLED<0), causing the forward voltage (VF) to decrease, which, in turn, causes the operating current (ILED) to increase. On the other hand, when the ambient temperature falls, the change in value of the forward voltage (VF) is positive (i.e., ΔVLED>0), causing the forward voltage (VF) to increase, which, in turn, causes the operating current (ILED) to decrease.
When the gain (i.e., the value of G) is large enough, equation 4 may be simplified into equation 5.
Thus, a light emitting power of the solid-state light emitting component 20 may be defined by equation 6.
where P represents the light emitting power of the solid-state light emitting component 20.
Shown in
It is to be noted that, in the preferred embodiment, the power control device 3 is configured such that the operating current (ILED) generated thereby is a continuous wave constant current.
Shown in
Since the operating current (ILED) is related to the compensation voltage (VC) and the resistor (RE), the operating current (ILED) has a pulse width dependent on the duty ratio of the digital compensation signal, the compensation voltage received by the voltage-to-current converting unit 43 and hence the operating current (ILED) generated by the same have a non-continuous waveform characterized by a frequency of 10 Hz and a duty ratio of 10%.
In summary, since the detection module 4 is connected electrically and directly to the solid-state light emitting component 20 for detecting the forward voltage (VF), stabilization of the light emitting power according to the forward voltage (VF) detected by the detection module 4 is not susceptible to directivity of light emitted by the solid-state light emitting component 20 and ambient light pollution, thereby alleviating the aforesaid drawbacks of the prior art. Furthermore, heat generated by the solid-state light emitting component 20 may be reduced through adjusting the pulse width of the operating current (ILED).
While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
100134766 A | Sep 2011 | TW | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
20140009072 | Sun et al. | Jan 2014 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20130076267 A1 | Mar 2013 | US |