DE29723182U1 - Pluggable device for adjusting the brightness of lamps - Google Patents

Description

Prof. Dr. hc Ing. Walter Holzer
Drosteweg 19, D - 88709 Meersburg

Patent application

Plug-in device for adjusting the brightness of lamps

The need to be able to vary the brightness of lamps has grown enormously in recent years. In many cases, light that is too bright, as is needed for reading, is disturbing, for example when watching TV or when you are aiming for a more comfortable atmosphere.

The development of dimmers for this purpose runs into the thousands, but has so far been limited almost exclusively to electronic solutions that are also able to continuously change the brightness of the lamps. More detailed considerations have recently raised serious doubts as to whether this method of continuous control is sensible and easy to implement in practice. In many cases, such dimmers are even adjusted by sliding the foot, which never works straight away and often means bending down and laboriously setting the desired value by hand.

Suggestions have already been made to dim the brightness in steps, possibly in logarithmic sequence, which also corresponds to the logarithmic brightness sensitivity of the human eye.

Another disadvantage of electronic controllers is the relatively high price, their susceptibility to interference, the radio interference that may arise and the associated electrosmog.

The object of the invention is to provide a method that is not only extremely cost-effective, but also easy to handle and, above all, allows for easy retrofitting in existing installations.

This object can be achieved according to the invention for portable lamps, in particular for table lamps, bedside lamps or floor lamps, by providing an intermediate plug which, on the one hand, is plugged into an existing socket with its plug pins and, on the other hand, has female plug sockets which enable the connection of such portable lamps and which contains components for dimming, but according to the invention in the form that a capacitor is connected to the main circuit of the lamp.

This simplest form of a device according to the invention is therefore practically an intermediate plug that can be easily plugged into the lamp's circuit if required.

A more convenient version is one that also has a switch that allows you to power the lamp either directly from the mains voltage or via the capacitor. The switch simply bridges the capacitor in the circuit that is in series with the lamp.

It is of course possible to accommodate either the capacitor or the switch or both parts in the housing of the adapter plug.

For operation, it is more advantageous if the two components - switch and capacitor - are inserted into a second housing, which is connected to the housing of the intermediate plug via a cable.

Since very large charging or discharging currents can flow during switching, it is advisable to provide protective resistors to limit such currents.

In order to satisfy the increasingly popular idea of convenience of a remote control, it is recommended that the switch or its contact be designed to be operable via a remote control.

Everything previously briefly described for one switching level or brightness level can of course also be carried out with several capacitors and several switches for several switching levels and brightness values.

The following schematic representations are intended to explain the invention, but are not to be construed as limiting in any way, since numerous circuit variants, e.g. protective resistors or spark suppression, are state of the art.

Fig.1 shows a simple plug-in dimmer.
Fig.2 shows a dimmer with a switch in the adapter plug.

Fig.3 shows a version with a separate switch housing, which also contains the capacitor.

Fig.4 shows a schematic representation of a remote-controlled device for adjusting the brightness of the lamps.

Fig.5 is a circuit example for a device according to the invention.

In the further detailed description of the inventive concept, identical parts are provided with identical reference numbers.

Fig. 1 shows the simplest case of an adapter plug (1) as a dimmer, which can be plugged into the socket (3) with its plug pins (2). A plug (4) can be plugged into the back of the adapter plug (1) and connects the adapter plug (1) to the lamp (6) via the cable (7). A capacitor (8) is built into the adapter plug (1), which acts as a capacitive series resistor in series with the lamp (6) and reduces its current.

Such an intermediate plug (1) can naturally be made very small and inexpensive, as it does not contain any moving parts or electronic components. However, handling is somewhat complicated, as the intermediate plug (1) must be attached every time the brightness of the lamp (6) is to be reduced.

In Fig. 2, the great advantage of the adapter plug (1) shown there is that a switch (9) is also housed in the housing (17) of the adapter plug (1), so that it is easy to switch from full brightness to reduced brightness. The adapter plug (1) always remains in the socket (2).

The circuit diagram of such an embodiment according to the invention is shown in Fig. 5. In this case, in the intermediate plug (1), in addition to the female sockets (16) for receiving the plug pins (5), not only the capacitor (8) but also a switch (9) can be seen, which does not bridge the capacitor (8) directly, but rather via a protective resistor (10), which prevents unacceptably high discharge currents from occurring when the switch (9) is closed. The protective resistor (10) could also be connected directly upstream of the capacitor (8) and could thus also prevent the occurrence of high charging currents when plugging in or switching on the lamp (6). This variant would have the disadvantage that the continuous operating current also flows via the protective resistor (10), so that only small losses would occur during operation of the lamp (6).

This variant of the inventive concept is indeed much more advantageous than the one shown in Fig. 1, but since in many cases the socket (2) is located in places that are difficult to access, it is advisable to create a device according to Fig. 3. In this schematic example, the intermediate plug (1) only serves as a transmission medium between the socket (2) and the plug (4). All functionally important parts, such as the capacitor (8) and switch (9), are housed in the second housing (11), which is connected to the intermediate plug (1) by a cable (14). In this example, the switch (9) is designed as a slide-

switch is shown, which can have several switching stages, so that several capacitors (8) can change the brightness of the lamp (6).

The arrangement in Fig. 3 also has the advantage that a commercially available version can be used as an intermediate plug, since both the capacitor (8) and the switch (9) are arranged in the second housing (11).

The reverse is also possible, i.e. using a commercially available version as the switch (9) and accommodating the capacitor in the housing (17) of the intermediate plug (1). In this case, a special housing (17) is naturally required that is able to accommodate the capacitor (8). In principle, both variants are possible. This description is characteristic of the variable design options of the inventive concept.

A design according to Fig. 4 offers extreme convenience. In this example, all essential components, such as capacitors and switches, are housed in the adapter plug (1), which also contains an optical or acoustic sensor that can be influenced by a remote control (12). By pressing the push button (13), several capacitors can now be electronically switched cyclically using pulses or over the duration of the emitted signal, so that the brightness of the lamp (6) can be changed without being hindered by a cable.

The effort for such a remote-controlled circuit is naturally greater, since a correspondingly complex logic is required for both the sensor (15) and the remote control (12). But in many cases, such complex electronics are justifiable, since even very complicated control circuits are now available as integrated circuits at relatively low cost.

From the examples given, it is clear that the brightness adjustment for incandescent lamps, but also for energy-saving lamps with capacitive resistors, can be constructed very simply, and it is obvious that these examples cannot comprehensively represent the complex scope of the invention.

^&iacgr; :

However, the scope of this invention includes all retrofittable and plug-in applications where capacitors are used to reduce the brightness of lamps.

Claims (6)

: I:": i I.':-Mi": Hz 345-1 Prof. Dr. h.c. Ing, Walter Holzer Drosteweg 19, D - 88709 Meersburg PROTECTION CLAIMS Plug-in device for adjusting the brightness of lamps 1. Plug-in device for adjusting the brightness of lamps, comprising a housing (17) with plug pins (2) for plugging into a socket (3) and with female sockets (16) for connecting one or more lamps (6), and components for dimming these lamps, characterized in that at least one capacitor (8) is present in the main circuit of the lamp (6) as a component for dimming the lamps. 2. Plug-in device according to claim 1, characterized in that Switch (9) for bridging the capacitor(s) (8) are present. 3. Plug-in device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one capacitor (8) and/or one switch (9) is accommodated in the housing (17). 4. Plug-in device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one protective resistor (10) is present for limiting the charging and/or discharging current of the capacitors (8). 5. Plug-in device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the capacitor(s) (8) and/or switch (9) are accommodated in a separate, second housing (11) which is connected to the first housing (17) by means of a cable (14). 6. Plug-in device according to one of the preceding claims , characterized in that the switch or switches (9) can be switched by a remote control (12).