Lynk Labs awarded AC LED technology patent

Feb. 11, 2009
This first patent of the company's pending portfolio covers a range of AC LED technology including devices, light engines, power supplies and lighting systems.
Lynk Labs Inc., the leading supplier of AC LED device, light engine and power supply technology, has been granted the company’s first U.S. Patent, No. 7,489,086 entitled “AC light emitting diode and AC LED drive methods and apparatus."

The AC LED technology covered by this patent includes devices, light engines, power supplies in the form of electronic transformers, and AC LED lighting systems. The AC LED devices include high voltage and low voltage, high frequency and low frequency AC power using various drive methods.

The drive methods behind the patent depend on the AC LED device or light engine application and include 50/60Hz high voltage or low voltage as well as high frequency (1000 Hz or greater) power supplies including electronic transformer-type power supplies (typically operating in the 20–50 kHz range) which have been used in lighting for decades.

The patent also covers capacitive current control (called C3LED technology by Lynk) drive methods that can include using the intrinsic capacitance of an LED or LED package to drive AC LEDs at resonance.

This could one day lead to maximizing LED lighting system efficiency by tuning a BriteDriver AC LED power supply to match the RLC components of a specific LED or light engine. The result could enable up to 98% system efficiency, according to Lynk.

This same patent is pending and soon to be approved in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, EPO, Hong Kong, India and Mexico.

“This is just one patent in a broad and diverse LED intellectual property portfolio that Lynk Labs continues to grow,” said Mike Miskin, Lynk Labs President/CEO.

Lynk Labs AC LED technology is now being integrated into products by a number of OEMs in various markets.