Commercial Multimode PWM switch available

[Streak]

Some good news (I think so anyway).
We have a manufacturer here in South Africa who has developed and patented a very clever PWM switch. I have had some dealings with them, and although they usually only supply 100k+ quantities to manufacturers, they have agreed to supply us smaller quantities to on sell to the hobbiest market.

Go to the www.azoteq.com web site. Check out the data sheets for consumer electronics.

PLEASE DO NOT email Azoteq directly. They do not wish to be bombarded by 100's of individual enquiries and are not geared to supply small quantities. Depending on the response here, I will carry the stock and ship to individuals, groups etc.

Depending on quantity, cost should be USD5.00 per switch (first 4 in the data sheets) regardless of configuration (excluding Battery Power Meter Model). This will exclude shipping from South Africa but being so small it can be placed in an enevelope and sent airmail. We would also have to work out payment method. We have strange banking rules in this part of the world!!

FEATURES IN BRIEF
Automatic switch-off after 7.5 minutes
Brightness selection (100%, 50%, 25%)
Strobe functions (fast and slow)
Find-in-the-dark feature
Power saving sleep mode (typically < 1µA)
Can sink 1A at 7 volts continuous.

I have played with the first four products and they really work well even with LS and multi array LED's.

I will have to stand at the back of the line when a production run is done and so may not always be able to get all of the models. I also will not be able to order 1's and 2's, probably more like 100's at a time.

Please indicate which in your opinion would be the most popular.

If you have any questions then I will answer them as best I can.

 

[Wits' End]

That sounds great--you might take a look at the way the free light group buy was put together. Shipping one large order to the States might be less expensive, it might ease banking also.

Does find in the dark work with a Luxeon?

 

[Streak]

The find in the dark is done using a small red chip led, mounted on the COB PCB which flashes once every 2.6 seconds. The design of your flashlight would need to have a small window not necesarily clear through which the red LED could be seen.

I have the IQ switch on a cheap 2 cell incandescant flashlight as well as on a LS running off a bunch of AA NiCd's. The red LED has been flashing away for months with no serious effect on the batteries.

Group buys would be fine by me.

 

[MrAl]

hi Streak,

That looks like an interesting product.
What limits current if you use it with
say 3 batteries in series with an LED?

--Al

 

[Streak]

If I understand your question correctly, the switch does not do any current limiting.

You would need to design a flashlight driving a particular light source at the appropriate current/voltage for the appropriate light output. You then connect the battery and light source to the appropriate connections on the IQ switch which then will regulate brightness using PWM rather than current limiting.

This means that you no longer need to worry too much about run time vs brightness when desigining the flashlight. Design for max. output and then use the IQ switch to run at lower levels giving you longer battery life.

Sequential presses of the switch toggles you through each mode and every mode has the 7.5 minute auto off feature. The two button device allows you to overide the auto off on full brightness mode only.

Hope I answered your question.

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Some good news (I think so anyway).
We have a manufacturer here in South Africa who has developed and patented a very clever PWM switch.

What exactly are they patenting?? This type of PWM light control has been around since the time of the vacuum tube and has already been done a million different ways. It is nothing new or clever.

Many lighting companies already use this same technique for light control and there are a few US suppliers which sell almost the identical product (although not available to the "hobbyest."

Dan

 

[Luff]

This looks like it has potential. I wonder how well it will work as an in-line switch with a regulated power supply?

Not being an EE, I don't know why it wouldn't work on the output side to control a DC-DC converter and make an LS light more versatile. The biggest challenge to use I can foresee is incorporating it into existing flashlight designs ... if the flashlight doesn't have a body-mounted pushbutton switch, wouldn't this be hard to use?

Maybe it's available elsewhere, but this is the first time it's been offered on CPF (thanks Streak). I'd be interested in a couple to play with ... maybe more if I can figure out a way to use it in flashlight modifications.

 

[Streak]

Hi Mark.
I was going to email you directly as I promised I would some time back when you contacted me about this switch.

Dan, the point of my post is not whether or not they have a patented product, or if other companies have done it before or if it's clever or not or the fact that it comes from South Africa and not the USA.

The point is that it can now be made available in small quantities to hobbiests.

By the way, I have a seen a copy of the 13 page United States patent document no US6,249,089B1 dated June 19 2001 if you care to read exactly what it is that they have patented. Quite honestly it doesn't concern me, what does is the fact that I have had fun building projects using a PWM circuit that I would normally never have access to.

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Yes, I agree the patent part of the document doesn't really matter. But why would you not have had access to a PWM lighting control circuit??? These circuits are a dime a dozen (my local electronics store has at least 3 different PWM lighting/motor controller kits), they are extremely easy to build using only 555 timer ICs and a FET, and a simple $1.50 microcontroller / FET can build a very powerful PWM controller with many different functions.

Dan

 

[Streak]

Dan, it's not any PWM circuit (I have built a few using 555 timers) it's this particular one that the general public would not usually have access to. The complete switch is about the size of your thumbnail with all that functionality built in. A lot easier to fit (and with a lot more functionality) into my 4D Maglite or homemade LS flashlight than my homegrown 555 based unit.

The technology in the IQswitch is sophisticated enough for most of the larger flashlight manufacturers to have placed very large orders for the product. That's a good enough recommendation for me!!

Soon there will also be both step up and step down capability built into the COB PCB.

 

[Luff]

SpaceCat -

I'm confused by the tone of your responses to Streak's offer and what they may imply. Perhaps you can help me understand your apparent objections?

From where I sit, in the Western Wilds, I don't recall anyone else posting information about a switcher like this since I became a member. Nope, I don't read every post, but I've read a bunch and don't recall this coming up before, even though members have expressed a desire to have a part that performs similar functions from time to time.

If you are aware of another source, or sources, for a populated drop-in PCB that performs similar dimming functions, in an equally small package, at a competitive or better price, and which is available to guys like me who aren't inclined to build our own ... please post that information and/or make an offer to provide them.

I'd love to see other switching options offered and to have my choice of pre-made parts to play with. Got any?

BTW - nice input on the 5W luxeon DC-DC converter topic.

 

[NamTinker]

Hi Streak
Nice to know there is another member "close" by! I'm interestedin some switches. Give me a direct phone/e-mail so I can contact you.

 

[hotfoot]

Streak,

This is truly a nifty product - count me in for a group buy of at lest 10 units if you are organizing one!

Thanks in advance

 

[Luff]

Streak:

Back from the bush? Scratched, bitten and chewed on?

So if CPF can't generate a minimum of 100 switches, do you think you'll be able to get a smaller quantity?

 

[papasan]

when these have step-up/down built in i would be in for a few...

 

[Jonathan]

I can understand jumping up and down about the patent claim. The problem is that the patent claims a switch controlled device which uses a microchip to control a lamp. This sort of device is _well_ known; I've designed them myself, I'm pretty certain that Space Cat has designed them, and the basic concept was published in a public journal prior to the patent application being filed.

Now, the point still stands that this company is selling a device which will be useful to lots of flashaholics, for a reasonable price, and for that I say !great!. But if they try to enforce what IMHO is an invalid patent against anyone else who makes any sort of similar device, I'd be less than happy.

If you want to see a similar device, sold for a higher price, but with substantially greater power handling capability, and with built in output voltage regulation, take a look at Willie Hunt's Lightbulb Voltage Regulator
which is designed to operate incandescent lamps from batteries (it will not work with LEDs, and it will not do boost regulation, but it is _very_ efficient for buck regulation of RMS voltage).

The LVR type devices are _great_ for running lamps. They don't just dim the light (in fact, they are not really intended for dimming, and you need to get a custom multiple voltage version to make dimming work), they provide 'soft start' to protect the lamp from burning out at startup. They provide lamp regulation, which means that the lamp stays at full brightness even as the batteries discharge. The provide low voltage cutoff in order to protect the batteries, and they provide a warning prior to the cutoff.

If you do a web search for 'bike brain', you will come across plans for a simple PIC controlled dimmer that you could build yourself.

By the end of the summer, I intent to have a published design for a PIC based voltage regulator intended to operate 2 lamps of different voltages(again for bicycling use).

I am certain that there are other such devices out there.

-Jon

P.S. If you want to follow the references:
Patent and Trademark Office Full Text Databaseto look up the patent.
Improvements to Caving Lightsfor an earlier journal article which describes the exact device.

 

[Streak]

Hi all. I'm back from the bush in one piece. Did however get out the vehicle this morning to try and find the remains of two warthogs that we saw two lions kill and eat yesterday. Seems that the Hyenas got hold of the carcases and dragged them away.

Thanks for the interest in the IQ switch. I dont know what they intend doing with their patent and as mentioned before does not really concern me. Fact remains that I have had a lot of fun with the switch and thought CPF members may do so as well. If the response here is not good then so be it. Some things on offer to CPFers are more popular than others, this may be one that does not attract as much attention. I'll give it till the end of the week and see what crops up.

I will find out when the regulator option will be available.

The fellow South African can email directly for contact details.

Streak

 

[lambda]

Streak,

I would be interested in getting some of these nice smart switches too. Seems to be a very nice product that would make for some interesting mods.

Thanks for pointing this out and offering to try and get us CPFers some. If there is anything I can do to help you in this effort, let me know.

And for those who were wondering about the the patent (US6,249,089 B1) it applies their
Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) design. Which means thay are not patenting the PWM switch, but the Integrated Circuit they developed to be the brains of the device (that's only my interpretation of it).

Lambda