Patent ID: 11935719
Assignee: SILICONBRITE TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 0:
1. A method for switching AC power supplied by a powerline to a load, comprising:
coupling a pulse-controllable bistable switch between the powerline and the load;
applying a sense signal to an input of a condition detector;
in the condition detector, comparing a sense signal value with a first threshold to sense a change to a first condition and comparing the sense signal value with a second threshold to sense a change to a second condition, wherein the first condition requires providing power to the load and the second condition requires interrupting power to the load;
upon sensing the change to the first condition:
detecting a first zero crossing;
waiting a first delay time after the first zero crossing; and
applying a first shaped pulse to the pulse-controllable bistable switch to assert the pulse-controllable bistable switch;

wherein:
the first shaped pulse has a duration shorter than a predetermined maximum duration;
the first shaped pulse has a maximum amplitude of at least 110% of a maximum sustainable coil voltage; and
the first shaped pulse begins at least 50 milliseconds after a prior first shaped pulse or a prior second shaped pulse ended.