Patent ID: 8120201

Claim:
An LED vehicle lighting apparatus comprising: a plurality of LEDs connected in series including a first LED and a last LED, the first LED including an anode and a cathode, and the last LED including an anode and a cathode; a DC-DC convertor including an input, an output, a switching element, a resistor and a controller, the output configured to supply electricity between the anode of the first LED and the cathode of the last LED, the input of the DC-DC converter being connected to a power supply and the switching element, the resistor configured to detect an LED current of the plurality of LEDs connected in series, the resistor connected between the output of the DC-DC converter and at least one of the anode of the first LED and the cathode of the last LED, the controller having an output that is connected to the switching element, and the controller configured to control the DC-DC converter so as to provide a larger voltage than a voltage of the power supply from the output of the DC-DC converter in accordance with the LED current detected by the resistor, such that the LED current is substantially constant during operation of the apparatus; a signal detector including an input and an output, and the input of the signal detector configured to detect a breakdown of the controller; and a feed controller including an input and an output, the input of the feed controller connected to the output of the signal detector, and the output connected between the plurality of LEDs, wherein at least one LED connected in series between an LED connected to the output of the feed controller and the last LED is lighted by the voltage of the power supply in accordance with a signal at the input of the signal detector.