Patent ID: 8097985

Claim:
An apparatus for supplying Power to a load, comprising: a pair of output terminals; a primary circuit electrically coupled to a source of power and to the output terminals for selectively providing power at a low voltage at the output terminals or electronically coupling the source of power directly to the output terminals, the primary circuit for providing power at the low voltage at the application of the load, the primary circuit including a switch for detecting application of the load; and, a load sensing circuit coupled to the primary circuit and the source of power for determining a resistance associated with the load at initial application of the load and controlling the primary circuit to electronically couple the source of power directly to the output terminals if a proper load is detected, the load sensing circuit having a capacitor which supplies an inrush current to the load during application of the load, a characteristic of the inrush current being indicative of one of a proper load and an improper load.