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DiscoverCircuits.com -- Hobby Corner
"Hobby Circuits for your
Hobby Projects"
Last Updated on:
06/19/2009 03:13:11 PM
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Wireless LED Driver
Nov. 2, 2008
designed by David A. Johnson, P.E. |
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| There are
times when you want to control a LED indicator light through the side of a plastic box,
without wires and without drilling a hole in the box. One example where this may
be needed is in data collection systems. These are often used out of doors in
harsh environments and have to be hermetically sealed. Holes drilled in the side of the
box for panel mounted LEDs or light pipes can often leak. The circuit below solves
this problem by sending power to the LED through the plastic, using a magnetic coupling
technique. The circuit below can route power through plastic enclosures as thick as ¼
inch. The circuit will not work through metal boxes. |
| An
expensive inductor, driven by a series resonant mode 125KHz oscillator, forms the power
transmitter. A similar inductor, wired as a 125KHz parallel resonant circuit,
forms the power receiver. A voltage doubler circuit at the receiver efficiently
converts the collected AC into DC. The circuit will operate over a wide 3v to 6v
supply range. |
| With a 5v
supply, the circuit draws about 25ma of current. However, by gating the oscillator
on for a brief 20ms period, with a 0.5Hz rate, the average power can be reduced to about
250 microamps. If you want to extend the range of operation out to ½ inch, try
using a 74C14 (CD4069) with a 12v supply. |
| Using
surface mounted components; the complete LED assembly can be encapsulated and glued to
the outside surface of the box. Tiny unshielded surface mounted inductors can be
used to reduce the size of the transmitter and receiver. However, smaller parts
will reduce the power transfer range to perhaps only a 1/8 inch separation.
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|
A very nice bright green LED, which works great for this circuit, is one
from Kingbright, available from Digikey, part number 754-1089-1. |
| Click on
Schematic below to view PDF version of this Circuit |
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