KR100759100B1 - Driving device and method of light emitting diode illumination display device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for driving a signboard using LED as an illumination. Specifically, the present invention relates to a driving device that can control each color LED module in driving a signboard using color LEDs as lighting, and requires a small number of connection lines. According to the present invention, each LED of the LED module can be controlled for each color by only three connection lines of the power line, the ground line, and the control data signal line of the power supply unit. For this purpose, in the main controller, power line communication is performed by synthesizing and modulating a clock and strobe signal on a power line. The LED modules are arranged in series with each LED module. Each LED module extracts a clock and strobe signal from a power line supplied from a main controller to synchronize the operation timing of each module, and the LEDs included in each LED module by separately supplied control signals. To be controlled in a programmatic manner.

Description

Apparatus and method for driving LED illuminated displaying devices

1 and 2 is a conceptual diagram of a control circuit of a conventional LED lighting sign.

Figure 3 is a block diagram of the main controller of the LED module driving apparatus according to the present invention.

4 is a configuration diagram of the LED module of the LED module driving apparatus according to the present invention.

5 is a configuration diagram showing the concept of another embodiment of a drive apparatus according to the present invention.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for driving a signboard using LED as an illumination. Specifically, the present invention relates to a driving device that can control each color LED module in driving a signboard using color LEDs as lighting, and requires a small number of connection lines.

Recently, a number of signs using LED as a light has been spreading. LEDs are spotlighted as lighting for display devices such as signboards because of their low power consumption, long life, small size, easy installation, and beautiful lighting. In particular, with the recent development of LED technology of various colors, its use is expanding.

As such, although LEDs have many advantages in lifespan and durability, power consumption reduction, and installation, LEDs are still insufficient to completely replace general lighting. In particular, in the case of LED lighting signs that require full color lighting, the control unit becomes complicated because the LED must be controlled in full color. And even when dimming of lighting is required, LEDs are more difficult to control than regular lamps.

1 shows a basic configuration diagram of a technique for controlling an LED module in an LED lighting signboard according to the prior art, and shows an example of monochromatic control (lighting, flashing, etc.). The control unit 10 controls the on / off of each LED 16a, 16b, 16c .. by using a simple power supply by using the two lines 12, 14. The control method of FIG. 1 shows a batch control method rather than individual control. If individual control is required, a separate control line is required for each LED, resulting in a more complicated control configuration.

2 shows an example of color control. The control unit 20 controls the respective modules by applying the control signal 24 to each of the LED modules M1, M2, M3, ... using the power line or the ground line 22 in common. In FIG. 2, a plurality of control lines 24 are required according to the color pixel arrangement constituting each module. For example, when controlling a full color module, at least seven lines may be required. In particular, if the individual control by individual color, rather than the batch control method (that is, modules in one control line are simultaneously operated at once), the number of control lines is further increased.

As described above, in the conventional LED lighting signboard, the number of wires is increased to control the LED module, thereby increasing the size of the lighting unit and causing a problem of cost increase. If there are many connecting lines, transmission problems may occur when the driving distance (transmission distance) is long. In addition, individual control of each color was difficult, and only uniform control was possible for each color. This is a significant cost burden for the manufacture of advanced products.

As described above, a technology that can be installed cheaper and easier to meet the growing interior lighting, exterior lighting and signboards of high quality has been required, and the present invention has been developed in response to the demands of the market.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention, in order to facilitate individual control for each pixel (module) in the full-color implementation of the LED lighting signboard, to minimize the power line and control line to reduce the cost, reduce the volume of the product, the reliability of the product To provide a LED driving device and method for a display device (for example, a signboard) developed to improve the performance.

Summary of the Invention

According to the present invention, each LED of the LED module can be controlled for each color by only three connection lines of the power line, the ground line, and the control data signal line of the power supply unit. For this purpose, in the main controller, power line communication is performed by synthesizing and modulating a clock and strobe signal on a power line. The LED modules are arranged in series with each LED module. Each LED module extracts a clock and strobe signal from a power line supplied from a main controller to synchronize the operation timing of each module, and the LEDs included in each LED module by separately supplied control signals. To be controlled in a programmatic manner.

The LED module driving apparatus according to the present invention is a device for driving the LED module which is supplied with power from the power line and the ground line of the power supply unit, and controlled by a programmed control signal,

Means for synthesizing a clock and strobe signal to a power line of the power supply unit,

The LED module

Means for extracting a clock and strobe signal from a power supply line carrying a clock and strobe signal, and an operation timing controlled by the extracted clock and strobe signal and inputting the control signal so that pulse bits of the control signal are sequentially shifted. Including a shift register, and an LED driver for controlling the LED driven by the pulse bits sequentially output from the shift register,

The shift register is synchronized with operation timing by a clock and strobe signal extracted from a power line, and the LED driver is driven in a pre-programmed manner by a control data signal input to the shift register to control LEDs by color. It features.

The plurality of LED modules are connected in series, the power line and the ground line is commonly supplied to each module, the control signal is a signal output from the shift register of the LED module of the previous stage to the shift register of the LED module of the next stage Characterized in that the input.

In addition, the plurality of LED module groups connected in series may be connected in parallel.

On the other hand, the LED module driving method according to the present invention,

Synthesizing a clock and strobe signal to a power line of the power supply unit;

Extracting the clock and strobe signals from a power supply line carrying the clock and strobe signals,

Operating timing is controlled by the extracted clock and strobe signal and the control signal is input so that the pulse bits of the control signal are sequentially shifted;

The LED is driven by the pulse bits sequentially shifted by the above steps, and the operation timing is synchronized by the clock and strobe signals extracted from the power supply line, and the LED is driven in a pre-programmed manner by the input control signal. It characterized in that it comprises the step of controlling for each color.

Hereinafter, a driving device of the LED display device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, the present application will also claim for a method of driving a light emitting diode illumination display device, which can of course be derived from the description of the following driving device.

Description of Examples

3 is a configuration diagram of the main controller 200 which is a part of the LED module driving apparatus according to the present invention. The configuration includes a means 210 for synthesizing a clock and strobe signal CLK / STR to a power line of the power supply unit 100 and a means 220 for generating a control signal for controlling the LED module.

In FIG. 3, the CLK / STR signal combination unit 210 loads a clock signal and a strobe signal on a power line output from the power supply unit 100 to perform power line communication. The power supply line PWR carrying the clock signal and strobe signal is connected to the LED module, which will be described later. Next, the control signal SIG generated by the control signal generator 220 is also connected to the LED module to be described later. The ground line GND connected to the power supply unit 100 is also connected to the LED module. Therefore, according to the present invention, only three wires, PWR, SIG, and GND, are connected to the LED module.

The control signal output from the control signal generator 220 may be set by a user by using a program as a signal for controlling the LED pixel (not shown) included in the LED module 300 of FIG. 4. For example, it is possible to program the LED of each color arranged in the LED module on / off for each color or to turn on only the LED of the required color to make a specific color.

PWR, SIG, and GND lines output from the main controller 200 configured as described above are connected to the LED module 300 as shown in FIG. 4. LED module 300 is arranged as shown in Figure 4, PWR and GND is supplied to each LED module 300 in common and SIG is output from the LED module 300 of the front stage SIG is again the next stage It is supplied in the form of input to the LED module 300 '.

Each LED module 300 has a means 310 for extracting the clock and strobe signal from the power supply line (PWR) carrying the clock and strobe signal, the operation timing is controlled by the extracted clock and strobe signal and the main controller 200 The control signal SIG is input from the shift register 330 to sequentially shift the pulse bits of the control signal, and is controlled by the pulse bits sequentially output from the shift register 330 so as to control the LED (not shown). It consists of an LED driver 320 for driving.

Referring to the operation of the LED module 300 configured as shown in Figure 4, the shift register 330 by the clock (CLK) and strobe (STR) signal extracted from the power line (PWR), LED module 300 connected to the rear end 'And the operation timing are synchronized. In addition, the LED driver 320 is driven by a control data signal input to the shift register 330 in a pre-programmed order or manner to control LEDs (not shown) for each color.

As described above, since the LED modules 300 are arranged in a line in FIGS. 3 and 4, the display device employing the device according to the present invention can be manufactured in a long strap shape, thereby increasing utilization.

3 and 4 show the basic configuration of the present invention, Figure 5 shows another embodiment of the present invention. That is, although FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment in which the LED modules are connected in a line, FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment in which the LED modules 300a, a '; 300b, b'; 300c, and c 'are two-dimensionally arranged. In the case of FIG. 5, since all modules cannot be controlled by one main controller 200 as in the case of FIGS. 3 and 4 (a problem such as current capacity or impedance matching occurs), the sub-controller 250 is controlled by the main controller ( 200) and the module array of each row. The sub-controller 250 is substantially the same as the configuration of the main controller 200.

In the above, for the description of the present invention with reference to specific embodiments and drawings. However, the technical idea of the present invention is not limited to these embodiments and drawings. The technical scope of the present invention is to be determined by reasonable interpretation of the appended claims.

In the existing LED lighting field and the circuit configuration of the signboard including neon (and LED signboard), the control line is added whenever the function is added in the operation of full color and various modes, so that the problem of wiring and the cost increase However, by implementing all these functions, by treating the power and control lines with a total of three lines, wiring and cost reduction are possible. In addition, since the number of connecting lines is small, the number of contacts is reduced when the display apparatus is installed, and thus the voltage loss is greatly reduced, thereby increasing the expandability of the module (in the case of the existing, there was a limit in adding a module).

In terms of mechanical aspect, it was possible to expand the module, connect in series, and connect in parallel as it did not exist in the existing LED lighting, and to cope with various curved surfaces by completely deviating from the existing products where the attachment surface was limited to a flat surface. It was.

Claims (4)

An apparatus for driving a plurality of LED modules supplied with power from a power line and a ground line of a power supply unit and controlled by a programmed control signal. A clock / strobe synthesizing unit for synthesizing a clock and strobe signal to a power line supplied to each LED module, and a control for generating a control signal set by a user using a program as a signal for controlling the LEDs included in the LED module. It includes a master controller including a signal generator, Each LED module is The operation timing is controlled by the clock / strobe extracting unit which extracts the clock and strobe signals from the power line to which the clock and strobe signals are synthesized by the clock / strobe synthesizing unit of the main controller, and the controlled clock and strobe signals. A shift register for inputting a signal so that the pulse bits of the control signal are sequentially shifted, and an LED driver controlled by pulse bits sequentially output from the shift register to drive the LED, The shift register is synchronized with operation timing by a clock and strobe signal extracted from a power line, and the LED driver is driven in a pre-programmed manner by a control data signal input to the shift register to control LEDs by color. A drive device for a light emitting diode illumination display device. delete The driving apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of LED modules are connected in parallel to each other. A method of driving an LED module which receives power from a power line and a ground line of a power supply unit and is controlled by a programmed control signal, Synthesizing a clock and strobe signal to a power line of the power supply unit; Extracting the clock and strobe signals from a power supply line carrying the clock and strobe signals, Operating timing is controlled by the extracted clock and strobe signal and the control signal is input so that the pulse bits of the control signal are sequentially shifted; The LED is driven by the pulse bits sequentially shifted by the above steps, and the operation timing is synchronized by the clock and strobe signals extracted from the power supply line, and the LED is driven in a pre-programmed manner by the input control signal. Method of driving a light emitting diode illumination display device, characterized in that it comprises the step of controlling by color.

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