SP4412A Datasheet, PDF (4/10 Pages) Sipex Corporation – Electroluminescent Lamp Driver

The external clock should have a 50% duty
cycle and range from V_DD-1V to ground. The
maximum external clock frequency is 128 kHz.
The coil is an external component connected
from V_BATTERY to pin 5 of the SP4412A. Energy
is developed in the coil according to the equation
E =1/2LI² where the current I is defined as
L
I=(V
-IR-V )/R . In order to maximize
BATTERY
OL T
the energy produced by the coil, V_BATTERY should
represent the largest voltage in the system (up to
a maximum of 3.6 v); V
= 3.0 VDC with
BATTERY
a 35mH/125Ω coil is a typical example. It is not
necessary that V_DD=V_BATTERY. The coil operation
is a function of the core material and winding
used -- performance variances may be noticeable
from different coil suppliers even though the
values are the same. The Sipex SP4412A is
final tested using a 35 mH/135 ohm coil. For
suggested coil sources see page 8.
The f_COIL signal controls a switch that connects
the end of the coil at pin 5 to ground or to open
circuit. The f signal is a 94% duty cycle
COIL
square wave, switching at 1/4 the oscillator
frequency, (for a 32 kHz oscillator f_COIL is 8
kHz). During the time when the f signal is
COIL
high, the coil is connected from V
to
BATTERY
ground and a charged magnetic field is created
in the coil. During the low part of f_COIL , the
ground connection is switched open, the field
collapses, and the energy in the inductor is forced
to flow toward the high voltage H-bridge
switches. f_COIL will send 16 of these charge
pulses to the lamp, each pulse increases the
voltage drop across the lamp in discrete steps. As
the voltage potential approaches its maximum,
the steps become shorter (see figure 1 on page 7).
The H-bridge consists of two SCR structures that
act as high voltage switches. These two switches
control the polarity of how the lamp is charged.
The SCR switches are controlled by the f_LAMP
signal which is the oscillator frequency divided
by 128. For a 32kHz oscillator, f_LAMP= 250Hz.
When the energy from the coil is released, a high
voltage spike is created triggering the SCR
switches. The direction of current flow is
determined by which SCR is enabled. One full
cycle of the H-bridge will create 16 voltage steps
from ground to 80V (typical) on pins 6 and 7
which are 180 degrees out of phase with each
other (see figure 3 on page 7). A differential view
of the outputs is shown in figure 4 on page 7.
ELECTROLUMINESCENT TECHNOLOGY
What is electroluminescence?
An EL lamp is basically a strip of plastic that is
coated with a phosphorous material which emits
light (fluoresces) when a high voltage (>40V)
which was first applied across it, is removed or
reversed. Long periods of DC voltages applied to
the material tend to breakdown the material and
reduce its lifetime. With these considerations in
mind, the ideal signal to drive an EL lamp is a
high voltage sine wave. Traditional approaches
to achieving this type of waveform included
discrete circuits incorporating a transformer,
transistors, and several resistors and capacitors.
This approach is large and bulky, and cannot be
implemented in most hand held equipment. Sipex
now offers low power single chip driver circuits
specifically designed to drive small to medium
sized electroluminescent panels. All that is
required is an external inductor and an external
clock signal.
3 VDC
32-64 Khz
1 ^{HON VDD 8}
2
Lamp 7
3 Clk ^{Lamp 6}
4 V_SS Coil 5
Coil
LAMP
30 mH 125 ohm Coil
Typical SP4412ACN Application Circuit
SP4412ADS/12
SP4412ACN Electroluminescent Lamp Driver
4
© Copyright 2000 Sipex Corporation