Arrangements and methods for triac dimming of gas discharge lamps powered by electronic ballasts
First Claim
1. An apparatus for powering and TRIAC dimming of a gas discharge lamp comprising:
- an electronic ballast for powering a gas discharge lamp from a TRIAC based dimmer connected to an AC line;
an EMI filter for protecting the AC line from EMI generated by the ballast and the lamp;
a DC bus without a smoothing electrolytic capacitor;
a resonant DC-to-AC inverter connected to the DC bus for powering the gas discharge lamp with a high frequency current, wherein an auxiliary DC-to-DC power supply input is connected to the DC bus; and
a first resonant tank having in series a first resonant inductor and a first resonant capacitor, wherein the gas discharge lamp is connected in parallel to the resonant capacitor.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for powering and TRIAC dimming of a gas discharge lamp includes an electronic ballast for powering a gas discharge lamp from a TRIAC based dimmer connected to an AC line, an EMI filter for protecting the AC line from EMI generated by the ballast and the lamp, a DC bus without a smoothing electrolytic capacitor, a resonant DC-to-AC inverter connected to the DC bus for powering the gas discharge lamp with a high frequency current, wherein an auxiliary DC-to-DC power supply input is connected to the DC bus and a first resonant tank having in series a first resonant inductor and a first resonant capacitor, wherein the gas discharge lamp is connected in parallel to the resonant capacitor.
101 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus for powering and TRIAC dimming of a gas discharge lamp comprising:
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an electronic ballast for powering a gas discharge lamp from a TRIAC based dimmer connected to an AC line; an EMI filter for protecting the AC line from EMI generated by the ballast and the lamp; a DC bus without a smoothing electrolytic capacitor; a resonant DC-to-AC inverter connected to the DC bus for powering the gas discharge lamp with a high frequency current, wherein an auxiliary DC-to-DC power supply input is connected to the DC bus; and a first resonant tank having in series a first resonant inductor and a first resonant capacitor, wherein the gas discharge lamp is connected in parallel to the resonant capacitor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. An apparatus for powering and TRIAC dimming of a gas discharge lamp comprising:
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an electronic ballast for powering a gas discharge lamp from a TRIAC based dimmer connected to an AC line; an EMI filter for protecting the AC line from EMI generated by the ballast and the lamp; a DC bus without a smoothing electrolytic capacitor; a resonant DC-to-AC inverter connected to the DC bus for powering the gas discharge lamp with a high frequency current, wherein an auxiliary DC-to-DC power supply input is connected to the DC bus; a first resonant tank having in series a first resonant inductor and a first resonant capacitor, wherein the gas discharge lamp is connected in parallel with the resonant capacitor a second resonant inductor; a second resonant capacitor connected in series with the second resonant inductor; a DC load connected in series with the second resonant capacitor via a rectification circuit for providing an auxiliary DC power supply output; and
a charge pump with two diodes and a low voltage storage capacitor, connected in series with the second resonant inductor and the second resonant capacitor. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for dimming gas discharge lamps, comprising:
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powering a lamp ballast from a rectified AC main voltage chopped by a TRIAC dimming circuit; charging at least one low voltage electrolytic capacitor separated from the input of the ballast during TRIAC on-time intervals; and discharging the at least one capacitor to inverter input during TRIAC off-time intervals, for supplying continuous lamp current during such TRIAC off-time intervals.
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14. A system, comprising:
a gas discharge light source that is dimmable from an external TRIAC dimming circuit having uninterruptable operation of the light source and an associated ballast, wherein the ballast is powered without an electrolytic smoothing capacitor directly from a rectified AC main voltage chopped by the triac dimming circuit. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An apparatus, comprising:
an electrodeless gas discharge lamp powered from an electronic ballast comprising a low power auxiliary DC power supply connected to a DC bus of a ballast inverter, wherein the electrodeless gas discharge lamp is adapted to be dimmable by a TRIAC dimmer system that is connected to an AC input of the electronic ballast.
Specification