Discharge lamp operating apparatus and method
First Claim
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1. Discharge lamp operating apparatus comprisinga fluorescent lamp having a wattage of about 13 watts;
- inductive ballast means coupled to said fluorescent lamp, said ballast means having an inductive value in the range of about 900 mh;
service voltage source means in the range of about 108 to 132 volts AC coupled to said inductive ballast means and to said lamp;
preheat switching means shunting said discharge lamp; and
a non-linear capacitor of a value in the range of about 3.0 nanofarads shunting said fluorescent lamp for effecting and continuing starting and operation of said fluorescent lamp at not less than about 75% of the RMS voltage of said service voltage source.
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Abstract
A process for operating a discharge lamp with an arc drop of not less than about 75% of a given service voltage includes the steps of series connecting a ballast and discharge lamp, coupling the series connected ballast and discharge lamp to a service voltage source and shunting the discharge lamp with a means for developing a pulse potential at or near the beginning of each half-cycle of the service voltage. Also, a series connected inductive ballast and discharge lamp are connected to a service voltage source and a non-linear dielectric element and preheat switching means each shunting the discharge lamp.
21 Citations
14 Claims
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1. Discharge lamp operating apparatus comprising
a fluorescent lamp having a wattage of about 13 watts; -
inductive ballast means coupled to said fluorescent lamp, said ballast means having an inductive value in the range of about 900 mh; service voltage source means in the range of about 108 to 132 volts AC coupled to said inductive ballast means and to said lamp; preheat switching means shunting said discharge lamp; and a non-linear capacitor of a value in the range of about 3.0 nanofarads shunting said fluorescent lamp for effecting and continuing starting and operation of said fluorescent lamp at not less than about 75% of the RMS voltage of said service voltage source. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A method of operating a discharge lamp comprising the steps of series connecting an inductive ballast having an inductive value of about 900 mh. and a fluorescent lamp of a wattage of about 13-watts;
- coupling said series-connected ballast and fluorescent lamp to a source of AC voltage in the range of about 108 to 132-watts; and
shunting said fluorescent lamp with a preheating switch means and with a non-linear capacitor in the range of about 3.0 nanofarads to provide a pulse potential near the beginning of each half-cycle of said AC voltage and a voltage drop across said fluorescent lamp of not less than about 75% of the RMS voltage of said source of AC voltage. - View Dependent Claims (4)
- coupling said series-connected ballast and fluorescent lamp to a source of AC voltage in the range of about 108 to 132-watts; and
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5. Discharge lamp starting and operating apparatus comprising:
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a pair of terminals formed for connection to an AC potential source; an inductive ballast connected to one of said pair of terminals; a non-linear dielectric element means connected to said inductive ballast and to the other one of said pair of terminals; and a discharge lamp connected in shunting relationship to said non-linear dielectric element, said discharge lamp having an rms operating voltage of not less than about 75% of the rms voltage of said AC potential source whereby the increase in energy dissipated in said discharge lamp is converted into useful light output from said discharge lamp. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for operating a fluorescent discharge lamp comprising the steps of
coupling a pair of terminals to an AC potential source; -
connecting an inductive ballast to one of said pair of terminals; connecting a non-linear dielectric element to said inductive ballast and to the other one of said pair of terminals; and shunting a discharge lamp across said non-linear dielectric element, said lamp having an rms operating voltage of not less than about 75% of the rms voltage of said AC potential source. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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Specification