Discharge lamp lighting device and lighting system

• US 7,268,496 B2
• Filed: 12/20/2005
• Issued: 09/11/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Toshiba Lighting & Technology Corporation (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toshiba Lighting & Technology Corporation (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Takahashi, Yuuji, Kamata, Masahiko, Mita, Kazutoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): VU, DAVID HUNG
• Application Number:
  US11/311,373
• Publication Number:
  US 20060132044A1
• Time in Patent Office: 630 Days
• Field of Search: 315/224, 315/105, 315/106, 315/107, 315/307
• US Class Current: 315/105
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 41/295 with semiconductor devices and specially adapted for lamps with preheating electrodes, e.g. for fluorescent lamps

Abstract

When a discharge lamp is preheated, impedance of a filament electrode of the discharge lamp is computed. In accordance with the computed impedance, preheating and lighting of the discharge lamp are controlled.

Claims

1. A discharge lamp lighting device, comprising:

a high-frequency generating circuit which outputs high-frequency voltage;

a discharge lamp having a pair of filament electrodes, the discharge lamp being lighted by the high-frequency voltage applied across the filament electrodes;

a current detector detecting preheat current which flows through the filament electrodes of the discharge lamp;

a voltage detector which detects voltage generated in either one filament electrode of the pair of filament electrodes; and

a controller which computes impedance of either one of the filament electrodes from the preheat current detected by the current detector and the detecting voltage of the voltage detector, and controls to preheat and light the discharge lamp in accordance with the computed impedance.

2. The discharge lamp lighting device according to claim 1, wherein

the controller comprises:

a preheating control section which sets the output voltage of the high-frequency generating circuit to a level for preheating and allows the preheat current to each filament electrode of the discharge lamp;

a computing section which computes impedance of either of the filament electrodes from the preheat current detected by the current detector and the detecting voltage of the voltage detector at the time of preheating by the preheating control section;

a determining section which determines whether or not the impedance computed by the computing section has reached the preliminarily defined setting;

a startup control section which switches the output voltage of the high-frequency generating circuit from the level for heating to the preliminarily defined level for lighting in order to light the discharge lamp when the determination result of the determining section becomes positive;

a lighting control section which switches the output voltage of the high frequency generating circuit from the level for starting to a preliminarily defined level for lighting in order to maintain lighting of the discharge lamp by the startup control section;

a timer which counts the elapsed time from starting preheating by the preheating control section to obtaining a positive determination result of the determining section; and

a correcting section which corrects the level for heating in accordance with the timer count time in the next preheating by the preheating control section.

3. The discharge lamp lighting device according to claim 2, wherein

the correcting section corrects the level for preheating in such a manner as to come close to the reference time in which the timer count time is preliminarily defined in the next preheating by the preheating control section.

4. The discharge lamp lighting device according to claim 3, wherein

the correcting section reduces the level for preheating when the timer count time is shorter than the reference time, increases when the timer count time is longer than the reference time, and holds when the timer count time is same as the reference time in the next preheating by the preheating control section.

5. The discharge lamp lighting device according to claim 3, wherein

the correcting section increases and reduces the level for preheating for the amount that corresponds to the difference between the timer count time and the reference time in the next preheating by the preheating control section.

6. The discharge lamp lighting device according to claim 2, the controller further comprising a protection section, wherein the protection section stops the preheating by the preheating control section when the preheat current detected by the current detector is zero over the time exceeding the preliminarily defined time setting or is zero when the detecting voltage of the voltage detector is zero over the time exceeding the time setting in preheating by the preheating control section.

7. The discharge lamp lighting device according to claim 6, the controller further comprising an annunciating section, wherein the annunciating section determines the abnormality and annunciates the abnormality when the preheat current detected by the current detector is zero over the time exceeding the preliminarily defined time setting or when the detecting voltage of the voltage detector is zero over the time exceeding the time setting in preheating by the preheating control section.

8. The discharge lamp lighting device according to claim 2, wherein

the high-frequency generating circuit comprises a DC power supply, a resonance circuit comprising a capacitor and coil connected to the DC power supply, and one or more switching elements which energize the resonance circuit, and generates high-frequency voltage by turning ON and OFF the switching element.

9. The discharge lamp lighting device according to claim 8, wherein

the preheating control section drives ON and OFF the switching element of the high-frequency generating circuit to preheat the discharge lamp at a frequency that corresponds to the preliminarily defined preheating level, and

the correcting section corrects the frequency of the turning ON and Off in such a manner as to come close to the reference time in which the timer count time is preliminarily defined in the next preheating by the preheating control section.

10. The discharge lamp lighting device according to claim 8, wherein

the preheating control section drives ON and OFF the switching element to preheat the discharge lamp at a frequency that corresponds to the preliminarily defined preheating level, and

the correcting section increases and reduces the ON and OFF-driven frequency for the amount that corresponds to the difference between the timer count time and the reference time in the next preheating by the preheating control section.

11. The discharge lamp lighting device according to claim 1, wherein

the controller, comprising:

a preheating control section which controls the output voltage of the high-frequency generating circuit and allows the preheat current to each filament electrode of the discharge lamp so that the preheat current detected by the current detector achieves the desired level;

a computing section which computes impedance of either of the filament electrodes from the preheat current detected by the current detector and the detecting voltage of the voltage detector at the time of preheating by the preheating control section;

a determining section which determines whether or not the impedance computed by the computing section has reached the preliminarily defined setting;

a startup control section which switches the output voltage of the high-frequency generating circuit from the level for heating to the preliminarily defined level for lighting in order to light the discharge lamp when the determination result of the determining section becomes positive;

a lighting control section which changes the output voltage of the high frequency generating circuit from the level for starting to a preliminarily defined level for lighting in order to maintain lighting of the discharge lamp by the startup control section;

a timer which counts the elapsed time from starting preheating by the preheating control section to obtaining a positive determination result of the determining section; and

a correcting section which corrects the desired level for heating in accordance with the timer count time in the next preheating by the preheating control section.

12. The discharge lamp lighting device according to claim 1, wherein

the controller comprises:

a preheating control section which sets the output voltage of the high-frequency generating circuit to a level for preheating and allows the preheat current to each filament electrode of the discharge lamp;

a computing section which computes impedance of either of the filament electrodes from the detecting current of the current detector and the detecting voltage of the voltage detector at regular time intervals at the time of preheating by the preheating control section;

a standard impedance table which stores a plurality of standard impedances preset stepwise in accordance with the computation at regular time intervals of the computing section;

a comparing section which compares the computed impedance to the standard impedance in the standard impedance table that correspond to the computation every time the impedance is computed by the computing section at the time of preheating by the preheating section;

a correcting section which corrects the level for preheating in accordance with the comparison results every time the comparing section compares the impedance;

a timer which counts the elapsed time from the start of preheating by the preheating control section;

a determining section which determines whether or not the count time of the timer has reached the preliminarily defined preheating time;

a startup control section which switches the output voltage of the high-frequency generating circuit from the level for heating to the preliminarily defined level for lighting in order to light the discharge lamp when the determination result of the determining section becomes positive; and

a lighting control section which changes the output voltage of the high frequency generating circuit from the level for starting to a preliminarily defined level for lighting in order to maintain lighting of the discharge lamp by the startup control section.

13. The discharge lamp lighting device according to claim 1, wherein

the controller comprises:

a preheating control section which sets the output voltage of the high-frequency generating circuit to a level for preheating and allows the preheat current to each filament electrode of the discharge lamp;

a first computing section which computes impedance Rh(i) of either of the filament electrodes from the detecting current of the current detector and the detecting voltage of the voltage detector at regular time intervals at the time of preheating by the preheating control section;

a storage section which stores the impedance Rh(i) first computed at the first computing section as the desired impedance Rc;

a standard impedance table which stores a plurality of standard impedances Rhref(i) preset stepwise in accordance with the computation at regular time intervals of the computing section;

a second computing section which computes a ratio (Rhref(i)/Rh(i)) of a standard impedance Rhref(i) in the standard impedance table that corresponds to the computation to the stored desired impedance Rc every time the impedance Rh(i) is computed in the first computing section at the time of preheating by the preheating control section;

a third computing section which computes a ratio (Rh(i)/Rc) of the computed impedance Rh(i) to the stored desired impedance Rc every time the impedance Rh(i) is computed by the first computing section at the time of heating by the preheating control section;

a fourth computing section which computes a difference [(Rhref(i)/Rh(i))−

(Rh(i)/Rc)] between the ratio (Rhref(i)/Rh(i)) computed in the second computing section and the ratio (Rh(i)/Rc) computed in the third computing section;

a correcting section which corrects the level for preheating in the direction in which the difference [(Rhref(i)/Rh(i))−

(Rh(i)/Rc)] computed by the fourth computing section becomes zero;

a timer which counts the elapsed time from the start of preheating by the preheating control section;

a determining section which determines whether or not the count time of the timer has reached the preliminarily defined preheating time;

a startup control section which switches the output voltage of the high-frequency generating circuit from the level for heating to the preliminarily defined level for lighting in order to light the discharge lamp when the determination result of the determining section becomes positive; and

a lighting control section which changes the output voltage of the high frequency generating circuit from the level for starting to a preliminarily defined level for lighting in order to maintain lighting of the discharge lamp by the startup control section.

14. The discharge lamp lighting device according to claim 1, wherein

the controller comprises:

a preheating control section which sets the output voltage of a high-frequency generating circuit to a level for preheating and allows the preheat current to each filament electrode of the discharge lamp;

a first computing section which computes impedance Rh(i) of either of the filament electrodes from the detecting current of the current detector and the detecting voltage of the voltage detector at regular time intervals at the time of preheating by the preheating control section;

a second computing section which computes an impedance difference Δ

Rh(i) between the computed impedance Rh(i) and the last computed impedance Rh(i−

1) every time the impedance Rh(i) is computed by the first computing section at the time of preheating by the preheating control section;

a standard impedance table which stores a plurality of standard impedances Rhref(i) preset stepwise in accordance with each computation of the second computing section;

a third computing section which computes a difference [Δ

Rhref(i)−

Δ

Rh(i)] between the computed impedance difference Δ

Rh(i) and the standard impedance difference Δ

Rhref(i) in the standard impedance table that corresponds to the computation every time the impedance difference Δ

Rh(i) is computed at the second computing section at the time of preheating by the preheating control section;

a correcting section which corrects the level for preheating in the direction in which the [Δ

Rhref(i)−

Δ

Rh(i)] computed by the third computing section becomes zero;

a timer which counts the elapsed time from the start of preheating by the preheating control section;

a determining section which determines whether or not the count time of the timer has reached the preliminarily defined preheating time;

a startup control section which switches the output voltage of the high-frequency generating circuit from the level for heating to the preliminarily defined level for lighting in order to light the discharge lamp when the determination result of the determining section becomes positive; and

a lighting control section which changes the output voltage of the high frequency generating circuit from the level for starting to a preliminarily defined level for lighting in order to maintain lighting of the discharge lamp by the startup control section.

15. The discharge lamp lighting device according to claim 1, wherein

the controller comprises:

a preheating control section which sets the output voltage of the high-frequency generating circuit to a level for preheating and allows the preheat current to each filament electrode of the discharge lamp;

a first computing section which computes impedance Rh(i) of either of the filament electrodes from the detecting current of the current detector and the detecting voltage of the voltage detector at regular time intervals at the time of preheating by the preheating control section;

a storage section which stores the impedance Rh(i) first computed at the first computing section as the desired impedance Rc;

a second computing section which computes a ratio (Rh(i)/Rc) of the impedance Rh(i) computed every time the impedance Rh(i) is computed in the first computing section at the time of preheating by the preheating control section to the stored desired impedance Rc;

a third computing section which computes the difference Δ

(Rh(i)/Rc)[=(Rh(i)/Rc)−

(Rh(i−

1)/Rc)] between the impedance Rh(i) computed every time the ratio (Rh(i)/Rc) is computed in the second computing section at the time of preheating by the preheating control section to the last ratio (Rh(i−

1)/Rc) computed by the second computing means;

a standard difference table which stores a plurality of standard differences Δ

(Rhref(i)/Rc) preset stepwise in accordance with each computation at the third computing section;

a fourth computing section which computes a difference [Δ

(Rhref(i)/Rc)−

Δ

(Rh(i)/Rc)] between the computed difference Δ

(Rh(i)/Rc) and the standard difference Δ

(Rhref(i)/Rc) in the standard difference table that corresponds to the computation every time the difference Δ

(Rh(i)/Rc) is computed at the third computing section at the time of preheating by the preheating control section;

a correcting section which corrects the level for preheating in the direction in which the difference [Δ

(Rhref(i)/Rc)−

Δ

(Rh(i)/Rc)] computed by the fourth computing section becomes zero;

a timer which counts the elapsed time from the start of preheating by the preheating control section;

a determining section which determines whether or not the count time of the timer has reached the preliminarily defined preheating time;

a startup control section which switches the output voltage of the high-frequency generating circuit from the level for heating to the preliminarily defined level for lighting in order to light the discharge lamp when the determination result of the determining section becomes positive; and

a lighting control section which changes the output voltage of the high frequency generating circuit from the level for starting to a preliminarily defined level for lighting in order to maintain lighting of the discharge lamp by the startup control section.

16. The discharge lamp lighting device according to claim 1, wherein

the controller comprises:

a preheating control section which sets the output voltage of the high-frequency generating circuit to a level for preheating and allows the preheat current to each filament electrode of the discharge lamp;

a computing section which computes impedance of either of the filament electrodes from the detecting current of the current detector and the detecting voltage of the voltage detector at regular time intervals at the time of preheating by the preheating control section;

a first determining section which determines whether or not the computed impedance has reached the preliminarily defined setting every time the impedance is computed in the computing section at the time of preheating by the preheating control section;

a correcting section which corrects the level for preheating in such a manner that the positive status is maintained when the determination result of the first determining section becomes positive;

a timer which counts the elapsed time from the start of preheating by the preheating control section;

a second determining section which determines whether or not the count time of the timer has reached the preliminarily defined preheating time;

a startup control section which switches the output voltage of the high-frequency generating circuit from the level for heating to the preliminarily defined level for lighting in order to light the discharge lamp when the determination result of the second determining section becomes positive; and

a lighting control section which changes the output voltage of the high frequency generating circuit from the level for starting to a preliminarily defined level for lighting in order to maintain lighting of the discharge lamp by the startup control section.