WO1994022209A1 - Transistor circuit for powering a fluorescent lamp - Google Patents

Transistor circuit for powering a fluorescent lamp Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO1994022209A1
WO1994022209A1 PCT/US1994/001799 US9401799W WO9422209A1 WO 1994022209 A1 WO1994022209 A1 WO 1994022209A1 US 9401799 W US9401799 W US 9401799W WO 9422209 A1 WO9422209 A1 WO 9422209A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
transistor
circuit
time
power
transistors
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US1994/001799
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Kent E. Crouse
John G. Konopka
Original Assignee
Motorola Lighting, Inc.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Motorola Lighting, Inc. filed Critical Motorola Lighting, Inc.
Priority to JP6521033A priority Critical patent/JPH07507917A/en
Priority to KR1019940704228A priority patent/KR950701780A/en
Priority to EP94912154A priority patent/EP0655174A4/en
Publication of WO1994022209A1 publication Critical patent/WO1994022209A1/en

Links

Classifications

    • HELECTRICITY
    • H02GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02MAPPARATUS FOR CONVERSION BETWEEN AC AND AC, BETWEEN AC AND DC, OR BETWEEN DC AND DC, AND FOR USE WITH MAINS OR SIMILAR POWER SUPPLY SYSTEMS; CONVERSION OF DC OR AC INPUT POWER INTO SURGE OUTPUT POWER; CONTROL OR REGULATION THEREOF
    • H02M1/00Details of apparatus for conversion
    • H02M1/42Circuits or arrangements for compensating for or adjusting power factor in converters or inverters
    • H02M1/4208Arrangements for improving power factor of AC input
    • H02M1/425Arrangements for improving power factor of AC input using a single converter stage both for correction of AC input power factor and generation of a high frequency AC output voltage
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H02GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02MAPPARATUS FOR CONVERSION BETWEEN AC AND AC, BETWEEN AC AND DC, OR BETWEEN DC AND DC, AND FOR USE WITH MAINS OR SIMILAR POWER SUPPLY SYSTEMS; CONVERSION OF DC OR AC INPUT POWER INTO SURGE OUTPUT POWER; CONTROL OR REGULATION THEREOF
    • H02M5/00Conversion of ac power input into ac power output, e.g. for change of voltage, for change of frequency, for change of number of phases
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H05ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05BELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
    • H05B41/00Circuit arrangements or apparatus for igniting or operating discharge lamps
    • H05B41/14Circuit arrangements
    • H05B41/26Circuit arrangements in which the lamp is fed by power derived from dc by means of a converter, e.g. by high-voltage dc
    • H05B41/28Circuit arrangements in which the lamp is fed by power derived from dc by means of a converter, e.g. by high-voltage dc using static converters
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H05ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05BELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
    • H05B41/00Circuit arrangements or apparatus for igniting or operating discharge lamps
    • H05B41/14Circuit arrangements
    • H05B41/26Circuit arrangements in which the lamp is fed by power derived from dc by means of a converter, e.g. by high-voltage dc
    • H05B41/28Circuit arrangements in which the lamp is fed by power derived from dc by means of a converter, e.g. by high-voltage dc using static converters
    • H05B41/282Circuit arrangements in which the lamp is fed by power derived from dc by means of a converter, e.g. by high-voltage dc using static converters with semiconductor devices
    • H05B41/2825Circuit arrangements in which the lamp is fed by power derived from dc by means of a converter, e.g. by high-voltage dc using static converters with semiconductor devices by means of a bridge converter in the final stage
    • YGENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02BCLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS, e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USER APPLICATIONS
    • Y02B70/00Technologies for an efficient end-user side electric power management and consumption
    • Y02B70/10Technologies improving the efficiency by using switched-mode power supplies [SMPS], i.e. efficient power electronics conversion e.g. power factor correction or reduction of losses in power supplies or efficient standby modes
    • YGENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10STECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10S315/00Electric lamp and discharge devices: systems
    • Y10S315/07Starting and control circuits for gas discharge lamp using transistors

Definitions

  • Fluorescent lamps operate most efficiently if driven by AC (alternating current) power at a frequency of around 30 KHz (kilohertz).
  • an electronic ballast converts AC line power at 50 Hz (hertz) to 60 Hz to higher frequency AC power.
  • the ballast must have a low power factor (PF) and produce little total harmonic distortion (THD) at the input AC line.
  • PF power factor
  • TDD total harmonic distortion
  • an electronic ballasts has a rectifier to convert AC power to DC power, a boost converter for increasing the voltage of the DC power above peak of the line as well as providing power factor correction, and an inverter for converting voltage boosted DC power into AC power at around 30 KHz.
  • the boost converter consists of a boost inductor and a transistor operated as a switch.
  • the output of the boost converter is connected to a half-bridge two transistors inverter.
  • the output of the half-bridge inverter through a transformer, drives the fluorescent lamps.
  • Fig. 1 is a circuit for powering gas discharge lamps.
  • Fig. 2 shows the current envelope for current through boost inductor 108 and collector current for transistor 128.
  • Fig. 3 shows the collector current for transistors 118 an ⁇ J 128 when the line voltage is approximately zero.
  • Fig. 4 shows the current through various circuit components when the line voltage is near the maximum.
  • terminals 100, 102 receive AC power at a first, relatively low frequency about 60 Hz.
  • Rectifier 104 converts the AC power into single polarity pulsed DC power.
  • Rectifier 104 may be a full wave bridge rectifier.
  • Capacitor 106 connects the output terminals of rectifier 104. (Capacitor 106 could also be across terminals 100, 102.)
  • Capacitor 106 is a low impedance current source for boost inductor 108.
  • Boost inductor 108 stores energy and periodically releases the energy into the remainder of the circuit.
  • Blocking diode 110, coupled between boost inductor 108 and node 112 prevents current from flowing in reverse through inductor 108 from the remainder of the circuit.
  • Switching circuit 114 consists of transistor 118 (shown here as a bipolar junction transistor (BJT), but it could easily be a field effect transistor (FET)).
  • BJT bipolar junction transistor
  • FET field effect transistor
  • Node 112 is the transistor junction of the half bridge inverter.
  • the base of transistor 118 is coupled to a network comprising capacitor 120 in parallel with resistor 122 and first secondary winding 124.
  • Diode 125 is in parallel with resistor 122.
  • First secondary winding 124 is from resonant inductor
  • Switch 116 is configured similar to switch 114.
  • the collector of transistor 128 is connected to node 112.
  • the base of transistor 128 is connected to network composed of capacitor 132, resistor 134, and second secondary winding 136.
  • Second secondary winding 136 is also from resonant inductor 126.
  • Diode 135 is in parallel with resistor 134.
  • Node 112 is the junction between switching circuit 114, switching circuit 116, and blocking diode 110. Node 112 is also coupled to the primary winding of resonant inductor 126. The polarity of the second secondary winding 136 is of opposite phase, while the first secondary winding 124 in phase.
  • transistor 118 when current flows with a first polarity through the primary winding of base drive transformer 126, transistor 118 turns on, while transistor 128 turns off. When current flows with a reverse polarity through the primary winding of transformer 126, transistor 118 turns off, while transistor 128 turns on.
  • the primary winding of resonant inductor 126 is coupled to transformer 140.
  • the primary winding of transformer 140 is in parallel with capacitor 142.
  • the secondary winding of transformer 140 drives lamps 144.
  • the electric power through lamps 144 is at a second frequency about 30 KHz.
  • Capacitor 146 couples the primary winding of transformer 140 to upper rail 119, while capacitor 148 couples the primary winding of transformer to lower rail 130.
  • Electrolytic capacitor 150 couples upper rail 119 to lower- rail 130.
  • Diodes 150, 152 couple the collector and emitter of transistors 118, 128, respectively.
  • Diodes 150, 152 allow current to flow around transistors 118, 128 whenever the voltage between node 112 and the rails 119, 130 would cause current to flow from the emitter to the collector of transistors 1 18, 128.
  • Switching circuit 116, boost inductor 108, diode 150 and diode 110 form boost converter 115.
  • Transistor 128 is a component of the boost converter 115 and half-bridge inverter 1 13.
  • the duty cycle of transistors 118, 128 vary dependent upon the voltage of the AC line.
  • the ratio of the duty cycle of switch 118 to switch 128 is about 7:4 when the line voltage is" at a peak. When the line voltage drops to 0, then the ratio of the duty cycles is about 1:1.
  • the circuit varies the duty cycle of transistors 118, 128 as a function of the line voltage, thus maintaining proper lamp current without negatively effecting the THD or PF of the circuit.
  • the duty cycles of transistors 118, 128 vary dependent upon the instantaneous voltage of the line. When the line voltage is zero, the ratio of the duty cycles of transistors 118, 128 is about 1 :1. At the peak line voltage, the ratio is about
  • the ratio of duty cycle limits the amount of energy stored in the boost inductor. Thus, the circuit is not over-driven.
  • Fig. 3 shows the current through the collectors of transistors 1 18 and 128 when the line voltage is approximately zero. Each transistor is on the same amount of time, indicating that the ratio of the duty cycles is approximately one.
  • the circuit operates differently when the line voltage is not zero.
  • transistor 128 turns off, energy stored in boost inductor 108 forward biases diodes 110, 150, and thereby charges electrolytic 151. Since diodes 110, 150 are forward biased, node 112 is one diode drop higher than upper rail 119. Even when transistor 118 is on, no current flows through transistor 118.
  • boost inductor 108 acts as a current source, the current through tank circuit 200 never reaches the same peak as it would when the line voltage is at a minimum.
  • transistor 128 When transistor 128 is on, the current reaches a higher peak and therefore will be on a shorter time to volts *time balance the resonant inductor, which causes the duty cycle of transistor 128 to be shorter than in transistor 118.
  • the on-time of the transistors dynamically varies with the line voltage.
  • the on-time of transistor 128 decreases as the on time of transistor 118 increases, and the on-time of transistor 128 decreases as the line voltage increases.
  • Fig. 4 shows the current through various circuit components when the line voltage is near its maximum.
  • Fig. 4- 1 shows the collector current for transistor 118.
  • the collector current is limited by the energy released from inductor 108, so that the collector current is limited.
  • 4-2 is the sum of the current from boost inductor 108 and resonant tank circuit 200.
  • Fig. 4-3 shows the current in transformer 126. Due to additional current from boost inductor 108, the current in transformer 126 is asymmetrical. The coupling of the base drives of transistors 118 and 128 to the resonant inductor 126 causes the transistors to have different duty cycles.
  • Fig. 4-4 shows the current through diode 150. As can be seen by referring also to Fig. 4-1, transistor 118 does not turn on until the current through diode 150 is zero.
  • Fig. 4-5 shows the current through boost inductor 108.
  • the current in boost inductor 108 always falls to zero before the start of the next cycle.
  • the power factor correction of such a circuit is very good.
  • a power factor more than .95 is possible.
  • the current draw from AC line has a power factor of .95, which make the circuit ' as good as circuits employing a current mode control IC with a power FET.
  • the circuit eliminates a power FET, an IC and Associated components for driving the FET.
  • the circuit shown in Fig. 1 employs a self regulating resonant tank circuit to drive transistors 118, 128.
  • a pulse width modulation (PWM) driver could control transistors 118, 128.
  • PWM pulse width modulation
  • Such a driver would vary the on-time of transistors 118, 128 in synchronization with the line voltage. When the voltage on the line is near maximum, the PWM driver would turn on the transistors for a shorter time. While near a zero voltage on the line, the PWM driver would turn the transistors on for longer periods of time.

Abstract

A circuit with a transistor common to both the inverter (113) and the boost converter (118) powers a gas discharge lamp (144). In a half-bridge inverter, a boost inductor (108) is coupled between the rectifier (104) and the junction (112) between two switching circuits (114, 116).

Description

"TRANSISTOR CIRCUIT FOR POWERING A FLUORESCENT LAMP".
Background of the Invention
Fluorescent lamps operate most efficiently if driven by AC (alternating current) power at a frequency of around 30 KHz (kilohertz). To operate efficiently from standard power distribution systems, an electronic ballast converts AC line power at 50 Hz (hertz) to 60 Hz to higher frequency AC power. The ballast must have a low power factor (PF) and produce little total harmonic distortion (THD) at the input AC line. To accomplish these tasks, an electronic ballasts has a rectifier to convert AC power to DC power, a boost converter for increasing the voltage of the DC power above peak of the line as well as providing power factor correction, and an inverter for converting voltage boosted DC power into AC power at around 30 KHz.
The boost converter consists of a boost inductor and a transistor operated as a switch. The output of the boost converter is connected to a half-bridge two transistors inverter. The output of the half-bridge inverter, through a transformer, drives the fluorescent lamps.
The usual topology of such a boost converter coupled to an inverter requires three power transistors. The result is a circuit with a large number of parts, and thus increased complexity and increased assembly costs.
Brief Description of the Drawings
Fig. 1 is a circuit for powering gas discharge lamps. Fig. 2 shows the current envelope for current through boost inductor 108 and collector current for transistor 128.
Fig. 3 shows the collector current for transistors 118 an<J 128 when the line voltage is approximately zero. Fig. 4 shows the current through various circuit components when the line voltage is near the maximum.
Description of a Preferred Embodiment
Referring to Fig. 1, terminals 100, 102 receive AC power at a first, relatively low frequency about 60 Hz. Rectifier 104 converts the AC power into single polarity pulsed DC power. Rectifier 104 may be a full wave bridge rectifier.
Capacitor 106 connects the output terminals of rectifier 104. (Capacitor 106 could also be across terminals 100, 102.)
Capacitor 106 is a low impedance current source for boost inductor 108. Boost inductor 108 stores energy and periodically releases the energy into the remainder of the circuit. Blocking diode 110, coupled between boost inductor 108 and node 112 prevents current from flowing in reverse through inductor 108 from the remainder of the circuit.
Switching circuit 114 consists of transistor 118 (shown here as a bipolar junction transistor (BJT), but it could easily be a field effect transistor (FET)). The collector of transistor 118 connects to upper rail 119, and the emitter connects to node
112. Node 112 is the transistor junction of the half bridge inverter. The base of transistor 118 is coupled to a network comprising capacitor 120 in parallel with resistor 122 and first secondary winding 124. Diode 125 is in parallel with resistor 122. First secondary winding 124 is from resonant inductor
126.
Switch 116 is configured similar to switch 114. The collector of transistor 128 is connected to node 112. The base of transistor 128 is connected to network composed of capacitor 132, resistor 134, and second secondary winding 136. Second secondary winding 136 is also from resonant inductor 126. Diode 135 is in parallel with resistor 134.
Node 112 is the junction between switching circuit 114, switching circuit 116, and blocking diode 110. Node 112 is also coupled to the primary winding of resonant inductor 126. The polarity of the second secondary winding 136 is of opposite phase, while the first secondary winding 124 in phase.
Thus, when current flows with a first polarity through the primary winding of base drive transformer 126, transistor 118 turns on, while transistor 128 turns off. When current flows with a reverse polarity through the primary winding of transformer 126, transistor 118 turns off, while transistor 128 turns on. The primary winding of resonant inductor 126 is coupled to transformer 140. The primary winding of transformer 140 is in parallel with capacitor 142. The secondary winding of transformer 140 drives lamps 144. The electric power through lamps 144 is at a second frequency about 30 KHz. Capacitor 146 couples the primary winding of transformer 140 to upper rail 119, while capacitor 148 couples the primary winding of transformer to lower rail 130.
Electrolytic capacitor 150 couples upper rail 119 to lower- rail 130. Diodes 150, 152 couple the collector and emitter of transistors 118, 128, respectively. Diodes 150, 152 allow current to flow around transistors 118, 128 whenever the voltage between node 112 and the rails 119, 130 would cause current to flow from the emitter to the collector of transistors 1 18, 128. Switching circuit 116, boost inductor 108, diode 150 and diode 110 form boost converter 115. Transistor 128 is a component of the boost converter 115 and half-bridge inverter 1 13. The duty cycle of transistors 118, 128 vary dependent upon the voltage of the AC line. The ratio of the duty cycle of switch 118 to switch 128 is about 7:4 when the line voltage is" at a peak. When the line voltage drops to 0, then the ratio of the duty cycles is about 1:1.
If the ratio of the duty cycles of switches 118, 128 were 1:1 over an entire cycle of AC line power, then too much energy would be stored and released over a short time, resulting in excessive lamp current. Conventionally, correction of the problem consists of increasing the inductance of boost inductor 108 or decreasing the capacitance of electrolytic 151, or both. This would, however, increase the THD imposed on the line.
The circuit varies the duty cycle of transistors 118, 128 as a function of the line voltage, thus maintaining proper lamp current without negatively effecting the THD or PF of the circuit.
The duty cycles of transistors 118, 128 vary dependent upon the instantaneous voltage of the line. When the line voltage is zero, the ratio of the duty cycles of transistors 118, 128 is about 1 :1. At the peak line voltage, the ratio is about
7:4. The ratio of duty cycle limits the amount of energy stored in the boost inductor. Thus, the circuit is not over-driven.
The operation of the circuit when the line voltage is about zero is straightforward. The alternate operation of switching circuits 114, 116 releases energy stored in electrolytic 151 into transformer 140.
Fig. 3 shows the current through the collectors of transistors 1 18 and 128 when the line voltage is approximately zero. Each transistor is on the same amount of time, indicating that the ratio of the duty cycles is approximately one.
The circuit operates differently when the line voltage is not zero. When transistor 128 turns off, energy stored in boost inductor 108 forward biases diodes 110, 150, and thereby charges electrolytic 151. Since diodes 110, 150 are forward biased, node 112 is one diode drop higher than upper rail 119. Even when transistor 118 is on, no current flows through transistor 118.
Since boost inductor 108 acts as a current source, the current through tank circuit 200 never reaches the same peak as it would when the line voltage is at a minimum.
When transistor 128 is on, the current reaches a higher peak and therefore will be on a shorter time to volts *time balance the resonant inductor, which causes the duty cycle of transistor 128 to be shorter than in transistor 118.
Thus, the on-time of the transistors dynamically varies with the line voltage. The on-time of transistor 128 decreases as the on time of transistor 118 increases, and the on-time of transistor 128 decreases as the line voltage increases. Fig. 4 shows the current through various circuit components when the line voltage is near its maximum. Fig. 4- 1 shows the collector current for transistor 118. The collector current is limited by the energy released from inductor 108, so that the collector current is limited. The collector current for transistor 128, as shown by Fig.
4-2, is the sum of the current from boost inductor 108 and resonant tank circuit 200.
Fig. 4-3 shows the current in transformer 126. Due to additional current from boost inductor 108, the current in transformer 126 is asymmetrical. The coupling of the base drives of transistors 118 and 128 to the resonant inductor 126 causes the transistors to have different duty cycles.
Fig. 4-4 shows the current through diode 150. As can be seen by referring also to Fig. 4-1, transistor 118 does not turn on until the current through diode 150 is zero.
Fig. 4-5 shows the current through boost inductor 108. The current in boost inductor 108 always falls to zero before the start of the next cycle. The power factor correction of such a circuit is very good. A power factor more than .95 is possible. The current draw from AC line has a power factor of .95, which make the circuit' as good as circuits employing a current mode control IC with a power FET. Thus, the circuit eliminates a power FET, an IC and Associated components for driving the FET.
Many modifications to the circuit are possible by one skilled in the art without departing from the general ideas stated herein. For example, the circuit shown in Fig. 1 employs a self regulating resonant tank circuit to drive transistors 118, 128. A pulse width modulation (PWM) driver could control transistors 118, 128. Such a driver would vary the on-time of transistors 118, 128 in synchronization with the line voltage. When the voltage on the line is near maximum, the PWM driver would turn on the transistors for a shorter time. While near a zero voltage on the line, the PWM driver would turn the transistors on for longer periods of time.
We claim:

Claims

Claims
1. A circuit for powering a fluorescent lamp from an AC power source at a first frequency comprising: a rectifier coupled to the source of AC power at a first frequency; a half bridge inverter, comprised of two transistors, where the emitter of one transistor is coupled to the collector of the other transistor, forming a transistor junction, the half bridge inverter having an output of AC power at a second frequency coupled to the fluorescent lamps; the rectifier coupled to the transistor junction by an inductor.
2. The circuit of claim 1 further comprising control means for controlling the on times of each of the two transistors.
3. The circuit of claim 1 where the control means for controlling the on times of the two transistors is a self resonant circuit.
4. The circuit of claim 2 where the diode is connected between the inductor and the half bridge inverter.
5. The circuit of claim 2 where the control means is a pulse width modulation circuit synchronized to the voltage of the AC power source.
6. The circuit of claim 2 where the two transistors are a first transistor and a second transistor, each transistor having an on-time, and the pulse width modulation control circuit controls the on-time of each transistor so that the on time of the first transistor is longer than the on-time of the second transistor.
7. The circuit of claim 2 where the control means varies the on-times for the transistors in response to the voltage of the AC power at the first frequency.
8. The circuit of claim 2 where the control means controls the on-time of the first transistor and the second transistor such that the on time of the first transistor is longer than the on time of the second transistor
9. The circuit of claim 8 where the ratio of the on-time of the first transistor to the on-time of the second transistor is approximately 7:4 when the voltage of the AC power at a first frequency is at a maximum, and 1 : 1 when the voltage of the AC power at a first frequency is near zero.
PCT/US1994/001799 1993-03-22 1994-02-22 Transistor circuit for powering a fluorescent lamp WO1994022209A1 (en)

Priority Applications (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP6521033A JPH07507917A (en) 1993-03-22 1994-02-22 A circuit for powering a fluorescent lamp with a transistor common to both the inverter and the boost converter and a method for operating such a circuit
KR1019940704228A KR950701780A (en) 1993-03-22 1994-02-22 Transistor Circuit for Powering a Fluorescent Lamp
EP94912154A EP0655174A4 (en) 1993-03-22 1994-02-22 Transistor circuit for powering a fluorescent lamp.

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US08/034,956 1993-03-22
US08/034,956 US5434477A (en) 1993-03-22 1993-03-22 Circuit for powering a fluorescent lamp having a transistor common to both inverter and the boost converter and method for operating such a circuit

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO1994022209A1 true WO1994022209A1 (en) 1994-09-29

Family

ID=21879706

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/US1994/001799 WO1994022209A1 (en) 1993-03-22 1994-02-22 Transistor circuit for powering a fluorescent lamp

Country Status (5)

Country Link
US (1) US5434477A (en)
EP (1) EP0655174A4 (en)
JP (1) JPH07507917A (en)
KR (1) KR950701780A (en)
WO (1) WO1994022209A1 (en)

Cited By (20)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1996007297A2 (en) * 1994-08-22 1996-03-07 Philips Electronics N.V. Circuit arrangement for a discharge lamp comprising a dc-ac converter and a resonance circuit
GB2310964A (en) * 1996-03-06 1997-09-10 Tecninter Ireland Limited Electronic ballast for a compact fluorescent lamp
WO1999019977A2 (en) * 1997-10-10 1999-04-22 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Converter/inverter full bridge ballast circuit
US6028399A (en) * 1998-06-23 2000-02-22 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Ballast circuit with a capacitive and inductive feedback path
WO2000015013A2 (en) * 1998-09-03 2000-03-16 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Ballast circuit with lamp current regulating circuit
US6069455A (en) * 1998-04-15 2000-05-30 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Ballast having a selectively resonant circuit
US6091288A (en) * 1998-05-06 2000-07-18 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Inverter circuit with avalanche current prevention
US6100645A (en) * 1998-06-23 2000-08-08 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Ballast having a reactive feedback circuit
US6100648A (en) * 1999-04-30 2000-08-08 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Ballast having a resonant feedback circuit for linear diode operation
US6107750A (en) * 1998-09-03 2000-08-22 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Converter/inverter circuit having a single switching element
US6127786A (en) * 1998-10-16 2000-10-03 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Ballast having a lamp end of life circuit
US6137233A (en) * 1998-10-16 2000-10-24 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Ballast circuit with independent lamp control
US6169375B1 (en) 1998-10-16 2001-01-02 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Lamp adaptable ballast circuit
US6181083B1 (en) 1998-10-16 2001-01-30 Electro-Mag, International, Inc. Ballast circuit with controlled strike/restart
US6181082B1 (en) 1998-10-15 2001-01-30 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Ballast power control circuit
US6188553B1 (en) 1997-10-10 2001-02-13 Electro-Mag International Ground fault protection circuit
US6222326B1 (en) 1998-10-16 2001-04-24 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Ballast circuit with independent lamp control
US7953369B2 (en) 1999-06-21 2011-05-31 Access Business Group International Llc System and method for inductive power supply control using remote device power requirements
US8222827B2 (en) 1999-06-21 2012-07-17 Access Business Group International Llc Inductively coupled ballast circuit
US9013895B2 (en) 2003-02-04 2015-04-21 Access Business Group International Llc Adaptive inductive power supply

Families Citing this family (35)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0664944A4 (en) * 1993-08-05 1995-11-29 Motorola Lighting Inc Parallel resonant ballast with boost.
DE4329821A1 (en) * 1993-09-03 1995-03-09 Tridonic Bauelemente Ges Mbh Electronic ballast for supplying a load, for example a lamp
DE4425859A1 (en) * 1994-07-21 1996-01-25 Patent Treuhand Ges Fuer Elektrische Gluehlampen Mbh Circuit arrangement for operating one or more low-pressure discharge lamps
US5677602A (en) * 1995-05-26 1997-10-14 Paul; Jon D. High efficiency electronic ballast for high intensity discharge lamps
US5729098A (en) * 1996-06-04 1998-03-17 Motorola, Inc. Power supply and electronic ballast with a novel boost converter control circuit
US5914570A (en) * 1996-12-23 1999-06-22 General Electric Company Compact lamp circuit structure having an inverter/boaster combination that shares the use of a first n-channel MOSFET of substantially lower on resistance than its p-channel counterpart
US5959410A (en) * 1997-01-29 1999-09-28 Matsushita Electric Works R&D Laboratory, Inc. Charge pump power factor correction circuit for power supply for gas discharge lamp
US5877926A (en) * 1997-10-10 1999-03-02 Moisin; Mihail S. Common mode ground fault signal detection circuit
US6034489A (en) * 1997-12-04 2000-03-07 Matsushita Electric Works R&D Laboratory, Inc. Electronic ballast circuit
DE19838829A1 (en) * 1998-08-26 2000-03-02 Patent Treuhand Ges Fuer Elektrische Gluehlampen Mbh Low-resistance bipolar bridge circuit
WO2000078678A2 (en) * 1999-06-21 2000-12-28 Amway Corporation Fluid treatment system with electromagnetic radiation
JP4258692B2 (en) 2000-02-10 2009-04-30 株式会社デンソー Automotive power supply
JP4641343B2 (en) * 2000-11-09 2011-03-02 ニッポ電機株式会社 Inverter ballast
US6969958B2 (en) * 2002-06-18 2005-11-29 Microsemi Corporation Square wave drive system
US6876157B2 (en) * 2002-06-18 2005-04-05 Microsemi Corporation Lamp inverter with pre-regulator
US6979959B2 (en) 2002-12-13 2005-12-27 Microsemi Corporation Apparatus and method for striking a fluorescent lamp
US7187139B2 (en) 2003-09-09 2007-03-06 Microsemi Corporation Split phase inverters for CCFL backlight system
US7183727B2 (en) 2003-09-23 2007-02-27 Microsemi Corporation Optical and temperature feedbacks to control display brightness
ES2340169T3 (en) * 2003-10-06 2010-05-31 Microsemi Corporation CURRENT DISTRIBUTION SCHEME AND DEVICE FOR OPERATING MULTIPLE CCF LAMPS.
US7250726B2 (en) 2003-10-21 2007-07-31 Microsemi Corporation Systems and methods for a transformer configuration with a tree topology for current balancing in gas discharge lamps
US7239087B2 (en) * 2003-12-16 2007-07-03 Microsemi Corporation Method and apparatus to drive LED arrays using time sharing technique
US7468722B2 (en) 2004-02-09 2008-12-23 Microsemi Corporation Method and apparatus to control display brightness with ambient light correction
WO2005089030A1 (en) * 2004-03-05 2005-09-22 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Lamp driver using solar cells
US7112929B2 (en) 2004-04-01 2006-09-26 Microsemi Corporation Full-bridge and half-bridge compatible driver timing schedule for direct drive backlight system
US7250731B2 (en) 2004-04-07 2007-07-31 Microsemi Corporation Primary side current balancing scheme for multiple CCF lamp operation
US7755595B2 (en) 2004-06-07 2010-07-13 Microsemi Corporation Dual-slope brightness control for transflective displays
US7368880B2 (en) * 2004-07-19 2008-05-06 Intersil Americas Inc. Phase shift modulation-based control of amplitude of AC voltage output produced by double-ended DC-AC converter circuitry for powering high voltage load such as cold cathode fluorescent lamp
US7173382B2 (en) 2005-03-31 2007-02-06 Microsemi Corporation Nested balancing topology for balancing current among multiple lamps
US7414371B1 (en) 2005-11-21 2008-08-19 Microsemi Corporation Voltage regulation loop with variable gain control for inverter circuit
US7569998B2 (en) 2006-07-06 2009-08-04 Microsemi Corporation Striking and open lamp regulation for CCFL controller
TW200948201A (en) 2008-02-05 2009-11-16 Microsemi Corp Arrangement suitable for driving floating CCFL based backlight
US8093839B2 (en) * 2008-11-20 2012-01-10 Microsemi Corporation Method and apparatus for driving CCFL at low burst duty cycle rates
WO2012012195A2 (en) 2010-07-19 2012-01-26 Microsemi Corporation Led string driver arrangement with non-dissipative current balancer
US8754581B2 (en) 2011-05-03 2014-06-17 Microsemi Corporation High efficiency LED driving method for odd number of LED strings
CN103477712B (en) 2011-05-03 2015-04-08 美高森美公司 High efficiency LED driving method

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4347474A (en) * 1980-09-18 1982-08-31 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Navy Solid state regulated power transformer with waveform conditioning capability
US4388562A (en) * 1980-11-06 1983-06-14 Astec Components, Ltd. Electronic ballast circuit
US5019959A (en) * 1988-09-19 1991-05-28 Innovative Controls, Inc. Ballast circuit
US5063331A (en) * 1991-01-04 1991-11-05 North American Philips Corporation High frequency oscillator-inverter circuit for discharge lamps
US5223767A (en) * 1991-11-22 1993-06-29 U.S. Philips Corporation Low harmonic compact fluorescent lamp ballast

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4985664A (en) * 1989-10-12 1991-01-15 Nilssen Ole K Electronic ballast with high power factor
EP0435628B1 (en) * 1989-12-25 1994-10-26 Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd. Inverter device
US5313142A (en) * 1992-03-05 1994-05-17 North American Philips Corporation Compact fluorescent lamp with improved power factor
US5291101A (en) * 1992-07-28 1994-03-01 Micro Technology, Inc. Electronic ballast for a discharge lamp with current sensing

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4347474A (en) * 1980-09-18 1982-08-31 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Navy Solid state regulated power transformer with waveform conditioning capability
US4388562A (en) * 1980-11-06 1983-06-14 Astec Components, Ltd. Electronic ballast circuit
US5019959A (en) * 1988-09-19 1991-05-28 Innovative Controls, Inc. Ballast circuit
US5063331A (en) * 1991-01-04 1991-11-05 North American Philips Corporation High frequency oscillator-inverter circuit for discharge lamps
US5223767A (en) * 1991-11-22 1993-06-29 U.S. Philips Corporation Low harmonic compact fluorescent lamp ballast

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
See also references of EP0655174A4 *

Cited By (41)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1996007297A3 (en) * 1994-08-22 1996-05-30 Philips Electronics Nv Circuit arrangement for a discharge lamp comprising a dc-ac converter and a resonance circuit
WO1996007297A2 (en) * 1994-08-22 1996-03-07 Philips Electronics N.V. Circuit arrangement for a discharge lamp comprising a dc-ac converter and a resonance circuit
GB2310964B (en) * 1996-03-06 2000-06-28 Tecninter Ireland Limited An electronic ballast for a compact fluorescent lamp
GB2310964A (en) * 1996-03-06 1997-09-10 Tecninter Ireland Limited Electronic ballast for a compact fluorescent lamp
WO1999019977A2 (en) * 1997-10-10 1999-04-22 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Converter/inverter full bridge ballast circuit
WO1999019977A3 (en) * 1997-10-10 1999-06-17 Electro Mag Int Inc Converter/inverter full bridge ballast circuit
US6020688A (en) * 1997-10-10 2000-02-01 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Converter/inverter full bridge ballast circuit
US6188553B1 (en) 1997-10-10 2001-02-13 Electro-Mag International Ground fault protection circuit
US6281638B1 (en) 1997-10-10 2001-08-28 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Converter/inverter full bridge ballast circuit
US6069455A (en) * 1998-04-15 2000-05-30 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Ballast having a selectively resonant circuit
US6236168B1 (en) 1998-04-15 2001-05-22 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Ballast instant start circuit
US6091288A (en) * 1998-05-06 2000-07-18 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Inverter circuit with avalanche current prevention
US6100645A (en) * 1998-06-23 2000-08-08 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Ballast having a reactive feedback circuit
US6028399A (en) * 1998-06-23 2000-02-22 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Ballast circuit with a capacitive and inductive feedback path
WO2000015013A3 (en) * 1998-09-03 2000-06-02 Electro Mag Int Inc Ballast circuit with lamp current regulating circuit
WO2000015013A2 (en) * 1998-09-03 2000-03-16 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Ballast circuit with lamp current regulating circuit
US6107750A (en) * 1998-09-03 2000-08-22 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Converter/inverter circuit having a single switching element
US6160358A (en) * 1998-09-03 2000-12-12 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Ballast circuit with lamp current regulating circuit
US6181082B1 (en) 1998-10-15 2001-01-30 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Ballast power control circuit
US6181083B1 (en) 1998-10-16 2001-01-30 Electro-Mag, International, Inc. Ballast circuit with controlled strike/restart
US6169375B1 (en) 1998-10-16 2001-01-02 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Lamp adaptable ballast circuit
US6137233A (en) * 1998-10-16 2000-10-24 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Ballast circuit with independent lamp control
US6222326B1 (en) 1998-10-16 2001-04-24 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Ballast circuit with independent lamp control
US6127786A (en) * 1998-10-16 2000-10-03 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Ballast having a lamp end of life circuit
US6100648A (en) * 1999-04-30 2000-08-08 Electro-Mag International, Inc. Ballast having a resonant feedback circuit for linear diode operation
US9368976B2 (en) 1999-06-21 2016-06-14 Access Business Group International Llc Adaptive inductive power supply with communication
US7953369B2 (en) 1999-06-21 2011-05-31 Access Business Group International Llc System and method for inductive power supply control using remote device power requirements
US8222827B2 (en) 1999-06-21 2012-07-17 Access Business Group International Llc Inductively coupled ballast circuit
US8855558B2 (en) 1999-06-21 2014-10-07 Access Business Group International Llc Adaptive inductive power supply with communication
US10014722B2 (en) 1999-06-21 2018-07-03 Philips Ip Ventures B.V. Inductively coupled ballast circuit
US9036371B2 (en) 1999-06-21 2015-05-19 Access Business Group International Llc Adaptive inductive power supply
US9590456B2 (en) 1999-06-21 2017-03-07 Access Business Group International Llc Inductively coupled ballast circuit
US9397524B2 (en) 1999-06-21 2016-07-19 Access Business Group International Llc Inductively coupled ballast circuit
US9299493B2 (en) 1999-06-21 2016-03-29 Access Business Group International Llc Inductively coupled ballast circuit
US9013895B2 (en) 2003-02-04 2015-04-21 Access Business Group International Llc Adaptive inductive power supply
US9246356B2 (en) 2003-02-04 2016-01-26 Access Business Group International Llc Adaptive inductive power supply
US9190874B2 (en) 2003-02-04 2015-11-17 Access Business Group International Llc Adaptive inductive power supply
US9906049B2 (en) 2003-02-04 2018-02-27 Access Business Group International Llc Adaptive inductive power supply
US8116683B2 (en) 2003-02-04 2012-02-14 Access Business Group International Llc Adaptive inductive power supply with communication
US10439437B2 (en) 2003-02-04 2019-10-08 Philips Ip Ventures B.V. Adaptive inductive power supply with communication
US10505385B2 (en) 2003-02-04 2019-12-10 Philips Ip Ventures B.V. Adaptive inductive power supply

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP0655174A4 (en) 1995-10-25
JPH07507917A (en) 1995-08-31
US5434477A (en) 1995-07-18
EP0655174A1 (en) 1995-05-31
KR950701780A (en) 1995-04-28

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US5434477A (en) Circuit for powering a fluorescent lamp having a transistor common to both inverter and the boost converter and method for operating such a circuit
US7061189B2 (en) Electronic ballast
US5488269A (en) Multi-resonant boost high power factor circuit
TWI566637B (en) A cascade boost and inverting buck converter with independent control
US7825609B2 (en) Electronic ballast having a flyback cat-ear power supply
US6674248B2 (en) Electronic ballast
US5399944A (en) Ballast circuit for driving gas discharge
KR20100014323A (en) A cell arrangement for feeding electrical loads such as light sources, corresponding circuit and design method
WO1995010930A1 (en) Integrated electronic energy converter
WO1998034438A1 (en) Electronic ballast with lamp current valley-fill power factor correction
EP1145604B1 (en) Electronic ballast circuit
US6054815A (en) Ballast for a discharge lamp
JP2001513253A (en) Parallel storage series drive electronic ballast
US5608292A (en) Single transistor ballast with filament preheating
KR19990083245A (en) Discharge lamp lighting equipment and illuminating apparatus
US6208086B1 (en) Halogen power converter with complementary switches
JP2690042B2 (en) Inverter device
WO1992016085A1 (en) Power supply having high power factor with control that tracks the input alternating supply
JP2745589B2 (en) Discharge lamp lighting device
JP2868224B2 (en) Load control device
EP1397943B1 (en) Electronic ballast
JP3400592B2 (en) Power supply
WO2002034014A1 (en) Centrally-controlled electronic ballast with enhanced power savings
JP3261706B2 (en) Inverter device
JPH0440838B2 (en)

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
AK Designated states

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): CN JP KR

AL Designated countries for regional patents

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): AT BE CH DE DK ES FR GB GR IE IT LU MC NL PT SE

WWE Wipo information: entry into national phase

Ref document number: 1994912154

Country of ref document: EP

121 Ep: the epo has been informed by wipo that ep was designated in this application
WWP Wipo information: published in national office

Ref document number: 1994912154

Country of ref document: EP

WWW Wipo information: withdrawn in national office

Ref document number: 1994912154

Country of ref document: EP