The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 18, 1996
Filed:
Jun. 30, 1994
Applicant:
Inventor:
John G Konopka, Barrington, IL (US);
Assignee:
Motorola Lighting, Inc., Buffalo Grove, IL (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G01R / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
324403 ; 324410 ; 315122 ; 315225 ; 445 63 ;
Abstract
A capacitor (16) coupled in series with series coupled gas discharge lamps (11 and 12) will effectively block direct current from flowing through the capacitor (16). A detector circuit including a high impedance resistor (17) and transistor (18) provide an alternate path for a small direct current flow, thereby enabling a direct current voltage across the capacitor (16) to be detected. The presence or absence of this direct current voltage provides a reliable indicia of the existence or absence of a gas discharge fault.