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:
Sep. 26, 2000
Filed:
Oct. 08, 1999
Applicant:
Inventors:
Richard Patten Bishop, Fairfax Station, VA (US);
Clark Davis Boyd, Hampton, VA (US);
Assignee:
Face International Corp., Norfolk, VA (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H05B / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
3152 / ; 3152 / ; 315276 ; 315224 ;
Abstract
Fluorescent lamp excitation circuits are provided which use a resonating piezoelectric transformer along with complementary circuit components, to efficiently convert a DC first voltage to a transformer-output AC second voltage. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, A High Displacement Piezoelectric (HDP) transformer achieves sufficiently high voltage output to 'cold fire' a gas discharge lamp. The disclosed circuit may be modified using conventional electrical sub-circuitry to pre-heat the cathodes of the lamp.