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:
Dec. 12, 2000
Filed:
Oct. 16, 1998
Mihail S Moisin, Brookline, MA (US);
Electro-Mag International, Inc., N. Scituate, MA (US);
Abstract
A ballast circuit for energizing a lamp includes an inverter circuit having a switching element with a conduction state controlled by a control circuit which limits a voltage applied to the lamp. In one embodiment, the control circuit includes an integrated circuit providing a conduction control signal to a duty cycle control circuit. The conduction control signal alternately biases the switching element to conductive and non-conductive states at a first duty cycle when the lamp voltage is below a predetermined level. When the lamp voltage becomes greater than the predetermined level, the duty cycle control circuit decreases the switching element to a second duty cycle, which is less than the first duty cycle, to reduce the voltage at the lamp. In one embodiment, the ballast regulates the lamp current to a predetermined level such that the ballast can energize a lamp which can vary in length and has a predetermined diameter. In another embodiment, the integrated circuit provides the conduction control signal to a plurality of duty cycle control circuits forming a portion of further inverters for independently energizing multiple lamps. In a further embodiment, a modular ballast for energizing a plurality of lamps includes a plurality of replaceable modules.