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:
Mar. 11, 2003
Filed:
Jun. 07, 2001
Katsuhide Akimoto, Yokkaichi, JP;
Akira Fujii, Yokkaichi, JP;
Denso Corporation, Kariya, JP;
Abstract
An apparatus for driving a discharge lamp includes a piezoelectric transformer connected to the discharge lamp. A drive device operates for feeding controllable power to the discharge lamp via the piezoelectric transformer to controllably drive the discharge lamp. A lighting control device operates for controlling the drive device to light the discharge lamp. In addition, the lighting control device operates for controlling the drive device to feed a first current to the discharge lamp during a build-up time interval before the discharge lamp changes to a stably lighting state. After the build-up time interval, the drive device is controlled to feed a second current to the discharge lamp. The first current is greater than the second current.