Ballast circuit with an ignitor for starting multiple HID lamps

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6608451
  • Patent Number
    6,608,451
  • Date Filed
    Friday, October 26, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, August 19, 2003
    21 years ago
Abstract
A ballast circuit with an ignitor circuit for starting serially connected HID lamps is provided. The ballast circuit comprises an electromagnetic ballast arrangement for driving the lamps and an ignitor circuit for starting the lamps. In an embodiment of the invention, the ignitor circuit comprises a voltage-breakover device, a first capacitor, a resistor, a pulse autotransformer, and a second capacitor. A pulse autotransformer is associated with each subsequent lamp after a first lamp of the serially connected lamps.
Description




BACKGROUND OF INVENTION




The present invention relates to ballast circuits for powering high intensity discharge (HID) lamps, and more particularly to a ballast circuit with an ignitor circuit for starting plural HID lamps connected in series.




An HID lamp, such as a metal halide, ceramic metal halide (CMH), high pressure sodium, or mercury lamp, is typically powered by an electromagnetic ballast circuit incorporating an iron core. The ballast transformer receives voltage from a power source, and outputs a ballast voltage for driving the lamp. The ballast circuit, which uses the iron core to achieve the necessary voltage adjustment, represents a major component of ballast cost, as well as bulk. The foregoing type of ballast circuit typically suffers the problem of powering only a single HID lamp.




U.S. Pat. No. 5,986,412 to Collins provides a ballast circuit for a plurality of serially connected, high-pressure gas discharge lamps. The ballast circuit comprises an electromagnetic ballast arrangement receptive of an input power signal, providing an output ballast voltage for driving the plurality of lamps, and providing an open circuit ballast voltage when the lamps are disconnected from the arrangement. A first ignitor circuit is connected between the ballast arrangement and the first lamp, and produces at least one ignitor pulse of high voltage and high frequency compared to the open circuit ballast voltage, to initiate starting of the first lamp. A second ignitor circuit is connected between the first lamp and a second lamp so as to be supplied with current through the first lamp. The second circuit produces at least one ignitor pulse of high voltage and high frequency compared to the open circuit ballast voltage after the first lamp begins to start and drops substantially in impedance, to initiate starting of the second lamp.




It is desirable to start a plurality (e.g. dual) of HID lamps with an ignitor circuit. If the ignitor circuit can start a plurality of HID lamps, it can eliminate redundant parts and reduces per-lamp ballast/ignitor cost.




SUMMARY OF INVENTION




The invention overcomes the foregoing problem in several exemplary embodiments that comprise a ballast/ignitor circuit capable of starting a plurality of HID lamps. In one aspect of the invention, a ballast/ignitor circuit is provided for serially connected HID lamps. In an embodiment of the invention, the ballast circuit comprises an electromagnetic ballast arrangement receptive of an input power signal, providing an output ballast voltage for driving the lamps; and an ignitor circuit connected to the ballast arrangement and to each lamp for starting all of the lamps and for producing at least one ignitor pulse to start each lamp.




In another embodiment of the invention, the ballast circuit comprises an electromagnetic ballast arrangement receptive of an input power signal, providing an output ballast voltage for driving the plurality of lamps, and providing an open circuit ballast voltage when the lamps are disconnected from the arrangement; and an ignitor circuit connected to the ballast arrangement and to each lamp for starting all of the lamps and for producing at least one ignitor pulse of high voltage and high frequency compared to the open circuit ballast voltage to start each lamp.




In another aspect of the invention, the ignitor circuit provides for starting each of serially connected, high intensity discharge lamps. In an embodiment of the invention, the ignitor circuit comprises a voltage-breakover device; a first capacitor with a first lead coupled to a first lead of the voltage-breakover device; a resistor with a first lead coupled to the first lead of the voltage-breakover device and first lead of the first capacitor; a pulse autotransformer associated with each subsequent serially connected, high intensity discharge lamp after a first lamp of serially connected lamps, each autotransformer having a winding connected between two serially connected lamps and a tap; and a second capacitor with first and second leads, wherein the first lead is coupled to a second lead of the resistor and the second lead is coupled to the tap of the pulse autotransformer.




In another embodiment of the invention, the ignitor circuit comprises a voltage-breakover device; a first capacitor; a resistor with a first lead coupled to a first lead of the first capacitor; a pulse transformer associated with each subsequent serially connected, high intensity discharge lamp after a first lamp of the plurality of serially connected lamps, each pulse transformer having a primary winding and a secondary winding, wherein the secondary winding is connected between two serially connected lamps and the primary winding is connected between the voltage-breakover device and the coupled first capacitor and resistor; and a second capacitor with a first lead coupled to a second lead of the resistor and a second lead coupled to a first lead of the secondary winding, said first lead of the secondary winding also being coupled to a preceding serially connected lamp.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a schematic diagram of a ballast/ignitor circuit for powering a plurality of HID lamps in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.





FIG. 2

shows the open circuit voltage of the ballast/ignitor circuit of

FIG. 1

with respect to a first serially connected HID lamp.





FIG. 3

shows the open circuit voltage of the ballast/ignitor circuit of

FIG. 1

with respect to a subsequent serially connected HID lamp.





FIG. 4

shows a more detailed view of ignitor pulses from the open circuit voltage of FIG.


3


.





FIG. 5

is a schematic diagram of a ballast/ignitor circuit for powering a plurality HID lamps in accordance with another embodiment of the invention.





FIG. 6

shows the open circuit voltage of the ballast/ignitor circuit of

FIG. 5

with respect to a first serially connected HID lamp.





FIG. 7

shows the open circuit voltage of the ballast/ignitor circuit of

FIG. 5

with respect to a subsequent serially connected HID lamp.





FIG. 8

shows a more detailed view of ignitor pulses from the open circuit voltage of FIG.


7


.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION





FIG. 1

shows a ballast/ignitor circuit


10


for powering two HID lamps


12


,


14


. As shown, the HID lamps


12


,


14


are connected in series. The ballast/ignitor circuit


10


is a constant-wattage autotransformer (CWA) circuit. A primary winding


17


of an electromagnetic (e-m) component


16


receives an AC power signal from a source


20


, and produces, as an output, a, ballast voltage


21


on secondary winding


18


with respect to a reference node


25


, for driving the HID lamps


12


,


14


. The e-m component


16


is part of a regulating ballast; its secondary winding


18


is tapped into primary winding


17


at


26


, and its primary and secondary windings


17


,


18


are shunted as indicated by diagonal lines


19


. A ballast capacitor


27


produces a desired phase angle between current and voltage supplied by source


20


, and, in combination with e-m component


16


, limits current to the HID lamps


12


,


14


.




The specific type of e-m component used, however, is not critical to the invention and other e-m components providing a suitable ballast voltage for driving the HID lamps


12


,


14


may be used, such as a reactor or lag ballast.




For starting HID lamp


12


, ballast/ignitor circuit


10


includes an ignitor pulse circuit


30


for producing one or more ignitor pulses


32


. Of particular interest is the high frequency content of the rapidly rising, leading edge


33


of pulse


32


with respect to ballast voltage


21


. Such high frequency content is referred to herein as a high frequency and high voltage ignitor pulse


32


, although such pulse may comprise only the higher frequency part of the overall ignitor pulse


32


.




Although ignitor pulse


32


is shown as positive, on the next negative excursion of ballast voltage


21


, ignitor pulse


32


would be negative, as shown in FIG.


2


. The particular form of ignitor pulse circuit


30


shown is merely exemplary, and other configurations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art based on this specification.




The ignitor pulse circuit


30


includes a capacitor


34


, which becomes charged from ballast voltage


21


via a resistor


36


. The voltage across capacitor


34


is impressed across the series combination of a voltage-breakover (VBO) device


38


and a number of winding turns


40


, via tap


42


. During HID lamp


12


,


14


starting, the voltage on capacitor


34


continues to rise until the similarly increasing voltage across VBO device


38


reaches the breakover voltage rating of such device. VBO device


38


then rapidly breaks over (i.e., becomes conductive), causing the voltage across capacitor


34


to be impressed directly across the winding turns


40


. This induces a voltage across the remaining winding turns


44


, which adds to the voltage across winding turns


40


and the voltage across ballast capacitor


27


, to create an ignitor pulse


32


that is high relative to ballast voltage


21


. With respect to the specific implementation set forth in

FIG. 1

, ignitor pulse


32


is typically 2,500 volts or higher with respect to reference node


25


as required by the lamp specification.

FIG. 2

depicts a plurality of ignitor pulses


32


on the ballast voltage


21


operating on a 2.00 ms time scale. Also, the ignitor pulses are shown to be approximately 3,000 volts.




Other forms of ignitor pulse circuit


30


may include a conventional two-terminal ignitor circuit. U.S. Pat. No. 4,916,364 to Collins discloses an example of a conventional two-terminal ignitor circuit. Such an ignitor circuit incorporates its own transformer for creating a pulse of current, rather than tapping into secondary winding


18


at 42, as shown.




For starting HID lamp


14


, a pulse autotransformer


60


is used to amplify the ignitor pulse


32


. The pulse autotransformer


60


includes a tap, a start-to-tap winding


61


coupled to a capacitor


50


, and a tap-to-finish winding


62


coupled to lamp


14


.




When capacitor


34


becomes charged sufficiently that VBO device


38


fires creating ignitor pulse


32


, the rapid voltage change across start-to-tap (i.e., primary) winding


61


caused by the ignitor pulse


32


results in an ignitor pulse


63


across tap-to-finish (i.e., secondary) winding


62


, which is coupled to lamp


14


. As with pulse


32


, the leading edge


64


of pulse


63


comprises the higher frequency content of pulse


63


and is referred to herein as a high frequency and high voltage ignitor pulse


63


, although such pulse may comprise only the higher frequency part of the overall pulse


32


.





FIG. 3

depicts an example of the ignitor pulses


63


on the open circuit voltage of HID lamp


14


. Multiple ignitor pulses


63


are shown, each approximately 4,000 volts above the fundamental component of the voltage.





FIG. 4

is a view of a ignitor pulse


63


on the open circuit voltage of HID lamp


14


at a scale of 250 μs as opposed to 5.00 ms scale shown in connection with FIG.


3


. Again, this example of ignitor pulse


63


is approximately 4,000 volts above the fundamental component of the voltage.




As shown in

FIG. 1

, ballast transformer


16


preferably provides a ballast voltage


21


comprising a fundamental component


22


and a peak component


23


. The peak component


23


is substantially higher in frequency and magnitude than the fundamental component


22


. The frequency of peak component


23


is especially high on its upwardly rising slope from the fundamental component


22


. Periodic negative-voltage excursions of ballast voltage


21


are typically symmetrical to its positive-voltage excursions.




In the process of starting lamps


12


and


14


, lamp


12


will begin to start first. Typically, it will enter into a so-called glow mode, in which its impedance substantially drops in value. This allows the necessary current for creating an adequate ignitor pulse for starting the second lamp to be supplied through the first lamp


12


.




In a specific implementation of the ballast/ignitor circuit of

FIG. 1

the following component values may be used for a pair of 135-volt, 320-watt metal halide lamps, wherein polarities of transformer windings are indicated by dots in

FIG. 1

, and the regulating ballast is providing 3.2 amps lamp current: a) Ballast capacitor


27


—20 microfarads, b) Source voltage


20


—277 volts r.m.s., c) Number of winding turns


40


—28 turns, d) Number of winding turns


44


—391 turns, e) Starting capacitor


34


—0.16 microfarads, f) Resistor


36


—20.0 k ohms, g) Capacitor


50


—0.22 microfarads, h) Number of turns of start-to-tap winding


61


—3 turns, and i) Number of turns of tap-to-finish winding


62


—45 turns.




The VBO device


38


may comprise one or more serially connected SIDACs having a total breakover voltage of 225 volts, such as available under Part No. KIV24 from Shidengen Electric Mfg. Co. Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan.





FIG. 5

shows a ballast/ignitor circuit


24


for powering two HID lamps


12


,


14


. As shown, the HID lamps


12


,


14


are connected in series. The ballast/ignitor circuit


24


is a CWA circuit. A primary winding


17


of an electromagnetic (e-m) component


16


receives an AC power signal from a source


20


, and produces, as an output, a ballast voltage


21


on secondary winding


18


with respect to a reference node


25


, for driving the HID lamps


12


,


14


. The e-m component


16


is part of a regulating ballast; its secondary winding


18


is tapped into primary winding


17


at 26, and its primary and secondary windings


17


,


18


are shunted as indicated by diagonal lines


19


. A ballast capacitor


27


produces a desired phase angle between current and voltage supplied by source


20


, and, in combination with e-m component


16


, limits current to the HID lamps


12


,


14


.




The specific type of e-m component used, however, is not critical to the invention, and other e-m components providing a suitable ballast voltage for driving the HID lamps


12


,


14


may be used, such as a reactor or lag ballast.




For starting the HID lamps


12


,


14


, ballast/ignitor circuit


24


includes an ignitor pulse circuit


65


and a pulse transformer


72


for producing an ignitor pulse


32


for HID lamp


12


and an ignitor pulse


63


for HID lamp


14


. Of particular interest is the high frequency content of the rapidly rising, leading edge


33


of ignitor pulse


32


with respect to ballast voltage


21


. Such high frequency content is referred to herein as a high frequency and high voltage ignitor pulse


32


, although such pulse may comprise only the higher frequency part of the overall ignitor pulse


32


.




Although the ignitor pulse


32


is shown as positive, on the next negative excursion of ballast voltage


21


, the ignitor pulse


32


would be negative, as shown in FIG.


6


. The particular form of ignitor pulse circuit


65


shown is merely exemplary and other configurations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art based on this specification.




Ignitor pulse circuit


65


includes a capacitor


66


, which becomes charged from ballast voltage


21


via a resistor


68


. The voltage across capacitor


66


is impressed across the series combination of a primary winding


74


of the pulse transformer


72


, a VBO device


70


, and a number of winding turns


40


. During HID lamp


12


,


14


starting, the voltage on capacitor


66


continues to rise until the similarly increasing voltage across VBO device


70


reaches the breakover voltage rating of such device. The VBO device


70


then rapidly breaks over (i.e., becomes conductive), causing the voltage across capacitor


66


to be divided between the winding turns


40


of the e-m component


16


and the primary winding


74


of the pulse transformer


72


. This induces a voltage across the remaining winding turns


44


of the e-m component


16


, which adds to the voltage across winding turns


40


and the voltage across ballast capacitor


27


, to create an ignitor pulse


32


that is high relative to ballast voltage


21


. With respect to the specific implementation set forth in

FIG. 5

, ignitor pulse


32


is typically 2,500 volts or higher with respect to reference node


25


as required by the lamp specification.

FIG. 6

depicts a plurality of ignitor pulses


32


on the ballast voltage


27


operating on a 10.0 ms time scale. Also, the ignitor pulses are shown to be approximately 2,140 volts.




Other forms of ignitor pulse circuit


65


may include a conventional two-terminal ignitor circuit. U.S. Pat. No. 4,916,364 to Collins discloses an example of a conventional two-terminal ignitor circuit. Such an ignitor circuit incorporates its own transformer for creating a pulse of current, rather than tapping into secondary winding


18


at 42, as shown.




Returning to starting lamp


14


, the voltage across the primary winding


74


induces a corresponding voltage across the secondary winding


73


of the pulse transformer


72


. The induced voltage creates ignitor pulse


63


that is high relative to ballast voltage


21


. With respect to the specific implementation set forth in

FIG. 5

, ignitor pulse


63


is typically 2,500 volts or higher with respect to reference node


25


as required by the lamp specification. The secondary winding


73


is coupled to lamp


14


. As with pulse


32


, the leading edge


64


of pulse


63


comprises the higher frequency part of pulse


63


and is referred to herein as an ignitor pulse


63


. To assist coupling of ignitor pulse


63


to the HID lamp


14


, a capacitance


75


is employed. At the high frequency of the ignitor pulse


63


, the capacitance


75


appears as a low impedance across which a low voltage drop occurs. Capacitance


75


thus impresses most of the ignitor pulse


63


to appear across the lamp, to facilitate its starting. Capacitance


75


may comprise parasitic capacitance of the conductors supplying lamps


12


and


14


, or it may comprise a discrete capacitor.





FIG. 7

depicts an example of the ignitor pulses


63


on the open circuit voltage of HID lamp


14


. Multiple ignitor pulses


63


are shown, each approximately 2,500 volts above the fundamental component of the voltage.





FIG. 8

is a view of ignitor pulse


63


on the open circuit voltage of HID lamp


14


at a scale of 200 μs as opposed to the 2.00 ms scale shown in connection with FIG.


7


. Again this example of an ignitor pulse


63


is approximately 2,500 volts above the fundamental component of the voltage.




As shown in

FIG. 5

, ballast transformer


16


preferably provides a ballast voltage


21


having a component


22


comprising a fundamental component, and a peak component substantially higher in frequency and magnitude than the fundamental component. The frequency of peak component


23


is especially high on its upwardly rising slope from the fundamental component. Periodic negative-voltage excursions of ballast voltage


21


are typically symmetrical to its positive-voltage excursions.




When starting the HID lamps


12


,


14


using the ballast/ignitor circuit


24


of

FIG. 5

, both lamps


12


,


14


begin to start simultaneously. The ballast/ignitor circuit


24


generates two ignitor pulses


32


,


63


simultaneously by discharging capacitor


66


through winding turns


40


of the e-m component


16


and the primary winding


74


of the pulse transformer


72


.




In a specific example of implementing the ballast/ignitor circuit of

FIG. 5

, the following component values may be used for a pair of 135-volt, 320-watt metal halide lamps, wherein polarities of transformer windings are indicated by dots in

FIG. 5

, and the regulating ballast is providing 3.2 amps lamp current: a) Ballast capacitor


27


—20 microfarads, b) Source voltage


20


—277 volts RMS, c) Number of winding turns


40


—28 turns, d) Number of winding turns


44


—391 turns, e) Starting capacitor


66


—0.1.6 microfarads, f) Resistor


68


—20.0 k ohms, g) Capacitance


75


—200 picofarads, h) Number of turns of secondary winding


73


-45 turns, and i) Number of turns of primary winding


74


—3 turns.




The VBO device


70


may comprise one or more serially connected SIDACs having a total breakover voltage of 225 volts, such as available under Part No. KIV24 from Shidengen Electric Mfg. Co. Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan.




HID lamps other than metal halide lamps as described in both embodiments (

FIGS. 1 and 5

) above can be used. In order to most reliably benefit from the present invention, however, an HID lamp should have a reasonably constant operating voltage over its lifetime. Because the same current flows through all serially connected lamps, the respective wattages of the lamps are strongly dependent on their respective operating voltages. Essentially, such operating voltages should not vary so greatly over the lifetime of the lamps that the respective wattages of the lamps vary into undesired (e.g. outside-of-rated) ranges. It is most preferred that such lamp operating voltage be maintained to within about 15-20 percent of a nominal value, although, depending on ballast capacity, more variation can be tolerated. For high pressure sodium lamps, the lamp voltage is dependent on the lamp current and it is possible to get into a situation where one of the serially connected lamps has a higher voltage and a corresponding higher wattage than the second lamp. The higher power will commonly result in a faster rate of voltage rise with time and this can result in a runaway condition where the higher voltage lamp ends up with a very high voltage and operating wattage. The other lamp can end up with a proportionately low voltage and low wattage. Under these conditions, the high voltage lamp will very likely have a shortened life and a low efficacy. The solution is to operate lamps in series that have “constant” voltage characteristics. In other words, the lamp voltage is relatively independent of the lamp current. Metal halide and mercury lamps fit this description. In addition, a class of high pressure sodium lamps (i.e., limited dose lamps) are less sensitive to voltage variation with current and life. This class of high pressure sodium lamps would also be very suitable for use with a series operation, as in the present invention.




Within the foregoing, general constraint of lamp-operating voltage being reasonably constant, a series of lamps powered in accordance with the invention can be of mixed variety, e.g. a metal halide lamp connected to a mercury lamp. By way of example, limited-dose sodium lamps also typically have a reasonably constant operating voltage.




The principles of the present invention extend to the sequential starting of more than two lamps as described above. This is accomplished for the ballast/ignitor circuit of

FIG. 1

by repeating the pulse autotransformer


60


and coupling capacitor


50


for each additional lamp. Similarly, the ballast/ignitor circuit of

FIG. 5

can extend to sequential starting of more than two lamps by repeating the pulse transformer


72


and capacitance


75


for each additional lamp. In such cases, a third lamp would start after the second lamp enters a glow mode and drops substantially in impedance to allow sufficient current to start the third lamp.




While the invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments by way of illustration, many modifications and changes will occur to those skilled in the art. It is, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true scope and spirit of the invention.



Claims
  • 1. A ballast circuit for serially connected high intensity discharge lamps comprising:an electromagnetic ballast arrangement receptive of an input power signal, providing an output ballast voltage for driving the lamps, and providing an open circuit ballast voltage when the lamps are disconnected from the arrangement; and an ignitor circuit connected to the ballast arrangement and to each lamp for starting all of the lamps and for producing at least one ignitor pulse of high voltage and high frequency compared to the open circuit ballast voltage to start each lamp, the ignitor circuit comprising: a voltage-breakover device; a first capacitor with a first lead coupled to a first lead of the voltage-breakover device; a resistor with a first lead coupled to the first lead of the voltage-breakover device and the first lead of the first capacitor; a pulse autotransformer associated with each subsequent serially connected high intensity discharge lamp after a first lamp of the plurality of serially connected lamps, the autotransformer having a winding connected between two serially connected lamps and a tap; and a second capacitor with first and second leads, wherein the first lead is coupled to a second lead of the resistor and the second lead is coupled to the tap of the pulse autotransformer.
  • 2. The ballast circuit of claim 1, wherein each of the serially connected high intensity discharge lamps comprises one of a group of metal halide lamps, ceramic metal halide lamps, high pressure sodium lamps, and mercury lamps.
  • 3. A ballast circuit for serially connected high intensity discharge lamps comprising:an electromagnetic ballast arrangement receptive of an input power signal, providing an output ballast voltage for driving the lamps, and providing an open circuit ballast voltage when the lamps are disconnected from the arrangement; and an ignitor circuit connected between the ballast arrangement and each lamp for starting all of the lamps and for producing at least one ignitor pulse of high voltage and high frequency compared to the open circuit ballast voltage to start each lamp, the ignitor circuit comprising: a voltage-breakover device; a first capacitor; a resistor with a first lead coupled to a first lead of the first capacitor; a pulse transformer associated with each subsequent serially connected high intensity discharge lamp after a first lamp of the serially connected lamps, the pulse transformer having a primary winding and a secondary winding, wherein the secondary winding is connected between two serially connected lamps and the primary winding is connected between the voltage-breakover device and the coupled first capacitor and resistor; and a second capacitor with a first lead coupled to a second lead of the resistor and a second lead coupled to a first lead of the secondary winding, said first lead of the secondary winding also being coupled to a preceding serially connected lamp.
  • 4. The ballast circuit of claim 3, wherein the serially connected high intensity discharge lamps comprise one of metal halide lamps, ceramic metal halide lamps, high pressure sodium lamps, and mercury lamps.
  • 5. An ignitor circuit for starting each of serially connected high intensity discharge lamps comprising:a voltage-breakover device; a first capacitor with a first lead coupled to a first lead of the voltage-breakover device; a resistor with a first lead coupled to the first lead of the voltage-breakover device and the first lead of the first capacitor; a pulse autotransformer associated with each subsequent serially connected high intensity discharge lamp after a first lamp of serially connected lamps, the autotransformer having a winding connected between two serially connected lamps and a tap; and a second capacitor with first and second leads, wherein the first lead is coupled to a second lead of the resistor and the second lead is coupled to the tap of the pulse autotransformer.
  • 6. The ignitor circuit of claim 5, wherein each of the serially connected high intensity discharge lamps comprise one of metal halide lamps, ceramic metal halide lamps, high pressure sodium lamps, and mercury lamps.
  • 7. An ignitor circuit for starting serially connected high intensity discharge lamps comprising:a voltage-breakover device; a first capacitor; a resistor with a first lead coupled to a first lead of the first capacitor; a pulse transformer associated with each subsequent serially connected high intensity discharge lamp after a first lamp of the plurality of serially connected lamps, the pulse transformer having a primary winding and a secondary winding, wherein the secondary winding is connected between two serially connected lamps and the primary winding is connected between the voltage-breakover device and the coupled first capacitor and resistor; and a second capacitor with a first lead coupled to a second lead of the resistor and a second lead coupled to a first lead of the secondary winding, said first lead of the secondary winding also being coupled to a preceding serially connected lamp.
  • 8. The ignitor circuit of claim 7, wherein the serially connected high intensity discharge lamps comprise one of metal halide lamps, ceramic metal halide lamps, high pressure sodium lamps, and mercury lamps.
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Number Name Date Kind
4695771 Hallay Sep 1987 A
4916364 Collins Apr 1990 A
4959593 Joanino Sep 1990 A
5017840 Droho May 1991 A
5028845 Ravi et al. Jul 1991 A
5430354 Garbowicz et al. Jul 1995 A
5608296 Brown Mar 1997 A
5986412 Collins Nov 1999 A
6316885 Collins et al. Nov 2001 B1