Claims
- 1. A ballast system for use with a fluorescent lamp load for controlling the operation of the fluorescent lamp load from an incoming AC power source of a predetermined voltage and frequency and wherein the operation of the lamp load is controlled in accordance with the operating parameters of the lamp load comprising:
- at least a power conversion stage including at least:
- (1) inductor choke means and electronic switch means to change the voltage and the frequency of the incoming power from said incoming power source to a different voltage and higher frequency and of a generally sinusoidal energy distribution,
- (2) storage capacitor and electronic switching means operatively connected to said inductor means to provide an output voltage which is reconverted to the frequency of said incoming power source and 180 degrees out of phase with the output voltage of said inductor choke means,
- (3) filter means connected to receive the output of said storage capacitor means and connected to supply power to said lamp load,
- (4) means forming a charging path for said storage capacitor means,
- (5) means different from said charging path forming a discharge path into the load for said storage capacitor means whereby the charging current for said storage capacitor means is isolated from the lamp load during charging of said storage capacitor means, and
- the discharge of said storage capacitor means being operative to provide a series of discharge pulses having a sinusoidal energy distribution at a voltage level greater or less than that of the incoming voltage and of a value sufficient to operate said lamp load and being out of phase with the voltage of said incoming power source.
- 2. A ballast system as set forth in claim 1 wherein an L-C bandpass filter is connected in series between the output of said ballast system and said lamp load.
- 3. A ballast system as set forth in claim 2 wherein a shunt capacitor is connected between the output of the L-C bandpass filter and ground.
- 4. A ballast system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said inductor choke means includes switch means operated at a frequency greater than the frequency of the incoming power source, and
- said means forming the discharge path for said storage capacitor means including second switch means operated at a frequency different from said switch means.
- 5. A ballast system as set forth in claim 1 further including EMI filter means, and
- control circuit means for controlling the operation of said switch means.
- 6. A ballast system as set forth in claim 5 wherein said control circuit means includes an oscillator and pulse driver, the pulse driver having a variable pulse width output, said oscillator operating at a frequency higher than the frequency of the incoming power source, and
- feedback loop means sensing at least the current of the lamp load for generating a voltage for varying the width of the pulses from said pulse driver to provide a current output for operation of said lamp load which is sufficient to drive said lamp load but insufficient to overdrive said lamp load.
- 7. A ballast system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said power conversion stage further includes filter means connected to receive the output of said storage capacitor means,
- the output of said storage capacitor means being generally of sinusoidal energy distribution and of a voltage greater than the voltage from the incoming power source, and including a high frequency component, and
- said filter means operative to remove said high frequency component thereby providing a filtered sinusoidal output voltage which is out of phase with the incoming power source and of a voltage greater than the voltage of the incoming power source.
- 8. A ballast system as set forth in claim 1 further including dimmer means to control the illumination of the lamp load.
- 9. A relatively high efficiency, relatively light weight, relatively small electronic ballast for use in aircraft for controlling the operation of a fluorescent lamp load in the aircraft from an incoming AC power source of a given voltage and frequency, the latter having positive and negative going excursions, comprising;
- means for switching the incoming power from said incoming AC power source during each positive and negative going excursion thereof at a frequency higher than the incoming frequency of the incoming power source,
- inductor means,
- storage capacitor means,
- said higher frequency voltage being operative to charge said inductor means repetitively during said positive and negative going excursions,
- said inductor means being operative to discharge into said storage capacitor means repetitively during each positive and negative excursion whereby the voltage stored by said storage capacitor is a multiple of the voltage of the incoming power source, and
- means to filter the output of said storage capacitor means whereby the voltage applied to the lamp load is out of phase with the voltage of the incoming power source and of a voltage which is a multiple or submultiple of the incoming voltage of the incoming power source.
- 10. A ballast system as set forth in claim 9 wherein an L-C bandpass filter is connected in series between the output of said ballast system and said lamp load.
- 11. A ballast system as set forth in claim 10 wherein a shunt capacitor is connected between the output of the L-C bandpass filter and ground.
- 12. A relatively high efficiency system for powering a fluorescent lamp load comprising:
- a ballast as set forth in claim 9,
- means connecting an incoming power source in series with the output of said ballast and in phase with the output thereof whereby the output of said ballast is between 0 and 114 V AC and the load voltage is between 115 V and 23V AC.
- 13. A relatively high efficiency, relatively light weight, relatively small electronic ballast for use in aircraft for providing input power for controlling the operation of a fluorescent lamp load in the aircraft from an incoming power source of a given voltage and frequency comprising:
- means forming an input for the incoming power and a return line therefor,
- a multi-purpose transformer connected to said means and providing suitable voltage and current levels for operation of filaments of the lamps and power voltages for a control circuit and switching voltages for switch means,
- an EMI filter including inductor means and capacitor means to filter out high frequency noise,
- power conversion stage means receiving the incoming power and including inductor storage choke means to change the voltage of said incoming power source, switch means cooperating with said inductor storage choke means to increase the frequency of the output thereof, energy storage capacitor means receiving the output of said inductor storage choke means and switching means to reconvert the frequency to essentially the original frequency but of a waveform which is approximately 180 degrees out of phase with the incoming power and of a voltage corresponding to the voltage of the output of said inductor storage choke means and connected to operate said lamp load,
- said EMI filter being connected between the incoming power source and the power conversion stage means, and
- control circuitry means cooperating with said switching means and including an oscillator and a pulse driver, the frequency of said oscillator being greater than the frequency of the input power whereby the output power for operation of said filament lamp load is changed in voltage and has a phase relation which is approximately 180 degrees out of phase with said incoming power from said power source.
- 14. A ballast system as set forth in claim 13 wherein an L-C bandpass filter is connected in series between the output of said ballast system and said lamp load.
- 15. A ballast system as set forth in claim 14 wherein a shunt capacitor is connected between the output of the L-C bandpass filter and ground.
- 16. A relatively high efficiency, relatively light weight, relatively small electronic ballast for use in aircraft for controlling the operation of a fluorescent lamp load in the aircraft from an incoming AC power source of a given voltage and frequency and of a generally sinusoidal waveform comprising:
- means forming an input for the incoming power and a return line therefor,
- a multi-purpose transformer connected to said means and providing suitable voltage and current levels for operation of filaments of the lamps and power voltages for a control circuit and switching voltages for switch means,
- an EMI filter including inductor means and capacitor means to filter out high frequency noise,
- power conversion stage means receiving the incoming power and including inductor storage choke means to change the voltage of said incoming power source, switch means operative at a relatively high frequency greater than the frequency of the incoming power source and cooperating with said inductor storage choke means to increase the frequency and increase or decrease the voltage of the output of said inductive storage means, energy storage capacitor means receiving the output of said inductor storage choke means and second switch means to reconvert the frequency to essentially the original frequency but of a waveform which is approximately 180 degrees out of phase with the incoming power source and of a voltage corresponding to the voltage of the output of said inductor storage choke means and wherein the value of said voltage is greater or less than the voltage of the incoming power source, means connected to the output of said energy storage capacitor to remove any high frequency components therein and connected to operate said lamp load,
- said EMI filter being connected between the incoming power source and the power conversion stage means,
- control circuitry means cooperating with said switching means and including an oscillator and a pulse driver, the frequency of said oscillator being greater than the frequency of the input power, said pulse driver having a variable width output, means generating a reference signal for controlling the width of the output of said pulse driver, means forming a feedback loop for sensing voltage and current conditions in said lamp load for providing a sensed voltage, means comparing said sensed voltage and said reference voltage for adjusting the width of the output of said pulse driver and thus the current of said lamp load whereby the power of said lamp load is approximately 180 degrees out of phase with the incoming power and of a voltage several times greater or less than that of the incoming power, and
- dimmer means for controlling the illumination of said lamp load.
- 17. A ballast system as set forth in claim 16 wherein an L-C bandpass filter is connected in series between the output of said ballast system and said lamp load.
- 18. A ballast system as set forth in claim 17 wherein a shunt capacitor is connected between the output of the L-C bandpass filter and ground.
- 19. A relatively high efficiency, relatively light weight, relatively small electronic ballast as set forth in claim 16 wherein said incoming power is 115 V AC 400 Hz and said oscillator having a frequency of 1 KHz to 500 MHz.
- 20. An AC power controller for use with a load for controlling the operation of the load from an incoming AC power source of a predetermined voltage and frequency and wherein the operation of the load is controlled comprising:
- at least a power conversion stage including at least:
- (1) inductor choke and electronic switch means to change the voltage and the frequency of the incoming power from said incoming power source to a different voltage and a higher frequency and of a generally sinusoidal energy distribution,
- (2) storage capacitor and electronic switching means operatively connected to said inductor means to provide an voltage output which is reconverted to the frequency of said incoming power source and approximately 180 degrees out of phase with the output of said inductor choke means,
- (3) filter means connected to receive the output of said storage capacitor means and connected to supply power to said load,
- (4) means forming a charging path for said storage capacitor means,
- (5) means different from said charging path forming a discharge path into the load for said storage capacitor means whereby the charging current for said storage capacitor means is isolated from the load during charging of said storage capacitor means, and
- the discharge of said storage capacitor means being operative to provide a series of discharge pulses having a sinusoidal energy distribution at a voltage level greater or less than that of the incoming voltage and of a value sufficient to operate said load and being out of phase with said incoming power source.
- 21. An AC power controller as set forth in claim 20 wherein an L-C bandpass filter is connected in series between the output of said AC power controller and the load.
- 22. An AC power controller as set forth in claim 21 wherein a shunt capacitor is connected between the output of said L-C bandpass filter and ground.
- 23. An AC power controller as set forth in claim 20 wherein said inductor choke means includes switch means operated at a frequency greater than the frequency of the incoming power source, and
- said means forming the discharge path for said storage capacitor means including second switch means operated at a frequency different from said switch means.
- 24. An AC power controller as set forth in claim 20 further including EMI filter means, and
- control circuit means for controlling the operation of said switch means.
- 25. An AC power controller as set forth in claim 24 wherein said control circuit means includes an oscillator and pulse driver ,the pulse driver having a variable pulse width output, said oscillator operating at a frequency higher than the frequency of the incoming power source, and
- feedback loop means sensing at least the current of the load for generating a voltage for varying the width of the pulses from said pulse driver to provide a current output for operation of said load.
- 26. An AC power controller as set forth in claim 20 wherein said power conversion stage further includes filter means connected to receive the output of said storage capacitor means,
- the output of said storage capacitor means being generally of sinusoidal energy distribution and of a voltage greater than the voltage of the incoming power source, and including a high frequency component, and
- said filter means operative to remove said high frequency component thereby providing a filtered sinusoidal output voltage which is out of phase with the voltage of the incoming power source and of a voltage greater than the voltage of the incoming power source.
- 27. A relatively high efficiency, relatively light weight, relatively small electronic AC power controller for use in aircraft for controlling the operation of a load in the aircraft from an incoming AC power source of a given voltage and frequency, the latter having positive and negative going excursions, comprising:
- means for switching the incoming power during each positive and negative going excursion thereof at a frequency higher than the incoming frequency of the incoming power source,
- inductor means,
- storage capacitor means,
- said higher frequency power being operative to charge said inductor means repetitively during said positive and negative going excursions,
- said inductor means being operative to discharge into said storage capacitor means repetitively during each positive and negative excursion whereby the voltage stored by said storage capacitor is a multiple or submultiple of the voltage of the incoming power source, and
- means to filter the output of said storage capacitor means whereby the power applied to the load is out of phase with the incoming power and of a voltage which is a multiple or submultiple of the incoming voltage of the incoming power.
- 28. An AC power controller as set forth in claim 27 wherein an L-C bandpass filter is connected in series between the output of said electronic power controller and the load.
- 29. An AC power controller as set forth in claim 28 wherein a shunt capacitor is connected between the output of the L-C bandpass filter and ground.
- 30. A relatively high efficiency system for controlling the power to a load comprising:
- an AC power controller as set forth in claim 27,
- means connecting an incoming power source in series with the output of said AC power controller and in phase with the output thereof whereby the output of said AC power controller is between 0 and 115 V AC and the load voltage is between 115 V and 230 V AC.
- 31. A relatively high efficiency, relatively light weight, relatively small electronic AC power controller for controlling the operation of a load from an incoming AC power source of a given voltage and frequency comprising:
- means forming an input for the incoming power and a return line therefor,
- a multi-purpose transformer connected to said means and providing suitable voltage and current levels for operation of the load and power voltages for a control circuit and switching voltages for switch means,
- an EMI filter connected to said multi-purpose transformer and including inductor means and capacitor means to filter out high frequency noise,
- power conversion stage means receiving the incoming power and including inductor storage choke means to change the voltage thereof, switch means cooperating with said inductor storage choke means to increase the frequency of the output thereof, energy storage capacitor means receiving the output of said inductor storage choke means and switching means to reconvert the frequency to essentially the original frequency but of a waveform which is approximately 180 degrees out of phase with the incoming power and of a voltage corresponding to the voltage of the output of said inductor storage choke means and connected to operate said load, and
- control circuitry means cooperating with said switching means and including an oscillator and a pulse driver, the frequency of said oscillator being greater than the frequency of the input power whereby the output power is changed in voltage and has a phase relation which is approximately 180 degrees out of phase with said incoming power source.
- 32. An AC power controller as set forth in claim 31 wherein an L-C bandpass filter is connected in series between the output of said AC power controller system and said load.
- 33. An AC power controller as set forth in claim 32 wherein a shunt capacitor is connected between the output of the L-C bandpass filter and ground.
- 34. A relatively high efficiency, relatively light weight, relatively small electronic AC power controller for controlling the operation of a load from an incoming AC power source of a given voltage and frequency and of a generally sinusoidal waveform comprising:
- means forming an input for the incoming power and a return line therefor,
- a multi-purpose transformer connected to said means and providing suitable voltage and current levels for operation of the load and power voltages for a control circuit and switching voltages for switch means.
- an EMI filter connected between the multipurpose transformer and the input power source and including inductor means and capacitor means to filter out high frequency noise,
- power conversion stage means receiving the incoming power and including inductor storage choke means to change the voltage thereof, switch means operative at a relatively high frequency greater than the frequency of the incoming power source and cooperating with said inductor storage choke means to increase the frequency and change the voltage of the output thereof, energy storage capacitor means receiving the output of said inductor storage choke means and second switch means to reconvert the frequency to essentially the original frequency but of a waveform which is approximately 180 degrees out of phase with the incoming power and of a voltage corresponding to the voltage of the output of said inductor storage choke means and wherein the value of said voltage is greater or less than the voltage of the incoming power source, means connected to the output of said energy storage capacitor to remove any high frequency components therein and connected to operate said load,
- control circuitry means cooperating with said switching means and including an oscillator and a pulse driver, the frequency of said oscillator being greater than the frequency of the input power, said pulse driver having a variable width output, means generating a reference signal for controlling the width of the output of said pulse driver, means forming a feedback loop for sensing voltage and current conditions in said load for providing a sensed voltage, means comparing said sensed voltage and said reference voltage for adjusting the width of the output of said pulse driver and thus the current to said load whereby the power to said load is approximately 180 degrees out of phase with the incoming power and of a voltage several times greater or less than that of the incoming power source.
- 35. An AC power controller as set forth in claim 34 wherein an L-C bandpass filter is connected in series between the output of said AC power controller and said load.
- 36. An AC power controller as set forth in claim 35 wherein a shunt capacitor is connected between the output of the L-C bandpass filter and ground.
- 37. A relatively high efficiency, relatively light weight, relatively small electronic AC power controller as set forth in claim 34 wherein said incoming power is 115 V AC 400 Hz and said oscillator having a frequency of 1 KHz to 500 MHz.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 07/322,129 filed on Mar. 10, 1989 and assigned to the same assignee abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (13)
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
322129 |
Mar 1989 |
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