Circuit for operating a discharge lampe; its use and an associated process

摘要

A DC power supply for a gas discharge lamp has a current-limiting device and an ignition device. The latter is in parallel with the electrodes and contains a semiconducting switch (14). It is in series with an ignition voltage generator (12) and a ballast resistor (13). There is a condenser (17) across the output of the generator. The switch is an optical coupler and its control inputs (20, 21) are connected to an ignition pulse generator. The lamp is filled with hydrogen or deuterium. After the start of the heating phase, the glow cathode is subject to the ignition voltage, there being a small overlap between heating and ignition phases.