JP2003308993A - Inverter type ballast for luminaire - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To find the time of deterioration of, particularly, an electrolytic capacitor short in life-time of an inverter type ballast, prevent occurrence of noise caused by the deteriorated electrolytic capacitor by making it exchangeable as a simple substance and prolong the life-time of the ballast body. <P>SOLUTION: A ripple component taken out at a B point is rectified into a direct current by a diode D1 and smoothed by a capacitor C3. Voltage of the component is divided by resistances R2 and R3 and supplied to a gate of SCR. SCR is usually in an off state, but is turned on when the voltage of the gate exceeds a prescribed threshold value, and a prescribed gate current flows between the gate and a cathode, so that a current flows between the gate and the cathode. It is thereby found that the ripple component has increased to a certain level or higher. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates mainly to an inverter ballast for lighting equipment for lighting a fluorescent lamp, and more particularly to an inverter ballast for lighting equipment having a long service life and an excellent energy saving effect. It is a thing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a lighting system for a fluorescent lamp, which is one of the lighting fixtures, there are a system using an iron core type ballast using a lighting tube called a glow lamp and an inverter type ballast using a large capacity capacitor. There is a method to use. 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a method of using an inverter type ballast has been widely adopted in various home lighting devices, table lamps and the like. This is because the power consumption of the inverter type ballast is 20% to 40% less than that of the iron core type, and the energy saving effect is excellent.

On the other hand, the inverter type ballast has a drawback that its service life is about 3 to 5 years and is shorter than that of an iron core type ballast having a service life of about 10 years. . When the frequency of use is low and the time of use is relatively short, such as at home, such a short service life is not a problem, but it can be used at an installation site where the frequency of use is high and the time of use is long. If a system with a short number of years is adopted, there will be a problem in that the costs associated with the replacement of parts will increase and the maintenance work will be extra. For this reason, lighting fixtures that use iron core type ballasts with a long service life may be used at installation sites where the lighting fixtures are frequently used and are used for an extremely long time, such as offices and factories. Mostly.

[0004]

As described above, even if the energy saving effect of the inverter type ballast is high, the adoption of it in the installation site where the lighting equipment is frequently used and the usage time is long, such as offices and factories, should be promoted. For example, it cannot fully contribute to the reduction of energy consumption of the whole society. Therefore, it is an urgent task to prolong the service life of the inverter type ballast, to reduce the cost and labor involved in replacing parts of the inverter type ballast, and to facilitate maintenance. In addition, as a result of detailed examination of the inverter type ballast for each constituent member, it was found that the service life of the large-capacity electrolytic capacitor was significantly shorter than that of other parts. That is, most of the causes of failure of the inverter type ballast that cannot turn on the fluorescent lamp are due to deterioration of the electrolytic capacitor.

Further, the electrolytic capacitor is already deteriorated even before the fluorescent lamp is no longer lit and is in a so-called capacity loss state, and as a result, a high level of noise is generated.
It was also found to be a cause of. Such a high level of noise may adversely affect electrical products, especially various devices equipped with computers and microprocessors, and is not suitable for offices and factories where many fluorescent lamps are installed. , Its impact is expected to be greater. However, until now, even if the electrolytic capacitor deteriorates, the electrolytic capacitor is generally not replaced while the fluorescent lamp continues to light. That is, from the time the electrolytic capacitor deteriorates to the time when the fluorescent lamp stops lighting, noise that may have an adverse effect on devices equipped with a computer or the like was inadvertently scattered.

The present invention has been made on the basis of such a technical background, and finds the deterioration time of an electrolytic capacitor having a particularly short service life among inverter type ballasts, and makes it possible to replace it by itself. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an inverter type ballast that can suppress the generation of noise due to a deteriorated electrolytic capacitor and extend the service life of the ballast body.

[0007]

The invention according to claim 1 is
An inverter type ballast for a lighting device, which includes a capacitor for smoothing an AC waveform, characterized by comprising ripple detection means for detecting that a ripple component at both ends of the capacitor is larger than a predetermined level. It is an inverter type ballast for appliances.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the inverter type ballast for a lighting fixture according to the first aspect, there is provided inverter control means for controlling the operation of the ballast body in accordance with the detection of the ripple component by the ripple detection means. It is an inverter type ballast for lighting equipment, which is characterized by being provided.

According to a third aspect of the invention, in the inverter type ballast for a lighting fixture according to the second aspect, the inverter control means detects when the ripple detecting means detects that the ripple component exceeds a predetermined level. An inverter type ballast for lighting equipment, characterized in that the operation of the ballast body is controlled to be stopped.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in an inverter type ballast for a lighting fixture including a capacitor for smoothing an AC waveform, an AC voltage dividing means for dividing the AC voltage across the capacitor and an AC voltage dividing means. The rectifying means for rectifying the waveform divided by the rectifying means into a direct current, the smoothing means for smoothing the waveform rectified by the rectifying means, and the signal smoothed by the smoothing means as an input signal.
An inverter type ballast for a lighting fixture, comprising: a semiconductor switching means whose off state is controlled; and controlling the operation of the ballast body based on the on / off operation of the switching means.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the inverter type ballast for a lighting apparatus according to the fourth aspect, delaying means for delaying the operation of the semiconductor switching means for a certain period is provided after the smoothing means. It is an inverter type ballast for lighting equipment.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention, there is provided an inverter type ballast for lighting equipment according to the fourth or fifth aspect, wherein the semiconductor switching means is an SCR. .

According to a seventh aspect of the invention, in the inverter type ballast for lighting equipment according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, the capacitor is detachably incorporated. It is an inverter type ballast for lighting equipment.

The invention as set forth in claim 8 is the inverter type ballast for lighting equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the capacitor is an electrolytic capacitor. It is a ballast.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing an electrolytic capacitor used in a ballast of a fluorescent lamp and a circuit for detecting a capacity decrease due to deterioration thereof according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, reference numeral C ₀ is a main electrolytic capacitor that is the target of capacitance reduction detection, and the portion indicated by the broken-line rectangle is related to the capacitance reduction of the electrolytic capacitor C ₀ newly provided in this embodiment. Is a circuit portion for detecting a change in the ripple component at both ends, that is, a ripple detecting means.

The purpose of inserting the electrolytic capacitor C ₀ is to smooth the current / voltage waveform and obtain a stable DC current / voltage. However, by using the electrolytic capacitor C ₀ , noise is generated. It is also possible to obtain the effect of suppressing Generally, an electrolytic capacitor has a capacity (capacity) that decreases with time. This is unavoidable in electrolytic capacitors that utilize chemical reactions. The inventors actually conducted an experiment to measure the noise generation amount using electrolytic capacitors having different capacities. As a result, the electrolytic capacitor C ₀
It was found that the effect of suppressing the noise decreases as the capacity of the device decreases, and the amount of generated noise increases.

2 to 5 show the spectrum display of the spectrum analyzer obtained by this experiment. In these figures, the horizontal axis is frequency (1 scale is 100k
(0 to 1 MHz in Hz), and the vertical axis represents the noise level (unit is dBm, scale is 10 dBm). Also, this measurement is performed by inserting a 10 dB attenuator at the signal inlet,
The frequency range from 0 Hz (left side) to 1 MHz (right side) was measured with a scan time of 1 second. Also, FIGS.
In the above, the dashed-dotted line shown in the upper right part of the graph is V
CCI (Voluntary Control Council for Interference)
by information technology equipment: Indicates a class A standard established by a self-regulatory organization called the Voluntary Control Council for Radio Interference such as information processing equipment. Noise levels exceeding this range fall outside the allowable range defined by this standard. Therefore, when the noise generated due to the decrease in capacitance exceeds the allowable range defined by the standard, the electrolytic capacitor C ₀ can be regarded as deteriorated.

FIG. 2 shows 100 as an electrolytic capacitor C _0.
It is a measurement result at the time of using what has a capacity of μF. As a capacitor used in the inverter ballast for fluorescent lamps, 1
The capacitance of 00 μF is a general value. As can be seen from FIG. 2, no noise exceeding the allowable range is generated in this case. FIG. 3 shows measurement results when an electrolytic capacitor C ₀ having a capacity of 47.1 μF is used,
This corresponds to a case where the capacitance is reduced from the initial 100 μF to about half. In this case, the noise level is higher than in the case of 100 μF, but no noise exceeding the allowable range is generated.

FIG. 4 shows the measurement results when an electrolytic capacitor C ₀ having a capacity of 31.2 μF is used.
This corresponds to a case where the capacitance is reduced from the initial 100 μF to about 1/3. As can be seen from FIG. 4, a high level of noise is generated in this case, which exceeds the allowable range in some spectral regions. FIG. 5 shows the measurement results when an electrolytic capacitor C ₀ having a capacitance of 23.1 μF was used.
This corresponds to the case where it is decreased from μF to about 1/4. In this case, an even higher level of noise is generated, as shown in FIG.
The permissible range is exceeded in a wider spectral range than in the case of. However, in an actual inverter type ballast, even if the capacity of the electrolytic capacitor C ₀ is reduced to about 1/4, it is still possible to turn on the fluorescent lamp.

From the above experimental results, the electrolytic capacitor C ₀
It can be seen that the level of the noise generated rises to an extent exceeding the permissible range when the value is deteriorated and its capacity is reduced to some extent. Therefore, especially in a place where a large number of fluorescent lamps are often arranged in high density such as a factory or an office, it is possible to use an inverter type ballast in which the capacity of the electrolytic capacitor C ₀ is lowered because the fluorescent lamps can be turned on. If you continue to use it as it is, a large amount of noise will be scattered, and there is a high possibility that it will adversely affect devices equipped with computers and the like. Therefore, the electrolytic capacitor C
It is desirable to detect this when the capacity of ₀ has decreased to some extent and take some measures.

However, it is difficult to directly measure the capacitance of the electrolytic capacitor actually incorporated as a part of the circuit. Therefore, in the present embodiment, instead of directly detecting the decrease in the capacitance of the electrolytic capacitor C ₀ , the electrolytic capacitor C ₀
Detect the amount of ripple that occurs at both ends of ₀ . There is a high correlation between the decrease in the capacitance of the electrolytic capacitor C ₀ and the magnitude of the ripple generated across the electrolytic capacitor C ₀ , and when the electrolytic capacitor C ₀ deteriorates and its capacitance decreases, the ripple component generated at both ends thereof increases accordingly. Become. And the amount of radiation noise and conduction noise generated by the inverter type ballast is
It is almost proportional to this ripple. Therefore, the electrolytic capacitor C ₀ is detected by detecting the change in the ripple component.
It is possible to obtain an indication of the level of the capacity reduction due to the deterioration of, and the level of noise generated.

Next, detection of changes in the ripple component at both ends of the electrolytic capacitor C ₀ will be described. As described above, the portion shown by the broken line in the circuit of FIG. 1 is the circuit portion for detecting the change of the ripple component according to this embodiment. Also, FIG. 6 (a), (b), the three points shown in FIG. 1 A, B, a waveform diagram showing a schematic of the voltage and current waveforms in the C, and (a) is an electrolytic capacitor C ₀ In the normal state, (b) corresponds to the case where the capacitance of the electrolytic capacitor C ₀ decreases. In the normal state of the electrolytic capacitor C _0, the ripple component in the voltage / current waveform at the point A is relatively small as shown in FIG. 6A, but if the electrolytic capacitor C ₀ deteriorates and its capacity decreases, A The ripple component at the point becomes large as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 1, capacitors C1 and C2 and a resistor R2 divide an AC voltage containing a ripple component at point A. In other words, the capacitor C1 and the resistor R1
Is a differentiating circuit, the DC component is subtracted from the voltage across the electrolytic capacitor C ₀ to extract the ripple component, and B
Supply to the diode D1 from the point. Voltage at point B
As shown in FIG. 6, the current waveform has a small amplitude in the normal state ((a) in the figure) and a large amplitude in the reduced capacity ((b) in the figure). Capacitor C2 is inserted to reduce high frequency spike noise often coming from the inverter in practical circuits. The capacitor C2 is set to have a low impedance for high frequency components and plays a role of releasing high frequency spike noise to the ground.

The diode D1 rectifies the ripple component extracted at the point B into a direct current. Diode D
The capacitor C3 connected to the cathode side of 1 smoothes the rectified waveform. The electrolytic capacitor C4, which is inserted in parallel with the capacitor C3, is provided in order to prevent the SCR after that from malfunctioning due to the ripple due to the inrush current when this circuit is started.
Operation is delayed for a certain period of time. The resistors R2 and R3 are for dividing the DC voltage obtained on the cathode side of the diode D1, and supply the divided voltage to the gate of the SCR from the point C, which is a connection point of both resistors. Therefore, the voltage / current waveform at the point C after being smoothed and divided is, as shown in FIG. 6, when the electrolytic capacitor C ₀ is normal, the voltage is low and the capacity is lowered as shown in (a). In the case of doing, the voltage is high as shown in (b).

SC which is one of the semiconductor switching elements
R (silicon controlled rectifier) is normally in an off state, although a constant voltage is applied between the anode and the cathode. When the gate voltage exceeds a predetermined threshold value (here, 0.6 V) and a predetermined gate current flows between the gate and the cathode, the SCR is triggered and turned on, and a current flows between the anode and the cathode. . The SCR is an example of the inverter control means of the present invention.

Therefore, by setting the constants of the respective elements of the circuit shown in FIG. 1 to appropriate values, when the capacitance of the electrolytic capacitor C0 decreases and the ripple component increases above a certain level, this Corresponding to, the voltage at the point C rises to exceed the threshold value (0.6 V) and the SCR is triggered.
As described above, when the SCR is triggered, for example, by forcing the inverter ballast to stop, a high level noise may adversely affect a device equipped with a computer or the like. Can be prevented in advance. Alternatively, the turned-on SCR current may be used to appropriately control the inverter in various ways.

By the way, the inverter type ballast stopped by the decrease in the capacity of the electrolytic capacitor C ₀ is
Replacing the entire body further shortens the period in which the inverter type ballast, which originally has a shorter service life than the iron core type ballast, can be used. On the other hand, although it has been stated that the service life of the inverter type ballast is about 3 to 5 years, when the cause of the failure in this period is closely examined, the main cause is the deterioration of the electrolytic capacitor C _0. I found out.
Therefore, in the present embodiment, among the components forming the inverter type ballast, only the electrolytic capacitor C ₀ can be replaced independently. As a result, the service life of the inverter type ballast can be made as long as or longer than the service life of the iron core type ballast. In the following, it will be explained how, in the inverter type ballast, only the electrolytic capacitor C ₀ can be independently replaced.

FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of an example of an inverter type ballast, an exploded perspective view showing the periphery of a mounting portion of an electrolytic capacitor in an enlarged manner, and a bottom view of a casing of the inverter type ballast. The inverter type ballast 5 includes a ballast body 9 and an electrolytic capacitor 11, and the electrolytic capacitor 11 is detachably attached to the ballast body 9. The electrolytic capacitor 11 has a cylindrical package 15, and one end surface of the package 15 is provided with a plus side terminal 17 and a minus side terminal 19. The electrolytic capacitor 11 is the same as the electrolytic capacitor shown as the electrolytic capacitor C ₀ in FIG. 1 and to be replaced when deteriorated.
The same electrolytic capacitor will be described with reference numeral "11".

The ballast body 9 includes a ballast, a support substrate, a plus side connecting portion 21a and a minus side connecting portion 21 which are not shown.
b is housed in the ballast casing 23. The positive side terminal 1 of the electrolytic capacitor 11 is connected to the positive side connecting portion 21a and the negative side connecting portion 21b.
7 and the minus side terminal 19 are in contact with each other to supply electric power. As shown in an enlarged manner in FIGS. 7 and 8, the contact heads where the tip ends of the plus side terminal 17 and the minus side terminal 19 of the electrolytic capacitor 11 are the contact portions between the plus side connecting portion 21a and the minus side connecting portion 21b. The contact head 17a on the positive terminal 17 side has a larger diameter than the contact head 19b on the negative terminal 19 side. Further, the base end sides of the plus side terminal 17 and the minus side terminal 19 are engaging shaft portions 17b and 19b, respectively.
b and 19b engage with arcuate guide groove portions 27 formed in the stabilizer casing 23.

On the other hand, in the ballast casing 23 of the ballast main body 9, two arc-shaped guide groove portions 27 are formed as shown in FIG. A large-diameter hole portion 31 and a small-diameter hole portion 33 are formed at one end of the pair of guide groove portions 27 in the circumferential direction to receive the contact heads 17a and 19a.
The large diameter hole portion 31 has a size capable of receiving the contact head portion 17a, and the small diameter hole portion 33 has a size capable of receiving the contact head portion 19a but not the contact head portion 17a. The contact head 17a of the plus side terminal 17 and the contact head 19a of the minus side terminal 19 and the large diameter hole portion 31 and the small diameter hole portion 33 constitute an erroneous mounting prevention structure.

Further, in the ballast body 9, when the electrolytic capacitor 11 is removed, the positive side terminal 17 and the negative side terminal 19 of the electrolytic capacitor 11 are short-circuited to discharge the electric charge stored in the electrolytic capacitor 11. 35 are provided. The discharge device 35 has a pair of discharge terminals 37 connected via a resistor 41. The resistor 41 is for suppressing a large current from flowing instantaneously.

Next, a procedure for replacing the electrolytic capacitor 11 will be described. For example, as shown in FIG. 7 and FIG.
When the electrolytic capacitor 11 is attached to the lower surface of the body cover 7 of the inverter type ballast 5 so as to project downward, the electrolytic capacitor 11 is rotated in the horizontal direction by a predetermined angle, and the engaging shaft portion 17b, 19b and the pair of guide groove portions 27 are disengaged so that the contact head portion 17a is aligned with the large diameter hole portion 31 and the contact head portion 19a is aligned with the small diameter hole portion 33. In this state, if it is pulled out downward as it is, the electrolytic capacitor 11 is removed from the ballast body 9.

When the electrolytic capacitor 11 is detached from the ballast body 9, the plus side terminal 17 and the minus side terminal 19 are brought into contact with the pair of discharging terminals 37 during the horizontal rotation of the electrolytic capacitor 11, so that The electric charge stored in is discharged. As a result, the electrolytic capacitor 11 is removed with the electric charge disappeared, and the risk of electric shock is eliminated. When the new electrolytic capacitor 11 is attached to the inverter type ballast 5, the contact head 17a of the plus side terminal 17 of the electrolytic capacitor 11 is in the large diameter hole 31 and the contact head 19a of the minus side terminal 19 is in the small diameter hole 33. After the alignment is made so as to coincide with the above, the electrolytic capacitor 11 is inserted upward, and then the electrolytic capacitor 11 is horizontally rotated by a predetermined angle, the mounting of the electrolytic capacitor 11 is completed.

Since the contact head 17a of the plus-side terminal 17 is formed so as not to fit in the small-diameter hole 33, the contact head 17a must be in the correct correspondence such that the terminals and the connecting portions have the same polarity. 17a and 19a cannot be inserted into the holes 31 and 33. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the positive side terminal 17 from being mistakenly connected to the negative side connecting portion 21b and the negative side terminal 19 to be mistakenly connected to the positive side connecting portion 21a.
Further, as shown in FIG. 11A, when the electrolytic capacitor 11 is completely covered by a part of the body cover 7, for example, the panel 43 as shown in the drawing, the panel 4 is provided.
Although the detaching work of 3 is required separately, the working procedure is the same as the above except that the rotating direction of the electrolytic capacitor 11 and the pulling out or inserting direction of the electrolytic capacitor 11 are different by 90 °.

Further, as shown in FIG. 11 (b), when the electrolytic capacitor 11 is attached so as to project to the side of the main body cover 7, the electrolytic capacitor 11 is rotated, pulled out or inserted. The work procedure is the same as above except that the directions differ by 90 °. Next, another example in which the electrolytic capacitor can be independently replaced will be described with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14. In this example, a general-purpose electrolytic capacitor 51 can be removably attached to the inverter type ballast 5 of the above-described embodiment, and further, the erroneous mounting prevention structure described in the above-described embodiment can be provided. Is. The electrolytic capacitor 51 is an inexpensive general-purpose product as described above, and includes the thin wire-shaped plus-side terminal 53 and the minus-side terminal 55. Conventionally, the pair of terminals 53 and 55 is directly soldered and fixed to the substrate.

Reference numeral 57 denotes an adapter, which is composed of a housing 59, a plus side adapter terminal 61 and a minus side adapter terminal 63 protruding from the bottom surface of the main body. The housing 59 is the electrolytic capacitor 5
It is formed in such a shape that the lower end portion of one columnar main body 52 is fitted. Further, the plus side adapter terminal 61 is formed in substantially the same shape as the above-mentioned plus side terminal 17 and the minus side adapter terminal 63 is formed in the minus side terminal 19, and the minus side adapter terminal 61 is formed in the contact head 61a and the engaging shaft. The positive side adapter terminal 63 includes a contact head portion 63a and an engagement shaft portion 63b. Reference numerals 65 and 67 denote through holes, and the through holes 65 penetrate from the bottom of the container portion 57 to the lower end surface of the contact head portion 61a of the plus side adapter terminal 61. Also, the through hole 67
Penetrates from the bottom of the container portion 57 to the lower end surface of the contact head portion 63a of the plus side adapter terminal 63.

As shown in FIG. 14, the lower end of the main body 52 of the electrolytic capacitor 51 is fitted in the accommodating portion 59 of the adapter 57. Further, the plus side terminal 53 is inserted into the through hole 65, and the tip portion thereof projects from the lower surface of the plus side adapter terminal 61, and this projecting portion is the plus side adapter terminal 61.
Is soldered to. The minus terminal 55 has a through hole 6
7 and the tip end is the minus side adapter terminal 6
3 protrudes from the lower surface, and this protrusion is half-attached to the minus side adapter terminal 63. Therefore, the electrolytic capacitor 51 is fixed to the adapter 57. Hereinafter, the electrolytic capacitor 51 fixed to the adapter 57 and integrated will be referred to as a capacitor unit 69 for description.

The capacitor unit 69 is attached to the inverter type ballast 5 in the same manner as the electrolytic capacitor 11 described above. Further, the replacement work procedure is similar to that of the electrolytic capacitor 11. As described above, in this embodiment, since the general-purpose electrolytic capacitor 51 can be used,
The cost of the inverter type ballast 5 can be reduced, and a general-purpose electrolytic capacitor 51 can be used as a replacement part, so that the cost associated with part replacement can be kept low.

A method in which the electrolytic capacitor can be replaced independently can be considered in addition to the above method. For example, the positive side connection part 2
1a and the minus side connecting portion 21b or the discharging terminal 37
It is also possible to form by using a leaf spring and to give a biasing tendency so that the positive side terminal 17 or the negative side terminal 19 can be surely brought into contact with the positive side terminal 17 or the negative side terminal 19. In addition, as shown in FIG. 12, the capacitor 1 when energized
So that the posture of No. 1 is always kept constant.
It is also possible to appropriately bend the end portion of the so as to act as the stopper 45. In each of the above examples, the structure having the erroneous mounting prevention structure is shown, but the structure without the erroneous mounting prevention structure may be simply detachable from the ballast body 9. In other words, the ballast body 9 has a detachable structure, and the plus side terminal 17 (plus side adapter terminal 61) and the minus side terminal 19 (minus side adapter terminal 63) have the same shape, and these terminals are The two holes to be received may have the same size.

As another structure of the erroneous mounting preventing structure, the contact heads 17a (61a), 19a (63a) are replaced with different contact members 17a (61a), 19a (61a), 19a (63a).
It is also possible to prevent erroneous mounting by making the shape of a (63a) different between the plus side terminal 17 (plus side adapter terminal 61) and the minus side terminal 19 (minus side adapter terminal 63). Furthermore, the capacitor 11
When the capacitor 11 (capacitor unit 69) is attached / detached, the capacitor 11 (capacitor unit 69) is directly inserted into the ballast body 9 without rotating, so that the holding claws or the like act as appropriate to allow the capacitor 11 (capacitor unit 69) to move. It is also possible to be held at. In this case, the capacitor 11 (capacitor unit 6
It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the holding claw is released by pushing 9) further upward and the capacitor 11 (capacitor unit 69) can be linearly pulled out downward.

[0041]

As described above, according to the inverter type ballast for a lighting apparatus of the present invention, the capacitor, which is a component of the inverter type ballast, deteriorates faster than other components and its capacity is reduced. Based on the finding that it causes a decrease in voltage and causes a high level of noise, it is possible to detect early that a capacitor, which is a component of an inverter type ballast, deteriorates and its capacity decreases. It is possible to know that the capacitor has deteriorated even before the fluorescent lamp is turned off. In addition, since the decrease in the capacitance of the capacitor is detected based on the change in the ripple component generated at both ends of the capacitor, it is easy to detect the decrease in capacitance even in an actual circuit where it is difficult to directly detect the decrease in capacitance. Can be detected.

Further, by separating the capacitor and the ballast body, which are conventionally integrated, from each other and making the capacitor detachable, it is possible to substantially replace the capacitor by replacing the capacitor which is deteriorated and has a reduced capacity as described above. The service life of the ballast ballast is extended, and as a result, the use of the inverter ballast, which has a high energy saving effect, is promoted, and a large energy saving effect is realized by a large reduction in power consumption.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing an electrolytic capacitor used in a ballast of a fluorescent lamp according to an embodiment of the present invention and a circuit for detecting a decrease in capacity due to deterioration thereof.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a spectrum display of a spectrum analyzer obtained by performing an experiment for measuring a difference in noise generation amount using electrolytic capacitors having different capacities.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a spectrum display of a spectrum analyzer obtained by performing an experiment for measuring a difference in noise generation amount using electrolytic capacitors having different capacities.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a spectrum display of a spectrum analyzer obtained by performing an experiment for measuring a difference in noise generation amount using electrolytic capacitors having different capacities.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a spectrum display of a spectrum analyzer obtained by performing an experiment for measuring a difference in noise generation amount using electrolytic capacitors having different capacities.

6 is a waveform diagram schematically showing voltage / current waveforms at three points A, B, and C of the circuit shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a lighting fixture according to an embodiment of the present invention and an inverter type ballast for lighting fixtures provided in the lighting fixture, an exploded perspective view enlarging and showing a mounting portion of a capacitor, and a bottom surface of a ballast casing. It is a figure.

FIG. 8 is a side view and a bottom view of a lighting fixture including the inverter type ballast for the lighting fixture according to the embodiment of the present invention.

9A and 9B are a side view and a bottom view showing an erroneous mounting prevention structure in the inverter ballast for a lighting device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a side view schematically showing the configuration of the discharge device in the inverter ballast for a lighting fixture according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing another operation procedure for replacing a capacitor in the inverter ballast for a lighting device of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a bottom view showing another configuration of the discharge connecting portion in the inverter ballast for a lighting device of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a capacitor unit mounted in an inverter ballast for a lighting device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a front view of a capacitor unit mounted on an inverter ballast for a lighting device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

C ₀ Electrolytic capacitor C1 Capacitor C2 Capacitor C3 Capacitor C4 Electrolytic capacitor D1 Diode R1 Resistor R2 Resistor R3 Resistor 1 Lighting fixture 3 Fluorescent lamp 5 Inverter type ballast 7 Main body cover 9 Ballast body 11 Electrolytic capacitor 15 Package 17 Positive side terminal 17a Prefix portion 17b Engaging shaft portion 19 Negative side terminal 19a Abutting head portion 19b Engaging shaft portion 21a Positive side connecting portion 21b Negative side connecting portion 27 Guide groove portion 31 Large diameter hole portion 33 Small diameter hole portion 35 Discharge device 37 Discharge terminal 41 Resistor 51 Electrolytic capacitor 53 Positive side terminal 55 Negative side terminal 57 Adapter 61 Positive side adapter terminal 63 Negative side adapter terminal 69 Capacitor unit

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An inverter type ballast for a lighting fixture, which includes a capacitor for smoothing an AC waveform, comprising ripple detecting means for detecting that a ripple component at both ends of the capacitor is larger than a predetermined level. Inverter type ballast for lighting equipment. 2. The inverter type ballast for a lighting fixture according to claim 1, further comprising inverter control means for controlling the operation of the ballast body in accordance with the detection of the ripple component by the ripple detection means. . 3. The inverter control means controls to stop the operation of the ballast main body when the ripple detecting means detects that the ripple component exceeds a predetermined level. Inverter type ballast for lighting equipment according to. 4. An inverter type ballast for a lighting fixture, which includes a capacitor for smoothing an AC waveform, an AC voltage dividing unit for dividing an AC voltage across the capacitor, and a voltage divided by the AC voltage dividing unit. Rectification means for rectifying the waveform into a direct current, smoothing means for smoothing the waveform rectified by the rectification means, and ON / OFF control using the signal smoothed by the smoothing means as an input signal An inverter type ballast for a lighting fixture, comprising: a semiconductor switching means, wherein the operation of the ballast body is controlled based on an on / off operation of the switching means. 5. The inverter type ballast for lighting equipment according to claim 4, further comprising delay means for delaying the operation of said semiconductor switching means for a certain period of time after said smoothing means. 6. The inverter type ballast for a lighting fixture according to claim 4, wherein the semiconductor switching means is an SCR. 7. The inverter ballast for a lighting fixture according to claim 1, wherein the capacitor is detachably incorporated. 8. The inverter type ballast for a lighting fixture according to claim 1, wherein the capacitor is an electrolytic capacitor.