JPS5963695A - Device for firing metal halide lamp - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Technical field to which the invention relates The present invention relates to a lighting device for a metal halide lamp containing a metal halide such as thallium iodide, which is used as a high-efficiency white light source.

(b) Background of the Invention Metal halide lamps have the advantage of being highly efficient and high color rendering light sources, but have the disadvantage that after initial startup, the internal pressure becomes very high, making restarting difficult. In particular, when attempting to restart at a low frequency, it is necessary to apply a voltage of several tens of kilovolts or more with an interelectrode gap of about several fins to several 10,111 fins. However, in addition to the advantages of this type of lamp as a light source, once restarted, this type of lamp does not require restarting every half cycle, unlike fluorescent lamps. Further, if the restart is performed at a high frequency, there is an advantage that the applied voltage can be reduced to a fraction of that.

le) Purpose of the Invention The present invention has been made in view of the above, and provides a metal halide lamp that can be easily restarted and automatically maintains direct arc discharge at commercial voltage after restarting. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a lighting device.

(d) Structure of the invention His invention can be summarized as follows.

The electrode structure of the metal halide lamp consists of a pair of opposing main electrodes and an auxiliary electrode that faces one of the main electrodes. A gear between the main electrodes and a gap between the auxiliary electrode and the main electrode that faces it. may be the same, or may be different.

A high frequency high voltage circuit is provided to apply a high frequency high voltage between the auxiliary electrode and the main electrode opposing the fffi auxiliary electrode. This high frequency, high voltage circuit is driven by commercial power. Furthermore, when it is detected that arc discharge occurs between the auxiliary electrode and the main electrode or between a pair of main electrodes due to the high frequency and high voltage, that is, when it is detected that the inside of the tube is in a highly excited state, the auxiliary electrode A starting control means is provided to cut off the application of high frequency and high voltage between the main electrodes. Furthermore, the low frequency voltage of the commercial power source is applied between the pair of main electrodes. With the above configuration, when the commercial power is turned on, a high frequency and high voltage is first applied between the main electrode and the auxiliary electrode, so arc discharge occurs between these electrodes and the inside of the tube becomes highly excited. When arc discharge occurs between the main electrode and the auxiliary electrode, the conductivity between the main electrodes increases rapidly, and arc discharge also occurs between the main electrodes 1 almost instantaneously. Only a low-frequency commercial voltage is applied between the main electrodes, but due to the increased excited state between the main electrodes due to arc discharge between the main and auxiliary electrodes, arcing is extremely easy even at low frequencies and low voltages. This is because the state shifts to discharge. The starting control means detects an arc discharge between the auxiliary electrode and the main electrode or an arc discharge between the main electrodes, and stops driving the high frequency high pressure circuit at the time of detection.

Thereafter, the metal halide lamp maintains arc discharge between the main electrodes using a commercial power source, which is a low-frequency AC power source.

(fi+Description of Embodiment'fJ1) Figure 1 is a basic block diagram of an example of the lighting device of the present invention.

The commercial power source 1 is connected to the main electrodes Δ, 8' of the metal halide lamp 5 via a current limiting/f inductor 2', and directly drives the high frequency voltage generating circuit 3. The output voltage of the high frequency voltage generating circuit II'83 is several times to several ten times higher than the voltage of the commercial power supply (2), or does not reach the voltage required to restart the metal halide lamp 5. The output of the high frequency high pressure circuit 3 is boosted by the step up circuit 4. The boost ratio is
The high frequency voltage required for restarting the metal halide lamp 5 is set to a sufficient level to obtain the high frequency voltage necessary to restart the metal halide lamp 5. This step-up circuit 4 and the high frequency voltage generating circuit 3 constitute a high frequency high voltage circuit.

The raw cloths 1iA and 8' in the metal halide lamp 5 are arranged to face each other within the tube. Further, an auxiliary electrode C is disposed opposite to the main electrode A.

Although the gap between the electrodes is not shown in the drawings, it is preferable that the gap between Δ' and the main electrode be longer than the gear between the main electrode A and the auxiliary electrode C. In addition,
The high frequency voltage generating circuit 3 is one that stops oscillation when the voltage across it drops below a certain level.

In the above configuration, when the commercial power supply 1 is turned on while the metal halide lamp 5 has not been restarted, the voltage is applied between the high frequency voltage generation circuit 3 and the main electrodes A and Δ' of the metal halide lamp 5. At this time, since the metal halide lamp 5 is in a pre-discharge state, there is a high innovation dance between the main electrodes A and A'. Therefore, the high frequency voltage generating circuit 3 is driven and its output voltage is applied to the main electrodes A and A'.
applied in between. However, since the heavy pressure is not large enough to restart the metal halide lamp 5, it is merely applied between the main molds 1iA, 'A'. On the other hand, the same output voltage is also supplied to the step-up circuit 4. For 1. The high frequency high voltage boosted here is applied between the raw cloth electrode and the auxiliary electrode C. The voltage after boosting is very high and has a high frequency, so when this voltage is applied, an arc discharge occurs between electrodes A and C after a short period of time. When an arc discharge occurs inside the tube, ionized ions rapidly increase and spread inside the tube. 1&, the discharge starting voltage between the main electrodes Δ and A' decreases rapidly. At the same time that arc discharge occurs between electrodes A and C, main electrode A
, A', an arc discharge occurs due to the commercial power supply l.

Once the discharge starts between the raw cloth poles A and Δ', the discharge is maintained by the commercial seven-plate source 1 since the excited state inside the tube is sufficiently maintained.

On the other hand, when discharge begins between the main electrodes A and A', the impedance between the electrodes decreases rapidly.

Therefore, the voltage between the main electrodes becomes smaller and the high frequency voltage is generated 1? The drive of h3 stops. Therefore, when a discharge occurs between the main electrodes, the main electrodes A, ? When the discharge between the auxiliary electrodes C stops. In this way, the high frequency voltage generation circuit 3,
It constitutes a part of the high-frequency high-voltage circuit, and also serves as a start-up control means that detects arc discharge between raw cloth operations and stops driving the high-frequency high-voltage circuit when the arc discharge is detected.

As described above, when restarting the metal halide lamp 5, an arc discharge is first caused between one main electrode and an auxiliary electrode, and the arc discharge is used as a prime mover to bring about an arc discharge between the main electrodes. In this case, when arc discharge occurs between the main electrodes, the operation of the high frequency high voltage circuit is automatically stopped. Therefore, there is an advantage that power consumption does not increase and design tolerances for insulation are relaxed.

In the above starting device 6, the high frequency voltage generating circuit 3 also serves as the starting control means, but by inserting an appropriate impedance circuit 6 into the connection line between the step amplifier circuit 4 and the auxiliary electrode C, This impedance circuit 6 can also be used as a starting control means. Impedance circuit 6
When an arc discharge occurs between the auxiliary electrode C2 and the main electrode A, an impedance drop voltage occurs due to the discharge current. Therefore, at the same time as the arc discharge occurs, the voltage applied to the auxiliary electrode C2 and the main electrode 8 is abruptly interrupted, and thereafter the arc discharge occurs between the main electrodes A and Δ'.

FIG. 2 shows a specific example of the above lighting device.

The gap between the main electrodes A and A' in the metal halide lamp 5' is set to approximately a few fins, and the main electrode Δ.

The gear between the auxiliary electrodes C is set to approximately 0.5 to 1 stroke. Metal halides such as thallium iodide, sodium iodide, and indium iodide are sealed inside the tube, and the overall size is relatively small.

The high frequency voltage generating circuit 3 is connected to an oscillating capacitor 30 and a thyristor 31. Nonlinear inductor 32 and intermittent:! It is constructed by connecting series circuits of dedenzers 33 in parallel. This circuit has an oscillation boost function that performs oscillation boost through the cooperation of the oscillation capacitor 30 and the nonlinear inductor 32 when a commercial voltage is applied. The intermittent capacitor 33 repeats charging and discharging according to the input terminal, and performs the above-mentioned oscillation boosting action every half cycle of the commercial voltage.

The step-up circuit 4 is composed of a step-up transformer 4'. The boost ratio δ is 1.5 to several times.

In this device, the high frequency voltage generation line 3 is also used as a starting control means 7, and a capacitor 6' is inserted as an impedance circuit 6 between the auxiliary electrode C and the step-up transformer 4'. That is, the breakover voltage of the Cyrisk 31 is set to be lower than the voltage between the main electrodes at the time of lighting, so that when arc discharge starts at the main electrode E, the oscillation boosting operation is automatically stopped. Further, when an arc discharge occurs between the auxiliary electrode C1 and the main electrode A, a large voltage drop is generated across the capacitor 6', and the arc discharge is stopped immediately. As mentioned above, the capacitor 6' is not necessarily required, and if the capacitor 6' is inserted, the breakover voltage of the thyristor 31 should be set high to prevent oscillation even if discharge begins between the main electrodes. The pressurizing effect may continue.

In the above configuration, first, when the commercial power supply 1 is turned on, the oscillation capacitor 30 is charged via the current limiting inductor 2, and when the terminal voltage reaches the breakover voltage of the thyristor 31, the thyristor 31 becomes conductive. A step-up oscillation operation is started by the cooperative action of the oscillation capacitor 30 and the step-up nonlinear inductor 32. This operation takes place at the beginning of each half of the commercial voltage due to the action of the intermittent capacitor 33.

Due to the above-described operation at the beginning of every half cycle, a high frequency voltage several times the commercial power supply voltage is intermittently generated in the primary winding of the step-up transformer 4'.

WEE) lance 4' transmits the high frequency voltage to the number ratio G
+6, the voltage is further increased and applied to the main current tM - A of the auxiliary electrode C9 of the metal halide lamp 5' via the capacitor 6'. The turns ratio is set to a value that increases the voltage on the energized side by several times.

As a result of the above operation, a high frequency high voltage of about 10 to several tens of times is applied between the auxiliary electrode C1 and the main electrode A, and arc discharge starts between both electrodes.

Note that at this time, since the discharge has not yet started, the capacitor 6
′, there is no voltage drop.

When an arc discharge starts between the auxiliary electrode C2 and the main electrode A, an arc discharge starts between the main electrodes A and A at almost the same time. Further, when an arc discharge occurs between the auxiliary electrode C2 and the main electrode A, a large voltage drop occurs in the capacitor 6', and the arc discharge between the auxiliary electrode C9 and the main electrode A is stopped. Then, when arc discharge starts between the main electrodes A and A', the voltage between the main electrodes becomes less than the breakover voltage of the Zyristor 31, so the operation of the high frequency voltage generating circuit 3 is stopped. After that, the inside of the metal halide lamp 5' is kept in a highly excited state, so the main electrodes A,
Arc discharge between Δ is maintained.

In the above embodiment, a step-up transformer 4' is used as the step-up circuit 4, but an LC series resonant step-up circuit may also be used. Moreover, the step knob circuit 4 may be configured not only in one stage but also in multiple stages.

(F1 Effects of the Invention As described above, according to this invention, it is possible to easily restart a metal halide lamp, and after restarting, the application of high voltage is automatically stopped and the main discharge path is Since low-voltage arc discharge is maintained, starting a metal halide lamp, which has been difficult in the past, can be easily, stably, and safely achieved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a basic block diagram of an example of a metal halide lamp lighting device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a specific example of the lighting device. 1 - commercial power supply, 3 - high frequency voltage generation circuit, 4 - step up circuit, 5 - metal halide lamp, 6 - impedance circuit, A (A') - main electrode, C -? ilt auxiliary electrode. 191 people Shinguchimoto Electric Co., Ltd. 1 (Company agent Patent attorney Hisao Komori Procedural amendment 1. IK of 14 cases 1981 Patent Application No. 173595 2 Name of invention Metal halide lamp lighting installation 3 Oil stopper Relationship with 1ffl Patent L1 applicant contact information
520 2-119-1 Seiran, Ooki City, Shiga Prefecture ShinNippon Electric Co., Ltd.: '1 Department, Tokyo Contact information IU Tokyo (03) 454-5111 (1) Full text of the specification (2) 1 Drawing G Contents of the amendment (1) As shown in Attachment 5J original specification. (2) As shown in Attachment fJ original drawing. Amendment Description Name of the invention Starting and lighting device for high-intensity discharge lamps Claims (1) A pair of opposing main electrodes to which commercial power is applied and a high-frequency electrode opposite to one of the main electrodes. A high-intensity discharge lamp disposed in a high-intensity discharge lamp, a high-frequency high-voltage circuit driven by the commercial power source, and applying a full high-frequency voltage between the high-frequency electrode and one of the main electrodes. Start control means for completely cutting off the high frequency ionization and the application of high frequency high voltage between the main electrodes when a low frequency arc discharge between the electric current and the main electrode or a low frequency arc discharge between the main electrodes is completely detected. A starting/lighting device for a high-intensity discharge lamp, comprising: Detailed Description of the Invention (a1 Technical field to which the invention relates) This invention relates to metal halide lamps, high-pressure mercury lamps, and high-pressure mercury lamps in which metal halides such as scandium, sodium, and mercury are sealed together with rare gases such as argon, which are used as high-efficiency white light sources. This invention relates to a starting and lighting device for brightness discharge lamps such as sodium lamps.Although it has the advantage of being a high color rendering light source, it has the disadvantage that restarting is difficult because the internal pressure becomes extremely high after the initial starting. In metal halide lamps, a low-pressure glow discharge is first generated between the main electrode and the auxiliary electrode, so the starting voltage is low and initial starting is very easy. The voltage reaches several tens of kilovolts or more with an interelectrode gap of several to several tens of kilometres. An object of the present invention is to provide a starting and lighting device for a surface luminance discharge lamp, which automatically maintains direct low-frequency arc discharge at commercial voltage after starting. (d) Structure of the Invention The present invention can be summarized as follows. The electrode structure of a high-intensity discharge lamp is composed of a pair of opposing main electrodes and a high-frequency electrode facing one of the raw cloth sheets. The gap between the electrodes may be the same,
Or they may be different. A high frequency high voltage circuit is provided for applying a high frequency high voltage between the high frequency electrode and the main electrode facing the residual frequency electrode. In this case, the frequency tuning voltage circuit is driven by commercial power. Furthermore, when it is detected that a high-frequency arc discharge occurs between the high-frequency electrode and the main electrode or between a pair of main electrodes due to the high-frequency high voltage, that is, when it is detected that the inside of the tube is in a highly excited state, the high-frequency electrode Start control means is provided to cut off the application of high frequency and high voltage between the main electrode and the main electrode. Furthermore, the low frequency voltage of the commercial power source is applied between the pair of main electrodes. With the above configuration, when the commercial power is turned on, high frequency high voltage is first applied between the main electrode and the high frequency electrode, so
A high-frequency arc discharge occurs between these electrodes, and the inside of the tube becomes sub-excited. Main electrode. When high-frequency arc discharge occurs between the main electrodes, the conductivity between the main electrodes increases rapidly, and immediately after that, low-frequency arc discharge occurs between the main electrodes as well. Although only a low-frequency commercial voltage is applied between the main electrodes, the low frequency is caused by the softening of the excited state between the main electrodes due to the high-frequency arc discharge between the sub-frequency electrodes. This is because even at a low electric ratio, the transition to low frequency arc discharge is relatively easy. The starting control means detects a high frequency arc discharge between the high frequency electrode and the main electrode or a low frequency arc discharge between the main electrodes, and stops driving the high frequency high voltage circuit at the time of detection. Thereafter, the high-intensity discharge lamp maintains low-frequency arc discharge between the main electrodes using a commercial power source, which is a low-frequency AC power source. (Explanation of EL Embodiment FIG. 1 is a basic block diagram of an example of the lighting device of the present invention.A commercial power line #1 is connected to a metal halide lamp 5, which is an example of a high-intensity discharge lamp, via a current-limiting inductor 2. is connected to the main electrodes A and A' of the high frequency voltage generating circuit 3.
All direct drive. Although the output voltage of the high-frequency voltage generating circuit 3 is several times to several 10 times larger than the voltage of the commercial power supply 1, it does not reach the voltage required to restart the metal halide lamp 5σ. The output of the high frequency voltage generation circuit 3 is boosted by a step up circuit 4. The step-up ratio is set to be large enough to cover all phases of the still-frequency voltage necessary for restarting the metal halide lamp 5. This step-up circuit 4 and the high frequency pressure light generation circuit 3 constitute the entire pressure circuit for generating the high frequency voltage i+. Raw cloth 46 in metal halide lamp 5 <A, A'
are arranged facing each other within the tube. Further, a high frequency electric current ko is disposed opposite to the main electrode A. Although the gap between the electrodes is not shown, it is preferable that the gap between the main electrodes A' and A' is longer than the gap between the raw cloth A and the high-frequency electrode 41c. Note that when the high frequency voltage generating circuit 3 oscillates when the voltage across it drops below a certain level, the voltage is applied to the high frequency voltage generating circuit 3 and the main electrode A I of the metal halide lamp 5.
It is given between A'. At this time, the metal halide lamp 5 is in the state before discharge, VC
Therefore, there is a crystal impedance between A and A'. Therefore, the high frequency voltage generating circuit 3 is driven and its output voltage is applied between the main electrodes A and A'. However, since the voltage is not large enough to restart all of the metal halide lamps 5, it is only applied between the main electrodes A+A'. On the other hand, since the same output voltage is also supplied to the step-up circuit 4, the high-frequency high voltage boosted by Ni is applied between the raw cloth 4im'A and the high-frequency electrode C. Since the voltage after boosting is very high and has a surface frequency, when this voltage is applied, the voltage at electrode A increases within a very short time. High frequency arc discharge occurs between 0 and 0. When high-frequency arc discharge occurs within the tube, ionized ions rapidly increase and diffuse within the tube, so that the discharge starting voltage between the main electrodes A and A' (σ) decreases rapidly. Therefore, immediately after a high frequency arc discharge occurs between the electrodes A and C, a low frequency arc discharge occurs between the main electrodes A and A' due to the commercial power supply l. Once the discharge starts between the pipes A and A', the discharge is maintained by the commercial power source 1 since the excited state inside the tube is sufficiently maintained and sagging. On the other hand, when discharge begins between the main electrodes A I A', the impedance between the electrodes decreases rapidly. For this reason,
The voltage between the four sections of raw cloth becomes smaller and the high frequency voltage generation circuit 3
The drive stops. Therefore, when a discharge occurs between the main electrodes, the discharge between the main electrode A and the front frequency electric conductor C stops. In this way, the high-frequency voltage generation circuit 3 constitutes a part of the high-frequency high-voltage circuit, and also detects low-frequency arc discharge between the raw fabrics and stops driving the high-frequency high-voltage circuit upon detection. It also serves as all starting control means. As described above, when restarting the metal halide lamp 5, a high-frequency arc discharge is first generated between one main electrode and the high-frequency M pole, and the low-frequency arc discharge sound between the main electrodes is produced as a priming for all of the high-frequency arc discharge. Make it. In this way, the starting voltage can be lowered and restarting can be performed more easily than when the low frequency voltage is boosted. In this case, when a low frequency arc discharge occurs between the main electrodes, the operation of the secondary high voltage circuit is automatically stopped. So, power consumption? without increasing the size, and with insulation design
There is an advantage that the I tolerance value is also relaxed. In the above-mentioned starting device, the high-frequency voltage generating circuit 3 also serves as the starting control means, but an appropriate impedance circuit 6 is inserted into the connection line between the step-up circuit 4 and the high-frequency electrode C to adjust the impedance. The circuit 6 can also be used as a starting control means. Impedance circuit 6
When inserting a high frequency current 1<O, if a low frequency current 0 attempts to flow between the main electrodes A, an impedance drop voltage will occur due to the discharge current. Therefore, at the same time as the low-frequency arc discharge occurs, the low-frequency voltage between the high-frequency electrode C9 and the main electric conductor A is abruptly cut off. This results in a transition to low frequency arc discharge between A'. FIG. 2 shows a specific example of the above lighting device. Main tlf in metal halide lamp 5', 4i1<A,
The gap between electrode A and high frequency electrode C is set to approximately 11. Metal halides such as scandium, sodium, and mercury are sealed inside the tube along with rare gases such as argon.
Its inner tube volume is relatively small. The high frequency voltage generating circuit 3 has a thyristor 31. A non-linear inductor 32 and an intermittent capacitor 33 are connected in series in parallel with each other. In this circuit, when a commercial voltage is applied, the oscillation capacitor 3o and the nonlinear inductor 32 cooperate 1! IIIJ
This is an oscillation booster circuit that performs d-oscillation boosting for 1'F. The intermittent capacitor 33 repeats charging and discharging depending on the input terminal, and performs the above-mentioned oscillation boosting action in each half cycle 1σ of the commercial voltage. The step-up circuit 4 is composed of a step-up transformer 4'. The boost ratio is several times to lo several times. In this device, the single-frequency voltage generating circuit 3 is also used as a starting control means, and a capacitor 6' is inserted as an impedance circuit 6 between the high-frequency electrode C and the step-up transformer 4'. That is, the pre-quake voltage of the thyristor 31 is set to be lower than the voltage between the main electrodes during lighting, and when low frequency arc discharge starts between the main electrodes, the oscillation boosting operation is automatically stopped +h. Furthermore, when a low frequency arc discharge occurs between the high frequency poles C1 and 44A, a large drop voltage is generated across the capacitor 6', and the low frequency arc discharge Nk is immediately stopped. As mentioned above, the capacitor 6' is not necessarily reliable, and if the capacitor 6' is fully inserted, the breakover voltage of the thyristor 31 should be set high so that even if discharge begins between the main electrodes, the oscillation boost 1 will not occur.・[You may choose to do so as the business continues. In the above configuration, first, when the commercial power supply 1 is turned on, the oscillation capacitor 30 is charged via the current limiting inductor 2, and when the terminal voltage reaches the breakover voltage of the thyristor 31, the thyristor 31 becomes conductive. A step-up oscillation operation is started by the cooperative action of the oscillation capacitor 30 and the step-up nonlinear inductor 32. This operation takes place at the beginning of each half cycle of the mains voltage due to the action of the intermittent capacitor 33. Due to the above-mentioned dynamic current at the beginning of each half cycle, a current with a large amplitude intermittently flows through the primary winding of the step-up transformer 4', and a control wave voltage several times the commercial power supply voltage is generated intermittently. do. The step-up transformer 4' further steps up the high-frequency voltage according to the total turns ratio, and applies it between the high-frequency electrode C9 and the main electrode A of the metal halide lamp 5' via the capacitor 6'. The turns ratio is usually set to a value that boosts the negative side voltage several times. Due to the above-mentioned dynamic force, a sub-wave surface voltage of about 10 to several tens of times is applied between the main electrodes A of the high-frequency electric field C9, and a high-frequency arc discharge starts between both electrodes. Note that since this time is before the start of low frequency arc discharge, there is no voltage drop at the capacitor 6'. When a high frequency arc discharge starts between the high frequency electrode C2 and the main electrode A, a low frequency arc discharge starts almost simultaneously between the raw cloth 4 and the main electrode A and A'. In addition, the high frequency electrode C1
When a low frequency arc discharge occurs between the main electrodes 4I and 4A, a large voltage drop occurs at the condenser 6', which prevents the low frequency arc discharge between the main electrodes A and the frequency electrode C9. Then, when low frequency arc discharge starts between the main electrodes A and A', the voltage between the main electrodes becomes less than the breakover voltage of the thyristor 31, so the operation of the high frequency voltage generating circuit 3 is stopped. After that, the interior of the metal halide lamp 5' is kept in a highly excited state, so the commercial voltage is applied to the raw cloth.
A low frequency arc discharge between ', p, is maintained. In the above embodiment, the entire step-up transformer 41 is used as the step-up circuit 4, but an LO series resonant step-up circuit may also be used. In addition, the step-up circuit 4 is not one stage,
It may be configured with multiple stages. (F1 Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, the restart voltage of brightness discharge lamps such as metal halide lamps can be lowered, and after restarting, the application of the overvoltage voltage is automatically stopped. Since the low-frequency arc discharge is maintained in the main discharge path after stopping, the starting noise of metal halide lamps, etc., which was conventionally used at the inner end, can be easily, stably, and safely realized. Explanation Fig. 1 is a basic block diagram of an example of a field motion lighting device with a high yIi 11 degree emitting 1 lamp according to the present invention. Fig. 2 shows all specific examples of the same lighting device. 1.--Commercial power source; 3. High-frequency voltage generation circuit, 4. Step-up circuit, 5.--Metal halide lamp. 6.-- Impedance circuit, A (A')-- Ikufu, C.-- High frequency electrode.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A metal halide lamp having a pair of opposing main electrodes to which commercial power is applied and an auxiliary electrode opposing one of the main electrodes arranged in the tube; a high frequency high voltage circuit that applies a high frequency high voltage between one electrode of the auxiliary electrode and the main electrode; 1. A metal halide lamp lighting device comprising a starting control means for cutting off application of high frequency and high voltage between electrodes.