Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
  • H05B41/00—Circuit arrangements or apparatus for igniting or operating discharge lamps
  • H05B41/02—Details
  • H05B41/04—Starting switches
  • H05B41/042—Starting switches using semiconductor devices
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
  • H05B41/00—Circuit arrangements or apparatus for igniting or operating discharge lamps
  • H05B41/14—Circuit arrangements
  • H05B41/26—Circuit arrangements in which the lamp is fed by power derived from dc by means of a converter, e.g. by high-voltage dc
  • H05B41/28—Circuit arrangements in which the lamp is fed by power derived from dc by means of a converter, e.g. by high-voltage dc using static converters
  • H05B41/288—Circuit arrangements in which the lamp is fed by power derived from dc by means of a converter, e.g. by high-voltage dc using static converters with semiconductor devices and specially adapted for lamps without preheating electrodes, e.g. for high-intensity discharge lamps, high-pressure mercury or sodium lamps or low-pressure sodium lamps
  • H05B41/292—Arrangements for protecting lamps or circuits against abnormal operating conditions
  • H05B41/2921—Arrangements for protecting lamps or circuits against abnormal operating conditions for protecting the circuit against abnormal operating conditions
  • H05B41/2925—Arrangements for protecting lamps or circuits against abnormal operating conditions for protecting the circuit against abnormal operating conditions against abnormal lamp operating conditions
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
  • H05B47/00—Circuit arrangements for operating light sources in general, i.e. where the type of light source is not relevant
  • H05B47/20—Responsive to malfunctions or to light source life; for protection

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a circuit arrangement for igniting a gas discharge lamp according to the preamble of claim 1.
• the starting point of the present invention is a standard switching device, as is known, for example, from EP 847 680 AI by the applicant.
• This known standard switching device has a so-called intelligent timer, which monitors the process of lamp start and lamp ignition.
• the timer monitors the starting process of the lamp.
• a fixed total ignition time of, for example, 20 minutes is specified. If this total ignition time is unsuccessful, i.e. if it is not possible to ignite the gas discharge lamp successfully within 20 minutes, further ignition processes are stopped and the entire circuit changes to a so-called SLEEP mode, in which the lamp is no longer activated becomes.
• SLEEP mode so-called SLEEP mode
• the present invention is based on the object of making further improvements based on the known ballast, by means of which an optimized lamp start can be carried out.
• an optimized lamp start can be carried out.
• a lamp which is still defective is unsuccessfully actuated over a longer period of time after a reset has been carried out.
• the object is achieved by a circuit arrangement having the features of claim 1 and by a method for operating a gas discharge lamp according to claim 11.
• Advantageous developments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.
• the circuit arrangement changes to a SLEEP mode after the total ignition time has expired unsuccessfully, that is to say makes no further attempts at ignition.
• the information that the lamp start was unsuccessful is stored in a storage element.
• the storage can be done both software and hardware. After performing a reset, this information is then available to the circuit arrangement, for example, so that it can react to it in a suitable manner.
• the information that the last lamp start was unsuccessful can be used in different ways.
• the circuit arrangement has a display element - for example in the form of an LED - which displays the information that the last attempt to start was unsuccessful and the circuit arrangement is therefore in SLEEP mode. For an electrician, it is therefore easy to see which ballasts need to be replaced.
• the total ignition time is significantly reduced in the event that the last lamp start was unsuccessful.
• the total ignition time is selected such that a proper lamp can be ignited safely. For example, it would be conceivable to select a period of 10 seconds as the shortened total ignition time.
• the circuit arrangement switches back to SLEEP mode prematurely, since the unsuccessful ignition attempts indicate that the defective lamp has not yet been replaced. If, however, a lamp start can be carried out successfully, the information that the last lamp start was unsuccessful is deleted again, since it can be assumed that a lamp change has been carried out.
• the advantage of the procedure according to the invention lies in the fact that when the mains supply voltage is switched on again, a possibly defective lamp is only activated for a relatively short period of time, so that on the one hand energy is saved and, on the other hand, additional damage to the lamp and the components connected to the lamp can be avoided by the high-voltage ignition pulses. At the same time, however, the period is sufficiently long so that a new and correct lamp can be ignited with certainty. Operational reliability is thus further increased with improved energy savings.
• Fig. 1 shows an electronic ballast with a circuit arrangement designed according to the invention for starting and igniting a gas discharge lamp and
• Fig. 2 is a flow chart to illustrate the inventive method.
• ballast 1 shows an electronic ballast, generally provided with the reference number 1, which is designed to control and operate a gas discharge lamp LA.
• the ballast 1 On the input side, the ballast 1 has connections for connection to the general power supply, at the output of the ballast 1 there is an ignition device 3 designed according to the invention, which is responsible for carrying out the lamp start and for igniting the gas discharge lamp LA.
• the general operation of the ballast 1 is monitored by a control unit 2, which is connected to the ignition device 3.
• the other components of the ballast 1, which are provided, for example, for converting the mains supply voltage U 0 into a voltage required for lamp operation have not been shown. The design and functions of these components are already well known and need not be explained in more detail here.
• the igniter 3 is designed to start the lamp upon a command from the control unit 2 and in particular to ignite the lamp LA. Depending on the type of lamp, the lamp filaments must first be heated before the lamp LA is then ignited by applying high-voltage pulses.
• a functional, new lamp can usually be ignited within a very short period of time. This time period is, for example, 10 to 15 seconds, in which a lamp can also be ignited in the context of a so-called cold start, in which the lamp filaments are not preheated. elder Lamps, on the other hand, sometimes cannot be ignited immediately due to wear and tear, so that several ignition attempts are sometimes required until the lamp is finally started successfully.
• the ignition device 3 has a timer circuit 4, the task of which is to determine the duration of the start - / Ignition phase to monitor. It is usually provided that after the start of the start attempt, a maximum of 20 minutes is attempted to ignite the gas discharge lamp LA. If, however, no ignition can be carried out within this so-called total ignition time, the timer circuit 4 informs the ignition device 3 that the total ignition time has expired.
• the igniter 3 then dispenses with further start attempts and goes into a SLEEP mode.
• this SLEEP mode in which the control unit 2 and the other components of the electronic ballast 1 are also placed, there is only minimal power consumption, so that ultimately energy is saved.
• the ignition device 3 additionally has a memory element 5 in which the information is stored as to whether the last attempt to start was successful or not.
• the storage element 5 can be both a software element and an element that stores the information in hardware. The information contained in the storage element 5 can then be used in various ways.
• the information in the storage element i.e. the information as to whether the last lamp start was successful or not is displayed externally, so that maintenance personnel can easily recognize whether a lamp change must be carried out or not.
• a display element in the form of an LED 6 is provided for this purpose, which is arranged on the outside of the housing of the ballast 1 and is connected to the ignition device 3. If the memory element 5 indicates that the last lamp start was unsuccessful, this is indicated by the LED 6. An electrician can now easily recognize that the lamp LA is likely to be defective and should be replaced accordingly.
• a particularly advantageous possibility for utilizing the information contained in the storage element 5 consists in choosing the total ignition time to be determined when a new lamp is started as a function of this information. As mentioned at the beginning, a period of 20 minutes is usually set for the lamp to be started. However, if the power supply voltage is now reset and the information in the memory element indicates that the last lamp start was unsuccessful, there are two possibilities. On the one hand, the reset could have been carried out accidentally without first exchanging the defective lamp LA. In this case, it would be pointless to try to start the lamp LA again over a period of 20 minutes. In addition, this would also represent unnecessary energy consumption. However, if the LA lamp was replaced by a new one, a total ignition time of 20 minutes is also too long, since it can be assumed that a new lamp can be started within a significantly shorter period of time.
• the total ignition time is determined as a function of the information contained in the storage element 5 at the start of a lamp start. If the memory element 5 indicates that the last lamp start was successful, a total ignition time of, for example, 20 minutes is set in the usual way. However, if the so-called start abort marker was set, ie if the memory element 5 indicates that the last lamp start was unsuccessful, a significantly reduced total ignition time is determined when the lamp is started again. For this purpose, a period of 10 to 15 seconds could preferably be set, which is certainly sufficient on the one hand to ignite a new lamp LA, which on the one hand on the other hand, it is also short enough to avoid unnecessary energy consumption when trying to start a defective lamp.
• the procedure according to the invention is summarized schematically in FIG. 2.
• the commissioning of the lamp consists in deleting the memory content as the default setting (step 11). It is therefore assumed that a functional lamp is available at the beginning.
• the ballast By switching on the power supply (step 12), the ballast is now informed that a lamp start should be carried out.
• the total ignition time is then determined on the basis of the information contained in the storage element 5. As previously explained, a long total ignition time is selected if the last lamp start was successful or the start abort marker is deleted, whereas if the last lamp start was unsuccessful and the start abort marker is set accordingly a short total ignition time is set.
• a lamp start is then carried out, possibly with several ignition attempts, with the step 15 continuously monitoring whether the lamp has been ignited or not within the period of the total ignition time. If this is the case, the system switches to normal lamp operation (step 16). At the same time, any start abort marker that may have been set is deleted in the memory element 5, which means that the next start starts with a long ignition time, ie the longer period is set when the lamp is started again.
• step 17 If, on the other hand, the lamp could not be started within the total ignition time set in step 13, further ignition attempts are set and the ballast switches to SLEEP mode (step 17), in which minimal power consumption takes place.
• the start abort marker is set in the memory element 5, which means that a short ignition time is selected when a new attempt is made to start.
• a reset which automatically initiates a new lamp start, is now carried out by first switching off the power supply (step 18). The ballast then detects that the power supply is switched on again and interprets it as a start signal, with the lamp starting again starting with step 12 and possibly with a changed total ignition time.
• the solution according to the invention thus ensures that unnecessary attempts to start a defective lamp are avoided. In addition to saving energy, this can also prevent damage.
• the storage of the information as to whether the last lamp ignition was successful or not also has the advantage that it is easy for a user to recognize whether a lamp change must be carried out. It should be noted here that it is not absolutely necessary to also store the information in the storage element that the last ignition was successful. Ultimately, as described above, it is sufficient to set a specific marker or a so-called tag if an ignition was unsuccessful and, in the event that a new ignition was successful, to delete this marker again. It should also be noted that the present invention is independent of the type of ignitor used. Both superimposed ignitors and pulser igniters, for example, can be designed in the same way according to the invention.

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• Circuit Arrangements For Discharge Lamps (AREA)
• Circuit Arrangement For Electric Light Sources In General (AREA)

Priority Applications (4)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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Country Status (6)

Cited By (4)

Citations (7)

• 2004
  • 2004-04-15 DE DE102004018345A patent/DE102004018345A1/de not_active Withdrawn
• 2005
  • 2005-02-02 AT AT05707148T patent/ATE392793T1/de active
  • 2005-02-02 DE DE502005003745T patent/DE502005003745D1/de active Active
  • 2005-02-02 EP EP05707148A patent/EP1736038B1/de not_active Not-in-force
  • 2005-02-02 CN CN2005800111554A patent/CN1943283B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2005-02-02 WO PCT/EP2005/001035 patent/WO2005109965A1/de active IP Right Grant
  • 2005-02-02 ES ES05707148T patent/ES2304687T3/es active Active

Patent Citations (7)

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