Ignition device for oil burners

An ignition device for oil burners, comprising:

• a capacitor adapted to be connected to a source of alternating current through a choke coil to allow for the storage of electrical energy in said capacitor;
• transformer means having a primary winding, a step-up secondary winding, and a tertiary winding with the same magnetic polarity as said primary winding and which is magnetically coupled to said primary winding;
• said tertiary winding being coupled to said primary winding so that an electromotive force mutually induced in said tertiary winding is higher than and counter balanced with an electromotive force induced in said primary winding;
• a silicon controlled rectifier connected to said capacitor and in series circuit with said primary winding to control the discharge of said stored energy through said primary winding to induce a high voltage in said secondary winding which is in turn adapted to produce oil ignition sparks across a pair of electrodes;
• said silicon controlled rectifier including gate means to periodically gate said silicon controlled rectifier into conduction;
• and said tertiary winding being connected through a commutating diode to said capacitor with an output from said tertiary winding being supplied to said silicon controlled rectifier and said primary winding.