Glow discharge lamp having dual anodes and circuit for operating same
AssigneeGTE Products Corporation
InventorValery Godyak
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An AC operated glow lamp having a cathode electrode and a pair of anode electrodes driven from a capacitively ballasted autotransformer that provides phase inversion so as to enable a full wave rectification of the discharge current thus operating in a DC regime from an AC line. The double anode lamp and ballast circuitry provides for rapid lamp starting as well as continuous cathode heating during lamp operation.
Claims11
In combination, an electric discharge lamp having one and other anode electrodes and a cathode electrode common to both said anode electrodes, one and other input terminals for receiving an input AC signal having one and other signal half-cycles, means coupling said one and other input terminals to respective one and other anode electrodes and including a ballast element coupling from one of said input terminals, and phase inverting means comprising an autotransformer intercoupling said cathode electrode with said anode electrodes to enable discharge current flow between said cathode electrode and said one anode electrode during one half-cycle of the AC signal, and to enable discharge current flow between said cathode electrode and said other anode electrode during the other half-cycle of the AC signal.
A glow discharge lamp comprising:
- a light transmitting envelope containing a noble gas fill and mercury;
- a phosphor coating disposed on the inner surface of said envelope;
- a cathode electrode disposed in said envelope and having lead-in wires coupled thereto and extending through said envelope;
- and
- a pair of anode electrodes disposed in said envelope adjacent said cathode electrode and electrically isolated from said cathode electrode, each of said anode electrodes being in the form of a ring completely surrounding respective portions of said cathode electrode and having lead-in wires coupled thereto and extending through said envelope.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.