Lamp oscillator for atomic frequency standards
US5489821A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 27, 1994 |
| Grant date | Feb 6, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 27, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH03L7/26
- WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An apparatus for providing excitation of a vapor discharge lamp includes a control circuit for controlling an oscillator circuit during an ignition mode of the vapor discharge lamp to establish and maintain a substantially constant DC voltage at an output of an oscillator transistor and to establish a current flow through the oscillator transistor at a first current level sufficient to ignite the vapor discharge lamp, and for controlling the oscillator after ignition of the vapor discharge lamp to maintain the substantially constant DC voltage at the output of the oscillator transistor while reducing the current flow through the oscillator transistor from the first current level to a second current level, and in preferred embodiments, includes circuitry to suppress unwanted blocking oscillations and optimize the dynamic range of the control circuitry.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.