Circuit arrangement for igniting gas discharge devices

Claim 1

A CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENT ADAPTED TO BE DISPOSED WITH A SOURCE OF PREDETERMINED SIGNAL VOLTAGE AND THE INPUT MEANS OF A GAS DISCHARGE DEVICE FOR THE IGNITION OF SAID DEVICE, SAID DEVICE HAVING AN IGNITION RESPONSE TIME PERIOD CHARACTERISTIC FOR A GIVEN SIGNAL APPLIED THERETO PROPORTIONAL TO THE TEMPERATURE OF SAID GAS INCLUDING AT LEAST A FIRST TIME PERIOD OF RESPONSE FOR FIRST PREDETERMINED TEMPERATURES OF SAID GAS AND A SECOND TIME PERIOD OF RESPONSE FOR SECOND PREDETERMINED TEMPERATURES OF SAID GAS, SAID FIRST TIME PERIOD BEING RELATIVELY SMALLER THAN SAID SECOND TIME PERIOD, SAID CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENT COMPRISING TRANSFORMER MEANS HAVING A PRIMARY WINDING COUPLED TO SAID SOURCE AND A SECONDARY WINDING COUPLED TO SAID INPUT MEANS TO PROVIDE A FIRST OUTPUT SIGNAL SUFFICIENT TO IGNITE SAID DEVICE IN SAID FIRST TIME PERIOD AT SAID FIRST PREDETERMINED TEMPERATURES OF SAID GAS, AND SWITCHING MEANS COUPLED TO SAID TRANSFORMER MEANS OPERATIVE TO SHORT CIRCUIT AND OPEN CIRCUIT SEQUENTIALLY A PART OF SAID TRANSFORMER MEANS TO PROVIDE A SECOND OUTPUT SIGNAL SUFFICIENT TO IGNITE SAID DEVICE AT SAID SECOND PREDETERMINED TEMPERATURES OF SAID GAS IN A TIME PERIOD LESS THAN SAID SECOND TIME PERIOD, SAID SWITCHING MEANS HAVING A RESPONSE TIME GREATER THAN SAID FIRST TIME PERIOD AND BECOMING OPERATIVE WHENEVER SAID GAS DISCHARGE DEVICE IS EXTINGUISHED FOR A TIME PERIOD GREATER THAN THE RESPONSE TIME OF SAID SWITCHING MEANS.