Process and apparatus for providing image brightness over a wide range of discharge repetition rates

Claim 1

A process for supplying voltage to a load such as a flashtube and the like that is to be repetitively discharged by voltage periodically charged and stored in a voltage-multiplying power supply, that comprises, applying alternating-current voltage to a plurality of interconnected capacitor storage circuits each comprising closed charging and storing loops containing separate voltage-multiplying capacitors and rectifier elements with certain of the loops sharing common rectifier elements to enable voltage multiplication, triggering the discharge of the stored voltage developed across the storage circuits to discharge the same through the load, controlling said triggering to effect the same repetitively, each time following the substantially complete voltage charging and storing in the plurality of storage circuits, varying the repetition rate of said charging and storing, and adjusting the value of at least one of the voltagemultiplying capacitors to a value very small compared with the large voltage-regulating capacitance value of other of the voltage-multiplying capacitors to eliminate substantial resistive dissipation with variation of repetition rate and to provide a substantially linear variation of stored voltage across the storage circuits with current produced thereby through the load, when triggered, in order to produce substantially constant power in the load irrespective of the variation in the said repetition rate.