Illuminating system with gas discharge lamp used at low and high power levels

Claim 2

An illuminating system comprising a gas discharge lamp, a housing for said lamp, a circuit including a transformer connected with a supply of alternating current for the lamp, a circuit for the lamp including a capacitor in series with the secondary of the transformer and the gas discharge lamp for low power operation of the lamp, a timer adapted to be adjusted to time the duration of high power operation of the lamp, relay means operable through the timer to short out the capacitor to establish high power operation of the lamp during the period for which the timer is adjusted, relatively movable shutter means comprising a sheet of flexible material associated with said housing, flexible cable means connected with the end regions of the sheet of flexible material, a motor having a drive roll engaging the cable means for actuating said sheet of material, said sheet being operable when in open position to pass light from the gas discharge lamp and in closed position to substantially impede the passage of light from the lamp, and second relay means energized through the timer to actuate the motor to move the sheet of material to open position, said second relay means being operable when the time period for high power operation of the lamp expires to connect the capacitor in series with the lamp for low power operation and to energize the drive motor to move the sheet of material to closed position.

Claim 3

An illuminating system comprising a gas discharge lamp, a housing for said lamp, a circuit including a transformer connected with a supply of alternating current for the lamp, a circuit for the lamp including a capacitor in series with the secondary of the transformer and the gas discharge lamp for low power operation of the lamp, a timer adapted to be adjusted to time the duration of high power operation of the lamp, relay means operable through the timer to short out the capacitor to establish high power operation of the lamp during the period for which the timer has been adjusted, relatively movable shutter means comprising a sheet of flexible material associated with said housing, flexible cable means connected with the end regions of the sheet of flexible material, a motor having a drive roll engaging the cable means for actuating said sheet of material, said sheet being operable when in open position to pass light from the gas discharge lamp and in closed position to substantially impede the passage of light from the lamp, relay means energized through the timer to actuate the motor to move the flexible sheet of material to open position, diode means and resistance means associated with the fields of the motor, switch means operable when the sheet of material is moved to open position for applying dynamic braking to said motor through the diode means and the resistance means to prevent over-travel of the sheet of material, second relay means operable when the time period for high power operation of the lamp expires to connect the capacitor in series with the lamp for low power operation and to energize the drive motor to move the sheet of material to closed position, and switch means operable upon closing of the sheet of material to de-energize the motor and apply dynamic braking to the fields of the motor through the diode means and resistance means to prevent over-travel of the sheet of material in closed position.

Claim 4

An illuminating system comprising a gas discharge lamp, a housing for said lamp, a circuit including a transformer connected with a supply of alternating current for the lamp, a circuit for the lamp including a capacitor in series with the secondary of the transformer and the gas discharge lamp for low power operation of the lamp, a timer adapted to be adjusted to time the duration of high power operation of the lamp, relay means operable through the timer to short out the capacitor to establish high power operation of the lamp during the period for which the timer has been adjusted, relatively movable shutter means comprising a sheet of flexible material associated with said housing, flexible cable means connected with the end regions of the sheet of flexible material, a motor having a drive roll engaging the cable means for actuating said sheet of material, said sheet being operable when in open position to pass light from the gas discharge lamp and in closed position to substantially impede the passage of light from the lamp, relay means energized through the timer to actuate the motor to move the flexible sheet of material to open position, diode means and resistance means associated with the fields of the motor, switch means operable when the sheet of material is moved to open position for applying dynamic braking to said motor through the diode means and the resistance means to prevent over-travel of the sheet of material, second relay means operable when the time period for high power operation of the lamp expires to connect the capacitor in series with the lamp for low power operation and to energize the drive motor to move the sheet of material to closed position, and switch means operable upon closing of the sheet of material to de-energize the motor and apply dynamic braking to the fields of the motor through the diode means and resistance means to prevent over-travel of the sheet of material in closed position.

Claim 5

An illuminating system comprising a gas discharge lamp, a housing for the lamp, a circuit including a transformer connected with a supply of alternating current for the lamp, a circuit for the lamp including a capacitor in series with the secondary of the transformer and the gas discharge lamp, diode means, first relay means for connecting the diode means across the gas discharge lamp and in series with the capacitor across the secondary of the transformer whereby the capacitor is charged to peak voltage through the diode means during one-half cycle, the peak voltage of the capacitor summated with the applied voltage from the secondary of the transformer during the alternate half cycle providing increased voltage applied to the gas discharge lamp sufficient to establish the arc in the gas discharge lamp, an adjustable timer for determining the duration of high power operation of the lamp, second relay means operable through the timer to establish high power operation of the lamp during the period for which the timer is adjusted, relatively movable shutter means compRising a sheet of flexible material associated with said housing operable when in open position to pass light from the lamp and in closed position to substantially impede the passage of light from the lamp, a motor operable for moving the sheet of material to open and closed positions, and third relay means energized through the timer to actuate the motor to move the sheet of material to open position, said second relay means being operable when the time period for high power operation of the lamp expires to connect the capacitor in series with the lamp for low power operation, said third relay means being operable when the time period of the timer for high power operation of the lamp expires to energize the drive motor to move the sheet of material to closed position.

Claim 6

An illuminating system comprising a gas discharge lamp, a housing for the lamp, a circuit including a transformer connected with a supply of alternating current for the lamp, a circuit for the lamp including a capacitor in series with the secondary of the transformer and the gas discharge lamp, diode means, first relay means for connecting the diode means across the gas discharge lamp and in series with the capacitor across the secondary of the transformer whereby the capacitor is charged to peak voltage through the diode means during one-half cycle, the peak voltage of the capacitor summated with the applied voltage from the secondary of the transformer during the alternate half cycle providing increased voltage applied to the gas discharge lamp sufficient to establish the arc in the gas discharge lamp, an adjustable timer for determining the duration of high power operation of the lamp, second relay means operable through the timer to establish high power operation of the lamp during the period for which the timer is adjusted, relatively movable shutter means compRising a sheet of flexible material associated with said housing operable when in open position to pass light from the lamp and in closed position to substantially impede the passage of light from the lamp, a motor operable for moving the sheet of material to open and closed positions, and third relay means energized through the timer to actuate the motor to move the sheet of material to open position, said second relay means being operable when the time period for high power operation of the lamp expires to connect the capacitor in series with the lamp for low power operation, said third relay means being operable when the time period of the timer for high power operation of the lamp expires to energize the drive motor to move the sheet of material to closed position.

Claim 7

The system according to claim 3 including second diode means and resistance means associated with the fields of the motor, switch means operable when the sheet of material is moved to open position for applying dynamic braking to the motor through the second diode means and the resistance means to prevent over-travel of the sheet of material, and second switch means operable when the sheet of material is moved to closed position to de-energize the motor and apply dynamic braking to the fields of the motor through the second diode means and resistance means to prevent over-travel of the sheet of material in closed position.