High frequency circuit for operating a high-intensity gaseous discharge lamp

Claim 2

A high-Q coil for providing high voltage, high frequency operation to a high frequency gaseous-discharge lamp circuit, comprising a low dielectric loss, low conductivity bobbin, litz wire wound on said bobbin to substantially fill said bobbin, a matching pair of ferrite core halves supporting said bobbin so as to have an air gap spacing between said halves, said air gap spacing experimentally determined by selecting the highest Q available for the selected pot core by varying the gap spacing for a selected trial number of turns, the number of turns of litz wire being determined by selecting the number thereof for the gap spacing producing the high Q with the selected trial number of turns, and a low dielectric loss, low conductivity screw for securing said core to said bobbin to thereby create a high-Q coil.

Claim 3

A high-Q coil as set forth in claim 1, wherein said bobbin is nylon and is part of a pot core coil.

Claim 4

A high-Q coil as set forth in claim 1, wherein said litz wire comprises strands of between No. 40 and 44 insulated wire and the bundle of litz wire includes between approximately 85 and 189 twisted strands.

Claim 5

A high-Q coil as set forth in claim 1, wherein said litz wire is wound in such configuration to form approximately five layers of eight turns each.

Claim 6

A high-Q coil set forth in claim 1, wherein said gap spacing is in the range of about 65 thousandths of an inch.

Claim 7

A high-Q coil as set forth in claim 1 having a Q of approximately 300 rated nominally at 240 rms at 100 kHz.

Claim 8

A high-Q coil as set forth in claim 1, wherein said insulating material between said layers in Mylar.

Claim 9

A high-Q coil as set forth in claim 1, wherein said screw is nylon.

Claim 10

The process of producing a high-Q coil for use in a high frequency, gaseous discharge lamp energizing circuit, comprising the steps of: (a) selecting a ferrite pot core suitable for accepting a number of turns of wire at the operating frequency and voltage for the coil; (b) winding on the bobbin of said core a selected number of turns of a predetermined litz wire configuration; (c) spacing half of said pot core from its matching half at a selected gap spacing; (d) measuring the Q of the coil; (e) repeating said spacing and measuring steps for a plurality of selected gap spacings to determine the highest Q measurement for said selected number of turns; (g) spacing half of said pot core from its matching half at the gap spacing giving the highest Q measurement; (h) measuring the Q of the coil for the second selected number of turns; (i) repeating said winding step for a plurality of additional selected number of turns; and (j) for each of said repeated winding steps, repeating said spacing and measuring steps for determining the number of turns and gap spacing producing the highest Q measurement.

Claim 11

The process of producing a high-Q coil for use in a high frequency, gaseous discharge lamp energizing circuit, comprising the steps of: (a) selecting a ferrite pot core suitable for accepting a number of turns of wire at the operating frequency and voltage for the coil; (b) winding on the bobbin of said core a selected number of turns of a predetermined litz wire configuration; (c) spacing half of said pot core from its matching half at a selected gap spacing; (d) measuring the Q of the coil; (e) repeating said spacing and measuring steps for a plurality of selected gap spacings to determine the highest Q measurement for said selected number of turns; (g) spacing half of said pot core from its matching half at the gap spacing giving the highest Q measurement; (h) measuring the Q of the coil for the second selected number of turns; (i) repeating said winding step for a plurality of additional selected number of turns; and (j) for each of said repeated winding steps, repeating said spacing and measuring steps for determining the number of turns and gap spacing producing the highest Q measurement.

Claim 12

The process as set forth in claim 9, wherein said selected number of turns includes a number from 40 to 60 and where said litz wire comprises strands of between no. 40 and 44 insulated wire and the bundle of litz wire includes between approximately 85 and 189 twisted strands.

Claim 13

The coil product produced by the process set forth in claim 9.