Constant voltage supply system including a constant current source driven switching regulator

Claim 1

Circuit arrangement for providing a DC voltage supply to at least a power utilizing means by way of respective power supply means, said power supply means having an input coupled in a supply loop carrying an impressed current, said respective power supply means including a switching regulator having a controllable switching element and being coupled in parallel to said input of said power supply means by way of a series inductance and a first capacitance in parallel, said controllable switching element having coupled in parallel therewith a series circuit of a diode, said diode being non-conductive when said controllable switching element is conductive, and a second capacitance having a DC voltage converter coupled thereacross, said controllable switching element being controllable by way of a control circuit depending upon a DC voltage to be maintained at least substantially constant across at least one of said second capacitance and an output of said DC voltage converter such that within a regulating range of said switching regulator, relative duration of ON time becomes increasingly smaller for increasingly greater output current, said first capacitance being at least ten (10) times smaller than said second capacitance.