Discharge lamp lighting circuit

A discharge lamp lighting circuit includes an emission acceleration controller for detecting a lamp voltage for the discharge lamp, and supplying power greater than a rated value when the discharge lamp is initially lighted, and for gradually reducing the power supplied thereafter so as to shift the discharge lamp to a steady state. Power control is provided so that the power supplied to the discharge lamp is reduced in accordance with a rise in the voltage of a capacitor, and a charge current is supplied to the capacitor by current sources that provide a current that depends on the time elapsed since the lighting of the discharge lamp started and a second current that depends on a lamp voltage.

What is claimed is:

1. A discharge lamp lighting circuit comprising:

an emission acceleration controller that detects a lamp voltage for a discharge lamp and supplies power greater than a rated value when the discharge lamp is initially lighted, and gradually reduces the power supplied thereafter to shift the discharge lamp to a steady state of operation,

wherein the emission acceleration controller provides power control so that the power supplied decreases as a voltage for a capacitor comprising the emission acceleration controller increases, and

wherein a charging current is supplied to the capacitor by a plurality of power sources having a first current that depends on time elapsed since the initially lighting of the discharge lamp, and a second current that depends on a level of the lamp voltage.

2. The discharge lamp lighting circuit of claim 1, wherein said discharge lamp comprises is substantially mercury-free.

3. The discharge lamp lighting circuit of claim 1, wherein said emission acceleration controller detects said lamp voltage via a detector comprising one of (a) a device that directly detects at least one of voltage and current of said discharge lamp, and (b) a device that detects an equivalent voltage for at least one of the voltage and the current of the discharge lamp.

4. The discharge lamp lighting circuit of claim 3, where said equivalent voltage detecting device comprises a voltage divided resistor that detects said discharge lamp voltage, and a current detection resistor that detects said discharge lamp current.

5. The discharge lamp lighting circuit of claim 1, wherein said emission acceleration controller comprises:

a power controller having,

an error amplifier for power calculation and

a power control and addition unit

wherein a terminal voltage of the capacitor is applied to the error amplifier through the power control and addition unit, and when the voltage of the capacitor is increased by the charge current supplied by the first current or the second current, transient power control is provided to reduce the power supplied to the discharge lamp in accordance with the rise in the voltage; and

an operation controller that receives a first control signal from the power controller and controls the output of a DC—DC converter coupled between a power source and said discharge lamp, by comparing the level of the control voltage applied by the power controller with the level of a lamp wave and generates a second control signal that is transmitted to said DC—DC converter and a switching device.

6. The discharge lamp lighting circuit of claim 5, wherein said DC—DC converter comprises:

a flyback configuration including a transformer and a switching device;

a rectifying and smoothing circuit comprising a diode coupled to said transformer and a capacitor coupled to said diode on the secondary side of the transformer.

7. The discharge lamp lighting circuit of claim 5, wherein said plurality of power sources comprise:

a constant voltage source for supplying the voltage coupled to the capacitor through a plurality of first resistors coupled in series to generate the first current source, wherein a first circuit unit is coupled in parallel with a first one of said plurality of resistors to provide a predetermined voltage to a second circuit unit coupled in parallel with a second one of said plurality of resistors, said second circuit unit comprising an NPN transistor, seconds resistors and a first comparator, wherein a negative input terminal of the comparator is connected to the capacitor, and a positive input terminal of the first comparator is connected to the positive input terminal of a second comparator; and

a system providing said second current source to said capacitor, comprising

a lamp voltage detector that applied said detected lamp voltage to a plurality of amplifiers to generate a signal output to a plurality of transistors to generate a lamp voltage detector output,

a current mirror circuit comprising a plurality of transistors to generate a current based on said lamp voltage detector output and a predetermined voltage, and

third and fourth circuit units that supply the second current to the capacitor based on respective predetermined reference voltages.

8. The discharge lamp lighting circuit according to claim 1, wherein from the start of the lighting of the discharge lamp until the discharge lamp is shifted to the steady state, a plurality of control areas are defined by at least one of (a) permitting the supply of one of the first current and the second current to the capacitor and (b) inhibiting the supply of one of the first current and the second current to the capacitor.

9. The discharge lamp lighting circuit according to claim 8, wherein said shifting from one of said control areas to a next one of said control areas is determined based on at least one of the level of a terminal voltage at the capacitor or the level of the lamp voltage.

10. The discharge lamp lighting circuit according to claim 2, wherein when the lighting of the discharge lamp is started, a charging path is formed for supplying the first current to the capacitor, and when the discharge lamp is turned off or the supply of power to the discharge lamp lighting circuit is halted, a discharging path to the capacitor is formed in the direction opposite to that of the charging path, and a discharge time constant for the capacitor is set to a value greater than a charge time constant for the capacitor.

11. The discharge lamp lighting circuit according to claim 8, wherein the control areas comprise:

a first area at the start of the period of transition to the steady state;

a second area in a middle period of said transition to the steady state, wherein the first current and the second current are supplied to the capacitor; and

a third area at the end of the period of transition to the steady state, wherein in the first area and the third area only the first current is supplied to the capacitor.

12. The discharge lamp lighting circuit according to claim 11, wherein said shifting from one of said control areas to a next one of said control areas is determined based on at least one of the level of a terminal voltage at the capacitor or the level of the lamp voltage.

13. The discharge lamp lighting circuit according to claim 11, wherein when the terminal voltage of the capacitor is equal to or greater than a first threshold value and the lamp voltage is equal to or greater than a lamp voltage threshold value, the emission acceleration control is shifted from the first area to the second area, and when the terminal voltage of the capacitor is equal to or greater than a second threshold value, the emission acceleration control is shifted from the second area to the third area.

14. The discharge lamp lighting circuit according to claim 11, wherein a rate at which a terminal voltage of the capacitor rises in the third area is slower than a rate at which the terminal voltage of the capacitor rises in the first area.

15. The discharge lamp lighting circuit according to claim 11, wherein the second area is further divided into a plurality of area segments, and the second current is changed in each of the area segments.

16. The discharge lamp lighting circuit according to claim 11, wherein when the lighting of the discharge lamp is started, a charging path is formed for supplying the first current to the capacitor, and when the discharge lamp is turned off or the supply of power to the discharge lamp lighting circuit is halted, a discharging path to the capacitor is formed in the direction opposite to that of the charging path, and a discharge time constant for the capacitor is set to a value greater than a charge time constant for the capacitor.