Abstract: High-efficiency inverter circuits, particularly half-bridge devices, are especially suitable for energizing gas discharge lamps. The inverters preferably employ a series-connected combination of an inductor and a capacitor to be energized upon periodic transistor conduction. Transistor drive current is preferably provided through the use of at least one saturable inductor to control the transistor inversion frequency to be equal to or higher than the natural resonant frequency of the inductor and capacitor combination. The inverters can develop high output voltages to supply external loads connected to the inductor-capacitor combinations.

Abstract: High-efficiency inverter circuits, particularly half-bridge devices, are especially suitable for energizing gas discharge lamps. The inverters preferably employ a series-connected combination of an inductor and a capacitor to be energized upon periodic transistor conduction. Transistor drive current is provided through the use of at least one saturable inductor to control the transistor inversion frequency to be equal to or higher than the natural resonant frequency of the inductor and capacitor combination. The inverters can develop high output voltages to supply external loads connected to the inductor-capacitor combination.

Abstract: In a track lighting system for a 277 volt power line, proper voltage for powering 120 volt incandescent lamps is obtained by way of an integral electronic transformer-less voltage conditioner. Thus, ordinary 120 volt incandescent lamps can be used directly in the power tracks of this track lighting system, the voltage conditioner includes a full-bridge rectifier providing an unfiltered DC supply voltage consisting of sinusoidally-shaped unidirectional voltage pulses having an RMS magnitude of 277 volt. This DC supply voltage is provided to a half-bridge inverter; which, as long as it is in operation, provides a high-frequency output voltage of RMS magnitude equal to half of the RMS magnitude of the DC supply voltage.

Abstract: Particularly for use in wintertime, a plant rejuvenator is provided in the form of a wall-hung shelf that is internally covered with reflective material. Along the rear wall of the shelf, in front of the reflective material, is positioned an array of fluorescent lamps. Within the shelf, in front of the fluorescent lamps, is placed one or more potted plants; each plant positioned on an automatically rotating pot-base. Covering the front of the shelf is a partially transparent folding door. When closed, the door reflects some 90% of the light impinging upon it, but lets through the remaining 10%. A ventilation fan is arranged to maintain the temperature within the shelf at an optimum level. An automatic watering and feeding arrangement maintains the soil of each potted plant such as to promote effective plant growth. The light provided in intense enough to sustain a high degree of plant growth. The automatic rotation of the pots provides for even exposure to light.

Abstract: An otherwise regular 12 volt 60 Ampere-hour automotive storage battery comprises a built-in automatic electronic inverter-type battery charger.This built-in battery charger is operable to connect with an ordinary 120 Volt/60 Hz power line by way of an electrical power cord having a male plug at one end and a female plug at the other end--with the male plug being adapted for insertion into an ordinary household electrical outlet and the female plug being adapted for insertion into a recessed male receptacle means mounted on the body of the battery.When so connected, the built-in battery charger is operable to charge the battery at a six Ampere rate until fully charged. At the point of full charge, charging automatically terminates and is restarted only if the magnitude of the voltage across the battery terminals falls below a predetermined level.There is complete electrical isolation between the terminals of the recessed male receptacle on the storage battery and the battery power output posts.

Abstract: An inverter-type fluorescent lamp ballast is powered from the power line by way of a common and either of two (or more) different power leads. When powering the ballast by way of the common and the first one of these two power leads, the power provided to the ballast's fluorescent lamp load is relatively low; when powering the ballast by way of the common and the second one of these two power leads, the power provided to the ballasts's fluorescent lamp load is relatively high. In a lighting system, the power leads from each of several such ballasts are parallel-connected and controllably powered from the power line by way of a combination of two ordinary single-pole single-throw wall switches; such that when one of the two wall switches is in its ON-position, the amount of light provided is relatively low; but when the other one of the two wall switches is in its ON-position, the amount of light provided is relatively high.

Abstract: An inverter is powered by the pulsed DC voltage obtained by unfiltered full-wave rectification of the AC power line voltage provided from an ordinary electric utility power line. The output of the inverter is a 30 kHz squarewave voltage having an instantaneous absolute magnitude that is proportional to that of the AC power line voltage. By way of a step-down voltage transformer, the 30 kHz squarewave inverter output voltage is applied to the filament of a low voltage incandescent lamp.

Abstract: An incandescent lamp has a first and a second filament, one or the other of which is arranged to connect with the socket voltage in an ordinary lamp socket by way of a bistable thermally actuated switch built into the lamp. Upon initial provision of the socket voltage, the first filament is arranged to connect with the socket voltage and to so remain connected except if the thermal switch were to actuate. Provided the second filament is intact, the thermal switch will indeed actuate after but a few seconds; whereafter this second filament gets connected with the socket voltage, so to remain connected until the socket voltage is removed or until this second filament fails. After the second filament has indeed failed, the thermal switch will not get actuated and the socket voltage will not switch away from the first filament.

Abstract: A fluorescent lamp is connected in parallel with the tank capacitor of a resonant L-C circuit series-excited by a 30 kHz voltage from a self-oscillating inverter. The inverter's DC supply voltage is at certain times obtained directly from unfiltered full-wave-rectified 120 Volt/60 Hz power line voltage and at certain other times from an energy-storing capacitor kept charged to a given voltage level by up-conversion from the unfiltered full-wave-rectified rectified power line voltage. The up-conversion is accomplished via a FET transistor switched at 30 kHz with a gate-drive derived from the L-C circuit. Whenever the magnitude of the DC supply voltage exceeds a predetermined level, the gate-drive voltage ceases to be provided and the up-conversion process ceases. Whenever up-conversion does take place, the magnitude of the current drawn from the power line is proportional to the instantaneous magnitude of the power line voltage.

Abstract: A half-bridge inverter is powered from a DC voltage source and has a series-tuned high-Q LC circuit connected across its output. A load is normally connected across the tank capacitor of the LC circuit. When a load is not so connected, the magnitude of the high-frequency current flowing through the LC circuit would tend to increase to destructively high levels. To prevent this from taking place, the high frequency current is controlled by making the inverter skip a charging-cycle each time the peak magnitude of this current exceeds a pre-determined level. In particular, during normally loaded operation, the LC circuit receives a charge from the DC voltage source for each individual half-cycle of the inverter's oscillation. However, if--during a given inverter half-cycle--the magnitude of the high frequency current exceeds a predetermined level, a control circuit acts to prevent the inverter from completing its immediately following half-cycle.

Abstract: In a power-line-operated power-factor-corrected electronic ballast, a pair of series-connected fluorescent lamps is powered via a tuned L-C circuit that is series-excited by the rectangular-wave 33 kHz voltage output of a half-bridge inverter and parallel-loaded by the fluorescent lamps. Power factor correction is attained via two energy-storing capacitors charged during periods when the instantaneous absolute magnitude of the power line voltage exceeds half of its peak absolute magnitude and discharged when it fails to exceed half of this peak absolute magnitude. As a result, a so-called valley-filled DC voltage is provided to the inverter; which results in the inverter's rectangular-wave output voltage being about 50% amplitude-modulated. In spite of this high degree of amplitude-modulation, the resulting lamp current crest factor is only about 1.8.

Abstract: In an electronic ballast for powering three series-connected fluorescent lamps with a 30 kHz lamp current, a half-bridge series-resonance-type inverter circuit is powered from a substantially constant-magnitude DC supply voltage derived from ordinary 60 Hz power line voltage by way of a bridge rectifier and a single-transistor DC-to-DC converter using an energy-storing inductor with an isolated secondary winding from which the DC supply voltage is derived. Thus, the DC supply voltage is electrically isolated from the power line, as is also the inverter circuit itself as well as the ballast's output terminals. Lamp dimming is accomplished via a dimming control directly connected with the inverter circuit.

Abstract: A financial institution, such as a bank, issues numerous uniquely coded certificates to various individual entities in exchange for monetary value received. The holder of each certificate is entitled to receive a certain average rate of income from the monetary value represented by that certificate; which average rate of income would generally be proportional to prevailing interest rate as well as to the monetary value represented by the certificate. To avoid the relatively high transaction costs associated with periodic payments of a relatively modest income to the holder of each of numerous individual certificates, a statistical method is used. By way of this statistical method, a relatively few of the numerous uniquely coded certificates are randomly chosen at the end of each of a continuous sequence of time periods, and all the income attributable to all the issued certificates for the associated time period is then paid to the holders of the relatively few certificates chosen for that time period.

Abstract: A central entity issues lottery tickets to various individual entities, such as persons, in exchange for sums of money. The central entity cumulates the money thereby received and uses it for generating earnings, such as interest or dividends from investments. The holder of each lottery ticket is entitled periodically to participate in lottery drawings by which a substantial portion of the earnings for a preceeding period is paid to but one or a few of the lottery ticket holders. As a result, each lottery ticket is in effect everlasting, participating in lottery drawings on a periodic basis, such as once each week, for an indefinitely long duration. At an earnings rate of 10% per annum and with a total of $10 billion having been accumulated in lottery receipts, the weekly earnings would be about $20 million; which, if disbursed over a period of 20 years or so, as is typically done by state lottery systems, could be touted as amounting to a $50 million lottery prize.

Abstract: An inverter is powered by the pulsed DC voltage obtained by unfiltered full-wave rectification of the 60 Hz voltage from a regular electric utility power line. As long as the magnitude of the DC supply voltage is higher than a certain threshold level, the inverter can be triggered into 30 kHz self-sustaining oscillation. However, this oscillation stops as soon as the magnitude of the DC supply voltage falls below this certain threshold level. Thereafter, the inverter will not restart its oscillation, regardless of the magnitude of the DC supply voltage, except if provided with another trigger signal.Thus, the inverter can be made to operate in fashion analogous to that of a thyristor: Once triggered, the inverter will provide a 30 kHz output of magnitude substantially proportional to that of its DC supply voltage; but as soon as the magnitude of its DC supply voltage decreases below a certain threshold level, as indeed occurs once every half-cycle of the 60 Hz voltage, it will cease to provide an output.

Abstract: A central entity issues lottery tickets to various individual entities, such as persons, in exchange for sums of money. The central entity cumulates the money thereby received and uses it for generating earnings, such as interest or dividends from investments. The holder of each lottery ticket is entitled periodically to participate in lottery drawings by which a substantial portion of the earnings for a preceeding period is paid to but one or a few of the lottery ticket holders. As a result, each lottery ticket is in effect everlasting, participating in lottery drawings on a periodic basis, such as once each week, for an indefinitely long duration. At an earnings rate of 10% per annum and with a total of $10 billion having been accumulated in lottery receipts, the weekly earnings would be about $20 million; which, if disbursed over a period of 20 years or so, as is typically done by state lottery systems, could be touted as amounting to a $50 million lottery price.

Abstract: From a central point, both telephone signals and Class-2 high frequency electric power are transmitted by way of a common transmission cable to the location of a telephone apparatus; thereby to provide at that location, not only telephone signals, but also a limited amount of electric power useful for various things, such as task lighting. At the central point there is provided a non-interruptible source of electric energy, namely a frequency-converting power supply connected both with an ordinary 120 Volt/60 Hz power line as well as with a storage battery. This power supply provides output of Class-2 high frequency voltage. Together with the telephone signals, this Class-2 voltage is transmitted by way of an ordinary telephone installation cable to the location of a telephone apparatus.

Abstract: In a combined telephone and electric power distribution system, both telephone signals and electric power are distributed by way of a common distribution system wherein signal conducting means (such as optical fibers) and electric power conducting means are routed alongside each other to/from various utilization points, such as to/from a telephone instrument, a computer, an electric lighting fixture and/or a power receptacle. At some of these utilization points, telephone signal receptacles are provided alongside electric power receptacles. At other points, the signal conducting means is terminated in a radio transceiver and wireless signal radiation/receiving means. In a typical situation, such a transceiver has its antenna mounted at or near a ceiling lighting fixture; which radio antenna interacts with some other transceiver combined with a telephone and/or other information-handling apparatus located nearby.

Abstract: In an inverter-type fluorescent lamp ballast adapted to be powered from a DC supply voltage consisting of a substantially non-filtered full-wave-rectified 60 Hz power line voltage, the inverter's output is a 120 Hz magnitude-modulated squarewave voltage of frequency controllable about 30 kHz. The magnitude-modulated squarewave voltage is applied across a series-connected high-Q L-C circuit. The fluorescent lamp is connected in parallel with the tank capacitor of this L-C circuit. The magnitude of the current drawn by the fluorescent lamp is a sensitive function of the frequency of the squarewave voltage and is controlled by correspondingly controlling the frequency of this squarewave voltage.

Abstract: A self-oscillating half-bridge inverter is powered from a power-line-operated DC voltage source. The inverter is loaded by way of a series-tuned high-Q LC circuit connected across its output. A pair of fluorescent lamps is series-connected across the tank-capacitor of the LC circuit. The inverter has two bipolar transistors, each driven by an associated saturable current transformer that provides for a transistor ON-time dependent upon the magnitude of an associated bias voltage. One of the transistors has a control arrangement connected in circuit with its associated saturable transformer and operative to control the magnitude of its associated bias voltage. As the magnitude of this bias voltage is controlled, the magnitude of the voltage across the tank-capacitor, as well as of the current available therefrom, is correspondingly controlled.