Patent ID: 7084579
Filing Date: 2006-08-01
Classification: H05B,Y02B

Abstract:
1. A ballast for powering at least one gas discharge lamp from an alternating current (AC) voltage source, the ballast comprising: a first hot input connection adapted for coupling to a hot wire of the AC voltage source via a first switch, the first switch having an on state and an off state; a second hot input connection adapted for coupling to the hot wire of the AC voltage source via a second switch, the second switch having an on state and an off state; a neutral input connection adapted for coupling to a neutral wire of the AC voltage source; a full-wave rectifier circuit coupled to the first hot input connection, the second hot input connection, and the neutral input connection; and a detector circuit coupled to the first and second hot input connections, the detector circuit being operable to provide an output voltage having a magnitude that is dependent on the states of the first and second switches but that is substantially unaffected by typical X capacitances being present between the hot input connections and the neutral input connection.