Patent ID: 6717370
Filing Date: 2004-04-06
Classification: H05B,Y02B

Abstract:
A circuit arrangement for feeding a lamp, the circuit arrangement comprising:input terminals that are to be connected to a supply voltage source, a power circuit coupled to the input terminals and provided with at least one switching element for generating a lamp current at a frequency f from a supply voltage supplied by the supply voltage source, a drive circuit coupled to a control electrode of the switching element for generating a drive signal for rendering the switching element alternately conducting and non-conducting at the frequency f, a control circuit that comprises a microprocessor and is coupled to the power circuit and to the drive circuit for controlling a lamp quantity, and a protection circuit coupled to the power circuit and to the drive circuit for blocking the drive of the switching element, characterized in that the protection circuit is additionally coupled to the control circuit for interrupting the operation of the control circuit via the microprocessor, and in that the protection circuit blocks the drive of the switching element until the operation of the control circuit is interrupted.