Patent ID: 7683595

Claim:
A method for actuating a switch regulating the power consumption in a power factor correction circuit which has input terminals for applying an input voltage and output terminals for providing an output voltage, in which the switch is cyclically turned on for an on-time and turned off for an off-time, respectively, in which a control signal which is dependent on the output voltage is generated, and in which the on-time has a first on-time period and a second on-time period which immediately precedes or succeeds the first on-time period, where a length of the first on-time period is dependent on the control signal, and a length of the second on-time period is proportional, at least for a given range of values for an instantaneous value of the input voltage, to a quotient having a first first-degree function for this instantaneous value in the denominator and a second first-degree function for the instantaneous value in the numerator, where function values for the first function increase as the instantaneous value rises.