Patent ID: 7623018

Claim:
An electronic ballast comprising: a ballast housing; and an inductor, wherein the inductor has a plate stack having a vertical lamination structure for its low frequency magnetic core, wherein ballast power rating affects a plate stack length, but not the plate stack width or the plate stack height, wherein the plate stack comprises a plurality of E bar and I bar shaped steel plates laminated into a stack; wherein the plate stack comprises a corner cut out in at least one corner of the plate stack in the E bar forming a channel to receive electronic ballast input lead wire, further comprising at least one additional corner cut out to comprise a total of at least one two corner cut outs forming two channels, wherein the corner cut out assumes a crescent moon shape, wherein the dimension of the ballast housing for the present invention is approximately thirty millimeters in width and about twenty four percent less than the current standard fluorescent lamp ballast housing of forty-two millimeters.