Patent ID: 6914392

Claim:
A switching apparatus for operating a discharge lamp, comprising: an a.c. voltage generator or pickup device for providing an a.c. voltage; and a starting voltage generating device, which is connected to the a.c. voltage generator or pickup device, for generating a starting voltage from the a.c. voltage, the starting voltage generating device having output for connection to the discharge lamp; characterized in that: the starting voltage generating device comprises at least one diode which is connected to the output of the starting voltage generating device; the starting voltage generating device further comprises a first- or higher-order cascade circuit (D 1 to D 5 , C 1 to C 5 ) in series with the doide as a voltage pump circuit; and the cascade circuit (D 1 to D 5 , C 1 to C 5 ) has two capacitors and two diodes per order.