Patent ID: 7982506

Claim:
A voltage-current converter for converting voltage that is received as input to current and supplying the result, said voltage-current converter comprising: a converter input terminal; a converter output terminal; a voltage-current conversion unit for converting voltage that is applied as input to said converter input terminal to current; and a current extraction unit for intermittently extracting current from an output terminal of said voltage-current conversion unit and supplying this current from said converter output terminal, wherein said current extraction unit includes: a first switching element connected between said converter output terminal and the output terminal of said voltage-current conversion unit; a second switching element that is connected between a fixed potential and the output terminal of said voltage-current conversion unit and that switches at a timing that is the reverse of said first switching element; a switch control unit for controlling switching of said first switching element; wherein an intermittent operation ratio when intermittently extracting current from the output terminal of said voltage-current conversion unit is controlled by a switching ratio of said first switching element.