Patent ID: 7449844

Claim:
An electronic power controller for a gas discharge device, said power controller comprising: an input circuit adapted to provide input a-c power; an a-c filter connected to said input circuit; a rectifier bridge connected to said input circuit for producing an output d-c voltage from said a-c input power; an inverter circuit including a high side switch and a low side switch connected in series at a node and connected across the output of said inverter circuit; a load circuit connected to said node and including said gas discharge device; said high side and low side switches each having input control terminals energizable to turn them on and off and each having a parallel diode; a master control circuit for applying suitably timed control signals for alternately turning said high side and low side switches on and off; and a dynamic dead time control circuit in said master control circuit for insuring only a short interval between the end of current conduction by either said high side and low side devices and the beginning of conduction by the other by the control of the application of controls signals to their control terminals; said dynamic dead time control circuit being coupled to and monitoring at least one of the current in said resonant load, the current in said first and second switches, the output voltage of said rectifier bridge or the rate of change dv/dt of said bridge voltages and adjusting the application of turn on signals to said high side and low side switches for both capacitive and inductive operations.