 Once again DENSO is leading the way with environmental improvements. DENSO and KOITO Manufacturing developed the ballast for lighting the world’s first mercury-free, high-intensity discharge (HID) headlamp system.
This system provides bright lighting and long bulb life and is now available on the Toyota Porte, launched in July in Japan.
KOITO and Royal Philips Electronics developed the mercury-free discharge bulb using a mercury substitute.
Together with DENSO and KOITO’s ballast, these developments led to the mercury-free HID system that provides lighting and bulb longevity equal to the conventional HID headlamp system.
To control the lighting of the discharge bulb, the ballast was improved to apply increased initial operating wattage and operating current to the bulb.
“Our ballast achieves an approximate 50 percent reduction in volume and 25 percent weight reduction over conventional ballasts, despite its increased initial operating wattage and operating current,” said Hiromi Tokuda, managing offi cer of the Powertrain Control Systems Business Group, DENSO Corporation.
“We achieved these reductions by increasing the switching frequency of the DC-DC converter contained in the ballast and enhancing the heat resistance of the ballast,” he said.
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DENSO’s ballast
for lighting the
mercury-free
discharge bulb. |
