An inventive inverter has a semiconductor switch circuit connected to the
primary winding of a transformer. The semiconductor switch circuit is
respectively controlled by PWM to supply a constant current to the load
connected to a secondary winding of the transformer. The inverter is
capable of deliberately regulating its ac power output to the load and
lowering the lower limit of the output power through control of the
intermittent operation, in which an error signal for carrying out the PWM
control is reduced to zero during each off-duty period. In addition, the
error signal for the PWM control is slowly decreased or increased in each
shift from an off-duty period to on-duty period, and vise versa, by
charging or discharging the capacitor in a feedback circuit, thereby
allowing slow start or slow end of the respective on-off operations for
the constant current control through the PWM.