EP0727809A2 - Lampe fluorescente avec structure d'extinction d'arc en fin de vie - Google Patents

Lampe fluorescente avec structure d'extinction d'arc en fin de vie Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0727809A2
EP0727809A2 EP96102374A EP96102374A EP0727809A2 EP 0727809 A2 EP0727809 A2 EP 0727809A2 EP 96102374 A EP96102374 A EP 96102374A EP 96102374 A EP96102374 A EP 96102374A EP 0727809 A2 EP0727809 A2 EP 0727809A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
fluorescent lamp
tube
lamp
accordance
deposit
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
EP96102374A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP0727809A3 (fr
EP0727809B1 (fr
Inventor
John W. Shaffer
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Osram Sylvania Inc
Original Assignee
Osram Sylvania Inc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Osram Sylvania Inc filed Critical Osram Sylvania Inc
Priority to EP19960102374 priority Critical patent/EP0727809B1/fr
Publication of EP0727809A2 publication Critical patent/EP0727809A2/fr
Publication of EP0727809A3 publication Critical patent/EP0727809A3/fr
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0727809B1 publication Critical patent/EP0727809B1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J61/00—Gas-discharge or vapour-discharge lamps
    • H01J61/02—Details
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J61/00—Gas-discharge or vapour-discharge lamps
    • H01J61/70—Lamps with low-pressure unconstricted discharge having a cold pressure < 400 Torr

Definitions

  • the invention relates to fluorescent lamps, and is directed more particularly to a fluorescent lamp having therein means for quenching the arc in the lamp at the end of lamp life.
  • Fluorescent lamps are increasingly being used with electronic ballasts that operate the lamp at high frequencies. Often such ballasts are of the "instant start” type wherein the open circuit voltage is sufficiently high to ignite the lamp directly, without the need for a separate cathode heating current.
  • the end of lamp life occurs when one of the electrodes is depleted of its emissive coating.
  • the lamp arc is passively extinguished when the first electrode fails.
  • the lamp arc does not necessarily extinguish when the first electrode fails.
  • the open circuit voltage provided by instant start ballasts is sufficiently high to cause the lamp to continue to operate in a "cold cathode" mode. During cold cathode operation, the cathode voltage rises from around 12 volts to 50 volts, or higher.
  • a lamp 2 having electrodes 4, 6 at either end of a glass envelope 8, respectively, upon failure of the first electrode 6, ion bombardment heats the tungsten coil 10, lead wires 12, 14, and any other metallic structures within the glass envelope 8.
  • the heating of the metallic components is to such a high temperature that the components provide sufficient thermionic and secondary electron emission to sustain the arc.
  • Wattage dissipation in the failed lamp end greatly increases.
  • the end of the envelope 8 heats far above its normal operating temperature.
  • the lead wires 12, 14 within the envelope 8 can become molten and melt through the envelope and/or cause the envelope to crack and sometimes break upon removal of the lamp from a fixture.
  • the excessive heating of the lamp end can also cause damage to a socket or lamp fixture in which the lamp is mounted, or melting of a plastic lamp base.
  • ballasts have been designed with additional circuitry to sense a rise in lamp voltage, or other events occurring upon cathode depletion, and shut down the system.
  • additional electronic components significantly increase the cost of the ballast.
  • ballasts which do not include such a feature already exist in present lamp installations.
  • An object of the invention is, therefore, to provide a fluorescent lamp having means therein for causing arc shut-down at the end of lamp life.
  • a further object of the invention is to provide a fluorescent lamp having such means for arc shut-down wherein the shut-down means requires no additional circuitry or electronic components.
  • a feature of the invention is the provision of a fluorescent lamp comprising a glass tube, an electrode at each end of the tube, each of the electrodes comprising a pair of lead wires extending through a sealed end of the tube and joined to a coil, and a deposit of metal hydride-containing paste disposed in the tube and having a decomposition temperature higher than temperatures within the tube during normal operation of the lamp.
  • a fluorescent lamp 2 comprising a glass tube 8.
  • An electrode 4, 6, (one shown in FIG. 3) is disposed at each end of the tube 8.
  • a pair of lead wires 12, 14 extend through each sealed end of the tube and are joined to a coil 10 to form the electrodes.
  • a deposit 30 of metal hydride-containing paste is disposed in the tube 8 and is provided with a decomposition temperature higher than temperatures within the tube 8 during normal operation of the lamp. During normal lamp operation, the temperature of the paste is preferably maintained at about 150 °C or less.
  • the electrode 6 is similar to that shown in FIG. 2, but has disposed on each of the lead wires 12, 14 the metal hydride-containing deposit 30.
  • the deposit 30 preferably is joined to the lead wires 12, 14 at each end of the tube 8 at a point at which the lead wires 12, 14 emerge from a glass seal 32, that is, at the lead wire-glass seal interface.
  • the coil 10 in that end of the lamp rises to a temperature much higher than its normal operating temperature and is eventually burned off.
  • the arc then attaches to a lead wire 12 or 14 and raises the temperature of that wire.
  • Heat conducted down the wire thermally decomposes the metal hydride-containing paste deposit 30, and hydrogen is released within the lamp.
  • the temperature of the paste reaches 650 °C or higher.
  • the presence of hydrogen in the tube 8 raises the voltage required to sustain the discharge well above that provided by instant start ballasts, causing the lamp to go out passively, without significant end heating or glass cracking.
  • the hydrogen release occurs rapidly enough to prevent damage to a fixture retaining the affected lamp.
  • the quantity of hydrogen released typically about one Torrliter from a five milligram deposit, is sufficient to quench the arc in larger fluorescent lamps.
  • a preferred embodiment of paste is formulated by mixing 40 parts by weight of finely powdered titanium hydride and 60 parts by weight of colloidal alumina suspension in water. A deposit of this paste, which, when dried, weighs about five milligrams, is applied to the base of each lead wire 12, 14 where the lead wire emerges from the glass seal 32.
  • binders other than colloidal alumina Preferably, the binder is inorganic and not subject to outgassing once dried, such as, for example, montmorillonite clays and various silicates.
  • FIG. 4 there is illustrated an electrode configuration wherein a glass bead 40 is fixed on the two lead wires 12, 14 and the deposit 30 preferably is disposed on the surface of the glass bead nearest the coil 10, though the deposit may be applied to the sides or surface most removed from the coil.
  • the preferred metal hydride is titanium hydride, TiH 1.7 .
  • the metal hydride can be selected from a group including titanium, zirconium, hafnium, alloys of these metals with one another, and alloys of these metals with other metals such as cobalt, iron, nickel, manganese, lanthanum, or combinations of these other metals.
  • shut-down means there is thus provided a fluorescent lamp having means therein for causing shut-down at the end of lamp life, which means requires no additional circuitry or electronic components.
  • the costs associated with the shut-down means are trivial and much lower than the cost of providing a shut-down circuit in the ballast, even though the ballast may survive several lamp lives.

Landscapes

  • Vessels And Coating Films For Discharge Lamps (AREA)
EP19960102374 1995-02-17 1996-02-16 Lampe fluorescente avec structure d'extinction d'arc en fin de vie Expired - Lifetime EP0727809B1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP19960102374 EP0727809B1 (fr) 1995-02-17 1996-02-16 Lampe fluorescente avec structure d'extinction d'arc en fin de vie

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US38999595A 1995-02-17 1995-02-17
US38995 1995-02-17
EP19960102374 EP0727809B1 (fr) 1995-02-17 1996-02-16 Lampe fluorescente avec structure d'extinction d'arc en fin de vie

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0727809A2 true EP0727809A2 (fr) 1996-08-21
EP0727809A3 EP0727809A3 (fr) 1997-02-05
EP0727809B1 EP0727809B1 (fr) 2000-05-31

Family

ID=26141754

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP19960102374 Expired - Lifetime EP0727809B1 (fr) 1995-02-17 1996-02-16 Lampe fluorescente avec structure d'extinction d'arc en fin de vie

Country Status (1)

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EP (1) EP0727809B1 (fr)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP1357580A2 (fr) * 2002-04-26 2003-10-29 Patent-Treuhand-Gesellschaft für elektrische Glühlampen mbH Lampe à décharge à basse pression avec dispositif d'extinction en fin de vie

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS563967A (en) * 1979-06-25 1981-01-16 Mitsubishi Electric Corp Starter-built in type metal vapor discharge lamp
JPS57202455A (en) * 1981-06-08 1982-12-11 Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd Vacuum tube type solar heat collector
GB2137410A (en) * 1983-03-30 1984-10-03 Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co Metal vapor discharge lamp having a starting device of a thermal switch type

Family Cites Families (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
SU1145384A1 (ru) * 1983-10-20 1985-03-15 Ереванский Электроламповый Завод Газополна лампа накаливани

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS563967A (en) * 1979-06-25 1981-01-16 Mitsubishi Electric Corp Starter-built in type metal vapor discharge lamp
JPS57202455A (en) * 1981-06-08 1982-12-11 Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd Vacuum tube type solar heat collector
GB2137410A (en) * 1983-03-30 1984-10-03 Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co Metal vapor discharge lamp having a starting device of a thermal switch type

Non-Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
DATABASE WPI Week 8538 Derwent Publications Ltd., London, GB; AN 85-235489 XP002020957 & SU-A-1 145 384 (EREV ELEC LAMP INST) , 15 March 1985 *
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 005, no. 051 (E-051), 10 April 1981 & JP-A-56 003967 (MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORP), 16 January 1981, *
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 007, no. 055 (M-198), 5 March 1983 & JP-A-57 202455 (MATSUSHITA DENKI SANGYO KK), 11 December 1982, *

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP1357580A2 (fr) * 2002-04-26 2003-10-29 Patent-Treuhand-Gesellschaft für elektrische Glühlampen mbH Lampe à décharge à basse pression avec dispositif d'extinction en fin de vie
EP1357580A3 (fr) * 2002-04-26 2005-04-27 Patent-Treuhand-Gesellschaft für elektrische Glühlampen mbH Lampe à décharge à basse pression avec dispositif d'extinction en fin de vie

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP0727809A3 (fr) 1997-02-05
EP0727809B1 (fr) 2000-05-31

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