JP2002124213A - Porous material sealed fluorescent lamp - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fluorescent lamp with improved characteristics by removing impurity gas remaining after completion of the lamp, causing drop in luminous flux and increase in mercury consumption. SOLUTION: A porous material is sealed in the fluorescent lamp.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transparent container made of glass or the like, a film mainly made of a material that changes ultraviolet light into visible light such as a phosphor formed on the inner surface of the transparent container, and a discharge container. The invention relates to a fluorescent lamp having two electrodes to perform, a gas suitable for discharge, such as argon, having a suitable partial pressure, and mercury.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Mercury is required for a fluorescent lamp, but a fluorescent lamp using a mercury amalgam alloy instead of liquid mercury is often used as in US Pat. No. 4,145,634. As an extension of this technology, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 8-50
As in 9569, a lamp in which an amalgam alloy with a metal such as zinc is sealed for the purpose of reducing mercury has been proposed.

[0003]

However, these techniques are merely means for filling mercury into a fluorescent lamp bulb, and have not been designed to improve the characteristics of the fluorescent lamp. .

[0004] One of the causes of a decrease in the luminous flux maintenance rate typified by luminous flux deterioration and mass consumption of mercury is a reaction between mercury and moisture.

[0005] The present invention is based on the fact that the chemical composition may be included in the above-mentioned technology, but by adapting the form of the substance to a desired rule, it is possible to remove impurity gas such as water which increases mercury consumption after the lamp is completed. It is another object of the present invention to provide a fluorescent lamp in which mercury consumption is suppressed and the luminous flux maintenance rate during the service life is improved by removing the same.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a fluorescent lamp according to the present invention comprises a light-transmitting container such as glass,
Suitable for discharge of a film mainly composed of a material that changes ultraviolet light into visible light, such as a phosphor, formed on the inner surface of a translucent container, two electrodes for performing discharge, and argon having a suitable partial pressure. A fluorescent lamp having an enclosed gas and mercury, characterized in that a porous substance for adsorbing unnecessary gas is incorporated in a translucent container.

[0007] By enclosing the porous material, an impurity gas which adversely affects the lamp characteristics after the lamp is completed can be adsorbed, and in particular, the optical characteristics represented by the luminous flux maintenance factor can be improved. Examples of the porous substance include silica gel, porous glass and metal spheres and pellets, and the shape thereof is not particularly limited.
This porous material may or may not contain mercury before it is sealed in the bulb. The material may not be porous before the sealing, but may be porous by the action of heating or laser excitation after the sealing.

In the present invention, the lamp parts and assembly are the same as in the prior art, and only the porous substance is sealed. Therefore, the light-transmitting container, the phosphor film, the electrodes, and the sealing of the fluorescent lamp are used. Any shape and any type such as gas may be used. For example, a film mainly composed of a material that converts ultraviolet light into visible light, such as a phosphor, formed on the inner surface of the light-transmitting container, a conductive thin film formed on the inner surface of the light-transmitting container, and prevention of phosphor deterioration. The film made of the fine particle oxide may or may not be formed on the inner surface of the light-transmitting container for the purpose of performing the process. Further, a configuration in which a fluorescent lamp bulb and a ballast necessary for lighting are provided at the same time, such as a bulb-type fluorescent lamp, may be used.

The use of an alloy material as the porous substance is suitable for the practice of the present invention. As the porous alloy, for example, an alloy mainly composed of zinc may be used, but the composition of the alloy is not limited. Further, the alloy referred to here includes a pure single metal. Since the conventional amalgam alloy only has a porous structure, there is an advantage that the amalgam technology of the fluorescent lamp can be used almost as it is.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In order to remove impurity gases that cause mercury consumption, it is most effective to perform a sufficient exhaust treatment during the manufacturing process. However, the ambient temperature / humidity varies depending on the season, and some of the ambient temperature and humidity may remain in the fluorescent lamp bulb during the manufacturing process.

In the present invention, even after the completion of the fluorescent lamp,
The above-mentioned residual impurity gas is removed, thereby improving the lamp characteristics.

In one embodiment, a porous material composed of an alloy sphere mainly composed of zinc was used. That is, a fluorescent lamp (FLR40SW / M) was manufactured using one alloy sphere containing zinc and mercury (about 1 mm in diameter and about 4 mg). On this occasion,
The alloy particles were kept in the arc tube without any special fixing method, and the amount of mercury enclosed was set to 2 mg.

After the performance test, the zinc metal sphere was taken out of the lamp, heated at 300 ° C. in a vacuum of about 1 Pa, and the surface was observed. As a result, it was confirmed that it was porous.
Further, as a comparative example, a lamp (FLR40SW / M) in which only 2 mg of liquid mercury was sealed as in the lamp of the present invention was produced.

Table 1 shows the luminous flux maintenance ratio and the life of the fluorescent lamps of the present invention and the comparative example. The life is defined as the time until a sufficient amount of light cannot be emitted due to consumption of mercury. With respect to the product of the present invention, the initial luminous flux was equivalent to that of the comparative example, but the luminous flux maintenance ratio was superior by 1.6%, and the mercury consumption was reduced by the presence of the porous substance.
h won.

Since this effect is due to the presence of the porous material, it can be easily expected that the effect does not depend on the form of the alloy or the like.

[0016]

[Table 1]

[0017]

As described above, when the porous substance of the present invention is used, the consumption of mercury during lighting is suppressed, and the luminous flux maintenance ratio characteristics are improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an example of a porous substance of the present invention.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A light-transmitting container such as glass, a film mainly composed of a material that converts ultraviolet light into visible light such as a phosphor formed on the inner surface of the light-transmitting container, and two electrodes for performing discharge. Fluorescent lamp having a filling gas suitable for electric discharge such as argon having an appropriate partial pressure, and mercury, wherein a porous substance for adsorbing an unnecessary gas is incorporated in a translucent container. . 2. The fluorescent lamp according to claim 1, wherein said porous material is an alloy.