JP2005108705A - Glow starter and luminaire - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a glow starter capable of improving starting characteristics under a dark condition by shortening a time required for lighting without placing any special initial electron emitting means in a discharge vessel, and capable of stably operating during a rated lifetime. <P>SOLUTION: This glow starter is equipped with the discharge vessel 1; a pair of electrodes 2, 3 enclosed in the discharge vessel 1; a discharge medium filled in the discharge vessel 1; a resistance heating element 4 which is connected between the pair of electrodes 2, 3, and which is capable of supplying thermions into the discharge vessel 1. Thereby, discharge is easily caused between the pair of electrodes 2, 3 by the thermions supplied from the resistance heating element 4 after start of energizing the heating element, and the start characteristics of the glow starter under a dark condition can be improved by shortening a time required to light it, without placing any special initial electron emitting means in the discharge vessel. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a glow starter for starting a fluorescent lamp or the like and a lighting apparatus using the same.

  A glow starter has been widely used for starting a discharge lamp such as a fluorescent lamp. Since the glow starter tends to require a long lighting time in a dark place, it needs to be improved. In the case of a glow starter, the lighting required time is the sum of a discharge delay time, a glow discharge duration, a closing time, and a pulse generation time. The reason why the required lighting time is long in a dark place is that the discharge delay time becomes long because the supply of initial electrons is insufficient.

Therefore, conventionally, the discharge delay time is improved by means using a radioisotope such as ¹⁴⁷ Pm, ⁸⁵ Kr, and ³ H. However, when radioactive materials are used, there is a problem that facilities that satisfy radiation safety standards for manufacturing and handling and strict management for safe handling are required even if the amount is small.

  For this reason, a means not using a radioisotope is being sought. For example, there is known a technique for improving discharge delay time by supplying initial electrons by photoelectron emission by making afterglow incident on an electrode surface portion in a dark place using a phosphor exhibiting long afterglow properties ( Patent Document 1).

Further, a technique is known in which zinc, which is a metal having a low work function, is deposited on an electrode with a predetermined film thickness as an electrode activator to improve the discharge delay time (see Patent Documents 2 and 3).
JP-A-10-255724 JP 54-64873 A JP 2003-51391 A

  The prior art of Patent Document 1 requires that the cover body used in the glow starter is translucent and cannot be applied to a glow star having a cover body made of a non-translucent material such as aluminum or ceramics. .

  The conventional techniques described in Patent Documents 2 and 3 exhibit a predetermined effect in improving the discharge delay time because even the glow starter having a cover made of a non-translucent material emits initial electrons from zinc. However, the zinc film is scattered due to the influence of spatter associated with glow discharge and the initial electron emission function is impaired, and it is difficult to satisfy the rated life as a glow starter unless the film is specially processed. There was a problem.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and without disposing a special initial electron emission means in the discharge vessel, shortening the lighting time and improving the starting characteristics under dark conditions, An object of the present invention is to provide a glow starter that stably operates during the rated life and a lighting fixture using the same.

  The glow starter according to claim 1 includes: a discharge vessel; a pair of electrodes sealed in the discharge vessel; a discharge medium sealed in the discharge vessel; And a resistance heating element that can be supplied.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the glow starter according to the first aspect, the resistance heating element is a filament coil, and an electron emitting material is applied to the filament coil.

  The luminaire of claim 3 comprises: a luminaire main body; a glow starter according to claim 1 or 2 disposed on the luminaire main body; and a fluorescent lamp disposed on the luminaire main body. It is characterized by.

  According to the invention of claim 1, since the resistance heating element capable of supplying the thermoelectrons into the discharge vessel is connected between the pair of electrodes, the discharge easily starts between the pair of electrodes by the thermoelectrons, Without disposing a special initial electron emission means in the discharge vessel, it is possible to shorten the time required to turn on the glow starter and improve the starting characteristics under dark conditions.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the filament coil coated with the electron emitting material is used as the resistance heating element, the filament coil that can reliably emit thermoelectrons and is available at a relatively low cost is provided. By using it, manufacturing cost can be suppressed.

  According to invention of Claim 3, the lighting fixture provided with the glow starter of Claim 1 or 2 can be provided.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway front view showing a glow starter as a first embodiment of the present invention.

  This embodiment is a P-type glow starter. In each figure, 1 is a discharge vessel, 2 is a fixed electrode, 3 is a movable electrode, 4 is a filament coil as a resistance heating element, 5 is a case body, 6 and 6 are P21 type pin caps, and 7 and 7 are fixed electrodes. 2 and lead wires connected to the movable electrode 3, respectively. Although not shown in FIG. 1, a noise prevention capacitor connected between the lead wires 7 is accommodated in the case 5.

  The discharge vessel 1 is made of soft glass and includes a glass bulb 1a, a stem portion 1b, and an exhaust tip-off portion 1c, and a discharge space 1d is formed therein. The stem portion 1b is integrated with the glass bulb by sealing the flare stem to the opening end of the glass bulb 1a. The exhaust tip-off portion 1c is formed when the discharge vessel 1 is sealed by tip-off the exhaust pipe formed at the other end of the glass bulb 1a.

  Inside the discharge vessel 1, a mixed gas obtained by mixing neon and a gas composed of at least one of krypton and xenon as a discharge medium is sealed at a pressure of 4000 Pa. The partial pressure ratio of the gas consisting of at least one of krypton, xenon and argon is 2 to 60%, preferably 5 to 60%, optimally depending on the relationship between the discharge start voltage, the reactivation voltage and the total pressure of the sealed gas. It is set within a range of 5 to 20%.

  The fixed electrode 2 and the movable electrode 3 are assembled in advance as an electrode mount on the stem portion 1b. The fixed electrode 2 and the movable electrode 3 are sealed in the discharge vessel 1 by sealing the stem portion 1b to the opening end of the glass bulb 1a. Lead wires 7 connected to the fixed electrode 2 and the movable electrode 3 and sealed by the stem portion 1b are led out of the discharge vessel 1 from the stem portion 1b. Lead wires 7, 7 led out from the stem portion 1b are connected to pin caps 6, 6, respectively.

  The fixed electrode 2 is made of a rod-shaped metal, the base end is sealed to the stem portion 1b, and the movable electrode 3 is made of a rod-shaped metal 3a and a bimetal 3b. The rod-shaped metal 3 a is longer than the fixed electrode 2, and its base end is disposed at a position facing the fixed electrode 2. Further, the bimetal 3b is bent in a U-shape, one end is welded to the distal end side of the bar-shaped metal 3a, and the base end side is in contact with and locked to the bar-shaped metal 3a in the cooled state. .

  An electrode activator having a thickness of 1.0 to 20 μm may be formed on the surface of the bimetal 3b. Examples of the electrode activator include, but are not limited to, a zinc-nickel alloy composed of 90% by mass of zinc and 10% by mass of nickel.

  The filament coil 4 is made of tungsten, and is a resistance heating element whose wire diameter, coil length, and the like are adjusted such that the cold resistance value is 10 to 100 KΩ. The filament coil 4 is disposed so that both ends thereof are connected to the base end portions of the fixed electrode 2 and the movable electrode 3 by means of welding or the like, and are located in the vicinity of the stem portion 1b. The filament coil 4 is coated with a predetermined thermionic emission material (emitter material) made of an alkaline earth metal oxide such as calcium, strontium or barium. When the thermoelectron emitting material is applied in this way, thermoelectrons are more easily emitted.

  The case body 5 is a means for surrounding the periphery of the discharge vessel in order to mechanically protect the glow starter. The case body 5 can be formed using a material having a required mechanical strength such as metal, synthetic resin, or ceramics. In the present embodiment, a polycarbonate resin made by adding an appropriate amount of titanium oxide fine particles to have an appropriate light diffusion property is molded into a bottomed cylindrical shape. On the outer peripheral surface of the case body 5, a non-slip ridge may be formed so as to be easily picked.

  The cap pins 6 and 6 are attached so as to protrude from both sides of the insulating substrate 9, and lead wires 7 and 7 are connected to the inner surface side of the insulating substrate 9. The insulating substrate 8 is engaged and fixed to the opening end of the case body 5, and the opening end of the case body 5 is closed by the insulating substrate 8. The base pins 6 and 6 may be screw bases such as E17 type depending on the rating of the compatible fluorescent lamp.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. When the power is turned on to turn on the fluorescent lamp, a voltage is applied between the pair of electrodes 2 and 3 through a lighting circuit in which a choke coil and a filament electrode are connected in series. Then, a current of 2 to 20 mA flows to the filament coil 4 to generate heat, and thermoelectrons are radiated to the discharge space 1d. This is because the impedance between the electrodes 2 and 3 before the start of the glow starter discharge is much higher than that of the filament coil 4. And since the avalanche is generated between the electrodes 2 and 3 by the thermoelectrons emitted from the filament coil 4, the discharge between the electrodes 2 and 3 can be reliably generated. As described above, the glow starter of the present embodiment is discharged from the filament coil 4 immediately after the start of energization, so that a discharge is reliably generated between the electrodes 2 and 3 even in a dark place, thereby suppressing a discharge time delay. can do.

  By the way, the discharge path of the fluorescent lamp and the filament coil 4 are connected in parallel during the lighting of the fluorescent lamp, but the filament coil 4 has a cold resistance value of 10 to 100 KΩ, and the discharge path of the fluorescent lamp being turned on. Impedance is higher than Therefore, since the current does not flow through the filament coil 4 before the start of the glow starter discharge while the fluorescent lamp is lit, almost no heat loss occurs.

  In this embodiment, the filament coil is used as the high resistance. However, a resistor made of, for example, a thin metal wire or ceramics may be used as long as thermionic electrons can be emitted. It may be formed in layers.

  Furthermore, even when lead glass is used as the glass material of the stem portion 1c and lead (Pb) is deposited on the surface, a high resistance body is formed between the electrodes 2 and 3, so Simultaneously with the current flow, thermionic electrons are emitted into the space, and the same dark place characteristic improvement effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

  In order to further improve the starting characteristics of the glow starter of the present embodiment, an exo (EXO) electron emitting material may be used in combination. For example, by forming a 3 mg layer of aluminum oxide on the surface of the stem portion 1b, discharge is more likely to be generated by exoelectrons emitted from the exoelectron emitting material layer.

  FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway front view showing a glow starter as another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is the same as the first embodiment except that the filament coil 4 is not connected between the pair of electrodes 2 and 3. The present embodiment is characterized in that the tip of the fixed electrode 2 of the glow starter is a sharp needle-like portion 2a. By forming the needle-like part 2a at the tip of the fixed electrode 2 in this way, local electric field concentration occurs in the needle-like part 2a and electron avalanche occurs, so that the discharge between the electrodes 2 and 3 is reliably generated. Can be made. In the glow starter of the present embodiment, primary electrons in the needle-like portion 2a are emitted well immediately after the start of energization, so that the discharge between the electrodes 2 and 3 is reliably generated even in a dark place and the discharge time is delayed. Can be suppressed.

  The height of the needle-like part 2a (the length from the tip to the point where the diameter starts to decrease) may be equal to or greater than the diameter of the intermediate part of the fixed electrode 2, and the diameter of the tip of the needle-like part 2a is the same as that of the fixed electrode 2. It is desirable that it is 1/2 or less of the diameter of the intermediate part. The needle-like portion 2 a may be formed at the tip of the movable electrode 3, or may be formed at the tips of both the fixed electrode 2 and the movable electrode 3.

  In place of the needle-like portion 2a in FIG. 2, a thin metal wire having a diameter equal to or less than ½ of the diameter of the electrodes 2 and 3 is attached to a part of at least one of the electrodes 2 and 3 and The same effect can be obtained by generating electric field concentration and serving as an electron emission source. In addition, it is also possible to employ | adopt the front-end | tip part 2a of this embodiment for each electrode of 1st Embodiment.

  FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional front view showing a fluorescent lamp pendant as an embodiment of the lighting fixture of the present invention.

  In the figure, 11 is a lighting fixture body, and 12 and 13 are glow starters. The luminaire main body 11 includes a chassis 11a, a shade 11b, fluorescent lamps 11c and 11d, a lamp holder 11e, a nightlight 11f, a ballast 11g, a changeover switch 11h, a pendant cord 11i, a cord holder 11j, a hooking ceiling cap 11k, and the like. Yes. The chassis 11a accommodates a ballast 11g and a changeover switch 11h inside, a lamp holder 11j is fixed to the peripheral edge of the side surface, and the shade 1b is supported on the upper surface. The fluorescent lamps 11c and 11d are supported by the chassis 11a through a lamp holder 11e. The nightlight 11f is exposed from the lower surface of the chassis 11a. The pendant cord 11i is led out from the upper surface of the chassis 11a via the cord holder 11j. The cord holder 11j directly enables the length of the pendant cord 11i. The hook ceiling cap 11k is connected to the tip of the pendant cord 11i, and is electrically connected to the hook ceiling body installed on the ceiling of the room and mechanically supported, whereby the luminaire main body 11 is suspended from the ceiling.

  The glow starters 12 and 13 are mounted inside the chassis fluorescent lamp 11a, have their heads exposed to the outside from the chassis 11a, and individually start the fluorescent lamps 11c and 11d.

1 is a partially cutaway front view showing a glow starter as a first embodiment of the present invention. The partially notched front view which shows the glow starter as other embodiment of this invention. The partial cross section front view which shows the lighting fixture as one Embodiment of the lighting fixture of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Discharge container, 2 ... Fixed electrode, 3 ... Movable electrode, 4 ... Filament electrode as a high resistance body.

Claims (3)

A discharge vessel;
A pair of electrodes sealed in a discharge vessel;
A discharge medium enclosed in a discharge vessel;
A resistance heating element connected between a pair of electrodes and capable of supplying thermoelectrons into the discharge vessel;
A glow starter characterized by comprising: 2. The glow starter according to claim 1, wherein the resistance heating element is a filament coil, and an electron emitting substance is deposited on the filament coil. A lighting fixture body;
A glow starter according to claim 1 or 2, which is disposed in a lighting fixture body;
A fluorescent lamp disposed in the luminaire body;
The lighting fixture characterized by comprising.

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