JP2007294265A - Illuminator manufacturing method and electrodeless discharge lamp - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an illuminator manufacturing method that prevents adsorption of moisture on a coating film formed on the inside face of a bulb, and an electrodeless discharge lamp. <P>SOLUTION: The illuminator manufacturing method has a storage step for temporarily storing an illuminator (A) between a baking step, in which a paint for forming the coating film including a phosphor is applied on the inside face of the bulb 1 and the bulb 1 is heated in a state of partially opening the bulb 1, and a sealing step in which gas inside the bulb 1 is replaced with a discharge gas through a venthole 6b allowing the inside and outside of the bulb 1 to communicate with each other and the bulb 1 is sealed by closing the venthole 6b. In the storage step, the illuminator (A) is put into a storage (C) so that a part at least including the venthole 6b of the illuminator (A) is arranged in a lower-stage chamber 24 in an inert gas atmosphere. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a luminous body including a bulb having a coating film containing a phosphor formed on an inner surface, and a discharge gas containing metal vapor enclosed in the bulb, and an electrodeless discharge lamp.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a discharge lamp is known that includes a bulb having a coating film containing a phosphor formed on an inner surface, and a luminous body in which a discharge gas containing a metal vapor such as mercury is enclosed. . This discharge lamp generates ultraviolet rays by exciting the discharge gas, and irradiates the phosphors with the ultraviolet rays to cause the phosphors to fluoresce.

  As a method of manufacturing this type of illuminant, in general, a coating process for applying a paint for forming a coating film on the inner surface of the bulb, and heating the bulb to remove the organic solvent and moisture contained in the paint outside the bulb. There is known a method including a firing step of discharging and a sealing step of replacing the gas in the bulb with a discharge gas and sealing the bulb (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

The coating process, firing process, and encapsulation process described above are performed in separate manufacturing facilities, and each manufacturing facility has a different processing capacity. Therefore, the waiting time between processes caused by the difference in processing capacity between the manufacturing facilities is reduced. In order to adjust, a storage process for temporarily storing the luminous body is required between the firing process and the encapsulation process. In this storage process, the illuminant is often stored in the atmosphere.
JP 53-90679 A (second page)

  However, since the valve is heated in the firing process, the temperature of the valve decreases in the storage process, and the gas in the valve contracts as the temperature of the valve decreases, and the atmosphere can be sucked into the valve. is there. Since the atmosphere contains moisture, when the atmosphere is sucked into the valve, the moisture in the atmosphere is also taken into the valve, and the paint is applied even though the moisture in the paint is discharged in the baking process. Water will be adsorbed to the film. In the luminous body with moisture adsorbed on the coating film, the metal vapor in the discharge gas sealed in the bulb reacts with oxygen in the moisture adsorbed on the coating film, which oxidizes the metal vapor and A so-called blackening phenomenon adhering to the side surface occurs, and the light output decreases. As the blackening phenomenon progresses over time, the light output of the light emitter gradually decreases, and the life of the light emitter is shortened.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above reasons, and an object thereof is to provide a method for manufacturing a light emitter and an electrodeless discharge lamp capable of preventing moisture from adsorbing to a coating film formed on an inner surface of a bulb. And

  Invention of Claim 1 is a manufacturing method of the light-emitting body provided with the valve | bulb in which the coating film containing fluorescent substance was formed in the inner surface, and the discharge gas containing metal vapor | steam was enclosed in the said valve | bulb, Comprising: The gas in the bulb is discharged through a firing step for heating the bulb in a state where a coating material is applied to the inside surface of the bulb and a part of the bulb is opened, and through a vent hole that communicates the inside and outside of the bulb. A storage step of temporarily storing the luminous body between the sealing step and sealing the bulb by closing the vent hole, and in the storage step, at least a portion of the luminous body including the vent hole is not included. It arrange | positions in an active gas atmosphere, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  According to the present invention, in the storage process, the portion including at least the vent hole in the luminous body is disposed in the inert gas atmosphere, so that the gas in the bulb contracts due to a decrease in the temperature of the valve in the storage process, Even when gas outside the valve is sucked into the valve through the vent hole, the gas sucked into the valve is not an atmosphere containing moisture but an inert gas. Therefore, it is possible to prevent moisture from being taken into the valve during the storage process, and it is possible to prevent moisture from being adsorbed to the coating film.

  The invention of claim 2 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 1, the inert gas is nitrogen gas.

  According to the present invention, the invention of claim 1 can be realized at a low cost by using an inexpensive nitrogen gas as compared with the case of using it for another inert gas such as argon.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the inert gas has a specific gravity smaller than that of the atmosphere, and the vent hole is formed during the period from the storage step to the enclosing step. When exposed to the atmosphere, the vent is maintained downward.

  According to the present invention, since the inert gas has a specific gravity smaller than that of the atmosphere, when the inert gas is sucked into the valve in the storage process, the gas in the valve whose concentration of the inert gas is improved is higher than that of the atmosphere. Becomes smaller. And since the vent hole is kept downward when the vent hole is exposed to the atmosphere in the period from the storage process to the encapsulation process, the atmosphere heavier than the gas in the valve is not stored even after the storage process. As a result, it is difficult to enter the valve from the vent hole, and as a result, it is possible to prevent moisture from entering the valve and to prevent moisture from being adsorbed to the coating film.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the exhaust pipe according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the exhaust pipe protrudes from the valve and has the vent hole formed at a tip portion between the firing step and the storage step. In the storage step, only the exhaust pipe is disposed in the inert gas atmosphere in the storage process.

  According to the present invention, since only the exhaust pipe of the luminous body is disposed in the inert gas atmosphere, it is necessary to fill the entire luminous body with the inert gas as compared with the case where the entire luminous body is disposed in the inert gas atmosphere. The area is narrowed, and the necessary amount of inert gas can be reduced.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a light emitter manufactured by the method of manufacturing a light emitter according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, and a high frequency electromagnetic field applied to the discharge gas that is disposed in proximity to the bulb. And an induction coil to be provided.

  According to this configuration, since the light emitter is prevented from adsorbing moisture on the coating film according to the invention of claim 1, the metal vapor in the discharge gas reacts with oxygen in the moisture adsorbed on the coating film. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of blackening due to. Accordingly, it is possible to realize an electrodeless discharge lamp in which a decrease in light output due to the blackening phenomenon hardly occurs.

  According to the present invention, in the storage process, at least a portion including the vent hole in the luminous body is disposed in an inert gas atmosphere. Even when this gas is sucked into the valve through the vent hole, the gas sucked into the valve is not an atmosphere containing moisture but an inert gas. Accordingly, there is an advantage that moisture can be prevented from being taken into the valve in the storage process and adsorption of moisture to the coating film can be prevented.

  In the following embodiments, as an example of a light emitter including a bulb in which a discharge gas containing a metal vapor is sealed, it is used for an electrodeless discharge lamp provided with an induction coil that is disposed close to the bulb and causes a high-frequency electromagnetic field to act on the discharge gas. Illustrative of the illuminant, the illuminant may be used other than an electrodeless discharge lamp such as a fluorescent lamp.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the luminous body A of the present embodiment has a configuration in which a base 2 for fixing the bulb 1 to an instrument body (not shown) is integrally attached to the bulb 1. A coupler unit B having an induction coil 3 is attached to the light emitter A in such a manner that the induction coil 3 is disposed close to the bulb 1.

  The bulb 1 is formed in a hollow spherical shape from glass, which is a translucent material, and a part of the bulb 1 is projected as a fitting portion 4 and fitted into a cylindrical base 2. The base 2 is bonded to the valve 1. Further, in the valve 1, a cavity 5 that is recessed in a cylindrical shape inwardly from the tip end surface of the fitting portion 4 is formed integrally with the fitting portion 4. A cylindrical exhaust pipe 6 projecting outward from the cavity 5 is formed integrally with the cavity 5. The exhaust pipe 6 is formed coaxially with the cavity 5 and has a smaller diameter than the cavity 5, and has a function of communicating the inside and the outside of the valve 1 as described later in the manufacturing process. In the completed form, the sealing portion 6a as the tip is hermetically sealed by chip-off. The exhaust pipe 6 is disposed on the central axis of the base 2, and is chipped off to such a length that the sealing portion 6 a protrudes from the opening surface of the cavity 5 and is surrounded by the base 2.

  On the inner side surface of the bulb 1 excluding the inner peripheral surface of the exhaust pipe 6, a phosphor layer 8 is formed as a coating film containing the phosphor. As the discharge gas sealed in the bulb 1, a mixed gas of a rare gas such as argon or krypton and a mercury metal vapor is used. According to the above-described configuration, when the high frequency electromagnetic field acts on the discharge gas by the induction coil 3, the light emitter A excites the discharge gas to generate ultraviolet rays, thereby causing the phosphor layer 8 to emit light.

  Here, amalgam is used as a generation source of mercury vapor in the discharge gas, and the amalgam is accommodated in a metal container 9 provided in the vicinity of the proximal end portion of the exhaust pipe 6 in the bulb 1. The metal container 9 is positioned and supported by a glass rod 10 inserted and engaged in the exhaust pipe 6. By controlling the mercury vapor pressure in the discharge space (inside the bulb 1), the amalgam maintains good light characteristics even when the ambient temperature of the bulb 1 changes. Further, inside the exhaust pipe 6, a metal mesh 12 supported by a metal support wire 11 is accommodated near the sealing portion 6a. The metal mesh 12 has a dark place starting aid, such as CsOH. A substance having a small work function is supported by coating.

  On the other hand, the coupler unit B is attached to the light emitter A so as to be inserted into the cavity 5 of the bulb 1 through the base 2 and is formed in a cylindrical shape so that the exhaust pipe 6 can be inserted therethrough. . A flange portion 13 is formed at the end of the coupler unit B that protrudes from the cavity 5, and the coupler unit B is configured so that the outer peripheral surface of the flange portion 13 contacts the inner peripheral surface of the base 2. Is fixed to the light emitter A. The coupler unit B is formed in a cylindrical ferrite core 14 housed in the cavity 5 and having the induction coil 3 wound around the outer peripheral surface thereof, and formed continuously from the inside of the ferrite core 14 to the outside of the cavity 5. And a heat dissipating cylinder 15 for releasing the heat of the ferrite core 14, a bobbin 16 for positioning the induction coil 3, and a cap 17 fitted to the end of the ferrite core 14 on the bottom surface side of the cavity 5. The wiring connected to the induction coil 3 may be drawn through the base 2, but the base 2 made of a conductive material may be made conductive.

  In the light emitter A shown in FIG. 2, a guide protrusion 18 that guides the coupler unit B when the coupler unit B is attached to the light emitter A is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the base 2, whereby the coupler unit B can be easily attached to the light emitter A without contacting the inner peripheral surface of the cavity 5 or the outer peripheral surface of the exhaust pipe 6 in the bulb 1.

  Hereinafter, the manufacturing method of the luminous body A of the electrodeless discharge lamp described above will be described.

  In the valve 1, an integrated body of the cavity 5 and the exhaust pipe 6 (hereinafter referred to as a cavity block) and a portion other than the cavity block (hereinafter referred to as a main body block) are individually formed (hereinafter referred to as a valve molding process). The cavity block and the main body block are combined in a later process (exhaust pipe applying process).

  Next, the coating material for forming the phosphor layer 8 described above is applied to the cavity block and the main body block on the inner surface of the bulb 1 (hereinafter referred to as an application step). The coating material forming the phosphor layer 8 is obtained by dissolving a powdery phosphor in an organic solvent.

  After the coating process, the light emitter A is housed in a baking furnace having a high temperature atmosphere of about 500 ° C., and the bulb 1 is heated to discharge the moisture in the coating applied in the coating process to the outside of the valve 1 (hereinafter referred to as “the bulb 1”). Called the firing step).

  Then, the exhaust pipe 6 is provided on the light emitter A by joining the cavity block and the main body block at the tip of the fitting portion 4 (hereinafter referred to as an exhaust pipe applying step). At the end of the exhaust pipe application step, the tip of the exhaust pipe 6 is opened as a vent hole 6b, and the inside and outside of the valve 1 communicate with each other through the exhaust pipe 6b. Since the exhaust pipe 6 at this time is in a state before being chipped off as described above, the exhaust pipe 6 is longer than the state shown in FIG. 2 and greatly protrudes from the distal end portion of the fitting portion 4 as shown in FIG. Yes.

  Thereafter, the gas in the bulb 1 is evacuated, the inside of the bulb 1 is put into a high vacuum atmosphere, and a rare gas such as argon or krypton is sealed to replace the gas in the bulb 1 with a discharge gas, and the exhaust pipe 6 is chipped off. Thus, the valve 1 is hermetically sealed (hereinafter referred to as an enclosing process).

  By the way, the coating process, the firing process, the exhaust pipe applying process, and the sealing process described above are performed in separate manufacturing facilities, and each manufacturing facility has a different processing capacity. In order to adjust the waiting time between the generated processes, a storage process as a buffer for temporarily storing the luminous body A is set between the firing process and the encapsulation process. In the present embodiment, in this storage step, the luminous body A is put into a storage C described below, so that the air holes 6b that connect the inside and the outside of the bulb 1 are arranged in an inert gas atmosphere. There is a feature in the point.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the storage C for the luminous body A used in the present embodiment includes a box-shaped body 19 opened upward with the upper surface as an opening, and is provided with a plate-like pallet 20. The opening of the body 19 is covered. That is, a rectangular parallelepiped space surrounded by the body 19 and the pallet 20 becomes the internal space of the storage C. In the vicinity of the opening on the inner peripheral surface of the body 19, a step 21 is formed that widens the upper opening area, and the pallet 20 is detachably attached to the body 19 by being placed on the step 21.

  The pallet 20 holds the illuminant A in each manufacturing process of the illuminant A, and the pallet 20 has a holding hole 22 into which a part of the illuminant A is inserted. The fitting portion 4 of the valve 1 is held in the pallet 20 by being inserted into the holding hole 22. The inner diameter of the holding hole 22 is set to be larger than the outer diameter of the fitting portion 4 of the valve 1 and smaller than the maximum diameter of the valve 1. Is held on the pallet 20. Here, the light emitter A is formed in the most stable shape when the axial direction of the exhaust pipe 6 coincides with the penetrating direction of the holding hole 22 when inserted into the holding hole 22, and is held by the pallet 20. In this state, the vent hole 6b formed at the tip of the exhaust pipe 6 is directed downward in FIG. A plurality of holding holes 22 are formed in the pallet 20 so that a plurality of light emitters A can be held at the same time. In this embodiment, ten holding holes 22 are provided in the longitudinal direction of the pallet 20. Two rows are formed in the width direction so as to be each. As shown in FIG. 4, when the pallet 20 is mounted on the storage C with the light emitter A held on the pallet 20, the light emitter A is inserted into the storage C, and a part of the bulb 1 is It is stored in the storage C through the holding hole 22.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the storage C includes a partition plate 25 that partitions the internal space into two chambers, an upper chamber 23 and a lower chamber 24, in the depth direction of the body 19 (vertical direction in FIG. 1). The lower chamber 24 formed on the bottom side of the body 19 with respect to the partition plate 25 is provided with a supply port (not shown) connected to a nitrogen cylinder (not shown), and the lower chamber 24 is always in a nitrogen cylinder. Is filled with nitrogen gas by supplying nitrogen gas as an inert gas. That is, the lower chamber 24 has a configuration in which air does not easily flow from the outside.

  In a state in which the illuminant A is put into the storage C, the distal end portion of the exhaust pipe 6 in which the vent hole 6 b is formed is inserted into the lower chamber 24 through the through hole 26 provided in the partition plate 25. That is, a through hole 26 that penetrates the exhaust pipe 6 is formed in each part of the partition plate 25 corresponding to the holding hole 22. For this reason, the upper chamber 23 and the lower chamber 24 communicate with each other through the through hole 26, so that the inert gas is supplied to the lower chamber 24 to such an extent that air does not flow into the lower chamber 24 through the through hole 26. It is.

  The internal temperature of the bulb 1 before putting the luminous body A into the storage C is about 250 ° C., and the moisture concentration in the bulb 1 is much lower than that in the atmosphere. The vicinity of the storage C including the inside of the storage C is at normal temperature, and the gas in the bulb 1 contracts in the process in which the light emitter A is put into the storage C and the temperature in the bulb 1 is lowered to normal temperature. Here, when the gas in the bulb 1 contracts, the gas is sucked from the outside of the bulb 1, but when the light emitter A is put into the storage C, the air hole 6 b that communicates the inside and the outside of the bulb 1. Is disposed in the lower chamber 24, the inert gas (in this case, nitrogen gas) is sucked into the valve 1, and the water concentration in the valve 1 does not increase. That is, moisture is prevented from adsorbing to the phosphor layer 8 from which moisture has been removed in the previous firing step.

  Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the metal vapor (here, mercury vapor) in the discharge gas sealed in the bulb 1 from reacting with the oxygen in the moisture adsorbed on the phosphor layer 8 to be oxidized (to become mercury oxide). Can do. As a result, the so-called blackening phenomenon can be prevented, and the light output of the light emitter A can be prevented from being lowered due to the blackening phenomenon. If the luminous body A is put into the storage C before the internal temperature of the bulb 1 falls below 100 ° C., the inert gas is sucked into the bulb 1 in the process of cooling the bulb 1, and the phosphor layer 8 is moved to. Can be prevented, but if the light emitter A is put into the storage C in a state where the internal temperature of the bulb 1 is higher, the suction of air into the bulb 1 can be prevented more reliably. can do.

  In the present embodiment, only the lower chamber 24 in which the vent hole 6b is stored in the internal space of the storage C is filled with the inert gas, so that the entire internal space of the storage C is filled with the inert gas. Compared to the case, there is an advantage that the amount of the inert gas used can be suppressed and the cost of the inert gas can be reduced.

  Moreover, in this embodiment which employ | adopted nitrogen gas whose specific gravity is smaller than air as an inert gas, the density | concentration of an inert gas is high in the gas in the valve | bulb 1 after a storage process, and specific gravity becomes small compared with air | atmosphere. . Therefore, when the vent hole 6b is exposed to the atmosphere, for example, by transporting the luminous body A, during the period from the storage step to the enclosing step, it is desirable to keep the vent hole 6b downward. That is, if the vent hole 6b is faced downward, the atmosphere heavier than the gas in the valve 1 is less likely to enter the valve 1 from the vent hole 6b, and as a result, moisture can be prevented from entering the valve 1. Adsorption of moisture to the phosphor layer 8 can be prevented.

  Furthermore, when a plurality of light emitters A are manufactured simultaneously, the state where the light emitters A are held on the pallet 20 as shown in FIG. 5 when moving from one process to another. It is desirable to carry it with the pallet 20. Thereby, since several light-emitting body A can be handled collectively, compared with the case where the several light-emitting body A is conveyed one by one, conveyance becomes easy. When the light emitter 20 is also cleaned while the light emitter A is held on the pallet 20, the pallet 20 is required to be formed of a material that does not rust even when exposed to pure water for cleaning. The Here, the pallet 20 is formed from stainless steel, which is a relatively inexpensive material, and stainless steel is also used as the material of the storage C as in the pallet 20. The size of the storage C used in the present embodiment is about 300 mm in width, about 750 mm in longitudinal dimension, and about 200 mm in height in consideration of the size and productivity of the light emitter A.

  By the way, when the illuminant A is handled together with the pallet 20 when the illuminant A is inserted into and removed from the storage C described above, it is necessary to move the pallet 20 in the vertical direction which is the depth direction of the body 19. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, the pallet 20 holding the light emitter A can be put into the storage C by moving it straight in the direction of the arrow S from one side in the longitudinal direction of the body 19. You may do it. As shown in FIG. 7, the body 19 has a shape in which the upper chamber 23 is opened to one side in the longitudinal direction, and the through hole 26 of the partition plate 25 is continuous in the longitudinal direction of the partition plate 25 and the one side The pallet 20 holding the illuminant A is formed on the side wall of the body 19 by continuously forming the slit 27 on the side wall of the body 19 so that the exhaust pipe 6 can pass through the side wall of the body 19. 19 can be introduced from one side. In this way, if the pallet 20 is put into the storage C from one side in the longitudinal direction of the body 19, the light emitter A is put into and taken out of the storage C just by moving the pallet 20 straight in the horizontal plane. Therefore, there is no need for a vertical path as the transport path of the pallet 20, and there is an advantage that the transport path of the pallet 20 can be simplified.

  The inert gas supplied into the storage C may be the same as the rare gas (for example, argon) that constitutes the discharge gas together with the metal vapor and is enclosed in the bulb 1, or helium, carbon dioxide. Etc. may be adopted.

  In addition, as a manufacturing method different from the above-described embodiment, in the storage process, the luminous body A is stored in a heating furnace having a high temperature atmosphere to suppress the temperature decrease of the bulb 1 and the gas in the bulb 1 contracts. However, in this method, since the air is taken into the heating furnace every time when the light emitter A is put in and out, the temperature in the heating furnace is lowered. The gas in the valve 1 contracts with the change, and the atmosphere may be sucked into the valve 1. In addition, since this method takes time until the temperature inside the heating furnace is once again lowered to a high temperature atmosphere, it is desired to produce a large amount of light emitters A at a time interval as short as possible. Not suitable for.

It is a perspective view in the state where a part of storage used in an embodiment of the present invention was fractured. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of a light-emitting body same as the above. It is a perspective view which shows the state before throwing a light-emitting body same as the above into a storage. It is a perspective view which shows the state which injected the light-emitting body same as the above into the storage. It is a perspective view which shows the state which took out the light-emitting body same as the above with the pallet. It is a perspective view which shows the state which throws a light-emitting body in the other storage used in the same as the above. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the storehouse same as the above.

Explanation of symbols

1 Valve 2 Base 3 Induction Coil 6 Exhaust Pipe 8 Phosphor Layer (Coating)
A Light emitter 6b Vent

Claims (5)

  A method of manufacturing a light emitting device including a bulb having a coating film containing a phosphor formed on an inner surface, wherein a discharge gas containing metal vapor is sealed in the bulb, wherein the coating material for forming the coating film is a valve. The gas in the bulb is replaced with the discharge gas through the firing process in which the bulb is heated while being applied to the inner surface and a part of the bulb is open, and the inside and outside of the bulb. A storage step for temporarily storing the luminous body between the sealing step and sealing the bulb, and in the storage step, at least a portion including the vent hole in the luminous body is disposed in an inert gas atmosphere. A method of manufacturing a luminescent material characterized by the above.   2. The method for manufacturing a light emitter according to claim 1, wherein the inert gas is nitrogen gas.   The inert gas has a specific gravity smaller than that of the atmosphere, and maintains the ventilation holes downward when the ventilation holes are exposed to the atmosphere during the period after the storage process and before the encapsulation process. The manufacturing method of the light-emitting body of Claim 1 or Claim 2.   Between the firing step and the storage step, there is an exhaust pipe applying step for providing the luminous body with an exhaust pipe protruding from the bulb and having the vent hole formed at the tip portion. 4. The method for manufacturing a light emitter according to claim 1, wherein only the exhaust pipe is disposed in the inert gas atmosphere. 5.   A light emitter manufactured by the method for manufacturing a light emitter according to any one of claims 1 to 4, and an induction coil that is disposed in the vicinity of the bulb and causes a high-frequency electromagnetic field to act on the discharge gas. An electrodeless discharge lamp characterized by

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