JP2010049958A - Gas feeding/discharging device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device capable of efficiently sealing gases into a discharge container or the like. <P>SOLUTION: An introducing part 12 of atmospheric gases of Ar or the like is formed in a heat-treating chamber 5, and a volume variable member 30 as a gas supply device is connected via a joint member 20. This volume variable member 30 has a function to force-feed or suction the gases by varying the volume. Moreover, the joint member 20 is equipped with a switching valve 22 in the middle of a piping 21, and by operating this switching valve 22, the heat-treating chamber 5 is selectively connected to a vacuum pump 23 and the volume variable member 30. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a gas supply / discharge device that supplies gas sealed in an HID lamp (high-intensity discharge lamp) or halogen lamp in an optimal state, recovers the use, and reuses the gas.

  A pair of electrodes face the light emitting part of the lamp, and dysprosium (Dy) for the purpose of expressing high color rendering properties with a rare earth gas such as helium, nitrogen, argon, krypton, xenon, mercury, sodium, and the like. A halogen compound composed of a plurality of rare earth metals such as scandium (Sc), neodymium (Nd), europium (Eu), holmium (Ho), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb) is enclosed.

  Further, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 are known as prior arts of a type in which a sealing part is provided on one side of a light emitting part and a pair of electrodes are held in this sealing part, and sealing is performed on both sides of the light emitting part. Patent document 3 is known as a prior art of the type which provides a site | part and hold | maintains an electrode in each sealing site | part.

  Since the sealing method is the same for any type of lamp, a method for sealing a discharge lamp of a type in which a sealing portion is provided on one side of the light emitting portion will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, as shown in FIG. 7A, the lamp before sealing is provided with a sealing portion (primary sealing) 101 on one side of the light emitting portion 100, and the electrodes 102 and 102 are attached to the molybdenum foil 103 at this sealing portion 101. , 103 to the external leads 104, 104. Further, an exhaust pipe 105 is provided on the opposite side of the light emitting part 100.

  The pipe portion 105 of the lamp is inserted into the joint member 106 via a swage lock. The joint member 106 includes a gas supply path 107 and an exhaust path 108. The supply path 107 and the exhaust path 108 are provided with on-off valves 109 and 110, and the supply path 107 is connected to a cylinder 111 that stores a sealing gas. The exhaust path 108 is connected to the vacuum pump 112.

  Then, the on-off valve 109 is closed, the on-off valve 110 is opened, and the inside of the light emitting part 100 is once depressurized and evacuated by the vacuum pump 112. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 7B, the on-off valve 109 is opened, the on-off valve 110 is closed, and then nitrogen gas is introduced into xenon (Xe) or krypton (Kr) in the light emitting part 100 immersed in liquid nitrogen. Then, a mixed gas such as hydrocarbon or halogen is fed.

Next, the internal pressure of the light emitting part 100 is adjusted so that the enclosed pressure does not vary. In general, internal pressure adjustment is performed with the on-off valve 109 closed and the on-off valve 110 in a half-open state as shown in FIG. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 7 (d), the portion immediately below the joint member 106, that is, the exhaust pipe is blown off with an oxyhydrogen burner or the like by a burner to obtain a desired lamp shown in FIG. 7 (e).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-321135 JP 2000-077029 A JP 2000-331606 A

  In the conventional sealing method, as described with reference to FIGS. 7B and 7C, after the gas is once filled in the lamp, it is necessary to finely adjust the internal pressure of the gas. A large amount of the gas is discharged to the outside at the time of this decompression adjustment, leaving a great problem in cost and environment. Recently, research into lamps that do not use mercury, which is negative for the environment, has become an urgent task. In such lamps, xenon (Xe), which has been rising rapidly in recent years, is used as a sealing gas. Therefore, the conventional method is a big problem in manufacturing.

  In the conventional system, new gas is introduced from the cylinder after exhausting gas such as xenon (Xe) in the glove box to the outside by a vacuum pump. However, the gas stored in the cylinder often contains impurities such as moisture, and when the sealing operation is continued, the dew point of the glow box is about -90 ° C at the start of the operation -70 ° C or less. As a result, the startability of the lamp is remarkably deteriorated.

  In order to solve the above problems, a gas supply / discharge device according to the present invention includes a joint member that is tightly connected to a member into which gas is fed, and a gas that is tightly connected to the joint member and expands and contracts its volume. The joint member is provided with a gas supply path and an exhaust path provided with a switching valve, and a gas supply source is connected to the volume variable member.

  Equation of state of gas: (volume of the entire container) x (pressure of the enclosed gas) = Applying the constant idea.

  The volume variable member is preferably a cylinder unit such as an air cylinder or a bellows tube made of a material that does not transmit gas such as neoprene rubber. A gas purifier (comprising zeolite + catalyst) capable of adsorbing and removing impurities such as moisture in the gas by circulating gas to the variable volume member is closely connected in parallel, and the gas is circulated. The dew point of can always be kept high.

  As the member into which the gas is sent, a lamp vessel or a heating chamber that houses the lamp vessel can be considered. In this case, the gas is directly used as a gas or a gas enclosed in the lamp vessel.

  Outside the expansion / contraction member, a sealed container made of a material that does not allow gas such as SUS, titanium, and aluminum to pass therethrough is provided. Can be kept from being isolated.

  The gas supply device according to the present invention can drastically reduce the waste of discarding expensive gas. As a result, the product price can be reduced. Further, by using the gas purifier together, it is possible to prevent deterioration of the enclosed gas over a long period of time and to manufacture a high-performance lamp.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Here, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a glove box provided with a gas supply device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the glove box before sealing, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the glove box during sealing, and FIG. (A)-(e) is the figure explaining the procedure which encloses gas in a discharge lamp using the gas supply apparatus which concerns on this invention, FIG.5 (a) is a figure which shows the state before frit glass melting | fusing, (b) FIG. 3 is a view showing a state where frit glass is melted and sealing is completed.

  A transparent plate 2 is fitted on the front surface of the glove box 1, and an insertion port for the glove 3 for inserting the operator's hand is provided below the glove box 1, and moisture in the gas in the glove box 1 is provided on the side surface of the glove box 1. A circulation type gas purifier 4 is arranged to adsorb and remove impurities and return them to the glove box 1 again.

  A heating chamber 5 is attached to the upper surface of the glove box 1. A tungsten coil 6 for heating the heater is disposed in the heating chamber 5, and the heating chamber 5 and the inside of the glove box 1 communicate with each other through the opening 7. It has a structure to do.

  A table 8 is disposed in the glove box 1 below the opening 4, and the table 8 is fixed to a rod end of an elevating mechanism 9 such as a cylinder unit. A lamp W waiting for sealing can be set on the upper surface of the table 8. At the lowest point of the table 8, the lamp W is installed on the upper surface of the table 8 using the globe 3, and then the lifting mechanism 9. Is driven to raise the table 8, and the opening 7 is hermetically closed by the table 8. At this time, since the heat-resistant sealing member 10 is provided around the upper surface of the table 8, the inside of the glove box 1 and the inside of the heat treatment chamber 5 can be shut off in an airtight manner.

  Further, a water cooling jacket 11 is provided on the outer periphery of the heating chamber 5, an atmospheric gas introduction part 12 is formed in the heating chamber 5 in advance, and a volume variable member 30 as a gas supply device is further connected via a joint member 20. Tightly connected. The variable volume member 30 has a function of pumping or sucking gas by changing the volume.

  The joint member 20 includes a switching valve 22 in the middle of the pipe 21, and the inside of the heating chamber 5 is selectively tightly connected to the vacuum pump 23 and the variable volume member 30 by operating the switching valve 22.

  A pipe 25 from a cylinder 24 for sealing gas (xenon) is connected in the middle of the pipe of the joint member 20, and a switching valve 26 is provided between the cylinder 24 and the pipe 25.

  On the other hand, the volume variable member 30 is constituted by an air cylinder unit having a cylinder case 31 and a piston 32, and a SUS sealed container 33 is provided outside the cylinder case 31, and the space between the cylinder case 31 and the container 33 is provided. The space is configured to be supplied with sealing gas (xenon) via a pipe 34. In this way, the volume variable member 30 is formed by having a double structure and filling the space between the cylinder case 31 and the container 33 with a positive pressure sealing gas (xenon) from the cylinder 24 via the pipe 27. Leakage can be completely prevented, and reliability can be maintained over a long period of time.

  In this embodiment, the piston 32 can take three positions P1 to P3, and is a circulation type that adsorbs and removes moisture and impurities in the sealing gas (xenon) on the forward side from the most advanced position P1. A gas purifier 34 is connected. This circulating gas purifier 34 may be connected to the pipe 25 from the cylinder 24.

  A procedure for performing secondary sealing of the lamp W that has been subjected to primary sealing using the gas supply apparatus having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, in the state of FIG. 4A, the opening 7 is hermetically closed by the table 8 on which the lamp W is set, and the atmospheric gas introduction part 12 is also closed. Further, the lower end sealing portion of the discharge lamp W is already sealed, and the electrode plug 35 is inserted into the upper end as shown in FIG. 5A, and the foot ring 36 is held on the upper portion of the plug 35. Yes.

  In the state of FIG. 4A, the switching valve 22 is in communication with the heating chamber 5 and the vacuum pump 23, and the argon pump in the heating chamber 5 is removed by driving the vacuum pump 23 in this state. At this time, the piston 32 is at P1.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 4B, the switching valve 22 is operated so that the variable volume member 30 and the heating chamber 5 communicate with each other, and an appropriate amount of sealing gas is sent from the variable volume member 30 to the heating chamber 5. . At this time, the lamp W holding the frit ring 36 is set outside the plug 35 in the heating chamber 5 and is not sealed, so that an appropriate amount of sealing gas is supplied into the lamp W.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 4C, the piston 32 of the variable volume member 30 is carefully moved from the position P1 to the position P2 (the temperature change due to adiabatic expansion is set to 0) to be enclosed in the lamp W. Finely adjust the gas pressure to the optimum value.

  Thereafter, the tungsten coil 6 is energized to heat and melt the frit ring 36. As shown in FIG. 5B, the melted frit ring 36 intervenes between the outer surface of the plug 35 and the inner surface of the leg portion of the lamp W by capillary action, and the secondary sealing is completed.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 4D, the piston 32 of the variable volume member 30 is further moved from the position P2 to P3, and the gas in the heating chamber 5 is collected in the variable member 30 as much as possible, and then switched. The valve 22 is closed, and then the same argon gas as in the glow box is supplied into the heating chamber 5 via the introduction unit 12, the inside of the heating chamber 5 is returned to normal pressure, the table 8 is lowered, and the table 8 is moved onto the table 8. The set lamp W after the completion of the secondary sealing is discharged.

  6 (a) to 6 (e) are process diagrams illustrating a procedure for sealing gas into a lamp using a gas supply device according to another embodiment. In the embodiment, an air cylinder unit is configured as the volume variable member 30. In this embodiment, a bellows tube mainly composed of an elastic material such as neoprene rubber may be used as the variable volume member 30 in this embodiment.

  Specifically, a joint member 40 and a bellows tube 30 as a volume variable member are formed. One end of the bellows tube 30 is connected to the joint member 40 and the other end is connected to a circulation type gas purifier 50. The joint member 40 includes a gas supply path 41 and an exhaust path 42, and on-off valves 43 and 44 are provided in the supply path 41 and the exhaust path 42, and the exhaust path 44 is connected to a vacuum pump 45.

  In order to perform secondary sealing, as shown in FIG. 6A, the on-off valve 43 is closed, the on-off valve 44 is opened, and the inside of the light emitting part of the lamp W is decompressed by the vacuum pump 45. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 6B, the opening / closing valve 43 is opened, the opening / closing valve 44 is closed, the bellows tube 30 is contracted, and an appropriate amount of sealing gas in the bellows tube 30 is fed into the light emitting portion of the lamp W. .

  Next, as shown in FIG. 6 (c), the bellows tube 30 is extended to slightly adjust the sealing gas pressure in the light emitting section. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 6D, the on-off valves 43 and 44 are closed, and the exhaust pipe immediately below the joint member 40 is melted by an oxyhydrogen burner to obtain a desired lamp shown in FIG. 6E.

  In the above embodiment, an example in which gas is sealed in the lamp has been shown. However, the gas supply apparatus according to the present invention can be applied to a pressure reducing fine adjustment mechanism other than the lamp.

The perspective view of the glove box provided with the gas supply device concerning the present invention Cross section of glove box before sealing Cross section of glove box during sealing Schematic explaining the procedure for supplying gas into the lamp using the gas supply device according to the present invention. Schematic explaining the procedure for supplying gas into the lamp using the gas supply device according to the present invention. Schematic explaining the procedure for supplying gas into the lamp using the gas supply device according to the present invention. Schematic explaining the procedure for supplying gas into the lamp using the gas supply device according to the present invention. (A) is a figure which shows the state before melt | dissolution of frit glass, (b) is a figure which shows the state which the frit glass melt | dissolved and it was in the sealing state. (A)-(e) is the figure which showed the whole procedure which encloses gas in a lamp | ramp using the gas supply apparatus which concerns on another Example. (A)-(e) is the figure explaining the conventional procedure which supplies gas in a lamp | ramp

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Glove box, 2 ... Transparent plate, 3 ... Globe, 4 ... Circulating gas purifier, 5 ... Heating chamber, 6 ... Tungsten coil heater, 7 ... Opening part, 8 ... Table, 9 ... Lifting mechanism, 10 ... Seal 11: Water cooling jacket, 12 ... Atmospheric gas introduction part, 20 ... Joint member, 21 ... Piping, 22 ... Switching valve, 23 ... Vacuum pump, 24 ... Cylinder, 25 ... Piping, 26 ... Switching valve, 27 ... Piping, 30 ... Variable volume member (air cylinder unit, bellows tube made of elastic material), 31 ... Cylinder case, 32 ... Piston, 33 ... Stainless steel container, 34 ... Pipe, 35 ... Plug body, 36 ... Frit ring, 40 ... Joint member 41... Supply path 42. Exhaust path 43 43 44 Open / close valve 45 Vacuum pump 50 Circulating gas purifier W Lamp

Claims (4)

A joint member connected to a member into which gas is fed, and a volume variable member that is connected to the joint member and sends or sucks gas by expanding and contracting the volume, and switching to the joint member A gas supply / exhaust device comprising a gas supply path and an exhaust path provided with a valve, and a gas supply source connected to the volume variable member. 2. The gas supply / exhaust device according to claim 1, wherein the variable volume member is a bellows tube made of a material that does not easily allow gas to pass through, such as a cylinder unit or neoprene rubber. 2. The gas supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a gas purifier for adsorbing and removing impurities such as water and oxygen in the gas by circulating the gas is connected to the variable volume member. Gas supply / discharge device. 4. The gas supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the member into which the gas is fed is a lamp or a heating chamber for sealing the lamp, and the gas is a gas sealed in the lamp. A gas supply / exhaust device.

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