JPH0562598A - Gas filling device for tublar bulb - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a gas filling device for a tublar bulb capable of automatically correcting the effect of filling gas pressure due to a tublar bulb temperature and capable of always keeping the filling gas pressure to the tublar bulb at an accurate value. CONSTITUTION:In a gas filling device for a tublar bulb, a gas accumulating container is connected to a gas supply via a pipe containing a closing valve at its entrance side, and is connected to a gas communicating passage via a pipe containing a closing valve at its exit side, and a distributor is connected to an exhausting head, by which a tublar bulb to be filled with a gas being supported, via a pipe containing a shut off valve at another end of a gas communicating passage therein. Subsequently, the gas filling device for a tublar bulb is composed of a temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature in the tublar bulb, a gas pressure computing means for computing the gas pressure in the gas accumulating container by calculating and correcting the real gas pressure in the tublar bulb in such a way so as to become a predetermined pressure according to the detected temperature in the tublar bulb, and a gas pressure adjusting means, mounted between the closing valve at the gas entrance side of the gas accumulating container and the gas supply, for adjusting the gas pressure and storing the gas in such a way so as to become the gas pressure computed by the gas pressure computing means.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gas filling device for a bulb, and more particularly to a gas filled bulb such as a fluorescent lamp or a mercury discharge lamp.
The present invention relates to a gas filling device for a tube, which is filled with a rare gas such as argon gas (hereinafter simply referred to as a tube).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, as a method for filling a rare gas or the like in a tube, a rare gas having a pressure P1 is temporarily stored in a gas accumulator 48 having a constant volume Vs as shown in FIG. A method is used in which the volume is V (= V1 + V2 + V3) to obtain a prescribed bulb pressure Pf.

That is, the gas filling device for a tube has an exhaust head 42 to which the tube 41 is attached, and a cock 43 on the exhaust head 42.
And a rotary valve 45 connected by a pipeline 44 having
A constant volume V connected to a pipe line 46 with a second opening / closing valve 47
s container 48 and a rare gas supply source 50 connected to the container 48 by a conduit 52 having a first opening / closing valve 49. The rotary valve 45 described above is provided with a rotary valve body 45a and a fixed valve body 45b, and a gas flow passage 45c is provided inside, so that when the rotary valve 45a indexes, the gas flow passage 45c communicates. Is becoming The rare gas supply source 50 is, for example, Ar.
It is a gas cylinder or the like and has a pressure regulator 51. Therefore, with the second on-off valve 47 closed, the first on-off valve 49
When the valve is opened, a rare gas such as Ar gas having a pressure P1 is supplied to the container 48 through the pressure regulator 51 and the conduit 52 by a constant volume Vs.

Next, the gas filling operation of the tube 41 of the gas filling apparatus for tube will be described with reference to FIG. In the tube gas charging device of FIG. 5, the second on-off valve 47 is closed in step 601 before the rotary valve 45 indexes.
In this state, the first opening / closing valve 49 is opened in step 602. As shown in step 603, the first opening / closing valve 49 is operated for a predetermined period of time to fill the container 48 having a constant volume Vs with the pressure P1 with the rare gas from the rare gas supply source 50 through the pressure regulator 51 and the conduit 52. The valve remains open until the Then, after a predetermined time elapses, a constant volume Vs in the container 48 is increased by the rare gas having the pressure P1.
When is satisfied, the routine proceeds to step 604, where the on-off valve 49 is closed. Step 605 determines whether or not the rotary valve 45 has stopped at the index position. When the rotary valve 45 reaches the index position, the routine proceeds to step 606, where the second opening / closing valve 47 is opened, and at step 607 the pressure P1 in the container 48 is set. The rare gas is diffused into the exhaust system volume V and the tube 41 is filled with the specified pressure Pf.

Considering a case where the mercury vapor pressure PHg is present in the exhaust system volume V on the tube side and a rare gas having a pressure P1 is present in the container 48 having a constant volume Vs, the second opening / closing valve 47 is considered. When is opened, the total volume (= Vs + V) is filled with the specified pressure Pf. Therefore, at this time, the following equation is established.

P1 * Vs + PHg * V = Pf (Vs + V) ... 1 Therefore, the prescribed pressure Pf under this condition can be expressed as follows by modifying Formula 1.

Pf = [P1 * Vs + PHg * V] / [Vs + V] ... 2 The on-off valve 47 is closed before the rotary valve 45 is indexed,
The on-off valve 49 is opened again, and the rare gas with pressure P1 has a constant volume Vs.
Only the rare gas supply source 50 supplies the container 48. This operation is repeated to fill the tube 41 with the rare gas. The exhaust system volume V is the on-off valve 47 of the gas filling device.
46 to the fixed side 45b of the rotary valve 45 and the flow passage
The sum volume V1 of 45c and the cock from the rotating side 45a of the rotary valve 45
The total volume V2 of the flow passage 45c up to 43 and the pipe 44, and the cock
The total volume from 43 to the tube 41 (including the volume of the tube) V3 is added. As a concrete conventional example of this exhaust system volume V, an example of a manufacturing apparatus of a straight tube type 20 watt fluorescent lamp (FL20S) is shown as follows: V1 = 30cc, V2 = 180cc, V3
= About 500cc.

[0008]

However, the conventional gas filling device for a tube having such a structure has the following problems.

(1) The actual enclosed pressure Pf of the rare gas varies due to variations in the tube temperature.

(2) Since the mercury vapor pressure PHg changes due to variations in the bulb temperature, the actual filling pressure Pf varies.

(3) If the tube temperature rises too high, the gas set pressure is fixed, and the tube becomes a defective product due to defective sealing.

(4) The quality of the gas pressure inside the bulb cannot be determined at the time of filling.

Therefore, the present invention solves the problems of the conventional gas filling device for a bulb, and can automatically correct the influence of the filling gas pressure due to the bulb temperature, mainly the influence of the mercury vapor pressure. An object of the present invention is to provide a gas filling device for a tube, which can always make the filling pressure Pf of a rare gas an accurate value.

[0014]

FIG. 1 shows the structure of a gas filling apparatus for a bulb according to the present invention which achieves the above object. Figure 1
As shown in the present invention, the present invention is to fill the gas from the gas supply source once in a gas accumulator having a predetermined volume using an on-off valve, and to fill the gas into the bulb using a distributor. In the device, the gas accumulator container is connected to the gas supply source through a pipeline having an opening / closing valve at an inlet side thereof, and has a gas flow passage in the distributor through a pipeline having an opening / closing valve at an outlet side thereof. In the gas filling device for a bulb, wherein the other end of the gas flow passage inside the distributor is connected to an exhaust head supported by a bulb filled with gas through a pipe having a shutoff valve, Temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the tube, depending on the temperature of the detected tube, the gas pressure in the gas accumulator container is corrected by calculating the actual gas pressure in the tube to a predetermined pressure. Gas pressure calculating means for calculating and opening / closing of gas inlet side of the gas accumulator Wherein provided between the gas supply source, it is characterized in that a gas pressure adjusting means for storing by adjusting the pressure of the gas to be computed gas pressure by the gas pressure calculating means and.

The gas pressure adjusting means may be configured to increase the pressure of the gas when the temperature of the tube becomes higher than room temperature. The gas pressure adjusting means includes a pressure adjusting container having a predetermined volume for storing the gas from the gas supply source, a vacuum pump for reducing the pressure of the gas in the pressure adjusting container, the pressure adjusting container and the gas. An electromagnetic valve provided between the pressure control container and the supply source and in the conduit between the pressure control container and the vacuum pump, a gas pressure sensor for detecting the pressure of gas in the pressure control container, and the pressure control container A control circuit for controlling the drive of each solenoid valve and the vacuum pump can be configured so that the pressure of the gas inside becomes the calculated value.

[0016]

According to the gas filling device for a bulb of the present invention, the temperature of the bulb is measured at a position immediately before the rare gas filling position, and the influence of mercury vapor pressure due to the temperature of the bulb in the control device is affected. The inclusion setting value of the rare gas is corrected and calculated, and the pressure in the gas accumulator is calculated so as to reach the corrected inclusion setting value. Then, when the gas pressure adjusting container provided between the gas accumulating container and the rare gas supply source is communicated, the pressure in the gas accumulating container becomes the required pressure,
The rare gas pressure in the gas pressure adjusting container is automatically adjusted by controlling the opening / closing of the pressurizing side solenoid valve and the vacuum side solenoid valve.

[0017]

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

FIG. 2 shows the construction of an embodiment of the gas filling apparatus for a tube of the present invention. The same components as those of the conventional gas filling apparatus for a tube shown in FIG. Has been done. Therefore, in FIG. 2, 42 is an exhaust head for mounting the tube 41, 45 is a rotary valve connected to the exhaust head 42 by a pipe line 44 having a cock 43, and 48 is a second opening / closing valve 47 for the rotary valve 45. A gas accumulator of constant volume Vs connected by a pipe 46 equipped with a noble gas supply 50 equipped with a pressure regulator 51 connected to this container 48 by a conduit 52 equipped with a first opening / closing valve 49. Is the source. In addition, the rotary valve 45 includes a rotary valve body 45a and a fixed valve body 45a.
It is also the same that b is provided, the gas flow passage 45c is provided inside, and the gas flow passage 45c communicates when the rotary valve 45a is indexed.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the following members are added to the gas filling device for a tube having the above-mentioned structure. That is, the gas pressure adjusting container 23 for adjusting the pressure of the rare gas to the gas accumulator container 48 provided in the middle of the pipe line 52 connecting the first on-off valve 49 and the pressure adjuster 51 of the rare gas supply source 50, A first flow rate adjusting valve 21 for adjusting the flow rate of the rare gas to the gas pressure adjusting container 23,
Noble gas discharge line 25 from the gas pressure adjusting container 23, discharge line
A second flow rate adjusting valve 22 provided in the middle of 25, a pressure sensor 24 for detecting the pressure inside the gas pressure adjusting container 23, and a discharge pipe line.
A vacuum pump 26 provided at the end of 25, a temperature sensor 27 that detects the temperature of the tube 41, a pressure sensor 29 that detects the pressure of the conduit 46, and a signal from the temperature sensor 27, the pressure sensor 2
The signals from 4, 29 are input, and the first and second flow rate adjusting valves 2
A control device 28 for outputting control signals to the 1, 22, first and second on-off valves 49, 47 is added.

In this embodiment, the rare gas supply source 50
The set pressure of the pressure regulator 51 is set to a pressure P2 higher than the pressure P1 of the rare gas in the gas accumulator 48, and this pressure P2 is set to the opening of the flow rate adjusting valve 22 and the vacuum pump 26. The pressure can be reduced by driving. Therefore, by adjusting the pressure of the rare gas in the gas pressure adjusting container 23, the pressure of the rare gas filling the container 48 can be made higher or lower than the conventional set pressure P1.

Next, the gas filling operation of the tube 41 of the tube gas charging device of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
In the tube gas filling device of FIG. 2, the following steps 301 to 312 are performed at the position before the rotary valve 45 is indexed.
Process. That is, in step 301, the temperature of the tube 41 is measured, and in step 302, the controller calculates the gas encapsulation set value Pf according to the tube temperature. At step 303, the pressure Ps of the gas accumulator 48 corresponding to the set charging pressure Pf is calculated.

In this state, the first flow rate adjusting valve 21 is opened in step 304, and the pressure P from the rare gas supply source 50 is set.
2 (> P1) rare gas flows into the gas pressure adjusting container 23. In step 305, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the opening of the first flow rate adjusting valve 21, that is, whether or not the gas pressure adjusting container 23 is filled with the pressure P2. When the predetermined time has elapsed, the routine proceeds to step 306, where the first flow rate adjusting valve is closed. In the following step 307, the pressure Pc inside the gas pressure adjusting container 23 is measured by the pressure sensor 24, and in step 308 the pressure Pc inside the gas pressure adjusting container 23 is measured.
Is the pressure Ps of the gas accumulator container 48 calculated in step 303
It is determined whether or not it is greater than.

If Pc> Ps, proceed to step 309,
While driving the vacuum pump 26, the routine proceeds to step 310, the second flow rate adjusting valve 22 is opened, and the routine returns to step 307. As a result, the atmospheric pressure of the gas pressure adjusting container 23 is reduced from the pressure P2. On the other hand, if Pc ≤ Ps in step 308, the process proceeds to step 311, in which the second flow rate adjusting valve 22 is first closed and then in step 312 the driving of the vacuum pump 26 is stopped and the process proceeds to step 313.

Step 313 is a gas filling process for the bulb, which is exactly the same as the routine described with reference to FIG. In this way, the gas pressure adjusting container 23 can store the rare gas having the optimum pressure according to the temperature of the tube 41.

Here, the filling pressure of the tube 41 at room temperature is Pfo,
There is a mercury vapor pressure PHg in the exhaust system volume V on the side of the tube 41, and a rare gas of pressure P1 exists in the container 48 of constant volume Vs.
Consider the case where the temperature at 41 rises to T ° C. When the temperature of the tube 41 rises from room temperature, the mercury vapor pressure PHg rises as the temperature rises as shown in FIG. 4 (a) (the mercury vapor pressure value at the temperature T ° C is expressed as PHg (T). Yes). This mercury vapor pressure PHg
The value of is fixed to the pressure P1 of the gas accumulator 48 in advance and
Data is taken by changing the temperature of 41 and measuring the pressure after making the tube 41.

Therefore, when the temperature of the tube 41 rises to T ° C., the pressure enclosed in the tube 41 also rises as shown in FIG. 4 (b). Assuming that the filling pressure at the temperature T ° C is Pf, when the second opening / closing valve 47 opens, the total volume (= V) is reached at the specified pressure Pf.
s + V) is satisfied, and at this time, the following equation holds.

P1 * Vs + PHg (T) * V = Pf (Vs + V) ... 3 Therefore, the pressure P inside the gas accumulator 48 under this condition
1 can be expressed as follows by transforming Equation 3.

P1 = (1 / Vs) * [Pf (Vs + V) -PHg (T) * V] ... 4 On the other hand, the tube when the temperature of the tube 41 rises from room temperature to T ° C.
The increase ΔP in the filling pressure of 41 can be expressed by the following formula.

ΔP = Pf−Pfo = (PHg (T) * V) / (Vs + V) ... 5 Therefore, the enclosed pressure Pf of the tube 41 at T ° C. can be expressed by the following equation.

Pf = Pfo + ΔP = Pfo + (PHg (T) * V) / (Vs + V) ... 6 Therefore, the pressure P1 in the gas pressure container 48 at this time may be determined as follows.

P 1 = (1 / Vs) * [[Pfo + PHg (T) * V / (Vs + V)] − (Vs + V)] ... 7 Further, the first opening / closing valve 49 including the gas pressure adjusting container 23 From first
Assuming that the volume up to the flow rate adjusting valve 21 is VA, the gas pressure adjusting container 23 and the gas pressure accumulating container 48 when the first opening / closing valve 49 is opened.
The pressure PA in the gas pressure adjusting container 23 may be adjusted so that the pressure in the combined volume VL = Vs + VL becomes the pressure P1 shown in the equation 7.

According to the gas filling device for a bulb as described above, even if the mercury vapor pressure PHg changes due to variations in the bulb temperature, the actual filling pressure Pf of the rare gas does not fluctuate. The tube is gone.

[0033]

As described above, according to the gas filling apparatus for a tube of the present invention, it is possible to cope with the temperature change of the tube 41, so that the following effects are obtained.

(1) A defective valve, which has been defective due to a high valve temperature until now, becomes a good product, so that the yield is improved.

(2) It is possible to prevent variations in the enclosed pressure due to the difference in mercury vapor pressure temperature.

(3) Encapsulation accuracy is improved.

(5) Whether or not the lamp gas pressure is good can be judged at the time of filling.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle configuration diagram of a gas filling device for a tube of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a gas filling device for a bulb of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the gas filling device for a bulb of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a graph for calculating a gas pressure stored in the gas pressure adjusting container of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an example of a conventional gas filling device for a tube.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a gas filling operation into a tube of the tube gas charging device of FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

 21 1st flow control valve 22 2nd flow control valve 23 Gas pressure control container 24,29 Pressure sensor 25,44,46,52 Pipe line 26 Vacuum pump 27 Temperature sensor 28 Control device 41 Tube 42 Exhaust head 43 Cock 45 rotary valve 47 second on-off valve 48 gas accumulator container 49 first on-off valve 50 noble gas supply source

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A gas filling device for a bulb for temporarily storing a gas from a gas supply source in a gas accumulator having a predetermined volume using an on-off valve and filling the gas into the bulb using a distributor. The gas accumulator container has an inlet side connected to the gas supply source via a pipeline having an opening / closing valve, and an outlet side connected to a gas flow passage in the distributor via a pipeline having an opening / closing valve. In the gas filling device for a bulb, the distributor is connected to an exhaust head on which a bulb for filling a gas is supported via a conduit having a shutoff valve at the other end of the gas flow passage therein. Temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the gas, and a gas for calculating the gas pressure of the gas accumulator by performing a correction calculation so that the actual gas pressure in the tube becomes a predetermined pressure according to the detected temperature of the tube. A pressure calculation means, an opening / closing valve on the gas inlet side of the gas accumulator, and A gas pressure adjusting means which is provided between the gas supply source and adjusts and stores the gas pressure so that the gas pressure calculated by the gas pressure calculating means becomes the gas pressure; Gas filling device. 2. The gas filling device for a bulb according to claim 1, wherein the gas pressure adjusting means is controlled to increase the pressure of the gas when the temperature of the bulb becomes higher than room temperature. apparatus. 3. The pressure adjusting container, wherein the gas pressure adjusting means has a predetermined volume for storing gas from a gas supply source, a vacuum pump for reducing the pressure of the gas in the pressure adjusting container, and the pressure adjusting container. And a solenoid valve provided in the conduit between the gas supply source and between the pressure adjusting container and the vacuum pump, a gas pressure sensor for detecting the pressure of the gas in the pressure adjusting container, The control circuit for controlling the drive of each solenoid valve and the vacuum pump so that the pressure of the gas in the pressure adjusting container becomes the calculated value, and the control circuit according to claim 1 or 2. Gas filling device for tubes.