JPH07220678A - Electrode material for discharge lamp and manufacture of discharge lamp - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To contribute to reduction of manufacturing cost of a discharge lamp by preventing a process from becoming complicated even in a discharge lamp that needs emitter materials. CONSTITUTION:A discharge lamp use electrode material where emitter materials 2 acting to reduce discharge voltage are stuck to an inside surface of a tube body 1 or are filled inside of the tube body 1 is used. This discharge lamp use electrode material is cut in a prescribed length, and the cut discharge lamp use electrode materials are sealed inside a sealing body together with the other discharge materials 3, and a discharge lamp is manufactured.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a discharge lamp electrode used in various discharge lamps such as a low-pressure mercury lamp, and more particularly to a long tubular discharge lamp electrode which is a base member for manufacturing the electrode. And a method of manufacturing a discharge lamp using the electrode material for the discharge lamp.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A discharge lamp emits light by causing a discharge inside a sealed body, and has a structure in which electrodes for discharging are provided inside the sealed body. Among such discharge lamps, a certain type of discharge lamp has conventionally employed a short tubular member as an electrode. For example, in a low pressure mercury lamp, a tubular member made of stainless steel having a length of about several tens of cm is used as an electrode. One of the reasons why such a short tubular member is adopted as an electrode is because of the manufacturing situation of the discharge lamp, and the material necessary for discharge (hereinafter, discharge material) is packed inside the tube in advance. This is because it is possible to simplify the work of filling the discharge material by introducing the discharge material into the inside of the sealed body.

For example, in the case of the above-mentioned low-pressure mercury lamp, the inside of the stainless steel tube is filled with an intermetallic compound of titanium-mercury and an intermetallic compound of zirconium-aluminum, and the intermetallic compound is filled inside the sealing body. Deploy. And
After evacuating the inside of the sealed body, an inert gas such as argon or krypton is sealed in, for example, about 30 Torr to seal the opening. The titanium-mercury intermetallic compound and the zirconium-aluminum intermetallic compound inside the electrode are
After sealing the body, it decomposes and vaporizes due to heat generated by energizing the electrodes and electromagnetic induction heating. At this time, mercury is vaporized from the titanium-mercury intermetallic compound to become a light emitting material, and zirconium-
The intermetallic compound of aluminum acts as a getter material,
It absorbs harmful gases present in the mercury lamp and helps the mercury lamp operate normally.

On the other hand, it has been conventionally practiced to attach an emitter material such as barium aluminate to the surface of the discharge lamp electrode for the purpose of lowering the discharge voltage. The attachment of the emitter material is performed by a method such as coating the surface of the electrode after cutting the electrode material for the above-mentioned tubular discharge lamp, and then enclosing the electrode in a sealing body. .

[0005]

The manufacturing of discharge lamps, like other products, is required to reduce manufacturing costs by simplifying the process and automating the invention. The present invention addresses such problems. Is. That is, as described above, in the conventional discharge lamp electrode material and discharge lamp manufacturing method, when an emitter material is required, it is necessary to apply the emitter material to the surface of each electrode one by one. Since this work is complicated and the number of steps is large, it has been one of the obstacles for reducing the manufacturing cost of the discharge lamp. The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides a devised electrode material for a discharge lamp and a method for manufacturing a discharge lamp, and the process is complicated even if the discharge lamp requires an emitter material. The purpose is to contribute to the reduction of the manufacturing cost of the discharge lamp.

[0006]

To achieve the above object, the discharge lamp electrode material according to claim 1 of the present application is cut into a predetermined length to form a discharge lamp electrode. An electrode material for a discharge lamp, which is a long tube, and has a structure in which an emitter material that functions to reduce the discharge voltage is attached to the inner surface of the tube or is filled inside the tube. Further, similarly, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the discharge lamp electrode material according to claim 2 of the present application is formed from a long tube body in which the discharge lamp electrode is formed by being cut into a predetermined length. The electrode material for a discharge lamp has a structure in which the inside of the tube is filled with an emitter material that functions to reduce the discharge voltage. Similarly, in order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose,
The electrode material for a discharge lamp according to claim 3 of the present application has a structure in which, in the structure according to claim 2, the emitter material is filled inside the tube together with another discharge material. Similarly, in order to achieve the above object, the discharge lamp electrode material according to claim 4 of the present application is the same as the discharge lamp electrode material according to claim 3, but the emitter material is another discharge formed in a predetermined shape. It is arranged so as to be attached to the surface of the material, and the inside of the tube is filled with another discharge material to which the emitter material is attached. Similarly, in order to achieve the above object, the discharge lamp electrode material according to claim 5 of the present application is the same as the discharge material according to claim 3 or 4, but the other discharge material emits light emitted by itself. It has a structure of being a material. Further, similarly, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the electrode material for a discharge lamp according to claim 6 of the present application is the same as the electrode material for a discharge lamp according to claim 3 or 4,
The getter material absorbs harmful gas existing inside the discharge lamp. Similarly, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the discharge lamp electrode material according to claim 7 of the present application is the same as the discharge material according to claim 3 or 4, and the other discharge material emits light emitted by itself. The material is a getter material that absorbs harmful gas existing inside the discharge lamp. Further, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object as well, the method for manufacturing a discharge lamp according to claim 8 of the present application is an electrode material for a discharge lamp, which is an elongated tube body, and is an emitter material that functions to reduce the discharge voltage. Is attached to the inner surface of the tube or is filled in the tube, the step of cutting the discharge lamp electrode material into a predetermined length, and the cut discharge lamp electrode material inside the envelope. And a step of encapsulating with another discharge material. In the discharge lamp electrode material and the discharge lamp manufacturing method according to each of the above configurations, since the long discharge lamp electrode material is provided with the emitter material in advance, it is not necessary to attach the emitter material after cutting. .

[0007]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below. Figure 1
FIG. 3 is a schematic partial sectional view illustrating an electrode material for a discharge lamp according to an embodiment of the present invention. The discharge lamp electrode material shown in FIG. 1 includes a long tube body 1, an emitter material 2 attached to the inner surface of the tube body 1, and another discharge material 3 filled in the tube body 1. It consists of

The tubular body 1 is made of a material such as stainless steel or nickel and has an outer diameter of, for example, about 1 to 3 mm and an inner diameter of, for example, about 0.7 to 2 mm. The cross-sectional shape of the tube is often a circle, but it may be other shapes such as a square, a rectangle, a rhombus, or a parallelogram. The tubular body 1 is manufactured by a method of rolling a strip-shaped material in the width direction to form a cylindrical shape or a method such as extrusion molding, and the length thereof is 300 to 50.
It is about 0 mm.

The emitter material 2 shows the characteristic point of this embodiment, and is attached to the inner surface of the tubular body 1 by a method such as coating so as to have a thickness of, for example, several μm to several tens of μm. As a method other than coating, a vacuum vapor deposition method, a sputtering method, or a film-like attachment or a spraying may be used. The spraying is a method in which a material to be sprayed is continuously supplied to a high temperature portion such as a gas flame or an arc, and the material is sprayed and adhered to the inner surface of the tube body 1. Examples of the material of the emitter material 2 include L2B6, LaSrCoO3, BaAl2O4, BaTiO3 or a mixture thereof. The emitter material emits secondary electrons due to positive ion bombardment, thereby improving the conductivity of the space near the electrode surface and lowering the discharge voltage. There are materials other than the above which have such an action, and they are appropriately selected and used. Note that reducing the discharge voltage has many merits such as simplification of the lighting circuit. Further, the term “discharge voltage” includes not only the voltage during lighting but also the discharge start voltage at the time of starting discharge.

The fact that the emitter material 2 is adhered "on the inner surface" of the tubular body 1 rather than the outer surface thereof is also a major feature of this embodiment. That is, the emitter material 2 such as barium aluminate (BaAl2O4) is very brittle, and if it is attached to the surface of the tube body 1, there is a problem that it may be missing or damaged. In particular, such a discharge lamp electrode material is often manufactured by a specialized discharge lamp electrode material manufacturer and delivered to the discharge lamp manufacturer's factory rather than being manufactured by the discharge lamp manufacturer itself. Therefore, if the emitter material adheres to the surface, there is a high possibility that the electrode material for the discharge lamp may be lost or damaged during transportation. In the present embodiment, in consideration of such a point, the pipe 1 is attached to the inner surface. However, it is needless to say that the emitter material should be attached not only to the inner surface of the tube 1 but also to the outer surface thereof in order to more effectively exert the action of lowering the discharge voltage.

As the other discharge material 3, the titanium-mercury intermetallic compound and the zirconium-aluminum intermetallic compound are employed as in the conventional case. These other discharge materials 3 are formed into powder or particles and are filled inside the tube body 1.

Next, an embodiment of a method of manufacturing a discharge lamp will be described. First, the electrode material for the discharge lamp as described above is added to
Cut to a length of about mm. Then, after the cut surface is subjected to polishing or the like, it is placed at a predetermined position inside the envelope.
In the case of a low-pressure mercury lamp, the sealing body is a right circular tube made of quartz glass, high melting glass such as alumina or Pyrex, or the like. The discharge lamp electrode material cut as described above is inserted and arranged inside the sealing body one by one from both sides. After exhausting the inside of the sealed body, an inert gas such as argon gas or krypton gas is filled. Then, the lead rod is fixed to the electrode material for the discharge lamp, and both ends of the sealing body are sealed to complete the discharge lamp.

The titanium-mercury intermetallic compound is
It is heated to generate mercury vapor, which emits light. The zirconium-aluminum intermetallic compound acts as a getter material, and adsorbs harmful gases such as hydrogen and carbon dioxide existing inside the discharge lamp to prevent blackening and shortening of the life of the discharge lamp. As is clear from the above description, according to the discharge lamp electrode material and the method of manufacturing the discharge lamp of this embodiment, the step of attaching the emitter material after cutting the discharge lamp electrode material is completely unnecessary.

FIG. 2 is a schematic partial sectional view for explaining an electrode material for a discharge lamp according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the emitter material 2 is mixed with the other discharge material 3 and filled inside the tube body 1. That is, the powdery or granular emitter material 2 is mixed with another powdery or granular discharge material 3 and filled in the tube body 1. Such an emitter material 2 also operates to reduce the discharge voltage as in the case shown in FIG.

As another constitution of the emitter material, the discharge material 3 composed of an intermetallic compound of titanium-mercury and / or an intermetallic compound of zirconium-aluminum, etc.
A configuration in which a rod-shaped or linear-shaped material is used and an emitter material is applied to the surface of the strip-shaped discharge material 3 in advance by a method such as coating, melting, vacuum vapor deposition, and sputtering is mentioned. In this case, another discharge material such as a band-like material to which the emitter material is attached is finely cut and filled inside the tube 1. In addition, when the other molded discharge material contains the different kinds of compounds, they may be alloyed, or may simply be mixed or joined. The other points are almost the same as those of the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic partial sectional view for explaining an electrode material for a discharge lamp according to still another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, only the emitter material 2 is filled inside the tubular body 1. That is, only the powdery or granular emitter material 2 is filled in the tube body 1 and similarly operates to reduce the discharge voltage. As described above, depending on the type of the discharge lamp, the one in which the discharge material is introduced into the discharge lamp by a method other than the method of pre-filling the inside of the electrode for the discharge lamp or only the emitter material 2 is used as the discharge material. In the case of such a discharge lamp, the configuration of FIG. 3 may be adopted. The getter material may be arranged by applying a material having a predetermined component to the inner surface or the outer surface of the sealing body by a method such as coating.

Even when the discharge lamp electrode material of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is used, the discharge lamp can be manufactured in the same manner as in the embodiment of the manufacturing method described above, and therefore, in that respect The description is omitted. Furthermore, in the discharge lamp electrode material of each of the above-mentioned examples, the "tube" does not have to be a complete tube, for example, a strip-shaped member is rolled in the width direction and its edges are slightly separated. It may have a shape like this.

[0018]

As described above, the claims 1 and 2 of the present application
According to the discharge lamp electrode material described in 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7, or the discharge lamp manufacturing method according to claim 2, an emitter material is attached to each electrode after cutting the discharge lamp electrode material. There is no need for the complicated process of attaching each one. Therefore, in this respect, the process is simplified and it is possible to greatly contribute to the reduction of the manufacturing cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view illustrating an electrode material for a discharge lamp according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view illustrating a discharge lamp electrode material according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view illustrating an electrode material for a discharge lamp according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Tubular body 2 Emitter material 3 Other discharge materials

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A discharge lamp electrode material comprising a long tube body on which a discharge lamp electrode is formed by being cut into a predetermined length, wherein the emitter material is a tube that functions to reduce the discharge voltage. An electrode material for a discharge lamp, which is attached to the inner surface of the body. 2. A discharge lamp electrode material comprising a long tube body on which a discharge lamp electrode is formed by cutting into a predetermined length, wherein the emitter material which functions to reduce the discharge voltage is a tube. An electrode material for a discharge lamp, which is filled inside the body. 3. The discharge lamp electrode material according to claim 2, wherein the emitter material is filled inside the tube together with another discharge material. 4. The emitter material is disposed by adhering to the surface of another discharge material formed in a predetermined shape, and the other discharge material having the emitter material attached fills the inside of the tubular body. Claim 3 characterized in that
The electrode material for a discharge lamp according to the item. 5. The third discharge material is a light emitting material which itself emits light.
Alternatively, the electrode material for a discharge lamp according to item 4. 6. The electrode material for a discharge lamp according to claim 3, wherein the other discharge material is a getter material that absorbs harmful gas existing inside the discharge lamp. 7. The other discharge material is a light emitting material which itself emits light and a getter material which absorbs harmful gas existing inside the discharge lamp.
Alternatively, the electrode material for a discharge lamp according to item 4. 8. An electrode material for a discharge lamp comprising a long tube, wherein an emitter material for lowering a discharge voltage is attached to the inner surface of the tube or is filled inside the tube. A method of manufacturing a discharge lamp, comprising: a step of cutting an electrode material for electric lamps to a predetermined length; and a step of enclosing the cut electrode material for discharge lamps together with another discharge material inside a sealing body. .