JPH088091A - Device for blinking fluorescent lamp - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a fluorescent lamp of a simple construction which maintains a small quantity of light even when turned off and stably blinks in a predetermined period by adding to a normal fluorescent lamp both a simple oscillating circuit and an on switch that opens and closes a heating wire connecting path. CONSTITUTION:When a power switch 50 and a blinking switch 80 are turned on, a reference pulse of a predetermined frequency is outputted from an oscillating circuit 70 to a lighting switch 90. The switch 90 connects a heating wire connecting path at the timing of starting pulses, causes the filament 21 of a fluorescent lamp 20 to be preheated by the power of a power supply 30, and interrupts the connecting path at the timing of completion of the pulses to produce a kick voltage within a ballast 40. After the filament has been heated sufficiently by repeating the above operation several times, the lamp 20 is turned on by the next kick voltage. The connecting path is reconnected at the timing of starting the next pulse and the lamp 20 is turned off, but a small quantity of light is kept emitted from near both ends of the lamp since the filament is heated. Then the lamp blinks by being repeatedly turned on and off.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a flashing device for a fluorescent lamp, and in particular, it makes a little light even when it is turned off.
An attempt is made to realize a fluorescent lamp that blinks while maintaining the role of an illumination lamp that constantly illuminates an object with a simple structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Fluorescent lamps are a type of discharge tube. There are two types of lighting methods, a normal one that uses a starting tube and a rapid start type in which a transformer constantly applies current to filaments at both ends of the fluorescent lamp. There are different types, but the fluorescent lamp itself has 1
Since a voltage of 00 V can be applied and lighting can be performed with a simple device, a lighting tube is generally used.

Lighting of a fluorescent lamp using this lighting tube will be briefly described with reference to FIG. First power switch 30
When 0 is entered, as shown in FIG. 5, a voltage of 100 V is applied to the filaments 321, 32 at both ends of the ballast 310 and the fluorescent lamp 320.
Since it joins the lighting tube 330 through 1 and starts discharging between the electrodes in the lighting tube 330. Since this discharge produces heat, the bimetal electrode approaches the other electrode and eventually comes into contact with it. Due to this contact, no discharge occurs in the lighting tube 330, and the electrode cools and immediately separates. When the electrodes are separated, the discharge of the lighting tube 330 starts again, and then both electrodes come into contact with each other again. The lighting tube 330 repeats such a series of operations in an irregular and extremely short cycle.

On the other hand, in the fluorescent lamp 320, the lighting tube 3 is
Each time the 30 electrodes repeatedly contacted, a current flows through the filaments 321, 321 of the fluorescent lamp 320, and the filaments 321, 321
Is heated intermittently. Heated filament 321,32
Thermionic electrons are emitted from 1, and these thermoelectrons are emitted from the fluorescent lamp 320.
Since the fluorescent layer formed inside the fluorescent tube is excited to emit visible light, both ends of the fluorescent lamp 320 are slightly illuminated.

When the filaments 321 and 321 of the fluorescent lamp 320 are sufficiently heated and the thermoelectrons are sufficiently emitted, if both electrodes of the lighting tube 330 are separated from each other, a kick is generated in the choke coil in the ballast 310 at this time. Fluorescent lamp 320 depending on voltage
Lights up. For more information, apply a kick voltage to a fluorescent lamp.
Glow discharge starts from both electrodes of 320, then spreads over the entire fluorescent tube and then shifts to arc discharge, and the fluorescent layer is excited by the ultraviolet rays emitted by this arc discharge, and the entire fluorescent tube glows brightly. Once the fluorescent lamp 320 lights up,
Since the voltage across the lighting tube 330 drops, the discharge tube stops discharging and ceases a series of lighting operations.

In order to blink a fluorescent lamp which is lit by a lighting tube as described above, this type of fluorescent lamp is generally used for blinking the lamp because it requires heating of the filament in advance and does not light instantly. An automatic blinker, that is, one that uses a combination circuit of a cadmium sulfide photoconductive cell and a thermal relay or semiconductor switch element, or a pulse circuit such as a flip-flop circuit or a switching circuit cannot make a smooth blinking. It was

On the other hand, the inventor of the present invention controls the heating time of the filament to heat it for as long as necessary in accordance with the blinking cycle and turn it on, and then turns it off by turning off the power supply path. We proposed a blinking device that can be turned on and off smoothly by repeating blinking.

[0008]

However, in the proposed blinking device and the conventional blinking device using the automatic blinker, the power supply path is interrupted and the lights are completely extinguished at each blinking. It was not suitable for applications where you want to keep it illuminated. For example, when a fluorescent lamp is flashed from behind to draw attention to a signboard for public notice, the conventional blinking device can draw attention by flashing, but since it turns off completely at each flashing, the display content of the signboard Had become difficult to see, and was hindering the effectiveness of the signboard as a public notice.

Further, in the conventional blinking device, it is necessary to provide a switch for shutting off the power supply path when the light is turned off. Therefore, even if the blinking is not a perfect blinking, it does not fully meet the demand for a simple configuration of the blinking device. It was Therefore, the invention according to claim 1 is made in view of the problems of the above-mentioned conventional technique, and the purpose thereof is to make the object always illuminate a little while it is turned off. It is intended to realize a fluorescent lamp that blinks stably in a predetermined cycle with a simple structure while maintaining the role of an illuminating lamp such as illuminating.

In addition to this, the invention according to claim 2 enables continuous lighting which is the original usage state of the fluorescent lamp.

[0011]

The present invention is to achieve the above-mentioned object, and the contents thereof will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. The invention according to claim 1 provides a fluorescent lamp (20) having a pair of filaments (21, 21) enclosed in both electrodes, and both filaments (2) of the fluorescent lamp (20).
1,21) is connected to one end side of the fluorescent lamp (20) and supplies power to the fluorescent lamp (20), and is inserted in the middle of the power supply path from the power source (30) to the fluorescent lamp (20), and built-in. The fluorescent lamp (20) is turned on by the kick voltage generated in the choke coil, and after lighting, the ballast (40) that keeps the tube current of the fluorescent lamp (20) at the standard value and the blinking of the fluorescent lamp (20) Oscillation circuit (70) that generates a reference pulse repeated at a predetermined frequency according to the cycle, and both filaments (21, 21) of the fluorescent lamp (20)
It is inserted in the middle of the heating connection line that connects the other ends of the, the reference pulse from the oscillation circuit (70) is input, the heating connection line is connected at the start timing of the input reference pulse, and the power from the power supply (30) is connected. By fluorescent lamp (20) filament (21,21)
While preheating, the kick voltage is generated in the ballast (40) by turning off the heating connection line at the end timing of the subsequent reference pulse to turn on the fluorescent lamp (20),
It is characterized by comprising a lighting switch (90) for connecting the heating connection line and turning it off at the start timing of the next reference pulse.

The invention according to claim 2 is the above-mentioned claim 1.
In addition to the features described, in the middle of the power supply path of the oscillator circuit (70),
A blinking switch that is operated when you want to blink the fluorescent lamp (20) and connects the power line to start the oscillation circuit (70).
(80) is provided, and the lighting tube (100) for lighting the fluorescent lamp (20) is lit while the blinking switch (80) is not operated and after the blinking switch (80) is operated. It is characterized in that it is connected to the heating connection line so that the power supply voltage is applied after the heating connection line is cut off by (90).

[0013]

[Operation] Therefore, according to the invention of claim 1,
The fluorescent lamp (20) blinks by repeating a state where both ends of the fluorescent lamp are slightly illuminated and a state where the entire lamp is brightly illuminated. Specifically, first, a reference pulse that repeats at a predetermined frequency is output from the oscillation circuit (70) to the lighting switch (90).

Lighting switch (90) that has input the reference pulse
The heating connection line is connected at the start timing of the reference pulse, the filaments (21, 21) of the fluorescent lamp (20) are preheated by the power from the power supply (30), and then heated at the end timing of the reference pulse. The connection line is cut off to generate a kick voltage in the choke coil in the ballast (40). This first kick voltage is the filament (21,2
It may be applied to 1), and the fluorescent lamp (20) may be turned on by this, but if one heating is not enough to raise the filament (21, 21) from room temperature to a temperature at which it can be turned on, In the same way as the reference pulse filament (2
The heating of 1,21) is repeated several times.

When the filaments (21, 21) are sufficiently heated in the integrated heating time by the reference pulse, the fluorescent lamp (20) is turned on at the next kick voltage. After lighting, the heating connection line is reconnected at the start timing of the next reference pulse, and the fluorescent lamp (20) is turned off. During this extinguished state, the filaments (21, 21) are heated again in preparation for lighting by the end of the next reference pulse, and the heating causes the vicinity of both ends of the fluorescent lamp (20) to be slightly illuminated.

Thereafter, the fluorescent lamp (20) is similarly turned on at the end timing of the reference pulse from the oscillation circuit (70), and then transitions to the extinguished state at the start timing of the next reference pulse. Blinks by repeating the state. According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the blinking switch (80) is operated, the oscillation circuit (70) is activated and blinking starts as in the case of the first aspect.

On the other hand, when the blinking switch (80) is not operated, the power source voltage is applied to the lighting tube (100), so that the fluorescent lamp is continuously lit as it is originally used.

[0018]

In view of the above problems to be solved, the inventor of the present invention has
Focusing on the fact that when a current is applied to the filaments at both ends of the fluorescent lamp, both ends of the fluorescent lamp glow slightly, but it looks like it is off as a whole, this state is turned off. In order to check whether the fluorescent lamp can blink by repeating this off-state and on-state, and whether the next blinking can be done once by filament heating in the off-state and whether the whole blinks smoothly A preliminary experiment was conducted in the process of the invention.

Prior to the examples, the contents and results of the preliminary experiment will be briefly described below with reference to FIGS. Here, FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of the circuit used in the preliminary experiment,
3 shows a circuit example in which a lighting tube is connected to the circuit of FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 shows another connection example of the lighting tube. The circuit used in this preliminary experiment is, as shown in FIG. 2, that a power switch 210 and a ballast 220 are inserted in series in the middle of the power supply path of the power source connected to one end side of both filaments 201, 201 of the fluorescent lamp 200. In addition, a lighting switch 230 for opening and closing the heating connection line is provided on the heating connection line that connects the other ends of both filaments 201, 201. Here, the capacitors inserted in parallel with each of the power switch 210 and the lighting switch 230 of FIG. 2 are for reducing high frequency noise.

The power switch 210 and the lighting switch 2
30 was turned on at the same time, the lighting switch 230 was opened and closed at various intervals, and the open / close time during which the fluorescent lamp 200 could blink was examined. At the same time, the opening / closing time for turning on the fluorescent lamp 200 by the first opening / closing operation of the lighting switch 230 was also examined. As a result, when the lighting switch 230 is closed, both ends of the fluorescent lamp 200 are slightly illuminated, but it looks almost the same as if the fluorescent lamp 200 is turned off unless the fluorescent lamp 200 is directly viewed, and the opening and closing time is within about 1 second. The fluorescent lamp 200 appeared to be blinking clearly. It blinks for more than 1 second, but the longer the opening / closing time, the more the fluorescent lamp goes off.
It was noticeable that both ends of 0 were slightly shining.
It was also found that the blinking starts from the first opening / closing when the opening / closing time of the lighting switch 230 is about 400 msec or more.
On the other hand, in the case of about 400 msec or less, it was also confirmed that the blinking did not occur smoothly for the first few times, but after that, the blinking proceeded smoothly.

The circuit for blinking the fluorescent lamp used in the above preliminary experiments basically does not require a lighting tube as shown in FIG. 2, but it is normally lit and blinks when necessary. In order to be able to do so, as shown in FIG. 3, the lighting tube 240 was inserted in parallel with the lighting switch 230, and was made to blink. As a result, it was found that even if a lighting error occurs in the middle of blinking, if the lighting tube 240 is attached, it helps the lighting when the blinking cycle is long. However, on the other hand, since the lighting tube 240 is connected in parallel with the lighting switch 230, when the lighting switch 230 is cut off, the ballast 2
The kick voltage generated in the choke coil in 20
It was also discovered that it was absorbed by 240, and on rare occasions a lighting error could occur.

Therefore, by making an improvement as shown in FIG. 4 and wiring so that the power supply voltage is applied to the lighting tube 240 after the lighting switch 230 is cut off, a point is generated when the lighting switch 230 is cut off due to generation of a kick voltage. Since the lamp tube 240 is open on one side, the kick voltage generated is not absorbed by the lighting tube 240, and it is possible to eliminate a lighting error. Based on the results of the above preliminary experiments, one embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG.
explain. Here, FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a fluorescent lamp blinking device of the present invention. The blinking device 10 includes a fluorescent lamp 20 having a pair of filaments 21 and 21 enclosed in both electrodes, and the fluorescent lamp. It is connected to one end of both filaments 21 and 21 of 20,
A power supply 30 for supplying power to the fluorescent lamp 20 and a power supply path from the power supply 30 to the fluorescent lamp 20 are inserted in the middle, and the fluorescent lamp 20 is turned on by a kick voltage generated in a built-in choke coil (no symbol). Together with the ballast 40 that keeps the tube current of the fluorescent lamp 20 at a standard value after lighting, a power switch 50 that opens and closes the power supply path, and a heating connection that connects the other ends of both filaments 21, 21 of the fluorescent lamp 20. A blinking unit 60 is provided in the middle of the path, and connects and disconnects the heating connection line at a predetermined cycle to blink the fluorescent lamp 20 at a predetermined cycle.

The blinking section 60 is, as shown in FIG. 1, an oscillation circuit 70 for generating a reference pulse that repeats at a predetermined frequency according to the blinking cycle of the fluorescent lamp 20, and is inserted in the power supply path of the oscillation circuit 70. The blinking switch 80 is operated when the user wants to blink the fluorescent lamp 20 and connects the power supply path to start the oscillation circuit 70, and is inserted in the middle of the heating connection line, and the reference pulse from the oscillation circuit 70 is input. Then, the heating connection line is connected at the start timing of the input reference pulse, and the filaments 21 and 2 of the fluorescent lamp 20 are supplied by the power from the power supply 30.
1 is preheated, and the heating connection line is cut off at the end timing of the subsequent reference pulse to generate a kick voltage in the ballast 40 to turn on the fluorescent lamp 20 and heat at the start timing of the next reference pulse. It is composed of a lighting switch 90 for connecting a connecting line and turning off the light.

At the shut-off side terminal of the lighting switch 90,
As shown in FIG. 1, a lighting tube 100 for lighting the fluorescent lamp 20 is wired so as to be connected to the power source 30 by the lighting switch 90 when the lighting switch 90 is cut off. The lighting tube 100 has a pair of electrodes, at least one of which is made of bimetal, inside the filament of the fluorescent lamp 20 while repeating the discharge, contact, and separation.
While heating 21,21, after the filaments 21,21 of the fluorescent lamp 20 are sufficiently heated, the fluorescent lamp 20 is turned on by the kick voltage generated in the ballast 40 when the electrodes are separated next time. is there. Further, since the lighting tube 100 is not connected to the power supply when the kick voltage is generated, but is connected to the power supply after that, it also plays a role of assisting a lighting mistake during the blinking operation.

The lighting switch 90 is composed of a coil switch, and normally, as shown in FIG. 1, the heating connection line is cut off to connect the lighting tube 100 to the power source 30, but one end is pulled up by a positive power source. Circuit on the other end of the built-in coil
When the reference pulse from 70 is input, the heating connection line is connected by the electromagnetic force of the coil while the reference pulse is input. Between the terminals of this lighting switch 90,
Further, capacitors (not shown) for reducing high frequency noise are inserted between the terminals of the power switch 50 or the lighting tube 100, as shown in FIG.

Next, the operation of the fluorescent lamp blinking device 10 will be described with reference to FIG. When it is desired to blink the fluorescent lamp, first, the power switch 50 and the blinking switch 80 are turned on, and the reference pulse repeated at a predetermined frequency is output from the oscillation circuit 70 to the lighting switch 90 as shown in FIG. The lighting switch 90 to which the reference pulse is input operates only while the reference pulse is being input. Specifically, first, the heating connection line is connected at the start timing of the reference pulse, and the filaments 21, 21 of the fluorescent lamp 20 are preheated by the power from the power source 30. The heated filaments 21 and 21 emit thermoelectrons, which excite the fluorescent layer (not shown) formed inside the fluorescent tube of the fluorescent lamp 20 to emit visible light. The both ends of the lamp 20 will be slightly lit. After that, the lighting switch 90 cuts off the heating connection line at the end timing of the reference pulse to generate a kick voltage in the choke coil in the ballast 40 in FIG.

This initial kick voltage may be applied to the filaments 21 and 21 at both ends of the fluorescent lamp 20, and the fluorescent lamp 20 may be turned on by this, but the filaments 21 and 21 can be turned on from room temperature by one heating. If it is not enough to raise the temperature, the filaments 21, 21 are heated by the reference pulse several times in the same manner as described above. Specifically, from the result of the preliminary experiment, one heating time is about 40
When it is 0 msec or more, it is turned on after the first heating, and when it is less than that, heating by the reference pulse is repeated until it is turned on.

When the filaments 21 and 21 are sufficiently heated by the cumulative time of the repeated heating and both electrodes of the lighting tube 100 are separated when the emission of thermoelectrons is sufficient, at this time, the inside of the ballast 40 is The fluorescent lamp 20 is turned on by the kick voltage generated in the choke coil. Specifically, glow discharge starts from both electrodes of the fluorescent lamp 20 by applying a kick voltage, then spreads over the entire fluorescent tube, and then transitions to arc discharge, and the fluorescent layer is excited by the ultraviolet rays emitted by this arc discharge and the fluorescent tube The whole glows brightly. The fluorescent lamp 20 that has been turned on continues to be turned on even at a voltage of 100 V or less after that, but after the arc discharge, the voltage of 100 V is too high and the current flows too much. The flowing current is suppressed.

After lighting, the heating connection line is connected at the start timing of the next reference pulse, and the fluorescent lamp 20 is turned off. As in the case of the first heating, the extinguished state also heats the filaments 21 and 21 in preparation for the lighting by the end of the next reference pulse during that time, and the heating causes the both ends of the fluorescent lamp 20 to be slightly illuminated. Become. Thereafter, the fluorescent lamp 20 is similarly lit at the end timing of the reference pulse from the oscillation circuit 70, then transitions to the extinguished state at the start timing of the next reference pulse, and blinks by repeating this lit and extinguished state. . It should be noted that this blinking cycle is defined by the repeating cycle of the reference pulse, and its value is preferably about 1 second or less from the result of the preliminary experiment. If you want to blink the lighting switch 90 from the first opening / closing operation, set the reference pulse repetition cycle to about 400
It is necessary to set it to m seconds or more.

The flashing of the fluorescent lamp 20 has been described above. However, if it is desired to continuously light the fluorescent lamp 20, if the power switch 50 is turned on without operating the flashing switch 80, the power supply voltage is turned on via the lighting switch 90. It is applied to 100. When the power supply voltage is applied to the ignition tube 100, discharge occurs between the electrodes inside the ignition tube 100. When the electrode is heated by this discharge, the electrode made of bimetal comes into contact with the other electrode, the heating connection line is connected, and a current is passed through the filaments 21, 21 of the fluorescent lamp 20.
When the electrodes do not discharge due to this contact, the electrodes immediately cool, and when the electrodes cool, the electrode made of bimetal returns to the original state, and the discharge starts again between the separated electrodes. Then, the lighting tube 100 heats the filaments 21, 21 of the fluorescent lamp 20 while repeating the operations of discharging, contacting and separating the electrodes. When the filaments 21, 21 of the fluorescent lamp 20 are sufficiently heated, a kick voltage is generated in the ballast 40 when the electrodes are separated next, and the generated kick voltage causes the fluorescent lamp 20 to have a kick voltage.
Lights up. Also, if you turn off the power switch 50 after that,
The fluorescent lamp 20 goes out.

[0032]

Since the present invention is constituted as described above, it has the following effects. Claim 1
According to the invention described above, while maintaining the role as an illuminating lamp that constantly illuminates an object by slightly shining even when it is turned off, a fluorescent lamp that stably blinks at a predetermined cycle is realized with a simple structure. be able to.

That is, if the blinking cycle is not so long and the fluorescent lamp is not directly seen, it looks as if the fluorescent lamp is completely blinking. Is a little shining, so it is dim, and when lit it can brightly illuminate the object at all times.
Further, the switch for shutting off the power supply path at the time of turning off the light, which is necessary for the conventional blinking device, is not necessary, and it can be configured by adding a simple oscillation circuit and a lighting switch for opening and closing the heating connection line to the ordinary fluorescent lamp. . Further, since it blinks according to the oscillation frequency of the oscillation circuit, stable blinking operation at a constant frequency is possible.

According to the invention described in claim 2, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 1, the lighting tube is used for the first lighting so that the lighting lamp is normally turned on and necessary. Can be flashed at times. In addition, even if a lighting error occurs in the middle of blinking, if the lighting tube is provided, it is possible to assist the lighting when the blinking cycle is long.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a circuit diagram of a circuit used in a preliminary experiment.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a circuit in which a lighting tube is connected to the circuit of FIG.

FIG. 4 shows another connection example of the lighting tube.

FIG. 5 shows a configuration diagram of a fluorescent lamp using a lighting tube.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Flashing device 20 Fluorescent lamp 21 Filament 30 Power supply 40 Ballast 50 Power switch 60 Flashing part 70 Oscillation circuit 80 Flashing switch 90 Lighting switch 100 Lighting tube 200 Fluorescent lamp 201 Filament 210 Power switch 220 Ballast 230 Lighting switch 240 Lighting tube 300 Power switch 310 Ballast 320 Fluorescent lamp 321 Filament 330 Lighting tube

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A fluorescent lamp having a pair of filaments enclosed in both electrodes, a power supply connected to one end of both filaments of the fluorescent lamp to supply power to the fluorescent lamp, and power supply from this power supply to the fluorescent lamp. Inserted in the middle of the road,
The fluorescent lamp is turned on by the kick voltage generated in the built-in choke coil, and the ballast that keeps the tube current of the fluorescent lamp at the standard value after it is turned on and the reference pulse that is repeated at a predetermined frequency according to the blinking cycle of the fluorescent lamp Is inserted in the middle of the heating connection line that connects the other ends of both filaments of the fluorescent lamp with the oscillation circuit that generates the, and the reference pulse from the oscillation circuit is input, and the heating connection line is connected at the start timing of the input reference pulse. Then, the filament of the fluorescent lamp is preheated by the power from the power source, and the heating connection line is cut off at the end timing of the subsequent reference pulse to generate a kick voltage in the ballast to turn on the fluorescent lamp. And a lighting switch that turns on and off the heating connection line at the start timing of the reference pulse of Flashing device. 2. A blinking switch, which is operated when the fluorescent lamp is to be blinked, is connected to the power source path to start the oscillation circuit in the middle of the power source path of the oscillator circuit.
The lighting tube for lighting the fluorescent lamp is connected to the heating connection line so that the power supply voltage is applied while the blinking switch is not operated and after the heating connection line is cut off by the lighting switch after operating the blinking switch. The blinking device for a fluorescent lamp according to claim 1, which is connected.