JPH103881A - Fluorescent lamp - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To lower the spattering of auxiliary amalgam during the lighting of a fluorescent lamp with the relatively simple structure, and to improve the lifetime of a lamp, and to enable the mass production of auxiliary amalgam at a low cost by applying the inner surface of a cylindrical body to be arranged in a bulb with the auxiliary amalgam, and sealing it. SOLUTION: A bulb 1 made of the translucent material is bent twice into a U-shape, and inside thereof is sealed with mercury and the rate gas as a discharge gas. The inner surface of the bulb 1 is applied with the phosphor 2, and both ends of the bulb 1 are provided with a pair of filament electrodes 3. Amalgam 4 is arranged inside of a discharge tube 5, and the auxiliary amalgam 7 is applied on the inner surface of a stainless steel pipe 9 as a cylindrical body fixed to a sealing wire 8. Since the auxiliary amalgam 7 is arranged at a position, in which temperature quickly rises immediately after starting the lighting, even in the case where temperature of the amalgam 4 is low, mercury vapor pressure inside of the bulb 1 is raised, and a beam at a high intensity can be maintained immediately after starting the lighting.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fluorescent lamp in which mercury vapor is sealed in a bulb made of a translucent material coated with a phosphor on the inner surface and amalgam for controlling the mercury vapor pressure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, amalgam for controlling the vapor pressure of mercury has been used in fluorescent lamps. However, in amalgam, the vapor pressure of mercury is low at room temperature immediately after the lamp is started, and the amount of light is low until the lamp becomes stable,
There is a problem that the start-up characteristics are poor. To improve this problem, another amalgam (auxiliary amalgam) is sealed in a place where the temperature becomes high immediately in the early stage of lamp lighting, and the mercury vapor pressure in the initial stage of lighting is reduced. Controlling.

[0003]

Incidentally, the auxiliary amalgam for controlling the mercury vapor pressure in the initial stage of lighting may be provided in the discharge plasma as a place where the temperature becomes high in the initial stage of lighting. Further, the auxiliary amalgam is encapsulated in a form applied to a metal mesh as a holding material.

However, in such a case, there is a problem that the auxiliary amalgam scatters during the operation of the lamp to blacken the inner surface of the bulb, thereby shortening the life of the lamp.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a fluorescent lamp capable of reducing scattering of auxiliary amalgam during lamp operation and improving lamp life. It is in.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention encloses a mercury vapor in a bulb made of a translucent material coated with a phosphor on the inner surface and controls the vapor pressure of the mercury. In a fluorescent lamp in which amalgam and an auxiliary amalgam for controlling the mercury vapor pressure lower than that of the amalgam are sealed, the auxiliary amalgam is sealed by being applied to the inner surface of a tubular body provided in the bulb. It is characterized by the following.

[0007]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention and is a perspective view showing a light emitting portion of a compact fluorescent lamp which has been researched and developed in various places in recent years.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a bulb made of a light-transmitting material (eg, glass), which is bent twice in a U-shape.
In the bulb 1, mercury and a rare gas are sealed as discharge gas. A fluorescent substance 2 is applied to the inner surface of the bulb 1, and a pair of filament electrodes 3 are provided at both ends of the bulb 1.

When the fluorescent lamp having the above-described structure is turned on, plasma is generated in the bulb 1. Then, the mercury vapor sealed in the bulb 1 is excited to emit ultraviolet rays, and the ultraviolet rays are converted into visible light by the phosphor 2.

By the way, since this kind of fluorescent lamp is small in size, it becomes high in temperature during lighting. In the case of a fluorescent lamp using mercury, the luminous efficiency varies greatly depending on the vapor pressure of mercury,
When the temperature of the lamp becomes high, the vapor pressure of mercury deviates from the optimum value, causing a decrease in luminous efficiency. Therefore, amalgam is encapsulated to maintain optimal mercury vapor pressure. As the amalgam or base metal, for example, an alloy of bismuth and indium is used.

In this embodiment, the amalgam 4 is disposed inside an exhaust pipe 5. In the figure, reference numeral 6 denotes a solid glass rod for regulating the position of the amalgam 4. The distance between the inner peripheral surface of the exhaust pipe 5 and the outer peripheral surface of the solid rod 6 is such that even if the amalgam 4 becomes hot and liquefies, it flows down. Not so much.

In the fluorescent lamp using such amalgam 4, when the temperature of the amalgam 4 is low immediately after the start of lighting, the mercury vapor pressure is low and the luminous flux is reduced. Therefore, the auxiliary amalgam 7 is provided so that the mercury vapor pressure becomes high immediately after the start of lighting. The base metal of the auxiliary amalgam 7 is
For example, indium is applied to the inner surface of a stainless steel pipe 9 as a tubular body fixed to the sealing wire 8.
The pipe 9 for applying the auxiliary amalgam 7 is made of a metal such as iron or nickel, ceramics, or the like, in addition to stainless steel.

Here, the auxiliary amalgam 7 is located at a position where the temperature rises immediately after the start of lighting (in this embodiment, the electrode 3
), The mercury vapor pressure in the bulb 1 increases even when the temperature of the amalgam 4 is low, and a high luminous flux can be maintained immediately after the start of lighting. Further, since the auxiliary amalgam 7 is applied to the inner surface of the pipe 9, the auxiliary amalgam 7 is less likely to be scattered due to the impact of ions or electrons in the discharge plasma, and the luminous flux maintenance ratio is improved.

Further, in producing the auxiliary amalgam 7, if a method is adopted in which amalgam is applied to the inner surface of a long stainless steel pipe and the pipe is cut to an appropriate length, the auxiliary amalgam 7 can be mass-produced and the cost can be reduced.

FIG. 2 shows a different embodiment of the present invention, in which the present invention is applied to an electrodeless fluorescent lamp which has been developed in various places in recent years.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a bulb-shaped bulb made of a light-transmitting material. In the bulb 1, mercury and a rare gas are sealed as discharge gas. Further, a cylindrical cavity 12 having an opening on the spherical surface is provided at the center of the valve 1, and an exhaust pipe 13 is formed at the center axis of the cavity 12. Reference numeral 14 denotes an induction coil, which is disposed at the bottom of the cavity 12, that is, substantially at the center of the valve 1. The phosphor 2 is applied to the inner surface of the bulb 1 and the outer surface of the cavity 12.

When a high frequency current of 13.56 MHz is applied to the induction coil 14 of the electrodeless fluorescent lamp thus configured, an electromagnetic field is induced in the bulb 1 and plasma is generated in the bulb 1. Then, the mercury vapor sealed in the bulb 1 is excited to emit ultraviolet rays, and the ultraviolet rays are converted into visible light by the phosphor 2.

Since the electrodeless fluorescent lamp has no electrodes inside, there is no fear of the electrodes being cut, and the lamp has a long life. In this embodiment, since the bottom of the cavity 12 is convex toward the bulb 1, the coupling between the induction coil 14 and the plasma generated in the bulb 1 is good, and the luminous efficiency is good.

By the way, this kind of electrodeless fluorescent lamp also
Because of its small size and high output, the temperature rises during lighting. In order to control the mercury vapor pressure, the amalgam 4 and the auxiliary amalgam 7 are sealed in the valve 1.

In this embodiment, the amalgam 4 is disposed inside the exhaust pipe 13, and the amalgam 4 is positioned and fixed by a glass pipe 15 and two solid glass rods 16,16. The distance between the outer peripheral surface of the solid glass rod 16 and the inner peripheral surface of the exhaust pipe 13 is such that the amalgam 4 does not flow down even if it becomes hot and liquefies. In addition,
The reason why the glass pipe 15 is used as a part of the positioning is to reduce the weight.

The auxiliary amalgam 7 is applied to the inner surface of a stainless steel pipe 9 as a cylindrical body, and a plate 17 is welded to the pipe 9 as shown in FIG. And the pipe 9 is connected to the valve 1 from the cavity 12.
It is attached via a support wire 19 to an attachment portion 18 protruding inward. The plate 17 is to be attached by welding to the support wire 19 that holds the pipe 9, and may be made of a linear material.

The mounting portion 18 of the auxiliary amalgam 7
As shown in FIG. 2, the auxiliary amalgam 7 can be made closer to the cavity 12 by being formed obliquely with respect to the side peripheral surface of the cavity 12, and the sealing portion 20 of the valve 1 and the cavity 12 can be formed. Since the diameter of the lamp can be reduced, a lamp that is resistant to thermal distortion can be provided.

With this configuration, it is possible to reduce the scattering of the auxiliary amalgam 7 during the operation of the lamp, as in the case of the above embodiment. In this embodiment, the pipe 9 on which the auxiliary amalgam 7 is applied is connected to the support wire 1.
Since the auxiliary amalgam 7 does not need to be scattered when welding to the lamp 9, the lamp life is further improved. Further, if a plurality of plate members 17 are welded to the long pipe 9 and the auxiliary amalgam 7 is applied to the inner surface of the pipe 9, mass production can be performed in the same manner as in the above embodiment.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the tubular body 9 for holding the auxiliary amalgam 7. The tubular body 9 is formed by rolling a plate material into a roll shape except for one end of the plate material. The auxiliary amalgam 7 is applied to the support wire 19 and the remaining portion without being rounded is welded to the support wire 19.

With this configuration, the scattering of the auxiliary amalgam 7 during the operation of the lamp can be reduced in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment, and the cylindrical body 9 coated with the auxiliary amalgam 7 is supported. It is the same as in the above embodiment that the auxiliary amalgam 7 can be prevented from scattering when welding to the wire 19. Furthermore, if a long plate material is rolled into a roll and formed and the auxiliary amalgam 7 is applied to the inner surface, mass production can be performed in the same manner as in the above embodiment.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, the auxiliary amalgam is sealed by applying the auxiliary amalgam to the inner surface of the cylindrical body disposed in the bulb, so that the auxiliary amalgam during lamp operation is relatively simple. Scattering can be reduced and lamp life can be improved. Further, the auxiliary amalgam can be mass-produced at low cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1, showing an embodiment of the present invention, is a perspective view illustrating a light emitting portion of a compact fluorescent lamp.

FIG. 2, showing a different embodiment of the present invention, is a cross-sectional view of an electrodeless fluorescent lamp.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a tubular body for holding the auxiliary amalgam according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a tubular body for holding the auxiliary amalgam according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Bulb 2 Phosphor 3 Filament electrode 4 Amalgam 7 Auxiliary amalgam 9 Cylindrical body

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Shigeki Matsuo 1048 Kazuma Kadoma, Osaka Pref.Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An amalgam for enclosing mercury vapor in a bulb made of a translucent material coated with a phosphor on its inner surface and controlling the vapor pressure of the mercury, and controlling the mercury vapor pressure to be lower than that of the amalgam. A fluorescent lamp in which a supplementary amalgam is encapsulated by applying the supplemental amalgam to an inner surface of a tubular body provided in the bulb. 2. The fluorescent lamp according to claim 1, wherein said tubular body is disposed at a high temperature portion in said bulb.