JPH11204034A - Manufacture of compact fluorescent lamp - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a manufacturing method of a compact fluorescent lamp excellent in exhausting of impure gas. SOLUTION: This method comprises the steps of: heating and softening exhaust tubes 11, 11 which are provided on a stem which seals exhaust tubes 11, 11 which ear provided on a stem which seals both ends of connected fluorescent tubes 20; holding two of the softened exhaust tubes 11, 11 at a prescribed distance; colling the exhaust tubes 11, 11 in such a condition that they are hole; inserting the cooled exhaust tubes 11, 11 in two through holes of a sealing member composed of an elastic material; pressing and maintaining the exhaust tubes 11, 11 in the through holes in an airtight manner by pressuring the sealing member; and evacuating impure gas in the fluorescent tube 20 through the exhaust tubes 11, 11 which are maintained hermetically.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a compact fluorescent lamp in which a substantially U-shaped fluorescent tube is connected to form a meandering discharge path, and more particularly to a method for manufacturing a compact fluorescent lamp in an exhausting process of impurity gas in the fluorescent tube. About the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a process of manufacturing a fluorescent lamp, a fluorescent film is adhered and formed on the inner surface of a bulb with a suspension liquid containing a phosphor and a solvent, and the opening of the bulb is sealed with a stem having electrodes. After that, the air and impurity gas in the bulb are sucked out by a vacuum pump, and a small amount of a rare gas such as mercury and argon that emits ultraviolet rays indispensable for light emission of a fluorescent lamp is filled.

[0003]

However, in a compact fluorescent lamp (see FIG. 1) in which a plurality of fluorescent tubes each formed of a U-shaped bulb are combined, an impurity gas is sucked out in such a manufacturing process and then a rare gas is charged. There are the following problems in the evacuation / sealing process for performing the following. In the case of a straight tube type, as shown in FIG. 9, stems having exhaust pipes 53, 53 together with the electrodes 52, 52 are sealed to both ends of the fluorescent tube 51, and the exhaust pipes at both ends are vacuum-not shown. It was inserted into the seal part and kept in an airtight state, and the exhaust process was performed in such a state.

On the other hand, in the case of a compact fluorescent lamp, as shown in a developed view of FIG. 10, the connecting portions 61 of the U-shaped fluorescent tubes 60, 60, 60 are heated and softened by a burner to communicate with each other. Therefore, when formed integrally, a slight shift occurs in the distance between the stem sealing portions 62 at both ends. Although such a shift does not cause a problem when viewed as a final product, it has caused a problem in an exhaust / sealing step of sucking out impure gas and filling the gas.

That is, when the impurity gas is sucked out, the exhaust pipe is inserted into the vacuum seal portion for vacuum sealing the exhaust pipe as described above. If it is to be performed at two locations 62, the exhaust pipe will not be able to be inserted because the position of the exhaust pipe is shifted with respect to the insertion opening of the vacuum seal portion set to a certain size. In addition, if the exhaust pipe is forcibly bent and inserted by an amount corresponding to the displacement, the exhaust pipe may be damaged or airtightness may not be maintained. Therefore, in the related art, one exhaust pipe 63 is provided at a valve end substantially at an intermediate position as shown in FIG.
The exhaust gas 63 has been used to suck out impure gas and fill the gas. However, with a single exhaust pipe, the flow of gas in the fluorescent tube was poor, the impurity gas was likely to remain in the bulb, and the suction took a long time. Therefore, it is difficult to obtain a fluorescent lamp having good characteristics due to the residual impurity gas,
In addition, production efficiency was poor due to the time required for suction.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a compact fluorescent lamp which is excellent in exhausting impurity gases in order to solve such a problem.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A method of manufacturing a compact fluorescent lamp according to the present invention is a method of manufacturing a compact fluorescent lamp having a meandering discharge path by connecting a plurality of substantially U-shaped fluorescent tubes. In, heating and softening the exhaust pipe provided on the stem that seals both ends of the connected fluorescent tubes,
The two softened exhaust pipes are gripped at predetermined intervals, the exhaust pipes are cooled while being held, and the cooled exhaust pipes are inserted into two through holes of a sealing member made of an elastic material. An exhausting step of pressurizing the members to compress the exhaust pipes in the through-holes, thereby keeping the exhaust pipes airtight, and evacuating the impurity gas in the fluorescent tubes from the airtightly maintained exhaust pipes. . Therefore, even if the distance between the two exhaust pipes is deviated due to the connection of a plurality of fluorescent tubes, the exhaust pipes are heated and softened so as not to apply excessive force, and then corrected to a predetermined width. Since it is inserted into the seal part, two exhaust pipes which are kept airtight in the seal part can suck out and fill in the impure gas, and in particular, it excels in exhaust, such as being able to suck out the impure gas in a short time. Becomes

Further, according to the method of manufacturing a compact fluorescent lamp of the present invention, the seal member having two through holes formed in the axial direction is formed by applying a pressure of high-pressure air to the through hole into which an exhaust pipe is inserted. It is characterized in that the exhaust pipe is compressed and deformed in the direction to keep the exhaust pipe airtight. Therefore, the exhaust pipe can be easily held on the seal portion by the high-pressure air.

Further, according to the method for manufacturing a compact fluorescent lamp of the present invention, a sealing member having two through holes formed in the axial direction is axially pressed by a screw member to thereby form a through hole into which an exhaust pipe is inserted. Is compressed and deformed in the radial direction to keep the exhaust pipe airtight. Therefore, the exhaust pipe can be easily held on the seal portion by screwing.

[0010]

Next, an embodiment of a method for manufacturing a compact fluorescent lamp according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the method of manufacturing a compact fluorescent lamp according to the present embodiment, for example, as shown in FIG.
The case of manufacturing the compact fluorescent lamp 10 formed by connecting the five fluorescent lamps will be described. Here, FIG. 2 is a view showing a part of the manufacturing process of the U-shaped valve, and FIGS.
Are shown in chronological order over. First, compact fluorescent light 1
0, an individual U-shaped valve 1 is formed. As shown in FIG. 2 (a), the U-shaped bulb 1 has two cylindrical tubes 2 and 3 made of glass, one end of which is aligned, and the vicinity of the ends aligned by burners inserted into the tubes is heated from the inside. Is done. The portions softened and melted by heating rise from the inside, are welded to each other, are further blown off by a burner flame, and are connected as shown in FIG. 2B. Then, the connected cylindrical end is externally heated by a burner (not shown), softened and melted, and closed as shown in FIG. 2 (c).

The inner surface of the U-shaped bulb 1 thus formed is washed with water, dried, and further coated with a phosphor. Then, when the phosphor is dried, the U-shaped bulb 1 is placed in a heating furnace, and the phosphor is baked on glass. Next, the U-shaped valve 1 is connected to one cylindrical tube 2.
Is heated by a burner (not shown), and the softened and melted opening is sealed and closed. The stem 6 is inserted into the opening of the other cylindrical tube 3, and its peripheral edge is softened and melted by a burner (not shown), and the stem 6 and the opening end of the cylindrical tube 3 are welded and closed. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2D, a U-shaped fluorescent tube 15 having an exhaust pipe 11 at one end is provided.
Is formed.

By connecting the U-shaped fluorescent tubes 15 thus formed, a meandering discharge path is formed.
In that case, as shown in FIG.
15, U-shaped fluorescent tubes 15, 15,
A pair of burners (not shown) are provided in a direction orthogonal to the connecting portions 4 and 5 so that the burner flame collides at the midpoint position of each of the 15 connecting portions 4 and 5. Then, the burner flames injected from the pair of burners and collided with each other just burst at the midpoint of the connecting portions 4 and 5, and the flare of the burner flames heats the surfaces of the U-shaped fluorescent tubes 15, 15, 15. Becomes

[0013] Accordingly, the continuous communication of the U-shaped fluorescent tubes 15, 15, 15 is softened and melted by the continuous injection of the burner flame from the burner. At this time, each U-shaped fluorescent tube 1
Air is supplied into the U-shaped fluorescent tubes 15, 15, 15 from the exhaust tubes 11, 11, 11 attached to the stems 6, 6, 6 sealing the openings of the 5, 15, 15 respectively. When the inside of the U-shaped fluorescent tubes 15, 15, 15 is pressurized by the air, the communication-scheduled portions softened and melted rise from the inside,
Subsequently, the inside is further pressed by being pressurized, and finally the two are welded, and the welded portions are blown out and connected to form the connecting portions 4 and 5.

The respective U-shaped fluorescent tubes 15, 1
When the tubes 5 and 15 are connected, the exhaust pipe 11 of the U-shaped fluorescent tube 15 located in the middle is pinched off, leaving only the exhaust pipes 11 provided with the electrodes at both ends. This 2
Using the exhaust pipes 11, an exhaust gas sucking process and a gas filling / evacuating / sealing process are performed. By the way, the interval between the remaining two exhaust pipes 11, 11 often shifted during a process before connecting the U-shaped fluorescent tubes 15, 15, 15. Therefore, conventionally, this evacuation / sealing process is one step.
Although the process is performed using two exhaust pipes, the manufacturing method according to the present embodiment is performed using two exhaust pipes 11 and 11. FIG. 3 is a side view of the fluorescent tube showing a process in which the two exhaust pipes 11 and 11 are inserted into a vacuum seal portion 22 for exhausting and sealing gas, and FIGS. 3 (a) to 3 (e). Are shown in chronological order over.

First, a connected U-shaped fluorescent tube (hereinafter simply referred to as a "fluorescent tube") 20 is gripped by a moving chuck 21 and transported to an insertion port 23 of a vacuum seal portion 22, as shown in FIG. The exhaust pipes 11 and 1
The first softening portions 11a, 11a are heated and softened by the burners 24, 24. Then, when the exhaust pipes 11 and 11 are softened to some extent, the injection of the burners 24 and 24 is stopped, and as shown in FIG.
Are respectively held by the positioning chucks 25. Here, FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the positioning chuck 25. The positioning chuck 25 is fixed to the tip of a rod 31 that can advance and retreat in the orthogonal direction of the exhaust pipes 11, and is composed of four hands 32, 33, 34, 35. The two hands 32 and 35 at both ends of each of them have V
The exhaust pipe 1 has a groove and is paired with an intermediate hand 33 or hand 34 facing each other, and is sandwiched between them.
It is configured to be swingable so as to grip the first and the first 11.

Therefore, as shown in FIG.
The exhaust pipes 11, 11 which have been heated and softened by the heat exchangers 4, 24 are particularly heated when the softened portions 11a, 11a close to their roots are heated and then the softened portions 11a, 11a are softened.
When gripped by the positioning chuck 25 as shown in (b), the softened portion 11a is positioned so that the axis of the exhaust pipe 11, 11 is positioned at the gripping position set by the hands 32, 33 and the hands 34, 35. , 11a are deformed. Although the exhaust pipes 11 and 11 are glass tubes, even when the positioning chuck 25 performs a gripping operation at an unreasonable interval, the softening section 1 can be used.
There is no trouble in exhausting and enclosing the exhaust pipes 11, 11 without being damaged by deformation of 1a, 11a.

At the same time as the exhaust pipes 11, 11 are gripped at predetermined intervals, the softened portions 11a, 11a are cooled and hardened by cooling blow. And the softening part 11
Exhaust pipe 1 hardened while a and 11a are deformed
Reference numerals 1 and 11 designate positioning chucks 2 as shown in FIG.
5 and the insertion port 2 of the vacuum seal portion 22
3 is inserted.

Next, FIG. 5 shows the insertion port 2 of the vacuum seal portion 22.
FIG. In the insertion opening 23, a seal member 42 having two through holes 45, 45 and spacers 43, 44 disposed so as to sandwich the seal member 42, respectively, are loaded in a cylindrical cover member 41 without gaps. . The through holes 45, 45 are formed by the sealing member 42 and the spacer 4.
3 and 44 are provided at the same position and connected to a gas exhaust system and a gas sealing system (not shown). The seal member 42 made of rubber includes an intermediate layer 42b (see FIG. 5) including cylindrical portions 42a and 42a forming a through hole 45, as shown in FIG. , 44
Disc-shaped upper and lower layers 42c and 42d that come into contact with the upper surface (see FIG. 5)
And is formed by. On the other hand, the cover member 41 and the spacers 43 and 44 are formed of resin, metal, or the like.
An air injection hole 41 a communicating with the intermediate layer 42 b of the seal member 42 is formed in a side surface of the cover member 41.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3C, the two exhaust pipes 11 are connected to the through holes 45,
45 (c), the air injection holes 41 are inserted.
A high-pressure air is injected into the cover member 41 through a.
The injected high-pressure air is applied to the intermediate layer 42 b of the seal member 42.
, And pressure is applied to the seal member 42. As a result, the upper and lower layers 42c of the seal member 42,
In 42d, pressure is applied to the spacers 43, 44 side, and in the intermediate layer 42b, pressure is applied in the radial direction so as to reduce the diameter of the through holes 45, 45. Therefore, the exhaust pipes 11 and 11 are connected to the cylindrical portion 42 of the seal member 42.
a, 42a to be hermetically sealed.

When the exhaust pipes 11 and 11 are sealed in the vacuum seal section 22 in this manner, first, as shown in the developed view of the fluorescent tube 20 in FIG. The two exhaust pipes 11 suck and exhaust the air from both sides simultaneously. Then, suction and exhaust are continued from one exhaust pipe 11, the other exhaust pipe 11 is switched from exhaust to an argon gas circuit, and the cleaning argon gas in the fluorescent tube 20 is caused to flow to one side, thereby shortening the impurity gas in the bulb. Remove it timely and reliably. Next, after the air and the like in the fluorescent tube 20 are evacuated, the one exhaust pipe 11 side is closed, and argon gas is sealed in the fluorescent tube 20 together with a small amount of mercury from the other exhaust pipe 11. Then, the two exhaust pipes 11, 1
1 is pinched off and a socket 8 is attached
A compact fluorescent lamp as shown in Fig. 7 is completed.

Therefore, in the manufacturing method of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, since the exhaust inside the fluorescent tube 20 is performed from both ends by the two exhaust pipes 11, 11, the time required for the exhaust process is greatly reduced. In addition to the shortening, the residual impurity gas in the fluorescent tube 20 could be significantly reduced. As a result, the production speed of the compact fluorescent lamp can be increased, and a compact fluorescent lamp having high characteristics due to highly accurate discharge of impurity gas can be provided. In addition, such two exhaust pipes 11, 11
By simplifying the method for exhausting air by the method described above, the above effect can be realized with inexpensive equipment.

The method for manufacturing a compact fluorescent lamp according to the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the sealing member 42 is pressurized by high-pressure air to seal the exhaust pipes 11, 11 as a method of sealing the vacuum sealing portion 22.
As shown in FIG.
7 are screwed together, and a thick disk-shaped sealing member 49 in which two through holes 48, 48 are simply formed is inserted into the spacers 43, 44.
May be loaded via the. In this case, the exhaust pipes 11, 11 are provided with the through holes 48,
After being inserted into the inside, the sealing member 49 is crushed in the axial direction by tightening the cover screw 47, and at this time, the exhaust pipes 11, 11 in the through holes 48, 48 are distorted by the distortion of the sealing member 49, which tends to expand in the radial direction. Crimp and seal. Also, for example, in the above-described embodiment, a case of a triple type fluorescent lamp in which three U-shaped bulbs are connected has been described, but a similar manufacturing method can be used for a double type or other fluorescent lamps.

[0023]

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a compact fluorescent lamp having a meandering discharge path by connecting a plurality of U-shaped fluorescent tubes having a substantially U-shape, wherein both ends of the connected fluorescent tubes are sealed. The exhaust pipe provided in the stem to be stopped is heated and softened, the two softened exhaust pipes are gripped at predetermined intervals, the exhaust pipe is cooled while being held, and the cooled exhaust pipe is made of an elastic material. The seal member is inserted into the two through holes, the seal member is pressurized, the exhaust pipes in the through holes are pressed, and the exhaust pipes are held in an airtight manner, and the impurity gas in the fluorescent tube is evacuated from the airtightly maintained exhaust pipes. Since it has an exhausting step of exhausting, it has become possible to provide a method of manufacturing a compact fluorescent lamp excellent in exhausting impurity gases.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing a compact fluorescent lamp 10 formed by connecting three U-shaped fluorescent tubes 15;

FIG. 2 is a view showing a part of a manufacturing process of a U-shaped valve.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the fluorescent tube showing a process of inserting two exhaust pipes 11 into a vacuum seal portion 22;

4 is a plan view showing a positioning chuck 25. FIG.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing an insertion port 23 of the vacuum seal portion 22.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a cross section taken along line AA of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a development view showing a compact fluorescent lamp.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the insertion port 23 of the vacuum seal portion 22.

FIG. 9 is an external perspective view showing a fluorescent tube 51 of a straight tube type.

FIG. 10 is a developed view showing a compact fluorescent lamp.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 U-shaped bulb 10 Compact fluorescent lamp 11 Exhaust pipe 15 U-shaped fluorescent tube 20 Fluorescent tube 25 Positioning chuck 42 Seal member

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A method for manufacturing a compact fluorescent lamp having a meandering discharge path by connecting a plurality of U-shaped fluorescent tubes having a substantially U-shape, wherein a stem for sealing both ends of the connected fluorescent tubes is provided. The exhaust pipe provided is heated and softened, the two softened exhaust pipes are gripped at a predetermined interval, the exhaust pipe is cooled while being held, and the cooled exhaust pipe is sealed with an elastic member 2. Into the two through holes, pressurize the seal member to press the respective exhaust pipes in the through holes to keep them airtight, and evacuate the impurity gas in the fluorescent tubes from the airtightly maintained exhaust pipes. A method for manufacturing a compact fluorescent lamp, comprising an exhaust step. 2. The method for manufacturing a compact fluorescent lamp according to claim 1, wherein a pressure of high-pressure air is applied to the sealing member having two through holes formed in the axial direction, and an exhaust pipe is inserted. A method for manufacturing a compact fluorescent lamp, comprising compressing and deforming a hole in a radial direction to keep an exhaust pipe airtight. 3. The method for manufacturing a compact fluorescent lamp according to claim 1, wherein a sealing member provided with two through holes in the axial direction is axially pressed by a screw member to insert the exhaust pipe. A method of manufacturing a compact fluorescent lamp, comprising compressing and deforming a through hole radially to maintain an exhaust pipe thereof airtight.