JPH11250866A - Electrodeless lamp device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently take out light emitted in an electrodeless lamp by reducing absorption in the lamp, taking it out of the lamp, and condensing it in a necessary direction by a reflection means. SOLUTION: This device is provided with a container 1 enclosing substance to receive a high frequency electromagnetic field to emit light which is transparent to the emitted light, a high frequency coil 12 wound around the container 1 to form a high frequency electromagnetic field, a first reflection plate 13 having a conical reflection surface provided on the outer side of the high frequency coil 12 to enclose the high frequency coil 12, a second reflection plate 16 having a conical reflection surface and roughly coaxially coupled with the first reflection plate 13 to a large diameter part of the reflection plate 13 at a roughly similar diameter part, and an inner reflection plate 22 having a roughly similar conical angle to the second conical reflection plate 16 and having a reflection surface facing the reflection surface of the second conical reflection plate 16, so emitted light is taken out from a small diameter part of the second reflection plate 16. In this device, a condenser lens 18 can be disposed at the small diameter part of the second reflection surface 16.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrodeless lamp device provided with a means for extracting light from a lamp in a specific direction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is known a so-called electrodeless lamp which emits light when excited by a high-frequency electromagnetic field and has no electrodes inside the lamp. The glass container of the electrodeless lamp is filled with a substance that emits light when excited by a high-frequency electromagnetic field to lower the energy order. This lamp has features such as high output and long lamp life,
Since it can emit ultraviolet light, it is used for emitting ultraviolet light.

[0003]

In the application of the lamp, it is sometimes necessary to condense the light radiated from the entire circumference of the lamp in a certain direction instead of using the light in the radiation direction as it is. is there. However, a mechanism for forming a high-frequency electromagnetic field placed around the lamp is an obstacle, and it is not easy to effectively extract light in one direction. The total amount of light that can be extracted from a lamp largely depends on the internal volume and surface area of the lamp. In a high-power lamp, it is difficult to extract a large amount of light, even if light emitted in the lamp is to be extracted outside the lamp, since the light is absorbed before reaching the lamp wall surface. An object of the present invention is to reduce the absorption of light emitted in a lamp as much as possible in the lamp and to extract the light outside the lamp, thereby increasing the total amount of light that can be extracted from the lamp and increasing the amount of light emitted in a required direction. An object of the present invention is to provide an electrodeless lamp device capable of collecting light.

[0004]

According to the present invention, there is provided an electrodeless lamp device according to the present invention, comprising: a container which is sealed with a substance which emits light by being applied with a high-frequency electromagnetic field; A high-frequency coil wound around a container to form a high-frequency electromagnetic field; a first reflector having a conical reflection surface provided to surround the high-frequency coil outside the high-frequency coil; A second reflector having a reflecting surface having a shape, a second reflector being substantially coaxially coupled to a large diameter portion of the reflector at a portion having substantially the same diameter as the first reflector, and the second conical reflector being provided; And an inner reflector having a reflection surface facing the reflection surface of the second conical reflector, and having the same cone angle as that of the second reflector, and taking out light emission from a small diameter portion of the second reflector. It is configured.

In the electrodeless lamp device, the second
The condensing lens can be arranged at the small diameter portion of the reflector. In the electrodeless lamp device, the first or second reflecting plate may be formed by applying a light reflecting material to an outer surface of a glass cylinder. In the electrodeless lamp device, the inner reflecting plate may be made of glass, and a light reflecting material may be applied to an inner surface of the reflecting plate. In the electrodeless lamp device, a light reflecting material may be applied to the high-frequency coil. In the electrodeless lamp device, the frequency of the high-frequency power applied to the high-frequency coil may be set to about 400 kHz.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in more detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a basic structure of an electrodeless lamp device according to the present invention. The lamp 1 is a cylindrical closed glass container in which a substance that emits light when excited by an electromagnetic field, for example, mercury is sealed. The material of the glass is selected according to the wavelength of light to be emitted. For example, quartz is used for ultraviolet rays. The outer tube 2 is placed so as to surround the lamp 1 with a certain gap (for example, 2 to 5 mm) 3 from the lamp 1. The outer tube 2 is made of the same type of glass as the lamp 1, and a fluid inlet 4 for adjusting the temperature of the lamp 1 is provided at the bottom. An upper portion of the outer tube 2 is a flange portion 5, on which a lid 6 is fixed by screws (not shown) using a mating flange 8 via a packing 7. The lid 6 is provided with a fluid outlet 9. The lamp 1 is held in the outer tube 2 by a lower support 10 and an upper support 11. Support 10
And 11 are provided with holes (not shown) for passing a temperature adjusting fluid. Lid 6, mating flange 8,
The supports 10 and 11 are made of a highly insulating material such as glass, ceramics, and synthetic resin.

A high frequency coil 12 is wound around the outer tube 2 so as to correspond to the entire length of the lamp 1 in the longitudinal direction. The high-frequency coil 12 is connected to a high-frequency power source via a matching circuit, as will be described later, and usually uses a water-cooled metal tube. The high-frequency coil 12 has a reduced number of turns and a reduced diameter in a range where a good match can be obtained, thereby reducing the interruption of light emitted from the lamp 1. Further, a reflective material is applied to the surface so as not to absorb light emission.

[0008] Around the high frequency coil 12, a reflection plate 13 is placed from the lower surface of the mating flange 8 to a position corresponding to the lower end of the lamp 1 so as to surround the entire circumference of the high frequency coil 12. The reflection plate 13 has flanges 14 and 15 at both ends. Flange 14 is used to connect reflector 13 to mating flange 8.
Is used to fix it to the main body with screws or the like (not shown). Flange 15 is a reflector 16 placed under reflector 13
Used for fixing with. The reflecting plate 13 has a conical shape in which the flange 14 side has a smaller inside diameter and the flange 15 side has a larger inside diameter.

The reflection plate 13 is preferably made of a material having high electrical insulation so as not to be heated by receiving electromagnetic induction from the high frequency coil 12. However, it is necessary that the surface for reflecting the light from the lamp 1 be formed on the inner surface of the reflector 13. Such a surface is obtained by applying a reflective material to an insulating material. When the reflecting material is not an insulating material, the thickness of the coating is set to such a thickness that the electromagnetic wave from the high frequency coil 12 is transmitted (for example, 1 μm or less for a high frequency of 400 kHz), and a slit (streak) is formed in the longitudinal direction of the reflecting plate 13. By providing two to four uncoated portions, heating can be largely prevented.

The coating material must be selected according to the wavelength of light to be obtained from the lamp 1. For example, 2
Pure aluminum is suitable for 54 nm ultraviolet light. If the reflecting plate 13 is made of quartz glass that transmits ultraviolet light, and pure aluminum is applied to the outer surface of the reflecting plate 13 by a vacuum evaporation method or the like, the light of the lamp 1 causes the film of pure aluminum to be formed between the lamp 1 and the reflecting plate 13. It does not come into direct contact with the ozone generated between the layers, preventing the deterioration of the pure aluminum film.

Below the reflector 13, a flange 17 having the same dimensions as the flange 15 of the reflector 13 and a condenser lens 18
A conical reflection plate 16 having a flange 19 (smaller than the flange 17) corresponding to the diameter of (1) is attached by fixing the flange 15 and the flange 17. A condensing lens 18 is fixed to the flange 19 with a fixing device 20 using screws or the like (not shown). Below the outer tube 2, a conical inner reflector 22 having the same cone angle as the reflector 16 with one end having the same inner diameter as the outer tube 2 and the other end being an acute angle portion 21 is placed. I have. The inner reflecting plate 22 is fixed by bonding to the outer tube 2, a support (not shown) placed between the inner reflecting plate 22 and the reflecting plate 16, and the like.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the relationship between the high frequency coil 12 and the high frequency power supply. The high-frequency coil 12 is connected to a high-frequency power supply 23 via a matching circuit 24 with a conductor portion penetrating through the reflection plate 16. The high frequency power applied to the high frequency coil 12 depends on the frequency.
The characteristics of the electromagnetic waves formed by the above are different. The higher the frequency, the shallower the current penetrates the conductive material. From this point, when the substance in the lamp 1 has conductivity, for example, mercury, 13.56 MHz which is used for plasma generation in industrial applications because of the ease of electromagnetic waves entering the inside of the lamp 1. More than 400KHz
Before and after is preferred. The lower the frequency, the better the matching with the load.

The wavelength of light that can be extracted from the lamp 1 depends on the type of substance in the lamp 1 and the pressure (depending on the temperature in the lamp 1). For example, in a low-pressure mercury lamp (internal pressure of 0.1 torr or less), the internal temperature is 4
It is said that ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 254 nm are easily emitted near 0 ° C. From the above, in order to obtain light including a specific wavelength, the lamp 1 must be cooled or heated to a certain temperature. In the present invention, the outer tube 1
A fluid for cooling or heating (for example, cooling water or hot water) is introduced from the second fluid inlet 4 and is discharged from the fluid outlet 9 through the gap 3 between the lamp 1 and the outer tube 12. By adjusting the temperature and flow rate of the fluid, the temperature of the lamp 1 is maintained at an optimum value.

In the above configuration, when high-frequency power is added to the high-frequency coil 12, the substance in the lamp 1 is excited, and emits light when the level falls to a reference level. Light emitted from the outer peripheral surface in the longitudinal direction of the lamp 1 passes through the temperature adjusting fluid, is reflected by the conical reflector 13, travels toward the conical reflector 16, and is reflected by the conical reflector 16 and the inner reflector 22. The light enters the condenser lens 18 while being reflected between the
From 8, an irradiation target (not shown) is irradiated.

Since the high-frequency coil 12 is placed in the direction in which the light from the lamp 1 is radiated, the high-frequency coil 12 blocks a small amount of light from the entire radiating surface of the lamp 1. In order to reduce the influence of the interruption, it is effective to apply a light reflecting film to the high-frequency coil 12.

In the above description, the description has been made on the assumption that the condenser lens 18 is located below, but the attitude of the entire lamp device does not affect the content of the present invention. The direction of the flow of the temperature regulating fluid also does not affect the content of the present invention. Therefore, the fluid outlet 9 and the fluid inlet 4
May be replaced.

Although the reflection plate 16 and the inner reflection plate 22 are less likely to be guided by the high-frequency coil 12, it is preferable to take the same considerations as the reflection plate 13.

[0018]

According to the above construction, the light radiated from the outer peripheral surface in the longitudinal direction of the cylindrical lamp can be guided to the outer periphery of the lamp to one side by the light reflecting means and radiated. Since the distance between the wall surfaces in the cross section in the radial direction of the lamp can be made smaller than the internal volume of the lamp, light absorption in the radial direction inside the lamp is small, and light is efficiently collected and emitted from the outer peripheral surface in the longitudinal direction. can do. Also, the area of the outer circumferential surface of the lamp occupies most of the total surface area of the entire lamp, from which most of the radiation emitted by the lamp is emitted.
The light can be condensed in one direction by the above-mentioned light reflection means, and further condensed by a lens as needed, and taken out.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a basic structural diagram of an embodiment of an electrodeless lamp device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a lighting circuit of the electrodeless lamp according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 lamp (container) 2 outer tube 3 gap 4 fluid inlet 5 flange 6 lid 7 packing 8 mating flange 9 fluid outlet 10 lower support 11 upper support 12 high frequency coil 13 reflector 14, 15 flange 16 reflector 17 Flange part 18 Condensing lens 19 Flange part 20 Fixture 21 Sharp part of inner reflector 22 Inner reflector 23 High frequency power supply 24 Matching circuit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A container that is transparent to the light emission and sealed with a substance that emits light upon application of a high-frequency electromagnetic field, a high-frequency coil wound around the container to form a high-frequency electromagnetic field, and the high-frequency coil A first reflector having a conical reflection surface provided so as to enclose the high-frequency coil outside the first reflector; and a first reflector having a conical reflection surface, and a larger diameter portion of the reflector being provided on the first reflector. , A second portion substantially coaxially coupled with a portion having substantially the same diameter.
And an inner reflector having substantially the same cone angle as the second conical reflector and having a reflective surface facing the reflective surface of the second conical reflector; An electrodeless lamp device configured to extract light emission from a small diameter portion of the reflector. 2. An electrodeless lamp device comprising a condensing lens arranged on a small diameter portion of the second reflector. 3. The electrodeless lamp device according to claim 1, wherein said first or second reflecting plate is formed by applying a light reflecting material to an outer surface of glass. 4. The electrodeless lamp device according to claim 1, wherein the inner reflecting plate is made of glass, and a light reflecting material is applied to an inner surface thereof. 5. The electrodeless lamp device according to claim 1, wherein a light reflecting material is applied to the high-frequency coil. 6. The electrodeless lamp device according to claim 1, wherein the frequency of the high-frequency power applied to the high-frequency coil is set to about 400 kHz.