JPS60170151A - Glow starter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten the time of aging, by coating electrodes with an electron emission substance containing at least zirconium and cesium. CONSTITUTION:Electrodes 3, 5 coated with an electron emission substance 6 containing at least zirconium and cesium are provided. A small gap is defined between the fixed electrode 3 and the movable electrode 5 facing each other, so that a short circuit is formed by the heat of glow discharge. The electron emission substance 6 comprises metal powder of Zr and 0.03-1.5% by weight of CsCO3 added thereto, and is applied as paint with an NC binder to the electrodes 3, 5 except their contact portions. 0.05-1mg of the Zr of the electron emission substance 6 is the most appropriate quantity for practial use, with regard to characteristics. As for sealed-in gas 7, it is practical to seal in mixed gas of Ne and 3-12% of Ar under the pressure of 40-100Torr. According to this constitution, the time of aging for activation is shortened.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to an improvement in a glow starter in which an electrode is coated with an electron-emitting substance containing Zr as a main component. This is related to the shortening of .

[Background of the invention]

In a glow starter whose inoperable limit voltage (B voltage) and glow discharge end voltage (Vend) are set higher than general glow starters, for example, if the B voltage is 80V or more, Ve
In order to obtain a characteristic in which nd is 75 ρ■ or more, a Zr metal powder deposited on the electrode and activated is used as the electron radioactive substance.

However, due to restrictions on the maximum operating temperature of bimetals, there is a limit to the heating temperature for activation in the exhaust gas.
Sufficient activation could not be achieved, and as a result, the starting voltage (Vs) and Vend could not be set to optimal values. Therefore,
In order to obtain such initial characteristics, activation is promoted by aging, but this takes about one hour, which has the drawback of requiring too many man-hours for mass production.

[Purpose of the invention]

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a glow starter using an electron-emitting material containing Zr as a main component, which can shorten the aging time.

[Summary of the invention]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is characterized in that a glow starter is constructed by depositing an electron-emitting substance containing at least zirconium and cesium on an electrode.

Particularly, in the best embodiment of the present invention, the glow starter is constructed using an electron-emitting substance obtained by adding cesium carbonate to at least metal powder zirconium, depositing it on the electrode, and then activating it.

Due to the characteristic configuration of the present invention, the aging time can be greatly shortened from the conventional one hour to 5 to 10 minutes, and as a result, mass productivity can be greatly improved.

[Embodiments of the invention] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail using figures.

First, the principle of the present invention will be briefly described.

For example, in a glow starter that requires characteristics of Vs 108 V or less and Vend 75 V or more, if a material containing Zr as the main component is used as the electron radioactive material, the aging time will compensate for the lack of activation in the exhaust gas. , V s ,
As described above, it takes approximately 1 hour of aging time for the Vend characteristics to deteriorate the most.

Therefore, in the present invention, in order to shorten this aging time, an electron-emitting substance that is easier to activate than Zr and has a lower work function, that is, Cs, is added.As a result, the initial characteristics can be restored in a short time. Ensure Zr during the actual working process.
The activation is accelerated to obtain stable working characteristics.

Next, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. A fixed electrode 3 and an inner lead 4 are implanted in a stem 2 that is sealed with the bulb 1, and a movable electrode 5 made of bimetal is connected to the inner lead 4. The movable electrode 5 is provided facing the fixed electrode 3 with a small gap therebetween, and forms a short circuit by heat generated by glow discharge. Z as an electron radioactive material 6 is placed on both electrodes 3°5 except for the contact portions.
r Cs CO3 for metal powder and Zr from 0.03 to
This was added at a weight ratio of 1.5%, and this was applied as a paint using an NC binder.

At this time, the deposited amount of the electron radioactive substance 6 is Zr 0.05~
A range of 111g is most suitable for practical use in terms of characteristics. It is practical to fill the gas 7 with a mixed gas of 3 to 12% Ne and Ar at 40 to 100 Torr.

According to a typical example, 0.4% by weight of Zr
An electron radioactive substance doped with Cs C03 was deposited on the electrode so that the weight of Zr was 0.1 to 0.2 mg, and the filled gas was a mixture of Na + Ar 8% at a rate of about 5QT.
FIG. 2 shows the results of measuring the V s and Vend characteristics by a flashing test after aging for about 10 minutes. At the same time, only Zr produced for comparison was used as the electron radioactive material, and N was added to the filler gas.
e + A r 0, 2% mixed gas about 100 To
Comparing with the test results of the glow starter enclosed in rr,
With only Zr, the initial characteristics are V after 30 minutes of aging.
The set values can be obtained for both s and Vend, but during the working process, V
s and Vend decrease, and the Vend characteristic becomes less than the set value. Based on this result, the countermeasures are to increase the Vs by changing the mixture ratio of the filler gas, and to increase the aging time to increase the Vs.
Although it is conceivable to lower s r Vend to a stable region, further increasing the aging time is not suitable for mass production.

On the other hand, in this example, Z r + Cs CO30,4
After aging for about 10 minutes, the V s and Vend characteristics of the glow starter with the addition of 10% are in the stable range, and the set values can be fully satisfied.

Since the work function of Cs is lower than that of Zr, the amount of CsC○3 added must be kept to a very small amount, otherwise the Vend will drop too much.On the other hand, if it is too small, the effect of shortening the aging time will be insufficient, so the weight ratio of Cs to Zr is 0.03. Addition of ~1.5% is practically preferred. In addition, if the amount of Zr deposited is small, the life will be shortened, and if it is too much, activation aging will be insufficient, or the Vend will decrease due to the balance with the amount of Cs, so 0.05
It is preferable to set it as 1 mg. That is, it is best to control the amount of Cs relative to Zr by both the amount of deposit and the addition ratio, and as a result, the effect of shortening the activation aging time can be obtained.

In addition to Cs, Ba, ]Ra, Ce, etc. are known as electron-radioactive materials with lower work-related properties than Zr. However, when Zr metal powder is applied as a liquid to an electrode using an NC binder, Each of these has drawbacks that make them difficult to use, and it is most suitable to use Cs.

In addition, in the above-mentioned example, Zr and C were used as the electron radioactive substances.
Although the substance containing s has been described, it goes without saying that other electron radioactive substances may also be included.

〔Effect of the invention〕

At the same time, it is possible to obtain satisfactory characteristics as described above for the vertical glow starter for fluorescent lamps, B voltage 80 V or more, and Vend 75 V or more, which are unstable at ~120 ■.
Since the aging time can be significantly shortened compared to the case of using only Zr, it has become possible to significantly improve productivity.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial sectional view of a glow starter according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a comparison diagram of working characteristics using only Zr as an electron emitting substance. 1... Valve, 2... Stem, 3... Fixed electrode, 4
...Inner lead, 5...Bimetal, 6...
Electron radioactive material, 7...Enclosed gas.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A glow starter comprising an electrode coated with an electron-emitting substance containing at least zirconium and cesium. 2. The glow starter according to item 1, wherein the electron emissive substance is activated by adding cesium carbonate to at least metal powder zirconium and depositing it on the electrode. 3. A second method characterized in that the amount of the zirconium deposited is 0.05 to 1 mg, and the cesium carbonate is added in a weight ratio of 0.03 to 1.5% to the zirconium. Glow starter of term.