JPS61232549A - Fluorescent lamp - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent lowering of flux by forming a recess in the face at the side of holding member for holding the amalgam thereby preventing droppage of fused amalgam into the light emission tube. CONSTITUTION:Main amalgam 13 and its holding member 14 are arranged in a glass capillary 12 of one, for example, 6, of the stems 6, 7 encapsulated at the opposite ends of a light emission tube 1. The holding member 14 is formed with ceramic, for example, which will never react with amalgam material and a recess 15 is formed in the face at the side for holding the amalgam 13. Consequently, droppage of amalgam 13 into the light emission tube 1 is prevented while the temperature of amalgam 13 can be regulated through regulation of length resulting in prevention of lowering of flux due to dripping of amalgam into the light emission tube.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a fluorescent lamp. 0. Prior Art Recently, various self-ballasted fluorescent lamps have been commercialized as an energy-saving light source to replace incandescent light bulbs. 0 One known example is one in which a bent arc tube is built into the outer tube globe, but this causes the temperature of the arc tube to rise excessively compared to that of a normal fluorescent lamp. result,
The mercury vapor pressure within the arc tube during operation becomes higher than the optimum level from the luminous flux plane, reducing the luminous flux. Therefore, in order to obtain particularly high luminous flux in this type of self-ballasted fluorescent lamp, the technical point is how to maintain the mercury vapor pressure at an optimum level.

The amalgam method has been put into practical use as one means of regulating mercury vapor pressure. This is done by adding mercury to indium (In) and bismuth-indium (Bi-In) in the arc tube.
), lead-bismuth-tin (Pb-Bi-8n), etc. in the form of an amalgam to regulate the vapor pressure of mercury to an optimum level even if the arc tube temperature rises excessively. Normally, this configuration employs a so-called double amalgam system in which amalgam is provided inside the glass capillary of the stem sealed at both ends of the arc tube and near the electrodes. Among these, the amalgam installed inside the glass tube is called the main amalgam, and its position is regulated by a special guard installed inside this glass tube to keep the mercury vapor pressure at the optimum level from the luminous flux surface during steady lighting. It is for regulating purposes. On the other hand, the amalgam placed near the electrode is called auxiliary amalgam, and is intended to improve the problem that if the main amalgam is used alone, the mercury vapor pressure is too low at room temperature, and the luminous flux rises slowly after lighting. It is. The mercury in this auxiliary amalgam quickly evaporates at the electrode heating temperature when starting the lamp, causing the lamp luminous flux to rise rapidly. and,
While the lamp is on, it gradually moves to the main amalgam and reacts with it, and when the lamp is turned off and the temperature of the arc tube decreases, it returns to the auxiliary amalgam-forming metal and reacts again.

This movement of mercury is repeated every time the lamp flashes,
The auxiliary amalgam exhibits its effect each time it is lit.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In a self-ballasted fluorescent lamp that employs a double amalgam system, the luminous flux of the lamp during steady operation is significantly improved compared to that of a lamp filled with only mercury due to the regulation of mercury vapor pressure by the main amalgam. In addition, the lamp luminous flux can be rapidly increased due to the rapid evaporation of mercury at the time of start-up by the auxiliary amalgam. However, in order to rapidly increase the luminous flux of the lamp, the amount of mercury evaporated from the auxiliary amalgam must far exceed the amount required to bring the mercury vapor pressure at the time of lighting to the optimum level from the luminous flux surface. It is. Therefore, this excess mercury reacts with the main amalgam at an extremely slow rate while the lamp is lit, and until this reaction is completed, the amalgam properties are not fully exhibited, and the lamp only contains mercury. Similarly, the mercury vapor pressure increases excessively and the lamp luminous flux decreases significantly.

The inventor studied ways to shorten the time required for amalgam properties to be exhibited, the so-called stability time, and
It has been found that increasing the conductance between the glass capillary and the amalgam holder improves the flow of mercury evaporated from the auxiliary amalgam and shortens the stabilization time. According to the inventor's study, the temperature that provides the optimum mercury vapor pressure for all of the above-mentioned compositions is in the temperature range from around the melting point to above the respective melting points. In this case, if a strong impact is applied while the lamp is on or immediately after it is turned off, the molten amalgam will pass through the gap in the support that regulates its position and fall into the arc tube, although the probability is low. I found something problematic. Thus, if amalgam were to fall into the arc tube, its temperature would change and the mercury vapor pressure would deviate from its optimum level, causing a significant reduction in luminous flux.

The present invention provides a fluorescent rung that prevents a significant drop in luminous flux due to the amalgam provided in the glass capillary of the stem falling into the arc tube.

・Means for solving the problem In order to solve this problem, the present invention provides a holder for regulating the position of the amalgam in the glass capillary, and a recess is formed on the amalgam supporting side of the support. It was formed.

Function In this configuration, the concave portion of the holder serves as a tray for the amalgam, so even if a strong impact is applied to the lamp and the molten amalgam is violently moved up and down, the amalgam will not move between the glass capillary and the support. Don't get into narrow gaps,
It will remain in its original, normal position in the recess. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the amalgam from falling into the arc tube.

Embodiment In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes an arc tube bent into a double U shape, and is assembled inside an outer bulb globe 2.

The lamp is equipped with a case 3 and a base 4.
A ballast 5 for lighting the arc tube is incorporated inside the case 3. In this case, a choke coil is usually used as the ballast, and is connected in series with the arc tube 1. Third
As shown in the figure, a stem 6.7 is sealed at both ends of the arc tube 1, and electrodes 10.11 are held on the stem 6.7 via lead wires 8, 9. Of the stem 6°7,
Inside the glass capillary tube 12 of one of the stems, for example the stem 6, there is a main amalgam 13 as shown in FIG.
A holder 14 for holding this is provided. The holder 14 is made of a material such as ceramic that does not react with the amalgam substance, and has a recess 15 formed on the side that holds the main amalgam 13. This prevents the main amalgam 13 from falling into the arc tube 1, and by adjusting its length, the temperature of the main amalgam 13 can be adjusted to an optimal level. Further, the lead wire 8.9 is connected to an auxiliary amalgam 16.9, which is usually made of indium (In) adhered to a metal mesh or the like.
17 is fixed. A rare earth phosphor film 18 is formed on the inner surface of the arc tube 1, and 3.5 Torr of argon is sealed inside as a rare gas.
The arc tube has the structure shown in Fig. 3, with a glass capillary tube 12 in the stem.
The inner diameter of the holding body 14 is 3.1 tan, and the outer diameter of the holding body 14 is 2.6 m.
s+ (maximum gap distance with glass capillary 0.5 mm), a fluorescent lamp according to an embodiment of the present invention in which the volume of the recess 16 is approximately 12-1 and the total length is 13, and a conventional fluorescent lamp having a holder having the same diameter and no recess. We conducted a shock test on the fluorescent lamp while it was lit.
The effect on preventing the main amalgam from falling into the arc tube was investigated. In this experiment, the composition was B i as the main amalgam.
65/I n32/Hg3 and the weight is 185119. The arc tube 1 has an outer diameter of about 16 cm and a distance between electrodes of about 280 m.
I used the one from The experimental method was to use a reeler pendant device, which is likely to be subjected to strong shocks during lamp lighting in actual use, and to repeatedly violently move up and down 20 times in a row with an impact strength of about 20G, to reach a temperature of about 126°C. The main amalgam was designed to be completely molten and the main amalgam was observed to see if it had fallen.

As a result, out of 16 experimental lamps, conventional lamps
After three lights, more than half of the amalgam had fallen to the bottom of the arc tube, and after two lights, some amalgam had hung down to the side of the support. On the other hand, in the lamps of the examples of the present invention, there was no amalgam drop in all 16 experimental lamps.

In the above embodiment, the maximum gap between the glass tube and the support was set to 0.5 mm, but if this gap becomes larger than one gate, the effects of the present invention cannot be expected. However, according to the inventor's study, even if the conductance is made larger than in the above example to improve the flow of mercury vapor, there is a limit to the reaction rate of the main amalgam with mercury, and it is difficult to shorten the stabilization time. The above experiments have shown that the present invention is effective in shortening the lamp stabilization time to the maximum and preventing the main amalgam from falling into the arc tube and the resulting decrease in luminous flux. It has been proven that this is a useful method.

In addition, in the above embodiment, a round bar with a concave portion formed on one end surface for the retention and special holidays was used, but in the present invention, as long as a concave portion is formed on the amalgam retention surface, the overall shape can be changed to the above-mentioned embodiment. Even if the shape is different from the example, the same effect can be obtained. In addition, in the above example, B1-
Although ln-Hg was used, the present invention has the same effect on fluorescent lamps having amalgams of other compositions, and in addition, only the main amalgam was sealed without filling an auxiliary amalgam for improving the rise of the luminous flux. It can also be applied to fluorescent lamps. Furthermore, the present invention is applicable not only to a fluorescent lamp integrated with an arc tube and a choke ballast as shown in FIG. 2, but also to a fluorescent lamp integrated with an electronic ballast or a fluorescent lamp with a separate ballast. be able to.

As described in detail, the present invention has a concave portion formed on the side of the holder that holds the amalgam, so that the lamp is turned on in a temperature range exceeding the melting point of the amalgam, which causes severe It is possible to provide a fluorescent lamp that can prevent molten amalgam from falling into the arc tube even when a shock is applied, and can therefore prevent a decrease in luminous flux from occurring. It is something.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway front view of a fluorescent lamp according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of the same, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an arc tube. 1... Arc tube, 2... Outer tube globe,
6,7...Stem, 10.11...Electrode, 12...Glass tube, 13...Main amalgam, 14...Holding Body, 16.17...
... Auxiliary amalgam, 18 ... Fluorescent material.

Claims (1)

[Claims] An arc tube is incorporated in the outer bulb globe, a stem having a glass capillary at both ends of the arc tube holds an electrode and is sealed, and a phosphor film is formed on the inner wall of the arc tube, and further In a fluorescent lamp in which an amalgam and a holder for holding the amalgam are provided in the glass capillary and a rare gas is sealed in the arc tube, a recess is formed in the amalgam holding surface of the holder. A fluorescent lamp characterized by: