JPS6362144A - Electric bulb type fluorescent lamp - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a luminous flux from decreasing due to an excessive rise in a mercury vapor pressure at the time of normal lighting and to suppress power consumption of a heater, by mounting a parallel body consisting of a heater and a thermostatic element in the vicinity of an amalgam formation material inside a luminous tube, and by connecting this parallel matter in series with the luminous tube. CONSTITUTION:A parallel body consisting of a heater 12 and a thermostatic element 13 is mounted in the vicinity of an amalgam formation material 10 inside a luminous tube 1, and the parallel matter is connected in series with the luminous tube 1. The thermostatic element 13 functions to switch the heater 12, and at a normal temperature a contact of this element is in an open state, and when an amalgam temperature rises near to an optimum level from a luminous surface, both terminals of the heater are shorted. Therefore, even in the case of lamp lighting under the normal temperature, the moment a lighting circuit is powered, forced heating of the amalgam formation material 10 is performed by the heater 12, so that the amalgam temperature quickly rises and the luminous flux of the lamp is rapidly increased. Hence, the luminous flux can be prevented from decreasing due to an excessive rise in the amalgam temperature, that is, that in a mercury vapor pressure, and power consumption of the heater 12 can be also suppressed to the minimum as needed.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] Industrial applications The present invention relates to a compact fluorescent lamp.

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, various compact fluorescent lamps have been commercialized as energy-saving light sources to replace incandescent light bulbs. In such lamps, since the arc tube is built into the outer tube globe, the temperature of the arc tube increases excessively compared to that of ordinary fluorescent lamps.

As a result, the mercury vapor pressure within the arc tube during operation becomes higher than the optimum level from the luminous flux plane, resulting in a decrease in luminous flux. Therefore, in realizing a high luminous flux type of this type of compact fluorescent lamp, the key technical point is how to maintain the mercury vapor pressure at an optimal level.

The amalgam method has been put into practical use as one method for regulating mercury vapor pressure. This is done by adding mercury to indium (In) or bismuth-indium (Bi-In) in the arc tube.
, lead-bis7-tin (Pb-Bi-Sn), 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.

Problem to be Solved by the Invention In a compact fluorescent lamp in which mercury is sealed in the form of amalgam, the lamp luminous flux can be significantly improved compared to a lamp in which only mercury is sealed. However, the mercury vapor pressure provided by amalgam is significantly lower than that of mercury alone at room temperature, so in compact fluorescent lamps containing mercury in the form of amalgam, the luminous flux immediately after lighting is extremely low (
However, there was a problem in that it took a long time for the luminous flux to rise to the level required for practical use.

The present invention provides an amalgam-filled self-ballasted fluorescent lamp that can improve the rise of luminous flux.

Means for Solving the Problem In order to solve this problem, the self-ballasted fluorescent lamp of the present invention has a heater and a thermally responsive element arranged in parallel in the vicinity of the amalgam-forming material of the arc tube. It is connected in series with the arc tube.

Function In this configuration, the thermally responsive element has a switching function for the heater, and its contacts are open at room temperature, and when the amalgam temperature rises to near the optimum level from the light flux plane, both ends of the heater are switched. It operates to create a short circuit. Therefore, even when the lamp is lit at room temperature, the heater forcibly heats the amalgam-forming material as soon as the power is turned on to the lighting circuit, so the amalgam temperature quickly rises and the lamp luminous flux rises rapidly. In addition, when the lamp luminous flux reaches a practically required level, the thermally responsive element closes and stops heating the heater, so even if the arc tube temperature rises during lighting, the amalgam temperature will not rise too much.
That is, a decrease in luminous flux due to an excessive rise in mercury vapor pressure can be prevented, and power consumption by the heater can be suppressed to the necessary minimum.

Embodiment FIG. 1 shows the structure of an amalgam-filled compact fluorescent lamp which is an embodiment of the present invention. In Figure 1 9, double U
Electrodes 2.3 are connected to lead wires 4,
5 and a stem 6.7, and a rare earth phosphor 8 is coated on the inner surface of the arc tube 1. Further, an amalgam-forming substance 10 and a glass rod 11 are sealed inside the glass capillary tube 9 of one of the stems, for example, the stem 6, and a rare gas such as argon is sealed inside the arc tube 1. Here, the amalgam temperature during steady lighting can be adjusted by adjusting the length of the glass rod 11.Furthermore, a nichrome wire or the like is placed near the glass capillary tube 9 in which the amalgam-forming substance 10 is sealed. A parallel body of a heater 12 and a thermally responsive element 13 such as a bimetal is provided, and the heater 12 is wound around the outer surface of the glass thin tube 9. The parallel body is connected in series with the arc tube 1 and the choke coil ballast 14. Incidentally, the arc tube 1. Heater 12. Thermal response element 13, stabilizer 14
The lighting tube 15 is built into an envelope composed of a case 16 with a base and an outer bulb globe 17.

In the lamp having the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the arc tube has an outer diameter of about 16+ nm and a distance between electrodes of about 280 rtm.

Rare gas is argon 3.5 Torr, amalgam forming substance composition is B i 120 mg, I n 60 mg, Hg
At 5.3mg, we used an arc tube with a glass rod length of 10+mm to regulate the amalgam temperature during steady lighting to approximately 125℃, which is the optimum level from the luminous flux surface, and used it as a heater to reduce the consumption during operation. A nichrome wire with a power of about 0.3 W was used, and this was wound around a glass capillary tube, and as a thermally responsive element, a bimetal with a snap action whose contacts opened at about 120°C and opened at about 100°C was used. Regarding lamps connected in parallel close to the above heaters,
The rise characteristics of the lamp luminous flux were measured. FIG. 2 shows a comparison of the luminous flux rise characteristics of the lamp according to the present invention and a conventional lamp under bare lighting (no fixture) at an ambient temperature of 25°C.

In Figure 2, the curve ■ is for the conventional lamp, and the lamp luminous flux reaches 90% of the stable characteristic after approximately 4 hours after lighting.
It takes minutes. On the other hand, the luminous flux rise of the lamp according to the present invention shown by curve ■ is rapid, and is 90% of the stable state.
The time it takes to reach this value after turning on the light is about 1 minute, which is significantly shorter than before. In the lamp according to the embodiment of the present invention, the luminous flux rises slightly after about 1 minute and 20 seconds after lighting, but this is because the input to the arc tube increases by that amount when the heater stops heating. Also. The subsequent temporary decrease in luminous flux is due to the amalgam temperature decreasing due to the heating stop of the heater, but this luminous flux decrease is at most about 6% of the stable luminous flux, and the amalgam temperature is lowered to the optimum level due to the heat generated by the arc tube itself. It takes only a short time for the temperature to rise to , and there is no practical problem.

In addition, in the above example, B1- was used as the amalgam-forming substance.
Although an example using In has been described, the present invention is applicable to, for example, In
, Pb-B1-8n and other amalgam-forming substances can also be used to obtain similar effects.

Furthermore, the present invention can be applied not only to an integrated lamp with an arc tube and a choke coil ballast as shown in FIG. 1, but also to a compact fluorescent lamp with an integrated electronic ballast and a separate ballast type. Needless to say.

As described in detail, the present invention provides a lamp lighting circuit by providing a parallel body of a heater and a thermally responsive element near the amalgam-forming material in the arc tube, and connecting this parallel body in series with the arc tube. As soon as the power is turned on, the amalgam-forming material is forcibly heated to increase the mercury vapor pressure, and the lamp luminous flux can be quickly raised.After the luminous flux reaches the required level, the thermally responsive element turns on the heater. It is possible to provide a compact fluorescent lamp that operates to stop heating of the lamp, thereby preventing a decrease in luminous flux due to an excessive rise in mercury vapor pressure during steady lighting, and suppressing power consumption of the heater as much as possible. It is.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway front view of a compact fluorescent lamp according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a luminous flux rise characteristic diagram comparing the lamp according to the embodiment of the present invention and a conventional lamp. 1... Arc tube, 2, 3... Electrode, 8.
...phosphor, 10 ... amalgam-forming substance, 12 ... heater, 13 ... thermal response element, 17 ... outer bulb globe. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and one other person l-Director? , 3-electrode 8-phosphor 10-amalgam-shaped weiding material/2--heater 13-thermal response 15-! ≠-Thousand 3-Kukoil Anshuuki Figure 2 2! , time c minutes]

Claims (1)

[Claims] A fluorescent tube with electrodes sealed at both ends, a phosphor coated on the inner surface, and an amalgam-forming substance and a rare gas sealed inside is incorporated in the outer globe. A compact fluorescent lamp characterized in that a parallel body of a heater and a thermally responsive element is provided in the vicinity, and the parallel body is connected in series with the arc tube.