KR100720239B1 - Excimer discharge lamp - Google Patents

Abstract

This invention provides the excimer discharge lamp which coaxially arrange | positioned the outer side pipe | tube and the inner side pipe | tube whose outer shape is a substantially cylindrical shape which has a structure which suppresses the damage of a discharge container at the time of transportation.

An excimer discharge lamp having a hollow cylindrical discharge vessel in which both ends are sealed by discharging a gas for discharging between the outer tube and the inner tube and forming an excimer molecule between the outer tube and the inner tube. The excimer discharge lamp is characterized in that a supporting member is provided near the center in the longitudinal direction of the discharge vessel between the inner tube and the outer tube.

Description

Excimer discharge lamp {EXCIMER DISCHARGE LAMP}

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a conventional excimer discharge lamp,

2 is a view showing a broken portion of a conventional excimer discharge lamp,

3 is a structural example of a discharge vessel of an excimer discharge lamp of the present invention,

4 is a structural example of a supporting member used in the present invention,

5 shows various fixing examples of the supporting member used in the present invention,

6 shows the relationship between the impact value given to the lamp and the stress at the end,

7 is a structural example of a discharge vessel of an excimer discharge lamp of the present invention,

8 is a structural example of a discharge vessel of an excimer discharge lamp of the present invention,

9 is a structural example of a discharge vessel of an excimer discharge lamp of the present invention,

10 shows an example of a support member used in the present invention,

11 is a table showing the effects of the present invention as a result of the drop test.

<Explanation of symbols for main parts of drawing>

One … Excimer discharge lamp 2... Discharge vessel

3…. Discharge spaces 4, 4 '... Support member

5…. Support member fixing portion 6.. Oil

7. Internal electrode 8. External electrode                 

9... Ferromagnetic material 10... Quartz glass

21. Inner tube 22. Outer tube

23. Side wall portions 41. hole

42. Notch 43. spin

The present invention has a hollow cylindrical discharge vessel in which coarse outer tubes and inner tubes of which the outline is outlined are disposed coaxially, and a gas for discharge which forms excimer molecules between the outer and inner tubes is sealed and sealed at both ends. The present invention relates to an excimer discharge lamp, and more particularly, to a structure in which the discharge vessel is not broken during the transportation of the excimer discharge lamp.

With the larger screen of liquid crystal substrate panels, the lengthening of the discharge lamp used for the ultraviolet treatment of a liquid crystal substrate has been calculated | required. In recent years, excimer discharge lamps such as those disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-283994, which emit light of a single wavelength with high efficiency by utilizing light emission of excimer molecules for ultraviolet ray treatment applications such as optical cleaning of liquid crystal substrates, are used. Has been used.

In the excimer discharge lamp, there is one whose total length exceeds 800 mm, for example, 1000 mm. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a conventional excimer discharge lamp. In the discharge lamp 1, the inner tube 21 and the outer tube 22 are coaxially arranged to form a double cylindrical tube, and both ends thereof are sealed to discharge space between the inner tube 21 and the outer tube 22 ( It becomes the discharge container 2 in which 3) was formed. In the discharge space 3, excimer molecules are formed by dielectric barrier discharge, and a discharge gas, for example, xenon gas, for emitting excimer light from the excimer molecules is enclosed.

A mesh-shaped electrode 8 is provided on the outer surface of the outer tube 22, and an inner electrode 7 which is the other electrode is provided inside the inner tube 21. Since the mesh-shaped electrode 8 is comprised without a seamless and since it has elasticity as a whole, adhesiveness to the outer side pipe | tube 22 can be improved. The inner electrode 7 has a pipe shape or a roughly C-shaped shape with a cutout in a part of the cross section, and is provided to be in close contact with the inner tube 21.

When the discharge lamp with a long total length in the tube axis direction is packaged horizontally in a packing container such as corrugated cardboard and transported by a truck or the like, there is a problem that the discharge container is broken by a large shock or vibration applied to the lamp. There was a case. As shown in FIG. 2, the side part 23 seal | sealed (welding) the inner side pipe | tube 21 and the outer side pipe | tube 22 of both ends, and its vicinity as shown in FIG. The cause of breakage is considered as follows.

When the impact is applied, the outer tube is hardly deformed because it is fixed to the packing material, but the inner tube is supported at both ends, so the center portion is short. The deflection causes stress in the pipe and at the same time the stress is generated in the areas where both ends are welded.

Since the stress applied to the side wall portions 23 at both ends is higher than the stress applied to the inner tube 21 itself, near the both side wall portions, especially near the connection portion with the inner tube 21, before the inner tube 21 itself. It is assumed that this is broken. Similarly with respect to the vibration, if a vibration of any frequency is applied, the inner tube 21 resonates at both ends to a point even at a small vibration, and the center portion thereof is displaced (warped) up and down.

(Patent Document 1)

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-283994

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to coaxially arrange an outer tube and an inner tube having an outer shape having a structure of suppressing breakage of the discharge vessel when an impact or vibration is applied perpendicularly to the outline of the lamp tube axis, in a coaxial manner. The present invention provides an excimer discharge lamp having a hollow cylindrical discharge container in which a gas for discharging forming excimer molecules is sealed between a tube and an inner tube and sealed at both ends.

In order to solve the said subject, the invention of Claim 1 arrange | positions the outer tube and inner tube which have a roughly outer shape coaxially, and the discharge gas which forms an excimer molecule between the outer tube and the said inner tube is sealed, and both ends are The excimer discharge lamp provided with the sealed hollow cylindrical discharge container WHEREIN: It is set as the excimer discharge lamp characterized by providing the support member near the center in the longitudinal direction of the said discharge container between the said inner pipe and the said outer pipe.

In the present invention, the vicinity of the center in the longitudinal direction of the discharge vessel refers to the center of the discharge vessel at the center rather than a quarter length of the entire length of the vessel.

Invention of Claim 2 fixes the said support member with the said inner side pipe | tube and / or the said outer side pipe | tube, The excimer discharge lamp of Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned.

Invention of Claim 3 made the said support member movable to the tube axis direction of the said discharge container, The excimer discharge lamp of Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the support member is configured to be movable in the tube axis direction by moving the holding member provided outside the discharge vessel. The excimer discharge lamp according to claim 3 is characterized by the above-mentioned.

The invention of claim 5 is an excimer discharge lamp according to claim 4, wherein at least a part of the supporting member and at least a part of the holding member are made of a material having magnetic force.

The invention of claim 6 is an excimer discharge lamp according to claim 4, wherein at least a part of the support member is made of a material having magnetic force, and at least a part of the holding member is made of a ferromagnetic material.

The invention of claim 7 is the excimer discharge lamp according to claim 4, wherein at least a part of the support member is made of a ferromagnetic material, and at least a part of the holding member is made of a material having magnetic force.

In the invention of claim 8, there are a plurality of the supporting members, and at least one of the supporting members is provided near the center, so that the excimer discharge lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 4 is characterized.

Embodiment of the Invention

As a first embodiment of the present invention, the structure of the discharge vessel 2 for the excimer discharge lamp is shown in Fig. 3A. The total length is, for example, a discharge vessel of 1000 mm.

In FIG. 3A, the supporting member 4 is inserted near the center of the discharge vessel 2. The support member 4 was made of quartz glass and had a donut-shaped disk shape as shown in Fig. 3 (c). The thickness is 2mm. The support member 4 was welded and fixed with the discharge vessel 2 so as not to move in the tube axis direction when the discharge vessel 2 was tilted in the vertical direction during vibration and shock during transportation. Specifically, it welded to the inner side pipe | tube 21 and the outer side pipe | tube 22 as shown to FIG.3 (b).

The fixing method of the support member 4 is demonstrated. Bonding of the inner side pipe | tube 21 and the support member 4 is performed before sealing with the outer side pipe | tube 22. As shown in FIG. First, the support member 4 is made to pass through the glass tube used as the inner side pipe 21 to a fixed position. When the inner tube 21 is rotated by a shelf or the like, the contact portions of the support member 4 and the inner tube 21 are heated on both sides of the support member 4 to raise the pressure inside the inner tube 21 little by little. The tube 21 is uniformly enlarged in the radial direction, and the outer periphery of the support member 4 is fixed coaxially with the inner tube 21.

Bonding of the outer side pipe 22 and the support member 4 is performed after sealing the outer side pipe 22 and the inner side pipe 21. The outer tube immediately above the support member 4 is heated while rotating the sealed discharge container 2 on a shelf or the like. When the glass is softened, the outer tube 22 is pressed in the radial direction little by little to fix the outer tube 22. In addition, the outer tube 22 is uniformly small in diameter even by heating the shelf while the discharge space portion is slightly depressurized, and the support member 4 is fixed to the outer tube 22.

By fixing the support member 4 near the center of the discharge vessel 2 in this way, the distance between the points is shortened, and even if the same impact is applied, the amount of warpage of the inner tube 21 is greatly reduced. Therefore, the stress applied to the side plates at both ends is also greatly reduced, and it is difficult to be damaged.

In this embodiment, the structure having the structure as shown in FIG. 3 (c) was used for the support member 4. When the inner tube 21 and the outer tube 22 are welded, the discharge vessel 2 is divided into two by the supporting member 4, so that two gas encapsulation steps are required. However, vent holes can be formed by inserting holes 41 and cutouts 42 into the support member 4 as shown in Figs. 4 (a) and 4 (b). It is possible to distribute the gas in both discharge spaces in between, so that only one gas encapsulation step is required.

Fig. 5 shows the structure of the discharge vessel as the second embodiment in the present invention. FIG. 5 (a) shows that the support member 4 is fixed only to the inner tube 21 in the discharge vessel of the first embodiment. The fixing method is the same as described in the first embodiment. When the impact was applied, the inner tube 21 bends, and the vicinity of the original plate, which is the support member 4 in the center of the discharge vessel, is most frequently broken. Until the support member 4 is in contact with the outer tube 22, the inner tube 21 is bent with both side walls as a point. When the support member 4 is in contact with the outer tube 22, the side walls of the both ends and the support member 4 Since the point is three points, the more difficult to bend.

FIG. 6: is an example which shows typically the impact value applied to an electrical discharge container on a horizontal axis, and the stress which generate | occur | produces at the edge part at that time on a vertical axis | shaft. In the conventional discharge vessel of only both side wall portions as shown in Fig. 1, as the impact value increases, the stress generated at the discharge vessel end continues to increase, resulting in a graph like (a) reaching the fracture stress.                     

In the discharge container of Example 1, since there exists a support member 4, since the distance between points is short, it is thought that it becomes a graph like (b) that a curvature becomes small and the stress which generate | occur | produces becomes small. In the case where the support is fixed to the inner tube 21 of the present embodiment, when the impact value is increased, the same stress is generated until the support member comes into contact with the outer tube, but if the impact value is exceeded, the point interval is shortened. Therefore, the amount of change in the amount of warpage decreases. For example, in the form of Fig. 5 (a), it is considered that the amount of change in stress, that is, the inclination is small and the graph as (b) is obtained.

In the form of FIG. 5 (a), the gap between the fixed support member 4 and the outer tube 22 is preferably as narrow as possible. If the gap is wide, it is considered that when a strong impact is applied, the inner tube 21 is largely bent and the stress generated is large, resulting in a graph as shown in (d). For this reason, both ends may be damaged depending on the space | interval of a clearance gap. In addition, as the impact between the support member 4 and the outer tube 22 increases, damage to the fixing portion, damage to the support member 4 itself, and damage to the inner tube 21 itself are likely, and other problems are likely to occur. Lose. On the contrary, in the form of FIG. 5 (a), when the gap is narrow, the outer tube is brought into contact with the outer tube even with a weak impact, so that the amount of warpage decreases and the stress generated at both ends is considered to be the same as (e). .

Moreover, it is preferable to fix the outer side pipe | tube 22 or the inner side pipe | tube 21 and the support member 4 on coaxial as much as possible. After fixing, the distance between the support member 4 and the outer tube 22 or the inner tube 21 becomes nonuniform, so that when the impact is applied in any diameter direction, the inner tube 21 does not bend, but In the direction, the warpage may become too large and the support member 4 may not play a role and the discharge vessel 2 may be damaged.

The support member 4, the inner side pipe 21, and the outer side pipe 22 do not necessarily need to be welded and fixed. Since this support member 4 aims to make the displacement amount of the inner side pipe | tube 21 below a predetermined value in a fixed position (axial direction), the inner side pipe 21 like FIG.5 (c), (d) The projection 43 may be provided in the inner tube 21, or the inner tube 21 may be deformed so that the support member 4 does not move left and right (axial direction).

As shown in Fig. 5 (b), even when the supporting member 4 is welded only to the outer tube 22, it is difficult to be damaged by the same mechanism.

The vicinity of the center of the discharge vessel 2 at the position where the support members 4 are installed in the first and second embodiments does not necessarily need to be a distance of 1/2 of the side walls of both ends of the discharge vessel 2. What is necessary is just the range of 2/4 of the center at the time of dividing the full length of the discharge container 2 into 4 equal parts. Alternatively, the range of 1/3 when dividing into three may be used. The deflection of the inner tube 21 fixed at both ends was the best at the center (a distance of 1/2). Therefore, the effect is large when providing the support member 4 in the center.

However, even if the support member is moved in the tube axis direction within the above range, it will not be damaged due to the tube diameter, the thickness, the distance between the points, and the gap with the other tube when the support member is installed in the inner tube or the outer tube. There is no range. When the supporting member is provided, the discharge plasma is eliminated in the range of the thickness of the supporting member.

Therefore, although it depends on the thickness of a support member, the roughness distribution on an axial worsens. For example, when a support member having a thickness of 2 mm made of light-transmitting quartz glass was provided, the output was reduced by 5% at a point about 20 mm away from the lamp. At 4mm, the output dropped 9%. When the output reduction part is not desired to be installed in the center due to the characteristics of the required light source, it can be fixed by moving it from the center.

Moreover, in the case where the lamp length is long, the distance between the points is not short enough only by providing one support member in the center, and it may be damaged. In this case, for example, by providing three points, five points, and a plurality of points, it is possible to make a lamp that does not break even with a longer lamp. 7 is an example in which three support members are provided.

A third embodiment is shown in FIG. As described above, when the light-transmissive support member 4 having a thickness of 2 mm was provided, the output was reduced by 5% at a point about 20 mm away from the lamp. In order to eliminate this fall of roughness, as shown in Fig. 8 (a), the support member 4 is disposed at the center portion during transportation, and the structure is moved to the end portion 4 'position during lighting.

Specifically, the structure was as follows. The support member is passed through the inner tube but is not fixed. At the position where the support member is disposed, the projection 5 is provided on the inner tube, and the support member is moved by tilting the right and left sides of the axial direction in FIG. It arrange | positions in the vicinity of center part by FIG. 8 (b).

During the transport, the support member is placed by wrapping the axial right side up and the left side down so that the support member does not move to the end portion due to the vibration during transportation, and the support member and the outer tube are applied even if a large impact is applied. This contact prevents warpage and prevents breakage. When the lamp is turned on, the support member is moved to the end outside the effective light emitting portion by tilting the axial right side down and the left side up once, and then attaching it to the apparatus. Since the supporting member is located in a place deviating from the discharge space during the lighting (Fig. 8 (a)), the support member is discharged uniformly in the lamp axis direction and there is no decrease in the illuminance.

The vicinity of the center portion is as shown in Fig. 8C. The projection 5 is about 1 mm in height because the support member 4 does not have to jump over and hardly affects the discharge stability during lighting. When quartz glass is used for the inner side pipe | tube 21, you may weld the same quartz glass piece etc. as a material. Moreover, you may wind a metal wire etc.

The support member 4 may use light-transmitting quartz glass, sapphire, MgF ₂ , or the like, or may use a metal plate such as opaque alumina (Al ₂ O ₃ ) or stainless steel.

A fourth embodiment is shown in FIG. This embodiment also improves the illuminance distribution of the first and second embodiments similarly to the third embodiment. As shown in Fig. 9 (a), the support member was disposed at the center portion during transport, and moved to the end portion during lighting, and moved and held by magnetic force. 4 'in the figure shows the supporting member when moved to the end.

Fig. 9B is a view when the supporting member is held near the center at the time of transportation. The ferromagnetic material 9 was fixed to a part of the support member 4. Specifically, as shown in Fig. 10A, a hole 41 was drilled through the support member 4 made of quartz glass, and a nickel wire, which is a ferromagnetic material 9, was wound. And the holding material 6 (permanent magnet) was arrange | positioned outside the outer side pipe | tube 22, and the support member 4 was hold | maintained. The holding material 6 is packed horizontally with the packing material near the center of the discharge container 2 or the lamp.                     

Even if vibrations or impacts are applied during transportation, the support member is held by magnetic force, so that the support member is not moved from the vicinity of the center portion, and the support member is in contact with the outer tube even if the inner tube is bent, so that the discharge vessel is not damaged. When the lamp is turned on, use the magnetic force of the holding member to move to a place out of the discharge space, or remove the magnet and tilt the lamp to move the supporting member to a place outside the discharge space, and then again to the magnetic force at that position. Maintain by The holding member can be held in a part of the base (not shown) to hold the supporting member even during lamp lighting. Since there is nothing in the vicinity of the center, as shown in Fig. 9C, there is no decrease in illuminance distribution.

Since the support member 4 and the holding material 6 can be held by magnetic force, various forms can be considered. ① At least part of the supporting member and part of the holding material are made of a material having magnetic force. ② At least part of the supporting member is made of a material having magnetic force, and at least part of the holding material is made of a ferromagnetic material. At least part of the supporting member is made of a ferromagnetic material, and at least part of the holding material is made of a material having magnetic force.

As a specific shape, the whole support member 4 and the holding material 6 are made of the material or ferromagnetic material which has magnetic force, As mentioned above, it makes a hole through the member made of quartz glass, and passes a wire (FIG. 10 ( a)) or the support member 4 may be a structure in which the ferromagnetic material 9 is covered with the quartz glass 10 (Fig. 10 (b)), or a sintered body in which the quartz glass and a magnetic material or ferromagnetic material are mixed. Naturally, the quartz glass may be a separate dielectric material.                     

As a material having magnetic force, a permanent magnet can be considered, and a ferrite magnet, a samarium cobalt magnet, and an alnico magnet can be considered. The higher magnetic flux density on the surface is preferable because the holding force is higher and the support member can be firmly fixed. The ferromagnetic material may be iron, nickel, silicon steel, permalloy, or an iron-based alloy such as Alfam Alpe Sendust Perminver Iso Firm under the trade name.

A discharge container having a total length of 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1400, 1600, 1800, and 2000 mm was packaged in a double packing with a cushioning material and corrugated cardboard, and a comparison was made whether or not it was dropped by falling to the ground of concrete at a height of 60 cm. The results are shown in the table of FIG. In the conventional lamp of FIG. 1, two discharge vessels breaking out of the discharge vessel having a total length of 1000 mm came out. All were broken in the discharge vessel of the longer length. However, in the lamps of Figs. 3, 5 (a), 8 and 9 provided with the supporting member, they were not broken even in a discharge vessel having a length of 1600 mm. In addition, in the lamp of FIG. 7 (with three support members), the lamp was not broken even in a discharge vessel having a length of 2000 mm.

According to the present invention, by inserting the support member between the inner tube and the outer tube near the center of the discharge vessel, the amount of deflection of the inner tube is suppressed by dispersing the force that the inner tube is to bend by the support member by impact and vibration. The stress generated at both ends of the discharge vessel for the excimer discharge lamp and the excimer discharge lamp can be suppressed, and damage from the end of the discharge vessel can be suppressed. Moreover, the damage of a discharge container can be prevented by suppressing curvature amount below a certain fixed value.

Claims (8)

An excimer discharge lamp having a hollow cylindrical discharge vessel in which both ends are sealed by disposing a gas for discharging an excimer molecule between the outer tube and the inner tube and coaxially arranging the outer tube and the inner tube having a cylindrical shape. To And a support member having a vent hole between the inner tube and the outer tube is disposed in the center of the discharge vessel in the longitudinal direction of the discharge vessel from the end of the discharge vessel at the center of the discharge vessel. The excimer discharge lamp according to claim 1, wherein the supporting member is fixed to the inner tube and / or the outer tube. The excimer discharge lamp according to claim 1, wherein the support member is movable in the tube axis direction of the discharge vessel. The excimer discharge lamp according to claim 3, wherein the support member is movable in the tube axis direction by moving the holding member provided outside the discharge vessel. The excimer discharge lamp according to claim 4, wherein at least a part of the support member and at least a part of the holding member are made of a material having magnetic force. The excimer discharge lamp according to claim 4, wherein at least part of the support member is made of a material having magnetic force, and at least part of the holding member is made of a ferromagnetic material. The excimer discharge lamp according to claim 4, wherein at least a part of the support member is made of a ferromagnetic material, and at least a part of the holding member is made of a material having magnetic force. The said support member is many, The quarter of the said discharge container whole length from the said discharge container edge part in the longitudinal direction of the said discharge container, The said support member is many. Excimer discharge lamp, characterized in that installed in the center than the length.

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