US2108487A - Negative glow display - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 15, 1938. A. F. HENNINGER, JR

NEGATIVE GLOW DI SPLAY Filed March 26. 19s? 25 readily, and valuable flaming effects over the I prefer however, to so form each letter or design 25 35 through a negative glow tube embodying the insisting of an elongated sheet 20 is connected to 35 Patented Feb. 15, 1938 j 9 v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE NEGATIVZfi DISPLAY a, I I Andrew F. Henninger, In, Chicago, Ill.

' Application March 26, 1937, Serial No. 133,198

In Canada April 11, 1936 '7 Claims. (Cl. 176-14) The present invention relates to negative glow at the end of the tube opposite the press I. The display devices and particularly to an' improved sheet 9 may have-its side edges Ii and i2 spaced method of. construction therefor having certain from the tube 5. It is held in position by a advantages over that shown in my-Patent No. bracket i3 which is fixed-to the sheet ii). The

5 2,069,308. l bracket I3 is an L-shaped metal strip. Holes are 5 In the above application, I have disclosed a provided in thelsheets 9 and iii. A pair of small structure wherein the necessity for use of supmetal strips I311 and I3b are welded to the strip port wires to brace the electrodes is to a subiii in the holes and project over the adjacent stantial degree overcome. The structure as disportions of the sheets 9 and iii. The mica sheet l closed in the previous application is one in which 9 maybe supported directly from the glass at 10 a ilatv or curved sheet of mica or other suitable the end opposite the sheet ill or itmay be supmaterial is made of such a size as to position the ported by means of lead wires i4, i5 and I6 as electrodes supported thereby within .the tube shown in Figures 1 and 2. without further mounting means. A plurality of electrodes 11, which are shown 5 The present invention relates toqcertain imin the form of letters, are formed from a metal provements which have been found to be advansheet by stamping, etching, or sawing the design. tageous for some of the constructions of display The electrodes are mounted on the front side of devices. The present invention contemplates the the sheet 9 by means of extensions l8 at the provision of a, plurality of sheets of mica supporttop and i9 at the bottom edges of the electrodes.

ing structure for negative glow electrodes in The extensions i8 and i9 project beyond the -2 which the mica sheets directly supporting the edges of the sheet 9 and are bent over the edges electrodes may be spaced from the walls of the to thereby secure the metal electrodes to the glass tubes. With the improved construction, sheet 9. Each of the letters l'l may be indeit is possible to connect the electrodes more pendently connected to a conducting lead l6.

edges of the mica sheets may be obtained. that the extensions l3 and I 9 may extend longi: I will describe a preferred form of the inventudinally of the sheet 9, a distance suihcient to tion by reference to' the accompanying drawing. overlap or connect to the longitudinalextension It is to be understood, however, that the drawing I8 or iii of the next adjacent letter or design to and description are illustrative only and are not thereby electrically connect all of the letters. In 30 to be taken as limiting the invention except in so order to secure goodelectrical contact, the entire far as it is limited by the claims. designmay be formed in one piece or the longi- In the drawing: I tudinal extensions l8 and IQ of. adjacent letters Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view may be welded together. A'back electrode convention. the lead I. A metal shield 2i is interposed be- Figure 2 is a plan section taken on the line tween the mica sheet 9 and the electrode 20, and 2-2 of Figure 1. this sheet is preferably insulated from the sheet Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line electrode 20 by insulating washers 22 which 3-3 of Figure '1. serve to space the shield 2i and the electrode 20 40 Figure 4 is a sectional view similar to Figure 3 apart. Insulating washers 23 also space the of a slightly modified form of the invention, and shield 2| from the mica sheet 9.

Figure 5 is a side view of an electrode used in In front of the mica sheet 9 and spaced from the present construction. the letters I! is a front electrode 24 consisting Referring now in detail to the drawing the of an elongated metal strip. spaced from the 45 numeral 5 indicates the usual negative glow tube. mica sheet by suitable insulating washers 25. A base 6 is provided on the tube for making the The front electrode 24 is connected to a lead I! necessary connections as will be readily under by which it may be connected to a source of curstood. The tube 5 has a reentrant-stem' I in rent. If lead I! is disconnected from a source which suitable conductors 3 are secured. The of current, then electrode will merely act as 50 tube 5 has a filling ,of a suitable gas as described a silhouette or shield. in my prior application. The fact that the longitudinal edges'of the The tube ihas a supporting structure therein plate'9 are spaced a distance from the inside composed of a longitudinally running sheet 9 of surface of the tube 5 provides a restricted pasmica d she t lo'flttmg snugly. in the tube 5 sage for electrons flowing around the edges of 55 In the course of evacuating fthe tube 5, it is heated by means of a bombarder in a, manner well known in this art. This heating may cause the metal electrodes to expand substantially and in order to prevent permanent warping of electrodes after the heating has discontinued and the tube hascooled, the sheet Ill should be sufllciently thin to allow it to bend during the heatmg operation in case the electrodes press against it. It has been foundthat if mica is used for the sheet III the thicknesspi' the mica sheet should preferably be about .008 inchi It will be noted that the shield 2| is slightly larger than the electrode 20 so that as one is looking at the, envelope in the direction as it is shown in Figure 1, the electrode 20 cannot be seen but the glowing effect is readily seen at the edges of the shield 2h The portions l8 and 59 which are bent over the edges of the sheet 9 are preferably covered with an insulating cement or varnish.

In the device shown in Figure 4 a double sided sign is produced. In this form a metal backing which is bent in a step formation is used to support a plurality of mica sheets 9:: and 9b. The backing 26 need not be of this particular formation but it provides an advantageous construction. The micasheets 9c and 9b and the sheet it may be desirably secured to the backing 26 by metal tabs 2? which pass through holes punched in the mica sheets and are welded to the backing 26. Theelectrodes ll are rounded on the outside of the sheets to and 91). Also sheets 2d may be used in this form of the device as well asin the form shown inFigures 1, 2 and 3. Electrical connection is made to the electrodes I! by a plurality of leads 28 and 29. The portions l8 and 19 of the electrodes I! are preferably covered with insulating cement. Also the leads 28 and 29 as well as the leads I 4, l5 and I6 should be covered with insulating cement;

From the above description it is believed that the construction andadvantages of this device will be readily apparent to those skilled in this art. Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by- Letters Patent is:

1. In a negative glow device, an envelope, a plurality of electrodes in said envelope, a dielectrlc sheet of substantial area within said envelope, said sheet having the electrodes mounted thereon whereby the sheet provides the principal support for said electrodes,- a press within said envelope, terminals extending from said press, means for electrically joining the electrodes and the terminals. a supporting member of insulating material within said envelope and engaging the inner wall thereof, said supporting member being arranged transversely of the'dlelectric sheet, the dielectric sheet being supported by said member.

2. Ina negative glow device an elongated envelope, a plurality of electrodes in said envelope, a dielectric sheet of substantial area within said envelopeg said sheet having the electrodes mounted thereon whereby the sheet provides the principal support for said electrodes, a press within said envelope, at the one end thereof terminals extending from said press, means for electrically joining the electrodes and the terminals, a supporting member of insulating material within said envelope and engaging the inner wall thereof adjacent the end of said envelope remote from the press, said supporting member being arranged transversely of the dielectric sheet, the dielectric sheet being supported by said member.

3. In a negative glow device, an envelope, a

plurality of electrodes in said envelope, 8. dielec-v tric sheet of substantial area. within said envelope, said sheet having the electrodes mounted thereon whereby the sheet provides the principal support for said electrodes, a press within said envelope, terminals extending from said press, means for electrically joining the electrodes and the terminals, a thin dielectric disk in said envelope remote from said press and extending transversely of the dielectric sheet, said disk engaging the inner wall of the envelope and said dielectric sheet being fixed to the disk and thereby held in position in said envelope.

i 4. In a negative glow device, an envelope, a plurality of electrodes in said envelope, at dielectric sheet of substantial area within said en'- velope, said sheet having the electrodes mounted thereon whereby the sheet provides the principal support for said electrodes, a press within said envelope, terminals extending from said press, means for electrically joining the electrodes and the terminals, 8. thin dielectric disk in said envelope remote from said press and extending transversely of the dielectric sheet, said disk engaging the inner wall of the envelope and said dielectric sheet being fixed to the disk and thereby held in position in said envelope, said insulating member comprising a thin disk of mica.

5. In a negative glow display device an elongated envelope, a press within said envelope at one end thereof, a thinimica disk at the other end thereof, the edge of the mica disk being engaged with the inner wall of the envelope an electrode assembly comprising a plurality of spaced electrodes and supporting means therefor extending from said press to said disk and supported by the press and disk.

6. In a negative glow display, an elongated envelope, an electrode assembly in said envelope, and means supporting said assembly in spaced relation to the walls of the envelope, said supporting means including a transparent support at one end of the envelope through which the display is visible.

7. In a negative glow device, an envelope, a plurality of electrodes in said envelope, a pair of spaced dielectric sheets of substantial area within said envelope, part of said electrodes being mounted on one of said sheets and part of said electrodes being mounted on the other sheet whereby each sheet supports its electrode in spaced relation with respect to the envelope, a spacing member secured to both of said sheets and holding them in spaced relation, said electrodes having extensions at their opposite edges which are bent over the sheets to thereby secure the electrodes to the sheets.

, ANDREW F. HENNINGER, JR.

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