US2267435A

US2267435A - Apparatus for cleaning electric lamp bulbs

Info

Publication number: US2267435A
Application number: US375427A
Authority: US
Inventors: Ralph B Thomas
Original assignee: Hygrade Sylvania Corp
Current assignee: Hygrade Sylvania Corp
Priority date: 1941-01-22
Filing date: 1941-01-22
Publication date: 1941-12-23
Anticipated expiration: 1958-12-23

Description

Dec. 23, 1941. R. B. THOMAS APPARATUS FOR CLEANING ELECTRIC'LAMP BULBS Filed Jan. 22, 1941 2 Shets-Sheet l ATTOBN E Y Patcnted 23, 1941 APPARATUS FOR CLEANmG ELECTRIC LAMP ums Ralph B. Thomas, Beverly, Masa, Hygrade Sylvania Corporation,

assignor to Salem, Masa, a.

corporation of Massachusetts Application January 22, 1941, Serial No. 375,427

1 Claim.

This invention relates to electric lamps and more particularly to electric lamp bulbs used in the manufacture of fluorescent lamps.

An object of this invention is to provide'a means for cleaning the bulbs used in the manufacture of fluorescent lamps.

Another object is to providea means for salvaging the powder from bulbs which have been imperfectly coated with a luminescent material.

Other objects, advantages and features will be apparent from the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the bulb cleaning mechanism;

Figure 2 is a-detail, shown partly in section of the air escape bushing and the brush coupling; Figure '8 is a perspective of the bulb carriage assembly;

Figure 4 is a side elevational view of a bulb in the process of being cleaned. Similar reference characters refer to similar parts in the several views of the drawings. In the manufacture of fluorescent lamps it is extremely important that the inner walls of the bulb be perfectly clear of impurities such. as dust particles. Otherwise, the fluorescent coating will not be the smooth even coating which is desired.

Thus one of the purposes of myinv'ention is to obtain a perfectly clean, bulb before the luminescent coating is applied.

Many times, in the processing of the lamp, for one reason or another, the coating is spoiled. It is then desirable to salvage the powder from the bulb. If this is done without contaminating it, the powdermay be used over again. Thus an- '-cther' purpose of my invention is to provide a simple yet adequate means for salvaging the powder from the bulb.

In Figure 1, the tracks I are mounted on the channel 2. This channel may be mounted on a table or some other suitable support to hold it in a stationary position. The carriage bodies 3,-

4, and 5 are mounted on the carriage axles 6 which in turn carry the carriage wheels I. The

bulb guides

8 and 9 are mounted on top of the carriage bodies 4 and 5, respectively.

The carriage body 3 has the shaft guide It! mounted on the top thereof. As is more clearly brought out in Figure 3, it is throughthe bearings II that the shaft guide III with the carriage body 8 and the entire carriage assembly moves backward and forward to cause the bulb resting on the carriage guides 4 and 5 to envelop the rotating brush l5. This brush l5 which cleans the bulbs extends from the brush coupling I4 which projects from the forward extremity of the shaft l3 enclosed within the shaft tube I2.

The rearward extension of the shaft tube I2 ex- 5 tends back through the shaft tube supports IE to the coupling ll. It is here that the shaft tube l2 ends and the shaft I3 is joined to the solid shaft I 8 which is driven through the pulley l9 and the belt 28 mounted-on the supports 2|.

Air may be introduced through the air line 22 in the shaft tube l2.

As shown in Figure 2, the air escape bushing 23 is located on the end of the driven shaft 13 and is enclosed by the shaft tube l2 except that at its forward end it permits the passage therethrough of air coming through the shaft tube l2 from air line 22 as shown in Figure 1. The brush coupling I4 extends from the bushing 23 and has attached at the forward end thereof the brush l5 shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 also shows the connecting rod 24 running between the carriage body 3 on which the shaft guide III is mounted and the carriage body 4 on which the bulb guide 8 is mounted. Attached to the rear of the carriage body 3 is the rear bumper 25, shown in Figure 3, which, when the whole carriage assembly is moved in a through the connecting rod 24 as a result of the rear bumper 25 striking the rear bumper spring 26 will be absorbed through the two springs 28 held on the rod in front and one in the rear of the carriage body 40 4. In Figure 1, the forward movement of the carriage assembly is limited by the stop 30. Any shock resulting from the carriage assembly striking the stop 30 will be absorbed. by the spring 3| on the stud 32 freely fitted through the carriage body 5.

Although, as seen in Figure 3, I have shown but two carriage bodies 4 and 5 with the bulb more than two may be used depending on the length of the bulb to be cleaned. It is apparent that if long bulbs were to be cleaned, either a greater spacing between carriage bodies or more carriage bodies along with an adjusted location M of the shaft guide would be necessary. My ap Paratus is so constructed that such adjustments rearward direction, will strike against the rear 24 through the collars 29, one 7

guides

8 and 9, respectively, mounted thereon,-

When'a bulb is to be cleaned, it is placed in the saddle oi the bulb guides l and 8. A slight downward and rearward pressure is placed on the bulb thus causing the bulb carriage assembly to move along the tracks I and bring the bulb towards the brush II. The bulb carriage assembly is moved along the tracks- I far enough to cause the bulb to be cleaned its entire length by the rotating brush it. The air coming from the air line 12 through the shaft tube l2 and out the air escape bushing 28 will, in conjunction with the rotating brush, remove all dust and other impurities from the inner walls of the bulb. This dust may be collected by some suitable means.

Figure 4 shows a means by which such materials as are removed from the walls of the bulb may be collected. It is extremely desirable to be able to salvage the luminescent powder from a detective lamp. Thus'ii the apparatus described above is connectedto a vacuum and some suitable container this result may be achieved. Figure 4 shows'the bulb 33 with the luminescent powder 23 on the inner walls thereof being cleaned by the rotating brush It. When the bulb to be cleaned is placed on the bulb carriage, one end thereof may be connected to a vacuum line such as 35, as shown in Figure 4. By connecting this line to a vacuum pump and some suitable trap the luminescent coating may be readily and adequately salvaged.

What I claim is:

Apparatus for cleaning elongated tubular glass bulbs comprising: an axially fixed rotatable shaft; a shaft tube enclosing said shaft; an air inlet at the rearward extremity of said shaft tube; an air escape bushing at the forward extremity of said shaft tube; a rotating brush attached to said air escape bushing; a bulb carriage; and a track along which said bulb carriage may be moved to bring the bulbs into cleaning relation with said brush.

RALPH B. THOMAS.