US2363070A - Electric discharge device - Google Patents

Electric discharge device Download PDF

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Publication number
US2363070A
US2363070A US405059A US40505941A US2363070A US 2363070 A US2363070 A US 2363070A US 405059 A US405059 A US 405059A US 40505941 A US40505941 A US 40505941A US 2363070 A US2363070 A US 2363070A
Authority
US
United States
Prior art keywords
tube
discharge
discs
barrier
electric discharge
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
US405059A
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English (en)
Inventor
Lemmers Eugene
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
General Electric Co
Original Assignee
General Electric Co
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority to FR961337D priority Critical patent/FR961337A/fr
Application filed by General Electric Co filed Critical General Electric Co
Priority to US405059A priority patent/US2363070A/en
Priority to GB10763/42A priority patent/GB560574A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of US2363070A publication Critical patent/US2363070A/en
Priority to ES0178824A priority patent/ES178824A1/es
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J61/00—Gas-discharge or vapour-discharge lamps
    • H01J61/02—Details
    • H01J61/04—Electrodes; Screens; Shields
    • H01J61/10—Shields, screens, or guides for influencing the discharge
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J61/00—Gas-discharge or vapour-discharge lamps
    • H01J61/02—Details
    • H01J61/04—Electrodes; Screens; Shields

Definitions

  • This invention relates to electric discharge devices, and is useful in devices producing radiation for various purposes, such as germicidal tubes or lamps, and lamps used industrially for irradiati'ng or treating various substances and products, as well as for fluorescent lighting.
  • the invention is useful for increasing the radiant output, and especially for increasing the resonant radiation as compared to the rest of the radiation from a working substance, such as the 2537 A. line of mercury. It affords means of increasing the electron temperature in an arc discharge, or, in general, of trapping positive ions of such a discharge.
  • the intensity of resonant radiation has been shown to depend on the electron temperature in the electric discharge producing it; or, in other words, on the electron energy, which depends onthe velocity of electrons in the discharge. More specifically, the resonance radiation in mercury vapor increases with the electron temperature, up to a peak value at between 40,000 and 50,000 K.
  • the electron temperature also varies directly according to the ratio of the area of the enclosing envelope wall to the volume of the discharge. This is due to the fact that the envelope wall collects or traps" positive ions from the discharge, which results in an increase in the electron temperature, with an increased voltage gradient in the discharge to maintain it, and thus involves an increase in the wattage of the discharge. This is in harmony with the increase in resonance radiation resulting from increase in the electron temperature, as set forth above.
  • baflles have been mounted in a discharge tube to divide it into parallel arc chambers having nearly the same aggregate volume, but a greatly increased aggregate perimeter.
  • a centrally located filler has also been arranged to form an annular arc chamber, of increased perimeter and reduced volume.
  • the diffuse low-pressure discharge no longer fills the whole space in the tube (as it normally does) so as to come in contact with or wash all its wall surfaces, as well as those of the added structure; and so positive ions are not trapped out as effectively as when the tube bore is unobstructed.
  • I may place across the tube a number of barriers all of which are readily penetrable by the electric discharge in many places, and none of which are of any great thickness, yet which in the aggregate present a very considerable surface but is subject to drawbacks in other respects,
  • baflles to form parallel arc chambers has proved unsuccessful because of the refusal of the are that is effective in trapping positive ions out of the discharge, without anywhere materially interfering with its effective access to the envelope walls.
  • each barrier must be relatively small, as of the order of the length of the mean free pathof an electron in the discharge, so that the latter may spread. out or divide at all the barriers, rather than canalize itself in one single path of least resistance throughout the length of the tube, or jump about spasmodically over a variety of paths.
  • the signiflcance of barrier thickness in thisconnection is that in a length comparable to the mean free path of an electron, the complete arc phenomenon as such is impossible.
  • the barriers should allow free passage of positive ions at points relatively close to the outer wall of the tube (i. e., at distances of an order comparable to the mean free path of a photon), so as not toshade or blanket appreciable areas or annular zones of this wall from receiving the desired photon radiation.
  • the 2537 A. photons do not obey optical laws in a discharge tube, be
  • the barrier system for the'purposes of my invention comprises a number of transverse discs or diaphragms l3 uniformly spaced at intervals of about 1 inch throughout the length of the tube. are of the order of the tube bore. As here shown, the discs l3 are mounted on a longitudinal supporting rod I 5 whose ends are attached to the closed ends 16 of the tube It in any suitable manner, as generally indicated at H.
  • the axial rod- 15 should preferably be of not over inch diameter, in order to avoid canalizing and spiralling of the arc discharge around it, as explained above. To an extent, this supporting rod l5 also serves to reduce the volume of the discharge,
  • the discs I! and the rod l5 may be of metal (e. g., nickel), for strength, but may preferably have an insulative coating. I prefer, however, to make the discs l3 of white mica, and the rod l5 may be a suitably small glass tube. In general, any thickness of the discs, l3 consistent with desirable lightness will answer: e. g., with discs about mils thick, 9. tube of the dimensions above indicated operates satisfactorily on currents up to 0.5 ampere. For currents higher than this, the discs 13 should be made thinner.
  • the discs I! may be of only inch diameter, as compared the characteristics of its transverse barrier discs I30. and their relations to the discharge tube wall. Instead of being smaller than the bore -of the tube Illa, these discs I30, fit the tube bore peripherally with an easy fit; and instead of being imperforate, each'of them has a multitude of holes 18 which may be of about inch to inch diameter, arranged in annular rows around the central supporting rod 15a.
  • the hole [8 may be so arranged that those in the outer row through the disc margin are about ,4; inch from the tube wall, and so that the shortest distance between holes in a row and between holes in adjacent rows is also about A; inch.
  • the barrier discs l3, l3a are washed all over their surfaces by the discharge, which also spreads out around and-between them to fill the spaces between discs and wash the tube wall surfaces all over, and are effective in trapping out the relatively heavy positive ions,
  • the barrier discs l3, l3a and the rod I5 are coated with fluorescent material or phosphor as indicated at 20 in Fig. 2, in addition to the phosphor coating l2 on the ⁇ wall of the tube Ill, so as to increase the luminous output.
  • the coating of phosphor l2 on the tube walls should not be too dense or opaque, in order to obviate excessive absorption of light from the phosphor 20 on the barrier system by that on the tube wall at l2, here shown as inside the tube.

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  • Vessels And Coating Films For Discharge Lamps (AREA)
  • Lasers (AREA)
US405059A 1941-08-01 1941-08-01 Electric discharge device Expired - Lifetime US2363070A (en)

Priority Applications (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
FR961337D FR961337A (fr) 1941-08-01
US405059A US2363070A (en) 1941-08-01 1941-08-01 Electric discharge device
GB10763/42A GB560574A (en) 1941-08-01 1942-07-31 Improvements in and relating to electric discharge devices
ES0178824A ES178824A1 (es) 1941-08-01 1947-07-08 Un tubo de descarga eléctrica

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US405059A US2363070A (en) 1941-08-01 1941-08-01 Electric discharge device

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US2363070A true US2363070A (en) 1944-11-21

Family

ID=23602117

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US405059A Expired - Lifetime US2363070A (en) 1941-08-01 1941-08-01 Electric discharge device

Country Status (4)

Country Link
US (1) US2363070A (fr)
ES (1) ES178824A1 (fr)
FR (1) FR961337A (fr)
GB (1) GB560574A (fr)

Cited By (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3145320A (en) * 1962-02-16 1964-08-18 Westinghouse Electric Corp Wire support for a vitreous longitudinal rod in a fluorescent lamp
US3160775A (en) * 1962-03-22 1964-12-08 Westinghouse Electric Corp Low-pressure gaseous discharge lamp with internally mounted recombination structure
US3290538A (en) * 1961-05-23 1966-12-06 Westinghouse Electric Corp Low-pressure electric discharge lamp with internal elongated structure that modifiesthe diffusion length of the discharge and improves the lamp performance
US3376457A (en) * 1964-12-07 1968-04-02 Westinghouse Electric Corp Electric discharge lamp with space charge relieving means
US3848150A (en) * 1973-03-14 1974-11-12 Itt Discharge lamp with baffle plates
US4884007A (en) * 1984-12-06 1989-11-28 Gte Products Corporation Low pressure arc discharge tube having increased voltage
US5025190A (en) * 1987-12-30 1991-06-18 Gte Products Corporation Glow discharge lamp
US20030048068A1 (en) * 2001-09-12 2003-03-13 Fujitsu Limited Gas discharge tube and display device using the same

Cited By (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3290538A (en) * 1961-05-23 1966-12-06 Westinghouse Electric Corp Low-pressure electric discharge lamp with internal elongated structure that modifiesthe diffusion length of the discharge and improves the lamp performance
US3145320A (en) * 1962-02-16 1964-08-18 Westinghouse Electric Corp Wire support for a vitreous longitudinal rod in a fluorescent lamp
US3160775A (en) * 1962-03-22 1964-12-08 Westinghouse Electric Corp Low-pressure gaseous discharge lamp with internally mounted recombination structure
US3376457A (en) * 1964-12-07 1968-04-02 Westinghouse Electric Corp Electric discharge lamp with space charge relieving means
US3848150A (en) * 1973-03-14 1974-11-12 Itt Discharge lamp with baffle plates
US4884007A (en) * 1984-12-06 1989-11-28 Gte Products Corporation Low pressure arc discharge tube having increased voltage
US5025190A (en) * 1987-12-30 1991-06-18 Gte Products Corporation Glow discharge lamp
US20030048068A1 (en) * 2001-09-12 2003-03-13 Fujitsu Limited Gas discharge tube and display device using the same
US6836064B2 (en) * 2001-09-12 2004-12-28 Fujitsu Limited Gas discharge tube and display device using the same

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
ES178824A1 (es) 1947-09-01
GB560574A (en) 1944-04-11
FR961337A (fr) 1950-05-10

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