US2557589A - Open electric arc lamp and unit of electrodes therefor - Google Patents

Description

June 19, 1951 A. BAYERL OPEN ELECTRIC ARC LAMP AND UNIT or ELECTRODES THEREFOR Filed June 29, 1950 INVENTOR.

ADOLF BAYERL ATTORNEY Patented June 19, 1951 OFFICE OPEN ELECTRIC ARC LAMP AND UNIT F ELECTRODES THEREFOR Adolf Bayer], Bilthoven, Netherlands Application June 29, 1950, Serial No. 170,987 In the Netherlands July 6, 1949 6 Claims. (Cl. 313-331) This invention relates to a set of electrodes for single use in an open arc lamp, especially for irradiating purposes in therapeutics, in which the electrodes have their rear ends equipped with contacting members and their fore ends rigidly spaced apart a predetermined distance, said electrodes and said contacting members forming an integral unit of substantially the same size as the set of electrodes.

The manipulation of electrode units of the standard kind is rather difficult, especially when the electrodes consist of nonoxidizable substances and are, therefore, very small in size. Before each'use of the arc lamp the contacting members have to be rigidly secured to the junction terminals of the lamp and, after cessation of the irradiating operation, the electrodes have to be loosened from the said junction terminals and thereupon removed one by one from the lamp, since the customary conducting bridge interposed between the fore ends of the electrodes for initiating the ignition of the electric arc is evaporated or burnt of! during the operation of the lamp, so that the initial electrode unit is divided into two separate parts. When the lamp is still very hot, the replacement of the electrode unit by a new one requires much timeand trouble.

An object of the invention is to overcome these drawbacks and to facilitate the insertion as well as the removal of the set of electrodes in an open arc lamp. A further object is to providean arrangement by which the electrodes can be handled as an integral unit during as well as after their use in the arc lamp.

A still further object of this invention is to provide units of this kind with more than one pair of electrodes. in order to form a plurality of electric arcs, simultaneously or consecutively.

Another object of the invention is to provide an open electric arc lamp of special construction in which the above mentioned units .of electrodes can be applied with advantage.

With these and other objects in view the invention will now be more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which a practical embodiment of an open arc lamp and electrode units used in combination therewith in accordance with the invention are illustrated by way of example. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of an open arc lamp comprising an electrode unit in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 shows, on a larger scale, part of a section taken on the line II-II in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side view of a unit, according to the invention, comprising two pairs of electrodes.

The open arc lamp shown in Fig. 1 comprises a casing i surrounding the reflector 2 and the guides la and 3b for reception of an electrode unit used in combination with this lamp in accordance with the invention. The guides comprise two parallel channel-shaped conductive rails 3a and 3b which are closed at their lower ends and arranged with their open channelled sides in faceto-face relationship. The conductive rails 311, lb are secured to an insulated body 4 on which is mounted a funnel-shaped inlet member 5. Junetion terminals 6 and l electrically connect said rails in and 3b, through suitable wires, to a source of current (not shown).

In the conducting guides 3a, 3b a unit 8 is arranged comprising two electrodes 9 and II clamped in holders Ii and I2, respectively, said holders being preferably made of copper. Each of these holders or contacting members consists of a strip which is turned up at its lower end so as to embrace the electrode (see Fig. 2), while a part of its upper end is doubled back upon itself to form a clamp I: for a sheet H of mica serving as a lateral connecting member between the electrodes S and Ill. Between the front ends of the electrodes 8 and ID a conductive bridging member ll of graphite is provided. A rigid metal wire l'l even if current is on, because the handle II is insulated through connecting member H. The unit is lowered until it abuts against the end walls I! and 20 of the guide channels Ia and 3b. If the current is on the lamp will immediately ignite, and the bridge It will gradually disappear. Similarly the electrode unit can be withdrawn from the lamp by means of the wire ll, also without danger, and with the current on, whereupon the irradiating operation will cease. The removed unit of electrodes may be discarded and immediately replaced by a new one.

In some instances'it may be advantageous to make use of units comprising more than one pair of electrodes, in order to obtain a plurality of electric arcs. The pairs of electrodes may be arranged in parallel or in series. A unit of this kind comprising two pairs of electrodes is shown in Fig. 3. This unit consists of two outer holders II and I2 for the electrodes 9 and ill and an intermediate holder 2| for an electrode 22, whereby two electric arcs are formed, viz. between the electrode 9 and the left extremity of the intermediate electrode 22 and between the electrode It and the right extremity of the electrode 22, respectively. The holders H, 2| and I! are attached to the lateral connecting member I by 3 means or rivets 23. In this embodiment the bridging members I! are applied on the lower sides of the electrodes between the conductive holders ll,2l and I2. g

It will be evident that the various pairs of electrodes in a single unit may be arranged also in such a manner that the electric arcs. are formed consecutively instead of simultaneously. Instead by means of thebridging members I! attached to the electrodes or to the holders thereof, the ignition 01' the arc may be effected by separate conducting pieces which are temporarily brought into contact with the electrodes bodies.

What I claim is:

1. In an electrode unit for are lamps comprising spaced electrodes, the provision of insulated handling means permanently bridging said electrodes.

2. In an electrode unit for are lamps comprising spaced pairs of electrodes, the provision of insulated handling means permanently bridging said pairs of electrodes.

3. In an .electrode unit for are lamps compris-v ing spaced electrodes, the provision of an insulated bridge permanently connecting said electrodes and handling means connected to said bridge.-

4. an electrode assembly for are lamps comprising spaced electrodes, the provision of a bridge permanently connecting said'electrodes, means for insulating said bridge and means associated with said bridge for insertion and removal of said electrode assembly from an arc lamp.

5. An open arc lamp comprising in combination, a lamp casing, an inlet in said casing, spaced electrically conductive retaining means within said casing in alignment with and insulated from said inlet, means for connecting said retaining means with a, source of power, and an integral electrode unit for location in said retaining means comprising-spaced electrodes, an insulating bridge permanently connecting said electrodes and a projecting handle secured to said bridge and extending outwardly through said inlet.

6. An open air lamp as claimed in claim 5. wherein said retaining means comprises a pair of parallel channelled guide members and seats in said members for reception of the mutually remote ends of said electrodes.

ADOLF BAYERL.

No references cited.

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