US2832883A - Electric lamp manufacture - Google Patents

Electric lamp manufacture Download PDF

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Publication number
US2832883A
US2832883A US399782A US39978253A US2832883A US 2832883 A US2832883 A US 2832883A US 399782 A US399782 A US 399782A US 39978253 A US39978253 A US 39978253A US 2832883 A US2832883 A US 2832883A
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
wire
base
shell
lead
bulb
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
US399782A
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English (en)
Inventor
Conrad E Bechard
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 NL90606D priority Critical patent/NL90606C/xx
Priority to BE516307D priority patent/BE516307A/xx
Priority to DEG10544A priority patent/DE936583C/de
Priority to GB32856/52A priority patent/GB718686A/en
Application filed by General Electric Co filed Critical General Electric Co
Priority to US399782A priority patent/US2832883A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of US2832883A publication Critical patent/US2832883A/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J5/00—Details relating to vessels or to leading-in conductors common to two or more basic types of discharge tubes or lamps
    • H01J5/50—Means forming part of the tube or lamps for the purpose of providing electrical connection to it
    • H01J5/54—Means forming part of the tube or lamps for the purpose of providing electrical connection to it supported by a separate part, e.g. base
    • H01J5/62—Connection of wires protruding from the vessel to connectors carried by the separate part

Definitions

  • This invention relates generally to the manufacture of electric lamps and similar devices comprising a vitreous bulb having a constricted neck portion to which there is fastened a metal base for locating the lamp in a socket.
  • the invention is more particularly concerned with a means for making a permanent electrical connection between a lead-in wire and the shell of the base which serves as a current terminal.
  • 'Lamps of the single-ended type are generally provided with a base comprising a metal shell and an insulated end contact or eyelet.
  • the shell and the end contact serve as terminals for energizing the filament or electrodes within the bulb.
  • permanent electrical connections must be made between the top and side lead-in wires and the end contact and shell of the base respectively.
  • the common practice at least in the case of the usual household sizes of incandescent lamps, and also in the case of photoflash lamps, has been to solder the lead-in wires to the parts of the base. This has of course necessitated that the parts be made of readily soldered metals such as copper or brass.
  • the objects of the invention are to provide a new and improved method for achieving satisfactory and economical welds of the lead-in wires of electric lamps to the metal parts of their bases, and to provide apparatus adapted to operate in conjunction with prior art lamp finishing machines for carrying out the method of the invention.
  • the weld connection of the lead-in wire to the base in an electric lamp consists of a junction formed by the fusing and intermingling of the metal of the lead-in Wire and of the base alone, and Without any addition of metal from an extraneous source such as a welding 'rod.
  • a weld connection may be made by folding back the projecting portion of the lead-in wire and embedding it into the rim of the base shell in such manner as to achieve a good contact and preferably some reduction in cross section of the wire at the point of emergence. Thereafter an electric current is passed through the protruding'length of wire and the base so as to fuse the wire near the point of contact and thereby weld it to the c ce 2,832,883
  • the wire is preferably maintained under tension while the current is being passed through it.
  • Fig. l is a side section of a fragment of an electric lamp embodying the invention.
  • Fig. 2 is a plan view of a fragment of a prior art lamp medium screw base of the type generally used for house-;
  • the invention is equally applicable to different sizes and also to different types of bases; for instance the invention may be used with bayonet type bases wherein itis desired to effect a connection between the side lead-in wire and the straight-walled cylindrical shell of the base.
  • FIG. 1 there is shown a fragment of an electric lamp 1 provided with a screw base 2 which is;
  • the glass bulb mounted on the constricted upper nmk portion 3 of the glass bulb (shown at 4 in Fig. 3).
  • the base is secured to the neck portion in the seal region of the bulb by means of basing cement shown at 8. through the hole in the end contact or eyelet and may be soldered to it as indicated at 10.
  • the side lead-in wire 11 is drawn out between the neck portion and the shell and is welded to the rim of the shell at 12.
  • weld or junction point 12 is formed by the fusing and intermingling of the metals of the lead-in Wire and shell of the base without any addition of metal from an extraneous source such as a welding rod, and may be made by following the process which will now be described.
  • Lamp holders or heads 16 are fastened to the turret around its periphery.
  • Each holder comprises a resiliently mounted bulb cup 17 for engaging the lower end of the bulb, an upper plate 18 having a cavity or recess 19 for receiving the end contact of the base, and a pair of spring biased holding jaws 20 which engage opposite sides of the base shell.
  • the lamp is held firmly and the base is pressed against the bulb neck by reason of the upward pressure exerted on the bulb by spring 21 through bulb cup 17.
  • the jaws 20 assist in seating the base squarely on the neck of the bulb. It will be Patented Apr. 29, 1958 It will be understood however that The base proper
  • the top lead-in wire 9 is threaded The movement of assass understood that in between the indexing movements, the bulbs are held stationary at the work stations.
  • a lamp 1 arrives at station A with a base 2 mounted on'its constricted upper portion or neck and with the side lead-in wire 11 drawn out between the neck of the bulb and the shell of the base, as shown at 11a in Fig. 3.
  • the protruding portion of the wire lies close to the bulb wall and points downward with respect to the vertical axis of the lamp.
  • the function of the mechanism 23 located at station A is to position the side lead-in wire by bending it up so that the protruding portion is bent sharply at the rim of the shell and points radially outward.
  • the positioning mechanism comprises a finger 24 which pivots with a lever 25 hinged at 26 onto a standard 27 which is suitably fastened to a frame member of the machine.
  • the finger 24 is carried on a plunger or rod 28 arranged to slide within a channel in lever 25 between limits determined by a stop pin 29 and its cooperating slot 30.
  • the finger is urged towards the bulb by a spring 31 compressed between the inward end of plunger 28 and an adjusting screw 32.
  • Finger 24 thereby resiliently engages the side wall of the bulb and by reason of the sharp angle at 3.3 on its leading edge, lifts the side lead-in wire away from the bulb wall and raises it up against a wire stop 34 fixed to the standard 27.
  • lever 25 The pivoting of lever 25 is achieved through connecting rod 35 hinged at 36 to the lever, and at 37 to a rocker arm 38 actuated through a cam 39 fast on a shaft 40. It will be understood that shaft 49 is driven at a fixed speed ratio from the driving means for the turret and is synchronized to pivot lever 25 up to the position shown, and down again, during a suitable time interval of the indexing cycle of the machine.
  • Connecting rod 35 is in two parts which are linked together through a sleeve 4i and a tension spring 42. This arrangement allows a lost motion through limits determined by pin 43 and its cooperating slot 44, and permits over-travel of the rocker arm when the edge of finger 24 "abuts against the rim of the base shell.
  • the mechanism has been illustrated in its actuated condition with finger 24 at the upper limit of its pivotal movement.
  • the protruding portion of the side lead-in wire is shown at 11a in dotted outline corresponding to its initial position, and at 11b in solid outline for its final position.
  • the lamp is next indexed into station B of the machine where the side lead-in wire is operated upon by an embedding mechanism 46 shown in greater detail in Fig. 4.
  • an embedding mechanism 46 shown in greater detail in Fig. 4.
  • the operation is performed by means of a wiper 47 carried on the end of a plunger or rod 28 which is urged against the base by a spring 31 and supported in a pivotally hinged lever 25, as in mechanism 23 of Fig. 3.
  • mechanism 46 is similar to mechanism 23 and the remaining elements 7 necessary to insure its operation have been omitted from the drawing.
  • Wiper 47 is provided with a rounded lip or edge 48 which engages the side lead-in wire and presses it into the rim or edge of the shell of the base during the upward movement or stroke of the wiper, as shown at 110 in Fig. 4.
  • the wire is necked or reduced in cross section at the point where it is pressed into the rim of the shell.
  • a curved blade 49 on the top surface of the wiper engages the wire on the return or downward stroke of the wiper and brings it back into the horizontal position shown at 11d in Fig. 5a.
  • the lamp is next indexed into station C where it is operated upon by welding mechanism 50 illustrated in Fig. 5.
  • This mechanism is designed to place the wire under tension at the same time as a current is passed through it for welding it to the rim of the base.
  • the mechanism comprises a pair of jaws 51 and 52, hinged at 53 .upon a pedestal 54 fastened to an insulating plate 55 jaw 51 is pulled down by a spring 56, the extent of its pivoting being limited by a stop 57 afiixed to the pedestal.
  • the lower jaw 52 is actuated by a connecting rod 58 generally similar to connecting rod 35 described earlier with reference to Fig. 3.
  • the connecting rod in this mechanism is preferably made of a nonconductive material or contains an insulating portion to insulate the jaws electrically from the frame of the machine. It will be understood that the connecting rod is driven through the usual rocker arm and cam, the cam being driven in synchronism with the driving means of the turret so as to actuate the jaws at a suitable interval during the indexing cycle of the machine.
  • the turret indexes the bulb into the station C and the projecting portion 11d of the side lead-in wire becomes positioned between the open jaws.
  • the operation of the cam and connecting rod causes the lower jaw 52 to pivot up and contact the upper jaw 51, at which moment the projecting portion 11d of the lead is gripped.
  • the jaws are now biased together by the force of spring 56 and move upward as a unit thereby tensioning the projecting portion of the lead-in.
  • the tension is less than that required to break off the wire against the side of the base shell.
  • the connecting rod may be provided with a sleeve and tension spring together with a lost motion slot and pin device as illustrated at 41 to 44 in Fig. 3, in order to allow overtravel of the connecting rod and to limit the tension exerted on the wire.
  • the welding circuit is completed through the jaws 51 and 52 which grip the side lead-in wire, and through a stationary brush 59 which engages the side of the base. Either alternating or direct current may be utilized for the welding current; I have found alternating current entirely satisfactory and prefer to use it because of its greater availability.
  • the jaws 51, 52 and the stationary brush 59 are connected across the output terminals of the secondary winding 60 of a step down transformer 61 to complete the welding circuit.
  • the primary 62 is connected in series with a current control rheostat 63 and a switch 64 across the usual volt 60 cycle supply at terminals 65. Switch 64 may be mechanically interlocked with connecting rod 58 and arranged to close after the jaws have gripped and tensioned the lead-in wire, as indicated in Fig. 5b.
  • transformer 61 may have a 115 volt primary, a 23 volt secondary, and a 750 volt-ampere capacity.
  • the welding of the wire to the rim of the shell is made by passing an electric current of suitable intensity directly through the lead-in wire and the base of the lamp. It is possible to do this with a relatively low voltage and low wattage source which does not cause overheating of the adjacent glass or excessive vaporization of metal and condensation thereof onto the glass because the lead-in wire has previously been embedded into the edge of the shell so that a relatively low resistance contact is already present.
  • the tensioning of the lead-in wire also assures a low resistance contact. By reason of the fact that the lead-in wire has been reduced in cross section in the region where it is embedded into the rim of the shell and for a short distance past that point, the resistance of the wire is relatively high at a point immediately beyond the contact to the shell.
  • the welding current causes a more intense generation of heat at the reduced cross section and the wire fuses and separates there, the part adjacent the shell fusing into it to constitute the weld, and the outer portion of the wire remaining between the contact jaws until released when the jaws subsequently open.
  • a jet of air may be used to blow the wire portion out from between the jaws if desired.
  • the welding of the side lead-in wire of electric lamps in accordance with my invention is highly advantageous not only for low voltage high current lamps, but also for high temperature operating lamps. For instance, many of the larger sizes of incandescent lamps operate at temperatures such that reliance could not be placed upon soldered contacts in the base. It may be used with any of the usual combinations of metals for the base shell and the side lead-in wire, for instance brass, aluminum or steel for the shell, and copper, iron or nickel alloys for the wire.
  • the improved method of Welding in accordance with my invention can then be used in lieu of prior art welding methods to produce a lamp wherein the weld junction contains solely intermingled metals from the lead-in wire and from the base. I have found that such weld junctions have a resistance which is unappreciable with respect to the total resistance of the lead-in wires and are not subject to deterioration or loosening from the usual causes.
  • the method of welding the side lead-in wire to the metal shell of the base in an electriclamp including a vitreous bulb and a base fastened thereto which comprises the steps of wiping a portion of a projecting length of the wire against the rim of the shell with sufiicient force to embed it in the shell and reduce its cross section, and holding the wire under tension while passing an electric current through said length of wire and the shell, the current being of sufiicient magnitude to sever the wire at the reduced cross section and fuse it to the shell.
  • Lamp manufacturing apparatus comprising means for indexing a bulb with a base fitted thereon to successive work stations, means located at a station for wiping a lead-in wire, protruding from said bulb, into the rim of the base, contacting jaws located at another station for gripping and tensioning the wire, and means for passing a current through the wire and the base while said jaws continue to grip and tension the wire in order to weld the wire to the base at its rim.
  • holder means for supporting a glass bulb having a metallic base fitted on its upper end with a lead wire clamped between said bulb and base and extending laterally outward therefrom, means to carry said holder means to a plurality of stations, wiper means at one station comprising a finger member and means for moving said finger member toward said holder and into wiping engagement with the lead wire at the rim of the said base with sufiicient force to embed the wire into the said rim, and welding means at another station comprising a pair of contact jaws, means for closing said jaws upon said wire and moving them bodily upward with a yielding force to tension the wire, and means for passing a welding current through said wire and base, while said jaws continue to grip and tension the wire, to fuse the wire to the rim of the base and sever it thereat.

Landscapes

  • Manufacture Of Electron Tubes, Discharge Lamp Vessels, Lead-In Wires, And The Like (AREA)
  • Common Detailed Techniques For Electron Tubes Or Discharge Tubes (AREA)
US399782A 1951-12-26 1953-12-22 Electric lamp manufacture Expired - Lifetime US2832883A (en)

Priority Applications (5)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
NL90606D NL90606C (me) 1951-12-26
BE516307D BE516307A (me) 1951-12-26
DEG10544A DE936583C (de) 1951-12-26 1952-12-19 Verfahren zur Befestigung eines Leitungsdrahtes an einem Metallkoerper
GB32856/52A GB718686A (en) 1951-12-26 1952-12-29 Improvements in and relating to electric lamps
US399782A US2832883A (en) 1951-12-26 1953-12-22 Electric lamp manufacture

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US26345651A 1951-12-26 1951-12-26
US399782A US2832883A (en) 1951-12-26 1953-12-22 Electric lamp manufacture

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US2832883A true US2832883A (en) 1958-04-29

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Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US399782A Expired - Lifetime US2832883A (en) 1951-12-26 1953-12-22 Electric lamp manufacture

Country Status (5)

Country Link
US (1) US2832883A (me)
BE (1) BE516307A (me)
DE (1) DE936583C (me)
GB (1) GB718686A (me)
NL (1) NL90606C (me)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3132238A (en) * 1958-09-26 1964-05-05 Sylvania Electric Prod Welding method

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2896306A (en) * 1953-06-30 1959-07-28 Westinghouse Electric Corp Lamp fabrication
US2853593A (en) * 1956-01-26 1958-09-23 Gen Electric Lamp base welding

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1613957A (en) * 1923-01-19 1927-01-11 Westinghouse Lamp Co Method and machine for electric welding
US2137181A (en) * 1935-02-14 1938-11-15 Gen Electric Welding machine
GB558472A (en) * 1942-07-03 1944-01-06 Standard Telephones Cables Ltd Improvements in or relating to the joining of wires particularly fine wires used in the manufacture of electric coils
US2606268A (en) * 1950-03-24 1952-08-05 Albert F Pityo Method of forming and welding pins to metal parts
US2708702A (en) * 1952-08-28 1955-05-17 Gen Electric Lamp base welding

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1613957A (en) * 1923-01-19 1927-01-11 Westinghouse Lamp Co Method and machine for electric welding
US2137181A (en) * 1935-02-14 1938-11-15 Gen Electric Welding machine
GB558472A (en) * 1942-07-03 1944-01-06 Standard Telephones Cables Ltd Improvements in or relating to the joining of wires particularly fine wires used in the manufacture of electric coils
US2606268A (en) * 1950-03-24 1952-08-05 Albert F Pityo Method of forming and welding pins to metal parts
US2708702A (en) * 1952-08-28 1955-05-17 Gen Electric Lamp base welding

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3132238A (en) * 1958-09-26 1964-05-05 Sylvania Electric Prod Welding method

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE936583C (de) 1955-12-15
GB718686A (en) 1954-11-17
NL90606C (me)
BE516307A (me)

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