US2991386A - Low-pressure mercury vapor discharge lamp - Google Patents

Low-pressure mercury vapor discharge lamp Download PDF

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Publication number
US2991386A
US2991386A US856753A US85675359A US2991386A US 2991386 A US2991386 A US 2991386A US 856753 A US856753 A US 856753A US 85675359 A US85675359 A US 85675359A US 2991386 A US2991386 A US 2991386A
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
bulb
lamp
electrode
stem
electrodes
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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
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US856753A
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English (en)
Inventor
Szigeti Gyorgy
Lakatos Gyorgy
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.)
Egyesuelt Izzolampa es Villamossagi Rt
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Egyesuelt Izzolampa es Villamossagi Rt
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Publication of US2991386A publication Critical patent/US2991386A/en
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J61/00—Gas-discharge or vapour-discharge lamps
    • H01J61/02—Details
    • H01J61/30—Vessels; Containers
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J61/00—Gas-discharge or vapour-discharge lamps
    • H01J61/70—Lamps with low-pressure unconstricted discharge having a cold pressure < 400 Torr
    • H01J61/72—Lamps with low-pressure unconstricted discharge having a cold pressure < 400 Torr having a main light-emitting filling of easily vaporisable metal vapour, e.g. mercury

Definitions

  • This invention relates to low-pressure mercury vapor discharge lamps containing rare gas, especially lamps having a coating of fluorescent material on the inside wall surface of their tubular bulbs and usually termed in the art as fluorescent lamps, and specifically to fluorescent lamps of very high output, which are usually designated in the art as VHO-lamps.
  • VHO-lamps Some types of VHO-lamps are described, for example, in an article of John F. Waymouth, W. Calvin Gungle, Charles W. Jerome and Francis Bitter, which appeared in volume IX. No. 4 of the periodical Sylvania Technologist, in October 1956.
  • VHO-lamps to which the present invention relates, is intended to designate such fluorescent lamps, the energy consumption of which, in relation to a certain part of the external surface of their tubular bulb, surpasses a certain specified value.
  • the invention relates to such fluorescent lamps, the electrical energy consumption of which, in relation to the external wall surface of that part of their substantially tubular bulb which part is situated between the two electrodes of the lamp and is therefore shorter than the overall length of the lamp, surpasses, on occasion of the lamp operating normally at its rated voltage, the value of at least 40 mw./cm. but usually 45 mw./cm. (milliwatts per centimetre square) as this value is, as a rule, higher in case of lamps of higher energy consumption.
  • these screens consist of a radiation-reflecting material, i.e.
  • VHO-lamps having their cold spot at about the middle of their tubular bulb, in the shape of a bulge of the glass bulb.
  • This construction has the advantage that no shields have to be used between the electrodes and the ends of the bulb, and that the middle of the bulb usually being its coldest part, it is convenient to establish the cold spot there.
  • the drawback, however, of this construction is, that the bulbs are liable to breakage owing to the presence of the bulge constituting their cold spot, which also renders the packing and the transport of such lamps diflicult, as special measures have to be taken in order to prevent damage occurring on these occasions.
  • the invention by arranging at least one of the electrodes, preferably both of the electrodes, of the lamp in a suitable distance from the adjacent sealed end of the substantially tubular bulb in a manner to provide, for the passage of mercury vapor from the space between the electrodes towards at least one of the sealed ends of the bulb, a substantially unobstructed inner cross-section inside the bulb, i.e. shortly, by omitting the arrangement of any shield or the like situated between said electrode and the sealed end of the bulb adjacent to said electrode and protruding near to the wall of the bulb, thus obstructing said cross-section by its extending close to the inner surface of the bulb.
  • the free cross-section inside the bulb allowing the passage of mercury vapor and radiation towards the sealed end of the bulb is the minimum between the inner wall of the bulb and the outer wall of the glass stem sealed into the bulb, said cross-section being taken on any such part of said stem where it is hollow and contains the glass exhaust tube, and is not united with said bulb.
  • the crosssection allowing the passage of mercury vapor from the space between the electrodes towards the ends of the bulb was minimum in the plane of the screen or screens arranged between the electrode and the stem, and was rather small, contrary to the cross-section of substantial surface area ensured by the arrangement according to the invention.
  • This surface area can be further increased, according to the invention, by using such stems, the external diameter d of the cylindrical parts of which is below D, amounting preferably to about D, wherein D designates the external diameter of the tubular bulb of the lamp which diameter is substantially constant along the whole length of said bulb.
  • the invention is thus based on our discovery of the surprising fact that by arranging the electrode at a suitable distance from the end of the tube a cold spot may be provided at said end without providing any light-reflecting and radiation-reflecting shield between the electrode and the end of the tube, respectively the end of the glass stem bearing the electrode.
  • the distance between the closed end of the tubular bulb and the electrode adjacent to said end has to be chosen to a value much higher than that usual up to now in the case of normal fluorescent lamps, and usually also higher than that used up to now in VHO-lamps.
  • This distance t has therefore, according to the invention, to be at least 150%, but preferably at least 180% and even more of the external diameter of the bulb.
  • Arranging the electrode in such a distance from the closed end of the bulb may be accomplished either by using a glass stem much longer than usual up to now, or electrode-supporting wires extending out of the end of the glass stem to a greater distance than that usual up to now, or preferably by a combination of these measures.
  • FIG. 1 shows a side elevational view of a lamp according to the invention
  • FIG. 2 a side elevational view of a stem together with its electrode, previous to its sealing into the bulb
  • FIG. 3 a side elevational view of another stem together with its electrode, also previous to its sealing into the bulb, and
  • FIG. 4 for the sake of comparison, a stem together with its electrode, of a construction usual up to now in normal fluorescent lamps.
  • the lamp shown in FIG. 1 has a tubular bulb 1, provided on its inner wall surface with the usual coating of fluorescent material, and on its ends with the conventional caps 2 and 3 bearing the contact pins 4 and 5 and 6 and 7.
  • the glass stems 8 and 9 are sealed into the bulb in the conventional manner, and are hearing the coiled-coil-shaped, oxide-coated electrodes 10 respectively 11 consisting of tungsten wires and being fastened on their ends to their supporting wires, the arrangement of the electrodes and their supporting wires being shown clearly on FIGURES 2 and 4.
  • the bulb 1 contains, besides mercury, rare gas at a suitable conventional pressure, or a mixture of rare gases.
  • This mixture may consist, for example, of 80% by volume of neon and by volume of argon, and be present in the bulb of the lamp at a pressure of about 2 Torr.
  • the reference D designates the external diameter of the bulb 1
  • the reference L the overall length of the lamp
  • the references t the distances of the electrodes 10 and '11 from the ends of the lamp
  • the reference F the length of the bulb between the electrodes 10 and 11
  • the reference T the length of the glass stems 8 and 9
  • the reference d the external diameter of the cylindrical part of the stems 8 and 9.
  • the distance t has to be at least 1.5, preferably at least 1.8D, but may even amount to about 3D. Owing to the absence of shields between the electrodes 10 and 11 and those ends of the stems 8 and 9 from which ends the electrode-supporting wires protrude, the radiation of the discharge taking place between said electrodes is able to reach the bulb walls up to their ends, and therefore the bulb emits light on its whole overall length L.
  • the distance t may amount to 70 or 100 mm. or even more, according to the invention. If the luminous efficiency of this lamp, provided with stems ensuring the usual distance t of 35 mm., is taken to be 100, the increasing of the distance i to 70 mm. ensured a luminous efliciency of about 102 to 103, and the increasing of the distance t to 100 mm. a luminous efficieney of about 106 to 109, i.e.
  • FIG. 1 shows that the minimum of the free cross-section inside the bulb 1 allowing the passage of mercury vapor from the space between the electrodes 10 and 11 prevails on any plane between about the lines 26 and 27, between whose planes the stem 9 is cylindrical outside, hollow inside and contains the exhaust tube 15.
  • the increased distance t is achieved by using a stem 9 of somewhat increased length, but provided with electrodesupporting wires 12 and 13 extending out of the end of the stem in a length highly surpassing the conventional one.
  • the electrode 1 1 is only visible through the perforated probe 14 of sheet metal but the exhaust tube 15 of the stem 9 is shown in its full length, unsealed as yet.
  • the electrode 16 is positioned vertically inside the metallic tube 17, which is welded to the electrode-supporting wire 18, said tube 17 not touching the electrode-supporting wire 19.
  • the distance t has to be measured, as shown, i.e. up to the bottom end of the electrode 16.
  • FIGURE 4 shows, for the sake of comparison, ashort stem with short electrode-supporting wires, the sheet metal probes 20 and 21 being positioned in the same maner on both sides of the electrode 11 as in thearrangement of FIGS. 1 and 2, and held in their correct positions by their supporting wires 22 and 23, welded to the elec trode-supporting wires 12 and 13 of FIG. 2.
  • the conventional lead-in wires 24 and 25, electrically connected to the electrode-supporting wires 12 and 13 of FIG. 2 or 18 and 19 of FIG. 3, are connected, after the sealing of the stem 9 into the bulb 1, to the contact pins 6 and 7 in the conventional manner.
  • the external diameter d of the stem 9 has not to be increased above the conventional value, amounting for example to about 15 mm.
  • this diameter d may even be lessened, for example to about /sD, i.e. to about 12-13 mm. or even less. Therefore there is free space enough between the stern and the internal surface of the bulb to allow the acting both of direct and of indirect radiations, i.e. radiations reflected from the inside walls of the bulb 1, onto the fluorescent material provided on the inside wall of the bulb up to its ends in order to excite the said fluorescent material to the emission of visible light.
  • the substantial free cross-section existing between the stem and the inside wall of the bulb also allows rapid establishment of substantialy equal mercury vapor pressures inside the whole bulb, what needs more time in lamps provided with shields lessening the cross-section allowing this equalization of pressures between the cold spot and the other parts of the inside of the bulb.
  • a low-pressure mercury-vapor discharge lamp adapted flor operation at a predetermined selected rated voltage and having an airtightly sealed substantially tubular bulb containing rare gas and mercury, said bulb having an external diameter D, being coated on its inside with fluorescent material and being provided at each of its ends with a glass stem mounted on said end and extending inwardly therefrom, at least part of said stem not united with said bulb end being hollow and containing a glass exhaust tube, said glass stems having metallic supports extending out of their proximate ends towards each other, and electrodes respectively mounted on the inner ends of said supports, said electrodes being arranged at such a distance F from each other, that the electrical.

Landscapes

  • Vessels And Coating Films For Discharge Lamps (AREA)
  • Materials For Medical Uses (AREA)
  • Prostheses (AREA)
  • Discharge Lamps And Accessories Thereof (AREA)
US856753A 1958-12-06 1959-12-02 Low-pressure mercury vapor discharge lamp Expired - Lifetime US2991386A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
HUEE000596 1958-12-06

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US2991386A true US2991386A (en) 1961-07-04

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ID=10995126

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US856753A Expired - Lifetime US2991386A (en) 1958-12-06 1959-12-02 Low-pressure mercury vapor discharge lamp

Country Status (6)

Country Link
US (1) US2991386A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
BE (1) BE585322A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
CH (1) CH377936A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
DE (1) DE1816405U (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
GB (1) GB952600A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
NL (1) NL246040A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)

Cited By (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3169205A (en) * 1961-04-05 1965-02-09 Gen Electric Fluorescent lamp mount
US3227907A (en) * 1962-12-31 1966-01-04 Sylvania Electric Prod Electric discharge lamp with integral pressure regulator
US3538370A (en) * 1968-08-27 1970-11-03 Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co Straight type fluorescent lamp having improved light output and exhibiting reduced blackening
US3684345A (en) * 1969-07-22 1972-08-15 Licentia Gmbh Method for making a tube
FR2159504A1 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow) * 1971-11-12 1973-06-22 Matsushita Electronics Corp
CN113183602A (zh) * 2021-04-28 2021-07-30 衡水华锘光电科技有限公司 一种微径内弧玻璃管电极精涂工装

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
NL280093A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow) * 1961-06-23

Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2272992A (en) * 1938-09-17 1942-02-10 Hebo Halfdan Generator for ultraviolet energy
US2273960A (en) * 1941-04-10 1942-02-24 Jr Alfred Hopkin Fluorescent lamp
US2279907A (en) * 1940-09-12 1942-04-14 Hygrade Sylvania Corp Electric discharge lamp
US2714681A (en) * 1948-08-27 1955-08-02 Gen Electric Electric discharge device
US2748306A (en) * 1951-06-05 1956-05-29 Lumalampan Ab Electric discharge tube with luminescent substance coating
US2906905A (en) * 1956-09-27 1959-09-29 Duro Test Corp Fluorescent lamp
US2919369A (en) * 1956-06-01 1959-12-29 Harold E Edgerton Flash tube and apparatus
US2930919A (en) * 1959-01-15 1960-03-29 Westinghouse Electric Corp Discharge device

Patent Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2272992A (en) * 1938-09-17 1942-02-10 Hebo Halfdan Generator for ultraviolet energy
US2279907A (en) * 1940-09-12 1942-04-14 Hygrade Sylvania Corp Electric discharge lamp
US2273960A (en) * 1941-04-10 1942-02-24 Jr Alfred Hopkin Fluorescent lamp
US2714681A (en) * 1948-08-27 1955-08-02 Gen Electric Electric discharge device
US2748306A (en) * 1951-06-05 1956-05-29 Lumalampan Ab Electric discharge tube with luminescent substance coating
US2919369A (en) * 1956-06-01 1959-12-29 Harold E Edgerton Flash tube and apparatus
US2906905A (en) * 1956-09-27 1959-09-29 Duro Test Corp Fluorescent lamp
US2930919A (en) * 1959-01-15 1960-03-29 Westinghouse Electric Corp Discharge device

Cited By (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3169205A (en) * 1961-04-05 1965-02-09 Gen Electric Fluorescent lamp mount
US3227907A (en) * 1962-12-31 1966-01-04 Sylvania Electric Prod Electric discharge lamp with integral pressure regulator
US3538370A (en) * 1968-08-27 1970-11-03 Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co Straight type fluorescent lamp having improved light output and exhibiting reduced blackening
US3684345A (en) * 1969-07-22 1972-08-15 Licentia Gmbh Method for making a tube
FR2159504A1 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow) * 1971-11-12 1973-06-22 Matsushita Electronics Corp
CN113183602A (zh) * 2021-04-28 2021-07-30 衡水华锘光电科技有限公司 一种微径内弧玻璃管电极精涂工装

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
NL246040A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
GB952600A (en) 1964-03-18
CH377936A (de) 1964-05-31
DE1816405U (de) 1960-08-11
BE585322A (fr) 1960-04-01

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