US3794880A - Electric incandescent lamp for serial connection, provided with a short-circuit mechanism acting as a fuse at the same time - Google Patents

Electric incandescent lamp for serial connection, provided with a short-circuit mechanism acting as a fuse at the same time Download PDF

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Publication number
US3794880A
US3794880A US00264493A US26449372A US3794880A US 3794880 A US3794880 A US 3794880A US 00264493 A US00264493 A US 00264493A US 26449372 A US26449372 A US 26449372A US 3794880 A US3794880 A US 3794880A
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United States
Prior art keywords
weight
short
incandescent lamp
percent
electric incandescent
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Expired - Lifetime
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US00264493A
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English (en)
Inventor
E Peretti
P Kramer
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US Philips Corp
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US Philips Corp
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01K—ELECTRIC INCANDESCENT LAMPS
    • H01K1/00—Details
    • H01K1/62—One or more circuit elements structurally associated with the lamp
    • H01K1/70—One or more circuit elements structurally associated with the lamp with built-in short-circuiting device, e.g. for serially connected lamps

Definitions

  • the invention relates to an electric incandescent lamp for serial connection, provided with a shortcircuit mechanism acting as a fuse at the same time.
  • Electric incandescent lamps of this type are lrnown per se. They are used, for example, for the manufacture of Christmas-tree lighting.
  • the object of the short-circuit mechanism present in these lamps is to prevent that when a lamp fails, for example, by breakage of the filament in a series arrangement, the other lamps in this series arrangement are also extinguished. in fact, it is quite possible to continue to use such a series arrangement in spite of the failure of one or several lamps and in addition it is difficult and often time-consuming to find the broken filament in a lamp when all lamps are extinguished due to the failure of one lamp in a series arrangement. For these reasons series arrangements of this kind employ lamps which are provided with a short-circuit mechanism which becomes operative at the instant when the filament of a lamp burns or breaks due to other causes.
  • the short-circuit mechanism may consist of a wire which is wound several times about the current conductors within the envelope of the lamp and which connects these conductors together but is electrically insulated therefrom by a layer of an electrically insulating material which is present on the short circuit wire or on the current conductors or on both and which breaks down only when the full mains voltage is present across the lamp.
  • the latter is the case when a filament in an incandescent lamp in a series arrangement burns, or breaks due to another cause.
  • the short-circuit mechanism is formed in such a manner that it operates as a fuse at the same time for the purpose of maintaining the intensity of the current flowing through the series arrangement below a current intensity considered admissible for the reasons mentioned above.
  • Thin wires of aluminium, copper and tungsten have been proposed for this purpose.
  • wires of these metals are less suitable in practice for the envisaged object.
  • a reliably operating short-circuit mechanism may be obtained, but when such a short-circuit mechanism is also to operate as a fuse, it is found that the diameter of the wire is to be chosen so small that due to the slight strength of the wire much breakage occurs when winding this wire about the current conductors.
  • Copper has the drawback that one of the oxides is semiconducting.
  • Tungsten wire cannot be provided with insulating oxide films which adhere to the metal sufficiently for the envisaged object so that there is the risk that when using such wires as a short-circuit mechanism and as a fuse, the short-circuit mechanism of a lamp starts to opcrate while the filament is not burned, which may give rise to flickering or extinguishing of the said lamp.
  • An object of the invention is to provide an electric incandescent lamp provided with a short-circuit mechanism which operates as a fuse at the same time and which consists of a metal wire wound about the current conductors, in which the current conductors and/or the metal wire wound thereabout are provided with an oxide film and in which these drawbacks do not occur.
  • an incandescent lamp of this kind satisfies this object and is characterized that the metal wire consists of an alloy of mainly nickel and copper and optionally of small quantities of additions commonly used for these alloys.
  • alloys which contain more than 30 percent by weight of nickel such as an alloy consisting of 43 percent by weight of nickel, remainder copper with the commonly used impurities (for example, constantane) and an alloy consisting of 67 percent by weight of nickel, 30 percent by weight of copper, l.4 percent by weight of iron.
  • An oxide film of the desired breakdown strength may be obtained by heating the wires in air, a different oxygencontaining gas mixture or oxygen, for example, by direct passage of current. The period of heating is dependent on the desired breakdown strength to be achieved. A heat treatment for several seconds is usually already sufficient to obtain an oxide film having a breakdown voltage upon alternating voltage load of between 10 and 60 Volts.
  • the winding of metal wire may be present above or below the head.
  • metal wire winding is present at an area in the lamp such that during sealing of the system of stems or sealing of exhaust tubes oxidation of the metal wire and/or current conductors occurs at the area where the metal wire winding is present. Due to this step the detrimental results of possible damage of the oxide film during winding or transport, namely short circuit without the filament being burned, are eliminated.
  • the sole FIGURE shows a miniature lamp having an envelope 1 of glass, two current conductors 2 and 3 whose position Within the envelope is fixed by means of a glass bead 4.
  • the ends of the current conductors within the envelope 1 support a filament 5.
  • the current supply wires are mutually connected by means of a wire piece 6 which is wound about the current conductors and which consists of an alloy of mainly nickel and copper.
  • a similar result was obtained with a wire consisting of an alloy of 67 percent by weight of nickel, percent by weight of copper, 1.4 percent by weight of iron, 1 percent by weight of manganese, remainder silicon and carbon (Monel).
  • the breakdown voltage of the oxide film was between 20 and 60 V.
  • an electric incandescent lamp adapted for serial connection with other similar lamps of the type having a pair of current conductors and a filament provided therebetween, the improvement comprising a wire metal provided with an oxide film being wound about the conductors, said metal wire consisting of an alloy of mainly nickel and copper and optionally small quantities of additions commonly used for these alloys, said wire for short-circuiting the current conductors upon application of a predetermined voltage between said current conductors and for operating as a fuse to open circuit upon application of a predetermined current through said wire.
  • an electric incandescent lamp adapted for serial connection with other similar lamps ofthe type having a pair of current conductors and a filament provided therebetween, said current conductors having an oxide coating thereon, the improvement comprising a metal wire being wound about the conductors, said metal wire consisting of an alloy of mainly nickel and copper and optionally small quantities of additions commonly used for these alloys, said wire for short-circuiting the current conductors upon application of a predetermined voltage between said current conductors and for operating as a fuse to open circuit upon application of a predetermined current through said wire.

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  • Resistance Heating (AREA)
  • Common Detailed Techniques For Electron Tubes Or Discharge Tubes (AREA)
US00264493A 1971-06-21 1972-06-20 Electric incandescent lamp for serial connection, provided with a short-circuit mechanism acting as a fuse at the same time Expired - Lifetime US3794880A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
NL7108537A NL7108537A (enExample) 1971-06-21 1971-06-21

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3794880A true US3794880A (en) 1974-02-26

Family

ID=19813450

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US00264493A Expired - Lifetime US3794880A (en) 1971-06-21 1972-06-20 Electric incandescent lamp for serial connection, provided with a short-circuit mechanism acting as a fuse at the same time

Country Status (8)

Country Link
US (1) US3794880A (enExample)
JP (1) JPS5231671B1 (enExample)
CA (1) CA956693A (enExample)
DE (1) DE2229680A1 (enExample)
FR (1) FR2143172B1 (enExample)
GB (1) GB1367372A (enExample)
IT (1) IT959856B (enExample)
NL (1) NL7108537A (enExample)

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4340841A (en) * 1980-05-22 1982-07-20 General Electric Company Internal shunt for series connected lamps
US5545952A (en) * 1993-09-13 1996-08-13 Essef Corporation Self grounding lamp for special use in an underwater environment
EP0881655A3 (de) * 1997-05-28 1999-02-10 Firma Bruno Dietze Stromzuführungsleiter für eine Leuchtmittellampe
US6583536B1 (en) * 2000-02-15 2003-06-24 James W Gibboney, Jr. Multiple, sequential filament lamp

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS618559U (ja) * 1984-06-20 1986-01-18 國和産業株式会社 包装用材料

Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1857165A (en) * 1930-09-29 1932-05-10 Gen Electric Cut out for series lamps
US2211884A (en) * 1938-09-08 1940-08-20 George B Davis Incandescent lamp
GB605649A (en) * 1946-01-02 1948-07-28 Gunnar Fridolf Axberg Improvements in electric incandescent lamps
US3611010A (en) * 1969-09-15 1971-10-05 Westinghouse Electric Corp Series-type electric incandescent lamp with integral automatic cutout means

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1857165A (en) * 1930-09-29 1932-05-10 Gen Electric Cut out for series lamps
US2211884A (en) * 1938-09-08 1940-08-20 George B Davis Incandescent lamp
GB605649A (en) * 1946-01-02 1948-07-28 Gunnar Fridolf Axberg Improvements in electric incandescent lamps
US3611010A (en) * 1969-09-15 1971-10-05 Westinghouse Electric Corp Series-type electric incandescent lamp with integral automatic cutout means

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4340841A (en) * 1980-05-22 1982-07-20 General Electric Company Internal shunt for series connected lamps
US5545952A (en) * 1993-09-13 1996-08-13 Essef Corporation Self grounding lamp for special use in an underwater environment
EP0881655A3 (de) * 1997-05-28 1999-02-10 Firma Bruno Dietze Stromzuführungsleiter für eine Leuchtmittellampe
US6583536B1 (en) * 2000-02-15 2003-06-24 James W Gibboney, Jr. Multiple, sequential filament lamp

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
CA956693A (en) 1974-10-22
FR2143172A1 (enExample) 1973-02-02
IT959856B (it) 1973-11-10
FR2143172B1 (enExample) 1973-07-13
JPS5231671B1 (enExample) 1977-08-16
DE2229680A1 (de) 1973-01-11
GB1367372A (en) 1974-09-18
NL7108537A (enExample) 1972-12-27

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