US3806748A - Sodium vapor lamp having a grooved alumina arc tube with side rod heater retainer - Google Patents

Sodium vapor lamp having a grooved alumina arc tube with side rod heater retainer Download PDF

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Publication number
US3806748A
US3806748A US00339327A US33932773A US3806748A US 3806748 A US3806748 A US 3806748A US 00339327 A US00339327 A US 00339327A US 33932773 A US33932773 A US 33932773A US 3806748 A US3806748 A US 3806748A
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United States
Prior art keywords
arc tube
lamp
heater
wire
side rod
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Expired - Lifetime
Application number
US00339327A
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English (en)
Inventor
S Cohen
D Richardson
S Kimball
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GTE Sylvania Inc
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GTE Sylvania Inc
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by GTE Sylvania Inc filed Critical GTE Sylvania Inc
Priority to US00339327A priority Critical patent/US3806748A/en
Priority to FR7347110A priority patent/FR2220873B1/fr
Priority to CA190,770A priority patent/CA1009700A/en
Priority to GB577474A priority patent/GB1438065A/en
Priority to DE19742410398 priority patent/DE2410398C3/de
Priority to BE2053462A priority patent/BE812029A/xx
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of US3806748A publication Critical patent/US3806748A/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
    • H01J61/00—Gas-discharge or vapour-discharge lamps
    • H01J61/02—Details
    • H01J61/54—Igniting arrangements, e.g. promoting ionisation for starting
    • H01J61/541—Igniting arrangements, e.g. promoting ionisation for starting using a bimetal switch
    • H01J61/544—Igniting arrangements, e.g. promoting ionisation for starting using a bimetal switch and an auxiliary electrode outside the vessel
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J61/00—Gas-discharge or vapour-discharge lamps
    • H01J61/02—Details
    • H01J61/52—Cooling arrangements; Heating arrangements; Means for circulating gas or vapour within the discharge space

Definitions

  • This invention relates to are discharge lamps and, in particular, to high pressure sodium vapor lamps.
  • Such lamps are called high pressure in order to distinguish them from low pressure sodium vapor lamps in which the sodium operating vapor pressure is in order of a few microns.
  • Low pressure sodium lamps have been in use for about 30 or 40 years, but, although efficient, they produce an unattrative monochromatic yellow light. The color of light from high pressure sodium lamps is considerably improved over that from low pressure sodium lamps.
  • High pressure sodium lamps generally comprise an alumina ceramic arc tube and an arc tube fill of sodium, mercury and an inert gas. Examples of such lamps are shown in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,248,590; 3,384,798; 3,448,319; 3,453,477; 3,485,343; 3,519,406; 3,521,108; 3,558,963 and 3,622,217.
  • One of the problems of high pressure sodium are discharge lamps relates to the starting thereof. Such lamps require a considerably higher starting voltage to initiate an arc discharge than do other types of are discharge lamps, such as fluorescent, mercury or metal halide. This higher starting voltage requirement necessitates the use of a special ballast for high pressure sodium lamps.
  • a simpler more economical ballasting arrangement becomes quite practicable and, in fact, conventional mercury lamp ballasts can often be used with the lamps of this invention. This permits, in many cases, direct replacement of such mercury lamps by high pressure sodium lamps of this invention without any changes in the mercury lamp ballasts or fixtures.
  • a high pressure sodium vapor lamp in accordance with this invention comprises an alumina arc tube having electrodes at its ends and containing a fill including sodium, mercury and an inert gas.
  • a wire wound heater is disposed in heat transfer relationship with the arc tube in order to effect a substantial reduction in arc tube ignition voltage, as shown in co-pending application Ser. No. 214,000 filed Dec. 30, 1971, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,746,914 assigned to the instant assignee, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
  • FIG. 1 is an elevational view, partly in section, of a lamp in accordance with this invention.
  • FIG. 2 is an expanded sectional view of the arc tube of the lamp of FIG. 1.
  • a high pressure sodium vapor lamp in accordance with this invention comprises an outer glass envelope 1 which can be of elongated ovoid shape, such as is commonly used in high pressure sodium lamps, or of bulbous shape, such as is commonly used in mercury vapor and metal halide lamps.
  • the neck of the envelope is closed by a reentrant stem 2 having a press 3 through which extend stiff lead-in wires 4,5 connected at their outer ends to a threaded shell 6 and center contact 7 of a conventional screw base.
  • alumina arc tube 8 Disposed within envelope 1 is an alumina arc tube 8, having raised shoulders 30 forming grooves 21, sealed at its lower end by niobium end cap 9 and at its upper end by niobium end cap 10.
  • Niobium tubes 11, 12 are brazed or welded to end caps 9,10 and are used to support are tube 8 as well as to conduct current to electrodes 13,14 within the arc tube.
  • one of the niobium tubes serves as an exhaust tube during manufacture and is used to introduce a fill including an inert gas (e.g. argon or xenon), sodium and mercury into the arc tube, after which the niobium tube is sealed, such as by a cold weld.
  • an inert gas e.g. argon or xenon
  • Arc tube 8 is supported within envelope 1 by a structure consisting of side support wire 15, vertical support wire 16, metal strap 17 and horizontal metal strap 18. Support wire 15 is welded to lead-in wire 5, support wire 16 is welded to wire 15, strap 17 is welded to wire 16, strap 18 is welded to strap 17 and strap 18 is connected to upper niobium tube 12. Electrical connection between lead-in wire 5 and upper electrode 14 is established by said structure.
  • arc tube 8 The lower end of arc tube 8 is supported by metal strap 19 which is connected between niobium tube 11 and support wire 20, with support wire 20 being welded to lead-in wire 4. Electrical connection is also established thereby between lead-in wire 4 and lower electrode 13.
  • Encircling arc tube 8 and seated in groove 21 is a wire wound heater 22 of the type disclosed in copending application Ser. No. 214,000.
  • the upper and lower ends of heater 22 are electrically connected, respectively, to the lower and upper electrodes in order to further reduce the lamp starting voltage, as disclosed in co-pending application Ser. No. 266,294, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,721,846.
  • a heater 22 The upper end of a heater 22 is connected to a wire 23 which is embedded in glass rod 24.
  • Glass rod 24 is supported from side wire by two wires 25 which are welded to side wire I5 and embedded in glass rod 24.
  • another wire 26 embedded in glass rod 24 is another wire 26 one end of which is connected to support wire by a thin wire 27.
  • a U shaped bimetallic switch 28 makes electrical connection between wire 23 and wire 26. The result of this electrical arrangement is that the voltage applied to lower electrode 13 is also applied to the upper end of heater 22.
  • Switch 28 has a predetermined opening which exceeds the temperature at which are tube ignition occurs. Upon opening switch 28, heater 22 is electrically removed from the circuit.
  • heater 22 is electrically connected to side support wire 15 by a similar arrangement of wires 23, 25' and 26', glass rod 24' and switch 28. Switch 28 also opens after arc tube ignition to electrically isolate heater 22.
  • side wire 15 Attached to the upper and lower ends of side wire 15 are spring fingers 31 which press against the interior wall of envelope 1 and provide increased support for v the arc tube. Also disposed on the lower end of side wire 15 are ring getters 29, since envelope 1 contains a vacuum to reduce arc tube heat losses.
  • heater 22 preferably consists of a coiled coil. That is to say; the heater wire is primary coiled on a mandrel and then, after mandrel removahthe primary coiled wire is secondary coiled, that is, wound around arc tube 8 in grooves 21. This minimizes the number of secondary turns on arc tube 8.
  • heater 22 consisted of 4880 mm of 2% mil tungsten wire. If this wire were wound directly on arc tube 8, it wound require winding at the rate of about 56 turns per inch (TPI).
  • I-Iowever when the wire is first primary coiled on a 12 mil mandrel, it can then be wound on arc tube 8 at the rate of about 4 TPI.
  • a winding rate of 4 TPI is considerably more preferable than 56 TPI for several reasons. There will be less interception of light from the arc tube by the heater wire itself. And there will be fewer numbers of raised shoulders 30 on arc tube 8; an excessive number of such shoulders can reduce the light transmission of the arc tube wall by causing a significant increase in the effective wall thickness of the arc tube.
  • a primary coiled wire cannot be wound on are tube 8 as tightly as a straight wire can. And a primary coiled wire is more likely to sag during vertical lamp operation than a straight wire.
  • Rod 32, abutting arc tube 8, solves these problems by retaining the heater wire, that is, preventing the heater wire from sagging out of grooves 21.
  • Rod 32 should be an insulative rod to prevent shorting out the turns of heater 22 and should be heat resistant, since the arc tube operating temperature is about 1200C.
  • the diameter of rod 32 should be small, say, less than 40percent of the diameter of arc tube 8, in order to avoid interception of a significant amount of light from arc tube 8.
  • rod 32 was an alumina ceramic rod slightly longer than arc tube 8.
  • Rod 32 was drawn against arc tube 8 by tie wires 33 which were wrapped around both rod 32 and are tube 8 and securely tied, such as by twisting.
  • rod 32 was supported by bent rods 34, inserted into holes in the ends of rod 32. The other ends of rods 34 were fastened, such as by welding, to side support wire 15.
  • rod 30 had a diameter of mils and arc tube 8 had a diameter of 345 mils.
  • the lengths of rod 30 and are tube 8 were five inches and 4 36 inches respectively.
  • Lamps made in accordance with this invention were o aeratd sv womiaurs'1h a vea'iaar acsifiomfiar severe conditions of continuous shock with no significant movement of heater 22. Without side rod 32 to retain the heater, lamps operated under the same conditions had excessive turn displacement in less than 50 hours.
  • a high pressure sodium vapor lamp comprising: a glass envelope; an alumina arc tube disposed within said envelope and having electrodes sealed therein at the ends thereof and containing a filling including sodium, mercury and an inert gas, said are tube having a spiral groove formed by raised shoulders on its outer surface extending from about one electrode to the other, the shoulders defining said groove being raised above the outer surface of said are tube; a heater of refractory metal wire wrapped around said arc tube and seated in said groove; and an insulative heater-retaining side rod parallel to, and abutting, said arc tube.
  • the lamp of claim 1 comprising, in addition, a thermal switch, one end of said heater being electrically connected to the electrode at the opposite end of said arc tube through said thermal switch, said switch being normally closed during non-operation of said lamp and opening after ignition of the arc tube and remaining open during normal lamp operation.

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  • Vessels And Coating Films For Discharge Lamps (AREA)
  • Discharge Lamps And Accessories Thereof (AREA)
US00339327A 1973-03-08 1973-03-08 Sodium vapor lamp having a grooved alumina arc tube with side rod heater retainer Expired - Lifetime US3806748A (en)

Priority Applications (6)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US00339327A US3806748A (en) 1973-03-08 1973-03-08 Sodium vapor lamp having a grooved alumina arc tube with side rod heater retainer
FR7347110A FR2220873B1 (cg-RX-API-DMAC7.html) 1973-03-08 1973-12-28
CA190,770A CA1009700A (en) 1973-03-08 1974-01-23 Sodium vapor lamp having a grooved alumina arc tube with side rod heater retainer
GB577474A GB1438065A (en) 1973-03-08 1974-02-07 Sodium vapour lamp
DE19742410398 DE2410398C3 (de) 1973-03-08 1974-03-05 Hochdrucknatriumdampf entladungslampe mit einer in einem Außenkolben angeordneten Entladungsrohre aus Aluminiumoxyd
BE2053462A BE812029A (fr) 1973-03-08 1974-03-08 Lampe a vapeur de sodium comprenant un tube d'alumine a arc rainure dote d'une tige de retenue laterale pour le rechauffeur

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US00339327A US3806748A (en) 1973-03-08 1973-03-08 Sodium vapor lamp having a grooved alumina arc tube with side rod heater retainer

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3806748A true US3806748A (en) 1974-04-23

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US00339327A Expired - Lifetime US3806748A (en) 1973-03-08 1973-03-08 Sodium vapor lamp having a grooved alumina arc tube with side rod heater retainer

Country Status (5)

Country Link
US (1) US3806748A (cg-RX-API-DMAC7.html)
BE (1) BE812029A (cg-RX-API-DMAC7.html)
CA (1) CA1009700A (cg-RX-API-DMAC7.html)
FR (1) FR2220873B1 (cg-RX-API-DMAC7.html)
GB (1) GB1438065A (cg-RX-API-DMAC7.html)

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3961222A (en) * 1974-12-16 1976-06-01 Xerox Corporation Sodium vapor lamp configuration
EP0038035A1 (en) * 1980-04-11 1981-10-21 GTE Laboratories Incorporated Light source comprising a high pressure discharge lamp
US4961020A (en) * 1989-03-03 1990-10-02 General Electric Company Sodium vapor lamp for sonic pulse operation
US20070108912A1 (en) * 2005-11-16 2007-05-17 Leonard James A Device for containing arc tube ruptures in lamps

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4325004A (en) * 1980-10-02 1982-04-13 Gte Laboratories Incorporated Method and apparatus for starting high intensity discharge lamps

Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2765416A (en) * 1953-09-24 1956-10-02 Westinghouse Electric Corp Vapor lamps utilizing chemical compounds
US3439209A (en) * 1965-08-28 1969-04-15 Philips Corp Positive column gas discharge lamp employing an alloy of two metals with impedance-free terminal connections
US3721846A (en) * 1972-06-26 1973-03-20 Gte Sylvania Inc Sodium vapor lamp having improved starting means including a heater
US3746914A (en) * 1971-12-30 1973-07-17 Gte Sylvania Inc Arc discharge tube with surrounding starting coil
US3757159A (en) * 1972-07-17 1973-09-04 Gte Sylvania Inc Sodium vapor lamp having improved starting means
US3757158A (en) * 1972-06-23 1973-09-04 Gte Sylvania Inc Sodium vapor lamp having a grooved alumina arc tube

Patent Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2765416A (en) * 1953-09-24 1956-10-02 Westinghouse Electric Corp Vapor lamps utilizing chemical compounds
US3439209A (en) * 1965-08-28 1969-04-15 Philips Corp Positive column gas discharge lamp employing an alloy of two metals with impedance-free terminal connections
US3746914A (en) * 1971-12-30 1973-07-17 Gte Sylvania Inc Arc discharge tube with surrounding starting coil
US3757158A (en) * 1972-06-23 1973-09-04 Gte Sylvania Inc Sodium vapor lamp having a grooved alumina arc tube
US3721846A (en) * 1972-06-26 1973-03-20 Gte Sylvania Inc Sodium vapor lamp having improved starting means including a heater
US3757159A (en) * 1972-07-17 1973-09-04 Gte Sylvania Inc Sodium vapor lamp having improved starting means

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3961222A (en) * 1974-12-16 1976-06-01 Xerox Corporation Sodium vapor lamp configuration
EP0038035A1 (en) * 1980-04-11 1981-10-21 GTE Laboratories Incorporated Light source comprising a high pressure discharge lamp
US4961020A (en) * 1989-03-03 1990-10-02 General Electric Company Sodium vapor lamp for sonic pulse operation
US20070108912A1 (en) * 2005-11-16 2007-05-17 Leonard James A Device for containing arc tube ruptures in lamps

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
FR2220873B1 (cg-RX-API-DMAC7.html) 1977-06-10
FR2220873A1 (cg-RX-API-DMAC7.html) 1974-10-04
BE812029A (fr) 1974-09-09
GB1438065A (en) 1976-06-03
CA1009700A (en) 1977-05-03

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