JP2001283774A - Fluorescent lamp - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance the contact between amalgam and a metal or metal oxide serving as a nucleus at the time of cooling and solidifying, and to more effectively obtain an effect of preventing supercooling, and a nucleating substance. Enhances the encapsulation and fixation of metals and metal oxides in lamps. SOLUTION: A light emitting portion 9 having a glass bulb 7 in which a discharge gas is sealed and a fluorescent film 8 is formed on an inner surface;
A fluorescent lamp provided at both ends of the glass bulb 7 and having a stem portion (electrode sealing portion) 11 having an electrode 10 and an amalgam 20 sealed and disposed in at least one of the light emitting portion 9 and the stem portion 11. is there. The amalgam 20 is in contact with at least one particulate material selected from a particulate metal and a particulate metal oxide. The granules become nuclei when the amalgam is cooled and solidified.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fluorescent lamp using amalgam.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Fluorescent lamps include general lighting,
Recently, it is widely used as a light source for office automation equipment, a pixel light source for a huge screen, and the like. Such a fluorescent lamp is configured such that a discharge gas is sealed in a glass bulb having a fluorescent film provided on an inner wall surface, and a positive column discharge is generated in the discharge gas. Then, visible light is obtained by exciting the fluorescent film with ultraviolet rays generated by the discharge. Therefore, mercury is indispensable for generating ultraviolet rays, and mercury is sealed in a fluorescent lamp for use.

Recently, bent fluorescent lamps have been widely used, and are commercially available as compact fluorescent lamps and bulb-type fluorescent lamp devices. This kind of fluorescent lamp is designed to be lighted with a high load, and the temperature of the light emitting unit during lighting tends to increase. When pure mercury is used in such a high-load fluorescent lamp, it is over-evaporated, and the self-absorption of ultraviolet light of mercury increases to lower the luminous efficiency. Therefore,
For high-load fluorescent lamps, use mercury (Hg) instead of pure mercury
And bismuth (Bi), indium (In), lead (Pb)
An alloy with tin (Sn) or the like, so-called amalgam, is used.

Amalgam has the advantages that it is easy to handle because it is a solid, and that the required amount of mercury can be sealed in the arc tube with high precision. In addition, amalgam can be used in high-load fluorescent lamps because it can keep the mercury vapor pressure low even when the operating temperature is higher than pure mercury. That is, when used in a fluorescent lamp that is lighted with a high load, the vapor pressure of mercury can be controlled to a level corresponding to the luminous flux even if the temperature of the light emitting unit becomes excessively high during lighting. Therefore, the luminous efficiency of the high-load fluorescent lamp can be increased.

[0005] Amalgam is usually used by being enclosed in a glass tube provided in an electrode sealing portion provided with a stem or the like, and is melted when a lamp is turned on to generate mercury vapor at an appropriate pressure. It is. If the power supply voltage or the temperature in the tube is reduced, the amalgam will be re-solidified, but the amalgam may cause a supercooling phenomenon when the temperature drops. That is, even if the temperature is lowered below the melting point, it does not solidify and may follow a vapor pressure curve different from that at the time of temperature rise. As described above, when the amalgam is in a supercooled state, the mercury vapor pressure is abnormally reduced and the lamp luminous flux is reduced.

[0006] In order to suppress the reduction of the lamp luminous flux due to the supercooling phenomenon of amalgam as described above, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open
No. 174259 discloses that at least a part of an amalgam support rod to be enclosed in a glass tube together with amalgam is composed of a metal or a metal oxide, and the metal or the metal oxide is brought into contact with the amalgam so that it can be cooled and solidified. The core is described. JP-A-63-284748 discloses that amalgam is supercooled by depositing a metal on at least a part of the surface of a glass rod as an amalgam supporting rod and using the deposited metal as a core during cooling and solidification. It is stated to prevent.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional measures for preventing supercooling of amalgam, the efficiency of contact between the amalgam and a metal or metal oxide serving as a nucleus at the time of cooling and solidification is low. There is a problem that the supercooling cannot be stably suppressed. In particular, when the deposited metal is used as a core during cooling and solidification, the contact efficiency with amalgam is significantly reduced. In addition, when a metal rod or the like is used, it is difficult to enclose it in a fluorescent lamp, which leads to an increase in the number of manufacturing steps of the fluorescent lamp. Furthermore, the use of a metal rod or a glass rod on which a metal is deposited has a problem that it prevents evaporation of mercury from amalgam.

The present invention has been made to address such a problem, and enhances the contact efficiency of amalgam with a metal or metal oxide serving as a nucleus during cooling and solidification, thereby more effectively obtaining an effect of preventing supercooling. It is an object of the present invention to provide a fluorescent lamp in which a metal or a metal oxide as a core at the time of cooling and solidification is improved in encapsulating property and fixing property in the lamp.

[0009]

A fluorescent lamp according to the present invention comprises:
As described in claim 1, a light emitting portion having a glass bulb filled with a discharge gas and having a fluorescent film formed on an inner surface thereof, and an electrode sealing portion provided at both ends of the glass bulb and having an electrode. Wherein the amalgam is in contact with at least one type of particulate material selected from a particulate metal and a particulate metal oxide. It is characterized by.

As described above, the contact efficiency between the amalgam and the metal or metal oxide is greatly improved by using the metal or metal oxide serving as a nucleus when the amalgam is solidified by cooling. Therefore, supercooling of the entire amalgam can be effectively and stably suppressed. That is, it is possible to satisfactorily suppress the abnormal decrease in the lamp light flux due to the supercooling of the amalgam. Furthermore, since granular metals and particulate metal oxides can be easily attached to the amalgam in advance, the labor involved in encapsulating the core metal or metal oxide during cooling and solidification can be greatly reduced. it can.

In the fluorescent lamp according to the present invention, the particulate matter composed of the particulate metal or the particulate metal oxide is in a state of being attached to the surface of the amalgam or contained in the interior of the amalgam. They may be present in any state, or may be in a state in which they are combined. Further, as described in claim 3, amalgam is used, for example, by being enclosed in a thin tube provided in at least one of the light emitting section and the electrode sealing section.

Further, in the fluorescent lamp of the present invention, it is preferable that the granular material composed of granular metal or granular metal oxide has a particle diameter of 0.1 mm or less as described in claim 6. According to the granular material having such a particle size, the contact state with the amalgam can be stably enhanced. Further, as described in claim 7, the granular material is preferably present in the range of 0.1 to 50% by mass with respect to the amalgam, depending on the material. With such an amount of granular material, the effect of suppressing supercooling can be effectively obtained without lowering the characteristics of the amalgam itself.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a view showing the entire structure of an embodiment in which the fluorescent lamp of the present invention is applied to a bulb-type fluorescent lamp device. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of a stem portion as an electrode sealing portion of the fluorescent lamp used in the embodiment. FIG. In FIG.
Reference numeral 1 denotes a cover made of a heat-resistant synthetic resin, and a screw-type base 2 such as E26 is fixed to one end of the cover 1 by caulking or the like. Note that the electrode sealing portion in the present invention includes, besides one sealed using an electrode support member such as a stem, one sealed with a pinch seal.

The other end of the cover 1 is closed by a circular dish-shaped partition plate 3 made of a heat-resistant synthetic resin. A high frequency lighting circuit 4 is attached to the partitioning machine 3. Further, a lamp mounting cylinder 5 having a lamp mounting hole is formed integrally with the partitioning machine 3. Two lamp mounting cylinders 5 are provided on the partition 3 (FIG. 1 shows only one of the lamp mounting cylinders 5), and a fluorescent lamp 6 is mounted on these lamp mounting cylinders 5.

In this embodiment, a configuration using a saddle-shaped fluorescent lamp 6 is shown. In the saddle-shaped fluorescent lamp 6, the straight portions at both ends of the arc tube (glass bulb) 7 are arranged close to each other, and these straight portions are bent in a U-shape. The arc tube 7 is formed in a saddle-like shape by being bent so as to face. In configuring the compact fluorescent lamp device, a U-shaped or W-shaped fluorescent lamp may be used. The present invention is similarly applicable to these fluorescent lamps.

As described above, the fluorescent lamp 6 has the saddle-shaped arc tube (glass bulb) 7. A fluorescent film 8 is formed on the inner surface of the glass bulb 7 as shown in FIG. 2, and these constitute a light emitting section 9.
As the phosphor constituting the phosphor film 8, for example, 430 to 460
A three-wavelength phosphor having a main emission peak in a blue region around nm, a green region around 540 to 550 nm, and a red region around 610 to 620 nm is used.

Further, at both ends of the glass bulb 7, stem portions 11 having an electrode structure 10 described in detail later are sealed as electrode sealing portions. A discharge gas, that is, a rare gas such as a predetermined amount of mercury and a predetermined pressure of argon or the like is sealed in the glass bulb 7, and the fluorescent lamp 6 is constituted by these.

The two ends of the saddle-shaped fluorescent lamp 6 are
Is inserted into the lamp mounting tube portion 5 formed at
Furthermore, it is fixed to the partition 3 by a thermosetting adhesive 12 such as a silicone resin. Further, the bent portion at the center of the fluorescent lamp 6 is also joined to the lower surface of the partition 3 by the thermosetting adhesive 12. The fluorescent lamp 6 is further covered with a cup-shaped globe 13 made of a transparent or light-diffusing synthetic resin or glass. The end of the globe 13 is inserted into a ring-shaped gap formed between the cover 1 and the partition 3, and is further fixed by an adhesive 14.

Next, the structure near the stem portion 11 as an electrode sealing portion will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The stem portion 11 has a flare stem 15 for closing the end of the glass bulb 7. A pair of wells 16a and 16b made of nickel or the like are passed through the flare stem 15 in an airtight manner. At the inner ends of the wells 16a and 16b, a coil filament 17 made of tungsten is provided. The coil filament 17 is composed of a double coil or a triple coil, and has barium (B
a), strontium (Sb), an electron-emitting substance made of calcium (Ca) oxide or the like is applied.

The flare stem 15 has a thin tube 18 protruding toward the outside of the lamp. The thin tube 18 is connected to the communication hole 1.
9 and the inside of the arc tube 7, that is, the discharge space. The thin tube 18 is formed by cutting off a tube used as an exhaust tube at the time of manufacturing the lamp at the end of evacuation. The main amalgam 20 is sealed in the small tube 18.

The main amalgam 20 is made of bismuth (Bi),
It is made of an alloy of at least one metal (mercury-adsorbing metal) selected from indium (In), tin (Sn) and lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg), and has a solid shape such as a sphere. The main amalgam 20 is fixed in the capillary 18. As the main amalgam 20, specifically, Bi-I
An n-Hg alloy, an In-Hg alloy, or the like is used.

The saddle-shaped fluorescent lamp 6 has a light emitting portion formed at a high density and is lighted with a high load, so that the temperature of the light emitting tube during lighting becomes high. Therefore, the amalgam 20 described above is used as a mercury source. When the amalgam 20 reaches a predetermined temperature during lighting, the amalgam 20 melts to generate mercury vapor. The mercury vapor is released from the thin tube 18 through the communication hole 19 to the inside of the arc tube 7, that is, into the discharge space.

On the other hand, when the power supply voltage or the tube temperature decreases, the amalgam 20 absorbs the excess mercury in the evaporation and solidifies. Therefore, it has an effect of automatically controlling the mercury vapor pressure according to the temperature of the arc tube 7 or the like. However, when the temperature drops, the amalgam 20 causes a supercooling phenomenon,
Even when the temperature is lowered below the melting point, it does not solidify and may follow a vapor pressure curve different from that at the time of temperature rise. Such a supercooling phenomenon of the amalgam 20 causes an abnormal decrease in the mercury vapor pressure, thereby reducing the lamp luminous flux.

Therefore, in the fluorescent lamp of the present invention,
In order to prevent the supercooling phenomenon of the amalgam 20, the amalgam 20 is brought into contact with at least one kind of granular material 21 selected from granular metal and granular metal oxide as shown in FIG. Such granules 21 are amalgam 20
When the amalgam 20 is cooled and solidified, the granules (nucleated granules) 21 can prevent the amalgam 20 from overcooling.

As described above, by using the particulate matter 21 as the nucleating substance of the amalgam 20, the contact efficiency and stability of the amalgam 20 with the metal or metal oxide as the nucleating substance can be greatly improved. . This makes it possible to effectively and efficiently suppress the supercooling of the entire amalgam 20. That is, amalgam 20
Abnormal lowering of the lamp luminous flux due to the overcooling of the lamp can be satisfactorily suppressed.

Further, the nucleation particles 21 made of a granular metal or a granular metal oxide can be easily attached to the amalgam 20 in advance, as shown in FIG. 4, for example.
Then, after the amalgam 20 to which the nucleated granules 21 are attached is accommodated in the thin tube 18, the thin tube 18 is sealed and cut, whereby the amalgam 20 contacted with the nucleated granules 21 can be easily placed in the thin tube 18. It is possible to enclose in. That is, the labor involved in encapsulating a metal or metal oxide as a nucleating substance can be greatly reduced, and the fixation of the particulate matter 21 as a nucleating substance can be enhanced.

If the contact state between the amalgam 20 and the nucleated particles 21 is obtained, for example, the nucleated particles 21 are previously adhered to the thin tube 18 and then the amalgam 20 is enclosed, various encapsulation methods may be used. It is possible to apply

The existence form of the nucleated particles 21 made of granular metal or granular metal oxide is not particularly limited as long as the nucleated particles 21 can be brought into contact with the amalgam 20. The amalgam 20 may be in a state in which the nucleus-forming particles 21 are included in the amalgam 20, or a state in which both are combined. Here, amalgam 2
The state in which the nucleation particulates 21 are included inside 0 is not limited to the case where the inclusion state is formed in advance, but the nucleation particulates 21 are taken into the amalgam 20 by repeating the lighting operation of the fluorescent lamp 6. It includes the state.

As the nucleation granules 21, amalgam 2
Various materials can be used as long as they are metals or metal oxides that can be nuclei at the time of cooling and solidification of 0, for example, the above-mentioned mercury-adsorbing metals, ie, Bi, In, Sn, Pb,
Alternatively, an alloy thereof is used. Further, a metal other than the mercury-adsorbing metal or a metal oxide thereof may be used, and for example, Au, Ag, Ni or the like can be used.

Of these, the nucleation particulates 21 made of mercury-adsorbed metal are easily incorporated into the amalgam 20 and therefore act more effectively as nucleation substances. However, the long-term effect may be impaired by assimilation with the amalgam 20. On the other hand, the nucleating particulate material 21 made of a metal other than the mercury-adsorbing metal or its metal oxide may be less effective as a nucleating material than the mercury-adsorbing metal, but the effect as the nucleating material is maintained for a long time. You. In consideration of these points, it is preferable to select the constituent material of the nucleation particles 21 according to the usage of the fluorescent lamp 6.

The size of the nucleation particles 21 made of a granular metal or a granular metal oxide is preferably 0.1 mm or less in particle size. When the particle size of the nucleation granules 21 exceeds 0.1 mm,
Contact with the amalgam 20 becomes unstable, and the effect as a nucleating substance may be impaired. However, even if the size of the nucleation granules 21 is too small, not only does the effect as a nucleation material remain unchanged, but also the productivity as granules deteriorates. It is preferable to set the size.

The nucleating granules 21 are amalgam 20
Is preferably present in the range of 0.1 to 50% by mass. The abundance of the nucleating granules 21
If the amount is less than 0.1% by mass, the effect of suppressing the supercooling of the amalgam 20 may not be sufficiently obtained. on the other hand,
The amount of the nucleating particulate matter 21 is 50% by mass of the amalgam 20
When it exceeds, the compositional variation of the amalgam 20 becomes remarkable, and the original characteristics of the amalgam 20 may be deteriorated.

The above-mentioned amalgam 20 is a main amalgam, and discharges mercury vapor contained therein into the arc tube 7. In addition to the main amalgam 20, the fluorescent lamp 6 has an auxiliary amalgam 22. The auxiliary amalgam 22 is attached to a position near the coil filament 17 of one of the wells 16a. The auxiliary amalgam 22 is joined to the wells 16a by means such as welding or soldering.

The auxiliary amalgam 22 is made of stainless steel, iron
Bi, In, Pb, Sn are formed on the surface of a metal plate made of a nickel alloy or a heat-resistant metal obtained by plating nickel on iron.
And the like. When the lamp is turned off, the auxiliary amalgam 22 captures mercury that tends to agglomerate in the narrowest tube 18 in the coldest part, receives the heat from the electrode assembly 10 and quickly evaporates the captured mercury when starting the lamp, Thereby, the rising characteristic of the light beam at the time of starting is improved.

As described above, the amalgam 2 brought into contact with the nucleation granules 21 made of a granular metal or a granular metal oxide.
According to the fluorescent lamp 6 having 0, the time and effort required for encapsulating a metal or metal oxide as a nucleating substance in the fluorescent lamp 6 is greatly reduced, and the supercooling of the amalgam 20 is effectively and stably performed. Can be suppressed. In addition, since the nucleus-forming particulate matter 21 has a good fixation state to the amalgam 20, the supercooling of the amalgam 20 can be effectively suppressed for a long period of time also from this point. Thus, it is possible to stably prevent the lamp light flux from abnormally decreasing due to the supercooling of the amalgam 20. That is, it is possible to provide the fluorescent lamp 6 having excellent lamp luminous flux maintenance characteristics.

In the above embodiment, the fluorescent lamp 6 in which the main amalgam 20 is sealed in the thin tube 18 provided in the stem 11
However, the fixing position of the main amalgam 20 is not limited to this. For example, FIG. 5 shows a fluorescent lamp 23 having an arc tube 7 formed by connecting a plurality of glass bulbs 7a, 7b, 7c. In such a fluorescent lamp 23, a thin tube 24a provided in the arc tube 7 portion,
The main amalgam 20 may be enclosed in 24b, 24c, or the like.

In the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a bulb-type fluorescent lamp device having a saddle-shaped fluorescent lamp has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention is applicable to U-shaped and W-shaped fluorescent lamps. Further, the present invention can be applied to a normal ring-shaped fluorescent lamp or a straight tube fluorescent lamp in some cases.

[0039]

As described above, according to the fluorescent lamp of the present invention, the contact between the amalgam and the metal or metal oxide serving as a nucleus at the time of cooling and solidification thereof can be improved, and the fixing property can be further improved. Therefore, the effect of preventing the supercooling of the amalgam can be obtained more effectively and stably for a long period of time. Therefore, it is possible to stably prevent the lamp light flux from abnormally decreasing due to the supercooling of the amalgam. Further, it is possible to greatly reduce the labor required for disposing the nuclear material.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an entire structure of an embodiment in which a fluorescent lamp of the present invention is applied to a bulb-type fluorescent lamp device.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view showing the vicinity of a stem portion of a fluorescent lamp used in the compact fluorescent lamp device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a further enlarged narrow tube portion near a stem portion of the fluorescent lamp shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state when a granular material is sealed in a thin tube.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another configuration example of the fluorescent lamp of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 6 Fluorescent lamp 7 Glass bulb 8 Fluorescent film 9 Light emitting unit 10 Electrode assembly 11 Stem 18 Thin tube 20 Main amalgam 21 From granular metal or granular metal oxide Granules 22 Auxiliary amalgam

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A light emitting section having a glass bulb filled with a discharge gas and having a fluorescent film formed on an inner surface thereof; an electrode sealing section provided at both ends of the glass bulb and having electrodes; and the light emitting section. And amalgam enclosed and disposed in at least one of the electrode sealing portions, wherein the amalgam is in contact with at least one granular material selected from a particulate metal and a particulate metal oxide. Fluorescent lamp. 2. The granule is in contact with the amalgam in at least one of a state of being attached to a surface of the amalgam and a state of being contained in the amalgam. The fluorescent lamp according to 1. 3. The fluorescent lamp according to claim 1, wherein the amalgam is sealed in a thin tube provided in at least one of the light emitting section and the electrode sealing section. 4. The fluorescent lamp according to claim 1, wherein the amalgam is an alloy of at least one element selected from Bi, In, Sn and Pb with Hg. 5. The particulate material is Bi, Sn, Pb, I
The fluorescent lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 4, comprising at least one metal selected from n, Au, Ag, and Ni or an oxide thereof. 6. The fluorescent lamp according to claim 1, wherein the granular material has a particle size of 0.1 mm or less. 7. The granule according to claim 1, wherein
7. The fluorescent lamp according to claim 1, which is present in the range of 0.1 to 50% by mass.