US2056665A - Vapor electric discharge device - Google Patents

Vapor electric discharge device Download PDF

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Publication number
US2056665A
US2056665A US740508A US74050834A US2056665A US 2056665 A US2056665 A US 2056665A US 740508 A US740508 A US 740508A US 74050834 A US74050834 A US 74050834A US 2056665 A US2056665 A US 2056665A
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United States
Prior art keywords
envelope
substance
vapor
recess
attack
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
US740508A
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English (en)
Inventor
Theodore W Frech
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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
Application filed by General Electric Co filed Critical General Electric Co
Priority to US740508A priority Critical patent/US2056665A/en
Priority to FR793748D priority patent/FR793748A/fr
Priority to GB23187/35A priority patent/GB441000A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of US2056665A publication Critical patent/US2056665A/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
    • H01J61/70—Lamps with low-pressure unconstricted discharge having a cold pressure < 400 Torr
    • H01J61/74—Lamps with low-pressure unconstricted discharge having a cold pressure < 400 Torr having a main light-emitting filling of difficult vaporisable metal vapour, e.g. sodium

Definitions

  • This invention relates to gaseous or vapor electric discharge devices of a general type exemplifled by metal vapor lamps, and particularly to devices containing a substance (like sodium, potassium, or other alkali metal) which while gaseous or vaporous during operation of the device is readily condensible,in part, at least,and which may tend to attack some part of the device at temperatures attained during its operation.
  • a substance like sodium, potassium, or other alkali metal
  • susceptible lamp parts are lead wire seals, a glass stem, or an area of glass envelope wall which is unresistant, as where a protective glaze on the inner surface has been destroyed by local fusion of the envelope in lamp manufacture. In such cases as these, it is desirable to exclude the hot substance from the susceptible parts, or from the internal region of the device where they are located.
  • the portion or region of the device (or of its envelope) from which for any reason it is desired to exclude the hot substance shall be kept cool enough to condense the substance, or even to solidify it.
  • I may specially construct the device with one or more recesses opening oil from its main internal space, to include the susceptible part or area, and to be cooled sumciently below the general temperature of the device to assure condensation, etc.
  • the usual exter-- nal cooling of the envelope wall surrounding a suitable recess will suflice, without any special cooling provisions,even when the device is enclosed in a heat-conserving vacuum jacket, as is customary with sodium vapor lamps.
  • Fig. 1 is a side view of a tubular lamp (suitable for operation on alternating current) embodying my invention in one simple form.
  • Fig. 2 is a similar view showing a different form of construction.
  • Fig. 3 is a similar view showing yet another form of construction.
  • Fig. 4 is a similar view of a lamp having a neck and stem construction at one end.
  • Fig. 5 is a similar view of a lamp having a neck and stem construction at one end, and a construction like that of Fig. 1 at its other end.
  • the device shown in Fig. 1 is adapted for use as a glow discharge lamp, and comprises a tubular glass envelope ill with electrodes II, I l axially arranged in its opposite ends, and supported by current lead wires 12, I2 sealed through the end walls l3, 13.
  • the exhaust tip 14 on one end wall I3 is also shown.
  • the electrodes H, l i are here shown as of the so-called cold type,
  • the current leads [2, I2 may be of any suitable kind that will seal into glass satisfactorily, such as tungsten, molybdenum, or a copper-clad wire, all of. which are subject to oxidation in sealing them into glass.
  • the device and its details of construction are illustrative, and may be widely varied, or even radically changed.
  • the device may be operated with such usual sodium lamp accessories as an enclosing vacuum jacket (not shown), to conserve heat; a ballast (not shown), to control the current rise as the device heats up after starting; a compensating resistance, reactor, or transformer (not shown), to allow the device to be used on ordinary A. C. lighting circuits of 110-120 volts or the like; etc., etc.
  • cool regions consisting of deep, narrow recesses opening into the main interior space of the envelope III at either end, and formed by hollow-projections I5, I5 of the envelope wall, such as short lengths of glass tubing sealed into the end walls I3, I3, coaxially with the cylindrical envelope walls.
  • hollow-projections I5, I5 of the envelope wall such as short lengths of glass tubing sealed into the end walls I3, I3, coaxially with the cylindrical envelope walls.
  • each lead I2 extends axially through the tubes I5, I5, and are sealed through their closed outer ends by seals I6, I6.
  • each lead I2 is provided with heat-radiating means between its electrode II and the tube I5, as by (helically) coiling the lead wire at I! to the extent of a couple of turns, more or less. While it is impossible to interpose heat-insulating material in a lead I2 which must be a good electrical conductor, the length of wire in the coil I1 offers a more or less equivalent resistance to thermal conduction via the lead, and is thus thermo-insulative.
  • the tubes I5, I5 may be as small as is consistent with adequate mechanical strength, or as large as is consistent with retaining the required amount of protective material therein.
  • tubes are small enough, they will readily stay quite full of liquid metal. In general, tubes of about in. internal diameter answer very well, being small enough to bring capillarity into play to help hold a molten filling in them.
  • the axial current leads I2, I2 assist in holding liquid material in the tubes I5, I5, excepting insofar as heat transmitted by the leads may tend to vaporize the material.
  • Sodium or other alkali metal ' mayvbe distilled into the envelope Ill through the usual exhaust tube at I4 (not shown), after exhaustion of the device, but before sealing off; or it may be introduced in a hermetic (glass) capsule which is afterward ruptured, or in other ways.
  • the initial metal charges may coat them internally and there solidify,even covering the Junetion between the leads I2, I2 and the glass before or without actually filling the entire cross-section of the tubes.
  • the material may initially fill the sealed-up ends of the tubes I5, I5 throughout their cross-section.
  • the metal in the tubes I5, I5 embeds the leads l2, I2 adjacent the glass and forms an effective shut-off to protect the lead seals (and any susceptible adjacent areas of glass) against vapor attack when the device is first operated.
  • the tubes I5, I5 contain much, little, or no metal initially, they gradually fill up completely (about as shown at I8 in Fig. 1) as more and more material condenses in them during operation.
  • the heat of the leads I2, I2 tends to cause the metal surface around them to be hollowed more than would otherwise be the case, but less than without the heat-dissipating lead coils l1, l1.
  • Solid or liquid, the material in the tubes l5, I5 does not attack the parts; at ordinary temperatures, solid sodium and potassium are of a yielding, wax-like consistency, and so offer no danger of bursting the tubes I 5, I5 as a result of thermal expansion or contraction when the-device is thrown out of operation and allowed to cool,or 'vice-versa.
  • the axially tubular projections I5a, I5a and the axial current leads l2, I2 in them are bent upward (in the position of the device shown), at right angles to the axis of the envelope II). This makes the device shorter over-all than that ofFig. 1.
  • the exhaust tip Ila is shown on one of these tubes I5a, where it will be protected by the shut-off materiaL-instead of exposed on the tube end l3 as in Fig. l.
  • tubular projections I51), I52) do not open through the end walls I3b, I3b, but through the side walls of the envelope I0 adjacent the ends; and the tubes I51), I51) are sharply bent toward oneanother, into parallelism with the axis of the envelope.
  • the device is even shorter over-all than that of Fig. 2.
  • the device of Fig. 4 is of a more ordinary tubular lamp type,'with both current leads I2c, I2c introduced at the same end I30 of the envelope Iilc, through an ordinary tubular stem 20 with the usual seal press 2
  • the stem 20 is sealed as usual into a reduced neck I5c on one envelope end I3c, while the other envelope end I 30 is spherically rounded.
  • the current leads I20, I20 carry the electrodes II, II in the opposite ends of the envelope I00; and one of the leads extends the whole length-of the envelope in an insulative cover-tube 23 (of glass, or of refractory material like alumina), which is sealed into the stem press 2I, and is offset to one side of the envelope axis.
  • This insulative cover 23 prevents electrical discharge between this long lead Ilc and the adjacent short lead I2c as well as short circuiting between these leads by the metal in the neck I50. Only the short lead I20 has a coil I'Ic, since the length of the long lead serves to dissipat heat.
  • the neck I5e forms the cool recess for the sodium or other shut-off.
  • the stem 20 is preferably made as small as possible (e. g., of standard automobile headlight size), and the neck I50 correspondingly small, though necessarily larger than in Fig. 1.
  • the narrowness of the annular space around the stem 20 in the neck I50 helps to hold the material in the neck to its very junction with the rest of the envelope Inc.
  • the whole neck I5e is initially or eventually filled with condensed material (as shown at I80), embedding the whole stem 20 and the portions of the leads I20, I20 within the neck I50, and protecting the stem 20 if made of glass that does not resist alkali metal attack. This is advantageous because a stem of resistant glass would be difilcult to make and seal properly. Operating this device upright and neck-down, there is no difficulty in maintaining a body of molten material completely filling the neck I5e.
  • the device of Fig. 5 is like that of Fig. 4 at its left-hand end, where it has a neck I5d, etc., and like that of Fig. 1 at its right-hand end, where it has a tube I5e. Preferably, it is operated upright with neck I5d down.
  • Its electrodes IId, ii are of an indirectly heated type such as known in the art, and their internal (tungsten coil) heating resistances 24, 24 are interconnected in series between the leads I2d, In by a (molybdenum) lead 25 extending axially of the envelope IIid.
  • the serially connected heating resistances 24, 24 are in parallel with the glow discharge between the electrodes IId, IId during the operation of the device.
  • thermoinsulative refractory (asbestos) jacket gaskets 30 will preferably be used around the tubular end projections I5, I50, I5e, I5d, and I5e,--as indicated in dot and dash lines,-to minimize loss of heat by conduction and convection in the air within the jacket around the glow discharge device.
  • These gaskets 30 may be made of a plurality of superposed sheets of asbestos felt, to make them hug the surfaces of the parts I5, I5d, I5e, I5d, I5e and the internal surface of the vacuum jacket (not shown) more snugly. Care should be taken to place them right against the tube ends I3, I30, IM and on or against the head formed by the merger of the projection I5e with the corresponding spherical envelope end, in order to assist in keeping the parts I5, I50, I5c, I5d, I5e as cool as possible right up to the envelope ends.
  • a vapor electric discharge device containing a substance that is vaporous during operation of the device, and comprising an envelope having a relatively cool region in which a portion of said vapor condenses, a part of said region being subject to attack by the hot vapor of the substance, and a shut-off of said substance in said cool region embedding said part and protecting it from the vapor.
  • a vapor electric discharge device containing a substance that is vaporous during operation of the device, and comprising an envelope having a relatively cool region in which a portion of said vapor condenses, an inward extending part attached to the envelope wall in said cool region and including heat-dissipating means substantially to theinside of the point of attachment, and a shut-off of said substance in said cool region traversed by said part between its said heat dissipating means and its said point of attachment.
  • a vapor electric discharge device containing an alkali metal that is vaporous during operation of the device, and comprising an elongated tubular envelope with a relatively cool tubular recess opening laterally from its-end, and a filling of alkali metal in said recess.
  • a vapor electric discharge device containing a substance that is vaporous during operation of the device, and comprising an envelope having a relatively cool, narrow, deep recess adapted to condense said substance therein, and a wire extending into said recess and serving to retain the condensed substance therein.
  • a vapor electric discharge device containing a substance that is vaporous during operation of the device, and comprising an envelope having a relatively cool recess condensing and retaining a portion of said substance therein, and a part in said recess that is subject to attack by the hot vapor of said substance and immune to attack by said substance in a non-vaporous state, said condensed substance covering the non-resistant part of said recess to protect said part from attack by said vapor.
  • a vapor electric discharge device containing a substance that is vaporous during operation of the device, and comprising an envelope having a tubular projection opening into its interior condensing and retaining a portion of said substance therein, and a current lead sealed through the wall of said tubular projection and extending through its bore into the envelope, the joint between said current lead and the wall of said tubular projection being subject to attack by the hot vapor of said substance and immune to attack by said substance in a non-vaporous state.
  • a vapor electric discharge device containing a substance that is vaporous during operating of the device, and comprising an envelope having a relatively cool capillary recess condensing and retaining a portion of said substance therein, and a current lead sealed through the envelope wall in said recess and extending therethrough into the interior of the envelope, the joint between said current lead and said envelope wall being subject to attack by the hot vapor of said substance and immune to attack by said substance in a nonvaporous state.
  • a vapor electric'discharge device containing a substance that is vaporous during operationof a substance that is vaporous during operation of the device, and comprising an envelope having a relatively cool recess condensing and retaining a portion of said substance therein, and a part; attached to the envelope wall in the recess and extending therethrough into the interior of the envelope, and there provided with heat-dissipating means for minimizing heat transmission via said part into the recess.
  • a vapor electric discharge device containing aoeaeoe a substance that is vaporous during operation of the device, and comprising an envelope having a relatively cool recess condensing and retaining a portion of said substance therein, and a current lead sealed through the envelope wall in said recess and extending therethrough into the interior of the envelope, and there provided with heatdissipat-ing means for minimizing heat transmission along said lead into the recess.

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  • Vessels And Coating Films For Discharge Lamps (AREA)
US740508A 1934-08-18 1934-08-18 Vapor electric discharge device Expired - Lifetime US2056665A (en)

Priority Applications (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US740508A US2056665A (en) 1934-08-18 1934-08-18 Vapor electric discharge device
FR793748D FR793748A (fr) 1934-08-18 1935-08-12 Tube à décharge
GB23187/35A GB441000A (en) 1934-08-18 1935-08-17 Improvements in and relating to vapour electric discharge devices

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US740508A US2056665A (en) 1934-08-18 1934-08-18 Vapor electric discharge device

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US2056665A true US2056665A (en) 1936-10-06

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Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US740508A Expired - Lifetime US2056665A (en) 1934-08-18 1934-08-18 Vapor electric discharge device

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US (1) US2056665A (fr)
FR (1) FR793748A (fr)
GB (1) GB441000A (fr)

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2510397A (en) * 1946-10-02 1950-06-06 Rca Corp Heat-to-electrical energy converter
US2623988A (en) * 1948-05-24 1952-12-30 Electrical Products Corp Tube and support combination for illuminated signs
DE1056742B (de) * 1956-01-13 1959-05-06 British Thomson Houston Co Ltd Elektrische Natriumdampf-Entladungslampe
US3080497A (en) * 1959-12-11 1963-03-05 Gen Electric Bent end incandescent lamp
EP0441387A3 (en) * 1990-02-08 1992-04-15 Toshiba Lighting & Technology Corporation Low pressure gas discharge lamp

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
BE442425A (fr) * 1940-08-10

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2510397A (en) * 1946-10-02 1950-06-06 Rca Corp Heat-to-electrical energy converter
US2623988A (en) * 1948-05-24 1952-12-30 Electrical Products Corp Tube and support combination for illuminated signs
DE1056742B (de) * 1956-01-13 1959-05-06 British Thomson Houston Co Ltd Elektrische Natriumdampf-Entladungslampe
US3080497A (en) * 1959-12-11 1963-03-05 Gen Electric Bent end incandescent lamp
EP0441387A3 (en) * 1990-02-08 1992-04-15 Toshiba Lighting & Technology Corporation Low pressure gas discharge lamp

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
FR793748A (fr) 1936-01-30
GB441000A (en) 1936-01-09

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