BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a structure of a conventional external electrode fluorescent lamp;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a bundle type fluorescent lamp including a plurality of internal electrode fluorescent lamps aligned in the form of a bundle according to one embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a circuit view illustrating an electric connection between fluorescent lamps of a bundle type fluorescent lamp shown in FIG. 2 according to one embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a circuit view illustrating an electric connection between fluorescent lamps of a bundle type fluorescent lamp shown in FIG. 2 according to another embodiment of the present invention;
FIGS. 5
a to 5c are perspective views illustrating a bundle type fluorescent lamp including a plurality of external electrode fluorescent lamps adaptable for a low temperature atmosphere according to another embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 6 is a circuit view illustrating an electric connection between external electrode fluorescent lamps shown in FIG. 5a according to one embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating a bundle type fluorescent lamp accommodated in a transparent insulative cover or a semitransparent insulative cover, and
FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating a bundle type fluorescent lamp shown in FIG. 7 connected to a power source through a multiple clamp and a single electrode.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to accompanying drawings.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a bundle type fluorescent lamp including a plurality of internal electrode fluorescent lamps aligned in the form of a bundle according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a circuit view illustrating an electric connection between the internal fluorescent lamps of the bundle type fluorescent lamp shown in FIG. 2. In the following description, FIGS. 2 and 3 will be explained together for the purpose of convenience. In addition, the bundle type fluorescent lamp 1 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 has at least two conventional glass type fluorescent lamps 1′ aligned in a row. Therefore, the following description will be focused on the differences between the bundle type fluorescent lamp 1 and the conventional glass type fluorescent lamp 1′ shown in FIG. 1.
As shown in FIG. 2, the bundle type fluorescent lamp 1 according to the present invention includes three fluorescent lamps, which are bundled in a row. Each of three fluorescent lamps includes a glass tube 20, which is filled with Hg and Ar gases and a fluorescent layer (not shown) is coated on an inner peripheral wall thereof, and an electrode 10 positioned at both sides of the glass tube 20. Although the bundle type fluorescent lamp 1 including three fluorescent lamps is illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the bundle type fluorescent lamp 1 may have two or four fluorescent lamps. The present invention does not limit the number of fluorescent lamps. In addition, a fixing unit, such as a clamp or an adhesive, can be used to bind the fluorescent lamps with each other. However, the present invention does not limit the sort of fixing units. In addition, although straight type fluorescent lamps are shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the present invention can employ bending type or spherical type fluorescent lamps without limitation.
As shown in FIG. 3, in order to electrically connect the fluorescent lamps of the bundle type fluorescent lamp 1 with each other, a stabilize and a start lamp are provided at external portions of the fluorescent lamps, respectively. That is, according to the present invention, a plurality of fluorescent lamps of the bundle type fluorescent lamp 1 are electrically bound with each other in a row, so that the bundle type fluorescent lamp 1 can be effectively operated under the low temperature atmosphere as compared with the single type fluorescent lamp.
FIG. 4 is a circuit view illustrating an electric connection between fluorescent lamps of the bundle type fluorescent lamp shown in FIG. 2 according to another embodiment of the present invention. According to the present embodiment, an electronic stabilizer is employed instead of the mechanical stabilize shown in FIG. 3. Accordingly, the start lamp is not necessary in order to turn on the bundle type fluorescent lamp, so loss of start power caused by flickering of the start lamp may not occur.
FIGS. 5
a to 5c are perspective views illustrating bundle type fluorescent lamps 100, 100a and 100b including a plurality of fluorescent lamps adaptable for a low temperature atmosphere according to another embodiment of the present invention. According to the present embodiment, the bundle type fluorescent lamps includes a plurality of external electrode fluorescent lamps having external electrodes 112, 112a and 112b, instead of internal fluorescent lamps 1 having electrode sections 12 shown in FIGS. 2 to 4. Thus, the following description will be focused on the differences between the bundle type fluorescent lamps 100, 100a and 100b shown in FIGS. 5a to 5c and the bundle type fluorescent lamp 1 shown in FIGS. 2 to 4.
The external electrode fluorescent lamps 100, 100a and 100b include cylindrical glass tubes 111, 111a and 111b having a diameter of about a few millimeters. External electrodes 112, 112a and 112b are installed at both ends of the cylindrical glass tubes 111, 111a and 111b while surrounding both ends of the cylindrical glass tubes. A fluorescent material is coated on an inner peripheral wall of the cylindrical glass tubes. Both ends of the cylindrical glass tubes are sealed after discharge gas including inert gas and Hg gas has been filled in the cylindrical glass tubes. The external electrode fluorescent lamp has life span longer than that of the general fluorescent lamp with a higher efficiency. In addition, since the external electrode fluorescent lamp has a parallel drive mechanism, a plurality of external electrode fluorescent lamps can be simultaneously driven by means of a single stabilizer. The external electrodes 112, 112a and 112b are made from a conductive material having a low electric resistance characteristic, such as Al, Ag or Cu. In addition, the external electrode can be formed in various shapes, such as an L-shape, a spiral-shape, and a wave-shape.
As shown in FIG. 5a, the bundle type fluorescent lamp 100 includes three external electrode fluorescent lamps having external electrodes 112 surrounding both ends of the glass tubes 111. However, the bundle type fluorescent lamp 100 may have two or four external electrode fluorescent lamps. However, the present invention does not limit the number of external electrode fluorescent lamps. In addition, a fixing unit, such as a clamp or an adhesive, can be used to bind the external electrode fluorescent lamps with each other. In addition, although the bundle type fluorescent lamp 100 including straight type external electrode fluorescent lamps is shown in FIG. 5a, according to another embodiment of the present invention, a bundle type fluorescent lamp 100a having bending type external electrode fluorescent lamps as shown in FIG. 5b or a bundle type fluorescent lamp 100b having spherical type external electrode fluorescent lamps as shown in FIG. 5c can be employed. The present invention does not limit the shapes of the bundle type fluorescent lamp.
FIG. 6 is a circuit view illustrating an electric connection between external electrode fluorescent lamps shown in FIG. 5a according to one embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 6, the bundle type fluorescent lamp 100 including three external electrode fluorescent lamps is connected to a single power source through an inverter 200. Since the bundle type fluorescent lamp 100 including three external electrode fluorescent lamps is connected to the single power source, the bundle type fluorescent lamp 100 can be effectively operated under the lower temperature atmosphere of about 18 degrees below zero, while minimizing and simplifying an external wiring structure thereof. Thus, manufacturing and installation works for the bundle type fluorescent lamp 100 become simplified.
In the meantime, the inverter 2, which is a power supply unit for driving the bundle type fluorescent lamp 100, is mainly classified into a switching type inverter and an LC-resonance type inverter. A square wave is applied to the bundle type fluorescent lamp 100 through the switching type inverter when it is necessary to achieve high brightness, and a sine wave is applied to the bundle type fluorescent lamp 100 through the LC-resonance type inverter when it is necessary to drive the single fluorescent lamp or plural fluorescent lamps at low power consumption. However, the present invention does not limit the sort of the inverters.
In addition, the switching type inverters can be classified into full-bridge type inverters, half-bridge type inverters, push-pull type inverters, and multiple vibration type inverters. Since the sort of the inverters is generally known in the art, it will not be further described below.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating a bundle type fluorescent lamp 100c accommodated in a transparent insulative cover, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating the bundle type fluorescent lamp shown in FIG. 7 connected to the power source through a multiple clamp and a single electrode.
As shown in FIG. 7, the bundle type fluorescent lamp 100c is accommodated in at least one or two transparent insulative covers 120 and 121 in the form of a multiple tube. Although the insulative cover is preferably made from a transparent material, the insulative cover can be made from a semitransparent material. In addition, the transparent material or the semi ant material includes glass, resin, plastic or polyester. However, the present invention does not limit the material for the transparent or semitransparent insulative covers, if it has an insulative characteristic. After bundling at least two external electrode fluorescent lamps, preferably, at least three external electrode fluorescent lamps, the bundle type fluorescent lamp is accommodated in the transparent insulative covers 120 and 121, so the bundle type fluorescent lamp may operate with superior operational characteristics under the low temperature below zero.
As shown in FIG. 8, the bundle type fluorescent lamp 100d is fixedly accommodated in two transparent insulative covers 120 and 121 by means of a clamp 113. In addition, the external electrodes 112 are connected to an inverter 200 through a single electrode 110, so that the bundle type fluorescent lamp 100d may represent superior brightness and energy efficiency under the low temperature below zero.
Meanwhile, although the external electrode fluorescent lamps are preferably bundled by means of the clamp 113, they can be bonded to each other by means of an adhesive. As mentioned above, the present invention does not limit the fixing unit used for binding the external electrode fluorescent lamps to each other. In addition, although the present invention has been described in relation to the external electrode fluorescent lamps (EEFLs), the bundle type fluorescent lamp of the present invention can employ cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) having a slim size. In this case, the bundle type fluorescent lamp may represent high brightness and superior color rendition at low power consumption.
The following graph shows the brightness difference between the general fluorescent lamp and the external electrode fluorescent lamp of the present invention. However, it should be noted that this graph is for illustrative purpose only and does not intend to limit the scope of the present invention.
Temperature Test Result (Under the Temperature of −22° C.)
The above graph shows brightness of three kinds of fluorescent lamps (a conventional fluorescent lamp, a fluorescent lamp having a single lamp and a single insulative cover, and a fluorescent lamp having three lamps and two insulative covers) as a function of time under the temperature of −22° C.
As can be understood from the above graph, initial brightness of the fluorescent lamp having three lamps and two insulative covers according to the present invention increases with a steep angle as compared with that of the conventional fluorescent lamp. As time goes by, brightness of the fluorescent lamp is stabilized at 4500 cd/m2. Thus, the fluorescent lamp of the present invention may represent brightness efficiency higher than that of the conventional fluorescent lamp by four times.
As described above, according to the bundle type fluorescent lamp of the present invention adaptable for the lower temperature atmosphere, at least two fluorescent lamps are aligned in a row in the form of a bundle and are accommodated in at least two transparent insulative covers. Accordingly, the bundle type fluorescent lamp of the present invention can represent superior brightness and energy efficiency even if it is installed in a freezing chamber or a cold storage warehouse.
Although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.
Patent Application
20070285016
