Claims
- 1. A discharge lamp comprising:a laminated envelope, said envelope having a front surface and a back surface integrated together to form a unitary envelope body essentially free of any sealing materials, and at least a gas-discharge channel enclosed within said envelope; and at least an external electrode in capacitive communication with said gas-discharge channel at an electrode surface integrally molded with said envelope body and on which is disposed a conductive medium; and an electrode surface area in the range of about 6.54-25.81 cm2.
- 2. The discharge lamp according to claim 1, wherein said laminated envelope functions as an effective, dielectric intermediate between said external electrode and said gas-discharge channel.
- 3. The discharge lamp according to claim 1, wherein said laminated envelope is made of a glass material.
- 4. The discharge lamp according to claim 3, wherein said glass material includes: borosilicate, aluminosilictaes, boro-aluminosilicates, and soda-lime silicates.
- 5. The discharge lamp according to claim 1, wherein said laminated envelope exhibits a weight to area ratio of about ≦1.0 g/cm2.
- 6. The discharge lamp according to claim 1, wherein said external electrode is integrated with said unitary envelope body.
- 7. The discharge lamp according to claim 1, wherein said electrode surface is formed as an elongated receptacle.
- 8. The discharge lamp according to claims 7, wherein said electrode surface is formed as a plurality of contiguous elongated receptacles.
- 9. The discharge lamp according to claim 1, wherein said external electrode has an electrode area and said laminated envelope at said electrode surface has an electrode thickness that enables efficient capacitive coupling at an operating frequency of about 100 kHz to 1000 kHz.
- 10. The discharge lamp according to claim 1, wherein said external electrode enables efficient capacitive coupling at an operating frequency of about 250 kHz.
- 11. The discharge lamp according to claim 1, wherein said external electrode is located near opposing ends of a gas-discharge channel for inducing an electrical discharge through said gas-discharge channel.
- 12. The discharge lamp according to claim 1, wherein said external electrode is in capacitive communication with a plurality of gas-discharge channels.
- 13. The discharge lamp according to claim 12, wherein an electrical discharge is driven in parallel across said plurality of gas-discharge channels.
- 14. The discharge lamp according to claim 1, wherein said laminated envelope comprises a plurality of separate, gas-discharge channels.
- 15. The discharge lamp according to claim 1, wherein said gas-discharge channel is evacuated and backfilled with an ionizable gas.
- 16. The discharge lamp according to claim 15, wherein said ionizable gas is selected from the group consisting of any noble gas or mixtures thereof.
- 17. The discharge lamp according to claim 15, wherein said ionizable gas is neon, xenon, krypton, argon, helium, and mixtures thereof with mercury.
- 18. The discharge lamp according to claim 15, wherein said ionizable gas is neon at a pressure of about 5-6 torr.
- 19. The discharge lamp according to claim 18, wherein said neon at said pressure of about 5-6 torr is activated at 250 kHz.
- 20. The discharge lamp according to claim 1, wherein said conductive medium includes conductive tape, conductive coatings, conductive epoxies, conductive inks, frit with conductive fillers, and mixtures thereof.
- 21. The discharge lamp according to claim 1, wherein said medium is formed by any one of the following processes: sputtering, evaporation, chemical deposition and ion implantation.
- 22. The discharge lamp according to claim 1, wherein said conductive medium is a coating of indium tin oxide.
- 23. The discharge lamp according to claim 1, wherein said laminated envelope comprises a gas-discharge channel having a serpentine configuration.
- 24. The discharge lamp according to claim 23, wherein a plurality of external electrodes in capacitive communication with, and located on parallel sections of said serpentine gas-discharge channel for driving an electrical discharge in said gas-discharge channel in parallel.
- 25. A discharge lamp comprising:a laminated envelope, said envelope having a front surface and a back surface integrated together to form a unitary envelope body essentially free of any sealing materials, and at least a gas-discharge channel enclosed within said envelope; and at least an external electrode in capacitive communication with said gas-discharge channel at an electrode surface integrally molded with said envelope body and on which is disposed a conductive medium; and said external electrode having, an electrode thickness in the range of about 0.5 mm to 1.5 mm.
- 26. The discharge lamp according, to claim 25, wherein said laminated envelope functions as an effective, dielectric intermediate between said external electrode and said gas-discharge channel.
- 27. The discharge lamp according to claim 25, wherein said laminated envelope is made of a glass material.
- 28. The discharge lamp according to claim 27, wherein said glass material includes: borosilicate, aluminosilictaes, boro-aluminosilicates, and soda-lime silicates.
- 29. The discharge lamp according to claim 25, wherein said laminated envelope exhibits a weight to area ratio of about >1.0 g/cm2.
- 30. The discharge lamp according to claim 25, wherein said external electrode is integrated with said unitary envelope body.
- 31. The discharge lamp according to claim 25, wherein said electrode surface is formed as an elongated receptacle.
- 32. The discharge lamp according to claim 31, wherein said electrode surface is formed as a plurality of contiguous elongated receptacles.
- 33. The discharge lamp according to claim 25, wherein said external electrode has an electrode area and said laminated envelope at said electrode surface has an electrode thickness that enables efficient capacitive coupling at an operating frequency of about 100 kHz to 1000 kHz.
- 34. The discharge lamp according to claim 25, wherein said external electrode enables efficient capacitive coupling at an operating frequency of about 250 kHz.
- 35. The discharge lamp according to claim 25, wherein said external electrode is located near opposing ends of a gas-discharge channel for inducing an electrical discharge through said gas-discharge channel.
- 36. The discharge lamp according to claim 25, wherein said external electrode is in capacitive communication with a plurality of gas-discharge channels.
- 37. The discharge lamp according to claim 36, wherein an electrical discharge is driven in parallel across said plurality of gas-discharge channels.
- 38. The discharge lamp according to claim 25, wherein said laminated envelope comprises a plurality of separate, gas-discharge channels.
- 39. The discharge lamp according to claim 25, wherein said gas-discharge channel is evacuated and backfilled with an ionizable gas.
- 40. The discharge lamp according to claim 39, wherein said ionizable gas is selected from the group consisting of any noble gas or mixtures thereof.
- 41. The discharge lamp according to claim 39, wherein said ionizable gas is neon, xenon, krypton, argon, helium, and mixtures thereof with mercury.
- 42. The discharge lamp according to claim 39, wherein said ionizable gas is neon at a pressure of about 5-6 torr.
- 43. The discharge lamp according to claim 42, wherein said neon at said pressure of about 5-6 torr is activated at 250 kHz.
- 44. The discharge lamp according to claim 25, wherein said conductive medium includes conductive tape, conductive coatings, conductive epoxies, conductive inks, frit with conductive fillers, and mixtures thereof.
- 45. The discharge lamp according to claim 25, wherein said medium is formed by any one of the following processes: sputtering, evaporation, chemical deposition and ion implantation.
- 46. The discharge lamp according to claim 25, wherein said conductive medium is a coating of indium tin oxide.
- 47. The discharge lamp according to claim 25, wherein said laminated envelope comprises a gas-discharge channel having a serpentine configuration.
- 48. The discharge lamp according to claim 47, wherein a plurality of external electrodes in capacitive communication with, and located on parallel sections of said serpentine gas-discharge channel for driving an electrical discharge in said gas-discharge channel in parallel.
- 49. A discharge lamp comprising: a laminated envelope having a front surface and a back surface integrated together to form a unitary envelope body essentially free of any sealing materials; said laminated envelope comprising a plurality of separate gas-discharge channels, and at least a pair of external electrodes in indirect communication with each of said gas-discharge channels for inducing an electrical discharge in parallel; said external electrodes comprising an electrode surface integrally molded with said unitary envelope body, an electrode thickness in the range of about 0.5 mm to 1.5 mm, and a conductive medium disposed externally on said electrode surface.
- 50. A discharge lamp comprising: a laminated envelope having a front surface and a back surface integrated together to form a unitary envelope body essentially free of any sealing materials; said laminated envelope comprising a gas-discharge channel formed in a serpentine form and a plurality of external electrodes in indirect communication with, and located on parallel sections of said gas-discharge channel for inducing an electrical discharge in parallel, said external electrodes comprising an electrode surface integrally molded with said unitary envelope body, an electrode thickness in the range of about 0.5 mm to 1.5 mm, and a conductive medium disposed externally on said electrode surface.
Parent Case Info
This application claims the benefit of provisional application 60/074,198 filed Mar. 24, 1998.
PCT Information
Filing Document |
Filing Date |
Country |
Kind |
PCT/US98/23722 |
|
WO |
00 |
Publishing Document |
Publishing Date |
Country |
Kind |
WO99/49493 |
9/30/1999 |
WO |
A |
US Referenced Citations (24)
Foreign Referenced Citations (6)
Number |
Date |
Country |
196 38 709 |
Apr 1998 |
DE |
0 745 565 |
Dec 1996 |
EP |
8-318232 |
Dec 1996 |
JP |
9-125276 |
May 1997 |
JP |
9-239332 |
Sep 1997 |
JP |
2077374 |
Apr 1997 |
RU |
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60/079198 |
Mar 1998 |
US |