Patent Grant
7511429
The present disclosure relates to high intensity discharge lamps and, more particularly, to an improved electrode arrangement for the arc tube of the lamp.
In a conventional construction of a high intensity discharge lamp, the electrode arrangement is hermetically sealed to the polycrystalline alumina arc tube by a glass frit with specific composition to match the thermal expansion coefficient of the polycrystalline alumina arc tube. In making the electrode, materials such as niobium metal, molybdenum-alumina cermet, or tungsten-alumina cermet are used since their thermal expansion coefficients are close to that of the polycrystalline alumina. Even with the careful design of the sealing frit material, cracking failure in the sealing area during lamp manufacture and lamp life cannot be completely prevented due to the construction of the electrode. In most electrode designs, there is molybdenum coil encircling either a molybdenum rod or a tungsten rod disposed between the frit sealing area and the tungsten electrode tip. When the frit over flows onto this middle portion of the electrode during the sealing process, there is a possibility of cracking in the sealing area during the sealing process or during lamp life.
Furthermore, due to the difference of thermal expansion coefficient between polycrystalline alumna and molybdenum, a relatively larger gap exists between the inner diameter of the polycrystalline alumna capillary tube and the molybdenum coil. This gap plus the void space between the molybdenum coil turns require that more metal halide chemical fill amount be filled into the arc tube during arc tube manufacturing. Higher amounts of metal halide chemical fill will introduce more impurity into the arc tube causing starting problems and increasing the rate of chemical reaction with polycrystalline alumina material. In order to reliably prevent cracks due to thermal expansion coefficient mismatch in the sealing region, reduce metal halide fill amount and improve lamp performance, an improved electrode arrangement is proposed.
The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
An arc tube is provided for use in a high intensity discharge lamp. The arc tube is generally comprised of an elongated outer envelope defining two opposed ends and a cavity there between; an electrode sleeve protruding outwardly from each end of the outer envelope, such that each electrode sleeve has a passageway; and an electrical feedthrough member inserted into the passageway of the electrode sleeve, where the feedthrough member includes an inner rod that extends into the cavity of the arc tube and a ceramic sleeve encircling a portion of the inner rod disposed within the passageway. A sealing compound is disposed at an outwardly facing end of the passageway for sealing the feedthrough member to the electrode sleeve, such that the sealing compound extends into the passageway of the electrode sleeve but is spatially separated from the ceramic sleeve.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. It should be understood that the description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.
In an exemplary embodiment, the outer envelope may be in the form of an open-ended cylinder 25 and a pair of closing disks 22A, 22B joined at each end of the cylinder. Cylindrical electrode sleeves 21A, 21B are inserted into a centered through hole provided by the closing disks 22A, 22B. Thus, the electrode sleeves 21A, 21B protrude outwardly (i.e., longitudinally) from each end of the outer envelope. Each electrode sleeve 21A, 21B further provides a bore along its longitudinal axis, thereby providing a passageway from outside into the inner cavity of the arc tube. These various components of the outer envelope are formed by compacting alumina powder into the desired shape followed by sintering the resulting compact to provide the preformed portion. The preformed portions are then joined by sintering to create a single body of desired dimensions. It is envisioned that other shapes for the outer envelope as well as different types of constructions are also within the scope of this disclosure.
The electrical feedthrough member 16 (also referred to as an electrode) is inserted into the passageway of each electrode sleeve. In a conventional construction, the electrode 16 may be comprised of an outer niobium rod 26A, 26B butt welded to an inner tungsten rod 31A, 31B. The outer rod 26A extends from outside of the electrode sleeve 14 into the passageway of the electrode sleeve. The inner rod 31A, 31B in turn extends from inside the passageway into the inner cavity of the arc tube. A molybdenum coil 34A, 34B may be wound around a portion of the inner rod 31A, 31B disposed within the passageway. In addition, electrode coils 32A, 32B are mounted on the end of the inner rod 31A, 31B residing the cavity of the arc tube. Lastly, a sealing frit 27A, 27B is used to join the electrode 16 to the electrode sleeve 14, thereby enclosing the discharge space of the arc tube. It is noteworthy that the sealing frit extends into the passageway of the electrode sleeve to cover several turns of the molybdenum coil to prevent the outer rod 26A, 26B from contacting with metal halide fills.
If the niobium could have some other material substituted therefore at the seal location, the electrode fabrication and the subsequent sealing process used therewith can be simplified and made more resistant to halide based chemical corrosion during operation as well. Ceramic sealing frits of mixed metal oxides are more halide resistant than the ones used in high pressure sodium lamps in effecting the seals between the polycrystalline alumina of the corresponding electrode tube and the corresponding niobium rod. However, while resistant, this sealing frit is not impervious to chemical attacks. Thus, elimination of niobium at the seal location would make possible a minimum and non-critical exposure length for the sealing frit within the electrode tubes.
To form a reliable sealing of the electrical feedthrough member into a polycrystalline alumina discharge tube, the electrical feedthrough member, the electrode sleeve and the sealing compound need to have similar thermal expansion coefficient to reduce stress at the sealing area during the arc tube sealing process and during the arc tube operation. The use of a ceramic sleeve to replace the molybdenum coil will result in significantly lower thermal stress thereabout over temperature changes as both the ceramic sleeve and the electrode sleeve are the same material. Also, the proposed electrode arrangement can have much tighter tolerances with much less empty space inside the electrode sleeve to eliminate the requirement for large amounts of metal halide to fill the space. This reduction of metal halide fill will make the correlated color temperature more stable during operation and will reduce the speed of chemical reaction between metal halide fill with polycrystalline alumina. Other advantage of using a ceramic sleeve to replace molybdenum coil is that at temperature higher than 500° C. the thermal conductivity of the ceramic (e.g., alumina) is ten times lower than that of the molybdenum metal so the heat loss of the tungsten electrode through the electrode sleeve tube will be significantly reduced. Another advantage of using a ceramic sleeve to replace molybdenum coil on the electrode is that molybdenum material reacts with iodine or bromine at certain conditions in an arc tube.
The outer rod 26A is joined concentrically (e.g., by a welded joint) to the end of middle rod 36A outside of the electrode sleeve; whereas the inner rod 31A is joined concentrically (e.g., by a welded joint) to the opposed end of the middle rod 36A. A niobium tube 23A may encircle the weld joint between the outer rod and the middle rod, thereby increasing the mechanical strength of the joint as well as serving a stop position for the electrode. In this embodiment, the outer rod 26A is made of niobium and the inner rod 31A is made of tungsten. However, it is again understood that metals having similar characteristics are within the scope of the present disclosure. Likewise, it is envisioned that rods having non-cylindrical shapes are within the scope of the present disclosure.
A ceramic sleeve 34A encircles a portion of the inner rod 31A within the passageway of the electrode sleeve 14. The outer diameter of the ceramic sleeve 34A is substantially equal to the inner diameter of the passageway. In one exemplary embodiment, the ceramic sleeve 34A abuts against the end of the middle rod 36A and extends longitudinally towards the inwardly facing end of the electrode sleeve 14, such that the end of the ceramic sleeve 34A is flush with the end of the electrode sleeve (not shown). In an alternative embodiment, a molybdenum or tungsten wire 33A is welded at the end of the ceramic sleeve 34A to fix its position on the inner rod. In this embodiment, the ceramic sleeve 34A extends nearly to the end of the electrode sleeve 14 as shown. In either case, the ceramic sleeve 34A occupies almost all of the space between the inner rod and the interior surface of the electrode sleeve so there is minimal space for metal halide salt to condense during lamp life. Exemplary ceramic materials may include alumina oxide, yttria oxide, aluminum nitride, as well as a mixture of alumina with molybdenum or tungsten metal.
A sealing fit 27A is disposed at the outwardly facing end of the electrode sleeve. Care must be taken to ensure that the melted sealing frits flow completely around and beyond the outer rod thereby forming a protective surface against the chemical reactions due to the halides. The frit flow length inside the electrode sleeve needs to be controlled very precisely. If the frit length is short, the outer niobium rod is exposed to chemical attack by the halides. If the frit length extends too far into the electrode sleeve, there is a large thermal mismatch between the frit and the inner rod which leads to cracks in the sealing frit or the polycrystalline alumina in that location. Therefore, the leading edge of the sealing frit should extend adjacent to the middle rod but stop before the ceramic sleeve and the inner rod. By spatially separating the sealing frit from the ceramic sleeve, thermal loss in the axial direction is reduced. It is understood that compounds other than frit are within the scope of the present disclosure.
Sealing process of the arc tube is carried out by heating the end of the ceramic sleeve with a frit ring at the joint location. The heating is applied in a sealing furnace with controlled filling gas environment. The sealing length of the frit material inside the ceramic sleeve is controlled by adjusting the location of the sheet metal heat shields applied to the ceramic sleeve inside the furnace. The sheet metal heat shields limit the portion of the ceramic sleeve being heated by the heating element of the furnace.
The description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and, thus, variations that do not depart from the gist of the invention are intended to be within the scope of the invention. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention. It should be understood that throughout the drawings, corresponding reference numerals indicate like or corresponding parts and features.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20070188100 A1 | Aug 2007 | US |
