Patent Grant
6963158
This invention relates to lamps and more particularly to mount assemblies for arc discharge lamps. Still more particularly it relates to mount assemblies that are economical to fabricate, suitable for automation, mounted to low-wattage lamps and useable with two distinct kinds of lamps.
Mount assemblies for arc discharge lamps usually employ a discharge vessel mounted upon a frame. The frame is generally mounted by means of clips to the flare. The flare itself comprises a tubular body that can carry the exhaust tubulation and seals the in-leads in a pinch seal. Previous assemblies have employed formed, soft nickel straps that were welded to one leg of a frame, curled manually, welded to a second leg of the frame, placed around the barrel portion of the flare, grasped with pliers and welded together. Further forming conformed the strap to the profile of the flare barrel. Such assemblies are expensive and require a great deal of manual operations to complete. The repetitious hand operations also had unacceptable ergonomic issues.
Additionally, it has been necessary to provide different, individual mount assemblies for carrying different types of arc tubes.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to obviate the disadvantages of the prior art.
It is another object of the invention to enhance mount structures for arc discharge vessels.
Yet another object of the invention is the provision of a mount structure that, with little modification, can be employed with very different arc discharge vessels.
These object are accomplished, in one aspect of the invention, by the provision of a mount assembly for an arc discharge vessel that comprises a glass stem having a longitudinal axis that includes a flare with a barrel portion and a seal portion containing at least two relatively rigid stem-leads projecting therefrom. A relatively rigid wire frame is provided with the frame having a distal end and a proximal end.
A loop portion is formed at the proximal end and is affixed to the barrel portion of the flare and the distal end extends away from the barrel portion in a direction transverse to the plane of the loop portion. An arc discharge vessel having a substantially linear configuration and having an electrode connection extending from each end positioned on said longitudinal axis is associated with the wire frame. A first of the stem-leads is fixedly attached to the wire frame near the proximal end and a first of the electrode connections is affixed to another of the stem-leads. A second of the electrode connections is affixed to the wire frame at the distal end.
This structure provides a rigid mount capable of sustaining the proper orientation of the arc discharge vessel even when the lamp with which it is employed is mounted in a horizontal attitude. Additionally, the simple wire frame is easily adaptable to mount both sodium arc tubes, which generally are long and slim and the new metal halide arc discharge vessels, which are short, bulgy, and usually mounted within a shield.
For a better understanding of the present invention, together with other and further objects, advantages and capabilities thereof reference is made to the following disclosure and appended claims in conjunction with the above-described drawings.
Referring now to the drawings with greater particularity, there is shown in
A loop portion 32 is formed at the proximal end 30 and has a diameter substantially equal to the diameter of the barrel 18 and is affixed thereto. The distal end 28 of the wire frame 26 extends away from the barrel portion in a direction transverse to the plane of the loop portion 32. An arc discharge vessel 34, in this instance a bulgy arc tube having a substantially linear configuration and having electrode connections 36 and 38 extending from the ends thereof and surrounded by a shield 40, is positioned on the longitudinal axis 14 and is affixed to the wire frame. As shown, the arc tube 34 is mounted within the shield 40 by straps 42 and 44 it is tabs 46 and 48 that are attached to the wire frame 26, preferably by welding. A first of the stem-leads, for example, 22, is fixedly attached to the wire frame 26 near the proximal end 30 and a first of the electrode connections, for example, 36, is affixed to the stem-lead 24. The second the electrode connection 38 is affixed to the wire frame 26 at the distal end 28.
As shown in
In a second embodiment shown in
This structure provides a rigid mount capable of sustaining the proper orientation of the arc discharge vessel even when the lamp with which it is employed is mounted in a horizontal attitude. Additionally, the simple wire frame is easily adaptable to mount both sodium arc tubes, which generally are long and slim and the new metal halide arc discharge vessels, which are short, bulgy, and usually mounted within a shield.
While there have been shown and described what are at present considered to be the preferred embodiments of the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modification can be made herein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3218495 | Hasell et al. | Nov 1965 | A |
| 6153968 | Dombrowski et al. | Nov 2000 | A |
| 6291933 | Dombrowski et al. | Sep 2001 | B1 |
| 6326721 | Shippee et al. | Dec 2001 | B1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20050035698 A1 | Feb 2005 | US |
