Patent Application
20080231160
The present invention relates primarily to compact fluorescent lamps and, more particularly, to dual spirally wound compact fluorescent lamps having a plurality of cooling points that are strategically placed along the periphery, which provides an equivalent lamp intensity when the lamp is operated in either an upright vertical position or in a horizontal plane. The lamp is provided with a cold chamber portion connecting the ends of the spiral shaped tube portions at the apex and a plurality of cold chambers positioned on each leg of the distal ends.
The optimum mercury vapor pressure for producing a radiation of 2537 angstroms to excite a phosphor coating the interior of a fluorescent lamp approximates six millitorr, at a corresponding mercury vapor temperature approximating 40 degrees C. To ensure optimum operation of the lamp at or about a mercury vapor pressure of six millitorr, the power density level of a conventional fluorescent lamp is adjusted to attain this result. A typical range of operating pressures may span from between four to seven millitorr. The lamp is typically designed such that the coolest location, (cooling point), in the fluorescent lamp is approximately 40 degrees C.
Compact fluorescent lamps, however, operate at higher power densities with the cold spot temperature typically exceeding 50 degrees C. As a result, the mercury vapor pressure is higher than the optimum four to seven millitorr range, and the luminous output of the lamp is decreased.
One consideration in controlling the mercury vapor pressure is to use an alloy capable of absorbing mercury from its gaseous phase in varying amounts, depending upon temperature. Alloys capable of forming amalgams with mercury have been found to be particularly useful. The mercury vapor pressure of such an amalgam at a given temperature is lower than the mercury vapor pressure of pure liquid mercury.
Positioning an amalgam to achieve a mercury vapor pressure in the optimum range remains difficult. For stable long-term operation, the amalgam should be placed and retained in a relatively cool location with minimal temperature variation. Such an optimal location is at or near the tip, or apex, of the lamp envelope.
As a practical solution, the amalgam support should maintain the optimal location of the amalgam, regardless of the orientation of the lamp.
The following prior art discloses the various aspects in the design of spirally shaped cold cathode fluorescent lamps.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,567, granted Mar. 19, 1996, to R. H. Wilson, et al., discloses an apparatus for securing an amalgam at the apex of an electrodeless fluorescent lamp, having a glass rod extending through and sealed to the exhaust tube of an electrodeless SEF fluorescent discharge lamp that has a metal support member at one end thereof for supporting an amalgam at or near the apex of the lamp envelope. The metal support member may comprise a spiral-shaped wire, a wire screen, or a wire basket. Preferably, the amalgam is maintained in contact with the apex of the lamp envelope. If desired, the metal support member may comprise a magnetic material to allow for magnetic transport of the amalgam assembly during lamp processing. The metal support member restricts spreading of the amalgam when in a liquid state; and the glass rod provides rigid support for the amalgam independent of lamp orientation.
U.S. Patent Application No. 20020180352, filed Dec. 5, 2002, by L. Ilyes, et al., discloses a low-pressure discharge lamp with a double spiral shaped discharge tube including two spiral shaped tube portions. The tube portions define a central axis of the discharge tube. A cold chamber portion connects the ends of the spiral shaped tube portions. The cold chamber portion has a first transversal dimension substantially perpendicular to the central axis, which is larger than the diameter of the tube portions. The cold chamber portion further has a second transversal dimension substantially parallel to the central axis. The second transversal dimension of the cold chamber portion substantially corresponds to the diameter of the tube portions.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,528,953, granted Mar. 4, 2003, to N. Pearson, et al., discloses an Amalgam retainer having an arc discharge lamp comprised of an arc chamber having an amalgam tip attached to and communicating with it. The communication comprises a narrow tubular extension that penetrates the amalgam tip for a distance less than the depth of the tip. An amalgam that includes bismuth is contained within the amalgam tip. This construction allows operation of the lamp in any position and prevents the bismuth in the amalgam from penetrating the lamp and poisoning the phosphor.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,630,779, granted Oct. 7, 2003, to J. Tokes, et al., discloses a fluorescent lamp comprised of a discharge tube bent substantially in a plane and shaped at least in part to define a substantial portion of the boundary of a zone in the plane. The part of the tube defining the boundary includes at least one straight portion. The discharge tube has a central axis and sealed ends provided with electrodes and at least two tube sections running substantially parallel to each other. Each tube section has at least one blind-sealed end and the tube sections are connected in series through bridges in the vicinity of the blind-sealed ends to define a single continuous discharge space to be excited by electrical power supplied to the electrodes. A lamp support housing is positioned within the zone and the ends of the discharge tube as well as the blind-sealed ends of the tube sections are re-entrant into the zone. The ends of the discharge tube are received in the lamp support housing. The lamp support housing carries means suitable for mechanically and electrically connecting to a socket and include lead-in wires connecting the electrodes directly or through an operating circuit to the means suitable for electrically connecting to a socket.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,633,128, granted Oct. 14, 2003, to Lilies, et al., teaches of a discharge lamp with spiral shaped discharge tube comprising a low-pressure discharge lamp with a double spiral shaped discharge tube including two spiral shaped tube portions. The tube portions define a central axis of the discharge tube. A cold chamber portion connects the ends of the spiral shaped tube portions. The cold chamber portion has a first transversal dimension substantially perpendicular to the central axis that is larger than the diameter of the tube portions. The cold chamber portion further has a second transversal dimension substantially parallel to the central axis. The second transversal dimension of the cold chamber portion substantially corresponds to the diameter of the tube portions.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,650,042, granted Nov. 18, 2003, to E. E. Hammer, discloses a low-wattage fluorescent lamp having at least one mercury cold spot region effective to maintain the mercury in the lamp at less than 30 degrees C., preferably 25.degrees C., in an enclosed lamp fixture. The lamp also features a reduced distance between electrodes resulting in less power being required to sustain an electric arc discharge during operation of the lamp. The lower power electric arc generates less heat to raise the temperature of mercury vapor within the lamp.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,731,070, granted May 4, 2004, to R. P. Scholl, et al., discloses a low-pressure gas discharge lamp having a gas discharge vessel containing a gas filling with a chalcogenide of the elements of the fourth main group of the periodic systems of elements and a buffer gas, and having inner or outer electrodes and means for generating and maintaining a low-pressure gas discharge.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,741,023, granted May 25, 2004, to A. Pirovic, discloses an electrode shield for a fluorescent tanning lamp comprising an open cup encircling a filament or electrode increasing the service life of the fluorescent tanning lamp. The cup having an open end acts as a shield reducing the sputtering of impurities onto the glass tube and contaminating the phosphor surface. In one embodiment, the cup is electrically and thermally coupled to an electrode support. The life of the fluorescent tanning lamp is greatly increased despite the use of relatively high currents and large number of on and off cycles.
Therefore, what is needed is a double helical, compact fluorescent lamp that has a plurality of cooling points that will allow the lamp to operate in a vertical position, with the apex facing upwardly, or with the lamp mounted in a horizontal plane, in any rotatable angle about the horizontal axis of the lamp, without degradation of the luminous output of the lamp.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a plurality cooling points about the periphery of a bi-helical compact fluorescent lamp, said cooling points being arranged about the periphery of the spiraled coils to provide a constant luminous output of the lamp, regardless of its positional angle from the vertical axis of orientation.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a plurality cooling points about the periphery of a bi-helical compact fluorescent lamp, said cooling points being arranged about the inner periphery of the spiraled coils to provide a constant luminous output of the lamp, regardless of its positional angle from the vertical axis of orientation.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a plurality cooling points about the periphery of a bi-helical compact fluorescent lamp, said cooling points being arranged about the periphery of the spiraled coils at the distal ends to provide a luminous output of the lamp, when operated in a horizontal plane, equivalent to its operation in a vertical position.
It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide a plurality cooling points about the periphery of a bi-helical compact fluorescent lamp, where at least one of said cooling points being arranged proximately at the vertex joining the spiraled coils to provide a luminous output of the lamp, when operated in a vertical position, equivalent to its operation in a horizontal plane.
It is yet still another object of the present invention to provide a cooling point chamber that is an enlargement of the diameter of the lamp tubing, the length preferably not exceeding five diameters, creating a chamber having an increased volume.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a plurality of cooling point chambers that are shaped as ellipsoidal convexities along the periphery of the tubing.
Yet, another object of the present invention is to provide a plurality of cooling point chambers that are shaped as ellipsoidal convexities along the inner periphery of the tubing.
Yet still another object of the present invention to provide a plurality of cooling point chambers, whose enlargements increase the diameter of the tubing, to decrease the temperature of the mercury vapor where the mercury vapor condenses and is deposited in said respective cooling point.
It is a final object of the present invention to provide a plurality of cooling point chambers having a plurality of enlargements along the length of the tubing; said cooling point chambers being of any arbitrary, generalized geometrical shape whose function is to decrease the temperature of the mercury vapor so that the mercury vapor condenses and is deposited in said respective cooling point.
These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from reading the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.
It has been demonstrated experimentally that by positioning a cold chamber at the apex of a spring wound compact fluorescent lamp, whose cross-section is shaped ellipsoidal where the major axis of the ellipsoid is in a vertical position, being the highest point and ovately upright, and when operated in a vertical burn position, a 23-watt lamp typically provides a luminous output ranging from 1600 to 1650 lumens.
However, when the same lamp is positioned in the horizontal plane, where it is radially orthogonal to the vertical axis, the luminous output decreases to only 1350 to 1400 lumens, and has a shorter life expectancy than when operated in the upright position.
But with the present invention, by placing an enlargement, a cooling point shaped as an ovate convexity, positioned near the last turn on one-half of the spiral wound tubing and another cooling point at the vertex, then the same 23-watt lamp, when mounted in either the horizontal or upright position, produces a luminous output of 1550 lumens.
For a larger, higher-wattage spirally wound fluorescent lamp that uses a greater quantity of mercury, such as with a 42-watt lamp, two cooling points, each shaped as an ovate convexity, are positioned near the last turn on each leg of the spiral wound tubing, as well as one at the vertex at the mid-point of the tubing.
Still additional cooling points may be added along the periphery, such as utilizing three cooling points angularly separated by 120 degrees or four cooling points that are each angularly separated by 90 degrees, so that the lamp, when operated in a horizontal plane, can be placed at any arbitrary rotational angle without any degradation of the luminous output.
The present invention is pictorially illustrated in the accompanying drawings that are attached herein.
The light output of a low-pressure mercury vapor lamp is determined by the saturated mercury vapor pressure which is determined by the temperature of the liquid mercury deposited somewhere on the inner wall of the lamp. In a stabilized lamp this is the coldest part of the bulb: the “cold chamber”, “cold spot”, or “cooling point”. It is there that the saturated mercury vapor pressure is determined from the cold-spot temperature. More specifically, in accordance with Boyle's Law, P1 V1 T1=P2 V2 T2, where P1 V1 T1 are the product of a first pressure, volume, and temperature, which equals the product P2 V2 T2 of the second pressure, volume, and temperature, although factors of the second multiplicand may have changed; and, for a fixed amount of gas kept at a fixed temperature, P and V are inversely proportional (while one increases, the other decreases. Further, by Charles Law for comparison between two volumes of gas at equal pressure.
More simply expressed is that, for an increase in pressure, the temperature increases; as well as its corollary, for a decrease in pressure, the temperature decreases.
Therefore, at each cooling point chamber, where these tubular enlargements increase the volume of the chamber, determined by increasing the inside diameter of the tubing, the increased volume of the chamber results in a localized decrease in pressure of the entrained mercury vapor, thereby decreasing the temperature of the mercury vapor, and causing the mercury vapor to condense and deposit the mercury in said respective cooling point, in accordance with the equation as set forth by Gay-Lussac.
The normal light output is related to lamp temperature. Variations in light output of a typical compact fluorescent lamp will change with changes in temperature. The coldest spot on the lamp surface is the temperature that controls the light output of a compact fluorescent lamp. The optimum temperature for compact fluorescent lamps is typically 100° F. (38° C.). However, this will vary for different compact fluorescent lamps and ballasts, but the same general behavior will, with some exceptions, be observed.
Hence, the ambient temperature into which a compact fluorescent lamp is immersed can have a significant effect on the lamp's light output and its lamp efficacy. The temperature of the coldest spot on the surface of the lamp is where the mercury vapor will condense into liquid form, and this temperature (the “minimum lamp wall temperature”) controls the vapor pressure inside the lamp. The optimum lamp wall temperature for CF lamps is generally 100° F. (38° C.). At temperatures below the optimum, mercury vapor will condense at the cold spot, reducing the number of mercury atoms available to emit UV radiation: light output drops. At temperatures above the optimum, an excess of mercury vapor is present, absorbing the UV radiation before it can reach the phosphors; therefore the light output also decreases.
In the prior art, for a spiral shaped low-pressure discharge lamp, having a cold chamber at the top of the lamp, it has been determined experimentally that when operated in a vertical burn position, the lamp typically provides a luminous output ranging from 1600 to 1650 lumens. However, when the same lamp is positioned in the horizontal plane, the luminous output decreases to only 1350 to 1400 lumens, where the lamp has a shorter life expectancy.
By the addition of an enlargement, a cooling chamber shaped as an ovate convexity, positioned downwardly near the last turn on one-half of the spiral wound tubing, together with the cooling chamber positioned upright at the vertex, as shown in
Turning now to
In this configuration of the present invention, there is provided two cooling points 40 and 50 to sustain constant luminous output when the lamp is mounted in either in an upright position or mounted lying in the horizontal plane. Each cooling point is an enlargement shaped preferably as an ellipsoidal convexity; the first cooling point 40 being at the vertex joining a first left-half spiral tube 90 with a right-half spiral tube 100, whose cross-section is ellipsoidal, where its major axis is in a vertical position, and the convexity so formed is in the highest upright position. The second ovate cooling point 50 is located at the distal end of the left-half portion of the spiral shaped tube 90, as shown in
The volume of mercury entrained within a cooling point is such as to produce a temperature that is ideally 38 degrees Centigrade (100 degrees Fahrenheit). If the volume of the cooling point is too small, then the operating temperature of the mercury vapor will be above the optimum temperature of 38° C. Conversely, if the volume of the cooling point is oversized, then the operating temperature of the mercury vapor will be below the optimum temperature of 38° C.
Still another consideration for the placement of the cooling point chambers is where the cold chambers that are placed too far apart from each other, which may also result in a nonoptimal luminous output. The placement of these cold chambers requires careful placement to maintain a constant luminous output regardless into which plane the lamp is mounted in.
Therefore, as the wattage rating of a compact fluorescent lamp is increased, the volume of the mercury vapor increases, along with its operating temperature. Consequently, a medium-wattage compact fluorescent lamp 20 is provided as a second configuration, as shown in
In this second configuration of the present invention 20, there is provided three cooling points 40, 50 and 60 to sustain constant luminous output when the lamp is mounted in either in an upright position or mounted lying in the horizontal plane.
There is a total of three cooling points—one, 40, at the vertex for a vertical burn position and two, 50 and 60, located on the last turn near each leg. As the lamp wattage is increased, it becomes necessary increase the number of cooling points because of the greater quantity of mercury needed for proper lamp operation.
Each cooling point is an enlargement shaped preferably as an ovate ellipsoidal convexity; the first cooling point 40 being at the vertex joining a first left-half spiral tube 90 with a right-half spiral tube 100, whose cross-section is ellipsoidal, where its major axis is in a vertical position, and the convexity so formed is in the highest upright position. A second ovate cooling point 50 is located at the distal end of the left-half portion 90 of the spiral shaped tube, as shown in
For even larger higher wattage compact fluorescent lamps 30, another possible cold chamber configuration is shown in
In this third configuration 30, there is one upright ovate cooling point 40 located at the vertex for operation in an upright position and four, equal-angularly spaced (90°) cooling chambers, 50, 60, 70 and 80, positioned along the periphery of the lowest turns of the bi-helical compact fluorescent lamp.
When this lamp is mounted in the horizontal plane, the use of four cooling points coact such as to resolve into a rotational vector where the lamp will provide an equivalent luminous output for any angle of rotation about the lamp's axis within the horizontal plane.
Even three, equal-angularly spaced (120°) cooling chambers (not shown), positioned along the periphery of the lowest turns of the bi-helical compact fluorescent lamp, may be found to provide stable rotational operation in the horizontal plane, but having a larger ripple effect of luminous output as the lamp is rotated about it's axis in a horizontal plane.
Turning now to
However, in the preferred arrangement of the cold chamber of the present invention, by placing an enlargement, a cooling chamber shaped as an ovate convexity, positioned downwardly near the last turn on one-half of the spiral wound tubing and another cooling chamber positioned upright at the vertex, as shown in
In establishing during the manufacturing process, the filling of the tube with phosphorescent powder, the tube is laid preferably in a horizontal position and rotated slowly to evenly distribute the coating. If the phosphorescent coating is inadvertently applied to the interior of the lower cooling chamber, the cooling that will occur in the cooling chamber will be nullified because of the heating that occurs when the lamp is operated because of the phosphor coating generating heat, thereby preventing the condensing of mercury.
One skilled in the art will understand that the present invention as shown in the drawings and described above is exemplary only and not intended to be limiting. It will thus be seen that the objects of the present invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. Its arrangements have been shown and described for the purposes of illustrating the functional and structural principles of the present invention and is subject to change without departure from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the claims contained herein.
This is a continuation-in-part (CIP) patent application, wherein Applicant claims the benefit of Utility patent application Ser. No. 11/049,965, filed on behalf of the same inventor, Ellis Yan, on Feb. 4, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,358,656, issued Apr. 15, 2008.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 11049965 | Feb 2005 | US |
| Child | 12082612 | US |
