Koito Manufacturing Company, Ltd.

Kunio Fukai

Masakazu Nagasawa

Akihiro Nagata

Masaya Shido

Shinichi Irisawa

Takeshi Fukuyo

Hiroshi Goto

Yukihiro Onoda

Yoshihiro Mochizuki

Hironori Tsukamoto

Toshiaki Tsuda

Yoshiro Ito

Asami Nakada

Nobuo Ohkawai

Haruhiko Iyoda

Ryujiro Ikuta

Yasuyoshi Numajiri

Masayuki Umehara

Yasuo Hirozumi

Masami Handa

Ario Kawaguthi

Yukihiro Yoshida

A planar light emitting bodyconfigured to emit a first illumination light, and a semiconductor light emitting elementconfigured to emit light toward the planar light emitting bodyare disposed in a lamp chamberdefined by a lamp housinghaving an opening and a coverthat covers the opening. The planar light emitting bodyincludes a transmitting layer through which light is caused to pass, and a control layer configured to irradiate light as a second illumination light by controlling a travelling direction of the light that is emitted from the semiconductor light emitting elementand passes through the transmitting layer.

Vehicle lamp

A vehicular lamp includes a planar light emitting member having an organic EL light emitting portion at part of a substrate, and a reflecting member and a half mirror that are disposed so as to face each other so that light emitted from the organic EL light emitting portion is reflected repeatedly while allowing part of the light to be transmitted to the front.

Vehicular lamp with OLED having repeated reflections

A discharge lamp bulb includes an arc tube having: a pair of electrodes that are opposed to each other inside a luminous tube; an outer tube having the luminous tube therein; a pair of lead wires connected to the electrodes; and a metal band mounted on an outer periphery of the outer tube, a support plug having: a plug body having a hollow, inner cylindrical section therein that opens at a front end; an arc-tube support portion mounted on a front-end edge of the inner cylindrical section; and a flange, and a lead support wire extending outside the outer tube in the longitudinal direction and connecting one of the lead wires with the support plug, wherein a front-end face of the inner cylindrical section is substantially flush with a front-end face of the flange or positioned on a back-end side with respect to the front-end face of the flange.

Discharge lamp bulb having metal band supported by support portion

A method of producing an arc tube including inserting an electrode assembly in which a bent portion is formed in a lead wire into a glass tube to self-hold the electrode assembly to a predetermined position of the glass tube. After the electrode has been inserted to the predetermined position, pinch-sealing is conducted on a portion of the glass tube where the assembly is inserted. In the method, the electrode assembly is inserted into a metal guide pipe which is coaxially disposed with respect to the glass tube, to be once held into the pipe. Thereafter, the assembly may be pushed by a thin rod-like pushing member to be inserted to the predetermined position in the glass tube. One or more vertical grooves which are to be axially engaged with the bent portion of the assembly to circumferentially lock the bent portion may be formed in the inner side of the guide pipe. Using the one or more grooves, the assembly may be guided to the glass tube W without being in sliding contact with the guide pipe. Therefore, in a preferable embodiment, this prevents metal powder, which may be produced by rubbing and shaving the inner side of the guide pipe with the bent portion of the lead wire, from entering the chamber portion as a foreign matter. A holding chuck is not required to insert the assembly into the glass tube, but is used to facilitate insertion of the assembly into the guide pipe. The chuck for holding the assembly is not restricted in shape. The assembly in the guide pipe is guided to the glass tube and may be restricted by the vertical grooves to be circumferentially positioned.

Method of producing an arc tube for a discharge lamp device

Before an electrode assembly is inserted into a quartz glass tube, a reinforcement bending process is applied to a metal foil. Even when a vibration load acts on the electrode assembly during the insertion of the electrode assembly into the quartz glass tube, the metal foil is not easily deformed, so that a rod electrode can be prevented from largely swinging together with the metal foil. Consequently, the position of a tip end portion of the rod electrode can be easily recognized by using a camera, whereby the degree of the insertion of the electrode assembly into the quartz glass tube can be correctly adjusted.

Arc tube and method of producing the same

An arc tube and method of fabricating the arc tube for a discharge lamp. The arc tube includes an arc tube main body at which a sealed glass bulb serving as a discharge portion sandwiched by pinch seal portions is formed at a portion of a glass tube W along the longitudinal direction thereof, and a cylindrical shroud glass which is welded on and integrated with the arc tube main body so as to cover the sealed glass bulb , the front and rear end portions of the shroud glass may be joined, for example, by welding on shroud glass welded portions with circular cross sections provided at the front and rear end sides of the arc tube main body , respectively. The inner peripheral surface of the diameter reduced portion of the shroud glass tube , which is molten, soften and deformed inside along the radial direction, contacts closely to the circular outer peripheral surface on the arc tube main body side, so that a space can not be formed at the welding portion of the shroud glass (adhesion surface). Thus, the atmosphere does not enter into the sealed space surrounded by the shroud glass , and accordingly, devitrification is prevented.

Arc tube for discharge lamp and method of fabricating the same

Method and apparatus for supplying pellets to arc tube for discharge lamp

A mercury supplying method capable of always supplying a constant amount of mercury into a chamber part easily by executing measurement and ejection of the mercury at the same time. A small diameter pipe as a mercury supply path, is inserted through a glass tube elongating from a chamber part of an arc tube from above so as to have the tip part thereof substantially reaching into the chamber part, and connecting the upstream side of the sealed mercury supply path (mercury barrel) with a gas pressure adjuster. The gas pressure adjuster keeps the inside of the mercury supply path (mercury barrel) at a predetermined pressure so as to maintain the inside of the small diameter pipe in the state filled with mercury as well as applying a predetermined pressure to the mercury in the small diameter pipe for a predetermined time and thus ejecting a predetermined amount of mercury from the small diameter pipe tip part so as to be dropped and supplied to the chamber part. Measurement and ejection of the mercury can be executed at the same time with the small diameter pipe inserted through the glass tube of the arc tube from above. A predetermined amount of mercury can always be supplied into the chamber part in a short time.

Method and apparatus for supplying mercury to arc tube for discharge lamp

The invention is directed to preventing occurrence of molybdenum foil breakage during a pinch sealing operation in a method of fabricating an arc tube having a pair of molybdenum foils pinch-sealed on both sides of a spherical portion of a glass tube by sequentially pinch-sealing the respective molybdenum foils. A first molybdenum foil is not pinch-sealed (first pinch seal) with an inert gas introduced into a glass tube as in a conventional embodiment, but is pinch-sealed with the internal pressure of the glass tube maintained at a vacuum of 0.5 torr or less. As a result, oxidation of the molybdenum foils causing breakage of the molybdenum foils during a pinch sealing operation is minimized. Hence, an arc tube having each of a pair of molybdenum foils made of molybdenum whose purity is 99.95% or more and with a thickness of 20 .mu.m or less can be fabricated.

Arc tube having a pair of molybdenum foils, and method for its

In the manufacture of arc tubes for use as light sources of vehicle headlamps, there is first prepared a semifinished arc tube by inserting one electrode assembly into a tubular glass envelope through one end thereof and by sealing this end. The semifinished arc tube is then placed in communication with a hermetically enclosed space filled with argon under pressure, with the consequent introduction of the inert gas into the glass envelope through a second end thereof. Another electrode assembly and chemicals such as a metal halide and mercury are then introduced from the enclosed space into the semifinished arc tube through the second end, totally without contact with the atmospheric air. Then, with the glass envelope placed out of communication with the enclosed space, the argon is exhausted from within the envelope, and xenon is charged instead into the envelope through the second end, which is closed subsequently.

Contamination-free method of making arc tubes

An arc tube having a closed glass bulb having no broken-off portion, and a method of manufacturing the arc tube. A glass bulb is formed on a glass tube substantially at the middle. An electrode assembly is inserted into one end portion of the glass tube, and the one end portion is closed by pinch-sealing. A light emitting material is supplied into the glass bulb through the other end portion of the glass tube, another electrode assembly is inserted into the other end portion, and the latter is closed by pinch-sealing. Since the closed glass bulb has no broken-off portion, the arc tube is free from the difficulty that the distribution of light is adversely affected. Moreover, in manufacturing the arc tube of the invention, it is unnecessary to connect an exhaust tube to the glass tube. Therefore, the number of manufacturing steps is small, and the arc tube can be manufactured with ease.

Arc tube and method for manufacturing the same

An electrode assembly for an arc tube which is free from the difficulty that tearing of a foil occurs in pinch-sealing the arc tube. One end portion of an electrode bar is overlapped with a molybdenum foil, and the electrode bar is connected to the molybdenum foil by spot-welding the overlapped portions of the two members, except for the tip end part of the end portion of the electrode bar, whereby the molybdenum foil is prevented from being damaged by the rectangular corner of the end portion of the electrode bar.

Arc tube electrode assembly and method for manufacturing same

A discharge lamp electrode having a spherical end portion which serves as a discharge part and has a diameter larger than the remaining base part is formed by simultaneously applying a plurality of laser beams to one end portion of a rod-shaped material of tungsten or tungsten alloy in different directions. Preferably, the rod-shaped material is held vertically while the laser beams are applied to its lower end portion.

Growing community of inventors

Shizuoka, Japan

Kunio Fukai