Gte Products Corporation

General Electric Company

Philip J White

William M Keeffe

Dominic A Cusano

Robert S White

Robert K Swank

John A Scholz

James C Morris

David Alan Goodman

Dennis B Shinn

William H Lake

Robert H Springer

A process for fabricating arc tubes for the manufacture of unsaturated vapor high pressure sodium lamps wherein a first electrode is sealed into one end of a ceramic envelope, a sodium-mercury amalgam and an oxygen-absorbing getter are introduced into the ceramic envelope, the ceramic envelope is flushed and then filled with a rare gas, and a second electrode is sealed into the other end of the ceramic envelope to provide an arc tube wherein decomposition of the amalgam and absorption of oxygen occurs within the ceramic envelope during operational use.

Arc tube fabrication process

A process of dosing the arc tube of an unsaturated vapor high pressure sodium lamp wherein a sodium-containing compound, an oxygen-absorbing getter, mercury and a rare gas are deposited within the arc tube, and the arc tube is sealed whereby thermal decomposition of the sodium-containing compound is effected within the arc tube and the getter prevents compound reformation by absorbing the oxygen therein.

Arc tube dosing process for unsaturated high pressure sodium lamp

An arc tube fabricating process wherein an oxygen-absorbing getter is affixed to at least one of a pair of electrodes, one of the electrodes is sealed into the end of a tubular ceramic envelope, a dosage is deposited in the tubular ceramic envelope and the other one of the pair of electrodes is sealed into the other end of the tubular ceramic envelope.

Unsaturated vapor high pressure sodium lamp arc tube fabrication process

An unsaturated vapor type high pressure sodium lamp includes an arc tube having a tubular ceramic envelope containing a dosing of sodium, mercury and a rare gas with an electrode sealed into each end of the envelope and an oxygen-absorbing getter telescoped over or affixed to the electrode.

Unsaturated vapor high pressure sodium lamp getter mounting

An unsaturated vapor pressure high pressure sodium lamp includes an arc tube positioned within an evacuted glass envelope and containing a gas fill including mercury and sodium and a getter having a free energy of formation per mole of oxygen more negative than that of sodium oxide.

Unsaturated vapor pressure type high pressure sodium lamp

The present invention is directed to a method for the elimination of end pockets in metal halide arc tube envelopes (or other irregularities) in order to improve the color stability thereof. The present invention is also directed to the improved lamps having reduced or substantially eliminated end pockets. The magnitude of this improvement will increase with decreasing arc tube size, since in smaller arc tubes, the tube ends represent a larger fraction of the overall inner surface of the device.

Dimpled arc tube having no internal end pockets and a lamp employing same

Method to reduce color temperature variation in metal halide arc tubes

A high pressure sodium vapor discharge device including a polycrystalline alumina arc tube which contains a fill including sodium and mercury is disclosed. An electrode is disposed at each end of the arc tube, and an emissive material including an oxygen getter, such as, zirconium and/or niobium, and thorium dioxide is coated on at least one of the electrodes. The improved emissive material coating reduces the rate of sodium loss from the arc tube and inhibits loss of luminosity due to discoloration of the arc tube.

High pressure sodium vapor discharge device

A light-source containment device and lamp employing such device; a metal halide arc discharge lamp having a light-transmissive shield enclosing the arc tube and a wire mesh surrounding the shield. In the event the arc tube bursts causing shattering of the shield, the wire mesh substantially restricts shards of the shield and arc tube from shattering the outer envelope of the lamp thereby providing improved safety characteristics of the lamp. A similar containment device encloses the light-source capsule and protects against lamp-containment failures in tungsten halogen lamps.

Light-source capsule containment device and lamp employing such device

A high intensity metal halide discharge lamp has a fill comprising mercury, sodium iodide and scandium triiodide plus an inert starting gas. Cadmium or zinc may be added in a molar ratio relative to ScI.sub.3 within the range of 0.04 to 1.0 to achieve a lowering in color temperature of several hundred degrees Kelvin at the cost of a minor decrease in lumens which is offset by an improvement in maintenance.

Metal halide lamp containing ScI.sub.3 with added cadmium or zinc

Scintillator structures are disclosed in which the phosphor is embedded or suspended in an optically transparent matrix which is selected or adjusted to have an index of refraction which is approximately equal to that of the phosphor embedded therein at the wavelength of the light emitted by the phosphor. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, BaFCl:Eu is embedded in a matrix formed by the polymerization of 2-vinyl napthalene and vinyl toluene. The scintillator structures of the present invention provide superior optical coupling to photoelectrically responsive devices. Also disclosed are methods for manufacturing index-matched phosphor scintillator structures.

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Georgetown, MA, United States of America

Philip J White