The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 10, 1987
Filed:
Feb. 24, 1986
Joseph V Lima, Salem, MA (US);
Richard J Shea, Danvers, MA (US);
GTE Products Corporation, Danvers, MA (US);
Abstract
A method of manufacturing a low-pressure arc discharge lamp formed by interconnecting two or more adjacent glass discharge tubes. A hermetically sealed common passageway between the two adjacent tubes is formed by positioning the tubes in a contiguous relationship to define at least one common location of contact. Heating a preselected area of the internal surface of each of the tubes relative to the common location of contact to soften the glass to the extent a common passageway is defined between the tubes. Thereafter, separating the tubes a predetermined distance while the glass is in a softened state to stretch the softened glass, thereby extending the common passageway between the tubes. The technique may be applied to multiple tube assemblies precoated with a luminescent layer by alternating the end of the tube at which the passageway is formed. Once the tubes are joined, they may be processed by current manufacturing techniques to produce a low-pressure arc discharge lamp.