← Back to Patent Explorer
US4871941A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Gas discharge lamp with different film thicknesses

Assignee: Toshiba Corp
•
Filing: 1988-03-25
•
Granted: 1989-10-03
•
Expires: 2008-03-25
📄 Original PDF 🌐 Google Patents 🔄 Sync Now

Abstract

Abstract In a gas discharge lamp of this invention, an internal electrode is provided in a tube bulb and an external electrode is provided on the outer surface of the bulb so as to cover it. A fluorescent material film is formed inside the bulb and is excited to emit visible light by a glow discharge, which is caused by applying a voltage between these electrodes. The fluorescent material film in the bulb has different thicknesses in the tube axial direction of the bulb to average the surface luminance of the gas discharge lamp.

Inventors

  • 👤 Yoshitomi Dobashi
  • 👤 Akihiro Inoue

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-06 05:12
CPC Classifications
H; H01; H01J; H01J1/00; H01J1/54; H01J1/62; H01J65/00; H01J61/00; H01J61/02; H01J61/38; H01J61/42; H01J61/44

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 19
Claim 1
Independent Claim 89 words
A gas discharge lamp comprising: a tube bulb; a gas discharge material filled in said bulb; an internal electrode provided inside said bulb; a belt-shaped external electrode formed on an outer surface of said bulb and extending along an axis of said bulb; and a fluorescent material film formed on an inner surface of said bulb; adapted to be excited by a gas discharge, and having a non-uniform thickness along the axis of said tube that varies in accordance with a varying current density to cause a uniform brightness.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 89 words
A gas discharge lamp comprising: a tube bulb; a gas discharge material filled in said bulb; an internal electrode provided inside said bulb; a belt-shaped external electrode formed on an outer surface of said bulb and extending along an axis of said bulb; and a fluorescent material film formed on an inner surface of said bulb; adapted to be excited by a gas discharge, and having a non-uniform thickness along the axis of said tube that varies in accordance with a varying current density to cause a uniform brightness.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 56 words
The discharge lamp according to claim 1, wherein said thickness of said fluorescent material at either end portion of said bulb, which needs luminance to be increased, has transmittivity of 25-40%, and said thickness at a center portion of said bulb, which needs luminance to be decreased, has transmittivity of less than or equal to 25%.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 17 words
The discharge lamp according to claim 1, wherein said fluorescent material film has its thickness sequentially varied.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 35 words
The discharge lamp according to claim 3, wherein said thickness of said fluorescent material film is sequentially varied where a lead wire of said external electrode is extracted and has transmittivity of more than 40%.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 35 words
The discharge lamp according to claim 3, wherein said thickness of said fluorescent material film is sequentially varied where a lead wire of said external electrode is extracted and has transmittivity of less than 25%.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 44 words
The discharge lamp according to claim 1, wherein a light shielding film is formed on an outer surface of said bulb and has a window having a predetermined width for irradiating light outside of said bulb in said tube axial direction of said bulb.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 23 words
The discharge lamp according to claim 1, wherein said external electrode has a width determined such that the lamp has desired operation characteristics.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 15 words
The discharge lamp according to claim 1, wherein said gas discharge material is rare gas.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 35 words
The discharge lamp according to claim 1, further comprising means for applying a high frequency power between said internal electrode and said external electrode to cause a glow discharge between said internal and external electrodes.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 57 words
The discharge lamp according to claim 9, wherein said thickness of said fluorescent material film at neither end portion of said bulb, which needs luminance to be increased, has transmittivity of 25-40%, and said thickness at a center portion of said bulb, which needs luminance to be decreased, has transmittivity of greater than or equal to 40%.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 57 words
The discharge lamp according to claim 9, wherein said thickness of said fluorescent material film at either end portion of said bulb, which needs luminance to be increased, has transmittivity of 25-40%, and said thickness at a center portion of said bulb, which needs luminance to be decreased, has transmittivity of less than or equal to 25%.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 17 words
The discharge lamp according to claim 9, wherein said fluorescent material film has its thickness sequentially varied.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 37 words
The discharge lamp according to claim 12, wherein said thickness of said fluorescent material film has its thickness sequentially varied where a lead wire of said external electrode is extracted and has transmittivity of more than 40%.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 40 words
The discharge lamp according to claim 12, wherein said thickness of said fluorescent material film is sequentially varied in such a way that where a lead wire of said external electrode, is extracted and has transmittivity of less than 25%.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 44 words
The discharge lamp according to claim 9, wherein a light shielding film is formed on an outer surface of said bulb and has a window having a predetermined width for irradiating light outside of said bulb in said tube axial direction of said bulb.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim 23 words
The discharge lamp according to claim 9, wherein said external electrode has a width determined such that the lamp has desired operation characteristics.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim 15 words
The discharge lamp according to claim 9, wherein said gas discharge material is rare gas.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim 50 words
The discharge lamp according to claim 1, wherein said thickness of said fluorescent material film, which needs luminance to be increased, has transmittivity of 25-40%, and said thickness at a center portion of said bulb, which needs luminance to be decreased, has transmittivity of greater than or equal to 40%.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US3716713A Cited
US3717781A Cited
JPS5738571A Cited
JPS5834560A Cited
US4645979A Cited
US4645971A Cited
JPH06195052A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1992-10-02 1993-04-03 1993-10-03 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1996-10-02 1997-04-03 1997-10-03 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2000-10-02 2001-04-03 2001-10-03 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

Assigned Categories & Tags

No categories assigned to this patent yet.

Assign Category Tag