Electric lamp and discharge devices – With luminescent solid or liquid material
Reexamination Certificate
1998-11-20
2001-11-20
Patel, Vip (Department: 2879)
Electric lamp and discharge devices
With luminescent solid or liquid material
C313S489000, C313S484000, C313S110000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06320308
ABSTRACT:
Another device, similar in appearance, but totally different in concept, application and effect is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,048,537 granted on Sep. 13, 1977 to Blaisdell et al, and subsequently assigned to GTE Sylvania Inc., Salem, Mass. This device is a plastic sleeve for lamp protection against mechanical or impact damage which allows the transmission of ultraviolet radiation. The described device has nothing to do with the enhanced generation of visible light.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is well known that a considerable amount of electric energy is required by the illumination demands of a modern society resulting from the requirements for controlled highly illuminated environments. In spite of the advances in technology and current efficiency of gas discharge lamps, which are 80% more efficient than traditional incandescent lamps, additional savings in energy usage can be achieved by utilizing external devices. The measure of efficiency is Lumens per Watt (Lm/W), where Lumens is the measure of light generation and Watts represents the power input to the system to produce a given amount of light. A number of efforts have been made with external devices to the lamp as follows:
a) Increasing the efficiency (Lm/W) utilizing an electronic ballast to provide power to the lamp, resulting in considerable energy savings of approximately 21%, as compared to traditional electromagnetic ballasts.
b) Fixtures or devices with parabolic reflectors, with high gain aluminum plating that allow one to sensibly reduce the number of lamps that are needed for an installation, in comparison with the installation of older generation lights without such reflectors.
c) There also exists an Argentine patent for a device, No. 249642 (1996), which achieves the recycling (reflection) of ultraviolet radiation by use of a reflector specifically designed for ultraviolet radiation, thus attaining an increase in visible light.
All of these devices and improvement alleviate the critical situation that is presented by the increase in the consumption of energy for illumination and the consequent environmental impact.
The invention which is the subject of this Specification, is based on the creation of an “auto-generated electrical field” around the mercury discharge gas lamp and/or common fluorescent tube which greatly improves the Lm/W efficiency ratio. This invention also contributes to improving the mercury lamps' other discharge characteristics by reducing, by more than 70%, the ultraviolet radiation from the light spectrum that reaches the work surface, thus contributing to alleviating the environmental impact and the human health hazards related to ultraviolet radiation.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention achieves an efficiency in the use of the ultraviolet radiation normally emitted by dispersion by mercury discharge lamps, such as fluorescent tubes. Such lamps generate ultraviolet radiation with a wavelength between 253.7 nm and to 380 nm (nanometers). The more efficient use of the ultraviolet radiation is achieved by placing a containment device (the invention) around the lamp or fluorescent tube, that creates an enclosed annular cavity between the fluorescent tube and the device and the formation of an electric field (E). The device is constructed in its current configuration by appropriately assembling the various elements described in this specification to create the ionized cavity in which the electric field (E) is formed.
Therefore, the objective of this invention is a device applicable to mercury discharge lamps in general, and fluorescent tubes in particular, which improves the Lm/W ratio increasing the amount of Lm/W as a result of a reduction in the dispersion of the ultraviolet radiation outside the mercury discharge lamp or fluorescent tube. This device and its result are unique and distinctive because the device consists of an inorganic closed transparent containment structure added to the mercury discharge lamp or fluorescent tube which contains a dielectric flexible sheet of organic crystal transparent material placed against the inside wall of the containment device. The gas between the mercury discharge lamp or fluorescent tube and the containment device is untreated normal atmospheric air. The containment device is closed off at both ends by semi-rigid caps made of an organic dielectric material, such as rubber or plastic, with circular concentric openings having a diameter and/or shape and dimensions equal to the external diameter of the mercury discharge lamp or fluorescent tube which the containment device will surround.
With this invention, the ultraviolet radiation is prevented from escaping and dispersing due to the presence of the ionized cavity and redirected back towards the lamp, which produces additional illumination. The invention can be better understood by referring to the figures in which one configuration of the device is described and presented.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5903095 (1999-05-01), Yoshida et al.
patent: 5932960 (1999-08-01), Terada et al.
patent: 5949180 (1999-05-01), Walker
Norvic LLC
Patel Vip
Ware Fressola Van der Sluys & Adolphson LLP
Williams Joseph
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