Electric lamp and discharge devices – With envelope – Having base and connector
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-30
2004-04-06
Patel, Nimeshkumar D. (Department: 2879)
Electric lamp and discharge devices
With envelope
Having base and connector
C313S318040
Reexamination Certificate
active
06717341
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a bulb-form lamp and its manufacturing method.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In a conventional bulb-form lamp, for example, a bulb-form fluorescent lamp, an enclosure
15
comprising a globe
1
and a case
14
has accommodated therein a fluorescent tube
4
, a lighting circuit
16
for lighting the fluorescent tube
4
, and two lead wires
17
a
and
17
b
connected to the lighting circuit
16
to supply power, as shown in FIG.
4
.
The case
14
has a base
18
screwed at an end portion thereof.
The lighting circuit
16
has a lighting part
16
b
mounted on a printed circuit board
16
a
. The printed circuit board
16
a
is located inside the case
14
perpendicularly to a center axis thereof.
The base
18
has a screw-like shell
18
a
and an eyelet
18
c
provided at an end portion of the shell
18
a
via an insulator
18
b
comprising glass.
Individual parts of the shell
18
a
and eyelet
18
c
are embedded in the insulator
18
b
to integrate the shell
18
a
, the insulator
18
b
, and the eyelet
18
c
together.
One
17
a
of the lead wires is soldered outside the base
18
, that is, to an outer surface of the eyelet
18
c
. Alternatively, the lead wire
17
a
and the eyelet
18
c
are connected together by means of plasma arc welding for environmental reasons.
A method for manufacturing this conventional bulb-form lamp will be described below.
A normal method is used to assemble together the enclosure
15
, the fluorescent tube
4
, and the lighting circuit
16
having the lead wires
17
a
and
17
b
connected thereto. Subsequently, the base
18
is screwed on an end portion of the case
14
and then caulked and fixed to the case
14
. In this case, the lead wire
17
a
is led out from a through-hole
18
d
formed in the eyelet
18
c
. The led-out portion of the lead wire
17
a
is fixedly soldered to an outer surface of the eyelet
18
c.
In this conventional bulb-form lamp, however, since the lighting circuit
16
and the eyelet
18
c
are connected together by means of the lead wire
17
a
, material costs of the lead wire
17
a
are high and a large amount of time and labor is required to connect the lead wire
17
a
to the lighting circuit
16
and the eyelet
18
c
, thereby reducing productivity and increasing costs.
In addition, if the lead wire
17
a
of the conventional bulb-frame lamp is connectedly soldered to the eyelet
18
c
, a flux (a resin or the like) used for the soldering is formed into a film on a surface of the solder, so that when this base
18
is attached to a socket of lighting equipment (not shown), the eyelet
18
c
and the socket are inappropriately contacted with each other. In addition, corrosion of the eyelet
18
C by this flux will cause an inappropriate contact between the eyelet
18
C and the socket. Such an inappropriate contact may lead to a lighting failure.
In addition, if plasma arc welding is used to connect the lead wire
17
a
to the eyelet
18
c
, an apparatus for plasma arc welding is expensive and requires a large installation space as well as high costs due to the needs for time and labor required to maintain and manage the apparatus.
The present invention is provided to solve these problems, and it is an object thereof to provide a bulb-form lamp that allows a lighting circuit and an eyelet to be easily and reliably connected together without using any soldering or plasma arc welding or lead wires, that prevents a lighting failure caused by an inappropriate contact, and that requires low costs while providing a high productive efficiency, as well as a method for manufacturing this bulb-form lamp.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A bulb-form lamp according to the present invention is configured so that a case having a lighting circuit accommodated inside includes a base formed at an end portion thereof and having an eyelet and a screw-like shell and so that the lighting circuit and the eyelet are connected together without any lead wire.
Alternatively, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing a bulb-form lamp in which a case having a lighting circuit accommodated inside includes a base formed at an end portion thereof and having an eyelet and a screw-like shell and in which the eyelet is directly mounted on a printed circuit board of the lighting circuit, the method comprising mounting the eyelet on the printed circuit board of the lighting circuit and then inserting the lighting circuit with the eyelet mounted thereon into the case to fit the eyelet into an eyelet receiving section provided at an end portion of the case.
The above described bulb-form lamp and its manufacturing method enable the lighting circuit and the eyelet to be easily and reliably connected together without using soldering or plasma arc welding or lead wires. In addition, the omission of the soldering or plasma arc welding process serves to improve productive efficiency. Management costs of facilities required for soldering or plasma arc welding and the number of, for example, lead wire materials are also reduced to diminish the total cost. Further, soldering is not particularly required, thereby restraining fluxes to prevent an inappropriate contact between the eyelet and the lighting equipment.
Moreover, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing a bulb-form lamp in which a case having a lighting circuit accommodated inside includes a base formed at an end portion thereof and having an eyelet and a screw-like shell and in which the eyelet shaped like a push pin is connected to a screwless terminal mounted on a printed circuit board of the lighting circuit, the method comprising mounting the screwless terminal on the printed circuit board of the lighting circuit, then inserting the lighting circuit with the screwless terminal mounted thereon into the case for fixture , and then fitting the eyelet into an eyelet receiving section provided at an end portion of the case to connect the eyelet to the screwless terminal.
The above described manufacturing method enables the lighting circuit and the eyelet to be easily and reliably connected together without using soldering or plasma arc welding or lead wires. In addition, the omission of the soldering or plasma arc welding process serves to improve productive efficiency. Management costs of facilities required for the soldering or plasma arc welding process and the number of, for example, lead wire materials are also reduced to diminish the total cost. Further, soldering is not particularly required, thereby restraining fluxes to prevent an inappropriate contact between the eyelet and the lighting equipment. Furthermore, when the base is plugged into the socket and even if the eyelet is pushed toward an interior of the case, a head section of the eyelet comes in abutment with an outer surface of the eyelet receiving section to prevent the eyelet from entering the interior of the case.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3551736 (1970-12-01), Doehoer
patent: 4570105 (1986-02-01), Engel
patent: 4695767 (1987-09-01), Wittmann
patent: 4999538 (1991-03-01), Lapre et al.
patent: 5731663 (1998-03-01), Davis
patent: 254462 (1988-02-01), None
patent: 265 027 (1989-02-01), None
patent: 195 09 112 (1996-09-01), None
patent: 195 34 245 (1997-03-01), None
patent: 0 480 503 (1991-09-01), None
Ishitsuka Shinichiro
Matsuba Tetsuo
Matsumura Takeshi
Shibata Takenori
Berck K A
Patel Nimeshkumar D.
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