JP3546710B2 - Mercury filling device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a mercury filling device used for filling mercury into a bulb such as a fluorescent lamp or a high-pressure discharge lamp.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 5, a mercury filling device 18 of this type includes a mercury tank 19 containing liquid mercury, a reciprocating motion in the axial direction through the mercury tank 19, and a concave portion on one side. There is known a mercury drop plunger 21 including a mercury drop plunger 21 inserted from one end and a mercury injection pipe 22 formed at the other end into a funnel shape. By appropriately changing the depth of the concave portion 20, the amount of mercury enclosed can be adjusted.
[0003]
The method of filling mercury into the glass bulb 6 by the mercury filling device having the above configuration is as follows.
[0004]
The thin tube 16 of the glass bulb 6 is connected to one end of the mercury injection tube 22 in an airtight state. The evacuation pipe 23 evacuates the mercury injection pipe 22 and the impure gas in the glass bulb 6. At this time, the mercury drop plunger 21 is not inserted into the mercury injection pipe 22, but is arranged so that the concave portion 20 is located at the bottom of the mercury tank 19. The concave portion 20 is filled with a predetermined amount of mercury sealed in the glass bulb 6. After evacuation, the mercury drop plunger 21 moves in the axial direction and is inserted into the mercury injection pipe 22. At this time, the mercury droplet filled in the concave portion 20 is dropped on the mercury injection tube 22 by free fall, rolls on the inner surface of the funnel-shaped portion, and is injected into the glass bulb 6 through the thin tube 16. Thereafter, a rare gas or the like is sealed in the glass bulb 6.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in such a conventional mercury filling device, when a predetermined amount of mercury filled in the glass bulb 6 is filled in the concave portion 20, the surface tension of mercury is large, so that the amount of mercury in the mercury tank 19 is large. When the pressure on the concave portion 20 decreases and the pressure on the concave portion 20 decreases, the mercury does not fill the concave portion 20 completely, or the drop of the mercury droplet is free fall, so that the glass bulb 6 Before the sealing, the mercury adheres to the mercury injection tube 22, the thin tube 16, and the like, resulting in a problem that the amount of mercury sealed in the glass bulb 6 is insufficient.
[0006]
The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a mercury filling apparatus that prevents variations in the amount of mercury sealed in a bulb and improves the quality of a lamp.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The mercury sealing device of the present invention includes heating means for converting liquid mercury into mercury vapor, and sealing means for sealing the mercury vapor in a valve , wherein the sealing means includes a container storing the liquid mercury, It has a cylinder connected to a container by a connecting pipe and storing the mercury vapor, a plunger reciprocating in the cylinder, and another connecting pipe connecting the cylinder and the valve .
[0008]
With this configuration, mercury vapor is sealed in the bulb, so that mercury can be prevented from adhering to a part of the mercury sealing apparatus, for example, a part for sealing mercury in the bulb.
[0009]
Further, the mercury sealing device of the present invention has a configuration further comprising mixing means for mixing the mercury vapor and the rare gas, and another sealing means for sealing the rare gas with the mercury vapor in the valve. ing.
[0010]
With this configuration, mercury and a rare gas can be simultaneously sealed in the bulb.
[0011]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0012]
1 to 4 show partially cutaway front views of a mercury filling device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0013]
As shown in FIG. 1, a mercury filling apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a fixed block 2 and a slide block 3 that moves on the fixed block 2 by mechanical means.
[0014]
The fixed block 2 has a mercury tank 4 containing liquid mercury, a supply pipe 5 for supplying mercury vapor from the mercury tank 4 to the outside, and an injection for injecting a rare gas such as mercury vapor or argon gas into the glass bulb 6. A tube 7 is provided. The gas supply pipe 8 can supply a rare gas such as an argon gas to the supply pipe 5. The first heating wire 9 is wound around the outer surface of the injection pipe 7 so as to cover the entirety thereof. By uniformly heating the inside of the injection pipe 7, it is possible to keep the temperature at a constant temperature.
[0015]
The slide block 3 is connected to a cylinder 10 for storing mercury vapor and the like, a plunger 11 for reciprocating in the cylinder 10 to discharge mercury vapor and the like, a vacuum pump 12 and a gas cylinder 13 for a rare gas such as argon gas. Exhaust pipe 14 is provided. The second heating wire 15 is wound around the outer surface of the cylinder 10 so as to cover the entire surface thereof. By uniformly heating the inside of the cylinder 10, the second heating wire 15 can be kept at a constant temperature.
[0016]
In the above-described embodiment, the first heating wire 9 or the second heating wire 15 is used as the heating means for the injection pipe 7 and the cylinder 10, but a heating means such as a burner may be used.
[0017]
In addition, when the predetermined amount of mercury sealed in the glass bulb 6 is, for example, 10 mg, the volume of the cylinder 10 is as follows from Boyle-Charles' law in order to convert 10 mg of liquid mercury into mercury vapor at 200 ° C. You can ask as follows. However, if the volume of the mercury vapor to be enclosed exceeds the internal volume of the glass bulb 6, it becomes difficult to encapsulate the mercury vapor. Therefore, it is preferable that the volume of the mercury vapor be equal to or less than the internal volume of the glass bulb 6.
[0018]
From PV = NRT, V = NRT / P (Boyle-Charles law)
here,
P: saturated mercury vapor pressure at 200 ° C. (atm) = (17.287 / 760)
V: Volume of mercury vapor (L)
N: mole number = (0.01 / 200.59)
R: gas constant = 0.082
T: absolute temperature (K) = (273.16 + 200)
V = 0.01 × 0.082 × (273.16 + 200) × 760 / 200.5 / 17.287 0.085 (L) = 85 (cc)
Therefore, the volume of the cylinder 10 is set to 85 cc.
[0019]
Next, a mercury filling process using the mercury filling device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.
[0020]
The first process is as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the slide block 3 moves on the fixed block 2 and is arranged at a position where the cylinder 10 and the supply pipe 5 are connected. The plunger 11 is fixed at a position where the volume in the cylinder 10 becomes 85 cc. The second heating wire 15 is heated so that the temperature in the cylinder 10 becomes 200 ° C., and the heat converts the liquid mercury in the mercury tank 4 into mercury vapor. The mercury vapor is supplied to the cylinder 10 through the supply pipe 5 and stored. At the same time or after the amount of mercury vapor sealed in the glass bulb 6 is stored, argon gas is supplied into the cylinder 10 from a gas supply pipe 8 connected to an argon gas cylinder (not shown). Further, one end of the thin tube 16 of the glass bulb 6 is airtightly connected to one end of the injection tube 7, and the inside of the glass bulb 6 is evacuated by the vacuum pump 12.
[0021]
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 17 denotes an open / close cock for switching between the vacuum pump 12 and the gas cylinder 13.
[0022]
When the internal volume of the glass bulb 6 is 500 cm ³ and the argon gas pressure is 250 Pa (20 ° C.), the supply amount of the argon gas to the cylinder 10 is determined as follows.
[0023]
The mole number (mol) of argon in the glass bulb 6 under the above conditions is 5.13 × 10 ⁻⁵ (mol) according to Boyle-Charles law. When 5.13 × 10 ⁻⁵ (mol) of argon is supplied to the cylinder 10, the argon gas pressure in the cylinder 10 is 2.34 × 10 ⁻² (atm) according to the above rule, and the argon gas pressure is maintained until the pressure reaches this pressure. May be supplied.
[0024]
The second process is as shown in FIG. From the state shown in FIG. 1, as shown in FIG. 2, the slide block 3 moves on the fixed block 2 in the direction A (see FIG. 1), and is arranged at a position where the cylinder 10 and the injection pipe 7 are connected. . At this time, the inside of the injection pipe 7 is heated to 200 ° C. with the first heating wire 9 so that mercury does not adhere to the inner surface of the injection pipe 7.
[0025]
The third step is as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the plunger 11 is lowered to introduce a mixed gas of mercury vapor and argon gas in the cylinder 10 into the injection pipe 7, and the mixed gas is sealed in the glass bulb 6.
[0026]
The fourth step is as shown in FIG. From the state shown in FIG. 3, as shown in FIG. 4, the slide block 3 moves on the fixed block 2 in the direction B (see FIG. 3), and is arranged at a position where the exhaust pipe 14 and the injection pipe 7 are connected. You. Thereafter, the opening / closing cock 17 is switched to the gas cylinder 13 side, and a small amount of argon gas is injected into the injection pipe 7 through the exhaust pipe 14 and sealed in the glass bulb 6 together with mercury vapor remaining in the injection pipe 7 and the narrow pipe 16. You.
[0027]
The amount of argon gas sealed in the fourth step is excessive compared to the amount that should be originally sealed, but there is no practical problem because the amount is small. If it is necessary to fill a larger amount, the amount may be reduced in advance when the argon gas is filled in the first step.
[0028]
As described above, according to the present invention, the mercury does not adhere to a part of the mercury filling device 1 such as the injection pipe 7 without being affected by the characteristics such as the large surface tension of the liquid mercury. A fixed amount of mercury can be sealed in the glass bulb 6. As a result, it is possible to prevent a variation in the amount of mercury sealed in the glass bulb 6, and to improve the quality of the lamp. In addition, since the volume of mercury vapor is much larger than that of liquid mercury, even a small amount of mercury can be easily sealed in a predetermined amount. Furthermore, since the mercury vapor and the rare gas can be simultaneously sealed in the glass bulb 6, the manufacturing process of the lamp can be simplified and the efficiency can be improved.
[0029]
In the above embodiment, the case where the argon gas is sealed together with the mercury vapor in the first step has been described. However, the argon gas may be separately sealed from the mercury vapor by the method described in the fourth step. Good.
[0030]
The mercury filling device of the present invention can be used for filling mercury into bulbs such as fluorescent lamps and high pressure discharge lamps.
[0031]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the present invention includes heating means for converting liquid mercury into mercury vapor, and sealing means for sealing the mercury vapor in a valve , wherein the sealing means includes a container storing the liquid mercury. , are connected by connecting pipe to the container, and a cylinder for storing the mercury vapor, a plunger reciprocates in said cylinder, by Rukoto which have a and another connection pipe which connects the said cylinder valve Since a predetermined amount of mercury can always be sealed in the bulb, a variation in the amount of mercury sealed in the bulb can be prevented, and a mercury sealing apparatus capable of improving the quality of the lamp can be provided. Things.
[0032]
In addition, the present invention includes, in addition to the heating means and the sealing means, a mixing means for mixing the mercury vapor and the rare gas, and another sealing means for sealing the rare gas together with the mercury vapor into the bulb, so that the lamp is provided. An object of the present invention is to provide a mercury filling device capable of simplifying a manufacturing process and increasing efficiency.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway front view showing a first step of a mercury filling step using a mercury filling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partially cutout view showing a second step of the mercury filling step. Front view [FIG. 3] Partially notched front view showing a third step of the mercury filling step [FIG. 4] Partially cut front view showing a fourth step of the mercury filling step [FIG. 5] Conventional mercury filling Partially cutaway front view of device [Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Mercury filling apparatus 4 Mercury tank 5 Supply pipe 6 Valve 7 Injection pipe 8 Gas supply pipe 9,15 Heating wire 10 Cylinder 11 Plunger

Claims (4)

Heating means for converting liquid mercury to mercury vapor, and sealing means for sealing the mercury vapor in a valve, the sealing means is connected to a container storing the liquid mercury, and connected to the container with a connection pipe, A mercury filling device comprising: a cylinder for storing the mercury vapor; a plunger reciprocating in the cylinder; and another connection pipe connecting the cylinder and the valve . Said heating means, by heating the outer surface of the cylinder, the heat in the cylinder is conducted to the vessel, mercury claim 1 Symbol mounting the liquid mercury and wherein the changing to the mercury vapor Enclosure device. And mixing means for mixing the mercury vapor and a rare gas, wherein said inert gas together with the mercury vapor to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that it comprises a further encapsulation means encapsulating said valve Mercury filling equipment. The mercury filling device according to claim 3 , wherein the mixing unit connects a supply pipe for supplying the rare gas to the connection pipe.

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