JPH0572059B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a variable color light source device that can change the color of light with one lamp.

[Prior Art] Much research and development has been conducted on variable color light source devices, and some of them have been put into practical use.
However, most of them combined color incandescent lamps or color fluorescent lamps in the three colors of red, blue, and green into a single unit, and changed the color of the light by adjusting their dimming.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Although such a light source device is certainly color variable, it has the following drawbacks.

(1) It is expensive because it requires a light control device.

(2) Since three lamps are combined into one, it is larger and has less luminous flux.

Due to the above drawbacks, it was unsuitable for use as main lighting.

The present invention has been made in view of the above drawbacks, and its purpose is to provide a variable color light source device that is inexpensive and can be used as main illumination.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a tube whose interior is filled with mercury vapor and an inert gas, has translucency, and whose inner surface is coated with a phosphor. A lamp consisting of a thermionic-emitting cathode disposed inside the tube and an electron-transmissive anode disposed at a distance of several millimeters to several centimeters from the cathode is heated at a constant current. By lighting the cathode with a constant voltage source or impedance connected in series and controlling the electric power that heats the cathode, the luminous ratio of the mercury vapor and inert gas is changed to realize variable colors. .

[Operation] When the lamp having the above configuration is lit without heating the cathode, electrons fly out from the cathode into space with energy corresponding to the cathode drop voltage.
This energy is more than ten volts, which is sufficient to ionize and excite the enclosed inert gas (both ionization voltage and excitation voltage are higher than mercury). Moreover, the sealing pressure is mercury vapor pressure (10 ^-3 Torr
degree) compared to the inert gas ratio (0.several Torr to 10
several Torr), which is sufficiently high. As a result, the lamp emits much stronger inert gas light.

On the other hand, when the lamp is turned on while the cathode is heated, the cathode temperature becomes high, so the cathode drop voltage becomes low. Therefore, the energy of the electrons jumping out also decreases, and the rate at which the inert gas is ionized and excited decreases.

In this manner, by controlling the cathode heating power, it is possible to change the ratio of light emission between mercury vapor and inert gas, and the color of light emitted from the lamp can be changed.

[Example] Fig. 1 shows an example of the lamp according to the present invention, in which 1 is a spherical tube body with an outer diameter of 50 mm, and a light bulb-colored phosphor (not shown) is provided on the inner surface of the tube body. is coated with mercury vapor (10 ^-2 to ^{10 -4} Torr).
and approximately 5 Torr of neon gas is sealed. A cathode 2 is disposed inside the tube body 1 and is made of a tungsten filament coated with a barium emitter. Reference numeral 3 denotes an electron-permeable anode disposed at a distance of several mm from the cathode 2.

The lamp thus constructed was lit using a basic circuit as shown in FIG. In addition, in FIG. 2, 4 is a cathode heating power source, and 5 is a constant current source.

Here, by flowing a current of 600 mA and changing the cathode heating power source 4 from 0 to 7 V, the third
In the chromaticity diagram shown in the figure, point A (x=0.534, y
= 0.398) to point B (x = 0.439, y = 0.435).

Next, FIG. 4 shows a different embodiment of the present invention, which differs from the previous embodiment in that it has a configuration intended for AC lighting. In addition, in the same figure, 1
2 and 3 are thermionic emission type electrodes, 4 is an electrode heating power source, 6 is an impedance element, and 7 is an AC power source.

In this example, as in the previous example, the color of the emitted light could be changed by controlling the heating of the electrodes 2 and 3.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the present invention comprises a tube whose interior is filled with mercury vapor and an inert gas, has translucency, and whose inner surface is coated with a phosphor; The distance between the thermionic emission type electrode and the electrode is several mm.
By lighting a lamp consisting of electron-permeable electrodes placed at a distance of several centimeters and controlling the heating of at least one electrode, it is possible to provide a variable-color lamp and eliminate the need for complicated conventional methods. It does not require a dimming circuit, is very inexpensive, is a single lamp, is small in size, and has enough output to be used for main lighting.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of a lamp according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a chromaticity diagram according to the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a different embodiment of the present invention. 1... tube body, 2... electrode (cathode), 3...
Electrode (anode), 4... Electrode (cathode) heating means, 5... Constant current supply means, 6, 7... Constant voltage supply means.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A tube body filled with mercury vapor and an inert gas, having translucency, and whose inner surface is coated with a phosphor, and a thermoelectronic tube disposed inside the tube body. A lamp consisting of an emitting cathode and an electron-permeable anode disposed at a distance of several millimeters to several centimeters from the cathode, which constantly heats the cathode and can control the heating power. A variable color light source device comprising a lighting device including a cathode heating means and a constant current supply means for supplying a constant current between the anode and the cathode. 2 A tube body that is filled with mercury vapor and inert gas, has translucent properties, and has a phosphor coated on its inner surface, and faces each other with an interval of several mm to several centimeters inside the tube. a lamp consisting of a pair of thermionic emission type electrodes arranged in such a manner, an electrode heating means capable of constantly heating each of the electrodes and controlling the heating power, and supplying a constant voltage between the electrodes. A variable color light source device comprising a lighting device equipped with constant voltage supply means.