JPH07282778A - Variable light color fluorescent lamp and its lighting method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] The present invention relates to a variable light color fluorescent lamp and a method of lighting the same, and in particular, it utilizes a change in the intensity of blue mercury rays depending on the duty ratio to obtain a spectrum of visible mercury rays + phosphor emission. It is to provide a phosphor and a pulse lighting condition that can be changed to realize a large light color change. [Composition] Mainly adjusting the duty ratio of pulsed fluorescent lamps with general-purpose bulbs containing low-pressure mercury vapor or fluorescent lamps containing xenon + mercury coated with multiple types of phosphors including long afterglow red phosphors. To change the light color of a single lamp. [Effect] The light color change from the daylight color to the light bulb color defined by JIS can be obtained mainly by adjusting the duty ratio.
Although some phosphors are different from conventional products, the light emission distribution is similar to the conventional three-wavelength type, so the color rendering is good, and the light color can be changed according to the temperature, humidity, and humidity without changing the lamp, and it is a light source for comfortable lighting. I will provide a. Despite having novel features,
Since the bulb material and shape are the same as those of general-purpose fluorescent lamps, the lamp itself is extremely inexpensive.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a light source for comfortable lighting which can change the light color of a single fluorescent lamp in accordance with the ambient environment such as cold, dry and humid conditions, and the sensation of the user of the lamp, and its lighting method. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Patent Publication No. 53-42386 discloses a discharge display device which changes the color of light emitted from a single lamp.
Each visible light emission of two or more types of discharge is switched and displayed by controlling the current waveform. In the neon + mercury system, orange and bluish white can be switched and displayed depending on the ionization voltage difference.

In Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-72059, mercury vapor and an inert gas are enclosed, and the cathode and the anode are arranged at intervals of several mm to several cm, and the cathode emits heat and the inside of the tube emits phosphor. A variable light color light source that superimposes is disclosed.

Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 5-80787 includes an anode closely attached to a vacuum-tight envelope and a phosphor that emits light essentially by electron beam excitation, and a high voltage is applied between a filament cathode provided in the envelope. A variable light color light source is disclosed which consists of an applied cathode thermal emission and fluorescence.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 5-135744 discloses a variable light color fluorescent lamp for changing the light amount ratio of blue light emission and red light emission and a lighting method thereof.

Journal of Optical Society of America, Vol. 53, No. 10, pp. 1139 to 1146 Journal of Optical
Society of America 33 (10)
1139 to 1146 (1963), Table 1 on page 1141 summarizes the initial decay time constant of mercury line in mercury-argon system discharge, and the value of the time constant at 39 ° C to 60 ° C is 16 at 254 nm, for example. .8 to 19.1μ
s, it is shown that it is 6.24 to 8.93 μs at 436 nm of blue.

[0007]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention
Even though the device of 2386 is excellent for switching the light color of the display, since the light color has a chromaticity point distant from the blackbody locus on the chromaticity diagram, the average color rendering index is low, and Has the drawback that it is not suitable for the intended comfortable lighting.

Further, Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-72059 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-520
The 80787 provides a variable color light source that is both inexpensive and can be the main illumination, but its shape is limited to an incandescent bulb type.

The present invention is based on the above-mentioned JP-A-5-135744.
In the variable light color fluorescent lamp and its lighting method for changing the light amount ratio of blue light emission and red light emission disclosed in, the contribution of blue light emission is not burdened only on the phosphor light emission, but is more burdened on the mercury ray in the blue region, and the duty is increased. It aims to change the light color of a single lamp in a wider range by positively utilizing the drastic change in the intensity of the mercury ray with the change in the ratio.

[0010]

In the low-pressure mercury vapor and inert gas filled fluorescent lamp according to the present invention, in converting the ultraviolet rays generated by the discharge into visible light, the duty ratio of the pulse is mainly adjusted. The light color of the single lamp is changed by relatively changing the light amount ratio of blue light emission and red light emission. The differences from the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-135744 are summarized in the following four points.

The first point is that among the mercury rays in the visible region, 43
The purpose is to increase the ratio of the intensity of the mercury ray of 6 nm to the emission intensity of the blue phosphor. The variable light color intended by the present invention is to change the visible light emission distribution of a single fluorescent lamp only by an external input signal, and it is assumed that the visible light emission distribution is composed of blue, green and red components. And the external input signal operation is nothing but the seesaw operation of the intensity ratio of blue and red based on the green intensity. One of the effective methods for realizing seesaw operation is that the blue component consists of short afterglow linear light emission, and when the duty ratio of the pulse is reduced, in other words, when the interval of the pulse train is increased, the blue component disappears. Is extremely fast, and as a result, it is possible to change to a visible light emission distribution with many red components. In this case, in an extreme case, it is not necessary to use the blue phosphor as shown in the examples, but when using it for the purpose of achieving high color rendering, the phosphors emitting light in the blue and blue-green regions, In the case of exhibiting band emission, Y (P, V) O ₄ , (Y, Gd) (P, V) O ₄ ,
BaMg ₂ Al ₁₆ O ₂₇ : a phosphor in which a divalent Eu is activated on a barium-magnesium aluminate matrix represented by Eu, and divalent Eu and divalent manganese are added to the aluminate matrix. When the phosphor emitting at least one selected from Y ₂ SiO ₅ : Ce which co-activates, and which emits light in the blue and blue-green regions exhibits linear emission, trivalent Tm, Pr, At least one selected from Dy-activated phosphors is desirable. The above-mentioned phosphor exhibiting band-shaped light emission is not limited to 254 nm but also xenon resonance line 14
Sufficient emission intensity is maintained even when excited by vacuum ultraviolet light containing 7 nm.

The second point is to provide a red-emitting phosphor having an initial decay time constant of 1000 times or more as compared with the initial decay time constant of a 436 nm mercury ray. As explained in the above-mentioned section of the prior art, the initial decay time constant of the 436 nm mercury ray is in the range of 6.24 to 8.93 μs.
The initial decay time constant of 000 times or more corresponds to 6.24 ms or more. For example, the pulse width is 1 μs, the repetition period is 2 ⁴ , that is, 1
In the case of 6 μs (duty ratio 6.25%), the mercury line intensity at 436 nm should be remarkably reduced 16 μs after the extinction pulse. On the other hand, the red phosphor emission on the long wavelength side is 16 μs after the extinction pulse if the forbidden transition luminescent ion
Therefore, it is considered that the strength is still maintained.
One of the candidates for this type of red-emitting phosphor is a long afterglow M ₃ (PO ₄ ) ₂ : Mn activated with divalent manganese, where M
Represents Zn, Zn-Ca, Zn-Mg. However, the efficiency of 254 nm excitation is not necessarily good. Therefore, for the purpose of increasing the initial emission intensity at the time of applying a pulse, Y (P, V) which maintains sufficient emission intensity for excitation of vacuum ultraviolet light including the xenon resonance line of 147 nm.
O ₄ : Eu, Y ₂ O ₃ : Eu, Gd ₂ O ₃ : Eu, 3.5M
It is desirable to use at least one selected from gO · 0.5MgF ₂ · GeO ₂ : Mn.

The third point is that the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-135744.
In contrast, while a fluorescent lamp containing only xenon is disclosed, the present invention always includes low-pressure mercury vapor even when xenon is used, and xenon + mercury is used as an enclosure.
The reason is as described in the above first and second points.

The fourth point is that the above-mentioned Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 5-135744.
In contrast, while the duty ratio is regulated to 10% or more and less than 50%, the effect of the variable light color is large even when the duty ratio is less than 10%. The reason is the long afterglow M ₃ described in point 2.
This is because (PO ₄ ) ₂ : Mn is used.

In the seesaw operation of the intensity ratio of blue and red based on the intensity of green, the phosphor that emits light in the green region, which is the so-called fulcrum of the seesaw, does not require any particular regulation on the afterglow property. , In terms of color tone and efficiency (La, Ce)
At least one selected from PO ₄ : Tb and Zn ₂ SiO ₄ : Mn is desirable. On the other hand, regarding the pulse lighting condition, if a constant bias voltage is applied between the electrodes, it is effective to suppress the fluctuation of the lamp luminous flux due to the duty ratio adjustment. Further, the filling of a rare gas other than argon such as xenon is also effective for suppressing the fluctuation of the lamp luminous flux due to the duty ratio adjustment, as it emits light even when excited by vacuum ultraviolet light other than the mercury resonance lines 254 nm and 185 nm. There is.

Furthermore, by accessing a magnetic card or IC card in which pulse width, repetition period, pulse voltage, positive / negative polarity switching, etc. are recorded in advance, the number of changeover switches can be reduced and variable light color operation can be simplified. You can The same applies to remote control of variable light color by wireless.

[0017]

First, the operation of the invention according to claims 1, 2, 3, and 4 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. In FIG. 1, a pair of electrodes 2a and 2b face each other and a discharge gas 3 is enclosed in a transparent tube body 1. The inner wall 1 is coated with a phosphor 4 that converts 254 nm, 185 nm, or 147 nm light generated by the discharge 3 into visible light. 4 is different from the conventional three-wavelength band emission type fluorescent lamp in that the long afterglow red phosphor is used as described above. After preheating 2b with the preheating power source 5, a pulse voltage is applied from the pulse power source 6 through the series resistor 7 to discharge 3.

Next, 6 is adjusted to change the duty ratio and measure the luminance at the center of 1 or measure the lamp luminous flux with a spherical integrating sphere. Here, the duty ratio D is a percentage of a value obtained by dividing the pulse width W by the repetition period T, that is, D =
It is represented by (W / T) × 100.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the variable light color mechanism according to the present invention, focusing on the temporal changes of blue, green, and red components. The upper part of the diagram is D large, that is, a pulse. The pattern of attenuation of three components when the period is T is small, and the lower part of the figure shows the pattern of attenuation when D is small and T is large.
By adjusting D, the upper part is visually recognized as a bluish daylight color, and the lower part is visually recognized as a reddish light bulb color. In the figure, the triangular total area corresponding to the amount of light is smaller in the lower stage, but the light flux can be adjusted by applying a required bias voltage between the electrodes or increasing the pulse voltage in the small D area. This relates to claim 5.

When the blue component is only the 436 nm mercury line, the intensity ratio I with the mercury line 546 nm depends on the tube current.
₄₃₆ / I ₅₄₆ changes, and taking an 8 W straight tube as an example, I ₄₃₆ / I ₅₄₆ = 1.4 to 1.8 depending on D in a low current region,
In the high current region, the value of I ₄₃₆ / I ₅₄₆ = 1.3 does not depend much on D. Thus, resulting in four of the difference, the first point effectively act significant light color change in the low current range greater the value of I ₄₃₆ / I ₅₄₆ of the aforementioned JP-A-5-135744.
The second point works effectively in the high current region. _I436 / _I546 is D
In order to achieve a large light color change in a high current region that does not depend so much on, it is desirable to obtain the required color component emission even with excitation of 147 nm other than 254 nm. This relates to claim 6, the related phosphor relates to claim 3, and the phosphor having the host composition in claim 3 is highly efficient when excited with a xenon resonance line of 147 nm.

The operation of the invention according to claim 7 resides in the convenience of the variable light color operation. If necessary, a plurality of elements having different resistance values are arranged in 7 of FIG. 1 and one of them is arranged. It can be selected and used not only for light color operation but also for light flux adjustment operation.

[0022]

【Example】

(Example 1) Outer diameter 15.2 mm, wall thickness 0.6 mm, length 28
8W in which a green phosphor Zn ₂ SiO ₄ : Mn and a red phosphor Zn ₃ (PO ₄ ) ₂ : Mn were mixed and coated on a 0 mm glass tube.
A hot cathode type low pressure mercury vapor-filled fluorescent lamp was prepared. The argon pressure was kept constant at 930 Pa. 100 in 2b of FIG.
After preheating by flowing mA, a rectangular wave pulse having a pulse width W = 1 μs, a repetition period T = 2 μs to 32 μs, and a voltage V = 270 V is applied to the DC bias 10 by using 22 KΩ for 7.
It turned on at 0V. This pulse condition is the duty ratio D =
This corresponds to 50.0 to 3.3%. In order to maintain the glow discharge mode, the tube current was suppressed to 100 mA or less. The tube current was measured with a thermocouple type ammeter.

In FIG. 3, the repetition period T = 2 μs to 32 μs
Shows the shift of the chromaticity point of this lamp at. 5 in the figure
Each quadrilateral 8 is a chromaticity classification of a fluorescent lamp defined by JIS Z9112-1990. Daylight (symbol D), neutral white (N), white (W), warm white (W
W) and a light bulb color (L). Also, of the two curves that pass through the quadrilateral, the lower side is the blackbody radiation locus 9 and the upper side is the CIE.
Represents synthetic daylight 10. As is apparent from the figure, the shift 11 of the chromaticity points connected by the dotted line covers the entire area from D to L with respect to the change of the repetition period T = 2 ¹ to ²⁵ μs. I understand. Furthermore, T = 2 ³
It can also be seen that at μs = 8 μs, the chromaticity point of the lamp is almost on the blackbody radiation locus.

[0024]

[Table 1]

Table 1 summarizes the relationship between the repetition period, the correlated color temperature, and the color difference Δuv from the black body radiation locus. Moreover, the emission spectrum of FIG. 4 is illustrated.

(Example 2) In Example 1, Y (P, V) O ₄ was newly added to the blue phosphor, and Zn ₂ was added to the green phosphor.
SiO _4: in place of _{Mn (La, Ce) PO 4} : using Tb, the red _{phosphor, (Zn, Ca) 3 (} PO 4) 2: M
n, deep red phosphor 3.5MgO ・ 0.5MgF ₂・ G
A low-pressure mercury vapor fluorescent lamp using eO ₂ : Mn was prepared. The load resistance was fixed at 200Ω, and the tube current was suppressed to 700 mA or less regardless of the duty ratio. In such a high current range, as described above, the value of I ₄₃₆ / I ₅₄₆ is almost constant regardless of the duty ratio. Therefore, the daylight color as in Example 1 cannot be obtained, but the neutral white to the bulb color is obtained. A high luminous flux was obtained in the area. FIG. 5 shows a duty ratio of 4 to 50.
In the region of%, the relative luminous flux is shown in comparison with the case of AC100V, 50 Hz lighting, and the relative luminous flux exceeds 200% at a large duty ratio. Note that FIG. 5 shows the characteristics of constant load resistance, and by adjusting the load resistance, it is possible to obtain a flatter light flux with respect to changes in the duty ratio.

(Example 3) In Examples 1 and 2, the same argon gas was filled as in the general-purpose fluorescent lamp, but a low-pressure mercury vapor fluorescent lamp in which 133 Pa of xenon gas was filled instead of argon was prepared. In addition to Y (P, V) O ₄ , Y ₂ SiO ₅ : Ce was added to the blue phosphor. As a result, the same large chromaticity point shift as in the low current region of Example 1 could be observed even in the high current region. This is because Y ₂ SiO ₅ : Ce, like the red phosphor (Zn, Ca) ₃ (PO ₄ ) ₂ : Mn, has higher efficiency for 147 nm xenon resonance line excitation than for 254 nm excitation.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the low pressure mercury vapor-filled fluorescent lamp is pulsed, the intensity of ultraviolet and visible mercury rays drastically changes depending on the duty ratio. There is an effect that a wide range of light color changes from daylight color to light bulb color can be realized with a single lamp by changing the spectrum of mercury rays in the visible region and the emission of phosphor. Here, a long afterglow red phosphor is used for the initial attenuation characteristic of a 436 nm mercury ray. Further, when used in a region where the tube current is large, a wide range of light color change can be obtained by encapsulating xenon gas and mercury and by using a bright phosphor together with xenon excitation.
Further, in order to maintain the luminous flux of the lamp regardless of the duty ratio, a required one is selected from a plurality of load resistors installed in advance. Since the lamp of the present invention is basically of a three-wavelength band emission type, it has a relatively high average color rendering index and is useful as a light source for comfortable illumination. Further, when the card in which the pulse condition is recorded is accessed when the lamp is turned on, there is an effect that the variable light color operation is simplified, and the variable light color operation can be performed wirelessly. There is a great advantage that the current product can be used as it is with the material and shape of the fluorescent lamp bulb.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a lamp of the present invention and a method of lighting the lamp.

FIG. 2 is a characteristic diagram illustrating the operating principle of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a chromaticity diagram of the lamp of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of an emission spectrum of the lamp of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the duty ratio of the lamp of the present invention and the relative luminous flux.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Translucent tube, 2a, 2b ... Electrode, 3 ... Xenon gas, 4 ... Phosphor, 5 ... Preheating power supply, 6 ... Pulse power supply, 7
... Series resistance, 8 ... JIS light source color classification, 9 ... Black body radiation locus, 10 ... CIE synthetic daylight, 11 ... Lamp chromaticity point shift characteristic line.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. In a low-pressure mercury vapor-filled fluorescent lamp, the fact that the intensity ratio of mercury rays in the ultraviolet and visible regions changes depending on the pulse lighting conditions of the fluorescent lamp makes use of the mercury beam in the visible region and the phosphor. And a method of lighting the variable light color fluorescent lamp, characterized in that the spectrum of the light emission of the fluorescent lamp is changed. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the initial decay of the mercury ray emitting in the blue region is 1000 with respect to the time constant of 1 / e approximation.
A variable light color fluorescent lamp comprising at least one type of red phosphor having an initial emission decay time constant that is at least twice as long. 3. The phosphor according to claim 1, wherein the phosphor that emits light in the blue and blue-green regions exhibits band emission, and Y
(P, V) O ₄ , (Y, Gd) (P, V) O ₄ , BaMg
₂ Al ₁₆ O ₂₇ : Eu, which is a barium-magnesium aluminate-based matrix represented by Eu, is activated with divalent Eu, and the aluminate-based matrix contains divalent Eu and divalent manganese. When the phosphor having at least one selected from the co-activated phosphor, Y ₂ SiO ₅ : Ce, and having an emission component in the blue and blue-green regions exhibits linear emission, trivalent Tm, Pr , Dy is at least one phosphor selected from the phosphors that emit light in the green region (La,
Ce) at least one selected from PO ₄ : Tb and Zn ₂ SiO ₄ : Mn, and the phosphor that emits light in the red region is
_{M 3 (PO 4) 2:} Mn, wherein M is Zn, Zn-Ca,
Represents a Zn-Mg, in addition to _{Y (P, V) O 4} : Eu,
Y ₂ O ₃ : Eu, Gd ₂ O ₃ : Eu, 3.5MgO · 0.5
A variable light color fluorescent lamp characterized by being at least one selected from MgF ₂ · GeO ₂ : Mn. 4. When the fluorescent lamp according to claim 1 is pulse-lit, the duty ratio represented by a percentage of a value obtained by dividing the pulse width by the repetition period is significantly adjusted to change the value of the single lamp. A method of lighting a variable light color fluorescent lamp, which is characterized by varying the light color. 5. A lighting method, wherein a constant bias voltage is applied between electrodes when the fluorescent lamp according to claim 1 is pulse-lighted. 6. A variable light color fluorescent lamp and a lighting method thereof according to claim 1, wherein a rare gas other than argon is filled in addition to mercury. 7. The variable light color operation according to claim 1, wherein the variable light color operation is performed by accessing a card in which pulse conditions such as pulse voltage, pulse width, repetition period, etc. are recorded, or the same variable light color operation is performed wirelessly. A lighting method characterized in that.