Importance

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Abstract

An illumination device utilizes an electrical discharge through inert gas especially neon, argon, and mercury vapor or mixtures thereof, the electrical discharge being contained within two or more vitreous plates and confined within one or more channels within the vitreous plates. These channels, in combination with evacuation and gas filling means, provide one or more ionization chambers, the chambers being further provided with integral electrodes in combination with means for both thermally shielding the integral electrodes from the vitreous plates and for prevention of adhesion of the electrodes from the vitreous plates during the thermal sealing of the vitreous plates to form the ionization chamber or chambers. Special conditions for the relationship between the level of thermal shielding and the electrical power supplied to the electrode together with the design of the electrode assembly and electrode chamber and the use of infrared emissive coatings on the electrodes have been discovered which enable these electrodes to be contained integrally within the body of the illumination device rather than in chambers separate from, although attached to the body of the illumination device, and to be capable of continuous operation without causing cracking of the glass plates.

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First Claim