Abstract: A mercury-free colored light source is especially well suited for use as a signal and/or navigational aid. The source is also adaptable to many other applications requiring momentary flashes of a particular color of light. The mercury-free, pulsed metal halide light source of the present invention comprises in combination:(a) a light transmissive glass vacuum outer jacket;(b) a light transmisive glass arc tube disposed within said outer jacket;(c) emissive material comprising at least one metal halide salt and an inert gas; and(d) an anode and a cathode, disposed within said arc tube, forming a gap therebetween;said cathode being completely covered by said metal halide salt.

Abstract: An arc discharge lamp having an elongated outer envelope being orthogonal or transverse to the central axis of the lamp base. The invention provides an optically precise, extremely rugged, very efficient, and long-lived light source particularly well suited for use in rotating navigational signals which are for use in rotating navigational signals which are frequently situated in remote locations and exposed to all types of weather conditions. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the lamp comprises a base having a vertical central axis, a light-transmissive outer envelope elongated along a horizontal central axis, and an upwardly arched arc tube for horizontal operation mounted within the outer envelope. In comparison with filamented counterparts of equal wattage from the prior art, the arc discharge source provides greater luminous efficacy and lamp life.

Abstract: A two-filament incandescent lamp and operating circuit well suited to lighting applications requiring high service reliability. In the lamp, the rated operating voltage of the second filament is greater than that of the first filament. In the operating circuit, there is an inductive reactance in series with the lamp and, in one aspect of the invention, an electrical connection across the lamp terminals for measuring the operating voltage of the lamp. After the power and rated wattage of both lamp filaments have been selected, matched values of inductive reactance and open circuit voltage of the operating circuit can be uniquely determined such that the following advantages are obtained. When the first lamp filament fails, the second filament comes into full brilliance. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, there will be no significant change in the luminous output of the lamp before and after failure of the first filament.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to a sealed beam lamp comprising a lens and a reflector, both of which have been coated with a multiple series of thin, very high temperature resistant alternating dichroic coatings, most preferably TiO.sub.2 and SiO.sub.2. The lamps of the present invention produce brilliantly colored light and may be constructed as compact, high wattage, glass or epoxy sealed fixtures, with numerous possible focussing constuctions.

Abstract: A high-voltage, low-wattage incandescent lamp having a tubular hard-glass envelope enclosing a coiled coil filament axially mounted with at least one, preferably two, intermediate filamentary supports. The lead-in wires and filamentary supports are mounted in the press seal of the lamp. Each end of the filament is mounted on an internal termination of a lead-in wire. The filament is mounted on the intermediate support(s) at point(s) along the filament body such that the body is divided into approximately equal segments or such that the operating temperature along the body is approximately uniform. Because of reduced filament sag, the tubular glass envelope has a reduced inner diameter and thinner wall thickness whereby the lamp may be more safely contained within an outer envelope in the unlikely event of a lamp burst. A lamp in accordance with the invention will exhibit enhanced operating characteristics and is well suited for applications in Europe.

Abstract: A multifunctional member and reflector lamp employing same for mounting a light-source capsule on the inside of the neck of the outer envelope, for optically aligning the capsule with respect to the reflector, for reflecting heat away from the base region of the lamp, for blocking convective heat transfer into the lamp neck, and for reflecting light incident on the member toward the lens. In performing these multiple functions, the member reflects heat back to the filament or light source which improves its efficiency, and the member redirects light toward the lens which improves the efficacy of the lamp. In a preferred embodiment, the multifunctional member is formed from stainless steel and has a bowl-shaped body with a somewhat flexible peripheral annular tab extending upward and outward conically. The peripheral tab may be crimped, slotted, or have a tapered thickness in order to provide flexibility sufficient for mounting.

Abstract: Electrodes for lamps comprising elongated structures comprised of layers containing varying amounts of metal and refractory oxide. In a preferred embodiment the electrode has a first end comprising 9.6 volume percent tungsten and the remainder alumina. The second end comprises substantially 100% tungsten. The intermediate body contains layers of, e.g., 12, 20, 35, 50 and 75% tungsten.

Abstract: A metal-halide arc tube and lamp having improved uniformity of azimuthal luminous intensity and being particularly suited for navigational signal applications. The arc tube when operationally positioned about a vertical axis has a body which is substantially egg-shaped with the lower half of the body being more oblate than the upper half. During operation, the surface of the upper half of the arc tube body remains entirely free of metal-halide condensate so that no emitted light is blocked by condensate in any direction and nearly uniform azimuthal intensity is achieved. A heat-reflecting coating about the lower electrode prevents the formation of a condensate puddle about the lower electrode and relocates the condensate during operation to an area of the lower half above the coating and below the center of the arc tube.

Abstract: An improved metal-halide arc discharge lamp includes an arc tube having a substantially cylindrical body surrounded laterally by a substantially cylindrical heat-conserving sleeve within an evacuated outer envelope. The ratio of the outer radius of the arc tube divided by the inner radius of the sleeve falls within an optimum range of approximately 0.54 to approximately 0.68, and preferably within a range of approximately 0.60 to approximately 0.63. A lamp constructed in accordance with the invention exhibits improved luminous efficacy and color rendering in comparison to prior art counterparts. The improved performance is believed to be attributable to the more nearly isothermal operation of the arc tube for a given wall loading.

Abstract: A high-intensity discharge (HID) metal vapor lamp and starting apparatus includes a metal vapor lamp having an outer envelope containing a gas filled arc tube, the fill gas including xenon, the arc tube having a pair of spaced electrodes with a starting aid surrounding the arc tube intermediate the electrodes, a non-linear dielectric element shunting the spaced electrodes and a ballast means and an electrical conductor coupling the spaced electrodes to a base member connected to a low voltage source whereby starting of the metal vapor lamp from a low voltage source is effected.

Abstract: This invention provides an improved electric lamp with a self-mounting frame member for mounting a light source capsule within an outer envelope. The improvement lies in the lamp's inclusion of means for substantially preventing rotational movement of the frame member when the frame member is mounted and secured by a base member. Rotational movement preventing means is located about the outer envelope's neck portion and forms part of the frame member. Rotational movement preventing means includes a grooveless brim on the neck portion, a pair of grooves on the outer surface of the neck portion and a frame member with mounting means positioned about the brim and mated with the grooves of the neck portion.

Abstract: A single-ended lamp having a double-ended light-source capsule mounted axially within an outer envelope on thermally conductive support members such that the amount of heat conducted to the base region of the lamp through each support member is approximately equal. In a preferred embodiment, a high-pressure sodium PAR lamp having a temperature-sensitive component in the lamp base employs two support wires for the arc tube; the support wire coupled with the arc tube end closer to the lamp base has a loop formed therein so that the lengths of both support wires are approximately equal and the thermal conductivity of both support wires are also approximately equal in the operating environment of the lamp; whereby the temperature-sensitive component operates within acceptable temperature limits. In alternate embodiments, each support member may employ one or more loops or other configurations in order to minimize the amount of heat transferred to the lamp base through conduction in the support members.

Abstract: A tungsten halogen lamp is provided that incorporates therein means for reducing the lower operating temperature limit of the halogen cycle operating within the lamp's envelope. In addition, there is provided a halogen lamp fill gas mixture, which is comprised of an inert gas, a halogen or halide and a phorphorus-based compound and a carbon-containing compound that will reduce the lower operating temperature limit and greatly increase the efficiency of the halogen cycle, thereby allowing operation of a tungsten halogen lamp at temperatures about or below 400.degree.-500.degree. K. The compounds in the fill gas mixture have a phosphorus-to-carbon mass ratio of about 10:1 to about 1:1.

Abstract: A high pressure sodium vapor discharge lamp of the type having a discharge tube with a feed-through tube and an internal electrode at each end of the tube. An outer envelope encompasses the arc tube and there is an arc tube centering means disposed within the outer envelope and electrically coupled to the arc tube. The arc tube centering means is comprised of a geometric configuration which compensates for thermal expansion differences between the arc tube and the outer envelope during lamp sealing and, more importantly, lamp operation. The arc tube centering means includes a pair of offset lead wires, at least one of which has a twisted loop disposed along its length. The offset lead wires are preferably made of niobium.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus for position orienting a base assembly of a metal halide lamp is describe for maintaining the curved arc tube in the upward position when the lamp is inserted in a socket. Once the lamp has been fully assembled and sealed a locator structure is attached to the base shell in order to create a base assembly which will properly position the lamp when it is in the socket. The welding apparatus of the present invention resistance welds the locator structure onto the base shell once the locator structure has been aligned approximaely 90 degrees counterclockwise from the tip of the curved portion of the arc tube when viewed from the dome end of the lamp. The lamp resulting from the method and use of the apparatus will be more inexpensive and will not have the problems of a loose base or a cracked seal.

Abstract: A light-source containment device and lamp employing such device; a metal halide arc discharge lamp having a light-transmissive shield enclosing the arc tube and a wire mesh surrounding the shield. In the event the arc tube bursts causing shattering of the shield, the wire mesh substantially restricts shards of the shield and arc tube from shattering the outer envelope of the lamp thereby providing improved safety characteristics of the lamp. A similar containment device encloses the light-source capsule and protects against lamp-containment failures in tungsten halogen lamps.

Abstract: A burst-switching communications system with integrated voice and data services and with processing capacity sufficient to support T1 or higher link transmission rates, such system including a hub switch located at a point of high-traffic concentration in the network and a plurality of link switches. The switches are interconnected by time-division multiplexed communications links. A burst is a variable-length sequence of bytes which represents, for example, a block of data or a spurt of voice energy as sensed by silence/voice detectors located at voice ports. Within a communications link, a burst is transmitted one byte at a time in an assigned channel of sequential frames of the time-division multiplexed link. The hub switch includes a number of switching units connected in a closed hub ring with one or more time-division multiplexed communication link to another communication link as determined by address information in the burst being received.

Abstract: This invention provides a method of assigning a first control processor to the service set of a second control processor in a distributed-control communications system having control processors coupled with ports of the system. The method comprises the step of transmitting through the system a service-set assignment message in a control burst to the first control processor, the assignment message including the port address of the second control processor. The assignment message may be sent by a third control processor or by the second control processor. The assignment message may be sent as a result of the failure of some control processor, the addition of a new control processor, or to make the workloads of the control processors more evenly distributed. There is also provided a method of installing a second control processor into a distributed-control communications system having at least one first control processor.

Abstract: This disclosure provides methods for processing and routing bursts in an integrated communications system. In a preferred embodiment, the system includes a plurality of switches interconnected by time-divided communications links and a plurality of ports, each port being a component of a switch and each link having processing capacity sufficient to support T1 or higher transmission rates. Each port provides access to the system for a control processor, an end-user, or another communications system. Each switch has switching intelligence for routing a burst toward its destination port. A burst is a plurality of bytes which may represent a block of data or a spurt of voice energy as sensed by silence/voice detectors located at voice ports. In the methods provided by the invention, a burst may be introduced into the system through a port, routed through a switch to an outgoing link, or received from the system at a port. Within links, a burst is transmitted byte-by-byte in assigned channels of sequential frames.