Granted Patent B2

US 8,278,814 · App. 11/873,463 · Granted Oct 2, 2012

Abstract

Claims (82)

1. A lamp having an improved color quality scale, the lamp comprising

a rare earth phosphor layer comprising a phosphor composition excluding halophosphor in said phosphor layer, said composition comprising a first phosphor and a second phosphor, said first phosphor being selected from the group consisting of Y 2 O 3 :Eu; Gd(Zn,Mg)B 5 O 10 :Ce,Mn, or combinations thereof, and said second phosphor being selected from the group consisting of (Ba,Sr,Ca)MgAl 10 O 17 :Eu 2+ ,Mn 2+ ; LaPO 4 :Ce,Tb;(Ce,Tb)MgAl 11 O 19 ; and (Ce,Tb)(Mg,Mn)Al 11 O 19 , or, combinations thereof;

said lamp generating light having delta chroma values for at least two of the 15 (VS 1-15 ) color samples of the color quality scale within the following parameters

−2 to 7 for VS 1;

−3 to 7 for VS 2;

−7 to 7 for VS 3;

−2 to 7 for VS 4;

−2 to 14 for VS 5;

1 to 19 for VS 6;

4 to 24 for VS 7;

−1 to 15 for VS 8;

−2 to 7 for VS 9;

−2 to 6 for VS 10;

−2 to 6 for VS 11;

−1 to 8 for VS 12;

−1 to 13 for VS 13;

−3 to 13 for VS 14; and

−6 to 12 for VS 15,

wherein said delta chroma values are measured in the CIE LAB space;

wherein when said lamp is energized said lamp exhibits a correlated color temperature of between about 2200 Kelvin to about 3500 Kelvin.

2. The lamp of claim 1 , said first phosphor having an emission band with a maximum between 590 to 640 nm.

3. The lamp of claim 1 , said second phosphor having an emission band with a maximum between 500 to 570 nm.

4. The lamp of claim 1 , said phosphor composition further comprising a third phosphor selected from the group consisting of Y 2 O 3 :Eu; 3.5MgO*0.5MgF 2 *GeO 2 ;Mn 4+ ; Gd(Zn,Mg)B 5 O 10 :Ce,Mn; (Ba,Sr,Ca)MgAl 10 O 17 :Eu 2+ ,Mn 2+ ; LaPO 4 :Ce,Tb; (Ce,Tb)MgAl 11 O 19 ; (Ce,Tb)(Mg,Mn)Al 11 O 19 ; (Ba,Sr,Ca)MgAl 10 O 17 :Eu 2+ ; Sr 4 Al 14 O 25 :Eu and Y 3 Al 5 O 12 :Ce, or combinations thereof.

5. The lamp of claim 1 , wherein said first phosphor is Y 2 O 3 :Eu, and said second phosphor is (Ba,Sr,Ca)MgAl 10 O 17 :Eu 2+ ,Mn 2+ .

6. The lamp of claim 1 , wherein when said lamp is energized said lamp exhibits a correlated color temperature of between about 2500 to about 3500 Kelvin and a color quality scale Q a value of about 60 or above.

7. The lamp of claim 1 , further comprising a light-transmissive glass envelope having an inner surface, a discharge-sustaining fill gas sealed inside said envelope, and a barrier layer positioned between said envelope and said phosphor layer, wherein said barrier layer comprises alumina particles.

8. The lamp of claim 7 , wherein the discharge-sustaining fill gas contains mercury.

9. A lamp having an improved color quality scale, the lamp comprising

a rare earth phosphor layer comprising a phosphor composition excluding halophosphor in said phosphor layer, said composition comprising a first phosphor and a second phosphor;

said first phosphor having an emission band with a maximum between 590 nm and 640 nm and selected from the groups consisting of Y 2 O 3 :Eu; Gd(Zn,Mg)B 5 O 10 :Ce,Mn, or combinations thereof, wherein said first phosphor is present in an amount of 10 to 90 weight percent;

said second phosphor having an emission band with a maximum between 500 nm and 570 nm, wherein said second phosphor is present in an amount of 5 to 50 weight percent, and

said lamp having a Q a value greater than 60 and a correlated color temperature between about 2500 and 3500 Kelvin.

10. The lamp of claim 9 , said second phosphor being selected from the group consisting of(Ba,Sr,Ca)MgAl 10 O 17 :Eu 2+ ,Mn 2+ ; LaPO 4 :Ce,Tb; (Ce,Tb)MgAl 11 O 19 ; (Ce,Tb)(Mg,Mn)Al 11 O 19 , or combinations thereof.

11. The lamp of claim 9 , wherein said first phosphor is Y 2 O 3 :Eu and said second phosphor is (Ba,Sr,Ca)MgAl 10 O 17 :Eu 2+ ,Mn 2+ .

12. The lamp of claim 9 , said phosphor blend further comprising a third phosphor selected from the group consisting of Y 2 O 3 :Eu; 3.5MgO*0.5MgF 2 *GeO 2 ;Mn 4+ ; Gd(Zn,Mg)B 5 O 10 :Ce,Mn; (Ba,Sr,Ca)MgAl 10 O 17 :Eu 2+ ,Mn 2+ ; LaPO 4 :Ce,Tb; (Ce,Tb)MgAl 11 O 19 ; (Ce,Tb)(Mg,Mn)Al 11 O 19 ; (Ba,Sr,Ca)MgAl 10 O 17 :Eu 2+ ;(Sr,Ba,Ca) 5 (PO 4 ) 3 Cl:Eu; Sr 4 Al 14 O 25 :Eu and Y 3 Al 5 O 12 :Ce, or combinations thereof.

13. The lamp of claim 9 , further comprising a light-transmissive glass envelope having an inner surface, a discharge-sustaining fill gas sealed inside said envelope, and a barrier layer positioned between said envelope and said phosphor layer, wherein said barrier layer comprises alumina particles.

14. A lamp having an improved color quality scale, the lamp comprising

a rare earth phosphor layer comprising a phosphor composition excluding halophosphor in said phosphor layer, said composition comprising at least two phosphors; and

wherein when said lamp is energized said lamp generates light having chroma delta values for all 15 (VS 1-15 ) color samples of the color quality scale within the following parameters

−2 to 7 for VS 1;

−3 to 7 for VS 2;

−7 to 7 for VS 3;

−2 to 7 for VS 4;

−2 to 14 for VS 5;

1 to 19 for VS 6;

4 to 24 for VS 7;

−1 to 15 for VS 8;

−2 to 7 for VS 9;

−2 to 6 for VS 10;

−2 to 6 for VS 11;

−1 to 8 for VS 12;

−1 to 13 for VS 13;

−3 to 13 for VS 14; and

−6 to 12 for VS 15,

wherein said chroma delta values are measured in the CIE LAB space;

wherein when said lamp is energized said lamp exhibits a correlated color temperature of between about 2200 Kelvin to about 3500 Kelvin.

15. The lamp of claim 14 , said phosphor composition comprising a first phosphor and a second phosphor, wherein said first phosphor is selected from the group consisting of Y 2 O 3 :Eu; Gd(Zn,Mg)B 5 O 10 :Ce,Mn, or combinations thereof, and said second phosphor is selected from the group consisting of (Ba,Sr,Ca)MgAl 10 O 17 :Eu 2+ ,Mn 2+ ; LaPO 4 :Ce,Tb; (Ce,Tb)MgAl 11 O 19 ; (Ce,Tb)(Mg,Mn)Al 11 O 19 , or combinations thereof.

16. The lamp of claim 15 , said phosphor blend further comprising a third phosphor selected from the group consisting of Y 2 O 3 :Eu; 3.5MgO*0.5MgF 2 *GeO 2 ;Mn 4+ ; Gd(Zn,Mg)B 5 O 10 :Ce,Mn; (Ba,Sr,Ca)MgAl 10 O 17 :Eu 2+ ,Mn 2+ ; LaPO 4 :Ce,Tb; (Ce,Tb)MgAl 11 O 19 ; (Ce,Tb)(Mg,Mn)Al 11 O 19 ; (Ba,Sr,Ca)MgAl 10 O 17 :Eu 2+ ; Sr 4 Al 14 O 25 :Eu and Y 3 Al 5 O 12 :Ce, or combinations thereof.

17. The lamp of claim 15 , said first phosphor having an emission band with a maximum between 590 nm and 640 nm, and

said second phosphor having an emission band with a maximum between 500 nm and 570 nm.

18. The lamp of claim 15 , wherein said first phosphor is present in an amount of 10 to 90 weight percent and said second phosphor is present in an amount of 5 to 50 weight percent.

19. The lamp of claim 14 , wherein when said lamp is energized said lamp exhibits a correlated color temperature of between about 2500 to about 3500 Kelvin and a color quality scale Q a value of about 60 or above, wherein said lamp generates visible light having a peak emission in the range of 590 to 615 nm.

20. A lamp having an improved color quality scale, said lamp comprising

a rare earth phosphor layer comprising a phosphor composition excluding halophosphor in said phosphor layer, said composition comprising at least two phosphors; and

generating light having chroma delta values for at least two of the 15 (VS 1-15 ) color samples of the color quality scale within the following parameters

−2 to 7 for VS 1;

−3 to 7 for VS 2;

−7 to 7 for VS 3;

−2 to 7 for VS 4;

−2 to 14 for VS 5;

1 to 19 for VS 6;

4 to 24 for VS 7;

−1 to 15 for VS 8;

−2 to 7 for VS 9;

−2 to 6 for VS 10;

−2 to 6 for VS 11;

−1 to 8 for VS 12;

−1 to 13 for VS 13;

−3 to 13 for VS 14;and

−6 to 12 for VS 15,

wherein said chroma delta values are measured in the CIE LAB space;

wherein when said lamp is energized said lamp exhibits a correlated color temperature of between about 2200 Kelvin to about 3500 Kelvin.

Assignments (10)