A method of producing a low-pressure mercury vapor discharge lamp which includes positioning a container in the lamp vessel of the lamp between the electrodes. The container holds a quantity of mercury required for operation of the lamp and is attached to a supporting element (wire). The supporting element is connected to a lead-in wire of a first electrode by a metal connecting wire. A direct current discharge is generated between the container and the second electrode, the mercury escapes from the container, thereafter the connection between the supporting element and the lead-in wire is interrupted.
A mercury emitting structure with an annular receptacle having a groove at the upper end, in which a face-centered cubic lattice type intermetallic compound consisting mainly of yttrium, nickel and mercury is filled.
Mercury release into a sealed arc discharge lamp is accomplished by positioning a mercury containing target within the lamp and heating the same by electron bombardment derived from a D.C. power supply connected between an electrode of the lamp and the mercury target.
A mercury-releasing assembly for dosing lamps, tubes, and the like with a charge of mercury, contains a mixture of an intermetallic compound of mercury and a metal. When the mixture is heated to a particular temperature the mixture reacts yielding a molten eutectic and mercury vapor. The mixture may be protected from contamination by a foil shield which ruptures under pressure of the released mercury.
The present invention relates to a dosing composition useful in high pressure sodium lamps. The invention relates specifically to new multicomponent alloy fills for HPS lamps and the design of such fills. The present invention provides an HPS lamp dosing composition that will supply the required amount of sodium and mercury for proper lamp operation, but which will have a lower vapor pressure during the sealing operation, such that mercury loss from the composition will be lower than that from the presently used sodium amalgam. In the present invention, either one of the compounds, Ti.sub.3 Hg or Zr.sub.3 Hg, is mixed with an intermetallic compound of sodium that has a melting point above about 600.degree. C., such that both the mercury and sodium metal are stabilized to avoid melting or vaporization at about 600.degree. C. The preferred sodium compound is Na.sub.3 Bi, which melts at 755.degree. C., although Na.sub.3 Sb and Na.sub.2 Te with higher melting points may be used. The dosing mixture for HPS lamps is preferably a mixture of Ti.sub.3 Hg and Na.sub.3 Bi.
