Planar fluorescent and electroluminescent lamp having one or more chambers

A planar lamp having at least one transparent electrode, comprising:

• a pair of facing, planar plates forming a top and bottom wall of a chamber, each of said plates having an inner surface facing an inside of said chamber;
• a sidewall structure coupled to said plates and retaining said plates a fixed distance from each other, said plates and said sidewall structure together forming an enclosed chamber;
• a gas of a selected composition and at a selected pressure within said chamber;
• a pair of planar electrodes coupled to said planar plates and positioned to create an electric field within said chamber, at least one of said electrodes being transparent to light,
• a thin dielectric layer coupled to at least one inside surface of said plates and completely covering the electrode coupled to that plate, said thin dielectric layer being transparent to light;
• and
• a fluorescent material on an inside surface of said dielectric layer and exposed to said gas within said chamber so that when an electric voltage is applied to said electrodes, light is emitted from said lamp according to a fluorescent phenomena;
• a second pair of electrodes extending into said chamber and surrounded by the gas within said chamber for creating a plasma arc within the chamber;
• a first electric power source coupled to the pair of electrodes to selectively apply an electric voltage to said pair of planar electrodes for powering said lamp, said first electric power source being an alternating current power source at the a selected frequency;
• and
• a second electric power source coupled to the second pair of electrodes to selectively apply an electric voltage to said second pair of electrodes for providing a current path through the gas within said chamber from one electrode in said second pair to the other electrode in said second pair, said second power source being an alternating current power source at the same frequency as the selected frequency but driven out of phase from the first power source.

A planar lamp having at least one transparent electrode, comprising:

• a pair of facing, planar plates forming a top and bottom wall of a chamber, each of said plates having an inner surface facing an inside of said chamber;
• a sidewall structure coupled to said plates and retaining said plates a fixed distance from each other, said plates and said sidewall structure together forming an enclosed chamber;
• a gas of a selected composition and at a selected pressure within said chamber;
• a pair of planar electrodes coupled to said planar plates and positioned to create an electric field within said chamber, at least one of said electrodes being transparent to light,
• a thin dielectric layer coupled to at least one inside surface of said plates and completely covering the electrode coupled to that plate, said thin dielectric layer being transparent to light;
• and
• a fluorescent material on an inside surface of said dielectric layer and exposed to said gas within said chamber so that when an electric voltage is applied to said electrodes, light is emitted from said lamp according to a fluorescent phenomena;
• a second pair of electrodes extending into said chamber and surrounded by the gas within said chamber for creating a plasma arc within the chamber;
• a first electric power source coupled to the pair of electrodes to selectively apply an electric voltage to said pair of planar electrodes for powering said lamp, the first power source being an alternating current power source at a selected frequency;
• and
• a second electric power source coupled to the second pair of electrodes to selectively apply an electric voltage to said second pair of electrodes for providing a current path through the gas within said chamber from one electrode in said second pair to the other electrode in said second pair, said second power source being an alternating current power source at a different frequency than said selected frequency of said first power source.

A planar lamp having at least one transparent electrode, comprising:

• a pair of facing, planar plates forming a top and bottom wall of a chamber, each of said plates having an inner surface facing an inside of said chamber;
• a sidewall structure coupled to said plates and retaining said plates a fixed distance from each other, said plates and said sidewall structure together forming an enclosed chamber;
• a gas of a selected composition and at a selected pressure within said chamber;
• a pair of planar electrodes coupled to said planar plates and positioned to create an electric field within said chamber, at least one of said electrodes being transparent to light, said electrodes having a surface area approximately equal to the inside surface area of said planar plates;
• a thin dielectric layer coupled to at least one inside surface of said plates and completely covering the electrode coupled to that plate, said thin dielectric layer being transparent to light;
• and
• a fluorescent material on an inside surface of said dielectric layer and exposed to said gas within said chamber so that when an electric voltage is applied to said electrodes, light is emitted from said lamp according to a fluorescent phenomena;
• and
• an electroluminescent material fixed to said dielectric layer within said chamber, said electroluminescent material emitting light when a voltage is applied to the pair of planar of electrodes, giving off light according to an electroluminescent phenomena simultaneously with the fluorescent material emitting light according to the fluorescent phenomena.

A fluorescent lamp having two pairs of electrodes, comprising:

• a sealed chamber having a gas at a selected pressure therein, said gas including mercury vapor for emitting ultraviolet light when subjected to an electrical field;
• a first pair of electrodes adjacent said sealed chamber and positioned to apply an electric field to said gas within said sealed chamber, each of said electrodes being separated from said gas by a dielectric layer;
• a second pair of electrodes within said sealed chamber, surrounded by said gas, and positioned to conduct current through said gas within said sealed chamber;
• and
• an electric power supply means for providing power to the first and second pair of electrodes, the electric power supply means including a single DC power supply and invertor circuitry to provide AC power to each of said pair of electrodes at different frequencies.

A fluorescent lamp having two pairs of electrodes, a cold cathode pair and a hot cathode pair, comprising:

• a sealed chamber having a gas at a selected pressure therein, said gas including mercury vapor for emitting ultraviolet light when an electric current passes therethrough;
• a plurality of interior walls extending from the sidewall structure into the chamber and terminating within the chamber, the interior walls extending from a top plate of the chamber to a bottom plate of the chamber to define an extended length, serpentine channel region within the sealed chamber;
• a first cold cathode located at one end of the serpentine channel region and positioned within the sealed chamber and surrounded by the gas;
• a second cold cathode located at the other end of the serpentine channel region within the sealed chamber and surrounded by the gas, the first and second internal cathodes being of the cold cathode type, each of the cold cathodes being constructed of a planar sheet of metal that extends vertically within the chamber, and parallel to the direction that light is emitted from the chamber so that the cold cathodes do not block light emitted from the top plate of the chamber;
• a first hot cathode positioned adjacent the first cold cathode, the first hot cathode being alongside the planar sheet of metal and positioned to emit light directly out of the top plate of the chamber;
• and
• a second hot cathode positioned adjacent the second cold cathode, the second hot cathode being alongside the planar sheet of metal and positioned to emit light out of the top plate of the chamber.