Electrodes for gas discharge lamps; emission coatings therefore; and methods of making the same

Abstract

Improved emission coating formulation, an electrode blank having the emission coating thereon, the electrode resulting from firing such a coated electrode blank, and the gas discharge electric devices utilizing such fired electrodes are claimed wherein the improvement is in the incorporation of iron oxide and/or cobalt oxide (a) into the emission coating formulation, (b) having a separate iron oxide and/or cobalt oxide coating layer on the electrode blank, or (c) firing the electrode blank with iron oxide and/or cobalt oxide being placed in the immediate environment of the coated electrode blank prior to firing the electrode. Improvements which result include the reduction of carbon deposits or blackening on the electrode and the gas discharge electric device internal surfaces; reduction in the operating temperature of the device, increased linear footage of devices that can run from a given transformer; reduced power requirements; reduction in the number of transformers needed for a given linear footage of devices; and improved quality and consistency of electrode production; among others.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.