Appeal No. 96-1083
Application 08/150,099
pressure gas discharge lamp, and more particularly, a so-
called “meander lamp” in which the discharge length is not
straight but follows a serpentine path, and has a small inside
diameter. Such lamps are useful for back lighting for
displays. The length of the discharge vessel is at least 250
times and at most 1000 times the internal diameter of the lamp
vessel. Another aspect of the invention is an illuminated
panel which comprises a box with a bottom and a light emission
surface which is covered by a diffuser plate. The light
emission surface is the low-pressure gas discharge lamp having
the above-described geometrical features, arranged between the
bottom and the diffuser plate. Representative
claim 1 is reproduced as follows:
1. A low-pressure mercury discharge lamp comprising
an elongate tubular lamp vessel which is sealed in a
vacuumtight manner, extends in a meander shape parallel to a
flat plane, has an inner surface coated with a luminescent
layer, and includes a lamp filling comprising a rare gas and
mercury, and cold electrodes between which a discharge path
extends, characterized in that:
the length of the discharge path is at least 250 times
and at most 1000 times the internal diameter of the lamp
vessel.
The references relied on by the examiner are:
Verstegen et al. (Verstegen) 3,937,998 Feb. 10,
-2-
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