Appeal No. 96-1451
Application No. 07/937,936
The appellants' invention relates to a fluorescent lamp
with a blend of four phosphors, a blue, a green, a rare-earth
activated red, and a non-rare earth containing red. Claim 1
is illustrative of the claimed invention, and it reads as
follows:
1. A fluorescent lamp comprising a glass envelope having
electrodes at its ends, a mercury and inert gas filling within
said envelope which produces ultraviolet radiation, a coating
comprising at least one layer of a quad-phosphor blend for
converting a substantial portion of said ultraviolet radiation
to visible illumination, said blend comprising a first and
second red-emitting phosphor components, each red-emitting
phosphor component having different visible emission spectrum
principally in the 590 to 630 nm wavelength range, a third
blue-emitting phosphor component having an emission spectrum
principally in the 430 to 490 nm wavelength range, and a
fourth green-emitting phosphor component having an emission
spectrum principally in the 500 to 570 nm wavelength range,
said first red-emitting phosphor being a rare-earth activated
phosphor and said second red-emitting component being a non-
rare-earth containing phosphor wherein the relative
proportions of the phosphor components are such that an
enhanced color rendering index is produced as compared to tri-
component blends formed from a three-phosphor blend consisting
of the said first red-emitting component and said third and
fourth components.
The prior art references of record relied upon by the
examiner in rejecting the appealed claims are:
Schreurs 4,055,781 Oct. 25, 1977
Walter 4,296,353 Oct. 20, 1981
Hoffman et al. (Hoffman) 4,623,816 Nov. 18, 1986
Yamamoto 60-014743 Jan. 25, 1985
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