US2049099A - Ultraviolet radiation apparatus - Google Patents

Description

y 1935. J. G. AXELOS ET AL 2,049,099

ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION PP ATU ATTORNB) Patented July 28, 1936 UNITED STTES PATENT OFFICE ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION APlAEATUS Application June.20, 1932, Serial No. 618,401 In France December 26, 1931 13 Claims. (01. 250-35) The present invention relates to the construction of lamps for utilizing the ultra-violet rays emitted by gases or vapeurs or a mixture of gases and vapeurs excited by high frequency'electrlc currents.

The art of utilizlng these rays necessitates a particular condition. It is necessary to bring the source of the radiations as close as possible to the part to be irradiated. It is, in fact, known that ultra-violet radiations, particulariy those of short wave-length, are very much absorbed by the air. It is necessary, therefore, to avoid the interposition of air between the source and the'region to be irradiated, the efliciency depending not so much upon the law of illumination, which is inversely proportional to the square of the distance, as upon the absorption of the radiations by the interposed layer of air.

In medicine, for example, forcertain local applications necessitating the use of short wavelengths, it is expedient to hold the lamp against the part to be irradiated. Since the existing lamps become very hot, the lamp has to be surrounded by a circulation of cold water, which absorbs the radiations, diminishes the efiiciency and complicates the apparatus.

An object of this invention is to avoid the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a lamp containing a gaseous and/or vapor filling excited by a high frequency electric field and Which has at least one of its walls situated outside cf the effect of the high frequency field so that it W111 remain without cooling at a temperature 10W enough to permit contact between said wall and parts of a human body.

To amplify the following description, reference will be made to the accompanying drawing in which: v

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view partly in sec-- tion of one form of the presentinvention, and

Fig. 2 is a similar view of a modified form of the present invention.

In the lamp according to the present invention, the high-requency excitation system, which may beoutside or inside the enclosure containing the gas or gases or the mixture of gases and vapours, is placed at a sufiicient distance from the wall serving for irradiation for the said wall to be situated outside the electro-magnetic field. This wall is thus removed from the action of the highfrequency field which, as is known, produces considerable heating in dielectrics. At the same time, the wall is less exposed to the transmission of heat by conduction from other discharge between the turns.

. spectacles of special glass.

For this double reason, the radiating wall remains at a sufiiciently low temperature to permit it to be applied directly to the part to be treated, without the need for any cooling device.

According to the applications for which the .5 lamp is intended, the wall used for irradiation may be made of any substance of a nature and thickness s'o chosen as to allow only a certain zone of the seful visible or ultra-violet spectrum to pass for the desired'application. Moreover, 10 this wall may be given desirable shape so as to fit closely the shape of the region where the application is to be made. It is thus possible to introduce into cavities or to apply directly to the tissues the wall itseli of the lamp, the shape of 15 which has been made appropriate.

As shown in Figure 1 of the accompanying drawing, a tube T of the glass known under the registered trade-mark Pyrex about 14 cm. long and 3 cm. in diameter s Closed at one end. At

this end, on half the tube, is wound externally with adjacent turns a copper wire C having for exemple a diameter of 2 mm. and a thickness of 0.5 mm. cf asbestos insulation. To the other end of the tube is cemented a quartz plate P which is transparent for the visible and ultra-violet spectrum. The lamp is filled with a suitable atmosphere, for example, a mixture of rare gases and mercury vapeur. The twoend wires A and B of the solenoid S are connected to the terminals of a highfrequency apparatus, for example, a spark-gap diathermy apparatus. A handle D is provided for manipulating the apparatus.

In the form of invention shown in Fig. 2, the solenoid 5 employed for excitation is situated inside the lamp itself. The conductor wire is insulated by any suitable substance, for example by enamel so as to avoid the production of any A solenoid of insulating tube, for example of the Pyrex glass above referred to, in which is placed the conductor wire, may likewise be disposed inside the lamp. Mercury or certain alloys which are liquid at the working temperatuie of the lamp may be introduced instead of a conductor wire. In this case, any known device may be provided with a view to preventing the bursting of the glass tube as a result of the expansion of the mercury or the alloy during the working of the lamp.

In these examples of lamps, the principal wall made of Pyrex glass which absorbs the ultraviolet rays of mean and short wave-length protects the operator during the entire duration of application and rentiers unnecessary the use of With this 1amp, local irradiations, for example on the human skin, may be carried out by applying the quartz plate directly against the skin, without any noticeable heating taking place, even at the end of half an hours working. The quartz plate may be replaced, for egample, byfpieces of quartz of any desirable shape, as shown diagrammatically at E in dotted lines, and more particularly by a quartz lens for concentrating the radiations. 5

Several walls may likewise be provided. on one and the same lamp with a view to diffrent applications. In the case of Figure 1, for example,

the quartz plate may be rtaned at one end and; a quartz lens may be provided at the other end, the manipulating handle being;difierently;di-

posed. r It will sometimes be advantageous to provide, within the lamp or directly on the outsidetherof, refiectors of high reflecting power, for visible rays and ultra-violet rays, f orexample of known alloys of magnesium andfl;aluminum. Such a refiector is shown at M, in Figure 2, but it may be constructed in any convenientmanner, for example by a suitable deposition on the wallof the lamp.

It will be seen that the present invention is directed to apparatus of 'great simplicity of construction and use, being distinguished *clearly from the ultra-violet ray lamps at presentknown.

Having now particularly described' and ascertained the nature of Our said invention andin what mariner the same is to be performed, we declar that what we claim is: n

1. A device for the therapeuticapplication of ultra-violet radiations emitted by gases excited by high frequenc currents, comprising a sealed receptacle containing the gases, and an induction coil situat-edoh the extericr of th e sealed receptacle and adapted to be conneted toa source of high frequency current f or inductively exciting the gaseous content. of the receptacle,

the :receptacle having at least one of its walls formed of material transparent to ultraviclet rays and employed for irradiation;and said wall being separated from the portion of the receptacle about which the coil*is positibneda distance sufiiciently great to be out of the action of the induced field and'to permit the wall, Without cooling, to be at a temperature sfiiciently lo w to be applied to the part to be irradiated.

2. A device for the therapeutic application of ultraviolet radiations emitted by gases excited by high frequency currents, comprising a sealed receptacle containing the gases, and an induction coil positioned within a portion of the receptacle and adapted to be connected to a source of high frequency current forfiinductivclv exciting the gaseous content'of the receptacle, the receptacle having a wall formd of material transparent t0 ultra-violet ras and employed for irradiation, and said wall being separated from theportidn of the receptacle in which the coil is positioneda distance sufiiciently great to be out of the action of the induced field and to perrnit the wall, without cooling, to be at a temperature s1ifiiciently low to be appliedto the part to be irradiaitd.

3. A device for the therapeutic appfication' of ultra-violet radiations emittedby gaseS excited by high frequency currents; comprising a receptacle for the gases, a coil for induCing current in the gases, and refiectors of high refiecting power the receptacl with which the coil is associated a distance suffiCiently great ,to be out of the'a,cti0n ,power for visible and ultra-violet rays provided directly on the outside of the lamp.

5. A devi0e'for the therapeutic application of ultra:violet radiations emitted by gases excited bhigh freqency currents, comprising a sealed receptacle containing the gases, an induction coil {aSsociatedwith a portion of the receptacle and adapted to be connected to a source of high irequency current for inductively exciting the gaseous content of the receptacle, the receptacle having a wall formed of material transparent to ultra-violet rays and employed for irradiation, andsaid wall being separated fromtheportion o f the rceptacle With whichthecoil is associated a distahcesufficiently great to be out of the action of the induced fieldand t0 permit the wall, with' out cooling; to be at a temperature sufiiciently low to be applied to the part .to be irradiated, and 25 a refiector of high refiecting power for visible and ultra-Violet radiations provided in the receptacle and'adapted to directthe radiations on said wall. 6. Adevice for the therapeutic application .of

ultra-violet radiations emitted by gases excited 30 'by highrequency currents, comprising a sealed 'receptacle containingthe gases,an induction coil associated vvith a portion of the rceptacle and adapted to be connected. toa source of high fre- 'quenc current for inductively exciting the gase- "ous cont zntof the rceptacle, the receptacle having a; wall formed of material transparent jto ultra-violet .rays and employed for. irradiation, and said wall being separated from the portion, of

of*the induced field and to permit the wall, with- 'outqooling, to be at a temperature sufiiciently low to be applied to the part to be .irradiated, and a refiector of high reflecting power for visibl'a'nd ultra-violet radiations provided directly on the "outside of the receptacle for directing the radiation to said'wall. 7. A device for the application of ultra-violet 'radiationszemitted by gases inductively excited by highirequency curients, comprising a sealed receptacle containing the gases, and an induction coil 'adapted to be connected to a source of high *frequncy current for inductively exciting the portion of the receptacle with which the coil is associated by a distance suficiently great to be removed from the action of the induced fieldand to. permitthe wall, without cooling, to be applied directly to the part to be irradiated.

8, A device according to claim' 1, in which all I walls of the receptacle are fo'rmed of 'material transparent to ultra-violet rays. V .9. A device according to claim 7, in which all walls of the receptacle are formed of material transparent to ultra-violet rays.

10. An*apparatus for the application of ultra violet radiations directly to portionsof the human body, comprising an envelope Containing a gaseous filling and having at least one wall formed'of material transparent t0 Ultra-violet radiations,

and means for electrically exciting the ga's'eous filling to produce ultra-violet radiations, said ultra-violet radiation transparent wa1l and the exciting means being sufficiently spaced apart so that the wall is outside of the action of the exciting field produced to avoid the heating efiect of said field and to permit direct contact between said wall and the portion of the body to be irradiated without extraneous cooling.

11. A device according to claim 1, in which the walls of the receptaele are of a substance difierent from the wall serving for the application of ultra-violet radiations.

12. A device according to claim 7, in which the walls of the receptacle are of a substance diiferent from the wall serving for the application of ultra-violet radiations.

13. A device according to claim 1, in which the Walls of the receptacle other than the wall serving for the application of ultra-violet radiations are of a substance impermeable to the harmful ultra-violet radiations having a wave length less than that of the solar radiations.

JEANNE GOUDE AXELOS. ANDR CLAUDE.

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