US2318089A - Luminescent material - Google Patents

Description

May 4, 1943. H. E. MATTIN 2,318,089 LUMINESCEN';1 MATERIAL I Filed July 22, 1942 Lumnescenf Txh la comi nq (2 f 5 galassi' a Paar-l essence V uw Mafa'f' [acque r E gxgxcc Fl bfc' Lummcsenf 5 I .VTraqspar'en FarleSSQnc-e n v lacqucr j (Z 2 l' Lummesccnf confn Transpa reni' shm/ (/'0 20 3..

Lummescenf du@ 50 n n; c A'Peczr' ssen I lacquer' e Pam-I ssencc i hea i j Lumi-Bisogni coating I c H: s A H5 '6.

Patented May 4, 1943 y. LUMINESCENT MATERIAL Harry E Mattin, Brooklyn, N. Y., assigner to The Mearl Corporation, New York, N. Y., a, corporation of New Jersey Application July 22, 1942, Serial No. 451,825

(Cl. Z50-81)l 14 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in articles of manufacture of allkinds'which are coated or impregnated with luminescent materials, particularly of the type which exhibit the phenomena of fluorescence and phosphorescence during and after excitation.

A prime object of the invention is to enhance the phenomena of fluorescence and phosphorescence so as to increase the brilliance and useful duration of illumination given oil by fluorescing and phosphorescing materials.

The full details and objects of this invention will be best appreciated from the following detailed description of various embodiments thereof, and therefore no further specific delineation of objects will be set forth.

This invention resides substantially in the combination, construction, arrangement and relative location of parts, all as will be explained in full detail hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein the same reference numerals will be employed to indicate the same or similar parts,

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a sheet, block, body or article of manufacture in accordance with this invention, wherein the main support may be opaque, translucent, or transparent.

thecasel of both uorescence and phosphorescence the amount of visible energy radiated is not very great, for manyv purposes. It is of course recognized that the modern fluorescent lighting unit is capable of producing excellent light quality of usable-intensity. However there are many possible uses for fluorescent and/or phosphorescent compounds whichwould be greatly enhanced l for the conditions of excitation available if the lvisible energy radiated could in some way be vmade to appear at least to have a greater intensity.

Figure 2 is a similar view of a modified form of the inventiontvhereinv the main sheet, block, body, or article is transparent.

Figure 3 is a similar view of afurther modification employing a transparent body.

Figure 4 is a similar view of another modification employing a transparent body impregnated with a luminescent material.

Figure 5 is a. similar -viewof a slight modiiication of the structure of Figure 4.v

Figure 6 is a further modified form employing a transparent body. l

a modification of the structure of f Figure 'l is Figure 6.

AFigure 8 is afinal modification wherein the body is transparent.

There are many chemical compounds now Well known by reason of their present extensive use in the fluorescent lightingiield which are luminescent under proper excitation, and many of which continue to be luminescent for some time after excitation ceases. The property of these compounds of giving oil light'during excitation, as for example by ultraviolet light, is/ defined as fluorescence.

Many oi these compounds continue to visibly glowrin the darkness after excitation ceases, and this is frequently dened as phosphorescence. In

Thegeneral object of this invention is to provide a new combination of elements wherein rela# tively feebly excited fluorescent and phosphorescent compoundsmay be made to appear at least lto give oi visible light of relatively greater* in` a v tens-ity and for longer periods of time. The'basicv idea of this invention is to associate with a supportingbody of a coniiguration depending upon the use of the article, a coating of luminescent material, or to impregnate the body with a suit- -able luminescent material, some of which occur in the form of dyes, and associatewith the luminescent material a layer or quantity of pearl essence which 'by reason of itsV highly reilective and other light affecting qualities, causes the `light of luminescence or phosphorescence to appear to have agreater intensity than it would otherwise have in the absence of the pearl essence. y v f Y It is hardly necessary to attempt to enumerate all the many uses to whichsuch a combination may be put, but as an example suchea combination renders articles so prepared of greater util? ity, for example during war time blackout periods, e

or when employed on markers, watch dials, airplane instrument dials, and the like. A

Since thel subject vmatter of the invention iis capable `of use in widely divergent fields, the arti'- cles illustrated in the drawing are generalized inv that they do not pretend to represent any particular article of. manufacture.

It is likewisenoted that no particular lumi-A nescent compound is mentioned herein, inv view of the wide and detailed knowledgeof such sub. jects now common to the lighting industry, for

example. Any' compound or mixture-of. compounds suitable for the particular purpose to whichthe article is'to be put may be employed.

vReferring to Figure 1, the supporting body-l l may'be any suitable material such as a plastic, v

a metal, wood, glass, paper, or cardboard, bre, textiles, and the like. In this form of the invention this supporting'k body maybe either transe spraying, dipping or otherwise, a layer of pearl essence, preferably in the form of a lacquer. Pearl essence, or essence dOrient, is a lacquer likewise well known, but briefly it may be stated luminescent dyev 30. Of course in the case of a. glass body I the luminescent powder or dye must have the proper heat stability to withstand its incorporation into molten glass. The body l0 is of course given any desired shape, and the rear face thereof, as before, is coated with a pearl essence'lacquer, as indicated at 2.

to be the guanine crystals principally recoveredl from fish scales, and usually available either in aqueous or non-aqueous suspensions.

Pearl essence is commonly available in the form of a lacquer, in which the crystals are suspended in a solution of amyl acetate and Celluloid, although it is of course carried in other lacquer bases. Such a lacquer, as stated above, is spread on the surface of the body I in a layer of suitable thickness, and preferably after it is dry there is applied thereover, in any suitable manner as by painting, spraying, or the like, a coating of any suitable luminescent material or mixtures thereof. Materials may be used depending upon the requirements, which fluoresce under excitation and do not exhibit the quality of phosstill further modification is illustrated in- Figure 6, wherein the main body I0 is again phorescence or after-glow when excitation ceases,

or they may exhibit both characteristics.

It has been foundthat the `association of the pearl essence with the luminescent material causes the visible radiations to be intensified, and in the case of phosphorescence, to in fact increase the duration of eiective after-glow by reason of the efficient reflection of the available visible light.

The basic feature of this invention, as will be explained lin connection with` the other figures of the drawing, may be employed in variousways. With regard to Figure. 2, the main body I0 is in this case transparent, and may be of glass, clear plastic, and the like. Upon the rear face'thereof is applied the pearl essence coating 2, while the luminescent coating 3 is applied to the front Yface thereof. Such articles exhibit the increase in apparent light intensity previously described in detail. If desired, the pearl essence layer may be coated over with the coating of opaque material of any suitable type, as for example paints, lacquers, and the like, so as to protect the coating and prevent the transmission of any light through the coating.

The structure shown in Figure 3 is a modification of that of Figure 2. In this case a transparf ent body I0 has a luminescent coating 3 on the face thereof, and the pearl essence is applied to theback of the body in the form of a sheet of pearl essence 20. Pearlessence sheets are likewise known and available, and simply consist of a sheet'of the .desired thickness of some plastic material, as Celluloid, having incorporated in or coated on one face thereof a layer of pearl essence. This sheet may be cemented or attached `to the body l0 in any suitable manner. In the case of thermosetting plastics, the pearl essence sheet can bewelded to the plastic body I0 under the proper heat and pressure conditions. Here again, if desired, the rear face of the pearl essence sheet may be coated with any suitable opaque substance.

A.,modiilcation of the subject matter of this invention is clearly illustrated in Figure 4.v In this casethe body I'0 is again of transparent material and may consist of a clear plastic, glass, or the like, which has directly incorporated there on a powdered luminescent material 01j a transparent. In this case the luminescent coating 3 is first applied to the rear face of the body l0. A coating 2 of pearl essence is applied thereover and this, in turn, is protected by an opaque coating I0. 1

The combination of Figure 6 is similar to that of Figure l, but whereas the combination of Figure 6 may only be applied to transparent bodies, the combination of Figure 1 may be applied to any type of material, whether it be transparent, opaque, or translucent.

In the modification of Figure 'I the main body I0 is again transparent. In this combination the luminescent material is mixed with the 4pearl essence lacquer and the two applied to the rear face of the body lin a coating in any suitable way.V Thus the two are combined in a single layer. While this arrangement is not as `effective as those previously described, it is disclosed as a. useful variant. This coating may be protected, as before, by means of the opaque coating l..

In the modification of Figure 8 the transparent body l0 has incorporated in it the pearl essence 2.

On the upper face thereof is applied the coat` ing of luminescent material, as indicated at 3. It will beat once apparent that Figure 8 is also illustrative oi the idea of simply coating a pearl essence sheet with luminescent material on its surface or side at which the pearl essence is exposed.

A final modification of the inventiomwhich not illustrated and which is not as useful as the others, would be that wherein a mixture of pearl essence and luminescent material is incorporated directly in a transparent body, such as a body of plastic material. In this case, as in the others where the pearll essence is incorporated in the transparent body, as in the pearl essence sheet, the guanine crystals are all oriented in one direction to form a surface or layer which is reiiective. Material of this type is known.

From the above description of a number oi' modifications of the invention, it will be apparent that `it is capable of considerable variation without departing from the central idea thereof, namely of backing a fluorescent or phosphorescent coating or dye with a layer of pearl essence to take advantage of the light reflective and modifying properties of the guanine crystals. I do not, therefore, desire to be strictly limited to the disclosure as given herein for illustrative purposes, but rather by the scope of the claims granted me.

What is claimed is:

l. An article of manufacture as described, comprising pearl essence and a luminescent material overlying the pearl essence. y

2. An article of manufacture comprising a supporting body intended to be viewed from one 4. As an article of manufacture, a body of transparent material, a coating of pearl essence mounted on said body, and a coating of luminescent material also mounted on said body.

5. As an article of manufacture, a. body of transparent material, a coating of pearl essence mounted on said body, and a coating of luminescent material overlying the pearl essence coating.

6. As an article of manufacture, a body of transparent material having a layer of pearl essence on one side and a coating of luminescent material on the opposite side.

7. As an article of manufacture, a body of transparent material having a layer of pearl essence on one side, a coating of luminescent material on the opposite side, and a layerof protective material on top of the pearl essence.

8. An article of manufacture comprising a. body of clear plastic material having a layer of pearl essence incorporated therein, and a. coating of luminescent material on one face.

9. As'an article of manufacture, a laminated body of clear plastic having a layer of Vpearl essence interposed between the laminations, and a coatingl of luminescent material on one face thereof.

10. A body of transparent material having a luminescent material incorporated therein, and a layer of pearl essence on one face thereof.

11. As an article of manufacture, a body of transparent material having pearl essence incorporated therein and a layer of luminescent material on one face thereof.

12. As an article of manufacture, a body of opaque material having superimposed layers of pearl essence and luminescent material on at least one face thereof.

13. As an article of manufacture, a body of transparent material having layers of pearl essence and luminescent material on a pair'of opposite faces thereof.

14. As an article of manufacture, a body of transparent material having layers of pearl es sence and luminescent material on a pair of opposite faces thereof, and a protective coating overlying the pearl essence layer.

HARRY E. MATTIN.

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