Construction
Heraeus Amba UV curing lamps are constructed from high quality transparent fused quartz, enabling high levels of ultra-violet radiation to be transmitted. The hermetic seal is formed using molybdenum foil with platinum which ensures good life even at the upper end of the operating temperature and current range. The complete assembly is furnace-cleaned ready for mounting into the quartz lamp envelope. The lamp is pumped and sealed, and the external design is completed by the use of a ceramic or metal cap and suitable electrical termination.
Sealing
Heraeus Amba lamps can be manufactured with one of two types of seal: a capillary seal or a pinch seal. Capillary sealed lamps, also known as "rolled" seal, are made using the vacuum within the lamp to create the pressure difference required to form the quartz around the molybdenum sealing ribbon. This method allows for extremely short production runs and for high current double foil designs.
The pinch seal is more appropriate for larger production runs, where machines can be set up to form the quartz into shape around the molybdenum foil. This allows us to work to very stringent manufacturing tolerances, and to produce lamp geometrics that would be difficult to achieve by other methods.
Lamp Life
The operating life of a UV curing lamp is measured in hours of ultra-violet output, which drops off gradually throughout the life of the lamp. Standard UV curing lamps emit enough UV to cure for 1000 hours: improved production techniques and higher grade materials have enabled Heraeus Amba to produce lamps with operating life in excess of 1500 hours, when operated in suitable machines under optimum conditions.
Light Output
The light output of a typical medium pressure mercury arc lamp operating at 120 watts per cm is shown here. The majority of current inks and coatings are cured by exposure to energy at the 254nm and 365nm regions.
Some coatings and special applications call for other wavelengths such as 385nm and 417nm. These and other radiation bands can be created by the addition of metal halides which enhance the spectral output of the lamp for specific applications. See Metal Halide Lamps for more information.
Further information:
Product range
Performance guarantee
How to order
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