Incandescent Lamps
The most profound invention since man-made fire
History of the Incandescent Light (1802 – Today)
Introduction & Statistics
The incandescent lamp was the second form of electric light to be developed for commercial use after the carbon arc lamp. It is the second most used lamp in the world today behind fluorescent lamps. In this page we cover the traditional incandescent lamp. Halogen lamps are also incandescent light sources, but they have their own page here. The traditional incandescent bulb is not just a light source but has become a symbol of innovation.
Advantages:
*Great for small area lighting
*Good color rendering: CRI of 100 which is the best possible
*Cheap to produce
*No quantity of toxic materials to dispose of (like mercury, toxic alloys,
or semiconductors)
*Is easily used in strobe or dimming circuits
Disadvantages:
*Not energy efficient (90% of energy goes to heat, 10%
makes visible light)
*Traditional incandescent light bulbs are not useful for lighting large
areas. It takes many to light a large area where as only one HID lamp
can light a large open area. Halogen incandescent is useful for this
purpose but it is not covered on this page.
Statistics
*CRI
100 (best CRI possible)
*Color Temperature – comes in all variations, but normally 2700
– 5000K
*Lumens
per watt 8 – 24
*Lamp life: 750 – 1000 hrs (standard household bulb)
life can be greatly extended by using the lamp at a lower than
normal voltage.
Common uses: used everywhere for almost any application. From 1-10,000 W.
1. How it works
3
Below: Video on the incandescent lamp. 6 min. YouTube must not be blocked by your server.
1. How it Works
Incandescent bulbs work by sending electric current through a resistive material. Typically materials will glow before reaching a melting point. Most materials will glow a dull red color when they reach around 525 Celsius. Most materials will catch fire or melt and can not make a good filament.
Filaments are made from materials that have a high melting point. Tungsten can reach up to 3422 C before it melts. This is a higher temperature than any lamp will reach (except the carbon arc lamp which gets to 3500 C). Other materials have made good filaments or parts of filaments including tantalum, molybdenum, and carbon.
Why does the material emit light when you pass electrical current through it?
When you pass current through a filament material, the resistance creates heat. Atoms in the material absorb energy. Electrons around the atoms are excited and temporarily reach an orbital which is further from the nucleus. When the electron orbit collapses to a lower orbital it ejects the extra energy in the form of a photon.
Incandescence is thermal radiation. Heat is constantly emitted from
objects around us, we just can’t see it. When heat gets intense enough
it reaches wavelengths that we can see. It starts with red and goes
up the spectrum. The wavelength/color of the light is a matter of how
much energy is being released and what kind of atom is doing the release.
In an incandescent bulb most of the heat energy (90%) is emitted in
the infrared spectrum which is just below visible light. This is also
what makes the lamp inefficient. We don’t use that part of the spectrum
for the lamp’s purpose, we only need the visible spectrum. This is a
basic explanation. More can be read about the chemistry from your textbook
or online.
2. History and Developments
The history of the incandescent bulb is centered on the development of filament types, so we will organize it by filaments.
Platinum
and Iridium Filaments: 1802 -1880’s
Humphry Davy created the first incandescent light by passing
current through a platinum strip. It caused a glow and did not
last long, but marked the beginning of incandescent light development.
Experimenters continued over the next 70 years to use platinum
and iridium. Frederick de Moleyns used a platinum filament
in an evacuated glass tube to make a light bulb. It was only mildly
successful due to a blackening of the bulb, which blocked light
output. Combustion of the filament material and blackening on
the upward side of the bulb was a frustrating consistent problem
for early lamp inventors. The platinum material was also expensive.
Early inventors knew that making a vacuum in a bulb would help reduce blackening and lengthen bulb life, the problem was ways to better create a vacuum had to be developed. Heinrich Geissler was one of the early physicists to develop a good pump and system. Still, early bulb inventors 1802 – 1879 lacked a system good enough. As is typical with invention, many know the answer, but other technological developments are needed to move forward.
Blackening of the incandescent bulb, video:
Carbonized
Threads and Paper: 1860’s – 1883
Joseph Swan and Thomas Edison independently hit
success by making a bulb that would last a reasonable number of
hours.
Swan used carbonized paper to create his early filaments.
Edison first used carbonized sewing thread as a filament, he managed to get it inside a vacuum. This made his first practical lightbulb. He used carbonized sewing threads until 1880. Then he used paper bristol board. (Carbonized paper) This move increased lamp life to 600 hours.
Why Edison Triumphed: Joseph Swan worked on the incandescent light idea since 1850. Swan did not succeed because he used only a partial vacuum in his bulb. He also used a carbonized paper filament. Edison figured out how to create a pure vacuum in his bulbs. He did this by heating up the bulb at the same time that he pumped out the air. He used a Sprengle pump.
The Sprengle Pump to the left was used by Swan and Edison to pump air from the first light bulbs. Read more about the pump by clicking on the Scientific American article above.
Above: See our collection of bulbs at the Edison Tech Center on display.
Bamboo brings great improvements:
1883: As the story goes Edison was using a fan on a hot day, he
unwound fine bamboo on a fold-out oriental fan. He carbonized
it and tested it as a filament. He send assistants to Japan to
find the type of bamboo that was used in that fan. They found
it and imported the filaments.
The first bamboo filaments had a square shape because they were cut from larger pieces using a certain process. He electroplated the bamboo directly to the lead in wires to avoid the high cost of platinum clamps. Later he used carbon paste to adhere the bamboo to the lead in wires.
Our video about early Edison Bulbs with cellulose and bamboo filaments:
Cellulose Filaments: 1881 – 1904
Sir Joseph Swan developed the cellulose filament in 1881, however Edison continued to use bamboo filaments until the creation of General Electric in 1892. Cellulose filaments were replaced by Willis Whitney’s GEM lamp filaments.
Video about the Mazda Bulb:
The move to metallic filaments: The Era of Tantalum
Tantalum Filaments: 1902
– 1911
Tantalum
was the first metal filament on the market. Like tungsten
it has a very high melting point, so it can be heated
to incandescence without destroying itself like most metals.
Tantalum was so vastly superior to all other filaments
that it became king from 1902 – 1909. After 1909 the sintered
tungsten lamp really began to gain popularity. The arrival
of a ductile tungsten finally ended the reign of tantalum.
Werner von Bolton(a Georgian
living in Germany) discovered that using tantalum for
a filament allowed for lower energy consumption and greater
brightness. Siemens and Halske Company produced these
bulbs. The tantalum filament became successful and became
a major threat to General Electric’s sales. This stimulated
GE to invest more in it’s recently formed research lab
to try to come up with a better lamp.
Left: A lit Tantalum Lamp on display at Siemens Forum in Munich, Germany
Below: The hooks used to hold filament
Left:
The
WOTAN Lamp, made with a drawn-tungsten
WOTAN was a
trademarked name owned by Siemens & Halske
GEM
Lamp Metallized Filaments: 1904 – 1907
Willis
Whitney of GE Schenectady develops a way to bake a carbon
filament at 3000 C to create a filament that behaves much like
metal. This improves efficiency by 25 %. This filament was used
in the famous Mazda lamps which produced a very bright
light.
Sintered Tungsten Filaments: 1904 -1911
In
1904 sintered tungsten is developed by Alexander Just and Franz
Hanaman (Austria). Tungsten improves the lamps efficiency by 100
% and is used by GE in 1907 after it buys the rights for it.
*Tungsten and Molybdenum filaments were used by A.N. Lodygin (Russia)
in a 1900 “Exposition Universelle” in Paris
Ductile Tungsten Filaments: 1908 – today
William D. Coolidge had been working with tungsten which proved to be a superior material for a long lasting lightbulb over any other material to date. Previous sintered tungsten filaments had been efficient, but brittle and not practical. Coolidge figured out how to heat tungsten and draw it out through heated dies of decreasing diameter. The result of his work was a workable, bendable (ductile) wire that was high strength and made a great filament material. The new material was used in bulbs in 1911 and this is still used today. See our inventors section below for more advancements in the incandescent bulb.
The future of incandescent lamps:
The Incandescent lamp has been in the average household for more than 120 years. In the last decade a major initiative to develop more efficient lightbulbs has replaced much of the world’s bulbs with compact fluorescents. There has been significant resistance to bans on the incandescent bulb
The Sprengle Pump to the left was used by Swan and Edison to pump air from the first light bulbs. Read more about the pump by clicking on the Scientific American article above.
The move to metallic filaments: The Era of Tantalum
Tantalum Filaments: 1902
– 1911
Tantalum
was the first metal filament on the market. Like tungsten
it has a very high melting point, so it can be heated
to incandescence without destroying itself like most metals.
Tantalum was so vastly superior to all other filaments
that it became king from 1902 – 1909. After 1909 the sintered
tungsten lamp really began to gain popularity. The arrival
of a ductile tungsten finally ended the reign of tantalum.
Werner von Bolton(a Georgian
living in Germany) discovered that using tantalum for
a filament allowed for lower energy consumption and greater
brightness. Siemens and Halske Company produced these
bulbs. The tantalum filament became successful and became
a major threat to General Electric’s sales. This stimulated
GE to invest more in it’s recently formed research lab
to try to come up with a better lamp.
Left: A lit Tantalum Lamp on display at Siemens Forum in Munich, Germany
Below: The hooks used to hold filament
Left:
The
WOTAN Lamp, made with a drawn-tungsten
WOTAN was a
trademarked name owned by Siemens & Halske
The Sprengle Pump to the left was used by Swan and Edison to pump air from the first light bulbs. Read more about the pump by clicking on the Scientific American article above.
The move to metallic filaments: The Era of Tantalum
Tantalum Filaments: 1902
– 1911
Tantalum
was the first metal filament on the market. Like tungsten
it has a very high melting point, so it can be heated
to incandescence without destroying itself like most metals.
Tantalum was so vastly superior to all other filaments
that it became king from 1902 – 1909. After 1909 the sintered
tungsten lamp really began to gain popularity. The arrival
of a ductile tungsten finally ended the reign of tantalum.
Werner von Bolton(a Georgian
living in Germany) discovered that using tantalum for
a filament allowed for lower energy consumption and greater
brightness. Siemens and Halske Company produced these
bulbs. The tantalum filament became successful and became
a major threat to General Electric’s sales. This stimulated
GE to invest more in it’s recently formed research lab
to try to come up with a better lamp.
Left: A lit Tantalum Lamp on display at Siemens Forum in Munich, Germany
Below: The hooks used to hold filament
Left:
The
WOTAN Lamp, made with a drawn-tungsten
WOTAN was a
trademarked name owned by Siemens & Halske
3. Inventors and Developments
1802
Sir Humphry Davy discovers incandescence in a
platinum wire. He also is the discoverer of the first electric
lamp type: the carbon arc lamp.
England
1841
Frederick de Moleyns patented a incandescent lamp
within a glass bulb and a partial vacuum. He is one of many
people working on the incandescent light bulb from 1840 to the
1870s. Many French and Germans contributed to research on the
incandescent bulb. Moleyns is exceptional and helped others
build on the idea.
England
1879
Sir Joseph Swan began working with the incandescent
light long before Edison, however his biggest breakthrough was
developed at the same time as Edison. Swan used carbonized paper
as a filament in a partially evacuated bulb, this lasted several
hours, which was a great achievement compared to the scores
of inventors who couldn’t get incandescence to last. Swan continued
to improve the bulb.
England
1879
Thomas Edison is the most celebrated of incandescent
inventors. He was able to succeed in creating the first reliable
(therefore marketable) light bulb. His bulbs made after 1880
lasted a whopping 600 hours. He then hired lots of talented
engineers and created the world’s most famous “invention
factory”.
West Orange, New Jersey
1902
Werner von Bolton discovered that using tantalum
for a filament increased efficiency, durability and bulb life.
The age of metallic filaments had begun and Siemens and Halske
held the patent.
Germany
Photo: Siemens
1904
Willis Whitney counters the threat from the tantalum
lamp with the GEM lamp: a unique process which creates a metallized
filament. The GEM lamp is used in the Mazda series by General
Electric.
Schenectady, New York
1904
Alexander Just and Franz Hanaman patent a sintered
tungsten filament. Tungsten proves to be a good material, however
it is fragile and hard to work with. It is a step towards the
modern bulb
Austria
1908
William D. Coolidge revolutionizes the lightbulb
by figuring out how to make tungsten ductile. This allows the
lightbulb to be more durable, long lasting, and easily coiled
(coiling is key to making more surface area and therefore more
light). The invention is implemented in 1911. His invention
is used in many other lamp types later on including the fluorescent,
halogen, MH, mercury vapor, and other lamps.
Schenectady, New York
1912
Irving Langmuir developed 3 important improvements
to the bulb: He worked with Lewi Tonks to develop an argon &
Nitrogen-filled bulb, he also developed the tight coiled filament,
and pioneered a thin molecular hydrogen coating on the inside
of the bulb. All of these dramatically improved the bulb.
Schenectady, New York
1921
Junichi Miura at Tokyo Electric (this facility is now part of Toshiba)
developed the double
coiled filament. This greatly improved luminous efficacy and
helped efficiency. Later others figured out how to mass produce this improvement.
Notice on the photo left how the large coil is made of another
coiled wire.
Japan
1925
/ 1947 Marvin Pipkin developed
the frosted etched bulb and later the silica coating on the
inside of the bulb. These advancements helped diffuse the light,
reduce glare with only 3-5% loss in light output.
Cleveland, Ohio
Above:
a Philips flashbulb with magnesium filament Photo: Wikipedia Commons
Flashbulbs
The traditional flashbulb is another type of incandescent lightbulb. Early flash bulbs used a aluminum, zirconium, or magnesium filament or aluminum foil. Current was passed through the material and it glowed. The melting and boiling point of aluminum, magnesium or zirconium is so low that the lamp would vaporize the metal, which further intensified the brightness. Early lamps would last one flash and had to be replaced. Early flashbulbs often had an Edison type screw in thread like a regular lightbulb. Later lamps could last a few flashes. Later on disposable flash bulb arrays were developed to allow many flashes without switching bulbs.
One of the greatest challenges in developing a flash bulb is not the bulb itself, but timing the bulb to match the camera shutter. This improved with the development of solid state electronics in the 1950s.
Modern flashbulbs found on most cameras are no longer incandescent bulbs. They are tiny xenon arc tubes. An electric arc is formed through xenon gas. These have the great advantage of being reusable. They have the disadvantage of being a shorter duration than incandescent flash bulbs. This means they have to be more precisely time
1927
?? at General Electric and Johannes
Ostermeier both independently develop the first non-magnesium
electric flashbulb. It is much safer than older bulbs. The General
Electric Product is called the Sashalite. This light replaced
dangerous magnesium powder lights. The new lamps burned aluminum
foil in a bulb filled with oxygen. Ostermeier produced a product
called the Vacublitz.
Schenectady, New York
1934
Philips Corp. Unknown inventor created the first
modern flashbulb: it has a wire in an evacuated bulb. The wire
burns ups in a more effective way than aluminum sheets of foil.
This design has not changed much.
Nederlands
1960s ?? at Kodak develops the flashcube which has four single use small flash bulbs. The cube can be rotated to use the new bulb.
Rochester, New York
1968
John D. Harnden Jr. develops a both a static electronic
photoflash assembly (1968) and disposable flashbulb lamp(1971)
along with Bill Kornrumpf. The array of flash bulbs removes
the need for replacing the bulb. This long plastic bar of bulbs
was popular in the 1970s and 80s. Harnden also developed precise
timing devices for the bulbs that used semiconductors which
were new at the time.
Schenectady,
New York
1968
William P. Kornrumpf developed the photoflash
bulb assembly and disposable flashbulb array for low cost cameras
along with John D. Harnden.
Schenectady, New York
Lamps are presented in the order of chronological development
Previous: The Arc Lamp 1800
Next: Nernst Lamp 1898
Arc – Incandescent – Nernst – Neon – Mercury Vapor – Sodium Lamp – Fluorescent – Halogen – EL – LED – MH – Induction
See our collection of incandescent
bulbs at the Edison Tech Center on display.
Written
by M. Whelan with additional research by Rick DeLair and Ryotaro Miyajima
Sources:
“The General Electric Story” 1999. by the Hall of History, Scientific
American Magazine,
Wikipedia.com, Scienceclarified.com, Lexicon Siemensstast: Werner von
Bolton
The Siemens Forum, Munich, Germany
Siemens.com
“Men and Volts” John Hammond. 1941
digitalcamhistory.com/1920s
Photos:
Edison Tech Center
Whelan Communications
Scientific American
John Harnden Jr.
Photo/Video
use:
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No one commercial or public is allow to alter Edison Tech Center photos/graphics/videos.
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except in DVD form. Payment is needed for this service. See our donate
page for pricing, and our catalogue
for a listing of videos on DVD.
Professional video production companies may get videos in data form with
signed license agreements and payment at commercial rates.
Introduction & Statistics
Statistics
*CRI
100 (best CRI possible)
*Color Temperature – comes in all variations, but normally 2700
– 5000K
*Lumens
per watt 8 – 24
*Lamp life: 750 – 1000 hrs (standard household bulb)
life can be greatly extended by using the lamp at a lower than
normal voltage.
Common uses: used everywhere for almost any application. From 1-10,000 W.
1. How it works
3
2. History and Developments
The history of the incandescent bulb is centered on the development of filament types, so we will organize it by filaments.
Platinum
and Iridium Filaments: 1802 -1880’s
Humphry Davy created the first incandescent light by passing
current through a platinum strip. It caused a glow and did not
last long, but marked the beginning of incandescent light development.
Experimenters continued over the next 70 years to use platinum
and iridium. Frederick de Moleyns used a platinum filament
in an evacuated glass tube to make a light bulb. It was only mildly
successful due to a blackening of the bulb, which blocked light
output. Combustion of the filament material and blackening on
the upward side of the bulb was a frustrating consistent problem
for early lamp inventors. The platinum material was also expensive.
Early inventors knew that making a vacuum in a bulb would help reduce blackening and lengthen bulb life, the problem was ways to better create a vacuum had to be developed. Heinrich Geissler was one of the early physicists to develop a good pump and system. Still, early bulb inventors 1802 – 1879 lacked a system good enough. As is typical with invention, many know the answer, but other technological developments are needed to move forward.
Blackening of the incandescent bulb, video:
Carbonized
Threads and Paper: 1860’s – 1883
Joseph Swan and Thomas Edison independently hit
success by making a bulb that would last a reasonable number of
hours.
Swan used carbonized paper to create his early filaments.
Edison first used carbonized sewing thread as a filament, he managed to get it inside a vacuum. This made his first practical lightbulb. He used carbonized sewing threads until 1880. Then he used paper bristol board. (Carbonized paper) This move increased lamp life to 600 hours.
Why Edison Triumphed: Joseph Swan worked on the incandescent light idea since 1850. Swan did not succeed because he used only a partial vacuum in his bulb. He also used a carbonized paper filament. Edison figured out how to create a pure vacuum in his bulbs. He did this by heating up the bulb at the same time that he pumped out the air. He used a Sprengle pump.
The Sprengle Pump to the left was used by Swan and Edison to pump air from the first light bulbs. Read more about the pump by clicking on the Scientific American article above.
Above: See our collection of bulbs at the Edison Tech Center on display.
Bamboo brings great improvements:
1883: As the story goes Edison was using a fan on a hot day, he
unwound fine bamboo on a fold-out oriental fan. He carbonized
it and tested it as a filament. He send assistants to Japan to
find the type of bamboo that was used in that fan. They found
it and imported the filaments.
The first bamboo filaments had a square shape because they were cut from larger pieces using a certain process. He electroplated the bamboo directly to the lead in wires to avoid the high cost of platinum clamps. Later he used carbon paste to adhere the bamboo to the lead in wires.
Our video about early Edison Bulbs with cellulose and bamboo filaments:
Cellulose Filaments: 1881 – 1904
Sir Joseph Swan developed the cellulose filament in 1881, however Edison continued to use bamboo filaments until the creation of General Electric in 1892. Cellulose filaments were replaced by Willis Whitney’s GEM lamp filaments.
Video about the Mazda Bulb:
The move to metallic filaments: The Era of Tantalum
Tantalum Filaments: 1902
– 1911
Tantalum
was the first metal filament on the market. Like tungsten
it has a very high melting point, so it can be heated
to incandescence without destroying itself like most metals.
Tantalum was so vastly superior to all other filaments
that it became king from 1902 – 1909. After 1909 the sintered
tungsten lamp really began to gain popularity. The arrival
of a ductile tungsten finally ended the reign of tantalum.
Werner von Bolton(a Georgian
living in Germany) discovered that using tantalum for
a filament allowed for lower energy consumption and greater
brightness. Siemens and Halske Company produced these
bulbs. The tantalum filament became successful and became
a major threat to General Electric’s sales. This stimulated
GE to invest more in it’s recently formed research lab
to try to come up with a better lamp.
Left: A lit Tantalum Lamp on display at Siemens Forum in Munich, Germany
Below: The hooks used to hold filament
Left:
The
WOTAN Lamp, made with a drawn-tungsten
WOTAN was a
trademarked name owned by Siemens & Halske
GEM
Lamp Metallized Filaments: 1904 – 1907
Willis
Whitney of GE Schenectady develops a way to bake a carbon
filament at 3000 C to create a filament that behaves much like
metal. This improves efficiency by 25 %. This filament was used
in the famous Mazda lamps which produced a very bright
light.
Sintered Tungsten Filaments: 1904 -1911
In
1904 sintered tungsten is developed by Alexander Just and Franz
Hanaman (Austria). Tungsten improves the lamps efficiency by 100
% and is used by GE in 1907 after it buys the rights for it.
*Tungsten and Molybdenum filaments were used by A.N. Lodygin (Russia)
in a 1900 “Exposition Universelle” in Paris
Ductile Tungsten Filaments: 1908 – today
William D. Coolidge had been working with tungsten which proved to be a superior material for a long lasting lightbulb over any other material to date. Previous sintered tungsten filaments had been efficient, but brittle and not practical. Coolidge figured out how to heat tungsten and draw it out through heated dies of decreasing diameter. The result of his work was a workable, bendable (ductile) wire that was high strength and made a great filament material. The new material was used in bulbs in 1911 and this is still used today. See our inventors section below for more advancements in the incandescent bulb.
The future of incandescent lamps:
The Incandescent lamp has been in the average household for more than 120 years. In the last decade a major initiative to develop more efficient lightbulbs has replaced much of the world’s bulbs with compact fluorescents. There has been significant resistance to bans on the incandescent bulb
The Sprengle Pump to the left was used by Swan and Edison to pump air from the first light bulbs. Read more about the pump by clicking on the Scientific American article above.
The move to metallic filaments: The Era of Tantalum
Tantalum Filaments: 1902
– 1911
Tantalum
was the first metal filament on the market. Like tungsten
it has a very high melting point, so it can be heated
to incandescence without destroying itself like most metals.
Tantalum was so vastly superior to all other filaments
that it became king from 1902 – 1909. After 1909 the sintered
tungsten lamp really began to gain popularity. The arrival
of a ductile tungsten finally ended the reign of tantalum.
Werner von Bolton(a Georgian
living in Germany) discovered that using tantalum for
a filament allowed for lower energy consumption and greater
brightness. Siemens and Halske Company produced these
bulbs. The tantalum filament became successful and became
a major threat to General Electric’s sales. This stimulated
GE to invest more in it’s recently formed research lab
to try to come up with a better lamp.
Left: A lit Tantalum Lamp on display at Siemens Forum in Munich, Germany
Below: The hooks used to hold filament
Left:
The
WOTAN Lamp, made with a drawn-tungsten
WOTAN was a
trademarked name owned by Siemens & Halske
1802
Sir Humphry Davy discovers incandescence in a
platinum wire. He also is the discoverer of the first electric
lamp type: the carbon arc lamp.
England
1841
Frederick de Moleyns patented a incandescent lamp
within a glass bulb and a partial vacuum. He is one of many
people working on the incandescent light bulb from 1840 to the
1870s. Many French and Germans contributed to research on the
incandescent bulb. Moleyns is exceptional and helped others
build on the idea.
England
1879
Sir Joseph Swan began working with the incandescent
light long before Edison, however his biggest breakthrough was
developed at the same time as Edison. Swan used carbonized paper
as a filament in a partially evacuated bulb, this lasted several
hours, which was a great achievement compared to the scores
of inventors who couldn’t get incandescence to last. Swan continued
to improve the bulb.
England
1879
Thomas Edison is the most celebrated of incandescent
inventors. He was able to succeed in creating the first reliable
(therefore marketable) light bulb. His bulbs made after 1880
lasted a whopping 600 hours. He then hired lots of talented
engineers and created the world’s most famous “invention
factory”.
West Orange, New Jersey
1902
Werner von Bolton discovered that using tantalum
for a filament increased efficiency, durability and bulb life.
The age of metallic filaments had begun and Siemens and Halske
held the patent.
Germany
Photo: Siemens
1904
Willis Whitney counters the threat from the tantalum
lamp with the GEM lamp: a unique process which creates a metallized
filament. The GEM lamp is used in the Mazda series by General
Electric.
Schenectady, New York
1904
Alexander Just and Franz Hanaman patent a sintered
tungsten filament. Tungsten proves to be a good material, however
it is fragile and hard to work with. It is a step towards the
modern bulb
Austria
1908
William D. Coolidge revolutionizes the lightbulb
by figuring out how to make tungsten ductile. This allows the
lightbulb to be more durable, long lasting, and easily coiled
(coiling is key to making more surface area and therefore more
light). The invention is implemented in 1911. His invention
is used in many other lamp types later on including the fluorescent,
halogen, MH, mercury vapor, and other lamps.
Schenectady, New York
1912
Irving Langmuir developed 3 important improvements
to the bulb: He worked with Lewi Tonks to develop an argon &
Nitrogen-filled bulb, he also developed the tight coiled filament,
and pioneered a thin molecular hydrogen coating on the inside
of the bulb. All of these dramatically improved the bulb.
Schenectady, New York
1921
Junichi Miura at Tokyo Electric (this facility is now part of Toshiba)
developed the double
coiled filament. This greatly improved luminous efficacy and
helped efficiency. Later others figured out how to mass produce this improvement.
Notice on the photo left how the large coil is made of another
coiled wire.
Japan
1925
/ 1947 Marvin Pipkin developed
the frosted etched bulb and later the silica coating on the
inside of the bulb. These advancements helped diffuse the light,
reduce glare with only 3-5% loss in light output.
Cleveland, Ohio
1927
?? at General Electric and Johannes
Ostermeier both independently develop the first non-magnesium
electric flashbulb. It is much safer than older bulbs. The General
Electric Product is called the Sashalite. This light replaced
dangerous magnesium powder lights. The new lamps burned aluminum
foil in a bulb filled with oxygen. Ostermeier produced a product
called the Vacublitz.
Schenectady, New York
1934
Philips Corp. Unknown inventor created the first
modern flashbulb: it has a wire in an evacuated bulb. The wire
burns ups in a more effective way than aluminum sheets of foil.
This design has not changed much.
Nederlands
1960s ?? at Kodak develops the flashcube which has four single use small flash bulbs. The cube can be rotated to use the new bulb.
Rochester, New York
1968
John D. Harnden Jr. develops a both a static electronic
photoflash assembly (1968) and disposable flashbulb lamp(1971)
along with Bill Kornrumpf. The array of flash bulbs removes
the need for replacing the bulb. This long plastic bar of bulbs
was popular in the 1970s and 80s. Harnden also developed precise
timing devices for the bulbs that used semiconductors which
were new at the time.
Schenectady,
New York
1968
William P. Kornrumpf developed the photoflash
bulb assembly and disposable flashbulb array for low cost cameras
along with John D. Harnden.
Schenectady, New York
Previous: The Arc Lamp 1800
Next: Nernst Lamp 1898
Arc – Incandescent – Nernst – Neon – Mercury Vapor – Sodium Lamp – Fluorescent – Halogen – EL – LED – MH – Induction
Introduction & Statistics
Statistics
*CRI
100 (best CRI possible)
*Color Temperature – comes in all variations, but normally 2700
– 5000K
*Lumens
per watt 8 – 24
*Lamp life: 750 – 1000 hrs (standard household bulb)
life can be greatly extended by using the lamp at a lower than
normal voltage.
Common uses: used everywhere for almost any application. From 1-10,000 W.
1. How it works
3
2. History and Developments
The history of the incandescent bulb is centered on the development of filament types, so we will organize it by filaments.
Platinum
and Iridium Filaments: 1802 -1880’s
Humphry Davy created the first incandescent light by passing
current through a platinum strip. It caused a glow and did not
last long, but marked the beginning of incandescent light development.
Experimenters continued over the next 70 years to use platinum
and iridium. Frederick de Moleyns used a platinum filament
in an evacuated glass tube to make a light bulb. It was only mildly
successful due to a blackening of the bulb, which blocked light
output. Combustion of the filament material and blackening on
the upward side of the bulb was a frustrating consistent problem
for early lamp inventors. The platinum material was also expensive.
Early inventors knew that making a vacuum in a bulb would help reduce blackening and lengthen bulb life, the problem was ways to better create a vacuum had to be developed. Heinrich Geissler was one of the early physicists to develop a good pump and system. Still, early bulb inventors 1802 – 1879 lacked a system good enough. As is typical with invention, many know the answer, but other technological developments are needed to move forward.
Blackening of the incandescent bulb, video:
Carbonized
Threads and Paper: 1860’s – 1883
Joseph Swan and Thomas Edison independently hit
success by making a bulb that would last a reasonable number of
hours.
Swan used carbonized paper to create his early filaments.
Edison first used carbonized sewing thread as a filament, he managed to get it inside a vacuum. This made his first practical lightbulb. He used carbonized sewing threads until 1880. Then he used paper bristol board. (Carbonized paper) This move increased lamp life to 600 hours.
Why Edison Triumphed: Joseph Swan worked on the incandescent light idea since 1850. Swan did not succeed because he used only a partial vacuum in his bulb. He also used a carbonized paper filament. Edison figured out how to create a pure vacuum in his bulbs. He did this by heating up the bulb at the same time that he pumped out the air. He used a Sprengle pump.
The Sprengle Pump to the left was used by Swan and Edison to pump air from the first light bulbs. Read more about the pump by clicking on the Scientific American article above.
Above: See our collection of bulbs at the Edison Tech Center on display.
Bamboo brings great improvements:
1883: As the story goes Edison was using a fan on a hot day, he
unwound fine bamboo on a fold-out oriental fan. He carbonized
it and tested it as a filament. He send assistants to Japan to
find the type of bamboo that was used in that fan. They found
it and imported the filaments.
The first bamboo filaments had a square shape because they were cut from larger pieces using a certain process. He electroplated the bamboo directly to the lead in wires to avoid the high cost of platinum clamps. Later he used carbon paste to adhere the bamboo to the lead in wires.
Our video about early Edison Bulbs with cellulose and bamboo filaments:
Cellulose Filaments: 1881 – 1904
Sir Joseph Swan developed the cellulose filament in 1881, however Edison continued to use bamboo filaments until the creation of General Electric in 1892. Cellulose filaments were replaced by Willis Whitney’s GEM lamp filaments.
Video about the Mazda Bulb:
The move to metallic filaments: The Era of Tantalum
Tantalum Filaments: 1902
– 1911
Tantalum
was the first metal filament on the market. Like tungsten
it has a very high melting point, so it can be heated
to incandescence without destroying itself like most metals.
Tantalum was so vastly superior to all other filaments
that it became king from 1902 – 1909. After 1909 the sintered
tungsten lamp really began to gain popularity. The arrival
of a ductile tungsten finally ended the reign of tantalum.
Werner von Bolton(a Georgian
living in Germany) discovered that using tantalum for
a filament allowed for lower energy consumption and greater
brightness. Siemens and Halske Company produced these
bulbs. The tantalum filament became successful and became
a major threat to General Electric’s sales. This stimulated
GE to invest more in it’s recently formed research lab
to try to come up with a better lamp.
Left: A lit Tantalum Lamp on display at Siemens Forum in Munich, Germany
Below: The hooks used to hold filament
Left:
The
WOTAN Lamp, made with a drawn-tungsten
WOTAN was a
trademarked name owned by Siemens & Halske
GEM
Lamp Metallized Filaments: 1904 – 1907
Willis
Whitney of GE Schenectady develops a way to bake a carbon
filament at 3000 C to create a filament that behaves much like
metal. This improves efficiency by 25 %. This filament was used
in the famous Mazda lamps which produced a very bright
light.
Sintered Tungsten Filaments: 1904 -1911
In
1904 sintered tungsten is developed by Alexander Just and Franz
Hanaman (Austria). Tungsten improves the lamps efficiency by 100
% and is used by GE in 1907 after it buys the rights for it.
*Tungsten and Molybdenum filaments were used by A.N. Lodygin (Russia)
in a 1900 “Exposition Universelle” in Paris
Ductile Tungsten Filaments: 1908 – today
William D. Coolidge had been working with tungsten which proved to be a superior material for a long lasting lightbulb over any other material to date. Previous sintered tungsten filaments had been efficient, but brittle and not practical. Coolidge figured out how to heat tungsten and draw it out through heated dies of decreasing diameter. The result of his work was a workable, bendable (ductile) wire that was high strength and made a great filament material. The new material was used in bulbs in 1911 and this is still used today. See our inventors section below for more advancements in the incandescent bulb.
The future of incandescent lamps:
The Incandescent lamp has been in the average household for more than 120 years. In the last decade a major initiative to develop more efficient lightbulbs has replaced much of the world’s bulbs with compact fluorescents. There has been significant resistance to bans on the incandescent bulb
The Sprengle Pump to the left was used by Swan and Edison to pump air from the first light bulbs. Read more about the pump by clicking on the Scientific American article above.
The move to metallic filaments: The Era of Tantalum
Tantalum Filaments: 1902
– 1911
Tantalum
was the first metal filament on the market. Like tungsten
it has a very high melting point, so it can be heated
to incandescence without destroying itself like most metals.
Tantalum was so vastly superior to all other filaments
that it became king from 1902 – 1909. After 1909 the sintered
tungsten lamp really began to gain popularity. The arrival
of a ductile tungsten finally ended the reign of tantalum.
Werner von Bolton(a Georgian
living in Germany) discovered that using tantalum for
a filament allowed for lower energy consumption and greater
brightness. Siemens and Halske Company produced these
bulbs. The tantalum filament became successful and became
a major threat to General Electric’s sales. This stimulated
GE to invest more in it’s recently formed research lab
to try to come up with a better lamp.
Left: A lit Tantalum Lamp on display at Siemens Forum in Munich, Germany
Below: The hooks used to hold filament
Left:
The
WOTAN Lamp, made with a drawn-tungsten
WOTAN was a
trademarked name owned by Siemens & Halske
The Sprengle Pump to the left was used by Swan and Edison to pump air from the first light bulbs. Read more about the pump by clicking on the Scientific American article above.
The move to metallic filaments: The Era of Tantalum
Tantalum Filaments: 1902
– 1911
Tantalum
was the first metal filament on the market. Like tungsten
it has a very high melting point, so it can be heated
to incandescence without destroying itself like most metals.
Tantalum was so vastly superior to all other filaments
that it became king from 1902 – 1909. After 1909 the sintered
tungsten lamp really began to gain popularity. The arrival
of a ductile tungsten finally ended the reign of tantalum.
Werner von Bolton(a Georgian
living in Germany) discovered that using tantalum for
a filament allowed for lower energy consumption and greater
brightness. Siemens and Halske Company produced these
bulbs. The tantalum filament became successful and became
a major threat to General Electric’s sales. This stimulated
GE to invest more in it’s recently formed research lab
to try to come up with a better lamp.
Left: A lit Tantalum Lamp on display at Siemens Forum in Munich, Germany
Below: The hooks used to hold filament
Left:
The
WOTAN Lamp, made with a drawn-tungsten
WOTAN was a
trademarked name owned by Siemens & Halske
1802
Sir Humphry Davy discovers incandescence in a
platinum wire. He also is the discoverer of the first electric
lamp type: the carbon arc lamp.
England
1841
Frederick de Moleyns patented a incandescent lamp
within a glass bulb and a partial vacuum. He is one of many
people working on the incandescent light bulb from 1840 to the
1870s. Many French and Germans contributed to research on the
incandescent bulb. Moleyns is exceptional and helped others
build on the idea.
England
1879
Sir Joseph Swan began working with the incandescent
light long before Edison, however his biggest breakthrough was
developed at the same time as Edison. Swan used carbonized paper
as a filament in a partially evacuated bulb, this lasted several
hours, which was a great achievement compared to the scores
of inventors who couldn’t get incandescence to last. Swan continued
to improve the bulb.
England
1879
Thomas Edison is the most celebrated of incandescent
inventors. He was able to succeed in creating the first reliable
(therefore marketable) light bulb. His bulbs made after 1880
lasted a whopping 600 hours. He then hired lots of talented
engineers and created the world’s most famous “invention
factory”.
West Orange, New Jersey
1902
Werner von Bolton discovered that using tantalum
for a filament increased efficiency, durability and bulb life.
The age of metallic filaments had begun and Siemens and Halske
held the patent.
Germany
Photo: Siemens
1904
Willis Whitney counters the threat from the tantalum
lamp with the GEM lamp: a unique process which creates a metallized
filament. The GEM lamp is used in the Mazda series by General
Electric.
Schenectady, New York
1904
Alexander Just and Franz Hanaman patent a sintered
tungsten filament. Tungsten proves to be a good material, however
it is fragile and hard to work with. It is a step towards the
modern bulb
Austria
1908
William D. Coolidge revolutionizes the lightbulb
by figuring out how to make tungsten ductile. This allows the
lightbulb to be more durable, long lasting, and easily coiled
(coiling is key to making more surface area and therefore more
light). The invention is implemented in 1911. His invention
is used in many other lamp types later on including the fluorescent,
halogen, MH, mercury vapor, and other lamps.
Schenectady, New York
1912
Irving Langmuir developed 3 important improvements
to the bulb: He worked with Lewi Tonks to develop an argon &
Nitrogen-filled bulb, he also developed the tight coiled filament,
and pioneered a thin molecular hydrogen coating on the inside
of the bulb. All of these dramatically improved the bulb.
Schenectady, New York
1921
Junichi Miura at Tokyo Electric (this facility is now part of Toshiba)
developed the double
coiled filament. This greatly improved luminous efficacy and
helped efficiency. Later others figured out how to mass produce this improvement.
Notice on the photo left how the large coil is made of another
coiled wire.
Japan
1925
/ 1947 Marvin Pipkin developed
the frosted etched bulb and later the silica coating on the
inside of the bulb. These advancements helped diffuse the light,
reduce glare with only 3-5% loss in light output.
Cleveland, Ohio
1927
?? at General Electric and Johannes
Ostermeier both independently develop the first non-magnesium
electric flashbulb. It is much safer than older bulbs. The General
Electric Product is called the Sashalite. This light replaced
dangerous magnesium powder lights. The new lamps burned aluminum
foil in a bulb filled with oxygen. Ostermeier produced a product
called the Vacublitz.
Schenectady, New York
1934
Philips Corp. Unknown inventor created the first
modern flashbulb: it has a wire in an evacuated bulb. The wire
burns ups in a more effective way than aluminum sheets of foil.
This design has not changed much.
Nederlands
1960s ?? at Kodak develops the flashcube which has four single use small flash bulbs. The cube can be rotated to use the new bulb.
Rochester, New York
1968
John D. Harnden Jr. develops a both a static electronic
photoflash assembly (1968) and disposable flashbulb lamp(1971)
along with Bill Kornrumpf. The array of flash bulbs removes
the need for replacing the bulb. This long plastic bar of bulbs
was popular in the 1970s and 80s. Harnden also developed precise
timing devices for the bulbs that used semiconductors which
were new at the time.
Schenectady,
New York
1968
William P. Kornrumpf developed the photoflash
bulb assembly and disposable flashbulb array for low cost cameras
along with John D. Harnden.
Schenectady, New York
Previous: The Arc Lamp 1800
Next: Nernst Lamp 1898
Arc – Incandescent – Nernst – Neon – Mercury Vapor – Sodium Lamp – Fluorescent – Halogen – EL – LED – MH – Induction
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