Cathode ray tube socket

Abstract: In a cathode ray tube socket which is provided with a socket body (21) having a plurality of contacts (24) disposed in a circle and a high voltage discharge gap housing (28) provided on one side of the socket body, there are provided along the inside surface of each of a case (11) forming the high voltage discharge gap housing and a cover (12) to be put in the case (11) on the side of its open end face a plurality of plate-shaped ribs (13, 14) extending in a direction across a high voltage discharge in the high voltage discharge gap housing. A meandering ridge (32) is formed along one of opposed side walls of the case and cover to define a gap therebetween.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a cathode ray tube socket which is provided with a socket body having a plurality of contacts disposed in a circle and a high voltage discharge gap housing formed on one side of the socket body. In this kind of cathode ray tube socket a high voltage discharge gap housing is provided on one side of the socket body and the high voltage discharge gap housing comprises a case having housed therein discharge electrodes and a cover for covering the case as disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,649,315 or 4,822,301, for instance. As disclosed in EP-A-0268940 in order to increase the creeping distance between a high voltage electrode and a grounding electrode in the high voltage discharge gap to prevent the generation of an abnormal discharge along the interior surfaces of the case and the cover, there are provided on their inside surfaces ribs 13 and 14 as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 which are a vertical sectional view of a high voltage discharge gap housing 28 on the opposite side from the socket body, a vertical sectional view taken on the line II-II in Fig. 1 and a horizontal sectional view taken on the line III-III in Fig. 1, respectively. Conventionally, the ribs 14 of the cover 12 are each partially disposed between adjacent ribs 13 of the case 11. Where the spacing of each of the ribs 13 and 14 is small, discharge current does not flow along the wall surfaces of the case 11 and the cover 12 but instead it flows along a line joining the projecting ends of the ribs 13 and 14, skipping over grooves defined by them. For example, when the spacing g between the ribs 13 and 14 is 1 mm or more, the discharge current flows in zigzag along the inner surfaces of the cover 12 and the case 11 as indicated by the line 16 in Figs. 2 and 3. When the spacing g is less than 1 mm, the discharge current flows straight as indicated by the line 17, and consequently, the creeping distance cannot essentially be maintained large. In other words, the prior art has a defect that miniaturization of the cathode ray tube socket reduces the creeping distance. Further, no measures have been taken against the discharge along the plane of contact between the case 11 and the cover 12. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a cathode ray tube socket in which a discharge is difficult to occur along the surfaces of its case and cover. This object is achieved with a cathode ray tube socket as claimed in claim 1. According to the present invention, a gap is defined between opposed wall surfaces of the cover and the case received therein and a zigzag ridge which is interposed therebetween is formed on one of the opposed wall surfaces. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of one side wall and its vicinity of a high voltage discharge gap housing of a conventional cathode ray tube socket; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line II-II in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line III-III in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view illustrating a cathode ray tube socket; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a case 11 for use in the socket shown in Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a cover 12 for use in the socket shown in Fig. 4; and Fig. 7 is a partial perspective view illustrating an embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Fig. 4 is a longitudinal-sectional view of a cathode ray tube socket. A socket body 21 of a resin material is disc-shaped and has a centrally-disposed hole 22, around which there are provided a plurality of holes 23 for receiving contacts 24. A terminal 25 of each contact 24 is led out on the back of the socket body 21, and an earth ring 27, which forms a low voltage discharge gap 26, is fitted into the socket body 21 at a position corresponding to the intermediate portion of the terminal 25. One of the contacts 24 is used as a contact for high voltage (focusing) use (hereinafter referred to as a high voltage contact) 24h, and a high voltage discharge gap housing 28 is provided on the side of the socket body 21 next to the high voltage contact 24h. The high voltage discharge gap housing 28 comprises a case 11 which accommodates a high voltage discharge electrode 29 and a cover 12 which receives substantially the upper half portion of the case 11 on its open end face. The case 11 is formed as a unitary structure with the socket body 21. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the case 11, in which the high voltage discharge electrode 29 having a semi-spherical portion and a U-shaped discharge electrode on the ground side 30 are disposed opposite to each other. On the inside of the case 11 there are protrusively provided plate-shaped ribs 13 which are spaced apart in parallel and extend in a direction across an expected high voltage discharge which would be produced between the discharge electrodes 29 and 30. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the cover 12. On the inside of the cover 12 there are protrusively provided plate-shaped ribs 14 which extend in parallel with the ribs 13 when the cover 12 is mounted on the case 11. Fig. 7 shows only the side walls 11a and 12a of the case 11 and the cover 12 and the neighboring portions. A meandering ridge 32 is protrusively provided on the outside surface of the side wall 11a of the case 11. When the case 11 is received in the cover 12, the top face of the meandering ridge 32 abuts against the inner surface of the side wall 12a of the cover 12, defining a gap 34 between the side walls 11a and 12a of the case 11 and the cover 12. With such a structure, the creeping distance along the plane of contact between the side walls 11a and 12a of the case 11 and the cover 12 can be increased as indicated by the line 35, thereby preventing the generation of a discharge along the above-mentioned plane of contact. The meandering ridge 32 may also be extended to the outside surfaces of other side walls of the case 11 as depicted in Fig. 5. Alternatively, such a meandering ridge 32 may be provided on the interior surface of the side wall of the cover 12. As described above, according to the present invention, when the case 11 is put on the cover 12, the creeping distance along the plane of contact between the side walls 11a and 12a of the case 11 and the cover 12 can be increased by providing the meandering ridge 32 between them.

Claims: A cathode ray tube socket which is provided with a socket body (21) having a plurality of contacts (24) disposed in a circle and a high voltage discharge gap housing (28) provided on one side of said socket body; wherein said high voltage discharge gap housing (28) comprises a case (11) formed as a unitary structure with said socket body and having an open end face and a cover (12) which is put on said case on the side of said open end face thereof; wherein said case (11) has a plurality of plate-shaped first ribs (13) formed on an inner wall surface of said case to extent therealong in a direction across the high voltage discharge in parallel and spaced-apart relation to one another; and wherein said cover (12) has a plurality of plate-shaped second ribs (14) formed on an inner wall surface of said cover to extend therealong in a direction across the high voltage discharge; characterized in that one of opposed side walls (11a, 12a) of said case (11) and said cover (12) has a meandering ridge (32) extending therealong to form therebetween a gap defined by said ridge (32).

Inventors: INABA HIROFUMI, NISHIKAWA YASUNORI, INABA, HIROFUMI, NISHIKAWA, YASUNORI, Inaba, Hirofumi,c/o Hosiden Corporation
Applicants: HOSIDEN CORP, HOSIDEN CORPORATION
Application year: 1989
Main classification: H01R33
IPC codes: H01R33