Soft Circuit Workshop
ITP Summer 2008
2:25pm
EL lamp
Manufacturer: There are dozens of manufacturers, as this is an extremely common light source in commercially available technology. The supplier listed on the Material Connexion Website is:
Advanced Cerametrics, Inc.
P.O. Box 128
Lambertville, NJ 08530-0128
Main Email: advcer@aol.com
Web Site: www.advancedcerametrics.com
Contact: Steve Leschin
Email: advcer@aol.com
Phone: 609 397 2900
Fax: 609 397 2708
Electrical & Physical Characteristics:
The EL lamp can be manufactured in just about any shape or form imaginable, but they tend to be extremely thin and flexible. An EL lamp can produce very brilliant, bright colors, and needs very little energy to do so.
“The light produces even less heat than light emitting diodes (LEDs) and fluorescent lamps and produces an initial brightness at 120 Ft. Lamberts at 120 VAC, 400Hz, and a power consumption of 25 mW/in2. When operated at this level the light will have a current density of approximately 1.00 mA/in2. Advantages include mechanical flexibility, with a maximum bend radius of 0.5 in (1.27 cm), and thinness of 0.1 in. (0.025 cm) to 0.01 in (0.035 cm), and an infinite variety of geometric shapes.”
-Material Connexion
http://www.materialconnexion.com/academic/MC5.asp?MCNum=558101&table=product
Intended Uses:
We see EL lamps dozens of times a day in common technology - they are the most common backlight for cell phones and PDAs, they are the light source for the dashboard panels on most cars. It is hard to put a name to the EL lamp’s intended use, becuase it is intended as an open-ended, flexible technology. As shown in the pictures below, it is seen in common technology such as watches, cell phones, etc., but also in expansive art projects such as the chandellier shown below.
Imagined Uses:
This is a bit like asking the imagined use of the light bulb - the technology is so flexible and open-ended that the possibilities are fairly limitless. This is a low-cost, low-consumption light source that can take just about any shape. In terms of wearable technology, EL lamps’ flexibility makes them extremely adaptable to clothing, and they are available with many different varieties of connectors, so you are not limited to the standard solder terminal.
Some examples:
