FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
As amended by the Patents (Amendment) Act, 2005
&
The Patents Rules, 2003
As amended by the Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2006
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See section 10 and rule 13)
TITLE OF THE INVENTION
Apparatus for testing fluorescent lamp
APPLICANTS
Crompton Greaves Limited, CG House, Dr Annie Besant Road, Worli, Mumbai 400 030, Maharashtra, India, an Indian Company
INVENTORS
Bagul Nilesh Ramkrishna, and Vellore Pachiappa Baburajan, both of Crompton Greaves Ltd, Village Kural, Padra Jambusar Road, Vadodara, Gujarat, both Indian Nationals.
PREAMBLE TO THE DESCRIPTION
The following specification particularly describes the nature of this invention and the manner in which it is to be performed:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an apparatus for testing fluorescent lamps.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The testing table holders are used for testing the fluorescent tubes. Usually, this is the final stage of testing when the fluorescent tubes are tested if they lit up.
Fluorescent lamps typically include a glass envelope, such as a tube, containing an inert gas and mercury vapor, and having a coating of fluorescent material on the interior surface of its glass envelope. The tube contains cathodes at both ends which are connected to suitable tube pins. The fluorescent lamp fits into an appropriate lamp holder having pairs of sockets. Each socket receives a pair of tube pins, there being one pair of tube pins extending from each base end of the fluorescent lamp.
The holders used in the prior art for testing, required the lamps to be twisted in order to be locked securely, which was time consuming. Further, the breakage of the holders was much more. An illustrative figure showing the holders used in the prior art is shown at Fig 1, which shows the cross sectional view of the holder (la, lb) and the area (A) where the tube pins are to be inserted and thereafter to be twisted.
The above holders required more time for the testing, as the process was complex and involved more labour. The above holders were portable, which caused the holders to be stolen from the table.

OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION
An objective of the invention is to provide a holder which obviates the aforesaid drawbacks. The present invention discloses a holder which is simpler in construction and effective, due to its shape.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In order to achieve the aforesaid and other objectives, according to the invention. an improved holder is provided. The present invention comprises of an apparatus for testing fluorescent lamp comprising of a base surface, plurality of holders fixed on said base surface for receiving pair of tube pins disposed at both the sides of said fluorescent lamp, wherein each of said holders comprise of two arms in a shape of an inverted triangle, such that the pair of tube pins get locked in the holder on placing the tube over the holder due to its weight.
These and other aspects, features and advantages of the invention will be better understood with reference to the following detailed description, accompanying drawings and appended claims, in which,
Fig 2a illustrates a cross-sectional view of the plurality of holders.
Fig 2b illustrates an exploded cross-sectional view of an individual holder.
Referring to the figure Fig 2a, the present invention describes an apparatus for testing fluorescent lamp comprising of a base surface (1), plurality of holders (2) fixed on

said base surface for receiving pair of tube pins disposed at both the sides of said fluorescent lamp, wherein each of the said holders comprise of two arms (3a, 3b) placed in a shape of an inverted triangle, such that the pair of tube pins get locked in the holder on placing the tube over the holder due to its weight.
Referring to Fig 2b, which shows an exploded cross-sectional view of the individual holder, the two arms (3a, 3b) of the holder are spaced apart at an angle varying from 25° to 35°, preferably 30° and placed as an inverted triangle.
The use of the holder described in the above invention results in a simpler mechanism. There is no need to twist the tube as the tube pins get locked into the holder. The tube pins get pressed into the holder due to the weight of the tube. The pins of the tube get aligned on the holder due to the shape of the contact arms, which is in an inverted triangle. The testing time reduces considerably. The maintenance of the present invention is also reduced. Further, if there is a defect in the testing equipment, there is no need to change the entire holder; only the copper strip needs to be changed in case of a failure. Since the holder assembly is fixed to the base surface, the chances of the holders getting stolen is also less.
The choice of the dimensions of the holders and the spacing and angle between the arms of the holders may vary.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a specific embodiment, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiment, as well as alternate embodiments of the invention, will become apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to the description of the invention. It is therefore contemplated that such modifications can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined.

We claim:
1. An apparatus for testing fluorescent lamp comprising of a base surface, plurality of holders fixed on said base surface for receiving pair of tube pins disposed at both the sides of said fluorescent lamp, wherein said holder comprises of two arms (3a, 3b) fixed securely on said base surface in a shape of an inverted triangle, such that when said tube is placed on said holder, said pair of tube pins get locked in said holder due to the weight of said tube.
2. An apparatus for testing fluorescent lamp as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said two arms of said holder are spaced apart at angle varying from 25° to 35°.
3. An apparatus for testing fluorescent lamp as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said two arms of said holder are spaced apart at an angle of 30°.