‘pip’ seal. The balanced pressures produced within his apparatus were novel,
permitting the introduction of procedures that removed defects which
otherwise weaken the lamp and which were impossible to apply before. The
whole led to a reduction in the number of steps needed to produce the final
lamp and facilitated the mass production of a more robust product. By 1919,
the whole industry had turned to lamp production much in the fashion
described, but Robert’s ‘tubulature’ was replaced by an integrated exhaustion
tube running up the length of the stem which remains the situation today—
almost 100 years later—although incandescent lamps of course are now being
Fig. 14.5 Robert’s apparatus for exhausting and sealing the bulbs modified with his
‘tubulature’
53
14 Robert’s War 1914–1918
291
permitting the introduction of procedures that removed defects which
otherwise weaken the lamp and which were impossible to apply before. The
whole led to a reduction in the number of steps needed to produce the final
lamp and facilitated the mass production of a more robust product. By 1919,
the whole industry had turned to lamp production much in the fashion
described, but Robert’s ‘tubulature’ was replaced by an integrated exhaustion
tube running up the length of the stem which remains the situation today—
almost 100 years later—although incandescent lamps of course are now being
Fig. 14.5 Robert’s apparatus for exhausting and sealing the bulbs modified with his
‘tubulature’
53
14 Robert’s War 1914–1918
291