Neon signs are great advertising for any business. They work well for retail settings such as game rooms, restaurants, diners, manufacturing units, pubs and lounges, fraternity lounges, and many other establishments.
The first set of neon signs was sold by a French company named Neon Claude to a Packard car dealership in Los Angeles in 1923, for a sum of $24,000.These “liquid fire” tubes glowed in the night as well as broad daylight and soon became popular. Since then, the neon technology has evolved tenfold, and the signs are more popular than ever today.
Not all signs are made of neon, since the neon gas only produces the color red. After the initial discovery of neon-emitting red light, other colors were discovered using mercury, carbon dioxide, and phosphor. Today, it is possible to produce more than 150 colors using these gases. Neon tubes are actually positive-charge-filled lamps.
Every neon sign made is handcrafted; despite the advancement in technology, the manufacturing of a sign just cannot be done by a machine. According to the design wanted, the artisan heats a glass tube into a pliable shape and then moulds the design and lettering as per the requirements. During this process of continuous heating and bending, air is let into the tube to maintain its hollow shape. After the designing is done, the tubes are vacuumed out using a suction pump, after which an inert gas is let into the tube—this gas determines the color of the neon sign. The gas-filled tube glows when current is passed through it ionizing the gas, thus causing it to glow.
No comments:
Post a Comment