EP0638760B1 - Imitation candle - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a false candle of the type comprising a hollow body of cylindrical or frustoconical shape carrying in its upper part a socket adapted to receive the base of a bulb.

This type of dummy candle, fitted with a bulb, is intended in particular to equip light fixtures, so that the light fixture seems to be fitted with real candles, the bulb taking the place of a flame.

Such a false candle poses in particular the problem of installing electrical equipment inside said cylindrical or frustoconical body, in particular immobilizing the socket in said hollow body and installing an electric power cable inside said hollow body.

Generally, the sleeve, with a diameter slightly greater than the inside diameter of said hollow body, is forced into it, the elastic deformation undergone making it possible to immobilize the sleeve. The power cable is installed inside the hollow body before said introduction of the socket into the body of the false spark plug because the connection of the cable to the socket cannot be made once the latter is installed. This way of proceeding poses the problem of fixing the cable inside the body. Indeed, if the cable is not immobilized inside said hollow body, traction will be exerted on the connections between the sleeve and the cable under the effect of the weight of the latter as well as various efforts which can be applied to the cable when installing said false spark plug on a luminaire. It has been proposed to mount on the cable a ring of diameter substantially equal to the inside diameter of said hollow body. Before installing the socket, the cable fitted with said ring is forced into the hollow body. However, installing the cable by this method is inconvenient and may damage the cable. In addition, the immobilization of the cable thus obtained is not very safe.

In addition, in the already existing fake candles, is generally provided, at the upper part of the hollow body, a narrowing of the inner diameter forming a crown and intended to serve as a support for the socket so that the latter is surely immobilized in vertical translation. The production of such an inner ring complicates the manufacture of the hollow body.

The present invention relates to a false candle in which the electrical equipment can be installed without posing the problems previously mentioned.

To this end, a false candle of the type is proposed comprising a hollow body of cylindrical or frustoconical shape carrying in its upper part a socket adapted to receive the base of a bulb and connected to a supply cable which extends axially. inside said body, and a removable inner body for mounting the electrical equipment, characterized in that said hollow inner body and made up of at least two complementary parts, contains the electrical equipment, comprising said socket and said cable , said complementary parts being immobilized one against the other inside the hollow body by forced interlocking in order to enclose said sleeve in an upper housing, the cable being maintained in an axial passage formed between said parts.

The mounting of the electrical equipment being carried out on said inner body, the hollow body of the false spark plug does not include means for mounting the electrical equipment such as an inner ring. It can therefore be carried out simply. On the other hand, said interior body may include any means necessary for good maintenance of the electrical equipment.

The electrical equipment is first installed in said part provided with the baffle device, the socket being simply placed on its upper end and the cable being passed through the baffle device. The other part (s) are then installed so as to constitute said inner body which is immobilized by forced introduction into the body of false candle, the constitution of the inner body to immobilize the electrical equipment inside the body.

Thus, on the one hand, the installation of the electrical equipment in the false plug is very conveniently and on the other hand, the socket and the cable are perfectly immobilized inside the body of the false plug.

A patent US-A-2 132 852 discloses a false candle of the type comprising a hollow body of a false candle and a removable internal body for mounting the electrical equipment. This inner body can be made up of several parts. In the dummy plug described in this document, the electrical equipment is installed on the interior body, and not enclosed inside this interior body, as is the case in the present invention. This false candle therefore has less safety of use than that of the present invention, the electrical elements being separated from the outside by the only hollow body of false candle, whereas, in the present invention, they are also separated by the inner body. In addition, in the present invention, the internal body being forced into the hollow body of the false plug, it is perfectly immobilized inside this hollow body.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the false plug body and said inner body are made of an injectable thermoplastic material having good characteristics of resistance to high temperature such as the thermoplastic material sold under the name LATENE 7H2WV0.

• la figure 1 est une vue en coupe longitudinale montrant une fausse bougie selon l'invention ;
• la figure 2 est une vue schématique montrant l'installation de la fausse bougie de la figure 1 dans un premier type de luminaire ;
• la figure 3 est une vue schématique montrant l'installation d'une fausse bougie selon une variante de la présente invention dans un second type de luminaire ;
• la figure 4 est une vue en perspective éclatée montrant un corps intérieur pour la fausse bougie de la figure 1 ;
• la figure 5 est une vue en coupe longitudinale dans un plan perpendiculaire au plan de coupe de la figure 1, à une plus grande échelle, de la partie supérieure du corps intérieur de la figure 4 ;
• la figure 6 est une vue en élévation du corps intérieur;
• la figure 7 est une vue en élévation montrant la partie basse de fixation d'un corps intérieur pour la fausse bougie de la figure 3 ;
• la figure 8 est une vue selon la direction VIII-VIII de la figure 7.

The characteristics and advantages of the invention will moreover emerge from the nonlimiting examples set out in the description which follows, with reference to the appended drawings in which:

• Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a false candle according to the invention;
• Figure 2 is a schematic view showing the installation of the false candle of Figure 1 in a first type of light;
• Figure 3 is a schematic view showing the installation of a false candle according to a variant of the present invention in a second type of luminaire;
• Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view showing an inner body for the dummy candle of Figure 1;
• Figure 5 is a longitudinal sectional view in a plane perpendicular to the section plane of Figure 1, on a larger scale, of the upper part of the inner body of Figure 4;
• Figure 6 is an elevational view of the inner body;
• Figure 7 is an elevational view showing the lower part for fixing an inner body for the false candle of Figure 3;
• FIG. 8 is a view in the direction VIII-VIII of FIG. 7.

According to the embodiment chosen and shown in Figure 1, a body 1 of frustoconical shape and axially hollow, has the external appearance of a candle. This body 1 is advantageously made of injectable thermoplastic material. For example, use is made of the thermoplastic material sold under the name LATENE 7H2WV0 natural whose characteristics of heat resistance and flammability are adapted to the present application.

The inner surface of said body 1 defines a frustoconical passage 1 of axis AA, of very small angle and therefore almost cylindrical. This passage is adapted to receive by interlocking an inner hollow body 2 of corresponding frustoconical shape consisting of two separable parts 2 'and 2' ', on either side of a median plane C.

As seen in Figures 1 and 4, the body 2 is provided on its outer surface with two reinforcements of thickness 3 and 4 forming collars respectively disposed at its lower end and in its upper part, and a circumferential recess 5 above said collar 4.

At the level of the recess 5 are provided stiffening ribs 6 arranged in pairs 6 ', 6' 'on either side of the plane C, these generally radial orientation ribs having divergent upper parts for connection to a flange terminal of the inner body.

The inner surface of the body 2, of generally cylindrical shape of revolution, but with, in its lower part delimited by two reinforcements of thickness 7 and 7 ′ in the form of crowns, a housing 8 of hexagonal section. The location of this housing 8 corresponds to the position of the collar 3 located on the outer surface of the body 2, as can be seen in FIG. 4. At the level of the upper part 5 hollowed out of the body 2 is a narrowing 10 of the axial passage 9. At the lower end of said constriction 10 is arranged on the inner surface of said body 2 a thick reinforcement 11 in the form of a crown. Above the hexagonal housing 8 are arranged three ribs 14, 15 and 16 formed on the part 2 'of the body 2 independent from part 2 ''. These transverse orientation ribs in the form of half-discs are arranged at regular intervals in the axial direction. The straight sides of the three half-discs are in a median plane of the body 2 perpendicular to the plane C, the ribs 14 and 16 on one side and the rib 15 on the other being arranged on either side in this plane, as seen in Figure 4. A fourth rib 17, in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped plate, extending in an axial direction is disposed against the right side of the semi-disc rib 15. When the parts 2 'and 2'' of the body 2 are held one against the other, the free curved surfaces of the ribs 14, 15 and 16 are in contact with the part 2 '' of the body 2. The assembly constituted by the ribs 14, 15, 16 and 17 forms a baffle device 19 in the axial passage 9. Two lugs 18 are arranged on the part 2 '' respectively at the lower end and the high end of the baffle device 19 so that when the parts 2 'and 2''are kept in contact, said pins are in contact respectively with the su upper surface of the rib 16 and with the lower surface of the rib 14. The contact between said lugs and said ribs preventing the longitudinal sliding of the parts 2 'and 2''relative to each other and the contact between the ribs 14, 15 and 16 and the part 2 '' preventing to a certain extent the transverse sliding, it suffices to press the parts 2 'and 2''one against the other to ensure good cohesion of the body 2.

Two slots 12 of circular shape are provided on the upper part of the internal body 2, one opposite the other with respect to the plane C. Two slots 13 in the form of an oblong hole (FIG. 6) extending in the axial direction are formed at the level of the narrowing 10. These openings 13 are produced on either side of the separation between the two parts 2 'and 2' ', notches 13' being formed on these parts at the same level. When the parts 2 'and 2' 'are held one against the other to form the body 2, the notches 13' cooperate to form the slots 13.

The two parts 2 'and 2''of the body 2 which has just been described are made of the same thermoplastic material as the body 1 and can be shaped like it by any known molding technique.

The hexagonal housing 8 is adapted to receive a lock nut 30 of corresponding shape and the height of which corresponds to the height separating the crowns 7 and 7 '. When the parts 2 'and 2' 'are held against each other, this nut is therefore immobilized in the housing.

The constriction 10 is adapted to receive a sleeve 20, said sleeve being sandwiched between the parts 2 'and 2' '. The circumference of the sleeve 20 is slightly greater than the internal circumference of the body 2 at the level of the narrowing 10 so that the sleeve is perfectly immobilized when the parts 2 'and 2' 'are held against each other. Figure 5 shows in detail the installation of said socket in said body 2, as well as the rest of the electrical equipment. This equipment being of known type, it does not need to be described in detail in its form or in its operation. Only its arrangement relative to the body 2 will be the subject of a description, this arrangement being an important element of the present invention.

Under the sleeve 20 is fixed a first conductive washer 24 provided with two tabs 24 'and 24''diametrically opposite. One of these tabs, in this case the tab 24 'is folded down along the outside face of the socket 20 and has a centered end portion forming elastic contact engaged in a window provided for this purpose in the wall of the socket. . The other 24 '' tab is simply raised on the outside of the socket. A conductive screw 25 disposed in the axis of the sleeve 20 is isolated from the washer 24 by an insulating sleeve 22. An insulating cylinder 21 is mounted under the assembly constituted by the sleeve 20, the washer 24 and the insulator 21 by through the screw 25 which passes axially through said insulator, said screw cooperating with a nut 23. Between said insulating cylinder 21 and said nut 23 is installed a second conductive washer 26 provided with a tab 26 '. The assembly thus constituted will be called electrical socket equipment. A first conductive wire 27 'is welded to the tab 26' and a second conductive wire 27 '' is welded to the tab 24 ", said wires 27 'and 27" come from a power cable 27. It is advantageous to use tinned conductor wires surrounded by transparent double insulation.

As previously described, and as can be seen in FIG. 5, the sleeve 20 is clamped in the constriction 10 between the parts 2 ′ and 2 ″ of the body 2. It also rests on the crown 11 by the intermediate of the insulator 21. It should be noted that the size of the crown 11 is such that neither the nut 23 nor the screw 25 is in contact with a portion of the body 2. The sleeve will be arranged so that that the tabs 24 'and 26 pass through one of the openings 13 and that the tab 24''passes through the other opening 13. The size of the openings 13 is such that neither a portion of the surface of the washers 24 or 26, neither the stripped part of the wires 27 'and 27 ", nor the welds connecting the said wires to the said washers come into contact with the body 2. In addition, a sufficiently large space is left at the bottom of the openings 13 between the body 2 and the socket fitted with its electrical equipment to allow access to the 27 'and 27''wires and an air flow between the axial passage 9 and the recess. The wires 27 'and 27''are joined to form the cable 27 in the axial passage 9, below the crown 11 as shown in FIG. 1. The cable 27 extends axially downwards from the body 2 in passage 9. At the baffle device, the cable must be passed in front of the straight sides of the ribs 16 and 14, but also in front of the rib 17, on the side opposite to the rib 15. Thus the cable undergoes alternating bending as it is shown in Figure 4. The cable diameter is such, relative to the space available between the baffles, that it will be immobilized at its part taken in the baffles. This immobilization of the cable will be all the better if the latter has a certain elasticity tending to oppose the bending it undergoes in the baffles.

The socket 20 and its electrical equipment can be easily mounted in the body 2 by proceeding as follows.

In one of the parts of the body 2, the sleeve is installed in the narrowing portion 10 included in said part, the insulator 21 bearing on the half of the crown 11 which this part carries and the tabs 24 ′, 24 "and 26 'in position in the corresponding notches 13.' A sufficient length of cable 27 is left between the socket and the baffle device so that there is no tension exerted on the electrical connections, then the cable is passed through the The nut 30 being installed in the portion of its hexagonal housing 8 included on the considered part of the body 2, the cable is passed through the said nut Finally, the second part is installed on the first so as to constitute the body 2.

The internal body 2 which has just been described therefore allows mounting of the electrical equipment, both of the socket, sandwiched between the parts 2 'and 2' 'and of the cable 27 extending in the axial passage 9 in which it is kept immobile by the action of the baffle device. This body must then be introduced into the hollow body 1. The nesting is done by force, the effect of the elasticity of the internal body 2 making it possible to immobilize the said body in the body 1 as shown in FIG. 1. Consequently , the two parts of the inner body are held against each other.

The legs 24 '' and 26 ', passing through the openings 13 are located in the free space existing between the bodies 1 and 2 at the level of the recess 5. The connections between the wires and the legs are therefore out of contact with the bodies 1 and 2. Thus, no portion of the live conductor is in contact with the bodies 1 and 2.

The air included in the free space formed between the bodies 1 and 2 at the level of the recess 5 will provide a certain thermal protection of the upper part of the spark plug body around the socket 20. In addition, a circulation of air is established between the axial passage 9 and said free space through the openings 13. Advantageously, as can be seen in FIG. 6, the parts 2 'and 2''are not in contact at the level of the part of the body 2 located at above the recess 5. Consequently, when the sleeve 20 is installed in the body 2, the air can circulate through two openings 40 between the exterior and said free space. Air circulation is therefore ensured along the sleeve 20.

These characteristics make it possible to ensure that the electrical equipment will not produce overheating at the level of the upper part of the assembly of bodies 1 and 2.

The inner body 2 can be removed from the body 1 of a false candle by exerting an appropriate pressure on the upper part of said inner body. It should be noted that the pressure to be exerted is quite high, so that there is no risk of an unwanted disassembly of the inner body occurring 2. The false candle described above can be installed on a luminaire by means of the nut 30 adapted to be screwed onto a hollow threaded tube 36, as seen in FIG. 2. The cable 27 coming from the luminaire 37 passes inside said hollow threaded tube 36 to join the passage 9 inside the body 2. Said threaded tube and nut are chosen so that the fixing resists a standard unscrewing torque provided for the bulb holders on a luminaire.

Figures 3,7 and 8 show a variant of a false candle according to the present invention in which the attachment system is different. An inner body 32 is extended in its lower part by a heel 33. The body 32 is identical to the body 2 described above with the exception of its lower part which does not include the crowns 7 and 7 'and the hexagonal housing 8. The heel 33 is a hollow cylinder. On its surface are provided two ribs 34 and 34 'extending radially. When the inner body 32 is installed in a body of false candle, the heel remains outside of said body, as seen in Figure 3. This heel is adapted to be installed in a housing provided for this effect in a luminaire 35. The ribs 34 ensure the immobilization of the heel in said housing, so that the fixing resists a standard unscrewing torque provided for the bulb holders on a luminaire.

It is understood that the examples described constitute illustrations of the present invention and in no way limit its scope. One can in particular envisage the manufacture of the body of false candle in a material different from the interior body thanks to the reduction of the thermal and electrical stresses which allows the arrangement according to the invention.

Claims (5)

1. An imitation candle of the type comprising a hollow body (1) of cylindrical or frustoconical shape carrying in its upper part a socket (20) adapted to receive the base of a bulb and connected to a supply cable (27) which extends axially in the interior of said body, and a removable internal body for fitting electrical equipment, characterised in that said hollow internal body (2) which is formed by at least two complementary parts (2', 2") encloses the electrical equipment, comprising said socket (20) and said cable (27), said complementary parts (2', 2") being immobilised relative to each other in the interior of the hollow body (1) by forced interengagement thereof in order to grip said socket (20) in an upper housing (10), the cable being held in an axial passage (9) provided between said parts.
2. An imitation candle according to claim 1 characterised in that the cable is held in said axial passage (9) by an array of displaced baffle portions (9), which is fixed with respect to one of said parts.
3. An imitation candle according to either one of the preceding claims characterised by the use of an injectable thermoplastic material having good high-temperature strength characteristics such as the thermoplastic material marketed under the name LATENE 7H2WVO naturel.
4. An imitation candle according to any one of the preceding claims characterised in that a fixing means (30, 33) is provided at the level of the lower part of said hollow body, providing the connection between said imitation candle and a support of the luminary type (37, 35).
5. An imitation candle according to any one of claims 1 to 4 characterised in that a circulation of air is afforded along the socket (20) by means of flow openings (13, 40) formed by notches provided in the two parts (2', 2") of the internal body on respective sides of a connecting plane (C) thereof.

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