GB2188718A

GB2188718A - A shade carrier for table lamps or standard lamps

Info

Publication number: GB2188718A
Application number: GB08705571A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Charles Cunnington
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1986-03-11
Filing date: 1987-03-10
Publication date: 1987-10-07
Also published as: GB2188718B; GB8606006D0; GB8705571D0

Abstract

A shade carrier (2) for table lamps or standard lamps comprises mounting means (8) for fixing to a table lamp or a standard lamp, a single support arm (22) which extends upwardly from the mounting means (8) and which is adjustable in length, and shade support means (30) which is provided on the support arm (22) and which supports the shade (4). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A shade carrier for table lamps or standard lamps This invention relates to a shade carrier for table lamps or standard lamps.

Table lamps and standard lamps are well known and can be found in the majority of homes. Their shades are not always easily mountable on the lamps and this can cause problems in the home. The devices used for mounting the shades on the lamps are often complicated, and unnecessary time and materials are consumed in their manufacture.

It is an aim of the present invention to provide a shade carrier for the table lamps or the standard lamps, which shade carrier is easy to fit, easy to manufacture and which can be adjustable to fit different sizes of table lamps and standard lamps, thereby at least reducing the number of shade carriers that need to be made to fit all sizes of tables lamps and standard lamps.

Accordingly, this invention provides a shade carrier for table lamps or standard lamps, which shade carrier comprises mounting means for fixing to a- table lamp or a standard lamp, a single support arm which extends upwardly from the mounting means and which is adjustable in length, and shade support means which is provided on the support arm and which supports the shade.

The mounting means is preferably such that it fixes to the table lamp or the standard lamp adjacent a bulb holding socket of the table lamp or the standard lamp.

The mounting means may be a ring member having an aperture for receiving the bulb holding socket. The ring member may be held in position on the bulb holding socket by a screw ring of the type that is currently employed on bulb holding sockets.

The ring member may have an aperture restricting device for restricting the size of the aperture, whereby the aperture can receive bulb holding sockets of different sizes.

The aperture restricting device may be a pivotable bar. The ring member may have a plurality of depressions for receiving a protuberance on the free end of the pivotable bar whereby the protuberance can be located in one of the depressions to restrict the aperture to a desired size.

Alternatively, the aperture restricting device may be a slidable bar. The shade carrier may include locking means for locking the slidable bar in position to restrict the aperture to a desired size. The locking means may be a screw device.

Preferably, the support arm is adjustable in length by having parts which slide relatively to one another.

The support arm may have first and second sliding parts which are lockable together by a screw device.

Alternatively, the support arm may have first and second sliding parts which are lockable togther by a male member on the second sliding part fitting into a desired one of a plurality of apertures in the second sliding part.

The male member may be a pin and the apertures may be slots.

The support arm may include a spring lever for biasing the male member into the aperture, the spring lever being shaped such that it can be gripped and pulled away from the first and the second sliding parts to release the male member from the aperture for adjusting the length of the support arm.

The shade support means may comprise first and second parts for receiving first and second parts of a frame of the shade.

The first part of the shade support means may be a ledge.

The second part of the shade support means may be a loop member which is such that one portion of the second part of the frame of the shade goes under the loop member and two other portions of the second part of the frame of the shade go over the loop member.

The second part of the shade support means may alternatively be a channel member in which the second part of the frame rests.

The shade support means may comprise an apertured portion for enabling fixing of the shade in foreign countries, for example the United States of America. The apertured portion will then be such that a fixing rod is received in the aperture in the apertured portion. It will thus be apparent that the shade carrier can be used for different sizes of table lamps and standard lamps, and can also be used for shades that have been made in different countries.

The aperture in the shade support means is preferably variable in size, the shade support means being provided with an aperture restricting device for restricting the size of the aperture.

The aperture restricting device on the shade support means will usually be the same as the aperture restricting device on the mounting means.

The shade support means may also comprise a pair of pivotable arms. The arms may have upstanding ends.

The shade carrier can be made of any desired materials including any desired metals and any desired plastics materials.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described solely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a first shade carrier; Figure 2 shows a second shade carrier; Figures 3 and 4 show a first aperture restricting device on mounting means; Figure 5 shows an alternative aperture re stricting device on the mounting means; Figure 6 shows an alternative single support arm to that shown in Figs. 1 and 2; Figure 7 illustrates the cross sectional shape of first and second parts of the single support arm shown in Fig. 6.

Figure 8 shows a third shade carrier; Figure 9 is a section on arrow A shown in Fig. 8; Figure 10 is a section on arrow B shown in Fig. 8; and Figure ii is a side view of the mounting means of the shade carrier, and shows a bulb holding socket in position.

Referring to Fig. 1, there is shown a shade carrier 2 for table lamps or standard lamps.

The shade carrier 2 is shown as supporting a shade 4 having an upper frame 6.

The shade carrier 2 comprises mounting means in the form of a ring member 8 having an aperture 10. The ring member 8 is such that it fixes to the table lamp or the standard lamp on a bulb holding socket (not shown) of the table lamp or the standard lamp and it is held in position by a screw ring of the type that is currently used on bulb holding electrical sockets.

The ring member 8 has an aperture restricting device 12 for restricting the size of the aperture 8, whereby the aperture 8 can receive bulb holding sockets of different sizes.

The aperture restricting device is a pivotable bar 14 which pivots about a pivot 16. The free end of the bar 14 is provided with a protuberance 18 which fits in any desired chosen one of a plurality of depressions 20 formed in the ring member 8. By appropriately locating the protuberance 18 in a chosen depression 20, the aperture 10 can be restricted to a desired size.

The shade carrier 2 further comprises a single support arm 22 which extends upwardly from the ring member 8 and which is adjustable in length. The support arm 22 has a first telescoping part 24 which telescopes into a second telescoping part 26. The first telescoping part 24 has a knob 28 which can be screwed into the first telescoping part 24 to engage the second telescoping part 26 and to lock the first and the second telescoping parts 24, 26 together when the support arm 22 is at a desired length. The length of the support arm 22 will obviously depend upon the type of shade 4 that the shade carrier 2 is to support.

The shade carrier 2 further comprises shade support means 30 which is provided on the support arm 22 as shown and which supports the shade 4 as shown. The shade support means 30 comprises a first part in the form of a ledge 32 for supporting a first part 34 of the frame 6 of the shade 4. The shade support means 30 also comprises a second part in the form of a loop member 36 for supporting two portions 38, 40 of a second part 42 of the frame 6.

The shade support means 30 has a central apertured portion 44 which is provided with an aperture 46. In some foreign countries such for example as the USA, the shades are held in position by fixing rods or other devices which will require the presence of the aperture 46. The apertured portion 44 is provided with an aperture restricting device 48 comprising a pivotable bar 50 which is pivotable about a pivot 52 and which has a protuberance 54 at its free end for locating in one of a series of depressions 56. It will thus be apparent that the aperture restricting device 48 is basically the same as the aperture restricting device 12.

Referring now to Fig. 2, similar parts as in Fig. 1 have been given the same reference numbers and their precise construction and operation will not again be given. In Fig. 2, there is shown a shade carrier 2 which is similar to the shade carrier 2 shown in Fig. 1 except that the loop member 36 has been replaced by a channel member 58 in which the frame 6 of the shade 4 sits.

Referring now to Figs. 3 and 4, there is shown a modified aperture restricting device 12 to that shown in Figs. 1 and 2. As can be seen from Fig. 4, the bar 14 is cranked at its end remote from the protuberance 18 so that the pivot 16, which may be a screw or pin, engages the rod 14 underneath the ring member 8.

Referring now to Fig. 5, there is shown an alternative aperture restricting device 12 which is in the form of a sliding bar 60 which can slide in and out of the aperture 10 as shown to restrict the size of the aperture 10. The bar 60 has a rear narrower portion 62 which can be locked in a desired position by means of a screw clamp 64.

Referring now to Figs. 6 and 7, similar parts as in Fig. 1 have again be given the same reference numbers and their precise construction and operation will not again be given. As can be seen from Fig. 6, the single support arm 22 is such that the first part 24 has a flat portion 66 and the second part 26 has a similar flat portion 68. The two flat portions 66, 68 engage each other so that the first and the second parts 24, 26 cannot rotate relative to each other.

The first part 24 is provided with a series of apertures 70 and a male member in the form of a pin 72 is able to locate in one of the apertures 70 to adjust the support arm 22 to a desired length. The pin 72 is mounted on a spring level 74 which is shaped as shown and which can easily be gripped to pull the pin 72 out of its aperture 70 in order to enable the parts 24, 26 to be moved inwardly or outwardly as may be desired to adjust the length of the support arm 22.

Referring now to Figs. 8, 9, 10 and 11, there is shown a third shade carrier 2 in which similar parts as in Fig. 1 have been given the same reference numerals for ease of understanding. The shade carrier 2 shown in Fig. 8 is such that the support arm 22 has the first and second parts 22, 24 and these two parts 22, 24 are arranged to extend by sliding past each other. More specifically, the lowermost end of the arm 26 is attached by a rivet 76 to a guide member 78 which is advantageously made of a plastics material such for example as nylon. The upper end of the part 24 is attached by means of the illustrated wing screw 28 to a guide member 80 which will usually be made of the same material as the guide member 78. With the wing screw 28 in a loose position, the part 26 of the support arm 22 can be slid up and down with respect to the part 24 of the support arm 22.

When the support arm 22 is at a desired height, the wing screw 28 can be screwed through an aperture in the end of the parts 24 and into abuting engagement with the part 26 as shown in Fig. 10. The support arm 22 will then be locked in position.

The shade carrier 2 shown in Fig. 8 has a different shade support means 30 to that shown in Fig. 1. More specifically, the shade support means 30 shown in Fig. 8 comprises a main support arm 82 which has upstanding ends 84, 86. An auxiliary support arm 88 is pivotally attached to the main support arm 82 by means of a wing screw 90. The auxiliary support arm 88 can be aligned with the main support arm 82 (as shown in crossed hatched lines in Fig. 8) for storage purposes. When the shade carrier 2 is to be used, then the auxiliary support arm 88 can be swung through 90O to the position shown more fully in Fig. 8 so that a cross is formed for supporting the frame 6 of a shade.The auxiliary support arm 88 is provided with upstanding ends 92, 94 so that, as shown in Fig. 8, the frame 6 seats on the main support arm 82 and the auxiliary support arm 88 and abuts against the upstanding ends 84, 86, 92, 94.

Fig. 11 illustrates how the shade carrier 2 is provided with a ring member 8 which is joined to the underneath of an arm 96. The free end of the arm 96 thus forms a raised portion 98. The ring member 8 is provided with an opposed raised portion 100 as shown in Figs. 8 and 11. When a bulb holding socket 102 is positioned in the aperture 10 in the ring member 8, a screw ring 104 can be tightened down on to the raised portions 98, 100. The screw ring 104 will thus be spaced apart from the ring member 8 and will be easier to grip than if the raised portions 98, 100 were not present end the screw ring 104 was screwed right down on to the ring member 8.

As shown in Fig. 11, the bulb holding socket 102 is of sandard construction and it has an upper part 106 having a bayonet slot 108 for enabling a bulb (not shown) to be secured in the upper part 106. The bulb holding socket 102 has an apertured portion 110 at its lower end for receiving an electric cable (not shown).

The illustrated shade carriers 22 are easy to make and are easy to adjust in size so that shops and warehouses do not need to stock as many different sizes of shade carrier as they might otherwise need to stock. The shade carriers 2 are simple to manufacture and simple to adjust, the single support arm 22 being effective to save on the amount of material that might otherwise be employed.

It is to be appreciated that the embodiments of the invention described above with reference to the accompanying drawings have been given by way of example only and that modifications may be effected. Thus, for example, different devices to those illustrated may be employed for locking the first and second telescoping parts 24, 26 together.

Also, different shade support means 30 may be employed, as may different mounting means to the ring member 8. The shade carrier may be produced in metal on a stamping machine and the telescoping parts 22, 26 may have flat sides as appropriate.

Claims

1. A shade carrier for table lamps or standard lamps, which shade carrier comprises mounting means for fixing to a table lamp or a standard lamp, a single support arm which extends upwardly from the mounting means and which is adjustable in length, and shade support means which is provided on the support arm and which supports the shade.

2. A shade carrier according to claim 1 in which the mounting means is such that it fixes to the table lamp or the standard lamp adjacent a bulb holding socket of the table lamp or the standard lamp.

3. A shade carrier according to claim 2 in which the mounting means is a ring member having an aperture for receiving the bulb holding socket.

4. A shade carrier according to claim 3 in which the ring member has an aperture restricting device for restricting the size of the aperture, whereby the aperture can receive bulb holding sockets of different sizes.

5. A shade carrier according to claim 4 in which the aperture restricting device is a pivotable bar.

6. A shade carrier according to claim 5 in which the ring member has a plurality of depressions for receiving a protuberance on the free end of the pivotable bar whereby the protuberance can be located in one of the depressions to restrict the aperture to a desired size.

7. A shade carrier according to claim 4 in which the aperture restricting device is a slidable bar.

8. A shade carrier according to claim 7 and including locking means for locking the slidable bar in position to restrict the aperture to a desired size.

9. A shade carrier according to claim 8 in which the locking means is a screw device.

10. A shade carrier according to any one of the preceding claims in which the support arm is adjustable in length by having parts which slide relatively to one another.

11. A shade carrier according to claim 10 in which the support arm has first and second sliding parts which are lockable together by a screw device.

12. A shade carrier according to claim 10 in which the support arm has first and second sliding parts which are lockable together by a male member on the second sliding part fitting into a desired one of a plurality of apertures in the second sliding part.

13. A shade carrier according to claim 12 in which the male member is a pin and the apertures are slots.

14. A shade carrier according to claim 12 or claim 13 in which the support arm includes a spring lever for biasing the male member into the aperture, the spring lever being shaped such that it can be gripped and pulled away from the first and the second sliding parts to release the male member from the aperture for adjusting the length of the support arm.

15. A shade carrier according to any one of the preceding claims in which the shade support means comprises first and second parts for receiving first and second parts of a frame of the shade.

16. A shade carrier according to claim 15 in which the first part of the shade support means is a ledge.

17. A shade carrier according to claim 15 or claim 16 in which the second part of the shade support means is a loop member which is such that one portion of the second part of the frame of the shade goes under the loop member and two other portions of the second part of the frame of the shade go over the loop member.

18. A shade carrier according to claim 15 or claim 16 in which the second part of the shade support means is a channel member in which the second part of the frame rests.

19. A shade carrier-according to any one of the preceding claims in which the shade support means comprises an apertured portion for receiving a fixing rod.

20. A shade carrier according to claim 19 in which the aperture in the apertured portion in the shade support means is variable in size, the shade support means being provided with an aperture restricting device for restricting the size of the aperture.

21. A shade carrier according to any one of claim 1 to 14 in which the shade support means comprises a pair of pivotable arms.

22. A shade carrier according to claim 21 in which the arms have upstanding ends.

23. A shade carrier substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.