US1022906A - Electric-lamp socket. - Google Patents

Description

H. WHEELER.

ELECTRIC LAMP SOCKET.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.10, 1909.

1,022,906. Patented Apr. 9, 1912 \\\\\\I L 1/ s W M 1 Q @p w: mp3}? M ffWkeeZez'.

WM- M W UNITED sTA'r s PATEN OFFICE,

HORACE WHEELER, or HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, nssronon.

. COMPANY, A COBPORATION OF NEW YORK.

T0 GENERAL ELECTRIC ELECTRIC-LAMP socxiir.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 9, 1912.

Application filed March 10, 1909. Serial No. 482,579.

T 0 all whom it may concern: t.

3e it known that I, HORACE WHEELER, citizen of the United States, residing at Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric- Lamp Sockets, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a. lamp socket of the. rosette .type particularly adapted for use in certain locations and character of illumination wherein it is frequently necessary to replace defective lamps, and to accomplish the desired resultt'rom'the rear .of the socket.

The invention further consists in the novel construction and arrangement of the several parts designed to form a lamp socket comprising essentially a transparent nonconductor body-portion containing a socket, detachably secured to a ring connected to. the line wires and'forming a circuit.

The numerous advantages of the socket will be obvious in that the lamp may be introduced and. withdrawn from the rear, thus greatly simplifying'the construction necessary for the illumination of the show windows and towers of buildings, etc., and whereby an attendant may, from the inside of the tower or rear of a partition, inspect the lamps by means of the transparentbodyportion without removingthe socket or lamp, replacing the lamp when desired. Furthermore the unsightly construction of wires placed upon the exterior walls of towers or upon the exposed side of a show 'and Fig. 2

windgw partition is eliminated, and the wires. concealed and protected from the elements.

For a full understanding of the invention and the merits thereof, reference is to be had to the following description and the accompanying drawings, in which .Figure 1 is a rear plan View illustrating the arrangement of the socket and wires, a vertical sectional View. of the socket.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters. I

Referring to the drawings the numeral 1 designates the line or circuit wires supportnd held n heir prope relati e posi ion. y clips s u ed t a W l 9 par i i n if.

tongues 9, also held in in any suitable manner, and 4 designates a r ng composed of non-conducting material adapted to be secured to said wall intermediate of the wires 1 as byscrews 5 as shown. The said ring-dis provided with ears 6.to which plates 7 are secured as by screws 817) form a clamp for the wires 1 and constitute a line connection for the spring contact 7 position upon the ring 4 by the said screws. v

The numeral 10 designates a glass or other transparent non-conducting body portion or socket base provided with a recess 11 which may be internally expanded to more securely hold a lamp: socket 12'containing a lamp 12, when embedded and surrounded by suitable insulating cement 13. The opening 15 in the wall through which. the body portion 10 protrudes is preferably rabbeted as shown at 16, and said body portion is .formed with an annular shoulder arranged to abut the rabbeted section of the wall and form an air tight, water proof joint by means of an annular compression ring 17 interposed between said abutting sections.

The numeral 18 designates contact strips extending from-the lamp socket through the transparent body 10 to the rear wall and projecting beyond the rim of said-body, adaptedlo nrake contact with the spring tongues 9 and cooperate with said tongues to hold the socket securely in position within the recess or opening 15.

As a means for easily removing or replacing the bodylO within the recess 15, and also to completely insulate all contacts, a knob 19 of non-conducting material provided witharms 20 integral with and extending from the shank of the knob, is

secured to said body as by a bolt 21 passingthrough said knob and body portion and bolted within the socket recess 11.- The ends of said arms are flush with the rim of the body 10 and provided on their inner face with a longitudinal groove designed to receive the contact strips 18 and protect the fingers of an operator from coming in contact with the otherwise exposed strips.

With the arrangement of the several parts'as shown the operation of the socket compared with rosette sockets now in use is comparatively simple as will be'pointed out. Where the ordinary rosette socket is used for supporting incande cen lamps p n ex- .teriorwalls and towers of buildings in amusement parks or other places it is frequently necessary to replace defective lamps by lowering an operator from the roof of a building or top of a tower notwithstanding the possible consequences incident to such a procedure. With the present invention the wires are placed inside the building walls or partitions and the transparent body of the socket is adapted to intersect said walls, acw cessible to an operator and whereby the condition of a lamp may be ascertained without removal from its position. The lamp 12, contact strips 18, and transparent body are rigidly secured to the knob 19 and arms 15, 20 by the bolt 21, and held securely in position within the recess 15 in the wall by the projecting ends of the contact strips engaging the spring tongues 9 secured to the ring 4, said ring being secured to the wall. In this position an air-tight, water proof joint is formed by the shoulder 14 abutting the rabbeted portion 16 of the opening 15, and 00- operating with the compression. ring 17 interposed between said socket and wall. To

remove or adjust a lamp the knob 19, rigidly secured to the body 10 is turned sufficiently, to disengage the projecting ends of the con act strips 18 from the spring contact tongues 9 secured to the ring 4, whereby the entire socket containing the lamp may be r ithdrawn.

The advantagesof my invention are as follows: Aside from the ability of an operator to withdraw the lamp from the rear 85 and to observe through the glass of the lamp socket the condition of the lamp, it will be seen that the socket is held in place on the support by the spring tongues 18, which form with the spring strips 9 a sort of a bayonet joint. The tongues and strips being resilient, they tend to force the socket inward into close contact with the packing strip 16 so that there will be no possibility of the lamps becoming dislodged and there fore leaving a passage around the socket in which rain may enter. It will also be seen that the contact strips are fully protected so that the operator. cannot come in contact with these strips in withdrawing the lamp from its engagement or inserting a new lamp.

While I have referred to transparent material, such as glass, as being used for the lamp socket, I wish it understood that I might use a translucent material for this purpose, provided it was sufliciently translucent for the operator to observe whether the electric lamp was burning brightly or dimly or whether it was entirely out.

I claim is: I p

1. A lamp socket comprising a transparent or translucent body provided on one face with a central recess for the reception of an electric light base,-electrical connec- Having thus described the invention,.what

noaaace tions passing into said body from the rear H thereof and through the body into the recess and there adapted to make connection with said lamp, and a shield attached to the rear face of said body and covering the exterior ends of the connections leading to the lamp, said shield, however, covering only a portion of the entire rear face of said socket body.

2. The combination with a support having an opening entirely through it, of an electric lamp socket fitting in said opening and when fitted therein extending through to the front face thereof, comprising a transparent or translucent body provided with a recess on its front face for engagement with a lamp ase and having an electrical connection passing through the body from the rear there'of.-

3. In combination with a support having an opening entirely through it, said opening being recessed to form an inwardly extending seat, of a lamp socket fitting said opening and closing the same to the entrance of moisture, said socket being formed of transparent or translucent material and being provided wit-ha recess on its outer face for the reception of an electric lamp, and electrical connections passing through the socket, into said recess and extending out of 95 the socket on the rear face thereof.

4. The combination with a support having an opening extending entirely through it, of a lamp socket filling said opening and closing the same, said socket being formed of transparent or translucent material and having a recess for the reception of an electric lamp upon its outer face, electrical connections'extending at one end into said recess, the other ends of said connections extending out of the socket upon the rear face thereof and projecting radially beyond the rear face of the socket, connections mounted upon said support with which said radially projecting socket connections contact, and a knob attached to the rear face of the transparent body, whereby the body i may be turned in or withdrawn from the support.

5. The combination with a support havingan opening entirely through it, spring contact strips having the shape of an arc of a circle mounted at one end upon said support at the margin of the opening, and electrical connections attached to said contact strips, of a lampsocket comprising a body of transparent or translucent material fitting said opening and having on its front face a recess for the connection of an electric lamp, contact strips extending into said recess through the socket body from the rear face thereof, said'strips extendingiradially outward on the rear face of the body and beyond the edge of the same and adapted to contact with the contact strips on "the support, and a knob attached tothe rear face of the socket body, whereby itmay be turned in "or withdrawn from the support.

6. The combination with a support having an opening entirely through it, opposed contact strips mounted on the support and extendingalong the margin of the opening in opposite directions, and electrical connections attached to said contact strips, of a lamp socket comprising a transparent or translucent body adapted to fit within the said opening and formed on its front face with a central recess for the reception of an electric lamp, contact strips extending into said recess through the body, the ends of said. strips projecting upon the rear face of the body and then extending radially across the face and projecting beyond the body, said strips being adapted to engage with the strips upon the support, and a knob attached to the rear'face of the body and having a shield projecting therefrom, covering said strips but not coyering the rear face of the socket.

7. The combinationwith a support having an opening entirely through it, opposed spring contact strips mounted upon the support and extending partly around the margin of the opening on opposite sides of the opening, contact wires electrically connected to said contact strips, of a lamp socket comprising a transparent or translucent body adapted to be inserted within and filling said opening in the support. said body being formed with a recess upon its front face adapted to receive an electric lamp base.

. electrical connections passing through and 1 ing into said recess from the rear face of closed in the walls of said body and projecttion of an electric lamp base, electrical connections passing through the socket to the rear thereof,'opposed strips mounted on the support on opposite sides of said opening,

said strips being mounted at one end upon.

the support, the other end of the strips being free and spaced from the support, and radially projecting strips on the rear face of the socket'adapted to engage beneath the strips on the support to hold the lamp socket in place.

9. The combination :with a support hav ing an opening througlrinfofa lamp socket comprising a: body fitting in said opening, said body being circumferentially rabbeted and formed with a recess on its front face for the reception of an electric lamp base, a packing interposed between the shoulder of the rabbet on the socket and the supporting wall surrounding the socket and resilient means for clamping the socket in place in the opening of the support, said means being at the rear'of said socket and support. 10. The combination with a support having an opening therethrough, of a lamp.

socket comprising a transparent or trans: lucent body portion fitting said opening and provided on its front face with a recess for the reception of an electric lamp base, and

also provided with an annular shoulder, a

contacting spring interposed between said support and the annular shoulder, a ring of support and surrounding said opening, opposed spring tongues mounted on the insu lating ring, electrical connections to said spring tongues, andcontact strips extending throughsaid socket body from the recess therein to the rear face thereof, said-strips being then radially extended beyond the margin of the body and adapted to engage beneath ,said" spring tongues tohold the socket in place and form electrical connections to the lamp.

Inv testimony whereof I afliir signature in presenceof two witnesses.

HORACE 'WHEELER. [1 8.]

Witnesses:

W. H. LrTTLEFIELD, .EDWARD LEWIS.

insulating material on the rear face of the r

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