US1233617A - Street-lantern. - Google Patents

Description

A. 1. SWEET.

STREET LANTERN.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 14. 1915.

mwm Wu Patentefl July17, 1917.-

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A. J. SWEET.

STREET LANTERN.

APPLICATION FILED MAY14.19I5- -]L,@3$,6 1 T, Patented July 17, 1917.

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A. J. SWEET.

STREET LANTERN.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 14. I915.

Patented July 17, 1917.

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ARTHUIB, 3'. SWEET, 0F WAUVVATOSA, WISCONSIN.

STREET-LANTERN.

To all. whom it may concern:

. Be it known that I, A THUR J. SWEET, citizen of the United" States, residing at lVauwatosa, in thecounty of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Street- Lanterns; and Ldo hereby declare the fol-v lowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. 1

My invention relates to lighting appliances and more particularly to means for effectively housing and utilizing lighting units for street lighting and other forms of outdoor illumination, although the same be appliedalso to indoor purposes. For street lighting and the like, it has been proven desirable to distribute the light fairly evenly, which purpose can be attained by housing the lamp in a properly shaped and proportioned prismatic refractor. However, such an 'inclosing of a lamp retards the free radiation of heat from the1latter,-'s0 that the resulting temperature may damage the mounting of the lamp or even a partof the glass bulb of the lamp itself. This danger is increased when the'lamps or lighting units used haye light giving elements run at high temperatures, as is the case with the more eiiicient of the modern illuminants, such as the gas-filled tungsten lamps. Consequently, it is important that the sockets and other parts associated with the mounting of such lamps should be cooled: but this cooling must not extend to the part of the lamp housing the light-giving element,

otherwise the efliciency. of the light production will be lowered. r

In using such high-temperature lamps within inclosingglobes or lanternspit has heretoforebeencustom'ary either to 'make no special provision forventilation; or to eflect the latter by openings at the top and bottom of the inclosure, thereby creating an upward current of air past the lamp, which current usually diverged" outwardly without strikingt-he lamp base at all. In the former case, damage to thesocket and even to the upper partof. thelamp bulb has often resulted. In the latter case, the" cool air first contacts with the active portion of the lamp before- I passing on to the upper part of the bulb and '-the;lamp -m ounting: consequently, this air is-warmed to such an extent as greatly to lessen its eflectivenessfor cooling the socket Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed May 14, 1915. Serial No. 27,986.

Patented July it, 1917.

and the upper portion of the bulb. Moreover-,by expending the. greater portion of its cooling elfect on the active part of the lamp, the air reduces thei temperature and hence the efficiency of the lamp. .Conse guently, the ventilating methods heretofore. in use have decreased the luminous eficie'ncy of the lighting unlts, or have been utmost in':

effective in' cooling the parts needing to" be cooled, or both. 1

My invention aims to overcome these I culties by. subjecting the upper portion of the lamp bulb (or other lighting unit): and the mounting for the lampto strong currents of air, but screening the active portion of the lamp from most,.if not all of this circulation of air. It also aims to provide simple and positive means for adjusting the refract.

ing inclosure with respect to the-lamp, so

and a reflector are used, for adjusting the as to secure the desired distributionof light; from the latter: or, where both a refractor" position of the lamp simultaneously, withrespect to both. It also aims to provide sim ple means (operated without the "use of tools) for lowering the inclosing refractor to give protection from rain or snow, for keep:

ing insects from entering the hood, for utilizing by reflection the upward rays of light from the lamp, for utilizing any existing wind to create a ventilating current of air through the hood, for maintaining both the? lamp and the light distributing elements (11. e. the refractor and the reflector) vertical in spite of a change in positior of the su porting element: for insulating the app iance as a whole from its support :for

readily adapting the same appliance to lighting units ofdistinctly difierent types or sizes: for shielding the insulation from the weather: for permitting readyaccess to the reflector for cleanin the latter: and for adjusting the amount of air contacting with the active part of thelamp. Uther objects Willappear from the following specification and from the whichaccompanying drawings, in

Figure 1 is a vertical section through a street lantern embodying my invention.

embodiment of Fig. 1. I

is a fragmentary. upward/view I a 110' taryplanview of the pp Fig. 2 is a "ertical section through the upv p r Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical section through the same embodiment with the lamp removed, the refracting element lowered, and one of the hooks turned to permit a detaching of the refractor.

While my invention may be utilized with substantially equal effectiveness with various illuminants and various types of light-distributing (or refracting and reflecting elements), I have shown it in the drawings as used in connection with a tungsten lamp supported by a lantern or hood hung from a loop 19, the lamp itself being mounted in a socket 14 suitably fastened to the hood or body of the appliance. This body member may be of various shapes and materials, but is here shown as including an arched roof or hood proper 12 having dependingsides or flanges 18 and equipped on its interior with a plurality of lugs 9. Threaded into these lugs respectively are the vertical shanks 11 of supporting members having at their lower ends hooks 8. Seated in each of the said hooks 8 is a pin 7 projecting radially from an angle-sectioned ring 6, which ring supports an inclosing globe for housing the lamp and re-directing the light of the latter. This globe or housing is here shown as of the prismatic refracting type, comprising an outer element 2 equipped with -a rim seated in the ring 6 and'having vertically disposed prismatic faces on its interior, and an inner element 3 equipped with outwardly directed and horizontally disposed prisms. The twoelements 2 and 3 are separated by asbestos washers 5 serving-as anexpansion joint from between the same, and have the lower ends of both closed by a cap 32.

Resting upon the upper edge of the ring 6 is a reflector 10, preferably of metal, which reflector has integral therewith a perforated rim 15 extending substantially to the inner surface of the side walls 13 of the body member of the appliance. The pins 7 preferably have inner heads 37 snapping over the upperedge of the refractor member, so that a raising of the latter will carry the ring (3 and the reflector 10 upward wit-h it.- By thus raising the ring 6 until the pins 7 clear the tips of the hooks 8 and then slightly rotating the refractor and ring members, the pins 7 may be disengaged from said hooks,

I thereby permitting the refractor or translucent housing to be lowered for affording access both to the interior of this housing and to the lamp and socket. In this connection, 1 preferably provide a chain 35 secured at its ends to the ring 6 and the wall 13 of the body member, which chain will support the housing when thus lowered, as shown in Fig. 5.

When the housing is thus out of the way, the hook members may readily be turned in either direction, so as to alter the distance between the hooks 7 and the lugs 9, thereby changing the relative vertical position of the lamp and the subsequently raised translucent housing, so as to vary the light distribution. The shank 11 of each hook projects through a radial slot 38 in the perforated portion 15 of the reflector member, but the hook portions 8 are normally turned at an angle to the said slots and present upwardly directed ends facing the said perforated portion. Upon partially rotating each hook to bring the free end, into alinement with the corresponding slot, as shown in Fig. 5, the reflector member may be dropped out of the body member, thereby affording access to the interior of the latter and to the lamp socket 11 mounted therein.

This lamp mounting preferably is also adjustably positioned, so that it may be moved vertically for a distance corresponding to the effective difference in length between different sizes or types of lamps suitable for use in the classes of lighting for which my fixture is specially adapted. For example, in Fig. 2, the socket proper is carried by a pair of metal stirrups 29 projecting horizontally and each is equipped with a return bend portion 30 affording two alined perforations through which a screw 26 extends, this screw being threaded into a lug 25 depending from the hood 12 and being locked the socket 14. However, the threading on the screw 26 is preferably cut away for a considerable part of its length: so that by turning each nut 38 until it clears the upper portion of the thread, this nut (together with the stirrup carried therebyY may quickly be dropped to the lower part of the thread and screwed upon the latter. lly suitably proportioning the length of the unthreaded part of each screw and by equipping the latter with a head 27 affording a stop at the lower end of the lower thread, I enable the socket to be quickly nioved from a position corresponding to a relatively long lamp to a distinctly shorter one, the term length being here used as referring to the distance between the lamp base and the effective center of the light giving element.

lVhilc the annular foraminous element 15 affords a screen for keeping insects out of the interior of the hood, its perforations permit the entrance of air into the latter.

light-giving part of the lamp (which is'protected against lateral or u ward air currents by the translucent ref maintained at a relatively high temperature and therefore at high efficiency. To augment the currents of air passing through the hood above the reflector-screen 10, I preferably equip the hood with a chimney construction comprising an inner cylindrical chimney 22 equipped at its upper end with an outwardly and downwardly directed flange 39, and an outer chimney 23 having its lower end about in horizontal alinement with said flange. The outer chimney preferably has its upper end slightly contracted and is supported by. stirrups 24 having at their upper ends downward bends which hold the lower chimney. without requiring the latter to be otherwise fastened.

Housed by the two chimneys, but out of contact with both, is an insulator 21 having a pair of grooves at right angles to each other. Seated in these respective grooves and freely slidable along the latter are a pair of U shaped members 16 and 17, the former of which is a U bolt fastened rigidly to the hood 12. The other member 17 is' fast upon the dome or small hood 18 carried by the suspension loop 19, which dome also preferably carries a bumper 20 of insulating material positioned so close to the insulator 21 as to intercept the arched portion of the U bolt 16 in case the latter is raised, thereby preventing this U bolt and the body of the fixture carried by it from being accidentally detached from the said insulator. It will be evident from Fig. 1 that lateral air currents striking the exterior ofthe hood 12 will be deflected into the space between the two chimneys, thereby creating a current as shown by the arrows 4:0 and simultaneously creating an upward suction of air through the inner chimney.

Thus, any prevailing movements of air will create a forced draft through the hood, tending to ventilate the interiorof the hood and to cool the lamp mounting. This draft will be increased somewhat by the connection currents due to the heating of the air around the main portion of the lamp, but as the latter is almost entirely inclosed by the refractor member and the reflector 10, the movement of air within the said inclosure will be comparatively slight and with a high candle-power lamp might not be suflicient to prevent an overheating of the lamp bulb. To avoid such an overheating, I preferably provide means for admitting a limited amount of air through the bottom of the inclosure, as for example by providing threaded openings 33, one or more of which may be closed by screws 34 so as to adjust the amount of air entering through the said openings and passing the main part of the lamp. It will be evident that by varying ract-or) may be the number of openings thus connecting the interior of the glass inclosure with the outer air I can readily vary the proportion of air impinging respectively against the upper and lower parts of the lamp, or against the light-giving part of the-{lamp and the thereby preventing the same from entering the interior of the body member. Should snow or sleet pack into' the outer chimney while the fixture is not in operative service (as in the day-time) this will block the normal draft-creating function of the chimney. Then when the lamp is lighted, the heating of the air within the hood 12 will soon melt the snow or sleet, which latter will run down the exterior of the hood, leaving the chimney elements clear for their normal function.

Should the loop 19 be tilted in any direction (as is likely to happen if this loop is sus pended from a wire or strand stretched across a street) the weight of the main portion of the fixture will cause the latter to adjust itself to a vertical position by effecting a sliding of the U shaped members 16 and 17 on the insulator 21. Consequently, the lamp, together with the refractor and reflector members will automatically be maintained by gravity in precisely vertical positions, thereby affording exactly the light distribution for which the said members were designed. However, ll do not wish to be limited to this particular-form of an insulating universal joint, nor to the particular type of translucent housing, nor to other of the details herein disclosed, it being evident that the construction might be modified in many ways without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A lighting appliance including a, hood, a lamp, a translucent light-.distributer and a substantially flat reflector all carried by the hood: means for movingthe lamp with respect to the hood: and independent means for simultaneously moving the light-distributer andithe reflector with respect to the hood.

2. A lantern including a hood, a lamp socket, a stem depending from the hood, proand means for securing said support to the stem portions having said projections, the

spacing between said last-named portions corresponding to the differences in the efiec tive lengths of various sizes or types of lamps fitting the said lamp mounting.

3. A lantern including a hood having an openingat the top, a support forsaid hood, a roof carried by the support and disposed over the said opening: a chimney carried by the hood and encircling said roof but out of contact with the latter, and a flexible joint connectin the support and the hood and disposed within said chimney below said roof.

4. A lantern including a hood, a support for the same, an insulating member dis posed therebetween and equipped with a pair of relatively transverse peripheral grpoves a pair of U bolts carried by the hood? and-supportrespectively and having their bends seated respectively in the said grooves, and a guard of insulating material interposed between said member and the support for preventing a relative vertical motion of the said U bolts.

5. A lantern including a hood, a support for the same, an insulating member disposed therebetween and equipped with a pair of relatively transverse peripheral grooves, apair of U bolts carried by the hood and support respectively and havingtheir bends seated respectively in the said grooves, a guard of insulating material interposed between said member and the support for preventing a relative vertical motion of the said-U bolts: and a cover carried by the support and roofing over both said members and said guard.

6. A lantern including a hood, a lamp supported thereby: an inner and an outer chimney both mounted on the hood. The inner thereof connected with the interior of the hood and the outer thereof open at both ends to the outer air: means associated with the hood and the outer chimney for causing a lateral air current to cause an upward draft through the outer chimney, thereby producing an upward suction of air from the interior of the hood through the inner chimney: and means for restricting the access of the said upwardly sucked air sub- 1stantially to a predetermined part of the am a.

7. A lantern including a hood, a lamp supported thereby: an inner and an outer chimney both mounted on the hood, the inner thereof connected with the interior of the hood and the outer thereof open at both ends to the outer air: means associated with the hood and the outer chimney for causing a lateral air current to cause an upward draft through the outer chimney, thereby producing an upward suction of air from the interior of the hood through the inner chimney: and means for controlling the relative proportions of the said upwardly sucked air contacting respectively with upper and lower portions of the lamp.

8. A lantern including a hood, a lamp supported thereby: an inner and an outer chimney both mounted on the l1ood,-the inner thereof connected with the interior of the hood: means associated with the hood and the outer chimney for causing a lateral air current to cause an upward draft through

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