US1552654A - Lamp fixture - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 8, 1925.

JNSULA TION A. J. THOMPSON LAMP FIXTURE Filed July 6, 1920 INSULATION 2 hun-Shut 1 mar Sept. s, 1925. 1,552,654

A. J. THOMPSON LAMP FIXTURE Filed July 6, 1920 2 Stunt-She 2 .INSULA TIOA/ Patented Sept. 8, 1925.

ALLISON J. THOMPSON, or CLEVELAND, OHIO.

LAMP rrx'runn.

Application filed July 6, 1920. Serial- No. 39 1;341.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALLIsoN J. THoMrsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the count-y of Cuyahoga and t-ate of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lamp Fixtures, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the class of illumination and more especially to lamp hangers.

. The type of device to which my invention relates comprises in a general way a main hangermember which is fixedly supported in an elevated position and a lamp hanger member which is detachably locked to the upper or main hanger member so that the lower member can be released and lowered by means of a cable for the purpose of inspection, cleaning the reflector, and renewal of the parts. The improvements in the present invention relate particularly to the structure and'arrangement of the mechanism for locking the two hanger members together; to the structure and arrangement of the contact membersfor closing the circuit to the lamp when the hanger members are locked together, and to the outlet connection for the lamp.

Fig. 1 partly in full view and partly in section; Fig. 1 is a partial sectional View on the line 1 1" of Fig. 1; Fig. 2 is a side view partly in full view and partly in section; Fig. 3 is a detailview of the latch mechanism; Fig. 4: is an inverted plan View of one of the female contact members; Fig. 5 shows in elevation one of the male contact members; and Fig. (5 shows the supporting attachment when an arc lanipis used.

The sheave housing 1, provided with brackets 2 and 3, has pivoted therewithin the sheave 4. which is mounted upon the pin 5, the outer ends of which carry the insulators 6 and 7. The cable 8 enters the housing 1 through the throatt) andpasses about the sheave in a Well known manner. l lai'iges12 on housing 1 are attached to the canopy 11 by means of the screws 10.

. The mechanism enclosed in the canopy 11 will now be described. The same screws which secure the canopy to the flanges 12 of the sheave housing serve also to secure in position within the main hanger member the tubular guide 13 which is slotted through its full length as indicated at 14. The lower end of the guide 13 is formed with a cam is a front view of my invention face as indicated at 15 forthe purpose of rotating the lamp hanger member so as to properly align the lower contacts with the upper contacts. Tubular guide 13 is provided with flange portions 16 and 17 along the margins of the longitudinal slot 141 and these-flanges are provided with notches as indicated at 18 for a purpose to be later pointed out. As will be noted from the drawings the flanges 16 and 17 taper in their depth toward their upper ends and have their lower endscurved so as to merge into the curvature of the cam portion 15. Circular ribs 13 and 13 on the inner face of the tubular guide 13 afford bearing surfaces for the latch stem carried by the lamp hanger member, as will later appear. The top'of the canopy is provided with an aperture registering with the opening through the tubular guide 13. As will be seen from the drawings, this aperture is of a key hole form which conforms in a general way to a cross section through the tubular guide 13 in a plane near the upper end thereof. This key hole aperture allows the upper end of the latch stem carried by the lamp hanger to pass through the top of the canopy.

Duplicate female contact members are supported within the canopy 11 and areattached to the top wall thereof. These contact members 19 and 20 are arranged on op posite sides of the tubular guide 13, and since they are of the same construction, a description of one of these members will suiiice. A block of porcelain or other suit able insulating material is secured to the canopy by any suitable means, as for instance bolts 22 and 23 which extend through the ears 24 and 25. The female contact, which may be formed of brass, copper or other suitable material, is flared outwardly and has a concave spherical contact surface as shown in thedrawings. This contact is secured to the block 21 by means of the screw bolt 28, washers 29 and 30 of conductive ma terial being provided for the clamping of the lead wire. The lead wire is received through the cut-away portion provided in the depending flange 26. Sealingwax or otherinsulating plastic material fills the space around the nut end of the screw bolt 28 as clearly indicated in Fig. 1. Insulating bushings 31 are provided for leading in the wires through the wall of the canopy 11. The depending flange 26 increases the insulation between the point where the lead wire attached to the contact and the nuts on bolts 22 and 23, and thus the possibility of the current jumping between thesetwo points is minimized by. the flange 26.

The lamp hanger member, which. carries the lamp and reflector, carries also contacts for engagement with the contacts carried by the main hanger member. Upon raising the lamp hanger member, the upper part of fin 1:1 on the latch stem engages the cam surface 15 and thereby causes the lamp hanger member to rotate until the fin is in alignment with the slotl land the lower contacts are brought into alignment with the upper contacts. The contacts are then brought into engagement and the two hanger members are brought into locked relation. Then upon unlocking the two hanger memhere, the lamp hanger is lowered and the contacts are separated.

The lamp hanger member is provided with a latch stem 1a: which passes up through the tubular guide 13, the latch dog 4-2 being pivotally mounted upon the fin ed on the latch stem l t. The lower portion of the fin ll has greater radial extent with respect to the latch stein than the upper portion thereof. Thisarrangement is for the purpose of allowing proper radial movement of the dog in locking and unlocking the same, as will be seen from Fig. 1. The dog is of a clevis form and is pivoted upon the enlarged portion of the fin 4C1 by means of the pin L3. The dotted lines represented at n indicate the point where the full or base portion of the latch stops, or, in other words, indicates the extent to which the latch can swing upwardly before striking the fin ll. This arrangement constitutes a stop for the dog in its upward swinging movement. The fin 4-1 is located with respectto the notches 18 so that the tail of the dog 12 will swing into locking engagement therewith.

The latch dog 42 is shaped eccentrically with respect to its pivotal point, and that portion indicated at 42 which is on the side of the pivot point away from the tail of the dog, is suiliciently heavy to cause a quick swinging of the dog about its pivot in a counter-clock-wise direction upon release thereof, as veiewd in Figs. 2 and 3, as will be later explained. The tail'of the dog has a face 4-2 which engages the upper edge of the notches upon raising the lat-ch stem in the unlocking operation; while the face T2 of the dog is adapted to engage the lower edge of the notches as the latch stem is lowered. The face 42 is so formed that there is no danger of the dog sticking on the lower edge of the notches or swinging into the notches during the n'ioven'ient. of this face down past the lower edge thereof. It is also noted that the tail of the dog, when in locked position, extends in an approximately horizontal direction and abuts against the bottom 18 of the notches and'the lower face of the tail of the dog engages the lower side 18" of the notches. That is to say, one component of, force isdirected in a horizontal plane against the side of the tubular guide and another component of force is directed in a vertical direction against the lower part of the flanges 16 and 17. The first named component of force efi'ects a decided binding action between the latch stem and the tubular guide in a substantially horizontal plane. Both of these components of force vary directly. as the weight suspended from the latch stem. It is further pointed out that the binding action referred to can be increased by placing the pivotal point of the dog farther away from the tubular guide, or, in other words, by increasing the degree of eccentricity of the dog to which reference was made above. The binding act-ion re ferred to can also be increased by locating the notches 18 midway of the bearing ribs 13 and 13".

The cable 8 extends through the latch stem i l and its knotted lower end engages.

the apertured disk 39 which in turn engages across the lower end of the openingthrough the latch stem. In this way a means'is provided for raising the lamp hanger member, although other suitable means might be adapted for effecting engagement between the cable and the lamp hanger member. The lower enlarged end'poition of the latch stem is surrounded by coil spring 3 1:, the ends of which abut the flange 36 on the end of the latch stem andthe inwardly projecting flanges on the upper part of the cylindrr cal housing 32, one of which last named flanges is shown in section at The other flange 33 is ofth'e same width as flange The flanges 33 and 33 are forced by the spring 3 1 into abutting engagement with the lugs 35 which project radially from the latch stem. The flanges 33 and 33 are provided with recesses 37 to receive the lower portions 38 of the lugs 35 so as to prevent axial turning of the latch stem within the housing The purpose of the spring 3% is to permit upward movement of the latch stem against the tension thereof independently of the housing 32 and the contact members carried thereby, as will now be more fully set forth.

The lower end of the latch stein has screw threaded engagement with the outlet connector member 60 through which extend the wires to the lamp which is attached to the screw threads 61, in case an incandescent lamp is used. As will be seen from Fig. 1, the wires from the two sides extend through the diametrically opposed sides of the out let, as indicated at 62 and (52, and thence through the neck 63 to the lamp socket. In case an arc lamp should be used, the plug attachment shown in Fig. 6 is screwed into Ill) the lower end of the latch stem and the are lamp is supported from the loop 65.

The housing member 82 is provided with" diametrically opposed webs l5 and 46 extending upwardly therefrom and terminating in the horizontally disposed ears i? 48. These ears are apertured and receive floating contact members which are duplicates and only one of which will therefore be described. The lower insulating member is provided with a boss 49 which extends upwardly through the aperture in the ear 4:8 and is formed on-its lower side with depending skirt or flange 50 which has a cutaway portion 51 to accommodate the reception of the lamp wire, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and i. The flange 50 minimizes the possibility of the current jumping across from the end of the lamp wire to the metal wall of the housing 32 and in this wa increases the insulation. As illustrated in Fig. 4, the depending flange 50 is curved throughout a portion thereof to conform to the curvature of the housing member 32 and is spaced therefrom to allow movement of the insulating member in a horizontal plane. An upper insulating member 52 engages the boss 49 on the lower insulating member, a cushion washer of paper or. other insulating material being provided between the faces of these two insulating members for the purpose of compensating for expansion and contraction of the parts. These insulating members are provided with registering apertures for the screw bolt 5-1 which extends therethrough. The inner portion of wall 50 prevents turning of the nut of the screw bolt and hence facilitates assembly of the parts A sleeve 55 of insulating material surrounds the screw bolts lVashers 55 and 56 of conductive material are clamped against the under face of the lower insulating member 50 so to provide a binding post for the lamp wire. A contact 57 is clamped in position upon the upper face ofthe insulating member 52 by means of the screw bolt 54; and a cushion washer of suitable insulating material is provided to compensate for expansion and contraction of the parts. The contact 5? is cup shaped with its engaging contact surface formed as a segment of a sphere so as to all-ow universal engagement with the female contact carried by, the upper hanger member. As clearly indicated in Fig. l, the contact 57 is hollowed out so as to allow insertion of the screw bolt there through. The tapered boss 4-9 is of greater extent than the thickness of the ear %8 and has play in a horizontal plane in the aperture of ear 4: Thus the contacts carried by the lamp hanger member are capable of movement both in vertical and horizontal planes and are therefore said to be yielding or floating. I

In assembling the parts, for use with an incandescent lamp, the wires from the lamp are passed up through the neck 63 and are allowed to project straight up through the open upper end thereof. The lower end of the connector is then screwed into the lamp socket and the upper ends of the wires are next passed down through the side extensions 62 and 6 Then the connector incinber carrying the lamp screwed into the lower end of the lamp hanger member and the upper ends of the wires are attached to the binding posts. Thus with this ar-,

this way brin the contacts into en agement under firm tBllSlOll. Further raising of the latch causes the tail of the dog to ride up over the flanges l6 and 1?, to a point opposite or above the notches l8, whereupon it will swing into engagement therewith upon slowly lowering the latch stem. vVhen it is desired to disengage the two hanger HlG-llllOEl'S the latch stem is raised against the tension of the spring, whereupon the tail of the dog rides up over the upper edges of the notches 18. Then by quickly releasing the cable, the dog is carried downwardly past the notches before its tail has ill'llB to swing into the notches. The lamp hanger men'iber is then wholly disengaged from the main hanger member and can be lowered tor purposes of? inspecting or renewing the parts carried thereby and also for cleaning the lamp reflector.

Thus it will be seen that the. lamp member can be readily lowered to cleaning of the reflector as well as inspection and renewal oi? all of the parts, includ ing the lamp. the latch dog and the floating contacts. The location of the latch dog and floating cont-acts upon the lamp hanger member constitutes a very important advantage in connection with my present de vice. Furthermore, my particular latch mechanism has a decidedly positive action andproduces a very sill-active binding or pinching engagement between the latch stem and the tubular do when these parts are locked together. The particular structure and arrangement of my insulating means for both the uppe and lower contacts constitutes another advantage of this invention hanger permit as also the particular floating arrangement of the male contacts which insures proper engagement thereof with the female contacts. A further advantage resides in the fact that I avoid the objectionable twisting of the wires in attaching a lamp to the lamp hanger member.

\Vhat I claim is:

1. In a lamp hanger, a main hanger member, a lamp hanger member, latching mechanism for locking said members together, fixed contacts carried by the main hanger member and indiyidually floating contacts carried by the lamp hanger member, each cl said floating contacts comprising a sectional insulator and a contact member, and a single means for securing together said insulator sections and the contact member.

2. In a lamp hang r, a main hanger member, a lamp hanger member, latching mechanism for locking said members together fixed contacts carried by the main hanger member, individually i ioating contact members carried by the lamp hanger member and co-operatingwith the lined contacts of the main hanger member, aperiured supports :l'or said floating contact members, each of said floating contact men'ibers comprising an insulating means loosely mounted in said aperture, said insulating means having vertical and lateral movement in said aperture, and a, contact carried by said insulating means.

In a lamp hanger, a main hai'iger incinber, a lamp hanger member, latching mechanism for locking said members together, fixed contacts carried by the main hanger member and having concave spherical contacting surfaces, said concave surfaces being spaced from the main hanger member in dividually floating contact members carried by the lamp hanger member, said last named hollow contact members having convex spherical contact "faces for co-operation with said fixed contacts, bolts securing said contact members to said lamp hanger member and arranged with their heads seated within said hollow contact members,

a. In a lamp hanger, a main hanger memher, a lamp hanger member, latching mechanism for locking said members together, fixed contacts carried by the main hanger member, individually floating contact members carried by the lamp hanger member and co-operating with the lined contacts of the main hanger member, apertured supports for said floating contact members, each of said floating contact members con'iprising a sectional insulator extending through said apertured support and carrying a contact, and a single means tor clamping together said insulator sections and said contact,

In a lamp hanger, a main hanger member of non-insulating material, a lamp hanger member, separate insulating blocks carried by the main hanger member, contacts mounted upon said blocks and approximately in the main axis thereof, means for attaching lead wires to said contacts, said blocks being provided with flanges of in sulating material depending below the points of attachment of the lead wires to prevent jui'nping of the current, said depending flanges having cut-away portions to facilitate connection of the lead wires to said contact mei'nbers, and contacts carried by said lamp hanger member for co-operation with said first named contacts.

6. In a lamp hanger, a mainhanger menr her, a lamp hanger member, latching mechanism for locking said members together, fixed contacts carried by the main hanger men'iber, individually floating contact members carried by the lamp hanger member and ce-operating with the fixed contacts of the main hanger member, apertured supports for said floating contacts, each of said floating contact members comprising a sectional insulator extending through'said apertured support and provided with a depending ange, a contact carried by said insulator, and a single means for clamping together said insulator sections andsaid contact, said means including a screw bolt and nut, said depending flange extending in suliiciently close proximity to raid nut to prevent turning oat same on said bolt.

7. In a lamp hanger, a main hanger memher, a lamp hanger member, insulating blocks for said main hanger member, means for securing said blocks to said main hanger member, said means including nuts and screw bolts, said screw bolts extending through said'blocks, said blocks being provided with means to engage said nuts and thereby prevent the same from turning upon said bolts.

8. In a lamp hanger, a main hanger member, a lamp hanger member, a slotted guide tube carried by one of said members, a latch stem carried by said other member and adapted to be received by said slotted tube, a latch dog carried by said stem and means provided upon the outside of said slotted tube tor locking engagen'ient with said latch dog.

9. In a lamp hanger, a main hanger member, a lamp hanger member, co-operating contacts carried by said members, a slotted guide tube carried by said main hanger member, a latch stem carried by said lamp hanger member and adapted to be received by said slotted tube, a latch dog carried by said stem and means provided upon the outside oii said slotted tube "for locking engagement with said latch dog.

10. In lamp hanger, a main hanger member, a lamp hanger men'iber, co'operating contacts carried by said members, a slotted guide tube carried by said main hanger member, a latch stem carried'by said lamp hanger member and being provided with a fin extending longitudinally thereof, said slotted tube being adapted to receive said stem with its fin, a latch dog pivotet upon the outside of said fin, engaging means provided upon said tube for locking engagement with said latch dog and means provided upon said guide tube in the path of said latch dog as it is moved in an upward direction for causing said dog to swing out and clear said engaging means downward movement thereof in the unlatching operation.

11. In a lamp hanger, a main hanger member, a lamp hanger member, co-operating contacts carried by said members, a slotted guide tube carried by ,said main hanger member, a latch stem carried by said lamp hanger member and being provided with a fin extending longitudinally there of, said slotted tube being adapted to receive said latch stem with its fin, a latch dog pivoted upon said fin, said guide tube being provided upon the outside thereof with a recess adapted to receive said latch dog in looking engagement, the upper edge of said recess being adapted to engage said dog in its upward movement and to cause it to swing out and clear said recess on downward movement thereof in the unlatching operation.

12. In a lamp hanger, a main hanger member, a lamp hanger member, co-operating contacts carried by said members, a slotted guide tube carried by said main hanger member, a latch stem carried by said lamp hanger member and adapted to be received by said slotted tube, alatch. dog carried by said latch stem, means provided upon the outside of said slotted tube for locking engagement with said latch dog, and means for causing disengagement of said latch upon upward movement of said latch stem, thereby allowing said lamp hanger member to be lowered away from said main hanger member.

13. In a lamp hanger, a main hanger member, a lamp hanger member, co-operating contacts carried by said members, a slotted guide tube carried by said main hanger member, a latch stem carried by said lamp hanger member and being provided with a fin extending longitudinally thereof, said slotted tube being adapted to receive said latch stem with its fin, a latch pivoted upon the outside of said fin, dog receiving means provided upon said tube for locking engagement with said latch, and means provided upon said guide tube in the path of said latch as it is moved in an upward direction for causing said dog to swing out a d l a s id d re vi g m ans on downward movement thereof in the unlatchmg operation, the tail of said latch dog being eccentrically arranged with respect to the pivot point thereof and extending in an approximately horizontal direction when in locked position, whereby there is caused a clamping of said dog against the side of said guide tube and a binding or pinching action through an approximately horizontal plane is effected between the guide tube and the latch stem.

14:. In a lamp hanger, a main hanger member, a lamp hanger member, co-operating contacts carried by said members, a slotted guide tube carried by said main hanger member, a latch stem carried by said lamp hanger member and being provided with a fin extending longitudinally thereof, said slotted tube being adapted to receive said latch stem with its fin, said guide tube being provided with bearing ribs upon its inner face and with a notch located between said ribs to receive said dog, the tail of said dog being eccentrically arranged with respect to its pivot point and extending in an approximately horizontal direction when in locked position, whereby there is caused a clamping of said dog against the side of said guide tube and a binding or pinching action through an approximately horizontal plane is effected between the latch stem and the bearing ribs on said guide tube.

15. In a lamp hanger, a main hanger member, a lamp hanger member, a slotted guide tube carried by one of said unembers, a latch stem carried by said other member and adapted to be received by said slotted tube, a latch dog pivotally mounted upon said latch stem and lying outside of said tube and being weighted at the side of the pivot point away from the tail of the dog and means provided upon the outside of said slotted tube for locking engagement with the tail of said latch dog.

16. In a lamp hanger, main hanger member, a lamp hanger member, co-operating contacts carried by said members, a slotted guide tube carried by said main hanger member, a latch stem carried by said lamp hanger member and being provided with a fin extending longitudinally thereof, said slotted tube being adapted to receive said latch stem with its fin, a latch pivoted upon said fin, said guide tube being provided on the outside thereof with a recess adapted to receive said latch dog in looking engagement, the tail of said latch dog having a face for engagement with the upper edge of said recess to cause said dog to swing out of said recess, and the tail of said dog hav ing also a face which is adapted to ride down over the lower edge of said recess, up on lowering of said latch stem, so that said dog will clear said recess.

17, In a lamp hanger, a sectional insulating support for an electric Contact comprising an insulating member having a recess in one face thereof, a second insulator member having a boss for engagement in said recess, a screw boltextending through said members and adapted to secure also an electric contact upon said first named insulator member, said boss being of sufiicient extent to provide space between the adjacent faces of said members for the engagement with an apertured support, means upon the end of the screw bolt tor attaching an electric wire, said second named insulator member being; prov'ded with a flange of insulating material extending past the point of attachment of the Wire and said flange having a cutaway portion to facilitate attachment of the Wire.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

ALLISON J. THOMPSON.

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