US1555874A - Dirigible lamp holder - Google Patents

Description

E. S. PARMENTER DIRIGIBLE LAMP HOLDER Filed May 16, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 X J llivENToR ATTORNEY E. S. PARMENTER DIRIGIBLE LAMP HOLDER Oct. 6,1925."

Fi led May 16, 1923' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 6, 1925.

UNITED STATES 1,555,874 PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD s. PARMENTER, or LoNeMEAnow, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR o RAY E.

PARMENTER, or LONGMEADOW, MASSAGHUSETTS..

DIRIGIBLE LAMP HOLDER.

Application filed May 16, 1923. Serial No. 639,422.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD S. PARMEN- TER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Longmeadow, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Dirigible Lamp Holders, of which the following isa specification.

This invention relates to improvements in dirigible holders for lamps and the like.

The invention finds one advantageous use, in connection with automobiles, as a means for supporting a spot light in outboard fashion at such a distance from the side of the car as to be effective for illumination to the rear, as well as forwardly, and for directing and controlling the spotlight from the drivers seat. The invention is especially useful for closed cars in that it permits complete control of the spotlight from within the car.

The invention has for an object to provide in a device of the type described im proved means for swinging the lamp holder in both horizontal and vertical planes.

The invention has for another object to provide means whereby the lamp holder can be locked from within the car in any of the various positions to which it may be moved.

Another object of the invention relates to the mounting of the lamp holder for rotative movement by means of an endless flexible member. The lamp holder and said member are located on opposite sides of the bearing in which the lamp holder shaft is mounted and the tension of said member exerts a lateral pull on the shaft tending to rapidly wear the bearing and making the shaft unnecessarily hard to turn. This mounting feature of the invention is characterized by the provision of a resiliently actuated plunger which rides on the shaft, or a disk applied thereto. and equalizes the pull of said endless member.

According to another obiect of the invention the disk and resiliently actuated plunger constitute part of the electrical connections to the spotlight.

Other objects of the invention relate to improvements in the particular construction and arrangement of parts and will more particularly appear in the following description and in the illustrative embodiment of the invention in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a rearelevational view of 3. dirigible lamp holder embodying the inventioncertain parts being shown in section;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary bottom view of one end thereof;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan View of the other end of the device;

Fig. 4 is a sectional plan view taken on the line 4tt of Fig.1;

Fig. 5 is an end elevational view of the rotatable tube by means of which the lamp holder is moved in a vertical plane; and

Fig. 6 is a small scale top plan view showing the lamp holder as applied to the corner post of a closed car. I 1

Referring to these drawings :the spot light proper may be of any suitable type and generally includes an electric lamp but a lampof any other kind may be used in its place if desired. Forthe purposes of illustration, I have shown a casing a having a lens I) and, within the enclosure thus afforded, the usual lamp and socket is provided. A portion of the socket is shown at 0 and protruding therefrom is the usual spring pressed plunger d which forms the central contact for the lamp. The other contact of the lamp is grounded in the usual fashion by connection to the metallic casing a, one end of which fits into an opening in an elbow-shaped lam holder 10 and is suitably clamped therein, as by a 7 set screw 11. r

The elbow-shaped lamp holder 10 has an opening at right angles to the opening described for the purpose of receiving a shaft, which is a composite member consisting of an outer metallic Wearing portion in the shape of a sleeve 12 and an inner insulating core13 driven into the sleeve and this shaft is fixed to holder 10 in any suitable way, as by the set screw 14. The shaft described extends through a bearing provided in the upper wall of a hollow bell like casing 15 and extends beyond such wall for the purpose of receiving a sprocket 16 and, beyond the sprocket. a commutator disk 17.

The metallic portion 12 of the shaft is cut away below the sprocket, leaving merely the non-conducting portion 13 thereof, to the end of'which the disk 17 is secured by a screw 18 which is threaded axially into the part 13. Fixed in the upper end of the latter, as

by a driving fit, and disposed axial'ly'and in line with screw 18, is the outer sleeve--19 of a standard spring plunger device-,suehas is customarily used inconnection withlamp sockets,the plunger of this device-be ing indicated at 20. i The part 19 projects above the upper end of member 13, and far enough into the elbow shaped lamp holder 1.0 so that it will be engaged by the spring pressed plunger d, thus making electrical connection therewith. The spring pressed thus insured to disk 17.

plunger 20 is engaged and moved upwardly to some extent, when screw 18 is applied in place, so that a good electrical connection is A third spring pressed plunger device is mounted in the casing 15 with its axis at right angles to that of disk 18. The sleeve portion 21 of this device is driven into a sleeve 22 of insulating material and the latter is suitably clamped in casing 15, as by a set screw 23 (Fig. 2), and the plunger portion 24 rides on the periphery of disk 17. A wire 25 is electrically connected to the outer end of sleeve 21 and extends into the interior of i the body of the automobile as indicated in Fig. 6, and is adapted for connection to the electricalfsystem' thereof. The other connection to the electrical system is made through the various metallic portions of the device, described and to be described -a necessarily the tension of this chain exerts a lateral pull on the, lamp holder shaft which tends to cause the latter tobind in its bearing andcause rapid wear. To offset this action and equalize the pull on the shaft, the spring pressed plunger 24 is so disposed as to exert a force on the'shaft in adirection opposite to that exerted by chain 26-. To further free the parts from unnecessary friction, athrust washer 27 is inserted between the lower face of holder 10 and the upper face of casing 15. A light spring 28 acts between theinner face'of the upper wall of casing 15 and sprocket 1'6 to yieldingly hold thejlamp holder shaft from upward axial displacements, such as might be caused by vibrations setup by the automobile.

The casing-"15 is supported by atubular arm 30 to one end, of whichit is suitably fixed, as bya set screw 31. 'Theouter end of arm. 30 is rotatably mounted in a side wall of a second hollow bell like casing 32. The latter is provided with a bracket 33 having upper and lower arms 34 and 35 respectively for attachment to the automobile,

asto the corner post p, shown in Fig. 6.

The arms 34 and 35 abut the outer face of post 29 and a plate 36 (Figs. 1 and 3) is applied to the inner face of the post. Plate 36 has fixed therein. two exteriorly threaded tubes 3? which pass through post p, and through the extremities of arms 34 and 35. Nuts 38' applied to tubes 37 serve to clamp themembers 33 and 36 together. The wire 25, heretofore described, is led into the interior of the automobile through the upper tube 37, having been previously passed through an eye 39 formed on casing 32.

The casing 32 also has mounted in its side wall a shaft 40 which is disposed at right angles to tube 30 and carries a sprocket 41, suitably fixed thereto. The sprocket 41 receives and drives the described chain 26, which passes through tube 30. The shaft 40 extends centrally through bracket 33 and plate 36, and on its outer end carries a knob 42, whereby it may conveniently be turned to rotate the lamp holder in a horizontal plane. V any of' the various positions to which it may be moved by a set screw 43 v 1 The tube 30 has an integral extension 45 which is bent at right angles to the axis of the tube to form an operating arm and this arm extends downwardly out of casing 32 and to a substantial distance therebelow, as shown in Fig. Slidably mounted" in the lower tube 37 is a rod 46 which is provided with a right angular extension 47 engaged in a slot 48 formed in arm 45. The end of extension 47 is threaded to receive a nut 49 which lie'sad'jacent one side of arm 45 and in the other'side a suitable shoulder isformed The lamp holder may be locked in" on theextension, as by a washer 5O soldered I in place The rod 46 has an operating knob 51 whereby it can be pushed and pulled to swing tube 30 in its bearing in casing 32 and thus swing the casing 15 and lamp holder 10in a vertical plane. A. set screw 52, threaded into: plate- 36, provides means for locking the lamp holder in any position to which it may be moved by rod 46.

The casing 32 may be slotted, as at 54, to extend the range of movement of arm 45 and the opening in the lower face of the casing may be substantially closed by a disk 55 which is frictionally held in place. Similarl'y,the lower and open face of casing 15 may be entirely closed by a circular disk 56. I p V The adja-centends of casings l5 and 32, which receive tube 30, are shouldered down to; receive a longitudinally split tube '57" which concealstube 30 and improves the appearanceof the device by providing: what appears to be a tube of uniform diameter between the bell-like portions of casings 15 end 32. The ends of tube 57 abut shoullders 58 on the latter and serve to axially space the casings and prevent movement of the one toward the other. Separation of the two casings is prevented by chain 26 and also by the abutment of arm 45 with casing 32.

In operation, the lamp holder is normally located in such a position that plunger 24: engages with the insulating insert 26, whereby the spotlight is not illuminated. When the latter is to be used, the knob 42 is turned to point the spotlight in the clesired direction, so far as movement in a horizontal plane is concerned, and as the spotlight is turned it is automatically illuminated. The described movement, which is more frequently used and which is usually more extensive in range than that effected by pulling or pushing rod 46, may be rapidly effected in a very convenient manner. The vertical adjustment of the spotlight isthen effected by operating rod 46. Both operating members can be locked in any position which they may assume and this, as well as the movements of the spot light, can be quickly and conveniently accomplished from within the car.

The invention has been disclosed herein, in an embodiment at present preferred, for illustrative purposes but the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description.

that I claim is 1. In combination, a supporting bracket including a hollow casing open at its lower end, a tube rotatably mounted in said bracket and extending outwardly therefrom, an arm on said tube extending out of said casing through said open end, a slidable rod 'operatively engaged with said arm and adapted to swing said tube relatively to said bracket, a second hollow casing fixed to said tube, a lamp holder rotatably mounted in the second casing, and means including an endless flexible member extending through said tube for rotating the lamp holder.

2. In a dirigible lamp holder, a hollow casing having a single bearing provided in one wall thereof, a shaft mounted in said bearing and projecting from opposite ends thereof, a lamp holder mounted on one end of the shaft outside the casing, an endless flexible driving member connecting with the shaft on the opposite side of said bearing, and spring means acting on the free end of the shaft in a direction opposite to the pull of said chain.

3. In a dirigible lamp holder, a hollow casing having a bearing provided in one wall thereof, a shaft mounted in said bearing and projecting from opposite ends thereof, a lamp holder mounted on one end of the shaft outside the casing, an endless flexible driving member connecting with the shaft on the opposite side of said bearing, and a spring pressed plunger mounted in said casing and acting on the shaft in a direction opposite to the pull of said chain.

4. In a dirigible lamp holder, a hollow casing having a bearing provided in one wall thereof, a shaft mounted in said bearing and projecting from opposite ends thereof, a lamp holder mounted on one end of the shaft outside the casing, an endless flexible driving member connecting with the shafton the opposite side of said bearing, a commutator disk mounted on said shaft, electrical connections from the latter to the lamp holder including a part passing through said shaft, and a spring pressed plunger riding on the periphery of said disk and serving to balance the pull exerted on the shaft by said chain and serving also as a link in the electrical circuit to said lamp holder.

5. In a dirigible lamp holder, a hollow casing provided in one wall with a bearing, a shaft rotatably mounted in the latter, a lamp holder fixed to said shaft outside the casing, driving means for said shaft, the latter having at least its central portion constructed of insulating material, an axial opening provided in said portion, a commutator disk mounted on the latter, a spring pressed plunger device including a sleeve fixed in the upper end of said opening and projecting outwardly therefrom to serve as a contact for the lamp holder and a yieldable plunger portion free to move in said opening, and a screw serving to hold said disk in place and engaging with said plunger to electrically connect the latter with said disk.

6. In a dirigible lamp holder for an automobile, a casing having a bearing provided in its upper wall, a shaft mounted in said bearing, a lamp holder fixed to said shaft outside the casing, a thrust washer interposed between said holder and the casing, a sprocket fixed to said shaft within the easing, a spring encircling said shaft and acting between said casing and sprocket to lightly hold the holder to the casing and prevent axially upward movements of said shaft under vibration of the automobile, endless flexible driving means engaging with said sprocket, and'means acting on the shaft to compensate for the pull of said driving means.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature.

EDWARD S. PARMENTER.

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