US2144640A - Electrical flashing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Jan 24, 1939- 'J. SCHMIDINGER ET AL ELECTRICAL FLASHING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Shet 1 Filed April 19, 1935 in! 2 5565K .R M M 4 Y 0 E T/R N mm Wm VMH NH 0 w i a A e aw E E Y m L Jr.

Jan.'24, 1939. .1. s cHMlD lNGER El AL 4,

ELECTRICAL FLASHING APPARATUS Filed April 19, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 H INVENTOR Jose/ah 5c/7m/d/n9 er.

ATTORNEY ?atented Jan. 24, 1939 I 2,144,640 ELECTRICAL FLASHING APPARATUS Joseph Schmidinger, Long Island City, N. Y., and Clyde (3. Bohner, Maplewood, N. J.

Application April 19, 1935, Serial No. 17,240

4 Claims.

Our present invention relates to a flashing device for incandescent lamps and comprises an improved combined lamp and flasher element therefor that is rapid in operation and economical its other end to the movable end of the resilient member l2, and a resistance coil 65 electrically connected between the annular container 2 and the incandescent filament l8 of the lamp. Re-

to manufacture. The invention includes also a sistance l6 serves as a heater for the expansible I flasher device that may be used for flashing one Wire 54 and also as a series resistance for the or a plurality of lamps. incandescent filament i8. Filament i 8 is con- In U. S. Patent No. 1,998,823, dated April 23, nected at one end by means of a lead wire 20 to 1935, we have disclosed and claimed a combined one terminal 22 of the base 4 and at its other flasher and incandescent lamp which is particuend by means of a lead wire 24 to the resistance larly suitable for use as a flashing stop light for it. Lead wire 25 at the point of emergence into automobiles. The device of the present inventhe annular chamber within member 2 is election, While having certain features in common trically insulated from the base 4 and container with that of our co-pending application, difiers 2 by means of an insulating strip 26. Contact therefrom in that it is relatively simpler and 8 is carried by lead wire 24 and is positioned cheaper to manufacture, in that it may be,posi to-be engaged by contact it when wire l5 expands tioned entirely within a lamp bulb and in that sufiiciently under the influence of heat radiated thexexpansible wire controlling the operation of from resistance coil it to permit movement of the flasher is heated by radiation rather than by the resilient member l2.. Member i2 is of spring the passage of electric current therethrcugh. metal and preferably is curved about its longi- The present device, like that of our co-pending tudinal axis,.convex toward the wire, to insure application, operates by shunting a resistance in hinge-like movement about the point of contact series with a lamp filament and thus avoids with the container wall. The spring member I2 sparking incident to devices which operate by tends to move against the tension of wire l4 into opening and closing a circuit. contact closing position.

For an understanding of the invention refer Container 2 ispreferably soldered to the base ence may be had to the accompanying drawings 4 to insure good electrical contact therewith and of whicha to insure continued alignment of contacts 8 and Fig. 1 is a horizontal sectional view taken along Ill. A suitable cover for the annular container 2 the line Il of Fig. 2 of a combined incandescent is shown in Fig. 211, as comprising an upper horilamp and flasher element therefor in which the zontal wall portion 21 in the form of a ring split flasher element is located within an annular into halves at 28 and 29; and a vertical wall seemember mounted on the base of the lamp, tion 30 integral with the horizontal wall section Fig. 21s a vertical section along the line 2-- 2 of and in the form of a cylinder split at 29. The Fig. 1, walls of the cover are preferably of metal and are Fig. 2a is a detail view in perspective of the thin enough to permit the side wall to bend about cover for the annular member of Figs. 1 and 2, the point 28 when the parts of the cover are Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of a combined spread to pass around the lower portion of the incandescent lamp and flasher element therefor bulb 8. When the cover has been brought into in which the flasher element is located within the position over the container 2 the spread apart lamp bulb, and portions are brought into contact and soldered Fig. 4 is a verticalsectional view of a separate or welded together. flasher for use in connection with one or more After'assembly of the various parts within the external incandescent lamps. container, but before the cover is applied, adjust- The construction illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 2a ment of the flasher operation may readily be is that preferred for small lamps, such as autoeffected by varying the 'tension of wire l4 while mobile stop lights. In this construction the current is passed through the device. When flasher element is carried within an annular conproper operation is obtained the end of the wire ducting member 2 mounted on the base 4 of a. is Welded or soldered to the container wall and lamp bulb 5. The flasher element includes a pair the cover positioned.

of contacts 8 and ill, a resilient member l2 havi'ng one end mounted on the vertical wall of the annular member 2 and carrying on its movable end the contact 10, an expansible wire M see cured at one end to the container Wall and at When the base 4, which in the particular embodiment of the invention illustrated, is of the bayonet type, is plugged into a socket and the normal operating potential difference is applied across the terminal 22 and outer conducting wall of the base, current fiows through conductor 20,

filament l6, conductor 24 and resistance i6 back Thus resistance l6 to the container and base. will be connected in series with the filament across the lamp terminal and will limit the current through the filament to a value insufficient for incandescence. Heat, radiated from resistance l6 during the passage of this current therethrough, causes wire l4 to expand sufiiciently to permit spring member l2 to move to contact closing position where resistance i6 is shunted by member l2 and the current through the filament consequently increased and thetemperature thereof raised to that of incandescence. The shunting of resistance l6 reduces the heat radiated to wire l4 and permits it to cool and contract. The contraction of the wire draws spring l2 back to its initial position where contacts 8 and Iii'are out of engagement. This cycle of alternate dimming or extinguishing and lighting of the lamp continues as long as potential difference is applied across the terminal of the base.

By utilizing a fine wire with its corresponding small heat capacity, a rapidity of operation, is obtained which couldnot be obtained with for example the bi-metallic type of heat responsive elements. Bi-metallic elements have a relatively larger metallic body and, depending as they do upon distortion for their controlling effect, are necessarily slow acting.

Where small flashing lamps are desired, the above described construction, where the flasher parts are located in the annular container carried on the base of the lamp is preferred. For larger lamps, a relatively simpler and preferred embodiment of the invention is that illustrated in Fig. 3

wherein the flasher elements are incorporated within the lamp bulb.

In the construction illustrated in Fig. 3, the lamp bulb 32 is provided with three conducting support rods 33, 34, and 35 mounted in the press of the bulb. Support 35 carries the fixed contact 36 of the device. The filament 38 of the lamp is connected across supports 33 and 35 and the resistance coil 40 is connected across supports 34 and 35. Spring member 42 carrying the movable contact 44 on one end thereof is secured at its other end to support 34. Expansible wire 46 is secured between the support 34 and the contact carrying end of spring 42 so as to prevent, when cold, movement of spring member 42 to contact closing position. Support 33 is electrically connected by lead 48 with a terminal 56 of the base 62 .of the lamp and support 34 is electrically connected by means of lead 54 to the other terminal 56 of the base. The circuit of the device of Fig. 3 and the operation thereof will be clear from the description given in connection with the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. When the base is inserted into a socket and a. potential difi'erence applied across the terminals 66 and 66, current, insufiicient to cause incandescence of the filament, fiows through the filament and resistance in series; the circuit being from terminal 66 through lead 54, support 34, resistance 46, support 35, filament 36, support 33, and lead 46 to terminal 60. Expansion of wire 46 under the influence of the heat radiated from resistance 46 permits spring 42 to bring contact 44 into engagement with contact 36 whereupon resistance 46 is shunted by the spring member and substantially the full lamp voltage is impressed across the filament until the subsequent contraction of wire 46 causes reopening of the contacts. As in the device of Figs. 1 and 2 the fineness of the expansible wire will insure relatively rapid operation of the flasher,

If the surface of the resistance coil is electrically insulated, as for example by spraying with ceramic or other suitable insulating ma- 'terial, the expansible wire may be positioned within the coil along the axis thereof as indicated in Fig. 3.

In Fig. 4 a flasher suitable for operating any number of lamps connected in series therewith is illustrated. This flasher differs from the combined flasher and lamp of Fig. 3 substantially only in the omission of the incandescible filament and the additional conducting support therefor. As shown, the flasher comprises a bulb 58 mounted in a base 60 having terminals 62 and 64, a pair of conducting supports 66 and 68 electrically .connected with terminals 62 and 64 respectively, a resistance coil 10 connected across the supports 66 and 68, a spring member I2 1 mounted on support 66 and carrying a contact 14 on the remote end thereof adapted to engage the fixed contact 16 on support 68 and expansible wire 16 connected to support 66 and the contact carrying end of spring member 12.

In operation current flows through the resistance 10 until expansion of wire 16 under influence of the heat radiated from resistance 16, permits spring 12 to bring contact 74 into engagement with contact 16 whereupon the resistance i0 is shunted by spring member 12 until the subsequent contraction of wire 16 causes reopening of the contacts. Thus a lamp connected in series with the terminals of the flasher of Fig. 4 would have its filament current periodically varied as the series resistance 16 was alternately cut in and out of the circuit by the successive opening and closing of the flasher contacts.

In Figs. 3 and 4 the spring members carrying the movable contacts have been indicated in the drawings as being fiat leaf springs. It will be understood however that the construction illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, wherein curvature along the longitudinal axis imparts additional stiifness to the spring member may be employed in each of the embodiments illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 if desired.

In the case of the constructions illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, adjustment of the tension of the expansible wire is effected prior to the sealing of the press carrying the conducting supports into the bulb, preferably while a potential diiference is applied across the supports between which the heater is connected.

Our invention has now been described with reference to the particular embodiments illustrated in the drawings. In each embodiment, the elements of the relatively quick acting and simple flasher include an expansible, relatively fine, wire which, when cold, prevents the shunting of a resistance and which. when subjected to the heat radiated from that resistance expands and permits shunting of the resistance. In each of the embodiments illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 the combined flasher and lamp may be inserted within a standard socket to operate stood that the invention in its broadest aspect is' not limited to the particular constructions illustrated as various changes might be made therein I 9,144,640 without departing from thescope oi the invention as defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. The combination in a flashing device of an electrical resistance, means for shunting said resistance, said means including 'a resilient member biased toward shunting position and an expansithe press of the bulb and electrically connected to said terminals, an electrical resistance connected between said supports, a resilient conducting member mounted on one of said supports and extending at anangle therefrom toward the other of said supports, a contact carried on the movable end-oi said resilient member, a contact on said other one of said conducting supports positioned to be engaged by said first contact and an expansible wire secured at one end to the support carrying said member and at its other end to the movable end of said membe said wire being positioned to be influenced by heat radiated from said resistance and being tensioned to prevent movement of the end of said member into contact closing position when the wire is cold and to ipermit such movement when expanded by heating whereby, when a potential diflerence is impressed across said terminals said resistance is intermittently shunted by said resilient member.

3. The combination in a flashing device of an electrical resistance, means including a strip of spring metal having one end fixed against 'movement, for shunting said resistance and an expansible wire mechanically preventing, when cold, movement of said strip to shunting position,

said wire being positioned to be influenced by heat radiated from said resistance upon passage of current therethrough, said wire having one end fixed and its-other end secured to the movable end of said strip and said. strip for a substantial length thereof being of a curved cross section, convex toward said wire. whereby said strip upon contraction and expansion of said wire moves substantially throughout its length.

4. The combination in a flashing device of an electrical circuit including an electrical resistance and a pair of contacts adapted when closed to shunt said resistance, means including a resilient member constantly tending to close said contacts, and an expansible wire positioned to be influenced by heat radiated from said resistance upon passage of current therethrough, said wire when cold mechanically preventing closure of said contacts by said-resilient member;

JOSEPH BCHMJDINGER.

CLYDE C. IBOHNER.

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