US2477746A

US2477746A - Portable electric lamp controller

Info

Publication number: US2477746A
Application number: US649366A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jr John Mckeon Huddleston
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1946-02-21
Filing date: 1946-02-21
Publication date: 1949-08-02
Anticipated expiration: 1966-08-02

Description

PORTABLE ELECTRIC LAMP CONTROLLER Filed Feb. 21, 1946 46 rwc/wfov J OHN M. HUDDLESTOMJR.

Patented Aug. 2, 1949 umreo smiles Eur (I POHTAB'IZE'ELEOTRIC LAMP GONT-ROIZDER .IOhnMcKonHuddleStOn, in, Shreveport :La;

Airpiication Fehruary 21, 1946; Serial No: 649,366

3:-Glaims. L

invention relates tor. a; portable electric lamps More. particularly it: haste dorwithzsuch lammof: the: typer which'iisi: capable of emitting illuminationiofi variable intensity:v

An obj ect' of 1the -.-invention1:is to:pr.ovide;:-an-:.elecr tricilainp wherein'rthe intensity otthe. illuminate tion emittedzfromsthalight;sourceamaykbesvaried.

Anothercobject ofsthezzinvention :is tozprovide' an electrim lamp; which: includes: a. means rm:- adjnstablyrcontrolling the; emitted? illumination.

A fHI'thEIIObjECtLOfI the; invention is; to provide an; electric lamp" in.- which the: emitted iflllllllillation may be; increased; or:- decreased? withini prescribedrlimitss.

Other; ohJ' ects" andiarlvantages :willibecomes apparent from .theefollowingdescription'n ADJ; embodiment-of: the". invention i is illustrated byway ofexampie. in: the accompanying drawing whereim.

Figured! is iavplan viewwith:partsiimsectionand pazrtsi 'broken' away. of the: base of: the electric lamp: of the present-invention Figure: 2 :isz-a side elevational view; with; parts inwsectioniandsparts broken away; Dfi'thBefilctfiC lamp-zbase of;the;present' inventionzr Figure: 3. is a diagrammatic View of theselectric circuit;

Figure 4tis= aside-:elevatidnal aviewlof theelectric lamp;

With continued: reference to. the: drawing; the improved portable;lampccomprises; general; a baserm; a'standardrII; and anxilluminating or lightaunitn I 2';- as shown? ini operative assembly in Elgmetk.

The: light units includes a: conventional bulb socket. mounted LQntheeupper end of: standard;v I I, a; conventional light r bulb 8 111 the socket; and a shade;- I3:: supported" by: the standard and surroundingrtheslightrbulb. Asr'illustratedin*Figure 2, the standard I I is tubular, providinga channel fora painofiinsnlated wiresd II and I 5, electrically connected with the bulb socket, not illustrated. As the ab0ve-'-desc-ribedconstruction may be entirely; conventionahiti hasenottbeerriillustrated' in a detail and a further descriptioniisvnot' believed necessary for the purposes of the present disclosuree Theelamp base I I1 hash fiat, circularrbottcm plates IBWhaVing a central; aperture I1 and, an annular; groove I8 in theupper;surfaceethereof, said aperture having a: counterbore I95. at: its

' upper-ends sectional shape, a. transverse wall 22 provided 55 39.

2, with a central aperture; andja cylindrical wall 23 of less diameter than the base-flange 21 5 extending upwardly fr0m the transverse Wall' 22 substantially concentric therewith;

'Ihe-loweredge ofthe' basefla-nge 2| of' the rheostat housing is secured in the annular groove I8='-of the bottomplate; supporting:-thetransverse Wall 22 above and substantially parallel to the upper surfaceof 'tl'i'e b'ottom plate', and the lower, externally screw-threaded end of tubular standard I I extends through i the central aperture in transverse wall ZZ'and is secured to thetransverse wall' by a pair of jam-b: nut'sifthreadd-ontothe standard and disposed oneat each side 0f the transverse'wall. The lower end of the standard is received in thecounterbore I8 and' bottom plate I6;

A circularhody 25'; of electric-a1'insulating'ma terial is disposed within the cylindrical 1 wall 113 of housing ZD and restsupon transversewall 22. This body' 25 has a central' aperture WhiClTIB- ceives thecorresponding'porticn of T tubular standard I I, and an" annular groove 26"0f substantially semi circular-cross-sectional shape, in its cone shaped upper surface; This" may is also provided with I a vertical opening 2 receiving a conductor trip 28, the purpose'of whicii willbe later explained;

A'n annular rheostat," generally indicated at 30, has a-lower edge-of generallysemi circularcross sectional i shape received in groove 26 to opera;- tively mount the rheostat'on body 25 m amanner inwhich'it'is electrically insulated both fromthe rheostat: housing 2fl and' thestandard' II. The rheostathas all-annular core 3| ofelectrical in sulating material and; an electrical resistance coil 32 wound'upon-the core in conventional'manner.

One end of-coil -32'-is electrically connected toa switchcontact arm 33 -which is rig-id'lj. secured to the: rheostat and v extends outwardly through an opening 34 m wall 23 of the-rheostat housing:

A ring 35 of' electrical insulating" material is rotatably mountedsurrounding wall 23 near the top tl'iereof by a pair ofspacer rings 38*and'3! securedto the outersurfrtce of wall 23 one above and one below ring 35. This ring 35 is provided with a-recess into which theouter' end' of.contact arm-33"extends'= and in which a; contact clip 39 is mounted" for operative; electrically-conductiveengagement-'witharm13'. Clip 39fis'moved into and out of engagement with arm 33: by partial rotation ofring35i rotation-a1 movements of which" are limited hy'contact.of'arm 33 with clip*39and with'the end of'recess 38 opposite clip Clip 39 is electrically connected to wire I5 3 so that the clip and arm 33 provide an on-and-off switch between the lamp bulb socket and the rheostat.

A ring 40, preferably of substantially the same diameter as ring 35, is fixedly secured to the cylindrical wall 23 of the rheostat housing between spacer ring 37 and a spacer ring 4| which rests upon the upper surface of transverse wall 22 outside of cylindrical wall 23, and a ring 42 is secured in surrounding relationship to base flange 2| at the upper end thereof. Rings at and 42 provide convenient means for holding the main part of the lamp base stationary While movable components thereof are manually rotated.

Double spring rheostat arm 43 is apertured to receive standard I! and carries at one end a contact button 44 which rides on the upper edge of rheostat 39 in electrical contact with coil 32. The upper end of conductor strip 48 surrounds standard I l and rests on the upper surface of body 25 surrounding the standard. This upper end of strip 28 makes electrical contact with rheostat arm id and the lower end is connected to a lead-in wire 45. With this arrangement an electrical circuit is provided through wire 65, strip 28, arm 43, rheostat 39, contact rm 33, clip 39, wire I 5, the light bulb socket and bulb, and leadin wire is which parallels wire 45, to energize the lamp bulb when clip 39 is closed with contact arm 33.

A ring or disc 43, preferably of the same diameter as

rings

35 and 40, is provided with a central aperture receiving standard I l and is disposed immediately above the annular wall 23 of the rheostat housing. A sleeve d1, of electrical insulating material, surrounds standard I l within the opening in disc 45 and a two-part cylindrical bearing member 58 surrounds sleeve 41 within the disc opening. The outer part of bearing member 48 is secured to disc 46 and to rheostat arm 43 to provide a driving connection between the disc and the arm so that the arm will be moved around rheostat 30 when disc 156 is rotated.

With clip 39 closed with contact arm 33, rotation of disc 45 will vary the current supplied to the lamp bulb in accordance with the well-known operation of rheostats, and thereby vary the intensity of illumination provided.

In operation of the electric lamp as described, for lighting the lamp the operator rotates the ring member 35 until the contact clip 39 is brought into contacting engagement with the switch arm 33. This closes the circuit and results in the lighting of the light source 8. To vary the emitted illumination, the operator then rotates the disc 46 in the desired direction and to the required degree. By this latter action the intensity of the emitted illumination is increased or decreased to the desired amount. To shut oil the lamp, the operator merely rotates the ring member in the opposite direction until the contact clip 39 and the switch arm 33 disengage. The previous setting of the disc 46 may be retained for a subsequent illumination of the lamp or it may be adjusted after the lamp is again relighted.

I claim:

1. A rheostat and switch assembly for an electriclamp comprising a housing including a cylindrical wall and a bottom plate at one end of said cylindrical wall, a tubular standard secured at its lower end to said bottom plate substantially cenard and insulated therefrom, a, contact arm mounted on said rheostat and electrically connected therewith, said contact arm projecting outwardly of said housing, a ring surrounding said housing and having a recess therein receiving the outer end of said contact arm, a contact clip mounted on said ring in said recess and mov- ;able into and out of electrically conductive engagement with said arm by rotational movements pi said ring on said housing, a rheostat arm journaled on said standard and having its outer end in electrically conductive contact with said rheostat, and a disc journaled on said standard immediately above said housing and drivingly connected with said rheostat arm.

2. A rheostat and switch assembly for an electric lamp comprising a housing including a generally cylindrical wall and a bottom plate at one end of said wall, a standard secured at its lower end to said bottom plate substantially centrally of the latter and extending co-axially through said cylindrical housing wall, an annular rheostat mounted in said housing and insulated therefrom, said rheostat concentrically surrounding said standard, a rheostat arm mounted on said standard, a switch electrically connected with said rheostat, a manually rotatable ring surrounding said housing and mounted thereon operatively engaging said switch, and a manually rotatable disc journaled on said standard and drivingly connected with said rheostat arm.

3. A rheostat and switch assembly for an electric lampcomprising a housing including a subfstantially cylindrical wall and a bottom wall {joined to one end of said cylindrical wall and engageable with the lamp base, a standard secured to said bottom wall substantially at the center of the latter and extending concentrically through said substantially cylindrical housing wall, a rheostat including an annular body of insulating material in said housing surrounding said standard and resting upon said bottom wall, a resistence winding on said body, a rheostat arm rotatably mounted at one end on said standard 5 and overlying said resistance Winding, and a contact button carried by said arm and bearing upon said winding, a disc journalled at its center on said standard immediately above said housing, means drivingly connecting said disc to said 50 rheostat arm for manual adjustment of said rheostat, a contact arm connected to said rheostat winding and projecting outwardly of said housing, a ring mounted on said housing in,

surrounding relationship thereto for limited free-.- dom of rotational movement relative to said hous ing, said ring having a recess therein receiving said contact arm, and a contact clip mounted on said ring within said recess, said arm and clip constituting on and off switch components for said assembly.

JOHN MoKEON HUDDLESTON, JR.

REFERENCES crrnn UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,208,540 Godinez Dec. 12, 1916 1,906,944 Arenberg May 2, 1933 2,014,054 Rood et al Sept. 10, 1935 2,048,577 Thornton July 21, 1936 2,408,669 Mattson Oct. 1, 1946