US2671162A - Automatic closet light fixture - Google Patents

Description

March 2, 1954 M. B. BELINE AUTOMATIC CLOSET-LIGHT FIXTURE Filed Jan. 6, 1950 INVENTOR ATTORNEY 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 444, T/A/ .5. 55am:

Patented Mar. 2, 1954 2,6 7 1, 1 62 AUTOMA'I IC CLOSET LIGHT FIXTURE ,rMartin. B. Beline,..Chevy Chase, .Mcl., assignordto .SlateriAPplianc-es, 1:1

.porationof N ew. York Application il'anuary 6, 1950; Serial No." 137,189

.1 2. Claims.

This invention relates r to av lighting fixture for closets -.-which is: automatically operablemy h op n nd o ing: ofvv the. closet door.

It istheobject of the present invention" toprovide a. compact and "simple. electric light; fixture .for: mounting in the cornerof: the frame ofta closet-door soithat the same may. illuminate the clo et upoIr-the-opening of theidoor; and will. be automatically extinguishedoupon the. closing. of he door.

1 It isanother; objectof the-present invention to provide a-rugeed and economical lighting fix, titre-which. isxseli-contained by the provision of ayli htrsocketr switchand. extension cord with attachment. plug" aspart thereof; and which may hetumversally mounted -in=.all types of: closets in orderto convenientlyprovideifor theillumination 0f;1;a;..clQset' in:responsesstoalthexopening of the closetdoor. The unit is. capable of ,rapidginstah lationziby virtue ofits self-positioning characteristics; and requires, no tools QrWiring connections, soiithatanyone may install; the same" Without special skill or training.

: zltsisga :further I object .otzthe :inventiorr to provide an automatically; operating closet fixture of low cost. which is noiselessiin operation. and whioh requiresno critical maintenance: on-servicins.

i'itriszaz'ifurtheit object of the' inventiomto' providea'. compact :lighting: fixture for illuminating (i thezinterior; of; a closet; which maybe easily: at! tached to and removed from the closet'doorrfrarne and Whlchzmayabezconnected to ithemost accessiblerpower-outlet vreceptacle .to' provide illuminationf :for'ia; closet lwh'erewsuch. was. lacking. 'th-ere tofore. 'In such closets-where means for illuminattiurr hasaalready been provided, theiinstanti in? yention may beinstalled :to.pro.vide an automatic control" of: the closet illumination by the utilizae tion of the outlet receptacle in the closet. with L the unituin accordance with ithepresent, invention.

.wlteis a; further obi ectsof theinvention. to :pro-

vide an "electriczfixture for a oloset'whichis compact and neat:in;appearancetwhich.is substane tially inconspicuous anduone *WhiChLafiD QS i eflicient illumination of the closetwithminimum power consumption. :aThemounting; of the; unit adjacen to the hin eside of the door: afiordsrsubstantiallyrrno obstaclerini the framez-openlnazin the course; of handling; articles zwhiclrare: placed into and taken from the closet.

' The .inventionaprooeeds.uponxthe principle of providing a compact'housing; preferably stamped from sheet-rnetalphaving at least one rectangular .44 corner. formed ibytwo. of its lateral walls-which renders ;.it accurately; positionable within the corner ofra closeti door frameiopening against the horizonal, and 'vertical memhers oflthe door stop, Flan es extending transversely to the lateral walls of the housing assure an accurate positioning of the' housing within the corner adjacent to the-hinge side ogf;,.-the door, and .the unit may beeasily afiixed to the horizontaland verticaltmembers of the doorstep bythIImbtasks which extend through openihgsrinthelatera1 Walls and penetrate into the faces of the re! spective members of-the. door-stop. Ih,e house ing; is, provided Withza normally elosedmswiteh pr trudin from. the-front.- fa e ther of and n electric lamp socket and extension cordterminating in an attachment :plug extending: from. the rear face thereof. :The mounting of-qthe unitrin the, upper cornerof the; firameaadl'acent toi-the hinge sideof theidoor'assures positive opera tion of the; switch by the openine and l in of the door which is notaflected-by awarpedcom dition of :theadooror the framed! by faulty and uncertainclosing and" opening operations of the door. .Theelectric,lamp,v which is adaptedto be mounted in the socket; because ofits location, provides the most eflicient illumination: .ofthe contents. ofqthe closet. Theqpower supply-cone ductors extendingrfromtherhousing and rmina ing in any suitableattachment plu mayrbeied tothe exterior of the closet to the: most accessible outlet'rreceptacle or else to the .electriczvoutlet Which-=inay1, have been providedalready in the closet.

1 Other objects-and purposes. will appear from the detailed description of thein-vention follow-- ing hereinafter, taken-in conjunction with the accompanying drawin siwherein Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the lighting fixe ture mountedsin the corner-of aclosetdoor frame opening for operation;

.Figj 2; is a'perspective view; of a room having the closet. provided with the, lighting; fiXtLlIfiiliDalflQ- cordance with; the; invention; and: showin the connection thereof to. a? power: outlet" receptacle in proximity togthe closet;

Fig.3 isa-xfront-elevation'zof the lighting-fix ture as viewed from theoutside of the closet;

Fig. 4 is a rearview of Fig. 3;

"Fig. 51s a vertical sectional view .along' line 5--5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectionalview along-line 6-6 of'Fig.:3; and

-'F'ig.-'7 is a vertical sectionalviewalong line 1 -10:? Fig. 3.

In Figs. 1 and 2 is shown a conventional closet door frame F having the closet door D hinged along the right side thereof by means of hinges H and provided with a door stop S running along the lateral and top sides of the closet. The door stop S comprises the horizontal member having the face I and edge 3 and the vertical member having the face 2 and edge 4. The lighting fixture in accordance with the present invention is mounted preferably in the corner of the horizontal and vertical members of the door stop adjacent to the hinged side of the door D. This fixture consists essentially of a housing 5 which is formed of sheet metal of such thickness that the interposition of the flanges l5 and [6 of the housing unit between the door stop and the door in nowise affects the closing of the door adjacent to the door stop S.

The housing may be formed of rectangular outline from a central portion 9 (Fig. 4), provided with two apertures therein for purposes explained hereinafter, from which is bent lateral walls In and H at right angles to each other, as well as lateral walls 12 and I3 opposite walls i and II, respectively. The walls In and II in addition to forming the walls of the housing are extended further to form fastening portions Ill and H, respectively, which are adapted to fit closely against the faces 2 and l of the door stop S. A small opening I8 is provided in extension III and another opening I! is provided in extension ll into which are adapted to be inserted thumb tacks 1 which penetrat into the horizontal and vertical members to constitute the sole fastening means of the housing unit in place. A transverse flange l5 extends transverse- 1y from the lateral wall I|-I l and another flange l6 extends transversely from the lateral wall Ill-40', these flanges being'adapted to abut closely against edges 3 and 4 of the door stop to provide for the accurate placement of the housing within the corner of the door frame.

A detachable cover IQ of sheet metal is provided for the front face of the housing which is adapted to be resiliently sprung onto the housing by the provision of punched projections Illa (Fig. 7), which are adapted to be received between tongues pressed inwardly from the lateral walls of the housing near the free edges thereof remote from wall 9, and the housing walls. As shown in detail in Fig. 7, tongue l3a is punched inwardly from the wall 13 leaving the opening l3b in the plane of the wall into which opening is adapted to spring the tongue [9a of th lateral flange of the cover l9. Similar tongues and openings are provided in each of the other lateral walls Ill, H and 12 which cooperate with the spring tongues Illa, as shown in Fig. 3, to main tain the cover l9 securely in place.

The cover l9 serves to mount the socket 211 and the switch 30 within the housing. A screw or rivet 21 having its head countersunk in the outer face of cover [9 serves to fasten the socket 20 within the housing, which socket protrudes slightly from the rear face of the housing through the larger one of the openings provided in wall 9. The second opening in wall 9 is lined with a grommet 25 of rubber or the like, through which extends the wires 23 and 24 into the housing from a cord which terminates in an attachment plug which is adapted to be connected to an outlet receptacle.

The switch housing 30 within the housing 5 is also held by the cover I9. An insulating button 3| forming part of the switch 30, extends through the cover [9 and is adapted to be moved inwardly upon the closing of the door against the force of the spiral spring 35 within the cylindrical casing 30. In the illustrated embodiment of the normally closed switch, the circuit through the switch is completed between the spring arms 34 when the door is opened by the interposition of a conductive segment 33 mounted on the end of an insulating bar 32 when the switch button 31 is in freely protruding position in consequence of the force exerted thereagainst by spring 35. Upon the inner movement of the button 3|, the conductive segment 33 passes from between the ends of the spring fingers 34 (Fig. 6) so that the circuit between these fingers is now broken by the insulating bar 32.

Only the button 3| protrudes beyond the plane of the housing and its cover so that faulty operation of the switch or marring of the door is excluded. The thickness of the flanges l5 and I8 is so slight that the interposition of them between the door-stop and the door is well within the permissible tolerances allowed carpenters in the fitting of doors within door frames.

The socket 20 is a conventional one embodying the central terminal 2| in conjunction with the screw terminal 22 which are connected in circuit with the switch by means of conductor 23 and 24 within the housing. The slight extension of the socket 2U beyond the rear wall of the housing gives rise to a unit having a small moment of inertia so that even with the lamp L disposed in the socket, no substantial forces arise which tend to dislodge the housing from the corner of the frame. The closing of the door against flanges l5 and 16 serves to maintain the unit securely within the corner and in view of the disposition of the switch button 3| along the inner part of the unit, the moments which may be actually transmitted thereby to the housing are of small degree, and these are effectively counterbalanced by the spring 35 within the switch housing 30.

The housing in accordance with the present invention is capable of universal application to closet doors of all types. In those cases where the door is hinged on the left side rather than on the right side, the housing unit is turned in order to bring the flange IS in horizontal'position and the flange ii in vertical position. 0! course, the device is operable on either alternating or direct current.

The length or the electric cord 23 and 24, for example, flfteen'feet, is adequate to be led along the side of the closet to the exterior thereof along the baseboard for connection to the nearest outlet receptacle R (Fig. 2). In those cases where an electric outlet is already provided in the closet. a shorter length of wire may be used for connection to the outlet.

The provision of the lamp at the 'top of the door frame provides a more efficient illumination than an electric lamp mounted in the top of the closet where much of the light is cut off by one or more shelves provided in the closet.

The housing described above lends itself to attachment andconnectionby means of thumb tacks in thirty seconds. In those cases where the closet framework is formed of metal, metallic fasteners may be used in lieu of thumb-tacks without sacrificing the many advantages of the invention. f

The unit is easily detachable from the closet door frame in order to enable a party who has installed the same but temporarily to remove it 5 for installation in another closet, thus giving rise to an installation which is much more economical than one entailing complex wiring of the closet for illumination.

While I have described my invention as einbodied in specific form and as operating in a specific manner for purpose of illustration, it should be understood that I do not limit my invention thereto, since various modifications will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention, the scope of which is set forth in the an nexed claims.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, a closetlight fixture for mounting on the door-stop in the upper corner of a closet door frame opening adjacent to the hinge side of the door, said fixture comprising a housing and mounting flanges attached thereto consisting of two sheet-metal lateral walls perpendicular to each other adapted to fit within the corner of the door-stop defined by the horizontal and vertical members thereof and terminating in fastening portions beyond the boundaries of said housing for afixing the ends of said walls to the corresponding faces of said door-stop, each of said fastening portions having a small opening therein for the reception of a pointed fastener for penetration into the respective faces of the door-stop, positioning flanges extending perpendicularly to said lateral walls and adapted to be disposed closely adiacent to the horizontal and vertical edges of the door-stop and between said edges and the door in its closed position, a reciprocating switch within said housing protruding from the front thereof and controllable by the opening or the door to complete a circuit therethrough, a lamp socket in said housing facing the rear thereof for receiving an electric lamp therein, and electric conductors terminating in an attachment plug connected to said switch and socket and extending from said housing for connection to a source of power supply for the automatic energization of the electric lamp in response to the opening of the closet door.

2. A closet-light fixture comprising a switch housing, mounting flanges attached thereto con-- sisting of two sheet-metal lateral walls perpendicular to each other adapted to fit within the corner of a door stop and terminating in fasten ing portions beyond the boundaries of said housing, positioning flanges extending transversely to said walls at right angles to each other in a common plane, and a normally closed electric switch mounted in said housing and provided with an actuating member protruding from one side or said housing beyond said common plane.

MARTIN B. BELINE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,236,248 Atkinson Aug. 7, 1917 1,533,209 Radu Apr. 14, 1925 1,673,647 Strang June 12, 1928 1,678,375 Berssenbrugge July 24, 1928 1,853,203 Cluny Apr. 12, 1932 2,020,733 Moehler Nov. 12, 1935 2,052,654 Ponath Sept. 1, 1936 2,144,745 Soreng Jan. 24, 1939 2,172,523 Soreng Sept. 12, 1939

Images