US2673924A - Instrument lighting cover panel - Google Patents

Description

INSTRUMENT LIGHTING COVER PANEL Filed March 2, 1950 24 a5 3/ as 29 /n/r//u\ w 1 34 43 I F IG. 4

a as 45 47 zlrwlm bow 53 5/ JOHN M. ROPE THOMAS 0 T W/ST Patented Mar. 30, 1954 OF E 2573,92 1 INSTRUMENT LIGHTING COVER PANEL John M. ARoper, Washington, D. ,C.,:and Thomas 0. Twist, Chevy Chase, Md.

Application March 2, 1950, Serial No. 147,311

'13 Claims.

(01. 240-.8.16) (Granted under Title 35,

U. s. Code (1952).

see. 266) The present invention relates to an instrument lighting system, and more particularlyto an instrument lighting system for use in vehicular instrument panels.

It has been the general practice in the prior art to employ a single cover panel hand tailored for .all instrument arrangements, the panel .being provided with the necessary lightingfixtures. This type of panel :has proved to be disadvantageous both in production and actual use. Thus, in production, greatcare must be taken in tailoring the cutouts to properly fit the individual instruments or the entire .panel will .be practically useless. Furthermore, a different :cover panel is required for each specific arrangement of the instruments on the mounting panel.

.In operation, if it is desired to rearrange the instruments 1011 the mounting panel, a new cover panel will be necessary. 'Inaddition, continued use of the single cover panel has .often resulted in buckling .of the panel thereby disrupting the desired distribution of the light and the efiicient operation.

The present inventors, in application .Serial No. 50,342, filed September 21, .1948, now Patent No. 2,614,205, for Aircraft Instrument Lighting, have proposed one system for obviating the above-mentioned, and other disadvantages of the prior art systems, wherein .an individual cover panel is provided :foreach instrument, this panel having the lighting mean for illuminating :the dial of its associated instrument mounted thereon.

In operation, the system proposed in the earlier application, although overcomin many of the disadvantages of'the prior art, has presented certain problems. Firstly, it has been found that the lamp sockets, which extend upwardly beyond the upper surface of the-cover panel of the earlier system have acted as a visual cut-01f of the instrument dial. Secondly, due to the fact that the cover panel is mounted on the instrument panel on separate screws, much valuable space has been expended, anddifficulty has been experienced in mounting the cover panels over instruments which are inclose proximity-to each other. In addition, whenever it is desired --'to remove the instrument from its mounting, it has been necessary to entirely remove the cover panel.

The present invention proposes to eliminate these and other disadvantages by providing a system comprising a mounting base plate which is mounted directlyover the instrument mounting means, the base Plate .being provided lwithlthe l n in means. and a rcovernanel which ,1 is the provision of an individual instrument lighting cover panel occupying a minimum of space and ofiering a maximum of illumination of the-instrument.

Another object is to provide an individual instrument lighting cover panel which can be secured to the mounting panel by means of the conventional instrument mounting screws.

A further object is to provide an individual instrument lighting cover panel which may be readilyremoved in a single operation.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of an individual instrument lighting cover panel which in no way interferes with the operators visibility of the instrument dial.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the vfollowing detailed description of the annexeddrawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational View of a,port ion of an instrument board illustratin an instrument and a preferred embodiment of the lighting system of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is afront elevational view-of the "back plate of the ,present invention with the lamp and lamp connections mounted thereon;

Fig. 3 is a section taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 looking in the directions of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a sectional viewof the; lamp and lamp holder of'Fig. '2;

Fig. 5 is a plan view, partly in section, of the electrical connector of1Fig.,2; and

Fig. 6 is a section taken on the line 6.-16 of Fig. .1, with certain parts removed, illustrating the illumination of-the instrument dialaccording tothe present invention.

Referring now to the drawing, wherein like reference characters designatelike or corresponding .partsthroughout the several .views, there is shown :in Fig. 1 a portion H of an instrument board having an instrument 12 mounted thereon. Mounted over instrument [2 .in a manner to be described below is the lighting system 13 of the present invention, system 13 comprising a cover panel I4 and vaback :plate i5, shown in Referring now to Fig. 2, it is seen that back plate |5 is provided with a pair of lower apertures l6 and a pair of bossed upper apertures I! through which pass the mounting screws, not shown, of the instrument whereby mounting of the instrument on the instrument board will also simultaneously mount plate l5. Plate I5 is also provided with an internally threaded boss l8 and a pair of integral projecting lugs IS in order to mount panel |4 over plate l5, the mounting bein accomplished by means of screw 2| and a pair of apertures, not shown, in the upper side surface of panel l4.

Mounted on the upper surface of plate [5 by any suitable means 22 is a split electrically insulating body 23 having an electrical sleeve connector 24 passing axially therethrough. As

shown in Fig. 5, connector central section 25 having a pin 26 mounted there in to which is connected a lead 21 from one terminal of a power supply, not shown, and a pair of split sleeve end sections 28 in each of which is tightly fitted conducting terminal 29 of lamp socket 3|.

As shown in Fig. 4, each lamp socket 3| comprises a cylindrical insulating sleeve portion 32, and a relatively smaller cylindrical sleeve portion 33 joined to portion 32 by means of insulating sleeve 34, all the portions of theinsulating sleeve being integral.

Sleeve portion 32 is preferably made of a material translucent to light, such as a material which transmits only red light, although it is clear that sleeve 32 may be made light transparent or of a material which transmits any other color. Socket 3| further comprises a conducting sleev tightly fitting within sleeve portion 32 and integral with terminal 29, which extends through sleeve portions 33 and 34 and outwardly thereof. The inner surface of connecting sleeve 35 is preferably made light-reflecting, and substantially one-half of the surface thereof positioned in front of lamp 36 is cut away in order to permit the passage of light therethrough.

In order to retain lamp 36 in socket 3|, a spring 31 is mounted within a circumferential groove, not designated in sleeve 35, as shown in Fig. 4, a portion of insulating sleeve portion 32 at its outer end being cut away, as shown in Figs. 2

and 4, to permit easy removal of lamp 36. In its operative position, each socket 3| has its terminal 29 extending into section 28 of connector 24, as shown in Fig. 2, the central terminal 38 of lamp 36 abutting against upwardly extending bracket 39, mounted on plate |5, to maintain socket 3| and lamp 36 in fixedposition.

By this arrangement of the sockets and lamps, all of the illumination from lamps 36, including that reflected from the back portion of sleeve 35, is directed outwardly through the cut-away portion of sleeve 35 onto the dial 4| and pointer 42 of instrument I2. In addition, it can be seen that lamps 36 and their associated sockets 3| are positioned entirely within the outline of plate l5, thus eliminating the necessity for expending much valuable space. By this arrangement, the instruments may be placed in close proximity on the instrument board, the only limitation being the space occupied by the instrument itself.

It is also apparent that by arranging mounting means It and I! for plate I5 in alignment with the mounting means for instrument l2, as shown in Fig. 2, additional space is saved. Finally, bymean of positioning the axes of lamps 36 and sockets 3! parallel to the plane of plate I5, the

24 comprises a solid possibility of visual cut-off of a portion of instrument dial 4| is entirely eliminated.

Referring now to Fig. 6, which illustrates the light distribution achieved by the system of the present invention, it can be seen that no light rays can emerge from the sides of system l3, due to the presence of upwardly extending flange 43 integrally formed along the outer edges of plate l5 and cooperating downwardly extending integral flange 44 on panel |4. Similarly, the upper surface of panel |4 adjacent each of lamps is provided with a vertical portion 45 and an inclined or bevelled portion 46 in order to prevent any of the light rays from reaching the eyes of the observer directly, and to direct the light rays downwardly toward the instrument dial 4|.

In order to prevent any of the direct rays of light from lamps 36 from striking the markings on the peripheral area of dial 4| between ten and two o'clock, opposite sides of the upper portion of plate I!) are provided with projection 48, shown in Fig. 2, which, when the system is assembled, are in the path of such rays so that only direct light rays of angles equal to or less than that of ray 49 reach glass 41, as shown in Fig. 6. Thus, the only rays striking this area of dial 4| are those reflected from flange 46 of panel |4.

To prevent rays of light from being reflected upwardly from the bezel of glass 41 into the eyes of the observer, a flange 5| is provided on the lower surface of plate I5, flange 5| extending into the path of these rays, such as rays 53, as shown in Fig. 6. A flange 52 is provided along the lower surface of panel I4, flange 52 serving to trap any of the light rays directed downwardly toward the lower surface of the instrument and preventing any rays from impinging upon the top of the next instrument.

The distance 54 between flange 46 and projection 48 is critical and is so dimensioned that direct rays from lamps 36 can reach glass 41 at no lower than the approximate center thereof, this limit being indicated by ray 55 in Fig. 6. It has been found that light rays striking glass 41 below this point serve no useful function in lighting dial 4| and pointer 42, but do produce glare by reflection from the surface of glass 46. On the other hand, rays reaching glass 46 at points above the approximate center are refracted through the glass and downwardly toward the bottom of dial 42.

Experimentation has shown that the system of the present invention produces a high degree of uniformity of illumination of the instrument dial and pointer, eliminates substantially all glare, and utilizes most efficiently the space and power available for electrical lighting.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing disclosure relates to only a preferred embodiment of the invention and that numerous modifications or alterations may be made therein without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

What is claimed is:

1. An individual lighting device for each instrument of an instrument board, said device comprising a back plate adapted to fit over the face of the instrument. means for detachably on opposite horizontally aligned upper corners of said plate, respectively, the axis of each of said lamps being substantially parallel to the plane of said plate, a cover panel, means on said plate and said panel for detachably mounting said panel over said plate and lamps, and light-impervious means depending from said plate below said lamps for preventing direct rays of light from said lamps from reaching the peripheral area of the dial of the instrument 60 degrees on each side of a vertical diametrical line through the dial.

2. A device according to claim 1, and light impervious means on said panel cooperating with the last-mentioned means for preventing rays of light from said lamps from striking the glass of the instrument below the center thereof.

3. A device according to claim 2, in which the front surface of said corners and said light impervious means are coplanar.

4. An individual lighting device for each in strument of an instrument board, said device comprising a back plate being apertured to fit over the face of the instrument, means for detachably mounting said plate on the instrument, a pair of lamps mounted tally aligned upper corners of said plate, respectively, said lamps being positioned between the outer confines of said plate and said aperture, the axes of each of said lamps being substantially parallel to the plane of said plate, said plate having integral projections extending into said aperture below each of said lamps for preventing direct rays of light from said lamps from reaching the peripheral area of the dial of the instrument 60 degrees on each side of a vertical diametrical line a cover panel having a vision opening and being detachably mounted on said plate to constitute a frontal shield for said lamps and plate.

5. A device according to claim 4, and a flange depending from said panel and cooperating with said projections for preventing rays of light from said lamps from striking the glass of the instrument below the center thereof.

6. A device according to claim 5 in which the front surface of said corners and said projections are coplanar.

7. An individual lighting device for each instrument of an instrument board, said device comprising a back plate being apertured to fit over the face of the instrument, means for detachably mounting said plate on the instrument, a pair of lamp sockets mounted on opposite horizontally aligned upper corners of said plate, respectively, said sockets being positioned between the outer confines of said plate and said aperture, a lamp mounted in each of said sockets, the axes of each of said sockets being substantially parallel to the plane of said plate, each of said sockets comprising a light-impervious member surrounding said lamp and having a lower portion thereof cut away for emitting rays of light therethrough, said plate having integral projections extending into said aperture below each of said cut away portions for preventing direct rays of light from said lamps from reaching the peripheral area of the dial of the instrument 60 degrees on each side of a vertical diametrical line through the dial, and a cover panel having a vision opening and being detachthrough the dial, and

6 ably mounted on said plate to constitute a frontal shield for said sockets and plate.

8. A device according to claim 1, in which the front surface of said corners and said lightimpervious means are coplanar.

9. A device according to claim 4, in which the front surface of said corners and said projections are coplanar.

10. A device according to claim '7 in which the front surface of said corners and said projections are coplanar.

11. An individual lighting device for each instrument of an instrument board, said device comprising a back plate having a front planar surface being apertured to fit over the face of the instrument, the upper portion of said plate aperture being arcuate at least through an angle extending 60 degrees on each side of a vertical diametrical line through the aperture, means for mounting said plate on the instrument, a pair of lamps mounted on opposite horizontally aligned upper corners of said plate, respectively, said lamps being positioned between the outer confines of said plate and said aperture, the axes of each of said lamps being substantially parallel to the plane of said plate, said plate having integral projections depending therefrom and coplanar therewith and extending into said aperture below each of said lamps for preventing direct rays OI light from said lamps from reaching the peripheral area of the dial of the instrument 60 degrees on each side of a vertical diametrical line through the dial, and a cover panel having a vision opening and being detachably mounted on said plate to constitute a frontal shield for said lamps and plate.

12. A device according to claim 11, in which a flange depends from said panel and cooperates with said projections for preventing rays of light from said lamps from striking the glass of the instrument below the center thereof.

13. An individual lighting device for each instrument of an instrument board, said device comprising a back plate having a front planar surface being apertured to fit over the face of the instrument, the upper portion of said plate aperture being arcuate at least through an angle extending 60 degrees on each side of a vertical diametrical line through the aperture, means for detachably mounting said plate on the instrument, a pair of lamp sockets mounted on opposite horizontally aligned upper corners of said plate, respectively, said sockets being positioned between the outer confines of said plate and said aperture, a lamp mounted in each of said sockets, the axes of each of said sockets being substantially parallel to the plane of said plate, each of said sockets comprises a lightimpervious member surrounding said lamp and having a lower portion thereof cut away for emitting rays of light therethrough, said plate having projections coplanar therewith and extending into said aperture below each of said cut away portions for preventing direct rays of light from said lamps from reaching the peripheral area of the dial of the instrument 60 degrees on each side of a vertical diametrical line through the dial, and a vision opening and being on said plate to constitute said sockets and plate.

JOHN M. ROPER.

THOMAS O. TWIST.

a frontal shield for (References on following page) depending therefrom and.

7 References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,137,773 Marsden May 4, 1915 1,263,075 Knaufi Apr. 16, 1918 1,620,328 Dingman Mar. 8, 1927 1,642,187 Young Sept. 13, 1927 1,668,522 Zubaty May 1, 1928 1,701,413 Lewellen Feb. 5, 1929 1,786,768 Moorhouse Dec. 30, 1930 10 2,140,972 Rylsky Dec. 20, 1938 Number Number Name Date Trautner Dec. 20, 1938 Kollsman May 28, 1940 Carbonara. Nov. 18, 1941 Hallman Dec. 16, 1947 Suwa. June 14, 1949 Maynard May 9, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Italy Aug. 5, 1939

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