US2734995A

US2734995A - Multilamp fixtures for illuminating

Info

Publication number: US2734995A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1956-02-14
Anticipated expiration: 1973-02-14

Description

United States Patent MULTILAMP FIXTURES FOR ILLUMINATING SYSTEMS 0F CONSIDERABLE LENGTH Eberhard Leuze and Josef Mller, Neheim-Huesten, Germany Application October 2, 1950, Serial No. 187,872 Claims priority, application Germany October 3, 1949 Claims. (Cl. 24U-51.11)

This invention relates to lamp fixtures or luminaries for straight fiuorescent lamps intended for illuminating spaces of considerable length.

One object of the invention is to provide a lamp fix ture of increased ruggedness and simplicity which may be readily assembled and disassembled.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lamp fixture having a very high bending strength, yet a relatively small weight, requiring a minimum of points of suspension on account of its great bending strength.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a lamp fixture having common means for attaching the xture to a ceiling andfor securing auxiliary apparatus and wiring to the fixture.

A further object of the invention is to provide a lamp fixture having a top portion of such geometrical configuration as to impart a great bending strength to the top portion, the top portion forming a dual purpose rail, its dovetail-shaped outer surface constituting a support for fixture auxiliaries arranged inside of the fixture.

These and other objects of this invention will become more apparent upon consideration of the following description of preferred embodiments thereof, when taken in connection with the attached drawing in which:

Fig. l is a transverse cross-sectional view of an ernbodiment of the invention with certain parts shown in elevation;

Fig. 2 is a front view of a component of the structure of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation, on a smaller scale, of a group of fixtures of considerable length;

Fig. 4 illustrates the points of suspension of fixtures on a ceiling; and

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 3.

Reference numeral 1 has been applied to a housing which may be provided with lateral reflectors 2. As shown in Fig. 3 the length of the housing 1 is a plural of the length of a straight tubular lamp as, for instance, a conventional fiuorescent lamp 3. Reference numeral 4 indicates the lamp holders of which one pair is associated with each lamp. Each lamp holder 4 is attached to the housing 1 by means of a lamp holder support 5. Housing 1 is closed at the lower side thereof by a bottom plate 6 attached to and supported by the lamp holder support 5. Fig. l shows a ballast choke 7 arranged inside or" the housing 1. The latter is attached to the ceiling by a hanger rod 8. The lower end of rod 8 is screwthreaded for supporting a substantially U-shaped sheet metal element or strap. The ends of the flanges 9 and 1t) of that element are bent to form a dovetail-shaped clamp adapted to be tightened by means of a transverse bolt 12 and a tightening nut riding on a screw-threaded end of' said bolt. The above dovetail-shaped clamp is adapted to slide on a straight rail 11 formed on the top of housing 1 and extending substantially along its entire length. According to Fig. l the top or roof of the A 2,734,995 lcc Y Patented Feb.14,1956

housing 1 itself is dovetail-shaped and constitutes the rail 11.

As shown in Fig. l the upper outer side of rail 11 is engaged by supporting clamp element 9, 10, 12, while the lower inner side of rail 11 is engaged by another supporting clamp 13, 14 which is likewise substantially dovetail-shaped. The top of housing 1 and an extension of clamping element 14 form jointly a short passage or duct supporting current conductors or leads 15. The center portion of supporting clamp 13, 14 carries a piece of auxiliary equipment such as a ballast choke 7.

The housing 1 shown in Fig. 1 is provided on the lower lateral sides thereof with diverging edge strips 16. The concave refiector 2 is secured to the left hand edge strip.

As shown in Fig. l the lamp holder supports 5 are provided at their opposite lateral ends with clamping means 21 in cooperative engagement with the Z-shaped ends of edge strips 16. The lamp holder support 5 carries also the bottom cover plate 6.

A plurality of hanger rods 8 each having dovetailshaped clamping means 9, 10, 12 at the lower end are arranged along rail 11. The number of hanger rods per unit of rail length and their spacing may be varied, as desired. Due to the high degree of rigidity of the top portion of the fixture a relatively small number of points of suspension are required for a given length as, for instance, two points of suspension for each 5 yards length.

Figs. 3 and 5 show clearly how a luminaire of very considerable length is formed by alignment of a plurality of luminaire units and alignment of a plurality of tubular lamps. The aligned luminaire units form a continuous composite luminaire structure and the spacing between the adjacent ends of the tubular lamps is extremely small, thus creating the impression that there is but one single lamp the length of which is substantially equal to that of the composite luminaire. In Fig. 4 reference numeral 20 has been applied to indicate the points of suspension of the hangers 8 on a ceiling, which points may be out of alignment if suitable adjustment means are provided enabling alignment of the lower ends of hangers 8 along the line of symmetry 21 of casing 1.

As clearly shown in Fig. l the substantially channelshaped casing 1 forms lateral edges Z5, 25 between the top portion and the sides 26, 26' thereof. The top consists of a plurality of angularly bent integral elements including two lateral pairs of

elements

29, 30 and 29, 39 and a median element 27 arranged between said two lateral pairs of elements. Each of said plurality of elements encloses an acute angle with the element immediately adjacent thereto,

i. e. elements

30 and 29 enclose an acute angle,

elements

29 and 27 enclose an acute angle,

elements

27 and 29 enclose an acute angle and

elements

29 and 30 enclose an acute angle. The angles enclosed between side 26 and element 30 and the angle enclosed between side 26 and element 30 are less than degrees. The median element 27 lies substantially fiush with the plane defined by edges 2S and 25" and forms jointly with elements 29, 29 a straight hollow rail 11 having a dovetail-shaped cross-section. Rail 11 is recessed within the general outline of casing 1 and is hugged externally by the clamping, means 9, 10, 12 and internally by the wedge-shaped clamping means 13, 14.

Reference numerals

31 and 31 have been applied to indicate the edges formed between

elements

29 and 30, and 29 and 30', respectively. The above described geometry of casing 1 provides a high degree of rigidity of the top of casing 1.

Having described preferred embodiments of the invention in accordance with the patent statutes, it is desired that the invention be not limited to these particular structures, inasmuch as it will be obvious to persons skilled in the art that many modications and changes may be made in these particular structures .without departing from the broad spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is desired that the invention be interpreted as broadly as possible and that it be limited only as required by the prior art.

We claim as our invention:

1. A lamp fixture comprising a substantially channelshaped casing having a top and a pair of sides, said top and pair of sides forming a pair of lateral edges at the intersection of the planes thereof, said top consisting of tive angularly bent integral elements each enclosing an acute angle with the element situated immediately adjacent thereto, two of said five elements each enclosing an angle of less than 90 degrees with one of said pair of sides, said tive elements comprising a median element and two lateral pairs of elements, said median element lying substantially iiush with the plane deiined by said pair of lateral edges and forming jointly with two of said tive elements situated adjacent thereto a straight hollow rail, said rail being substantially recessed in back of the plane defined by said pair of lateral edges and gripped by suspension clamps at the outer surface thereof, a wedge-shaped clamp supporting auxiliary fixture equipment engaging the inner surface of said rail.

2. A lamp fixture comprising a substantially channelshaped casing having a top and a pair of sides, said top and pair of sides forming a pair of lateral edges at the intersection of the planes thereof, said top consisting of a plurality of angularly bent integral elements each enclosing an acute angle with the element situated immediately adjacent thereto, two of said plurality of elements each enclosing an angle of less than 90 degrees with one of said pair of sides, said plurality of elements comprising a median element and two lateral pairs of elements substantially recessed behind the plane deiined by said pair of lateral edges, the angular relations of said plurality of elements and said pair of sides imparting a great freedom of lateral motion to said pair of sides.

3. In a lamp lixture for straight iiuorescent lamps of considerable length a trough of sheet material having a top and two sides converging toward said top, a hollow rail dove-tail shaped in cross-section completely recessed behind the plane defined by the top edges of said sides forming an integral part of said top, said top and said sides defining a pair of grooves extending in a direction longitudinally of said trough and situated behind said plane deiined by said top edges of said sides, a first clamping means for suspending said trough projecting into said pair of grooves and engaging the outer surface of said rail, and a second clamping means for supporting auxiliary equipment in engagement with the inner surface of said rail.

4. In a lamp iixture for straight fluorescent lamps of considerable length a trough of sheet material having a top and two sides diverging from said top, a hollow rail dove-tail shaped in cross-section completely recessed behind the plane delined by the top edges of said sides forming an integral part of said top, said top further comprising a pair of surface elements each slantng from one of said top edges of said sides to one of the bottom edges of said rail, a first clamping means for suspending said trough projecting at least in part beyond said plane delined by said top edges of said sides and cooperatively engaging the outer surface of said rail, a second clamping means for supporting auxiliary equipment, said sec ond clamping means comprising a pair of clamping bars arranged transversely with respect to said trough, one of said pair of clamping bars cooperatively engaging the inner surface of said rail and the other of said pair of clamping bars cooperatively engaging the inner surfaces of said pair of surface elements, and an extension on said other of said pair of clamping bars forming a support for Wiring arranged in said trough.

5. A trough of sheet material for lamp xtures for straight fluorescent lamps of considerable length comprising a top and a pair of sides diverging from said top, a hollow rail dove-tail shaped in cross-section completely recessed behind the plane defined by the top edges of said sides forming an integral part of said top, and said top further comprising a pair of surface elements each slanting from one of said top edges of said sides to one of the bottom edges of said rail.

References Cited in the rile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Monks Feb.v 23, 1954