May 28, 1957 G. o. TRIER 2,194,115

LAMP REFLECTOR B/OWL Filed sept. 9, 1954 I 2 sheets-sheet 1 George Q The? May 28, 1957 G. o. TRIER 2,794,115

LAMP REFLECTOR' BOWL Filed Sept. 9, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 n fzdezznr Geozjge O. Trier Unite LAMP REFLECTR BOWL assignor to Rembrandt George 0. Trier, Chicago, Ill.,

Ill., a corporation of Lamp Corporation, Chicago, Illinois Application September 9, 1951i, Serial No. 455,005 1 Claim. (Cl. 240--81) @tates Patent a lamp rellector bowl so designed that the locating of a lamp shade in its correct center position on the reector -bowl is'automatically and positively assured, and which enables such center position to be determined without the necessity of looking into the top of the reflector bowl or under the lamp shade.

A further object of the invention is to provide a lamp reector bowl which insures correct centering of a lamp shade having straight hangers, and one which enables the centering arrangement embodying my invention to be economically incorporated in the reilector bowl as it is being molded or fabricated.

It is a still further object of my invention to provide an improved lamp reflector bowl for the centering of a lamp shade which is adapted to be used with lamp shades having either three or four hangers in the lamp shade frame.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings in which similar characters of reference indicate similar parts, throughout the several views.

Referring `to the two sheets of drawings:

Fig. l is a fragmentary, elevational view, partly in section, of a lamp assembly including a lamp rellector bowl embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the lamp assembly illustrated in Fig. 1, the view indicating by the dot and dash lines the utilization of a modified form of lamp shade with my improved lamp reiiector bowl.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view taken on a line 3 3 of Fig. 2, in the direction of the arrows, and further illustrating attachment of a lamp shade to my improved lamp reilector bowl.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view similar to that of Fig. 2 and showing the positioning of, a modied form of lamp shade on my improved lamp reflector bowl.

Having reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein several embodiments of my invention are disclosed for illustrative purposes, it will be Vseen that lamp assembly 10 includes a lamp reector bowl 11 having a bowl-like reector body 12 of suitable shape and design. A lower open end 13 of the reilector bowl 11 is receivedl within a lamp socket 14 and held securely therein by means of set screws 16, the set screws extending through rim 17 of the lamp socket and in threaded engagement therewith. The lamp socket is aiixed to the upper end of a .2,794,115 VPatented May 28, 1957 "ice lamp post 18 and the electrical circuit thereto is controlled by means of switch (not shown) operated by knob 19. A lamp bulb 21 is threaded into the lamp socket 14 and extends upwardly into the reflector bowl 11.

vThe lamp assembly 10 includes a frusto-conical lamp shade 22 comprising a wire lamp frame 23 giving form to both a lower opening 24 and an upper opening 26 of the lamp shade, the frame including the usual vertical ribs (not shown) extending between the openings for rigidity and strength. A shade covering 27 of fabric, parchment, paper, or other suitable material is stretched over and ailixed to the lamp frame. Across the upper opening Zoot the lamp shade are hangers 28 which are generally made of a relatively heavy wire such as that used in the lamp frame 23. The hangers ordinarily are brazed or otherwise secured to that portion of the lamp frame forming the upper opening of the lamp shade and extend radially from the lamp frame inwardly across the upper opening 26 toward a center hub ring 29 to which they are rigidly secured. As shown in Figs. l and 2, each of the hangers 28 is provided with a projecting keeper` bend 31 adjacent to the juncture of the hanger 28 with the lamp frame 23 around the upper opening 26, the distance between diametrically opposed bends being slightly -greater than the outside diameter of the bowl. The lamp shade 22 is supported on the lamp by resting on the` upper open edge 32 of the reflector bowl 11.

Where the lamp shade is to be used with a reiiector bowl as has been described, the hangers 28 serve both to maintain the lamp frame and covering in their proper location relative to the upper opening 26 and to support the lamp shade on the rellector bowl. As shown in Fig. 2, the lamp shade 22 is provided with four equally spaced hangers A, B, C, and D, extending radially inwardly from the wire frame 23 and meeting at the central hub ring 29. Each of these hangers is substantially perpendicular to its two adjoining hangers so that the hangers divide the circular opening 26 into four quadrants. A lamp shade utilizing four hangers is relatively rigid, will retain its shape, and be readily supported on the reflector bowl.

The use of three hangers in a lamp shade is indicated in Fig. 2 by the dotted lines designated as X and Y with the third hanger being that shown by the solid lines designated as A. Such hangers are equiangularly spaced from each other so that each hanger forms an angle of degrees with respect to its adjacent hanger. This triangular arrangement imparts a pleasing appearance to the lamp shade and provides adequate rigidity and maintenance of shape with the greatest possible economy of materials.

Hitherto, the centering of a lamp shade on a reector bowl type of lamp has been accomplished by setting the lamp shade on the reflector bowl so that al1 of the projecting keeper bends 31 of the hangers are outside of the reilector bowl, the keeper bends being located along the hangers to provide a central area for the reflector bowl. To center a lamp shade by this method, it is generally necessary to look over the top of the lamp shade and into the reilector bowl or to look under the lamp shade through the lower opening 24 so as to observe the position ofV the keeper bends with respect to upper edge 32 of the reilector bowl. Otherwise, one or more of the keeper bends may be inadvertently placed inside of the reflector bowl so that the lamp shade will be horizontal and level and yet not be centered on the bowl. This, of course, is not only displeasing in appearance but also tends eventually to cause the lamp shade to deteriorate by reason of excessive heat caused by its proximity to the rellector bowl as well as creating a possible `fire hazard in the case of an unusually powerful lamp.

To insure automatic and precise centering of the lamp 3 shade on the reflector bowl with a minimum of time and effort, the reflector bowl embodying my invention is provided with a plurality of notches 33 along the upper edge 32 of the reflector body 12. The notches 33. are of a width slightly greater than the diameter of the hangers 28 and are of suilicient depth to retain the hangers conveniently within the notches, generally adepth of approximately half of the diameter of the wire hanger being suicient for this purpose. The notches may be economically formed in the upper edge 32 during fabrication or molding of the reilector bowl..

The notches 33 are equally spaced around the upper edge 32 of the reflector bowl and are at least as. many in number as the hangers utilized in the lamp Shade. Thus, in the case of a lamp shade having four hangers, a centering pattern of at least four notches 33 is provided around upper edge 32, such notches being spaced 90 degrecs apart for registration with and reception of the lamp shade hangers A, B, C, and D. In the case of a lamp shade utilizing three hangers, a centering pattern of at least three notches is provided around the upper edge 32 of the reflector bowl, such notches being 120 degrees apart for registration and reception of thelamp shade hangers X, Y, and A.

For purposes of convenience and appearance it may be desirable to incorporate a greater number of notches 33 in the reflector bowl than the required minimum. Thus, with a lamp shade having four hangers, the notches 33 may be in the number of a multiple of four, that is, four, eight, twelve, sixteen, or more. In the case of a lamp shade having three hangers, the notches may be in the number of a multiple of three, that is, three, six, nine, twelve, fteen, or more. The use of a greater number of notches than the required minimum not only tends to give a pleasing, serrated appearance to the upper edge 32 of the reflector bowl, but also enables the lamp shade hangers to bc more easily registered with and received by their appropriate centering pattern because of the greater number of such patterns available.

It is an important feature of my invention to provide notches 33 around the upper edge 32 so that the reilector bowl is adapted to accommodate lamp shades having either three hangers or four hangers across the upper opening 26 of the lamp shade. This is done by incorporating notches 33 around the upper edge 32 in the number ofa multiple of both three and four, such as, twelve, twenty-four, thirty-six, etc. Where the upper edge of the reflector bowl has twelve equally spaced notches, a three hanger lamp shade has four centering patterns available and a four hanger lamp shade has three centering patterns available for use in the proper positioning of the lamp shade on the reflector bowl. While twelve notches is the minimum number to accommodate both a three and a four hanger lamp shade, a further multiple of twelve such as, for example, twenty-four, gives an additional number of centering patterns and thereby facilitates registration and reception of the hangers. The centering patterns, however, are preferably of a sufllciently small number to enable positive registration to be made with the lamp shade hangers.

In the centering of a four hanger lamp shade on my improved rcllector bowl having twelve equally spaced notches as shown in Fig. 2, the lamp shade is placed over the lamp with the hangers 28 resting on the upper edge 32 of the reflector bowl. In such position, of course, the hangers 23 are not necessarily registered with any one of the centering patterns provided and, therefore, the lamp shade is slid or turned slightly around the rellector bowl until two opposite hangers have been received by opposed notches. Further movement of the lamp shade along the length of these hangers will cause the other two hangers to be registered in the appropriate notches. Prel cise centering of the lamp shade on the reflector bowl is automatically assured when the hangers have been received by one of the centering patterns and the lamp shade is horizontal and level on the reflector bowl. If desired, the sides of each of the notches 33 may be beveled slightly to facilitate adjustment of the lamp shade.

My improved reflector bowl may be utilized with lamp shades of various shapes and design. Thus, round, oval, square, rectangular, and other shapes may be embodied in a lamp shade usable with my reflector bowl. Such varying forms of lamp shades are, of course, supported on the reflector bowl by hangers extending across the upper opening of the lamp shade. As illustrated in Fig. 4, a lamp shade 34 of oval shape includes four equally spaced hangers 2@ extending across the reflector bowl and registered with and received by a centering pattern of four equally spaced notches 33 around the upper edge 32 of the reflector bowl.

With the use of my improved reflector bowl, it is not necessary that the lamp shade hangers 28 include keeper bends 31 inasmuch as proper positioning of the lamp shade is provided by the centering pattern independently of such keeper bends. Where the lamp shade hangers include such keeper bends, the latter must necessarily be` located around the outside of the rellector bowl after the lamp shade has beeny correctly positioned. My improvedaround the upper edge 32 so as to register with and receive the hangers ofthe lamp shade.

Itis understood that lamp shade hangers having keeper bends of the type illustrated herein may be used with ordinary smooth-rimmed reflector bowls as well as with the notched-rim bowls of this invention, and that many existing lamp shades may be used without modification with the said notched-rirn bowls, so that perfect interchangeability of shades is retained in the present invention.

While I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I do not wish to be limited to thev precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of all changes Within the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

Shade mounting meansfor a plurality of types of lampshade frames having a hub memberanda peripheral member larger than and coaxial, with said hub member, one said type of lamp-shade frame having three hangers and another said type having four hangers, said hangers of all of said types extending radially of the common axis ofY and secured to the hub and peripheralmembers and being equi-spaced about that common axis, said shade mounting means comprising a reflector bowl having an open upper end of a size intermediate the sizes of said hub and peripheral members, said bowl having a plurality of notches in the upper edge thereof, equi-spaced peripherally of said bowl and corresponding in number to a common multiple of the numbers of said hangers iny said types of frames, said notches being adapted to receive the hangers of any selected one of said frames for releasably holding the selected frame in coaxial relationship with and on said bowl and preventing rotation of that frame relative to said bowl.

Baker May 27, 1924 Levy Dec. 31, 1935