US3140833A

US3140833A - Ceiling fixture

Info

Publication number: US3140833A
Application number: US130996A
Authority: US
Inventors: Woloski Leonard
Original assignee: Lightolier Inc
Current assignee: Lightolier Inc
Priority date: 1961-08-11
Filing date: 1961-08-11
Publication date: 1964-07-14
Anticipated expiration: 1981-07-14
Also published as: GB990073A

Description

July 14, 1964 WOLOSKI 3,140,833

CEILING FIXTURE Filed Aug. 11, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 III/I INVENTOR. L0NAA0 WOLOSKI' ATTOKA/EYS L. WOLOSKI CEILING- FIXTURE July 14, 1964 Filed Aug. 11, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. i LEONAKD wowsx/ FIG. 4

A rrunvtrs United States Patent 3,140,833 CEILING FIXTURE Leonard Woloski, Brooidyn, N.Y., assignor to Lightolier Incorporated, a corporation of New York Filed Aug. 11, 1961, Ser. No. 130,996 3 Claims. (Cl. 240-78) This invention relates to the art of ceiling fixtures and more particularly to a lighting fixture and the translucent diffuser panel thereof and mount therefor.

Where conventional diffuser panels of translucent material which are positioned beneath sources of light, require a hinged frame for mounting, the resultant structure may be costly, cumbersome and heavy and in addition the frame of such panel may cause light discontinuity with resultant detraction from the decorative effect provided by a continuous illuminated area.

It is accordingly among the objects of the invention to provide a ceiling lighting fixture that includes a diffuser panel that may readily be fabricated from relatively inexpensive material at low cost, which may readily be installed without the need of frames, requiring but a pair of spaced rails for mounting and which, when mounted, will dependably remain in position without likelihood of accidental dislodgment due to a vertical movement with respect to the support rails, yet may readily be removed therefrom when necessary, with a simple manipulation and without the use of tools of any sort and which will provide a luminous region that completely conceals such mounting rails to avoid any light discontinuity.

According to the invention, these objects are accomplished by the arrangement and combination of elements hereinafter described and more particularly recited in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings in which is shown one of various possible embodiments of the several features of the invention,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the ceiling fixture,

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the diffuser panel and support brackets of the lighting fixture with parts broken away and partly in cross section,

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 5 is a detail sectional view showing another embodiment of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings, the lighting fixture comprises an elongated housing 11 having a top wall 12 with depending end and

side walls

13 and 14.

Secured to the lower edges of each of the side walls 14 and extending the length thereof are support brackets 15, 15'. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, each support bracket has an elongated substantially U-shaped channel portion 16 which has an elongated flange 17 upstanding from the inner edge of its upper surface 18 and an elongated outwardly inclined flange 19 depending from the inner edge 20 of its lower supporting surface 21. A lip 22 illustratively extends the length of each of said flanges 21 in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the lower supporting surface 21.

As is clearly shown in FIG. 3, each of the flanges 17 is positioned on the inside of the associated wall 14 and is secured thereto as by riveting at 23, said walls each having a lateral flange 24 resting on the top surface 18.

The housing has mounted therein a plurality of fluorescent lamps 25 which extend between end walls 13. As the mount for such lamps and the mechanism to control the latter is well known and per se forms no part of the invention, it will not be further described.

Adapted to be supported by the brackets 15, 15' is a diffuser member which comprises a rigid rectangular panel 27 of translucent plastic such as acrylic or styrene. Each of the ends of the panel has an upstanding wall 28 preferably formed integral therewith and substantially perpendicular thereto. Each of the two opposed side edges of the panel 27 has a strip 29 rising therefrom and formed integral therewith, said strips being inclined inwardly as shown in FIG. 3.

The upper edge of each of the strips 29 has a thickened portion 31 with an elongated recess 32, illustratively substantially circular in cross section, extending the length thereof and with an elongated opening 33 leading into said recess. Extending laterally outward from each of said thickened portions 31 and extending substantially the length thereof is a substantially rectangular lip 34 which lies in a plane parallel to the plane of the panel 27, the outer edge 35 of each lip extending outwardly beyond the associated edge 30 of the panel 27.

As shown in FIG. 3, the width of the diffuser member taken transversely across the lips 34 thereof is such that said lips may be supported on the lower supporting surface 21 of said channel portions 16. Means are provided releasably to retain the panel in position substantially centered between the

brackets

15, 15.

To this end resilient means 41 are positioned in the channel 16 of bracket 15 and designed to react against the outer edge 35 of the associated lip 34 to urge the panel laterally toward the other bracket 15.

More specifically the resilient means comprises a plurality of bowed leaf springs 42, the ends 43 of which react against the rear wall 44 of the channel 16. The central portion of each leaf spring has a finger 45 rising from its upper edge which extends through aligned slots 46 in the flange 24 and surface 18 to guide the leaf spring.

The central bowed portion of each leaf spring thus reacts against the edge 35 of the associated lip 34 and the lateral movement of the panel is limited by stop members 47 illustratively secured to the outer surface of the inclined strip 29 adjacent the bracket 15', the stop abutting against the inner edge 20 of the lower supporting surface 21 of said bracket 15.

In this position, the side strips 29 will be substantially equally spaced from flanges 19 as at 51 and the portions of lips 34 extending over the upper ends of the spaces 51 will be exposed to the rays of light from the lamps 25.

The depth of the channel portions 16 and the compressibility of the leaf springs 42 is such that the panel 27 may be moved laterally to compress the leaf springs sufficiently so that the edge 35 of lip 34 adjacent bracket 15 may be moved inwardly clear of the supporting surface 21 thereof for removal of said panel in the manner hereinafter described.

The fixture above described is designed to be mounted in a rectangular opening in a ceiling for example, which, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 has substantially T-shaped mounting rails 53 along the side edges thereof, each of said rails having an inwardly extending flange 54 on which rests the support lips 22 of the

brackets

15, 15.

The lips 22 are secured to the flanges 54 in any suitable manner so that the lighting fixture will be dependably retained in position.

To remove the panel 27 to permit cleaning of the inside surface thereof and to provide access to the interior of the housing for replacement of the lamps 25, it is merely necessary to exert pressure against the panel to urge it laterally toward bracket 15. As a result of the compression of the bowed leaf springs 42, the panel will move toward bracket 15 and the edge of lip 34 adjacent bracket 15 will be moved clear of the edge 20 supporting surface 21 so that the panel may then be dropped for removal.

As the person removing the panel would have to stand on a ladder, for example, to reach the same and would have to use both hands to clean the inside surface of the panel or to relamp the lighting fixture, in order to avoid the need for a cumbersome holder for the panel at the top of the ladder, or for the person removing the panel to climb down the ladder to deposit the panel on the floor or for an additional person to hold the panel after it is removed, means are provided to suspend the panel from the fixture when the panel is dropped for removal.

To this end a plurality of flexible tapes 56 are desirably provided, each having a bead 55 at one end substantially circular in cross section which is inserted into the circular recess 32 adjacent bracket 15. The other end of the tapes are secured as at 57.

Thus, when the panel is removed and dropped, as above described, it will be supported at one edge by the tapes 56.

To mount the panel, the lip 34 thereof is positioned on supporting surface 21 of bracket 15 and with the panel in substantially horizontal position it is moved laterally toward bracket 15 to compress the bowed leaf springs 42 until the other lip 34 may be moved onto the supporting suface 21 of bracket 15'. The panel is then released and the leaf .springs will then move the panel laterally until the stops 47 abut against the edge 21) of bracket 15 at which time the panel will be properly positioned.

With the panel so positioned, by reason of the rays of light passing through the lips 34 into the spaces 51 there will be a glow of light at the lower end of said space that will substantially conceal the flange 54 of the support rail 53 so that there will be no discontinuity between the luminous area and the cealing.

The construction above described may be used in a combined air diffuser and lighting fixture. To this end, it is merely necessary to provide a plurality of openings in the lips 34 as shown in FIG. and provide a source of air which, when forced into the housing 11 will flow through such openings.

As many changes could be made in the above constructions and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could .be made without departing from the scope of the claims, it is intended that all :matter contained in the above description, or shown in the accompanying drawings, shall be interpretedas illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

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

1. A lighting fixture comprising a housing having a pair of side walls, a support bracket at the lower edge of each of said side walls, each of said brackets having a channel portion open at one side thereof and opposed to each other, each of said channel portions having a lower supporting surface, the inner edge of each of said supporting surfaces having a downwardly and outwardly extending flange, resilient means in at least one of said channel portions and normally stressed to exert an inwardly directed force toward the other channel portion, a substantially rectangular translucent light diffusing panel, said panel having a side member rising from each of two opposed edges thereof, said side members being inclined toward each other, the upper edge of each of said side members having a support lip which extends outwardly beyond the associated edge of said panel, the outer extremities of said lips resting on an associated lower supporting surface, said resilient means reacting against one of said outer extremities on one of said brackets to urge the panel'laterally toward the other bracket, and means to limit the lateral movement of said panel, whereby the panel will be substantially centered on said supporting surfaces between said brackets, with the inclined side members and their associated inclined flanges extending substantially parallel to each other to define a space therebetween whereby the light passing through said lips will illuminate said space, said resilient means being compressible to permit lateral movement of said panel away from said other bracket so that the extremity of the associated lip may be moved clear of the lower supporting surface thereof.

2. An installation of the character described, comprising a pair of parallel supports, a lighting fixture compris ing a housing having a pair of side walls, a support bracket at the lower edge of each of said side walls, each of said brackets having an elongated channel portion open at one side thereof and opposed to each other, each of said chan' nel portions having a lower supporting surface, the inner edge of each of said supporting surfaces having a down wardly and outwardly inclined flange, the parallel supports being spaced by a distance slightly less than the transverse spacing between the lower edges of said flanges,

said lower edges being removably seated respectively on an associated one ofsaid pair of parallel supports, resilient means in one of said channel portions and normally stressed to exert a force toward the other channel portion, a substantially rectangular translucent light diffuser panel, said panel having an elongated strip along each of two opposed edges thereof, and integral therewith, said strips rising from each of said edges and being inclined toward each other, the .upper edge ofeach of said strips having a lip integral therewith and extending the length thereof, said lips extending laterally outward and lying in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of said panel, the outer edge of said lips extending beyond the associated edge of said panel and resting on an associated lower supporting surface of said ,channel portion, said resilient means reacting against the outer edge of one of said lips to urge the panel laterally toward the other channel portion, means to limit the lateral movement of said panel, whereby the panel will be substantially centered on said supporting surfaces, said resilient means being compressible to permit lateral movement of said panel away from said other channel portion, so that the outer edge of the lip associated with the other channel portion may be moved clear of the lower supporting surface thereof, said inclined strips when said panel is mounted being spaced from the inclined flanges of said bracket, whereby the light passing through said lips will effectively conceal the bracket and the pair of parallel supports.

3. The combination set forth in claim 2 in which said resilient means comprises a bowed leaf spring in said channel portion, the ends of said-spring reacting against the rear wall of said channel portion, the central portion of said spring reacting against the outer edge of the associated lip.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 832,924 Ross Oct. 9, 1906 2,721,635 Fullerton Oct. 25, 1955 2,951,611 Tillson et al. Sept. 6, 1960 2,996,609 Wilson Aug. 15, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 72,518 Denmark Apr. 30, 1951 1,211,216 France Oct. 5, 1959 859,429 Great Britain J an. 25, 1961

Claims

1. A LIGHTING FIXTURE COMPRISING A HOUSING HAVING A PAIR OF SIDE WALLS, A SUPPORT BRACKET AT THE LOWER EDGE OF EACH OF SAID SIDE WALLS, EACH OF SAID BRAKETS HAVING A CHANNEL PORTION OPEN AT ONE SIDE THEREOF AND OPPOSED TO EACH OTHER, EACH OF SAID CHANNEL PORTIONS HAVING A LOWER SUPPORTING SURFACE, THE INNER EDGE OF EACH OF SAID SUPPORTING SURFACES HAVING A DOWNWARDLY AND OUTWARDLY EXTENDING FLANGE, RESILIENT MEANS IN AT LEAST ONE OF SAID CHANNEL PORTIONS AND NORMALLY STRESSED TO EXERT AN INWARDLY DIRECTED FORCE TOWARD THE OTHER CHANNEL PORTION, A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR TRANSLUCENT LIGHT DIFFUSING PANEL, SAID PANEL HAVING A SIDE MEMBER RISING FROM EACH OF TWO OPPOSED EDGES THEREOF, SAID SIDE MEMBERS BEING INCLINED TOWARD EACH OTHER, THE UPPER EDGE OF EACH OF SAID SIDE MEMBERS HAVING A SUPPORT LIP WHICH EXTENDS OUTWARDLY BEYOND THE ASSOCIATED EDGE OF SAID PANEL, THE OUTER EXTREMITIES OF SAID LIPS RESTING ON AN ASSOCIATED LOWER SUP-