US3254205A

US3254205A - Line beam illuminator

Info

Publication number: US3254205A
Application number: US291622A
Authority: US
Inventors: Donald J Cobb
Original assignee: WHITEWAY Manufacturing Co
Current assignee: WHITEWAY Manufacturing Co
Priority date: 1963-07-01
Filing date: 1963-07-01
Publication date: 1966-05-31
Anticipated expiration: 1983-05-31

Description

y 1966 i D. J. COBB 3,254,205

LINE BEAM ILLUMINATOR Filed July 1, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. DONALD J. COBB ATTORNEYS May 31, 1966 D. J. COBB LINE BEAM ILLUMINATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 1, 1965 INVENTOR- DONALD J. COBB 5 44,! ATTORNEYS Patented May 31, 1966 United States Patent Office 3,254,205 LINE BEAM ILLUMINATOR Donald J. Cobb, Highland Heights, Ky., assignor to Whiteway Manufacturing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed July 1, 1963, Sen-No. 291,622 9 Claims. (Cl. 240-3) The present invention relates to a line beam illuminator. This form of illuminator is designed to project an intense beam of light as a line which may be varied or adjusted as to its width. Thus it is possible by means of such an illuminator, to sharply illuminate, for example, selected portions of a theater stage or the like. Similarly, it may be used to sharply illuminate several horizontal printed lines of a billboard or advertising sign, leaving the remaining lines unilluminated; or, by proper focusing, the line of light delivered may be widened to illuminate several printed lines or possibly the entire height of the billboard display, as may be desired. The line beam may be projected as a horizontal line, or as a line inclined to the vertical, as will become apparent in the light of the description which follows.

An object of the present invention is to provide improvements in a line beam illuminator, whereby focusing of the beam for width is rendered highly accurate and sharp, with the use of simple and inexpensive focusing means.

Another object is to provide in an illuminator of the character stated, improved supporting and focusing means for the tubular lamp of the illuminator, whereby lamp breakage and socket injury are effectively minimized or eliminated entirely.

A further object is to expedite and simplify the focusing procedure, thereby eifecting. savings of time and eflort in setting up and adjusting the illuminator for maximum efliciency and performance.

The foregoing and other objects are attained by the means described herein and illustrated upon the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the illuminator embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-section taken on line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-section taken on line 33 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view in crosssection, showing the focusing means for the lamp.

FIG. 5 is a front elevation looking from right to left on FIG. 1.

The illuminator includes a bright reflecting surface which in vertical section is substantially parabolic in form, although planes intersecting the reflecting surface horizontally produce parallel horizontal lines of intersection which are straight. In other words, the reflecting surface is similar to that which results from bending transversely a bright rectangular sheet to parabolic form, to establish a focal line rather than a focal point, which focal line throughout its length is parallel to every straight line that may be scribed upon the reflective surface.

As FIG. 5 indicates, the straight line defining the upper limit 12 of the reflective surface 10, is parallelto line 14 which defines the lower limit of surface 10. The elongate tubular lamp 16, which may be a fine quartz lamp, has its longitudinal axis in parallelism with

lines

12 and 14, and also in parallelism with the focal line of reflective surface 10. In one adjusted position of the lamp, its longitudinal axis may coincide with the focal line of reflector 10. For the purposes of the instant disclosure, the reflector 10 may be referred to as one which is planeparabolic in form.

With tubular lamp 16 disposed in parallelism with the focal line of reflector 10, the projected beam resulting from activating the lamp will be a long straight line in parallelism with the lamp axis and the focal line of reflector 10. The width of the resulting line beam, that is, its vertical measurement, will be dependent upon the spacing of the lamp from the reflective surface 10 which spacing, according to the present invention, is subject to variation or adjustment at will. It is proper also to conclude that the vertical width of the projected line beam depends upon the spacing of the lamp axis from the focal line of the reflective surface 10.

The characters 18, FIG. 5, indicate substantially flat side plates or wings fixed within the illuminator housing and providing covers for the base portions of the lamp sockets 20.

The illuminator housing, indicated at 22, may be formed as a metallic casting having exterior ribs or fins 24 serving as reinforcements and as elements to dissipate heat generated by the lamps. Midway between the

opposite side walls

26 and 28 of the housing, a median rib 30 extends preferably from the front to the rear thereof, termi nating at the rear in a vertical extension 32 which is apertured transversely to receive a bolt or screw 34 about which the housing may be tilted forwardly and rearward- 1y. Screw 34 is adapted to pass through a hollow bracket member 36 at 38, so that upon tightening the screw 34 the vertical angularity of the housing may be fixed.

A second bracket member 40 which stands upright upon a hollow post cap 42, has pivotal connection at screw 44 enabling disposition and fixation of the illuminator housing at various degress of sidewise tilt, so that if desired, the axis of lamp 16 may be inclined from the horizontal toward a vertical position. The

several parts

36, 40 and 42 may be made hollow to accommodate elwtric conductors leading to lamp scokets 29. At 46 is indicated a spirit level on housing part 32 for indicating a horizontal disposition of lamp 16. The character 48 denotes index markings on the housing to indicate the angularity of upward or downward tilt of the housing.

The forward portion of the illuminator housing may be provided with a hood 50 about the perimeter thereof, for supporting a lens and possibly a grille, to protect lamp 16 and seal the reflector against entry of dirt and moisture. Mounting pivots for the lens frame 56 are indicated at 5252, while. at 54 is indicated a thumb screw to releasably hold the frame to the housing.

Atttention is now directed to the means employed for bodily shifting lamp 16 toward and from reflector 10, to alter the character of the line beam projected thereby. Such means may comprise a pair of parallel hanger arms 66 and.62, the terminal ends 64 of which support the opposed lamp sockets 20-20. The sockets are securely fixed to the arms, and are maintained always in axial alignment one with the other to avoid possible twist or torque which might fracture the lamp or displace it from parallelism with the reflector focal line.

At the upper end 66 of each hanger arm, a bolt 68 passes therethrough and extends laterally through the housing to the exterior. Bolts 68 at their outer ends support the spaced parallel arms 70 of a bail-like handle or adjusting bar 72 which spans the illuminator housing and overlies'the median rib 30. The arms 70 of bar 72 are fixed to the outer ends of bolts 68, and since the hanger arms 60 also are fixed to the bolts, any rocking movement of bar 72 istransmitted to the hanger arms and the lamp sockets mounted thereon. Thus, the spacing of lamp 16 toward and from the rear of the reflector may be varied by manipulating the adjusting bar or handle 72, the lamp being maintained always in strict parallelism with the focal line of the reflector so as to ensure an accurate and uniformly wide beam projection at any selected position of the adjusting bar.

Means are provided for holding the adjusting bar in selected positions of adjustment. Such means may consist of a bump or segment 74 on rib 30, to frictionally engage the adjusting bar in all positions thereof when swung about the axes of bolts 68. Segment 74 may be notched or knurled as as 76 to increase friction thereof against bar 72 and thereby maintain the bar in selected positions of adjustment. The hump or segment may be formed on an are having bolt 68 as a radius. If desired, the bar may be provided with a lug 78 to engage the segment notches. The bar is made slightly flexible and resilient so as to pass yieldingly over notches 76.

As shown in FIG. 3, the bolts 68 each may carry a retaining nut 80 and a series of tubular spacers 82 keeping the arms '70 spaced from the illuminator housing. A collar 84 secured to bolt 68 by a set screw 86, has a transverse channel 88 receptive of arm 7 to ensure movement of arms 70 with the hangers 60, the latter being fixed against rotation relative to bolts 68.

In FIG. 1, 90 indicates a locking screw threaded into extension 32 and engaging a part of bracket 36 for locking the illuminator housing at various selected degrees of vertical tilt.

It is to be understood that various modifications and changes may be made in the structural details of the device, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. An illuminator comprising a housing, a planoparabolic reflector within the housing and having a straight line of focus within the limits of the reflector, a tubular elongate lamp having electric terminal ends, a pair of rockable pivots on the housing arranged in axial alignment and disposed at opposite sides of the housing, said pivots each having an inner end disposed inside the housing and an opposite outer end disposed exteriorly of the housing, a pair of parallel hangers each having a pivot end fixed to the inner end of a rockable pivot, and a free end swingable about the pivot axes toward and from the focal line of the reflector, lamp sockets fixed upon the free ends of the hangers in opposition to sup-port the terminal ends of the lamp. in parallelism with the focal line of the reflector, a resilient adjusting bar spanning the illuminator housing exteriorly thereof, said bar having opposite ends fixed to the outer ends of the rockable pivots, whereby swinging movement of the bar about the pivot axes compels unitary swinging of the hangers and the lamp sockets together with the lamp thereby supported and means on the housing exterior intermediate the rockable pivots for frictionally and yieldingly engaging the adjusting bar and holding the latter in selected positions of adjustment to establish a selected spacing of the lamp relative to the focal line of the reflector.

2. The device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the means last mentioned comprises a notched hump on the housing intermediate the rockable pivots, the hump being formed on a circle arc having substantially the same radius as the radius of swing of the adjusting bar, said bar in all positions of its swinging movement being in yielding contact with selected notches of the hump.

3. An illuminator comprising a housing, a plano-parabolic reflector within the housing and having a straight line of focus within the limits of the reflector, a tubular elongate lamp having electric terminal ends, a pair of rockable pivots journalled in the housing and disposed at. opposite sides thereof, said pivots being in axial alignment with the axis thereof parallel to and spaced from the focal line of the reflector, the pivots each having an inner end disposed inside the housing and an opposite outer end disposed exteriorly of the housing, a pair of hangers each having a pivot end fixed to the inner end of a rockable pivot, and a free end swingable about the pivot axes toward and from the focal line of the reflector, lamp sockets fixed upon the free ends of the hangers in opposition to support the terminal ends of the lamp with the lamp axis in parallelism with the focal line of the reflector, and an adjusting bar spanning the illuminator housing exteriorly thereof, said bar having opposite ends fixed to the outer ends of the rockable pivots whereby swinging movement of the bar about the pivot axes compels unitary swinging of the hangers and the lamp sockets together with the lamp supported thereby. I

4. The device as set forth in claim 3, wherein the combination includes means for releasably maintaining a selected position of adjustment of the adjusting bar.

5. An illuminator comprising'a housing, a laterally curved reflector within the housing and having a straight line of focus, a tubular elongate lamphaving electric terminal ends, a pair of rockable pivots on the housing arranged in axial alignment and disposed at opposite sides of the housing, said pivots each having an inner end disposed inside the housing and an opposite outer end disposed exteriorly of the housing, a pair of hangers each having a pivot end fixed to the inner end of a rockable pivot, and a free end swingable about the pivot-axes toward and from the focal line of the reflector, lamp sockets fixed upon the free ends of the hangers in opposition to support the terminal ends of the lamp, with the lamp axis parallel to the focal line of the reflector, and a single manual actuator operative upon the outer ends of the rockable pivots, to swing the hangers and the lamp toward and from and in parallelism with the focal line of the reflector.

6. The device as set forth in claim 5, wherein the combination includes means to latch the single actuator in selected positions of adjustment, for fixing the character of the beam projected by the reflector.

7. An illuminator comprising a housing, a piano-parabolic reflector within the housing and having a straight line of focus within the limits of the reflector, a tubular elongated lamp having electric terminal ends, a pair of rockable pivots on the housing arranged in axial alignment and disposed at oppositesides of the housing, said pivots each having an inner end disposed inside the housing and an opposite outer end disposed exteriorly of the housing, a pair of hangers each having a pivot end fixed to the inner end of a rockable pivot, and a free end swingable about the pivot axes toward and from the focal line of the reflector, lamp sockets fixed upon the free ends of the hangers in opposition to support the terminal ends of the lamp in parallelism with the focal line of the reflector, a movable adjusting bar connected to the outer ends of said rockable pivots and arranged in spanning relationship to the housing exteriorly thereof for swinging movement in parallelism with the lamp axis, and cooperating means on the bar and the housing for yieldingly maintaining the bar in selected positions of adjustment.

8. An illuminator comprising a housing, a plane-parabolic reflector Within the housing and having a straight line of focus within the limits of the reflector, a tubular elongated lamp having electric terminal ends, a pair of rockable pivots on the housing arranged in axial alignment and disposed at opposite sides of the housing, said pivots each having an inner end disposed inside the housing and anopposite outer end disposed exteriorly of the housing, a pair of hangers each having a pivot end fixed to the inner end of a rockable pivot, and a free end swingable about the pivot axes toward and from the focal line of the reflector, lamp sockets fixed upon the free ends of the hangers in opposition to support the terminal ends of the lamp in parallelism with the focal line of the reflector, movable adjusting means connected to the outer ends of said rockable pivots and spanning said housing exteriorly thereof forswinging movement in parallelism with the lamp axis for moving said lamp in selected positions of adjustment.

9. The device as set forth in claim 8, wherein said device includes means supporting the housing for tilting in a vertical plane, and for supporting the same in selected positions of sidewise tilt to incline the beam between horizontal and vertical inclinations.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS NORTON ANSHER, Primary Examiner.

CHARLES C. LOGAN, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

1. AN ILLUMINATOR COMPRISING A HOUSING, A PLANOPARABOLIC REFLECTOR WITHIN THE HOUSING AND HAVING A STRAIGHT LINE OF FOCUS WITHIN THE LIMITS OF THE REFLECTOR, A TUBULAR ELONGATE LAMP HAVING ELECTRIC TERMINAL ENDS, A PAIR OF ROCKABLE PIVOTS ON THE HOUSING ARRANGED IN AXIAL ALIGNMENT AND DISPOSED AT OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE HOUSING, SAID PIVOTS EACH HAVING AN INNER END DISPOSED INSIDE THE HOUSING AND AN OPPOSITE OUTER END DISPOSED EXTERIORLY OF THE HOUSING, A PAIR OF PARALLEL HANGERS EACH HAVING A PIVOT END FIXED TO THE INNER END OF A ROCKABLE PIVOT, AND A FREE END SWINGABLE ABOUT THE PIVOT AXES TOWARD AND FROM THE FOCAL LINE OF THE REFLECTOR, LAMP SOCKETS FIXED UPON THE FREE ENDS OF THE HANGERS IN OPPOSITION TO SUPPORT THE TERMINAL ENDS OF THE LAMP IN PARALLELISM WITH THE FOCAL LINE OF THE REFLECTOR, A RESILIENT ADJUSTING BAR SPANNING THE ILLUMINATOR HOUSING EXTERIORLY THEREOF, SAID BAR HAVING OPPOSITE ENDS FIXED TO THE OUTER ENDS OF THE ROCKABLE PIVOTS, WHEREBY SWINGING MOVEMENT OF THE BAR ABOUT THE PIVOT AXES COMPELS UNITARY SWINGING OF THE HANGERS AND THE LAMP SOCKETS TOGETHER WITH THE LAMP THEREBY SUPPORTED AND MEANS ON THE HOUSING EXTERIOR INTERMEDIATE THE ROCKABLE PIVOTS FOR FRICTIONALLY AND YIELDINGLY ENGAGING THE ADJUSTING BAR AND HOLDING THE LATTER IN SELECTED POSITIONS OF ADJUSTMENT TO ESTABLISH A SELECTED SPACING OF THE LAMP RELATIVE TO THE FOCAL LINE OF THE REFLECTOR.