US3562511A

US3562511A - Adjustable socket mountings for fluorescent lighting fixtures

Info

Publication number: US3562511A
Application number: US763822A
Authority: US
Inventors: Melbourne C Reeves
Original assignee: SECHRIST CORP
Current assignee: SECHRIST CORP
Priority date: 1968-09-30
Filing date: 1968-09-30
Publication date: 1971-02-09
Anticipated expiration: 1988-02-09

Abstract

An elongated socket-supporting element, for assembly in a fluorescent lighting fixture, to adjustably support a plurality of fluorescent lamp sockets. The socket-supporting element is provided with a plurality of elongated, aligned, spaced-apart socket guide holes and has a slidable plate, provided with a fluorescent lamp socket, covering each hole. The slide plates can be shifted toward and away from each other to receive lamp terminals of various spacings. More particularly the device is applicable for adjusting the socket spacings in the socketsupporting element to accommodate the various terminal spacings of conventional U-shaped, hot-cathode fluorescent lamp tubes.

Description

United States Patent [72] inventor Melbourne C. Reeves Denver, Colo.

[21 Appl. No. 763,822

[22] Filed Sept. 30, 1968 [45] Patented Feb. 9, 197] [7 3 Assignee Sechrist Corporation Denver, Colo. a corporation of Delaware [54] ADJUSTABLE SOCKET MOUNTINCS FOR FLUORESCENT LIGHTING FIXTURES 3 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S. Cl 240/5l.l2

[5 1] Int. Cl l l-l05b 33/02 [50] Field ofSearch 339/50, 5 l

52,53, 54, 55,56; 240/5l.ll, li.4,5l.l2

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,399,531 4/1946 Young 240/5 1.11 3,263,201 7/1966 Pistey 339/52 Primary Examiner-John M. Horan Assistant Examiner-Kenneth C. l-lutchison Attorney-R. l-l. Galbreath ABSTRACT: An elongated socket-supporting element,for assembly in a fluorescent lighting fixture, to adjustably support a plurality of fluorescent lamp sockets. The socket-supporting element is provided with a plurality of elongated, aligned,

spaced-apart socket guide holes and has a slidable plate, provided with a fluorescent lamp socket, covering each hole. The slide plates can be shifted toward and away from each other to receive lamp terminals of various spacings. More particularly the device is applicable for adjusting the socket spacings in the socketsupporting element. to accommodate the various terminal spacings of conventional U-shaped, hot-cathode fluorescent lamp tubes.

ADJUSTABLE SOCKET MOUNTINGS FOR FLUORESCENT LIGHTING FIXTURES Fluorescent lamp tubes for ceiling fixtures are usually of the straight linear type with pairs of terminal pins projecting from each of the opposite extremities of the tube. The fixtures are usually designed with an aligned row of fixed conventional tube sockets at each extremity of the fixture for receiving the terminal pins so that the tubes will extend between the row of sockets in parallel spaced relation. Since the spacing between the sockets in the rows is fixed by the fixture designer at the time of manufacture, no changes can be made therein should a different spacing of tubes be later desiredv The principal object of this invention is to provide an efficient socket mounting element for use in the assembly of fluorescent lighting fixtures which will provide an aligned plurality of sockets which can be quickly and easily adjusted when in place and without the use of tools to provide any desired spacing between the tubes of the fixture.

A more recent development in fluorescent lighting tubes is a U-shaped tube, which is bent back upon itself to produce two parallel spaced-apart legs each terminating in a pair of conventional terminal pins. Such tubes require only one row of sockets in the fixture, but fixedly spaced sockets, as formerly used, are proving unsatisfactory due to the fact that, as yet, it is difficult to obtain U-tubes having a uniform, accurately preset spacing between the tube extremities. Tubes of different makes and even tubes of the same make will sufficiently vary in spacing so that the terminal pins are frequently not insertable in two fixedly spaced sockets.

A further object of this invention is to provide a socket mounting element for U-shaped tubes which will enable the tube-receiving sockets to be quickly and easily spaced to suit each particular U-tube, at the time of insertion of the latter, so that spacing variations in the tubes will be of no consequence.

A further object is to provide a quickly adjustable socket spacing means for fluorescent tube fixtures which will accurately maintain the sockets in their proper radial pin-receiving positions at all adjusted positions and which will maintain all of the socket elements tightly spring pressed to avoid all looseness and vibration.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of the invention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and efficiency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numerals refer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout the description.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary, vertical, elevational view of a portion of the inner face of the fluorescent socket-supporting element ofthis invention;

FIG. 2 is a similar elevational view of the outer face of the socket-supporting element of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top view thereof;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, vertical cross section taken on the line 4-4, FIG. 1 with adjacent parts of the conventional fixture shown in broken line;

FIG. 5 is a detail perspective view of a slide plate employed in the socket supporting element to be later described; and

FIG. 6 illustrates a conventional U-shaped fluorescent lamp tube to which the invention is particularly adaptable.

In the drawing, a conventional U-shaped type of fluorescent tube is designated by the numeral 10 with its pair of terminal pins at 11. The socket supporting element, below described, is applicable to any type of fixture. The fixture, per se, forms no part of the present invention but for the purpose of showing the relative position of the invention in a conventional fixture, a fixture top plate and a fixture end plate are indicated in broken line in FIG. 4 and designated by the numerals l2 and 13, respectively.

The socket supporting element comprises a horizontally elongated sheet metal plate which is transversally preformed to provide: a vertical socket-supporting portion 14; a forwardly extending top portion 15; and a rearwardly extending bottom portion 16. The forwardly extending top portion is designed to be attached to the fixture top plate 12, by a plurality of wing bolts 17 extending through slotted bolt holes 31 in the top portion. The bottom portion 16 is connected to the fixture end plate 13, in any suitable manner, to support the socket-supporting portion 14 at the ends of, and at right angles to the axes of, the fluorescent tubes of the fixture.

The socket-supporting portion 14 is provided with a plurality of spaced-apart, horizontally elongated and horizontally aligned, socket guide holes 18, of less height than width, behind each of which a slide plate 19, as shown in FIG. 5, is positioned. The slide plates are formed from resiliently flexible sheet metal and are similar in size and shape. Each slide plate is of greater height and width than the guide holes 18 in the vertical portion 14. Each is provided with a forwardly extending top flange 20, which slidably overlaps the rear edge of the top portion 15, and a rearwardly extending bottom flange 21, which slidably rides on the bottom portion 16. Each slide plate is provided with a medially positioned, round, socket opening 22 of a diameter to closely receive any suitable conventional fluorescent tube socket assembly.

A tube socket assembly which has been found to be very satisfactory for the present purposes is commercially known as Leviton 0518 Snap-On Socket. The latter socket consists of an insulated, cylindrical base block 23 having a circular escutcheon plate 24 of larger diameter than the base block on its forward extremity. A tube contact plunger 25, provided with a pair of tube pin openings 26, projects resiliently forwardly from each of the base blocks through its respective escutcheon plate 24, to receive the terminal pins of the fluorescent tube. An annular series of arched, spring fingers 27 project rearwardly from the escutcheon plate 24 to lock the base block in a conventional socket receiving opening and the block is provided with a projecting key 28 to prevent rotation of the block in its respective receiving opening.

The above described tube socket assemblies are installed in this invention by placing each individual slide plate rearwardly of one of the socket guide holes 18 then forcing the socket base blocks 23 rearwardly in the socket openings 22 of the slide plates with the keys 28 engaging in key notches 29 formed in opening 22. The forcing is continued until the fingers 27 snap radially outward behind the slide plate to constantly and resiliently urge the escutcheon plate 24 rearwardly into frictional engagement with the face of the socket-supporting portion 14 above and below their respective socket guide holes 18, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4.

The keys 28 prevent rotation of the sockets in their respective slide plates and the top and

bottom flange

20 and 21, respectively, prevent rotation of the slide plates 19 so that the pin openings 26 will always be in the proper radial position to receive the tube terminal pins 11 at all horizontal positions of the sockets. The socket wiring is conventional except that the leads must be sufficiently long to allow for the extreme horizontal movement of the sockets.

It can be seen from the above that the socket assemblies can be manually moved horizontally, against the frictional bias between the escutcheon plates and the portion 20, for the full length of the horizontally elongated socket guide holes 18 so as to accommodate any desired spacing of straight fluorescent tubes or any variations in the spacing between the terminals of U-shaped tubes 10. It will be noted that the side edge of each slide plate is bent slightly away from the vertical portion 14 to form an outwardly inclined, overriding edge 30 thereon. This is to enable the slide plates to override each other should adjacent sockets be brought relatively close to each other as shown by the two right-hand sockets in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3.

While a specific form of the invention has been described and illustrated herein, it is to be understood that the same may be varied within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[claim An adjustable socket mounting for fluorescent lighting fixtures comprising:

a. a vertical, horizontally elongated socket-supporting plate; b. a plurality of horizontally elongated, horizontally aligned,

. a fluorescent tube socket assembly fixedly mounted in each of said socket openings and projecting forwardly through the socket guide hole;

. an escutcheon plate having a greater vertical width than said guide holes forwardly mounted on each socket assembly so as to frictionally engage the forward face of said socket-supporting plate; and

g. means on said socket assembly acting to urge said slide plate forwardly into frictional engagement with the rear face of said socket-supporting plate.

2. An adjustable socket mounting for fluorescent lighting fixtures as described in claim 1 in which the means acting to urge said slide plate forwardly comprises an annular series of spring fingers surrounding said socket assembly rearwardly of said escutcheon plate and positioned to resiliently engage said slide plate and acting-to simultaneously urge the slide plate forwardly and the escutcheon plate rearwardly.

3. An adjustable socket mounting for fluorescent lighting fixtures as described in claim 1 having one side extremity of each slide plate arched rearwardly from said socket-supporting plate the other side extremity being nonarched so that when two adjacent slide plates are brought into engagement with each other the arched side of one plate will override the nonarched side of the other plate to allow said socket assemblies to closely approach each other.

Claims

1. An adjustable socket mounting for fluorescent lighting fixtures comprising: a. a vertical, horizontally elongated socket-supporting plate; b. a plurality of horizontally elongated, horizontally aligned, spaced-apart socket guide holes formed in said plate; c. a slide plate positioned in horizontally slidable engagement with the rear face of said socket-supporting plate back of each of said guide holes so as to overlap the rear face of said socket-supporting plate and close its respective guide hole; d. a socket-receiving, medially positioned, socket opening in each of said slide plates; e. a fluorescent tube socket assembly fixedly mounted in each of said socket openings and projecting forwardly through the socket guide hole; f. an escutcheon plate having a greater vertical width than said guide holes forwardly mounted on each socket assembly so as to frictionally engage the forward face of said socket-supporting plate; and g. means on said socket assembly acting to urge said slide plate forwardly into frictional engagement with the rear face of said socket-supporting plate.

2. An adjustable socket mounting for fluorescent lighting fixtures as described in claim 1 in which the means acting to urge said slide plate forwardly comprises an annular series of spring fingers surrounding said socket assembly rearwardly of said escutcheon plate and positioned to resiliently engage said slide plate and acting to simultaneously urge the slide plate forwardly and the escutcheon plate rearwardly.