US3679886A

US3679886A - Lighting unit

Info

Publication number: US3679886A
Application number: US867719A
Authority: US
Inventors: Peter Ernest Pizzey
Original assignee: FREDERICK THOMAS AND CO Ltd
Current assignee: FREDERICK THOMAS AND CO Ltd
Priority date: 1969-10-20
Filing date: 1969-10-20
Publication date: 1972-07-25
Anticipated expiration: 1989-07-25

Abstract

A bollard lighting device having a lighting unit mounted upon a tubular post to provide lighting through a 360* angle in a horizontal median plane. A cylindrical lens member is captively held between a closed end cylindrically shaped upper body member and a cylindrically shaped lower body member. A cylindrically shaped inner base member fits inside the lower body member, and supports the light source which extends into the cylindrical lens. The lower body and inner base members are held together by a bayonet type lug fitting. An access door is provided in the tubular post to facilitate installation and maintenance of the wiring circuit from a power source to the light source. A lock, located in the lower body member, utilizes a cam butting against a stop to prevent activation of the bayonet type lug fitting and therefore, disassembly of the lighting unit, and access through the door to the electric circuit in the tubular post by unauthorized persons.

Description

United States Patent Pizzey 51 July 25, 1972 Frederick Thomas & Company Limited, London, England [22] Filed: 0ct.20, 1969 [21] Appl.No.: 867,719

[72] Inventor:

[73] Assignee:

[52] US. Cl ..240/3, 240/25, 240/84 [51] Int. Cl ..F2lp l/00 [58] Field ofSearch ..240/3, 6, 47, 25, 84

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,907,870 10/1959 Calmes ..240/3 3,120,352 2/1964 Akita et al. ..240/47 3,194,952 7/1965 Wells ..240/3 X 3,267,274 8/1966 Johns0n.. ..240/3 3,321,619 5/1967 Dai1ey..... .240/3 X 3,482,087 12/1969 Kelley, Jr ..240/3 Primary Examiner-Louis R. Prince Assistant Examiner-William A. Henry, II Attorney--lrving M. Weiner ABSTRACT A bollard lighting device having a lighting unit mounted upon a tubular post to provide lighting through a 360 angle in a horizontal median plane. A cylindricallens member is captive- 1y held between a closed end cylindrically shaped upper body member and a cylindrically shaped lower body member. A cylindrically shaped inner base member fits inside the lower body member, and supports the light source which extends into the cylindrical lens. The lower body and inner base members are held together by a bayonet type lug fitting. An access door is provided in the tubular post to facilitate installation and maintenance of the wiring circuit from a power source to the light source. A lock, located in the lower body member, utilizes a cam butting against a stop to prevent activation of the bayonet type lug fitting and therefore, disassembly of the lighting unit, and access through the door to the electric circuit in the tubular post by unauthorized persons.

6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEUJULZS 1912 3.679 .886

SHEET 1 [1F 5 LIGHTING UNIT The invention relates to a bollard lighting unit. Bollard lighting units provide a convenient way of lighting pathways and other outdoor or indoor spaces, and in connection with such units it is desirable that the unit should provide efficient lighting through a 360 angle while at the same time being weatherproof and substantially tamperproof.

The bollard lighting unit of the present invention has been developed to meet these requirements.

The present invention consists in a bollard lighting unit for mounting on a tubular post, wherein the unit comprises an upper body portion and a lower body portion spaced apart by spacing means so as to define a space which is bounded by a lens unit and which serves for receiving an electric lamp, the lower body portion being adapted to be mounted on the said tubular post and extending downwardly to overlie the upper portion of a door provided in the post.

Advantageously, the spacing means are rods retained in the upper body portion and extending interiorly of the lens unit, the rods being secured to the lower body portion by nuts.

Preferably, an inner base member adapted for fixing to the top of the post is provided, the inner base member carrying means engageable by the said lower body portion for enabling mounting of the lighting unit on the post. The said means carried by the inner base member may be in the form of a transversely extending member having lugs forming part of a bayonet connection system, the other part of the said system being in the form of a ring mounted on the lower body portion and having radial slots and stops engageable by the said lugs whereby connection between the ring and the transversely extending member can be established or released.

Preferably, locking means preventing rotation of the lower body portion relative to the inner base member are provided, for preventing unauthorized release of the said bayonet connection. The locking means may comprise a key-operable device mounted in the lower body portion, the device comprising a cam which can be rotated into locking engagement with a radially extending stop on the inner base member, or rotated out of such engagement. The transversely extending member may be provided with a lampholder for receiving the said electric lamp.

Preferably, the lens unit is of generally cylindrical construction. The lens unit may be a Fresnel lens.

Advantageously, the lens unit is so constructed that light distribution is effected over a 360 angle in a horizontal medial plane through the lens unit, and is restricted to a desired spread in the upward and downward directions.

The term lens unit" as used herein is not intended to indicate a restriction to the use of an element having an optical function in the sense of dispersing or collecting light reaching it from the electric lamp, although the lens unit will preferably in fact have such a function. Thus, the expression lens unit is intended to be sufficiently broad as to embrace an element not having a significant optically refractive action. Such an element may be plain glass or plastics and may be frosted or opalized.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which are given by way of example and in which:

FIG. I is a perspective view, from underneath, of a bollard lighting unit ofthe invention;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing an inner base member of the bollard lighting unit removed;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the inner base member;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view through the bollard lighting unit;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view along the line VV of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary view of the bollard lighting unit, showing a locking arrangement.

The bollard lighting unit is intended for being mounted on a tubular post I. The bollard lighting unit itself comprises an upper body portion 2, a lower body portion 3 spaced apart therefrom by spacing rods 4, and a lens unit 5 disposed between the upper body portion 2 and the lower body portion 3. The lens unit 5 is in the form of a cylindrical Fresnel lens and the optical characteristics of this lens can be chosen to suit the application for which the bollard lighting unit is intended.

The spacing rods 4 are screw threaded at their ends, and are engaged by one end in the upper body portion 2 and extend with their lower ends trough suitable apertures in the lower body portion 3. These apertures are provided in radially inwardly extending lugs 6 of the lower body portion 3, the free ends of the rods 4 being provided with nuts 7.

As shown in the drawing, the spacing rods 4 do not themselves provide a fixed spacing for the separation of the upper and lower body portions, this fixed spacing being provided by the lens 5 itself. To avoid mechanically overloading the lens 5, however, spacing sleeves may be disposed on the rods 4.

The nuts 7 serve for securing to the lower body portion 3 a washer-like member 8 which has an opening 9 with bayonet lug shaped cut outs 27. The cut outs 27 enable insertion of a cross-strap 10 which is mounted on support pillars II of an inner base member 12 which can be seen in FIG. 3.

The inner base member 12 is mounted in an open upper end of the post 1, screws 13 being provided for fixing the inner base member 12 relative to the post 1, and for enabling the position of the inner base member to be centralized. The cross-strap 10 carries a lamp-holder 14 by one or more screws 15 (see FIG. 6) and the opening 9 in the washer-like member 8 is sufficiently large to allow the passage of an electric bulb 26 therethrough.

As will be seen from FIGS. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, the assembled body portion of the bollard lighting unit, itself forms a complete unit, this unit being applied in a bayonet connectionlike manner to the inner base member, already mounted on the post 1. Electric wiring to the lamp-holder 14 passes within the post 1, and through a hole 16, to the lamp-holder 14. A plurality of the holes 16 are provided and if the electric wiring is not be be looped in and out to the lamp-holder 14, then the unwanted holes 16 are blanked off by grommets 24. The inwardly radially projecting lugs 6 form stop members for outwardly radially projecting ends 17 of the cross-strap II). This provides a positive limit to the bayonet action when assembling the body unit to the inner base member.

Removal of the body unit from the inner base unit, which remains mounted on the post 1, is effected by turning the body unit in an anti-clockwise direction so as to release the bayonet engagement of the cross-strap 10. Since this is the only way the bollard lighting unit can be dismantled, protection against unauthorized dismantling can be afforded by providing a lock which prevents this anti-clockwise movement of the body unit being effected. A lock 18 is provided for this purpose, the lock having a cam member 19 which can be rotated by the lock so as to abut against a stop 20 formed integrally with the inner base member 12.

It will be seen from FIG. 4 that the upper body portion 2 has a downwardly extending lip 21 which engages over the upper edge of the lens 5. Between the upper edge of the lens 5 and the lip 21 of the upper body portion 2, there is fitted an aluminum silver anodized concave heat baffle 25. Between the lower edge of the lens 5 and the lower body portion 3, a gasket 22 of an elastomeric material, for example neoprene, is inserted, this gasket, in conjunction with the lip 21 providing efficient weather sealing for the lens 5 and serving to protect the ground end of the lens.

The upper body portion 2, the lower body portion 3, and the inner base member 12, may be of cast aluminum. The lens 5 may be of glass or a suitable transparent synthetic plastics material.

To provide access to the wiring and other equipment which may be located within post 1, there is provided a door 10 which is retained in position at its lower end by means of a hook 1b and at its upper end by means of a screw 13a screwed into inner base member 12. Since the lower body portion 3 extends downwardly to conceal the screw 13a, lock 18 also serves to prevent unauthorized opening of door In.

I claim:

1. A bollard lighting device which includes a lighting unit mounted upon a tubular post having a door therein, said lighting unit comprising an upper body portion and a lower body portion spaced apart by spacing means so as to define a space which is bounded by a lens unit and which accomodates an electric lamp, said lower body portion being mounted upon said tubular post and being extended downwardly to overlie the upper portion of said door provided in said post, an inner base member adapted for fixing to the top of said post, said inner base member carrying means engageable by said lower body portion for enabling mounting of said lighting unit on said post, wherein said means carried by the inner base member are in the fonn of a transversely extending member having lugs forming part of a bayonet connection system, the other part of said system being in the form of a ring mounted on the lower body portion and having radial slots and stops engageable by the said lugs whereby connection between the ring and the transversely extending member can be established or released. I

2. A lighting device according to claim 1, wherein locking means preventing rotation of the lower body portion relative to the inner base members are provided, for preventing unauthorized release of the said bayonet connection and thereby also preventing opening of said door.

3. A lighting device according to claim 2, wherein said locking means comprises a key-operable device mounted in the lower body portion, the device comprising a cam which can be rotated into locking engagement with a radially extending stop on the inner base member, or rotated out of such engagement.

4. A lighting device according to claim 1, wherein the transversely extending member is provided with a lamp-holder for receiving the said electric lamp.

5. A lighting device according to claim I, wherein the lens unit is of generally cylindrical construction in the form of a Fresnel lens.

6. A lighting device according to claim 5, wherein the lens unit is so constructed that light distribution is effected over a 360 angle in a horizontal medial plane through the lens units and is restricted to a desired spread in the upward and downward directions.

Claims

1. A bollard lighting device which includes a lighting unit mounted upon a tubular post having a door therein, said lighting unit comprising an upper body portion and a lower body portion spaced apart by spacing means so as to define a space which is bounded by a lens unit and which accomodates an electric lamp, said lower body portion being mounted upon said tubular post and being extended downwardly to overlie the upper portion of said door provided in said post, an inner base member adapted for fixing to the top of said post, said inner base member carrying means engageable by said lower body portion for enabling mounting of said lighting unit on said post, wherein said means carried by the inner base member are in the form of a transversely extending member having lugs forming part of a bayonet connection system, the other part of said system being in the form of a ring mounted on the lower body portion and having radial slots and stops engageable by the said lugs whereby connection between the ring and the transversely extending member can be established or released.

5. A lighting device according to claim 1, wherein the lens unit is of generally cylindrical construction in the form of a Fresnel lens.

6. A lighting device according to claim 5, wherein the lens unit is so constructed that liGht distribution is effected over a 360* angle in a horizontal medial plane through the lens units and is restricted to a desired spread in the upward and downward directions.