The invention is in the field of fixtures for various types of light sources to be used in temporary and portable applications.
A need exists to provide lighting in applications such as sessions where photographs are taken, such as, photographs for motion pictures, video and still photographs. Such sessions, sometimes called productions, often are held for only one or a few times and/or at locations where no permanent lighting equipment is provided that is adequate for the situation or where a primary lighting source or additional lighting is needed. In such cases, portable or temporary light sources are used. One such type of light source is provided by fluorescent lamps which are relatively inexpensive and provide a reasonable amount of light output in the visible spectrum range that is determined by the type of fluorescent lamp used. Such lamps can produce a cool and diffuse light. Other types of sessions require different types of lighting sources such as, for example, incandescent lights, LED cluster type lights, quartz-halogen, metal-halide, neon, cold-cathode, and so forth.
While fixtures are available that permit use of one or more fluorescent lamps or other types of lighting sources in such temporary situations, these are relatively cumbersome in appearance and to use. Accordingly, a need exists for a modular light fixture for fluorescent and other types of light sources that is better adapted for use in such portable and temporary applications.
The present invention is directed to a fixture for one or more light sources that is more readily acceptable for portable use and in temporary applications. In accordance with the invention, a rail is used as a main support member for the fixture. The rail can be made of any suitable material, such as metal, plastic, fiberglass or carbon fiber. The rail is elongated and can be of rectangular or full or part circular shape. It also is of light weight and can be of any desired length. The rail material is selected to be able to withstand the heat produced by the light sources to be mounted to it.
The rail preferably is of the type that has an internal slot, track or channel along its length. Adapters, which serve as light source mounting supports or bases, are fit on the rail and held by a snap-fit arrangement or secured with a screw or by pressure or clamping. If the rail is of the type that has an internal slot, track or channel, the adapter can be slid along it to a desired position and held in place by a captive nut applied from the front of the rail.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the rail is of the channel type that preferably has a plurality of holes or elongated slots along its length. The adapter bases can be mounted to the rail by bolts passing through the holes or slots that are threaded into the adapter bases. Mounting devices that snap fit into the rail channel or over flanges of the rail also can be used to mount the adapter bases. This permits adjustable mounting of the light sources at different positions along the rail length and interchangeability of light sources mounted on adapter bases between different rails for different configurations and mixes of light sources. The holes or slots also allow a rigid or swivel mounting device mounted to be connected to the rail from the back of the rail. If no mounting device is used, then the back of the rail is flat and unobstructed and the rail can be attached to a flat wall, ceiling or other structural support by screws or other fasteners inserted from the front of the rail, or an adhesive, or VELCRO type fastener on the back of the rail. Wire or rope or other type of cord can be fastened in one or more of the holes or slots to suspend the rail and its attached light source or sources from a ceiling or other elevated support.
In a typical application where the fixture of the invention is to be used to support fluorescent lamps, a pair of adapter bases are mounted to the rail spaced apart by a desired distance. An adapter base can be at or near each end of the rail if the rail is of about the same length as the lamps or at any intermediate positions of the lamp length. The rail also can be longer or shorter than the length of the lamps. Each adapter base or support has one or more spring clips, each to engage and hold a fluorescent lamp tube. The lamp terminals at the end of each tube are accessible so that one or more sockets of an external ballast or ballasts can be connected to supply electrical power to the lamp or lamps. A variety of other shaped plug-in type fluorescent lamps, such as U-shaped, can also be held by the rail by using appropriately shaped adapters. There also can be linear incandescent lamps, which look much like fluorescent lamps, and which would be supported at the ends with or without additional adapter support plates in between.
The fixture also can be used to support one or more incandescent or other types of lamps such as high intensity discharge, metal-halide and the other types mentioned above. Here, the proper type sockets are mounted on the adapter supports or bases attached at suitable locations along the rail length. The lamp sockets can be of either of the screw base or bayonet type.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reference to the following specification and annexed drawings in which:
Referring to
In preferred embodiments of the invention, as shown in
In the embodiment of
A pair of spring clips 20 is mounted to each adapter 18 by any suitable fastener or by welding. Each spring clip 20 is of a shape, size and strength so that a fluorescent lamp tube 24 can be snapped in and securely held. As seen in
It is possible to mount an elongated light source such as a fluorescent tube to the rail using only one adapter base. Here, the clip would engage the tube near its center of weight. Such an arrangement can be used for tubes of short length and lighter weight but is not as secure as using at least two clamps.
If desired for additional support of the fluorescent lamp tubes 24, an adapter base 18 with spring clips 20 can be mounted at an intermediate point along the rail and lamp tube length. The fixture 10 of
If the configuration of light sources mounted to the rail is such that no elements of the adapter base mounting devices extend out of the back of the rail, then the back of the rail 12 is flat so that it can be mounted on a flat surface either permanently, such as by screws passed though the holes 14, or temporarily such as by an adhesive or VELCRO type fasteners.
The elongated rails of the embodiments of
The rail can be rolled or formed into a curved or round shape to fit to a scenery wall, lighting or grid pipe or other scenic or display element. A curved cyclorama or backdrop can have a rail attached to the pipe or batten that it hangs from. The rail also could be bent, formed, shaped or cut to fit the dimensions of any scenery, display, exhibit or set element, curtains, backdrops, screens or signage. Adapter bases 18 for other than fluorescent lamps can be mounted along a curved rail such as shown in
The rail fixture mounting system has heretofore been described independently of any reflector or reflector system. An advantage of using bare fluorescent lamps or other sources with a lightweight easily mounted rail as disclosed is that the ceiling, walls or surfaces of a set or a room becomes the reflector. Currently without the rail bare fluorescent bulbs are usually taped, cable-tied to mounts, glued or mounted with VELCRO individually to the surfaces and are hard to remove.
A complete fixture with a reflector can be assembled using the rail fixture of the invention. The rail can have a reflector or reflective material attached to it to create a more controllable and directional light source. The reflector can be fixed or detachable. The reflector can be formed, bent or shaped to collect the light from a linear source or individual bulbs to focus the light. The type of reflector surface can be selected to provide for different light output characteristics.
Detachable reflectors can be used to change the lighting characteristics of a single rail fixture. A modular light fixture can be developed from the basic rail fixture. The reflector and light control device adaptability can be expanded as far as money and time will allow . . . .
A diffuser or other light modifying accessory, like an “egg-crate” or hood or “snoot” can be attached in front of the rail to diffuse, modify, focus or control the direction and spread of light of the fixture. These accessories can be removably or permanently attached to the rail.
Readily available colored gel filters for photographic color correction, effects, light diffusion, reduction and control in sheets or rolls and can be clipped around and/or to the rail. All of the above can be used alone or in combination as appropriate.
“Spill” or extraneous light can be controlled, shaped or prevented with doors (“barn-doors”) or other light shaping or control devices mounted to the rail.
The fixture of the invention is relatively simple, light in weight, and of inexpensive construction as compared to prior art fixtures for the same general purpose. It also provides the capability of being constructed and mounted in a variety of ways to satisfy different applications and is adaptable for use with various devices for modifying and controlling the overall light output.
Specific features of the invention are shown in one or more of the drawings for convenience only, as each feature may be combined with other features in accordance with the invention. Alternative embodiments will be recognized by those skilled in the art and are intended to be included within the scope of the claims. Accordingly, the above description should be construed as illustrating and not limiting the scope of the invention. All such obvious changes and modifications are within the patented scope of the appended claims.
This application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) from U.S. Provisional application Ser. No. 60/675,232, filed Apr. 27, 2005 for “PORTABLE LIGHTING FIXTURE”, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference as if set forth fully herein.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20060245186 A1 | Nov 2006 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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60675232 | Apr 2005 | US |