This application is a National Phase Patent Application of International Patent Application Number PCT/DE2005/002208, filed on Dec. 7, 2005, which claims priority of German Patent Application Number 20 2004 019 160.1, filed on Dec. 7, 2004.
The invention relates to an illuminating spotlight.
DE 203 12 391 U1 discloses a spotlight having a spot-light housing in which a lamp and a reflector and, on the front beam exit opening, a housing frame for holding auxiliary parts such as front lenses, protective glass screens, gratings or the like are arranged.
The arrangement and fastening of these spotlight devices in and on the spotlight housing requires high precision and thus a large outlay on production, particularly with reference to the devices that influence beams, such as reflectors and lenses, since these devices must be arranged centrally in relation to the optical axis of the spotlight.
A further problem consists in that the spotlight devices connected to the spotlight housing are exposed to substantial mechanical and thermal loads from shocks and, particularly in the case of high power spotlights, to a large dissipation of heat by the spotlight lamp. This applies to a large degree to a protective screen made from glass or plastic that is provided on the beam exit side of the spotlight as shock-hazard protection and explosion protection, there also being provided for the purpose of better thermal insulation two protective screens that are axially spaced apart from one another and enclose between them an air space for heat insulation. In this case, it turns out to be problematical, in turn, to ensure the mutual spacing of the protective screens even in the case of high thermal loading and taking account of violent movements of the illuminating spotlight and of shocks exerted on the illuminating spotlight.
An illuminating spotlight having two protective glass screens arranged at the front is disclosed by DE 87 06 820 U, an air space in the form of a gap being provided between a front glass screen and a second protective glass screen made from armored glass, for the purpose of heat insulation and pressure isolation.
For the purposes of simplifying the design, secure fastening of a cover plate and of more easily changing the lamp of a luminaire, DE 43 13 073 C2 discloses a number of springs, bent in a U-shape, for fastening a cover plate on a cambered reflector inside which the lamp is detachably fastened as luminous means, and whose beam exit opening is covered by a cover plate that transmits the beams and is made from glass, plastic or a grating. The outer edge of the reflector has a number of cutouts or openings in which there are fastened springs that engage the front side of the cover plate from behind with the aid of a projection. The free limbs of the spring bent in a U-shape are in this case plugged through the opening in the reflector edge toward the front side of the luminaire and are locked in such that they are self-supporting.
DE 197 57 055 A1 discloses a luminaire having a cylindrical housing, a reflector and a glass holder which is arranged on the front of the housing and has at least one circular glass disk. The glass holder comprises two glass holding springs that are fastened diametrically on the end face of the housing, and have a spring element, formed from spring sheet metal, with an arcuately curved front side, and limbs that adjoin the front side in a U-shaped fashion and whose ends are formed into fastening eyes. The arcuately curved front side of the glass holding springs has in a circumferential direction of the housing longitudinal slots that delimit resilient strips that, in order to form a glass disk mount, are arcuately curved in alternating sequence outward toward the outside of the spring element and inward toward the rear side of the spring element such that the glass disk can be inserted radially into the depressions thereby formed in the glass holding springs. Arranged in addition on the circumference of the housing as protection against glare is a sliding ring that is sprung with respect to the housing of the luminaire and can be displaced via the glass holding springs.
The spring elements are arranged in a distributed fashion on the circumference of the spotlight device, designed resiliently in a radial direction of the spotlight housing, and connected to the spotlight housing via fastening lugs and/or fastening arms. Two spring arms bearing against the lateral edge of the spotlight device are also angled away with the resilient strips.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,091,835 discloses an illuminating spotlight having a cylindrical spotlight housing and having spotlight devices, connected to the spotlight housing, in the form of a reflector, as well as of a front lens and a protective grid. The connection of the spotlight devices to the spotlight housing is performed via spring elements that are designed as V-shaped control spring clips and either bear against the inside of the spotlight housing, or are plugged onto the front edge of the spotlight housing. The spotlight devices are inserted via depressions in the V-shaped control springs, which are designed to be resilient in a radial direction by means of their shape, and form a fastening lug that is connected to the spotlight housing and from which attached spring arms are angled away at the lateral edge of the spotlight device.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,101,771 discloses a fastening for a cover plate that is arranged at the light emission opening of a cylindrical housing of an illuminating device. The fastening device comprises a number of fastening elements that are arranged in a fashion distributed on the circumference of the housing opening, are connected to a housing flange formed at the housing opening, and have a base with a bore through which it is possible to plug a fastening element that connects an outer fastening ring to the housing flange. The fastening elements have two spring arms coming out of the base, whose ends are angled away to form spring stops, and bear with the latter against the cover plate inserted into the gap between the housing flange and the fastening ring, and exert a contact force on the cover plate.
The spring stops of the fastening elements are designed to be resilient in an axial direction, and exert an axial pressing force on the cover plate, but effect no spring elasticity in an axial direction, only serving exclusively to secure the cover plate in the opening gap between the housing flange and the fastening ring.
The object of the present invention is to connect a spotlight device in the form of a protective screen, lens or reflector to the spotlight housing such that mechanical and thermal loads on the spotlight device are largely avoided, and the precondition for a self-centering alignment of the spotlight device is provided.
In alternative embodiments, the solution according to the invention enables one or more spotlight devices to be connected to a spotlight housing without thermal or mechanical loads, and also enables them to be aligned self-centered in and on the spotlight housing.
Owing to the fact that spring stops that are designed to be resilient in an axial direction of the spotlight housing and that project from the spring arms, bear against at least one surface of the spotlight device, shocks exerted on the spotlight housing are effectively buffered and thermal stresses between the spotlight housing and the spotlight device are avoided. This first refinement of the spring element enables the connection of a single, disk-shaped spotlight device to the spotlight housing, an annular attachment or a projection, directed toward the spotlight interior, on the spotlight housing forms a mating stop for the spring element.
Moreover, as a result of the arrangement of a number of spring elements, a self-centering of the spotlight device with reference to the optical axis of the illuminating spotlight is ensured in the case of cylindrical spotlight housings and an edge region of the spotlight device in the shape of a circular disk.
Suitable for connecting, for example, two protective screens spaced apart from one another axially to the spotlight housing is a spring element whose fastening lug is of U-shaped design with a base and two limbs, two spring arms with spring stops projecting from their ends being angled away from each limb.
In this refinement, the spring elements ensure an axially sprung spacing between two disk-shaped spot-light devices such as protective screens, and at the same time a radial springing of the protective screens that bear in an axial direction against inwardly directed projections or attachments of the spotlight housing or of a lens ring that can be inserted into the spotlight housing.
In order to connect the spring elements to the spot-light housing, the limbs of the fastening lug have bores for holding a fastening element connecting the spring element to the spotlight housing and can comprise, for example, a bolt or a screw connection.
A distributed arrangement of the spring elements at the edge region of the spotlight device, in particular three spring elements arranged offset from one another by respectively approximately 120° at the edge region of the spotlight device, attains a connection of the spotlight device to the spotlight housing that ensures an optimum fastening of the spotlight device for the purpose of protecting against shocks or impacts, as well as a self-centering, for example, of a reflector, with reference to the optical axis of the illuminating spotlight.
For the purpose of resiliently fastening the spotlight device on the spotlight housing, the spring elements can be designed to be resilient in a radial direction or in an axial direction of the spotlight housing, but preferably along two axes, that is to say in a radial and axial direction of the spotlight housing.
Particularly in the case of fastening the spotlight device on the spotlight housing in a resilient fashion along two axes, an optimum protection of the spotlight device against impacts or shocks and against thermal expansions is ensured.
If the spotlight device comprises two protective screens that are spaced apart from one another in an axial direction of the spotlight housing at the beam exit of the spotlight housing, the edge regions of the protective screens rest at the circumference on the spring arms of a spring element with a U-shaped fastening lug, while the spring stops designed as kinked leaf springs determine the axial spacing of the two protective screens from one another, and the edges of the mutually facing surfaces of the protective screens respectively bear against a kink of the spring stops, designed as kinked leaf springs, of the spring elements.
In an exemplary embodiment, the spring arms and the spring stops are designed as leaf springs, in particular as flat, kinked or bent leaf springs.
This refinement of the spring elements enables a simple, cost-effective production in conjunction with high thermal stability and assurance of the resilient properties.
The protective screens are preferably arranged in a lens ring connected to the spotlight housing, and the spring elements arranged between the protective screens press the edge regions of the protective screens against the lens ring.
In a further exemplary embodiment, the spring elements comprise coil springs that are arranged between a spring element or holding element connected to the spotlight housing and the spotlight device, and prestress the spotlight device in an axial direction onto the spotlight housing, or have a prestressing action in addition to the spring action of the spring element or holding element.
In this exemplary embodiment, the coil springs can be arranged between at least one surface, adjoining the lateral edge of the spotlight device, of the spotlight device and a flange arm of the spring element or holding element.
Alternatively, the coil springs are arranged between the fastening arms of two spring elements or holding elements fastened on the spotlight housing, there being angled away from the fastening arms two support arms that bear against the lateral edge of the spotlight device and from which flange arms bearing against the surface of the at least one spotlight device project, or the coil springs are arranged between the fastening lugs of spring elements or holding elements, there being angled away from the fastening lugs two support arms that bear against the lateral edge of the spotlight device and from which flange arms bearing against the surface of the at least one spotlight device project.
If the spotlight device comprises a reflector or a lens that is arranged at a spacing from a light source in the interior of the spotlight housing, the outer edge of the reflector or of the lens preferably rests on the spring arms of the spring elements, while the edge surface, adjacent to the outer edge, of the reflector or of the lens bears against a kink of the spring stops, designed as kinked leaf springs, of the spring elements.
The idea on which the invention is based is to be explained in more detail with the aid of the connection illustrated in the figures of the drawing, of
The number and configuration of the spring elements is essentially a function of the type of spotlight device, of how the latter is supported on the spotlight housing and/or of a device, such as a lens ring, connected to the spotlight housing, of the requirement for radial and/or axial springing of the spotlight device with respect to the spotlight housing, and of the number of the spotlight devices to be held by the spring elements. In order to explain the invention, the following FIGS. describe the connection to the spotlight housing both of a single spotlight device in the form of a reflector, and of two intercoupled spotlight devices in the form of the two protective screens arranged at the beam exit opening of the spot-light housing.
The spring element 6, illustrated in
At their ends, the spring arms 61, 62 have end webs 67, 68 that run essentially parallel to the web 66 and from which the spring stops 63, 64 are formed by renewed angling away. The spring stops 63, 64 have a kink 69 bearing against the surface of the edge region of the reflector 5, such that the spring stops 63, 64 bear against the surface of the reflector 5 in a punctiform or linear fashion.
As is to be gathered from the various views in accordance with
In order to connect the spring element 6 to the spot-light housing 1, the fastening lug 60 has a bore 65 through which a suitable fastening element 13, for example a screw, a pin or a rivet, can be plugged and connected to the spotlight housing 1.
As, in particular, the side view of the spring element 6 in accordance with
Owing to the arrangement of three spring elements 6a, 6b, 6c respectively offset from one another by approximately 120° on the circumference of the reflector 5, in accordance with
Owing to the springing of the spring element 6 in an axial direction, it is simultaneously ensured in this case that the reflector 5 bears permanently against the circumferential, or partially provided web 12 of the spotlight housing irrespective of temperature-induced expansions of the spotlight housing 1 and/or of the reflector 5.
If shocks or impacts act on the spotlight housing 1, the axial and radial springing of the reflector 5 with reference to the spotlight housing 1 prevents a maximum amount of protection against destruction and/or displacement of the reflector 5 from centering with reference to the optical axis of the illuminating spotlight.
As a further exemplary embodiment,
The spring elements 7 are arranged in a fashion distributed over the circumference of the lens ring 2, for example in a fashion mutually offset by 120° in each case, and are located with spring arms 71, 71′ and 72, 72′ and spring stops 73, 73′ and 74, 74′ between the protective screens 31, 32 whose outwardly directed surfaces bear at their edge region against the circumferential webs 21, 22 of the lens ring 2.
As is to be gathered, in particular, from the side view in accordance with
The lateral edges 310, 320 of the protective screens 31, 32 rest on the end sections 67, 68′ of the spring arms 71, 71′ and 72, 72′, and are therefore sprung in a radial direction with reference to the spotlight housing 1. The punctiform or linear bearing of the spring stops 73, 73′ and 74, 74′ ensures that the protective screens 31, 32 are supported in an axially sprung fashion such that the interspace formed between the protective screens 31, 32 is kept constant. At the same time, in conjunction with the radially sprung support of the protective screens 31, 32 via the ends of the spring arms 71, 71′ and 72, 72′ as well as the sprung bearing of the spring stops 73, 73′ and 74, 74′, the protective screens 31, 32 are assuredly protected against shocks or impacts that can act on the spotlight housing 1.
Arranged in a fashion distributed over the circumference of the lens ring 2 for the purpose of fastening the spring element 7 on the lens ring 2 are bolts 20 that are plugged through mutually aligned bores 75, 75′ of the fastening lug 70 of the spring element 7. As is to be gathered from the perspective illustration in accordance with
The shape of the spring elements 6, 7 illustrated in
In the embodiment in accordance with
The spring elements or holding elements 9, 9′ can optionally be of rigid design, and thus be designed as exclusively holding elements such that the coil springs 8 resiliently prestress the protective screens 31, 32 in an axial direction. Alternatively, the spring elements or holding elements 9, 9′ can be of resilient design and thus for their part form spring elements that spring the protective screens 31, 32 in a radial direction, and their axially resilient action is reinforced by the coil spring 8 arranged between the fastening arms 90, 90′ and which is active in an axial direction.
A further modification of the arrangement illustrated in side view in
Illustrated in a side view in
In this embodiment, as well, the spring element or holding element 9 can be designed as a spring element in accordance with the spring element 7 illustrated in
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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20 2004 019 160 U | Dec 2004 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/DE2005/002208 | 12/7/2005 | WO | 00 | 5/7/2008 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2006/061006 | 6/15/2006 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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1414088 | Kuen | Apr 1922 | A |
2271162 | Sorrell | Jan 1942 | A |
3375368 | Dorsky | Mar 1968 | A |
3878388 | Germany | Apr 1975 | A |
4587598 | Burgess et al. | May 1986 | A |
5091835 | Malek et al. | Feb 1992 | A |
6101771 | Aikens | Aug 2000 | A |
Number | Date | Country |
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1 788 105 | May 1959 | DE |
29 51 619 | Jul 1981 | DE |
87 06 820.6 | Apr 1988 | DE |
88 06 455.7 | Aug 1988 | DE |
43 13 073 | Oct 1994 | DE |
197 57 055 | Jun 1999 | DE |
203 12 391 | Jan 2004 | DE |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20080310175 A1 | Dec 2008 | US |