The present invention generally relates to lighting systems and caps and capped lamps for such lighting systems.
More precisely, the invention concerns a lighting system for mounting an electrical lamp onto a power supply, comprising:
A lighting system of this type is disclosed for instance in WO-A-2004/015331.
Although the lighting system which is described in this document is satisfactory, a general need with lighting systems of this type is to avoid that an electrical connection of the cap to the holder may fail and result in jamming of the cap on the holder.
An object of the present invention is to propose such improvement.
To this end, according to one embodiment of the invention, a lighting system is proposed for mounting an electrical lamp onto a power supply, comprising:
The cap has further a cap guide and the holder has further a holder guide, said cap guide and holder guide being adapted to cooperate with one another in the mounting direction when the holder is connected to the cap.
The cap guide and holder guide are more especially designed to fit together and guide the cap in translation along said mounting direction such that any significant motion of the cap into directions perpendicular to the mounting direction is prevented by the holder guide, ensuring a positioning step of the cap with respect to the holder before an electrical contacting step of the cap connector with the holder connector.
Thanks to these features, the cap guide and holder guide provide a simple an efficient guiding of the cap relative to the holder during montage of the cap onto the holder, which allows the user well-positioning the cap with respect to the holder for the next electrical connection (i.e. align the cap connector with the holder connector along the mounting axis), and ensure then a good electrical connection between the cap and the holder.
The electrical connection safety between the cap and the holder is thus improved.
This improvement is particularly interesting if the holder is fixed to a vehicle, and if the user has to change the capped lamp (i.e. lamp+cap). The invention improves the safety of this operation for the user and for the vehicle electrical system.
In various embodiments of the lighting system of the invention, one may have recourse to one and/or other of the following features:
Besides, a further embodiment of the invention concerns a lamp cap for a lighting system comprising:
wherein said cap guide is designed to fit with the holder guide to be guided in translation along said mounting direction such that any significant motion of the lamp cap into directions perpendicular to the mounting direction is prevented by the holder guide, ensuring a positioning step of the lamp cap with respect to the holder before an electrical contacting step of the cap connector with the holder connector.
In various embodiments of the lamp cap of the invention, one may have recourse to one and/or other of the following features:
At last, a further embodiment of the invention concerns a capped lamp comprising the said lamp cap and an electrical lamp having an electrical lamp connector electrically interfacing the lamp and the lamp cap.
Other features and advantages of the invention appear from the following detailed description of one of its embodiments, given by way of non-limiting example, and with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the drawings:
In the various drawings, the same reference numerals designate identical or similar elements.
The lighting system 1 includes a housing 2 in which a capped lamp assembly 3 is mounted.
The capped lamp assembly comprises a capped lamp 4 connected to a holder 5. The capped lamp 4 comprises itself an electrical lamp 6 connected to a cap 7, said cap 7 being connected to the holder 5.
The electrical lamp 6 may be of any type, such as for example an incandescent or halogen lamp.
It should be noted that, although the lighting system 1 includes the housing 2, the holder 5, the lamp 6 and the cap 7 as used in the description in the
The housing 2 may include a back wall 8, for instance a reflector and a front wall 9, for instance a lens, which define together an internal volume 10 in which the capped lamp 4 is located. The back wall 8 includes a hole 11 which is traversed by the capped lamp assembly 3, and in which the main body 5a of the holder 5 is fixed.
The holder main body 5a may for instance be made out of electrically insulating material, preferably in a single part, e.g. molded out of plastic material like thermoplastic resin such as for example polyamide. This material can withstand the relatively high temperatures generated by the lamp 6 in use.
In the example of the drawings, the holder main body 5a has a peripheral flange 12 which extends radially outwardly relative to a central X-axis of the capped lamp assembly 3, and said flange 12 is fixed in the hole 11 by any known means, for instance by tight fitting.
As shown in more details in
The holder main body 5a further includes a front portion 17 which extends forward of the flange 12 and which may for instance have an outer shape which is substantially cylindrical of X-axis and of substantially square section.
As shown on
Each of the forks 19 is unitary with a respective one of the pins 16, so that the holder connector 20 is in permanent electrical contact with the rear connector 15.
The front portion 17 of the holder main body 5a further includes, on two opposite sides thereof, a holder guide, which consist in the example of the drawings in two lateral grooves 21 parallel to X-axis.
Further, an axial rib 22, parallel to X-axis, may be provided in at least one of the lateral grooves 21.
Finally, edges of the end face 23 of the front portion 17 of the holder main body 5a may also include mutually aligned notches 24.
The cap 7 has a cap main body 7a which may be made out of an electrically insulating material, preferably in a single part, e.g. molded out of plastic material like thermoplastic resin such as for example polyamide. This material can withstand the relatively high temperatures generated by the lamp 6 in use.
The cap main body 7a includes a central portion 25 which comes in axial abutment against the end face 23 of the front portion 17 of the holder main body 5a when the cap 7 is connected to the holder 5 (see
A rib 26 transverse to the X-axis may extend outwardly the front face of the central portion 25 such that the two ends of this transverse rib 26 protrudes from the central portion 25 (if axially projected on the latter) and fits into the notches 24 of the holder when the cap is connected to the holder.
The transverse rib 26 is traversed by two axial holes 27, the utility of which will be explained later.
Further, the central portion 25 of the cap main body 7a includes two pairs of recesses 28 which open rearward and in which two U-shaped metallic contact members 29 are force fitted.
The U-shaped contact members are disposed so that their branches 29a are respectively force fitted in the recesses 28, while their bases 29b cover the transverse rib 26 rearward. When the cap is connected to the holder, the U-shaped contact members 29 are inserted in the forks 19 of the holder connector 20.
Further each of the bases 29b of the U-shaped contact members 29 includes a hole 30 which is parallel to X-axis. The two respective holes 30 of the U-shaped contact members 29 are in register with the holes 27 of the cap main body 7a, and these holes 30 are adapted to receive respectively two metallic pins 31 of the electrical lamp 6 when the lamp is connected to the cap 7.
Thus, the two holes 30 constitute a first electrical cap connector of the cap, which is able to be connected to the lamp connector 32 formed by the two pins 31 of the lamp, while the branches 29a of the U-shaped contact members constitute a second electrical cap connector 33 which is electrically connected to the first cap connector 30 and which is adapted to be electrically connected to the holder connector 20.
The cap main body 7a also includes a bottom side 41 which extends backward from the central portion 25 parallel the X axis. The bottom side 41 has a cap guide, which consists in the example of the drawings in two lateral legs 34, having a shape which is complementary to the lateral grooves 21 of the holder, extend rearward from the central portion 25 of the cap main body. Theses two lateral legs are adapted to fit, without or with a small clearance, in the two grooves 21 of the holder, for providing guidance to the cap 7 when the cap is mounted on the holder and for providing efficient and reliable support to the cap once it is mounted on the holder. One of the two legs 34 includes an axial slot 35 on the inner surface thereof, so that the axial rib 22 of the holder may fit into said axial slot 35, as clearly shown on
As shown on
The capped lamp 4 is removably retained onto the holder 5 by locking means. The skilled person can use any known and well-known technique for providing this locking means. One example of locking means is depicted in
The lamp 6 and cap 7 may be connected together in advance, thus forming the above-mentioned capped lamp 4. It should be noted that, thanks to the use of the cap 7, the lamp 6 may be manufactured in large series and connected to several types of caps 7, depending on the holder 5 on which the lamp is meant to be mounted.
When the capped lamp 4 is mounted on the holder 5, as shown on
Therefore, the cap lamp is very precisely guided in translation along the mounting direction (X-axis) at least until the cap lamp is electrically connected to the holder. This guidance avoids significant motion into directions perpendicular to the mounting direction.
After the electric contact between the second cap connector 30 and the holder connector 20, the capped lamp 4 continues to slide forward along the mounting direction (X-axis), until the free ends of the two legs 34 of the cap 7 comes up against the flange 12. In this position, the protruding part 92 (see
Further, the axial rib 22 of the holder and the axial slot 35 of the cap (or any other corresponding reliefs of the cap and holder which would fit together in sliding relationship along X-axis during connection of the capped lamp to the holder) are adapted to code respectively the cap type of the holder type, for avoiding improper pairing of the cap and holder.
Of course, this invention is not limited to the preceding detailed description, and can be extended to other lighting systems with a cap having the same or similar functionalities. For example, the skilled person knows how adapting the lighting system for having one, three, four or more lateral legs 34 as well as their complementary parts on the holder 5.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
08300103 | Feb 2008 | EP | regional |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
PCT/IB2009/050657 | 2/18/2009 | WO | 00 | 8/12/2010 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2009/104140 | 8/27/2009 | WO | A |
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5465025 | Hendrickson | Nov 1995 | A |
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7284895 | Goto | Oct 2007 | B2 |
7306488 | Krijne et al. | Dec 2007 | B2 |
20060187682 | Goto | Aug 2006 | A1 |
20100311267 | Mouchon et al. | Dec 2010 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
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29924240 | Sep 2002 | DE |
102004029238 | Jan 2005 | DE |
1672276 | Jun 2006 | EP |
2004015331 | Feb 2004 | WO |
2007105144 | Sep 2007 | WO |
2007141236 | Dec 2007 | WO |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20100311267 A1 | Dec 2010 | US |