Patent Application
20130318891
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for installing fixtures, and more particularly to a method and apparatus that provides a stable, secure and easy way to install and uninstall fixtures on the ground.
Landscaping becomes more and more popular in recent years because people have a much higher demand on quality of the living environment. A series of outdoor lights are usually installed to illuminate buildings, gardens, pathways, and entranceways for safety purposes by reducing and eliminating dark hiding places and unobserved entry points for intruders. Moreover, the outdoor lights can be arranged to decorate the gardens, patios or yards to enhance the aesthetic value thereof. However, one problem of many conventional outdoor light fixtures is that once the lighting fixture is installed, it is very difficult and inconvenient to uninstall and the process to uninstall is usually costly and labor-intensive. It poses a serious problem if the homeowner likes to frequently change the location of the lighting fixtures for different designs.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,953,257 to Pusch discloses an outdoor light mounting system that provides a simple installation method for outdoor lighting fixtures. The outdoor light mounting system includes a foundation member in the form of a mildly compressible pipe member that is mounted in the ground, and an adapter that may form an electrical connection box, and a light standard can be mounted on the adapter. However, as can be seen in
U.S. Pat. No. 7,073,919 to Masina discloses a light assembly including an elongate support having an upper end and an opposing lower end, and a light fixture. The elongated support incorporates an attached stake, which is to be forcibly inserted into the ground for supporting assembly in an upright condition as shown in
Therefore, there remains a need for a new and improved method and apparatus to easily and securely install and uninstall fixtures on the ground to overcome the problems stated above.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a secure and easy method and system to install and uninstall fixtures on the ground, so that the homeowner can easily rearrange the fixtures in his/her garden or yard.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive installation system for light fixtures on the ground to not only illuminate, but also decorate backyards, patios and gardens.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a base plate with one or more receiving slots thereon to receive corresponding ground stakes, and the ground stakes can be hammered into the ground through the receiving slots to secure the base plate on the ground.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide one or more anchors on the base plate to engage with the fixture and to further secure the fixture on the ground.
In one aspect, a ground installation system includes a base plate and one or more ground stakes, and the base plate has one or more receiving slots corresponding to the ground stakes. Namely, the receiving slots are used for receiving the ground stakes. The base plate also has one or more through holes provided for anchors that can be used to secure a fixture on the base plate.
In one embodiment, the ground stake may include a body portion and a stopping piece, and the body portion may include two substantially similar sub-pieces to form an “L-shaped” body portion. One end of the body portion is covered by the stopping piece, and the other end is tapered and sharpened. The receiving slot used to receive the ground stake is a substantially “L-shaped” slot corresponding to the body portion, and the width of the receiving slot is slightly larger than the width of the body portion, so that the ground stake can be hammered into the ground through the receiving slot, and the ground stake can move all the way down until the stopping unit touches the base plate to stop the movement and secure the base plate on the ground. In other embodiments, the shape of the receiving slot can be changed, and the shape of the ground stake has to be changed accordingly to serve the same purposes as illustrated above. In some embodiments, the shape of the base plate can be changed as well.
In another aspect, a method to secure a fixture on a ground includes steps of securing one or more anchors on a base plate; placing the base plate on the ground; applying force to one or more ground stakes into the ground through the base plate to secure the base plate on the ground; disposing the fixture on the base plate; and securing the fixture on the base plate.
In one embodiment, the step of securing one or more anchors on a base plate may include a step of inserting the anchors from a back surface of the base plate. In another embodiment, the step of applying force to one or more ground stakes into the ground through the base plate to secure the base plate on the ground may include steps of providing one or more ground stakes that include a body portion having a flat end and a sharpened end, and a stopping unit attaching to the flat end of the body portion; providing one or more receiving slots on the base plate corresponding to the ground stakes; and inserting the ground stake through the sharpened end into the receiving slot to secure the base plate when the stopping end touches the base plate.
Comparing with the conventional arts, the present invention has following advantages: (i) the entire ground installation system merely includes a base plate and a few ground stakes, and it is fairly easy to assemble and disassemble the installation system without special training and skills; (ii) the manufacturing cost of the ground installation system is low; and (iii) the ground installation system in the present invention provides a stable and secure base for the fixtures thereon.
a to 3b illustrate the mechanism of the ground stakes and corresponding receiving slots in the ground installation system in the present invention.
d to 3f illustrate the mechanism of the ground stakes and corresponding receiving slots in the ground installation system in the present invention from a different view angle.
a illustrate securing the base plate to the ground in the present invention.
a illustrates one embodiment of the method of installing a fixture in the present invention.
The detailed description set forth below is intended as a description of the presently exemplary device provided in accordance with aspects of the present invention and is not intended to represent the only forms in which the present invention may be prepared or utilized. It is to be understood, rather, that the same or equivalent functions and components may be accomplished by different embodiments that are also intended to be encompassed within the spirit and scope of the invention.
Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood to one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Although any methods, devices and materials similar or equivalent to those described can be used in the practice or testing of the invention, the exemplary methods, devices and materials are now described.
All publications mentioned are incorporated by reference for the purpose of describing and disclosing, for example, the designs and methodologies that are described in the publications that might be used in connection with the presently described invention. The publications listed or discussed above, below and throughout the text are provided solely for their disclosure prior to the filing date of the present application. Nothing herein is to be construed as an admission that the inventors are not entitled to antedate such disclosure by virtue of prior invention.
In order to further understand the goal, characteristics and effect of the present invention, a number of embodiments along with the drawings are illustrated as following:
Referring to
More particularly, the ground stake 313, for example, may include a body portion 3131 and a stopping piece 3132, as shown in
Referring to
In one embodiment, as shown in
For example, as can be seen in
In another embodiment, the base plate can be of another geometric shape. As can be seen in
In another aspect, a method to secure a fixture on a ground includes steps of securing one or more anchors on a base plate 710; placing the base plate on the ground 720; applying force to one or more ground stakes into the ground through the base plate to secure the base plate on the ground 730; disposing the fixture on the base plate 740; and securing the fixture on the base plate 750.
In one embodiment, the step of securing one or more anchors on a base plate (710) includes a step of inserting the anchors from a back surface of the base plate 7101. In another embodiment, the step of applying force to one or more ground stakes into the ground through the base plate to secure the base plate on the ground (730) includes steps of providing one or more ground stakes that include a body portion having a flat end and a sharpened end, and a stopping unit attaching to the flat end of the body portion 7301; providing one or more receiving slots corresponding to the ground stakes 7302; and inserting the ground stake through the sharpened end into the receiving slot to secure the base plate when the stopping end touches the base plate 7303. In a further embodiment, the step of disposing the fixture on the base plate (740) may include a step of aligning positioning holes on the fixture with the anchors on the base plate 7401. In still a further embodiment, the step of securing the fixture on the base plate (750) may include a step of providing one or more hex nuts to engage with the anchors to secure the fixture on the base plate 7501.
According to the embodiments discussed above, the present invention has following advantages: (i) the entire ground installation system merely includes a base plate and a few ground stakes, and it is fairly easy to assemble and disassemble the installation system without special training and skills; (ii) the manufacturing cost of the ground installation system is low; and (iii) the ground installation system in the present invention provides a stable and secure base for the fixtures thereon.
Having described the invention by the description and illustrations above, it should be understood that these are exemplary of the invention and are not to be considered as limiting. Accordingly, the invention is not to be considered as limited by the foregoing description, but includes any equivalent.
