This application is related to Taiwan Application No. 102203499, filed Feb. 23, 2013, the entire disclosure of which is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference, the priority of which is not claimed herein.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a track light device, more particularly to a modular track assembly for slidably mounting a track light.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a display cabinet is equipped with a light source, e.g., a track light for illuminating objects, e.g., jewelry or antiques, and for improving their aesthetic appeal.
Taiwanese Utility Model Patent No. M289833 discloses a track light device that includes a conventional track assembly and a lamp coupled slidably to the conventional track assembly. However, the conventional track assembly usually has a fixed size. Thus, a conventional track assembly with a specific size may not be available for fitting the display cabinet that is used to display the objects.
Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a modular track assembly for slidably mounting a track light that can overcome the aforesaid drawback of the prior art.
According to this invention, there is provided a modular track assembly for slidably mounting a tracklight. The modular track assembly comprises a track unit and a connector. The track unit includes a track configured for slidably mounting the track light and having two opposite distal ends, a circuit board disposed at the track and having two opposite side portions adjacent respectively to the distal ends of the track, a pair of conductive elements disposed at one of the side portions, and a cap disposed at one of the distal ends which is adjacent to the one of the side portions provided with the conductive elements. The cap is formed with two holes that allow access to the conductive elements, respectively. The connector is connected removably to the cap, includes two conductive members, and is configured to interconnect the track unit of the modular track assembly and the track unit of another modular track assembly. Each of the conductive members includes two opposite insertion segments, one of which is inserted into a respective one of the holes of the cap to connect electrically to a respective one of the conductive elements, and the other one of which is configured to be inserted into a respective one of the holes of the cap of the another modular track assembly to connect electrically to a respective one of the conductive elements of the another modular track assembly.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Referring to
The track light 20 includes an engaging member 201 engaging slidably the track unit 2 of the modular track assembly 10, a rotatable shaft 202 connected rotatably to the engaging member 201, and a lamp seat 203 connected pivotally to the rotatable shaft 202. The engaging member 201 has two pairs of contacting electrodes 2011.
The track unit 2 includes a track 21 extending along a direction (L), a circuit board 23 disposed at the track 21, two pairs of conductive elements 24 (only one pair is visible due to the viewing angle), two caps 22, and a pair of fixed electrodes 25 disposed at the circuit board 23. The track 21 has two opposite distal ends, and is slidably mounted with the track light 20. The circuit board 23 has two opposite side portions respectively adjacent to the distal ends of the track 21. The two pairs of the conductive elements 24 are disposed respectively at the side portions of the circuit board 23. The caps 22 are disposed respectively at the distal ends of the track 21. Each of the caps 22 is formed with two holes 224 that allow access to a corresponding one of the two pairs of the conductive elements 24. The fixed electrodes 25 extend along the track 21, are connected electrically and respectively to the conductive elements 24 of each pair through the circuit board 23, and are in electrical and slidable contact respectively with the contacting electrodes 2011 of each pair so as to electrically interconnect the circuit board 23 and the track light 20. The conductive elements 24 are made of a metal material. In this preferred embodiment, the conductive elements 24 are leaf springs and are made of copper. Since the caps 22 are identical to each other in structure and the two pairs of the conductive elements 24 are also identical to each other in structure, for the sake of brevity, only one cap 22 and one pair of the conductive elements 24 will be described in the following description.
The track 21 includes an elongated plate 211, two extending walls 212, and two engaging walls 213. The elongated plate 211 extends along the direction (L), and has two opposite longitudinal sides. The extending walls 212 extend perpendicularly and respectively from the longitudinal sides of the elongated plate 211 in a first direction, and cooperate with the elongated plate 211 to define a receiving space 214 with two openings disposed respectively at the distal ends of the track 21. The engaging walls 213 extend respectively from the longitudinal sides of the elongated plate 211 in a second direction opposite to the first direction, allow slidable engagement with the engaging member 201 of the track light 20, and cooperate with the elongated plate 211 to define an accommodating space 215. In this embodiment, the circuit board 23 is disposed in the accommodating space 215. In this preferred embodiment, the track 21 is formed integrally by aluminum extrusion and thus, has a relatively light weight.
The cap 22 includes an insertion portion 221, a cap main body 222 connected to the insertion portion 221, and two cap extension portions 223 that extend from the cap main body 222 in the second direction. The insertion portion 221 is inserted into the receiving space 214 through a corresponding one of the openings. The cap main body 222 covers the corresponding one of the openings, and is formed with the holes 224 and a cavity 225 in spatial communication with the holes 224. The cap extension portions 223 are respectively flush with the engaging walls 213 of the track 21 so as to allow slidable engagement with the engaging member 201 of the track light 20. In this embodiment, the cap 22 is made of electrical insulating material.
The connector 3 is connected removably to one of the caps 22, is configured to interconnect the track unit 2 of the modular track assembly 10 and the track unit 2 of another modular track assembly 10 (see
The mounting members 4 are disposed at the track 21 of the track unit 2 for mounting of the modular track assembly 10, and each of the mounting members 4 includes an engagement block 41 engaging removably between the extending walls 212, and a pin 42 connected to the engagement block 41 and configured to be inserted into an object (for example, but not limited to, an inner surface of a display cabinet, a wall, a floor, etc.). It is noted that the number of the mounting members 4 is not limited to two, and may vary according to different requirements.
It should be noted that the engaging member 201 has two pairs of the contacting electrodes 2011 to ensure that at least one of the pairs of the contacting electrodes 2011 is able to electrically and respectively contact the fixed electrodes 25 of one of the track units 2 when the engaging member 201 slides between two adjacent modular track assemblies 10, so that the track light 20 can be constantly electrically connected to the circuit board 23 when sliding on the modular track assemblies 10.
To sum up, a plurality of the track units 21 can be connected together via one or more of the connectors 3 such that the modular track assembly 10 is convenient to assemble and to apply to different display cabinets with different sizes.
While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretations and equivalent arrangements.
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20150159840 A1 | Jun 2015 | US |