Patent Application
20070080079
The present invention relates to packaging, and particularly, relates to packaging and delivery of large lighting devices and equipment.
Outdoor lighting devices, such as streetlights, are commonly used to aid automobile and pedestrian safety at night and in unfriendly weather conditions. A streetlight is typically a raised lamp near the edge of a street that is turned on or lighted at a certain time each night. Streetlights may also have light-sensitive photocells that turn them on and off automatically, for example, on at dusk or in bad weather and off at sunrise. Streetlights typically include, or attach to, a pole or other structure to raise them above the ground. Such poles can have lengths exceeding 20 feet. In many cases, the light or lights at the top of a streetlight pole are connected to an electricity source through electrical wiring that runs down through the pole.
Lighting devices often require a significant amount of assembly, installation, and setup after delivery. Assembling and electrically connecting components can be time-consuming and may require the assistance of an expert, technician, or electrician. The need for electrical expertise and assembly is even more common and burdensome for larger lighting devices, such as streetlights, which are usually shipped in a partially unassembled manner because of their size or shape. When the pole, lamps, and other components of a streetlight are shipped or delivered in unassembled form, a significant amount of time and effort may be required to properly assemble and electrically connect the various components. In some cases, this work must be done at the top of a pole high above ground level, requiring additional equipment such as ladders and high-reach trucks.
The components of large lighting devices such as streetlights are commonly ordered separately from one another. Past ordering methods have involved having a purchaser place individual purchase orders for each of a lamp, a control, a luminaire, a pole, and wiring. The separate ordering of the lighting device's components typically requires additional effort in order to coordinate shipment schedules such that the materials will arrive at the same time. Additionally, there is a risk that one or more of the components will not arrive at its scheduled delivery time, delaying the installation of the lighting device.
One embodiment of the present invention includes a package for a lighting device that includes an encasing structure that surrounds at least a portion of a luminaire of the lighting device. An aperture in the encasing structure is configured to allow a pole connected to the luminaire to extend from the encasing structure. Another embodiment of the present invention includes a method of packaging a lighting device that includes encasing the luminaire of the lighting device with an encasing structure of a package such that a pole of the lighting device extends through an aperture. A third embodiment of the present invention includes a method of selling a lighting device that includes offering for sale a lighting device, which includes a luminaire preassembled to a pole, under a single item code, accepting an order for the single item code for delivery to a delivery location, and shipping the lighting device to the delivery location.
Introduction
One embodiment of the invention includes a lighting device packaging and delivery system for a partially or completely preassembled and pre-wired luminaire and pole. The packaging allows the unit to be shipped and installed with very little or no assembly required. The unit, or multi-pack/bundle of units, may arrive at the destination with all of the required components, such as the photocontrol and lamp, already installed. Upon arrival, the installer will remove the packaging protecting the luminaire and possibly some wrapping protecting a pole, orient the fixture in the proper direction if needed, and lower it into the prepared hole for the direct burial pole. The supply wiring is pulled through the proper openings in the pole base, the wiring is connected, and pole installation is completed. In some embodiments, the packaging is designed to interlock with other units of the same type to form a multi-pack or bundle. For example, the packaging may have one or more recesses to allow adjacent luminaires or poles of other lighting devices to be secured.
Exemplary Embodiment of a Packaged Lighting Device
Also note that although this embodiment describes an encasing structure 101 having two portions 102, 104, in other embodiments, the encasing structure 101 may consist of only one portion or more than two portions of different or the same shapes, sizes, materials, and configurations. Different portions of a multi-portion package may be secured to one another, the luminaire, and/or other portions of the lighting device by connectors, through an interference fit, a surrounding structure or encasement, and/or any other suitable means. Alternatively, the portions may not be secured together or to other structure in some embodiments.
In the embodiment of
The first portion 102 and the second portion 104 of the encasing structure 101 of the package are also each configured to form respective semi-circles 114a, 114b on one end. The respective semi-circles 114a, 114b come together to form a circular aperture 116 when the package is installed around the luminaire 108 of the lighting device 106, as shown in
The portions 102, 104 of the encasing structure 101 may only partially surround the luminaire 108, and may surround a portion or all of the pole 110. As explained in greater detail below, the portions 102, 104 may also be configured such that the package can be secured, connected, or attached to another package or lighting device component such as a pole. The encasing structure configuration, whether including one or more portions, may include one or more package recesses 118, projections, and/or pole recesses 120a, 120b, 120c, 120d, that work alone or in combination with other components to secure, attach, connect, or otherwise hold packaging or a lighting device.
One embodiment of the present invention is a method of packaging a lighting device comprising encasing a luminaire of the lighting device with portions of an encasing structure of a package, wherein a pole of the lighting device extends through an aperture.
Exemplary Embodiment of Multi-Packaged Lighting Devices Interlocking Package to Package
Referring again to
Referring now to
Referring again to
Interlocking Pole to Package
Referring now to
Referring now to
The pole recesses 120a, 120b, 120c, 120d may also interact with pole recesses of other packaged lighting devices in a bundle. Two semi-circles could be placed adjacent one another to form a whole circle in which the pole of an opposite facing lighting device may be secured. Accordingly, in one embodiment, the package includes a pole recess positioned on the outer surface of the encasing portion such that it interacts with a pole recess on a package of another lighting device to secure the pole of yet another the lighting device.
Referring again to
Another embodiment includes a method of packaging a lighting device 106 comprising encasing a luminaire 108 of the lighting device 106 with an encasing portion 102, 104 of an encasing structure 101 a package, wherein a pole 110 of the lighting device 106 extends through an aperture 116 in the portions 102, 104, and interlocking the package with a plurality of other lighting device packages to form a bundle 300 of packaged lighting devices. As described above, in one embodiment, the bundle 300 of lighting devices forms a structure having encased luminaires on two ends and light fixture poles in the center. In another embodiment, each of the encased luminaires at one end of the bundle is connected to a pole secured by the encasing portion of the luminaires at the other end of the bundle. In yet another embodiment, the two ends of the bundle are placed on separate shipping pallets.
Yet another embodiment includes a method of packaging a lighting device that involves encasing the luminaire, but not the pole, with a package, and interlocking the package with a plurality of other lighting device packages to form a bundle. The bundle of packaged lighting devices may be then shipped, delivered, displayed, and/or stored until the individually packaged lighting devices are removed from the bundle.
Exemplary Embodiment of a Method of Selling a Lighting Device
Another embodiment of this invention includes a method of selling a lighting device that includes offering a lighting device for sale under a single item code wherein the lighting device includes a luminaire preassembled to a pole, accepting an order for the single item code for delivery to a delivery location, and shipping the lighting device to the delivery location. In one embodiment, the lighting device item code will relate to a lighting device having a control unit preassembled with a luminaire and a pole and, in another embodiment, it will identify a lighting device that is fully assembled. It is not necessary to use an item code in some embodiments of this invention. In some embodiments, the order for the lighting device will be made by reference to a trade name or other identifying information for the lighting device.
Advantages
Some embodiments of the of the present invention may save a lighting device customer or installer a large amount of time and expense by avoiding or reducing the need to assemble the components of a luminaire required to make the unit operable (i.e., the lamp, pole, photocontrol, etc.). In some embodiments, the luminaire may be shipped and delivered in a preassembled form, such that the pole, lamp, photocontrol, and other components are preassembled, connected, and/or wired together. Accordingly, in many embodiments, a technician or electrician will not be required to wire the lamp, pole, and other components. Moreover, in many embodiments, equipment such as a ladder or bucket truck will not be required to install the luminaire at the top of a pole, since the electrical connections between the lamp, pole, and other components may be done prior to shipment and installation of the luminaire.
Another advantage to some embodiments, is that the same lighting device package may be used to ship luminaires individually and luminaires preassembled with other lighting device components such as a pole. In these embodiments, the shape of the packaging encases primarily the luminaire but allows for a pole to extend outwardly. If no pole is attached, the package simply encases the luminaire.
The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of the invention has been presented only for the purposes of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the invention and their practical application so as to enable others skilled in the art to utilize the invention and various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. Alternative embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from its spirit and scope. For example, embodiments of the invention may include encasing structures having one or more separable portions, one or more semi-attached portions, a single portion, separate portions made of different materials, recyclable materials, materials with holes, etc. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description and the exemplary embodiments described therein.
