Embodiments of this disclosure relate generally to luminaires, and more particularly, to a trim removal system for removing recess mounted rimless trims of recessed luminaires from mounting surfaces.
Rimless trims (also known as ‘flangeless trims’) are used with recessed luminaires to provide a clean, aesthetic, and high-end appearance where the trims are flush with the mounting surface (e.g., ceiling) in which they are installed. However, once the rimless trims are recess mounted in the mounting surface, the rimless trims may not be readily removable from the mounting surface because the rimless trims do not offer any convenient surface to grasp and/or pull out the rimless trims from the mounting surface. That is, since the outer diameter of a recess mounted rimless trim is recessed into the mounting surface and the rimless trim does not have any feature (e.g., a flange) that extends out from the ceiling for grasping, removing the rimless trim from the mounting surface may be challenging.
An existing solution to remove a recess mounted rimless trim from a mounting surface includes fixedly coupling a lens of the recessed luminaire to the trim, providing a suction cup that a user can attach to the lens, and pulling the trim out by pulling the lens using the suction cup. However, said existing solution may cause damage to the lens and/or may require the user to carry additional specialized equipment (i.e., the suction cup) which may be inconvenient. Another existing solution to remove the recess mounted rimless trim from the mounting surface includes floating the lens, i.e., not securing the lens to the trim or coupling the lens to the trim such that a user can easily push the lens up without any resistance to reveal any appropriate surface of the trim or recessed luminaire on which the user can grasp to pull the trim out. However, said existing solution may not provide a water tight installation. That is, said recessed luminaire installation with a rimless trim where the lens is floated above the trim may not meet a UL wet rating standard, which in turn limits the environments in which the recessed luminaire can be used.
This background information is provided to reveal information believed to be of possible relevance to the present disclosure. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the present disclosure.
In one aspect, the present disclosure relates to a trim assembly that includes a rimless trim, a reflector that is coupled to the rimless trim, a lens that is disposed on the reflector, and a trim removal system. The trim removal system includes a lens holder. The lens holder includes a pressure tab disposed on an inner surface thereof. The lens holder is disposed in the trim assembly such that: the pressure tab of the lens holder engages the lens to hold the lens against the reflector, and when a force is applied to the lens in a direction opposite the rimless trim, the pressure tab causes the lens holder to stretch outward to separate the lens from the reflector.
In another aspect, the present disclosure relates to a luminaire. The luminaire includes a trim assembly that is configured to be recess mounted in a mounting surface such that the trim assembly is flush with the mounting surface. The trim assembly includes a rimless trim, a reflector that is coupled to the rimless trim, a lens disposed on the reflector, a lens holder comprising a pressure tab disposed on an inner surface thereof. Further, the luminaire includes a shield that is coupled to the rimless trim such that: the lens holder, the lens, and the reflector are securely held between the shield and the rimless trim, and the pressure tab of the lens holder engages lens to releasably seal the lens to the reflector.
These and other aspects, features, and embodiments of the present invention may be more clearly understood and appreciated from a review of the following detailed description of the disclosed embodiments and by reference to the drawings and the claims.
Embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which:
The drawings illustrate only example embodiments of the present disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, as the present disclosure may admit to other equally effective embodiments. The elements and features shown in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis is instead placed on clearly illustrating the principles of the example embodiments. Additionally, certain dimensions or positions may be exaggerated to help visually convey such principles.
The present disclosure describes a trim removal system that is configured to enable a rimless trim of a recessed luminaire that has been recess mounted in a mounting surface to be removed from the mounting surface (e.g., a ceiling). The trim removal system of the present disclosure may be configured to meet a UL wet rating standard, while also allowing the rimless trim of the recessed luminaire to be removed from a mounting surface without having to use any specialized equipment.
An example trim removal system of the present disclosure includes a lens holder that has pressure tabs. The lens holder is disposed in an example trim assembly that comprises a rimless trim, a reflector that is coupled to the rimless trim, and a lens that is disposed on and coupled to the reflector. The lens holder is disposed in the trim assembly such that the pressure tabs of the lens holder apply pressure on the lens to releasably seal the lens against the reflector. The releasable seal prevents water, moisture, or any other environmental elements from entering the recessed luminaire or trim assembly through the interface between the lens and the reflector, while also allowing the lens to be at least partially separated from the reflector by releasing the seal therebetween to remove the rimless trim from a mounting surface. The lens is at least partially separated from the reflector by applying a force on the lens, the force being opposite to the pressure applied by the pressure tabs of the lens holder. The at least partial separation between the lens and reflector exposes a surface of the reflector (e.g., an edge) that the user can grasp to pull down the reflector and thereby remove the rimless trim of the trim assembly that is coupled to the reflector.
Upon applying the force, the lens holder may stretch horizontally or sideways. That is, the lens holder stretches substantially perpendicular to a central axis of the lens holder. Further, once the force is released and the lens is pushed down in the opposite direction, the lens holder reverts to its default state (non-stretched state) where the pressure tabs of the lens holder apply pressure on the lens to releasably seal the lens to the reflector.
The trim removal system will be described in further detail by way of examples with reference to the attached drawings. In the description, well-known components, methods, and/or processing techniques are omitted or are briefly described so as not to obscure the disclosure. As used herein, the “present disclosure” refers to any one of the embodiments of the disclosure described herein and any equivalents. Furthermore, reference to various feature(s) of the “present disclosure” is not to suggest that all embodiments must include the referenced feature(s).
For any figure shown and described herein, one or more of the components may be omitted, added, repeated, and/or substituted. Accordingly, embodiments shown in a particular figure should not be considered limited to the specific arrangements of components shown in such figure. Further, if a component of a figure is described but not expressly shown or labeled in that figure, the label used for a corresponding component in another figure can be inferred to that component. Conversely, if a component in a figure is labeled but not described, the description for such component can be substantially the same as the description for the corresponding component in another figure.
The term ‘releasably seal’ as used herein may generally refer to securely holding a lens against a reflector in a manner that is not permanent. That is, when the lens is securely held against the reflector, an interface between the reflector and the lens may be closed to prevent ingress of any environmental elements such as water, moisture, etc. However, said interface can be opened upon application of a force to separate the lens from the reflector at least partially.
Turning now to the figures, example embodiments of a trim removal system will be described in association with
Referring to
In addition to the shield 106 and the rimless trim 104, the trim assembly 101 may include the lens holder 102, an optical lens 108, and a reflector 202 as illustrated in
As illustrated in
Further, as illustrated in
Even though the present disclosure describes the lens holder as being substantially cylindrical in shape, one of skill in the art can understand and appreciate that in some example embodiments, the lens holder may have any other appropriate shape without departing from a broader scope of the present disclosure. The shape of the lens holder may depend on the shape of the trim assembly in which the lens holder is disposed. For example, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
Additionally, a flange 360 of the shield 106 may be disposed on the top edge 404 of the lens holder 102 such that: (a) coupling apertures 362 of the shield 106 may be aligned with the respective screw bosses 342 of the rimless trim 104, and (b) a central aperture 364 defined by the shield 106 may be axially aligned with the central through opening 415 of the lens holder 102 and the central through cavity 330 of the rimless trim 104. Then, fasteners 373 may be extended through the aligned coupling apertures 362 of the shield 106 and the screw bosses 342 of the rimless trim 104 to couple the shield 106 to the rimless trim 106 and securely retain the lens holder 102, the optical lens 108, and the reflector 202 in between the shield 106 and the rimless trim 104. In some example embodiments, as the fasteners 373 are tightened, i.e., when the shield 106 is coupled to the rimless trim 104, the pressure tabs 410 that engage the optical lens 108 may apply a pressure or a force on the optical lens 108 that releasably seals the optical lens 108 to the top inner edge 208 of the reflector 202 that defines the light receiving opening 210. The seal prevents water or other environmental elements from entering the recessed luminaire 802 and/or the trim assembly 101 beyond the point of contact or interface between the optical lens 108 and the top inner edge 208 of the reflector 202 when the trim assembly 101 is installed in a wet location, such as a shower room, for example.
In other words, the lens holder 102, the optical lens 108, and the reflector 202 may be disposed between the shield 106 and the rimless trim 104 such that: (a) the optical lens 108 rests on the reflector 202, and (b) the pressure tabs 410 of the lens holder 102 engage the optical lens 108 and apply pressure thereon to create a releasable seal between the optical lens 108 and the reflector 202. The releasable seal between the optical lens 108 and the reflector 202 may allow: (a) the trim assembly 101 and the recessed luminaire 802 with which the trim assembly 101 is used to meet UL wet rating standards and/or requirements, and (b) the rimless trim 104 of the trim assembly 101 to be removed from the mounting surface 804 in which it is installed when said seal is released and the optical lens 108 is at least partially separated from the reflector 202.
To remove the rimless trim 104 from the mounting surface 804, a user may release the seal formed between the optical lens 108 and the reflector 202 by pushing on the optical lens 108 in a direction opposite to the pressure applied by the pressure tabs 410 of the lens holder 102. As the user pushes and applies a force on the optical lens 108, the optical lens 108 may travel along the slope of the bottom surface 410 of at least one of the pressure tabs 410, which in turn may apply an upward force and an outward force on the pressure tabs 410 of the lens holder 102. The application of the outward force on the pressure tabs 410 may cause the lens holder 102 to flex outward as illustrated in
The lens holder 102 may be disposed in the trim assembly 101 such that sufficient space is provided within the trim assembly 101 for the lens holder 102 to stretch sideways. The sideways stretching or flexing of the lens holder 102 as illustrated in
Once the force that is applied on the lens to at least partially separate the optical lens 108 from the reflector 202 is released, the lens holder 102 may revert to its default state in which the pressure tabs 410 of the lens holder 102 apply a pressure on the optical lens 108 to releasably seal the optical lens 108 against the reflector 202.
The stop tabs 418 on the lens holder 102 may be configured to prevent any further movement of the optical lens 108 beyond the stop tabs 418 of the lens holder 102 in case the force that is applied on the optical lens 108 stretches the lens holder 102 to an extent that the optical lens 108 passes over the pressure tabs 410 towards the top edge 404 of the lens holder 102. Also, the stop tabs 418 prevents the optical lens 108 from falling out of the trim assembly 101 if the trim assembly is inverted or held upside down (shield 106 facing the ground).
Although the disclosure refers to example embodiments, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications are well within the scope of the disclosure. From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that an embodiment of the disclosure overcomes the limitations of the prior art. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the disclosure is not limited to any specifically discussed application and that the embodiments described herein are illustrative and not restrictive. From the description of the example embodiments, equivalents of the elements shown therein will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art, and ways of constructing other embodiments of this disclosure will suggest themselves to practitioners of the art. Therefore, the scope of this disclosure is not limited herein.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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9599315 | Harpenau et al. | Mar 2017 | B1 |
20170119249 | Gunn | May 2017 | A1 |
20180372284 | Danesh | Dec 2018 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20200340646 A1 | Oct 2020 | US |