This invention relates, in general, to an undershade apparatus and deals more particularly with an undershade apparatus, which adds utilitarian capabilities as well as ornamental attributes to a wide variety of illumination assemblies.
Illumination assemblies such as household lamps come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and styles. One unifying aspect of lamps resides, however, in that they typically support a light emitting filament or tube surrounded by a protective enclosure, such as a shade.
Shades themselves offer not only a shielding effect from the glare of a bulb but also provide a protective covering to the bulb so as to protect it from potentially harmful contact with people or objects. The shade also obviously provides protection for people against contacting the heated bulb, as is typical with incandescent bulbs.
It is known in the prior art to utilize the shade of a lamp for decorative purposes, such as by forming sections of the shade to be translucent, or to depict a given fanciful scene. It is also known to suspend decorative elements on the outside of the shade in order to give the lamp a more ornamental appearance.
The area within the shade enclosure has not, however, been utilized for such purposes, owing to the historical aversion to placing any items adjacent typically incandescent, and therefore typically hot, bulbs.
With the forgoing problems and concerns in mind, it is therefore a general object of the present invention to utilize the area within the shade enclosure to support an undershade apparatus, which adds utilitarian capabilities as well as ornamental attributes to a wide variety of illumination assemblies.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an undershade apparatus, which adds utilitarian capabilities as well as ornamental attributes to a wide variety of illumination assemblies.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an undershade apparatus, which adds utilitarian capabilities as well as ornamental attributes to a lamp.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an undershade apparatus, which adds utilitarian capabilities as well as ornamental attributes to a wall fixture.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an undershade apparatus, which adds utilitarian capabilities as well as ornamental attributes to a ceiling fixture.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an undershade apparatus that provides protection for people against contacting a heated incandescent bulb.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an undershade apparatus that may be releasably attached to a wide variety of illumination assemblies without the need for specialized tools.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an undershade apparatus that utilizes the spider portion of a wide variety of illumination assemblies.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an undershade apparatus, which adds ornamental attributes that may be customized and personalized by the user.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an undershade apparatus that diffuses the light emitted from a light bulb.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an undershade apparatus that provides a coloring effect to the glare of a light bulb.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an undershade apparatus where the distance between the light bulb and the undershade apparatus may be adjusted to meet the decorative or utilitarian needs of a user.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an undershade apparatus that utilizes the area within a shade enclosure.
These and other objectives of the present invention, and their preferred embodiments, shall become clear by consideration of the specification, claims, and drawings taken as a whole.
As will be appreciated by a review of
The undershade apparatus 10 includes a suspension assembly 20. The suspension assembly 20 is releasably fixed to the shade enclosure 16. Shown in
Returning to
The light modifying element 22 itself may be formed with an aperture 24. Preferably, the aperture 24 is formed in the approximate center of the light modifying element 22 so as to accommodate and slip over and around the bulb element 17 as well as the upright support 14 of the illumination assembly 12. In addition, the light modifying element 22 may alternatively be formed of two or more sections that can be attached together around the bulb element 17 rather than slipping over the bulb element 17. The light modifying element 22 may also be formed without the aperture 24 for use on a hanging lamp. The light modifying element 22 is preferably formed from a plastic, acrylic, glass, or polymer material, which is clear or at least somewhat translucent. The light modifying element 22 may also be formed with any texture. Indeed, the light modifying element 22 is most preferably formed so as to have an imbued coloration so that operation of the bulb or any illumination device will cause a diffused and colored glow to emanate from the bottom of the shade enclosure 16. Moreover, the light modifying element 22 may be any shape. Preferably and as shown, the light modifying element 22 is a disk.
It is therefore an important aspect of the present invention that the undershade apparatus 10 provides both utilitarian capabilities as well as ornamental attributes. The area within the shade enclosure 16 has historically remained unused, which permits people, especially children, to have unfettered access to a hot, incandescent bulb. The light modifying element 22 of the undershade apparatus 10 creates a barrier to the heated incandescent bulb that provides protection for people against contacting its hot surface. Furthermore, the light modifying element 22 may be colored or textured which creates a colored glow or design emanating from the bottom of the shade enclosure 16, which provides a multitude of ornamental possibilities.
While a colored or clear, plastic, or acrylic light modifying element 22 has been described, the present invention equally contemplates forming the light modifying element 22 from alternative materials, such as metal or wood. These materials still maintain the utilitarian capabilities of the light modifying element 22 by providing a barrier to the hot bulb as described above.
As described above, the suspension assembly 20 can be one of many embodiments. The suspension assembly 20 may be crafted in any form and from any material. Furthermore, the suspension assembly 20 may be any length. The hook fastener 28 may be releasably attached to the chain 26 so that the hook fastener 28 can attach to any link of the chain 26, thereby allowing the suspension assembly 20 to be adjustable by the user to any desired length.
Still further, by employing an alternative embodiment of the present invention whereby the light modifying element 22 has no central aperture 24, the present invention is equally capable of augmenting the appearance and functionality of those illumination assemblies 12 that do not have an upright support 14. That is, the present invention is equally capable of augmenting both wall and ceiling fixtures by suspending the light modifying element 22, with or without a central aperture 24, within the shade enclosure 16 of the illumination assembly 12, and adjacent the illumination device.
Turning now to
As described above and as illustrated in the combined drawing
While the invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various obvious changes may be made, and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof, without departing from the essential scope of the present invention. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but that the invention includes all equivalent embodiments.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/887,853, filed on Feb. 2, 2007, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60887853 | Feb 2007 | US |