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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention provides a worm gear drive aiming mechanism for a recessed downlight fixture. More specifically, the present invention comprises an aiming mechanism for a recessed downlight fixture as well as a rotation mechanism and locking mechanism for the rotation mechanism on the fixture.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recessed downlight fixtures have become increasingly popular for residential and commercial use. One reason for the increased popularity is that the recessed downlight fixtures is that they meet a wide range of interior lighting requirements while also being aesthetically pleasing. Further these recessed downlight fixtures may be installed in new constructions as well as existing ceilings. Typically, ceiling-mounted recessed downlight fixtures comprise a frame with means for securing the frame to structural supports of the ceiling. For installation, the frame of the light fixture may include holes or brackets through which fasteners are used to position and attach the fixture to the supports.
As the popularity of recessed lighting has increased, a need for aiming or adjustability of the luminaire output has also increased. Aiming of a light pattern is of particular importance in certain lighting applications such as at a museum for highlighting a work, or in corner lighting applications or wall wash applications. Prior art recessed downlight fixtures fail to provide easy adjustment of the luminaire pattern. For example, many fixtures require adjustment by hand that can lead to skin contact with heated elements of the lighting fixture, and resulting in burns. When high intensity discharge lamps are utilized, placing a hand on or near the lamp is hazardous due to the high temperatures of the bulbs. Further, due to the size of the fixtures, most lighting trims provide very little room for positioning of a hand in order to adjust or aim the light pattern. Also prior art adjustment mechanisms may result in misalignment as a result of unsmooth or unstable adjustment mechanisms. Also during an aiming process, the user's hand or an adjustment tool typically blocks the light emitted from within the fixture because a user has to position their hand within the fixture to adjust it. Finally, prior art adjustable fixtures often times fail to maintain an adjusted position once the aiming process is complete. This results in aiming processes which take longer or repeated processes, which waste both time and money.
Thus there is a need for a fixture which allows aiming by a user without a hand being in close proximity to a lamp, which further allows adjustment or aiming without blocking the output light, and which does not allow the fixture to become misaligned after aiming is complete.
According to a one embodiment of the instant invention an adjustable downlight assembly comprises a collar, a yoke adjustable through an arcuate distance, the yoke pivotally connected to the collar, and a worm gear drive assembly operably engaging the yoke and the collar for pivoting the yolk about a horizontal axis. The worm gear drive assembly comprises a worm and a gear. The worm gear drive assembly is adjustable by rotation of the worm. The adjustable downlight assembly further comprises a biasing member fastened to a casting, the casting extending from an inner surface of the collar. The worm gear drive assembly inhibits unintentional movement of the yoke after adjustment is completed.
According to a second embodiment, the collar may be a rotating collar assembly. The rotating collar assembly may comprise an outer race and an inner race, wherein the inner race rotates relative to the outer race. The rotating collar assembly may further comprise a brake and a rotation stop limiting rotation of the collar assembly to a preselected angular distance and inhibiting wire twisting. The rotation stop may extend from one of the inner race and the outer race.
The adjustable downlight assembly further comprises a filter cartridge retaining member. The filter cartridge retaining member extends between first and second legs of said yoke. The filter cartridge retaining member may comprise a magnet for retaining a filter cartridge. The downlight assembly is adjustable about first and second axes.
It should be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including,” “comprising,” or “having” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. Unless limited otherwise, the terms “connected,” “coupled,” and “mounted,” and variations thereof herein are used broadly and encompass direct and indirect connections, couplings, and mountings. In addition, the terms “connected” and “coupled” and variations thereof are not restricted to physical or mechanical connections or couplings. Furthermore, and as described in subsequent paragraphs, the specific mechanical configurations illustrated in the drawings are intended to exemplify embodiments of the invention however, other alternative mechanical configurations are possible which are considered to be within the teachings of the instant disclosure.
The present invention provides a structure for aiming and locking of a recessed downlight fixture in a pre-selected position. According to a first embodiment the adjustable downlight fixture allows for tilting rotation of an upper portion of the fixture about a horizontal axis. According to a second embodiment of the present design, the adjustable downlight fixture further comprises a lower collar assembly which allows rotation about a vertical axis and, therefore provides two axes of adjustment or aiming for the recessed downlight fixture.
The present invention comprises several advantages including aiming of the fixture without a user placing their hand near the high temperature of the light source or lamp. Even further, the aiming mechanism allows for movement of the light fixture about at least one axis and is self-locking once the user finishes aiming to prevent misalignment. Even further, the aiming and locking mechanisms may be adjusted without substantially blocking the light that the user is trying to aim.
Referring initially to
The yoke 14 is substantially U-shaped comprising first and second vertical legs 18, 20 extending from a pivotal connection with the collar 12. The yoke may be formed of multiple parts or may be a single integrally formed part. Extending between the first and second legs 18, 20 is an upper stiffening member 22 which provides some rigidity for the first and second legs 18, 20. The upper stiffening member 22 further provides a surface for positioning a lamp socket assembly (not shown). A mounting aperture 24 located in the upper stiffening member 22 provides a position for a lamp socket to extend through wherein a light source may be positioned to provide the downlight from the adjustable recessed downlight fixture 10. Although not shown, it should be understood that the lamp is disposed adjacent the lower surface of the stiffening member 22.
The first and second legs 18, 20 are spaced apart a distance which is equal to or less than the diameter of the collar 12 so that the adjustable recessed downlight fixture 10 may be placed upwardly through a ceiling aperture. This relationship between yoke width and collar diameter is best shown in
Also extending between the first and second legs 18, 20 is a filter cartridge retaining member 26 which is located at some position between the upper stiffening member 26 and the collar 12. According to the exemplary embodiment, the retaining member or stiffening ring 26 is positioned at about the middle of the vertical length of the first and second legs 18, 20 thus providing an additional benefit of further stiffening of the yoke 14. The member 26 also functions as an accessory support ring. In the embodiment shown in
As shown in
Referring now to the tilting feature of the yoke 14 about a horizontal axis, the worm gear drive assembly 16 is shown in
Referring now to
Along the innermost surface of the collar assembly 112 is a casting 50 which comprises a first lower worm rib 52 and a second upper worm rib 54 which provide a seat for the worm 26. When the gear 40 is pivotally fastened at the pivot point 44 and the worm 46 is seated in the ribs 52, 54, the worm teeth 48 engage the gear teeth 42. The present design also provides that the gear 40 forces the worm 46 against the first and second worm ribs 52, 54. A biasing member 56 may be retained on or adjacent the casting 50 so as to provide an opposite biasing force on the worm 46 and maintain worm teeth 48 in engagement with the plurality of gear teeth 42 on gear 40. According to the instant exemplary embodiment, the biasing member 56 is a leaf spring bearing the worm 46 against the gear 40 to remove play or tolerance between the two pieces. In turn, this also helps the worm gear drive assembly 16 maintain the light output in its adjusted or aimed position once the adjustment of the worm 46 is completed.
Worm gears are typically used when large gear reductions are needed and further have the characteristic that other gear sets do not provide wherein the worm can easily turn the gear but the gear cannot turn the worm. Since the angle on the worm is so shallow that when the gear tries to spin the worm the friction between the gear and the worm holds the worm in place. Accordingly, this worm gear drive assembly 16 provides a locking feature for the yoke 14 such that once the worm 46 is adjusted the yoke 14 cannot move until the worm 46 is further moved by deliberate adjustment. This is because the moments applied at pivot point 44 cannot cause rotation of the gear relative to the worm 46.
Referring now to
Referring now to
Referring again to
Referring again to
As further shown in
As previously described the worm gear drive assembly 16 is a self-locking mechanism. Since the rotating collar assembly 112 also rotates there is a need to lock the assembly when adjustment is complete. Accordingly, a brake assembly 60 is utilized to stop rotation between the inner race 113 and the outer race 115 when the installer or user has adjusted the yoke 14 to a desired position for providing light. The brake assembly 60 comprises an upper brake pad 62, a brake casting 64 and a brake fastener 66. The brake casting 64 is integrally formed with the inner race 113 and extends radially inward from an innermost surface of the inner race 113. A vertical fastening aperture extends through the casting 64. The brake fastener 66 extends upwardly through the brake casting 64 and fastening apertures to threadably engage the brake pad 62 and to fasten the brake pad 62 to the brake casting 64. The brake pad 62 is substantially rectangular in shape with a threaded fastening aperture therein. Upon tightening of the brake fastener 66 the brake pad 62 moves downwardly along the threads of the brake fastener 66 so as to engage the upper lip of outer race 115. As the brake pad 62 engages the upper lip of the outer race 115, a downward friction force is applied to the outer race 115 inhibiting further rotation. As one of ordinary skill in the art will understand, such configuration connects the inner race to the outer race inhibiting relative motion therebetween and therefore inhibiting rotation of the inner race 113 relative to the outer race 115. Further one of ordinary skill in the art should recognize that the brake pad 62 is sized so not to extend beyond the outer diameter of the collar assembly 112. This configuration prevents interference of the pad 62 with the ceiling aperture during installation or operation of the fixture 10 and constitutes an undesirable problem.
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 3-5, a rotation stop 68 is also shown adjacent the brake 60. As one of skill in the art will understand, due to the rotation provided by collar assembly 112, the wiring within the fixture 10 may become twisted. In order to prevent detrimental twisting the rotation stop 68 has been provided. The rotation stop 68 extends from an upper surface of the outer race 115 and specifically extends from the upper rib 117. The rotation stop 68 engages the brake pad 62 so as to limit the rotation of the inner race relative to the outer race to about 360°. The rotation stop 68 limits the rotation of the inner race 113 to this pre-selected angular distance in order to inhibit twisting of wiring within the fixture 10. If wire twisting occurs such over-rotation and twisting may result in disconnection or loose connection of wiring which would inhibits proper operation of the light. As depicted in
Referring now to
Extending from the inner surfaces of the first and second legs 18, 20 are feet 72 which in combination with the magnet 29 on the filter cartridge retaining member 26 retain a filter cartridge assembly 30 between the first and second legs 18, 20 of yoke 14. As shown clearly in
The filter cartridge assembly 30, as shown in
The foregoing description of several methods and an embodiment of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise steps and/or forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20060193142 A1 | Aug 2006 | US |