US2579026A - Circular fluorescent lighting apparatus to replace an incandescent lamp in stand lamps - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 18, 1951 Q WALTER 2,579,026

CIRCULAR FLUORESCENT LIGHTING APPARATUS TO REPLACE AN INCANDESCENT LAMP IN STAND LAMPS Filed July 30, 1949 IN VEN TOR.

Garf'yle .D. Walier Patented Dec. 18, 1951 CIRCULAR FLUORESCENT.- LIGHTING AP- PARATUS TO REPLACE AN INCANDES CEN LAMP IN STAND LAMP Carlyle D. Walter, Porter County, Ind. Application July 30,1949, Serial No. 107,745 Claims, (Cl. 240--51 .12)

This invention relates to, improvements in fluorescent lighting apparatus.

One object of theinvention is to provide a fluorescent lighting unit that can be substituted readily for an incandescent lamp and associated reflector of conventional floor or table lamps which will provide both direct and indirect lighting from a single fluorescent tube.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fluorescent lighting unit comprising a shell or casing for supporting acircularfluorescent tube and constitutes a housing or enclosure for the necessary ballast, wiring or thelike."

An additionalobject of the invention is to pro; vide a shell-like support for a fluorescent tube of circular form and whichfpref'erably is provided with upper and lower reflecting surfaces, the shell being formed of two parts medially separable in the plane of the tube and enabling the lower part of the unit to be substituted readily for asimilar part diiferently dimensioned at the lower end for seating in a particular supporting seat or cup designed for supporting a reflector bowl.

By means of the present improvements, as will appear more fully hereinafter, the improved unit makes possible the ready conversion of an incandescent floor or table lamp into a fluorescent lamp without special tools and enabling the use on the unit of the usual shade if desired.

Gther objects of the invention relate to various features of construction and parts which will be apparent from a consideration of the following specification and accompanying. drawings wherem:

Figure l is broken side elevation oif a fluorescent lighting unit embodying the present improvements.

Fig. 2 is a Fig/1.

Fig. 3 is a broken side elevational view of a conventional floor lamp'which has been modified by substitution of the improved fluorescent lighting unit for a usual indirect light incandescent plane view of the units shown in lamp and as associated reflector bow Fig. l is a side elevation of a lower section of the shell of the fluorescent lighting'unit which is provided at its lower end with acircumference different from the shell shown in Fig.

In 3 of the drawings, a fluorescent lamp is shown comprising a base It, a standard H," the upper end of which carries a shell-like switch housing i2. extending from which are arms l3 which support incandescent lamps It in candelabra efiect. Generally a switch I5, of the s lective type is m l y d for. controllin th lighting of the lamps [4, usually three in number.

Above the member 12. is a cup-like member [6 which in an ordinary incandescent lamp structure containsa screw socket ll for receiving a vertically arranged incandescent lamp of the multiple filament type and includes a seat or holder it that supports also a reflector bowl which directs the light from the lamp upwardly toward the ceiling for producing an indirect lighting effect.

-3 h a e e a n an wc nt amp andthe reflector referred to have beendiscarded and e en lighting unit embody n t present improvements has been substituted thereat." This unit, shown in detached relation in i were a p r shell Po tion hat flares outwardlyfrom topto bottom and a lower shell portion'lq thatflares outwardly from the. bottom to the top. The shell portions [9 and 20 preferably are generallybonoidal in forrnarl d have concave exteriorsurifaces as shown These shell portions preferably" are made of metal having exterior polished or reflecting surfaces. As indicated in Fig. l the shell portion. I0 is provided with a perimetricaldepending flange tl which telescopically receives an upstanding peri metrical flange 22 of thesection 20L 'These sec tions may be secured together by meansof screws 23, two of which are shown in Fig. 2. l

The shell section 19 supports a ballast 24 which may be secured in placeby rivets 25 or the like, which attach to the inner side of the shell the clips 26 with which the ballast is provided for supporting purposes. Likewise, the shell section [9 may be provided with an automatic starter 21. Since such starters not infrequently require replacement, the starter 2's preferably is mounted in a suitable support 28 that permits convenient replacement of the starter. The ballast and starter are. of well-known construction and per se form no part of the present invention. The upper end ofthe shell section [9 preferably is provided with a threaded stud 29 for removably supporting a finial 35 by means of which a conventional lamp shade, indicated at 30a in Fig; 3, may be attached to the lighting unit.

The lower section 20 of the shell is shown as being provided with a plurality of flexible spring clips 3| extending generally radially from the outer periphery of the shell and having upwardly disposed spring clipportions 32 for supporting a conventional circular fluorescent tube 33. The lower end of the shell section 20 is provided. with a groove Ziia into which the retaining screws I8a of the seat It project for securing the unit in position in the seat.

Qircular fluorescent tubes of the t pe shown are of known construction and need not be particularly described herein. Such tubes generally are provided at their adjacent ends with a member 34 which electrically connects terminals 35, 36, 31 and 38 of the tube ends to socket terminals provided in the inner periphery thereof whereby a plug 39 of known form attached to four tube input wires 40, 4|,.42 and 43 may be electrically connected to the terminals of the tube. The wiring circuits of such fluorescent lamps, ballast and the automatic starters, are well-known and while the circuit is indicated generally in Fig. 2 it need not be specifically described.

For the purpose of supplying current to the ballast, input conductors 44 and 45 are connected to appropriate terminals on the ballast and to the contacts of a conventional receptacle plug 46. Plug 46 is adapted to be plugged into a screw type adapter plug 41 of conventional form which is screwed into the socket IT. The usual switch 48 designed for control of the discarded incandescent lamp can be utilized for controlling the lighting of the fluorescent tube 33. The structure described above not only provides for the convenient installation of a circulan fluorescent tube on the unit, but permits replacement of the tube when necessary, since the spring arms 3! and the holding clips 32 enable the tube to be readily removed from the unit after plug 39 has been withdrawn from its socket in number 34.

In Fig. 4 of the drawings I have shown a lower shell section 20' which in all respects corresponds to section 20 shown in Figs. 1 and 2 except that the lower end thereof is of a reduced diameter to enable. a unit provided with the shell 2!! to be mounted in the seat of a cup similar to cup l 6 of Fig. 1 of a different diameter. Hence, lower shell sections can be provided to seat in reflector supports of different sizes but having upper ends that cooperate with the upper shell section of a given or standard size.

By utilizing a two-part shell of the form shown, the unit can be readily substituted for a lamp and reflector bowl of the conventional incandescent floor or table lamp as above mentioned. The spring arms 3| and flexible clips 32 support the fluorescent tube 33 preferably in the plane of the telescopic ends of the shell sections whereby some of the light emitted by the tube will be reflected upwardly by the reflecting surface of section l9 to provide an indirect lighting effect and some will be reflected downwardly by the curved reflecting surface of the lower shell section 26 for direct lighting effect. Since the ballast with the necessary wiring is attached to the upper shell section, the unit can be adapted to seats of different di ameter merely by equipping a unit with a lower shell section having a lower end of the appro priate diameter.

While I have shown and described the preferred form of my improvements, it will be apparent that various changes in details may be resorted to without departure from the spirit of the invention defined by the appended claims.

I claim;

1'. A fluorescent lighting unit for use in an incandescent floor or table lamp structure comprising a shell consisting of separable upper and lower sections, the upper section flaring outwardly from top to bottom and terminating at the lower end in a depending flange and the lower section flaring outwardly from bottom to top and terminating at the upper end in an upstanding flange arranged for telescopic engagement with the flangeof the top section, said sections 1310;.

viding a casing for housing a ballast for a fluorescent tube and having exterior light reflecting surfaces, said lower section being shaped for seating in a reflector support in a lamp structure and being open for accommodating means electrically connecting the ballast to a lamp socket of the structure, one of said sections being provided with flexible supporting clips located outwardly of the respective flange, and a circular fluorescent lamp releasably supported by said clips in a position encircling the shell adjacent said flanges and being electrically connected to the ballast, the relation of said reflecting surfaces to the fluorescent lamp being such that some of the light rays from the lamp are reflected upwardly by the upper reflecting surface and some reflected downwardly by the lower reflecting surface to provide both direct and indirect lighting effects.

2. A fluorescent lighting unit for use in an incandescent floor or table lamp structure comprising a shell consisting of separable upper and lower sections telescopically interengaging at substantially the median plane of the shells, the

upper section flaring outwardly from the top to bottom and provided with a shade support at the upper end, said lower section flaring outwardly from the'bottom to the upper end, a ballast for a fluorescent lamp within the shell and secured to one of said sections and provided with an outlet plug adapted to be electrically connected to an outlet adaptor within an incandescent lamp socket of the lamp structure and a second plug adapted for connecting the ballast to a fluorescent lamp, the lower end of said lower section being shaped to flt within and to be secured to a reflector bowl-support for supporting the shell, and a plurality of flexible clips secured to one of said sections of the shell and releasably supporting afluorescent lamp surrounding the shell in substantially the plane of the interengaged portions of the shell for directing rays of light to the exterior flaring surfaces of both sections of the shell.

. 3. A fluorescent lighting unit for use in a conventional incandescent lamp structure having a cup-like enclosure for a vertical lamp socket and providing a reflector bowl support, said unit comprising a shell consisting of an upper and a lower section, the upper section flaring outwardly from top to bottom to a portion of maximum diameter and the lower section having an open bottom end arranged to seat in and to be secured within a said reflector bowl support and flaring cutwardly from the lower to the upper end and tar minating in a portion of maximum diameter adapted for telescopic engagement with the lower portion of the upper shell section, a ballast for a fluorescent lamp secured within said upper section and provided with electrical input conductorsadapted to extend through said open bottom of the lower shell section and provided with a receptacle plug adapted for electrical connection within said lamp socket, said ballast being provided with out-put conductors extending from said shell and provided with a plug for effecting electrical connections with a fluorescent lamp, a plurality of lamp supporting members secured to one of said sections adjacent the portion of maximum diameter and terminating in resilient clipsadapted to engage a circular fluorescent lampdisposed about the portions of the shells of maximum diameter, and a circular fluorescent lamp removably supported by said clips and electrically connected to the ballast by said second mentioned plug. 7

4. A fluorescent lighting unit comprising a shell consisting of upper and lower sections provided with telescopic flanges detachably securing said sections together, said sections having exterior reflecting concave surfaces convergent toward the upper and lower ends of the upper and lower sections respectively and presenting a median portion of maximum diameter, a circular fluorescent lamp surrounding said median portion in spaced relation with respect thereto and adapted to direct rays of light upon said upper and lower reflecting surfaces for reflection in corresponding directions to provide indirect and direct lighting efiects respectively, and means carried by the shell for releasably supporting said lamp in said relation with respect to the shell.

5. A fluorescent lighting unit comprising a shell consisting of upper and lower sections provided with telescopic flanges releasably securing the sections together, said sections having exterior reflecting concave surfaces convergent toward the upper and lower ends of the upper and lower sections respectively, and providing a median portion of maximum diameter in the plane of said flanges, said lower section being open at the bottom and provided at said end with means for mounting the shell in a support, a ballast for a fluorescent lamp mounted within one of said sections and having a conductor adapted to extend through said open lower end for connection to a source of current, a plurality of resilient supporting members extending radially from said shell and comprising spring clips disposed in the plane of said median portion of the shell for supporting a circular fluorescent tube in said plane and surrounding said median portion of the shell whereby light rays from the tube impinge both said reflecting surfaces for reflection upwardly and downwardly to provide both indirect and direct lighting effects, and a circular fluorescent tube supported by said clips and electrically connected to said ballast.

CARLYLE D. WALTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,437,569 Van Amberg et a1. Mar. 9, 1948 2,472,597 Levy June 7, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 319,120 Germany Oct. 25, 1918

Images