US2981917A - Adjustable electrical fixture - Google Patents

Description

L GLASS 2,981,917

ADJUSTABLE ELECTRICAL FIXTURE Filed April 7. 1959 April 25, 1961 FIG.

INVENTOR IRVING GLASS ATTORNEYS,

United States Patent signments, to AK. Electric Corp., Brooklyn, N.Y., a.

corporation of N ewYork Filed Apr. 7, 1959, Ser. No. 804,659

3 Claims. (Cl. 339-9) The present invention relates generally. to improvements in electrical devices and it relates more particularly to an improved adjustable electrical fixture.

In recent years the use of electrical fixtures. which are spacially adjustablymounted has become widespread. This is particularly true in the case of electrical lamps connected to a source of house current. It has been found i hl desirable to mount electric lamps in a manner which permits the vertical adjustment and in which the lamp support is not floor mounted. Heretofore, the lamp carrying fixture has usually been connected to the house current'by way of a flexible two conductor cable requiringvariations-in its length and disposition during adjustment of the lamp fixture. The connecting cable was thus necessarily of excessive length, Was ungainly, unsightly and awkward. In addition, these conventional arrangements possessed numerous other drawbacks anddisadvantages. M

It is thus aprincipal object of the present invention to provide arr-improved electricaldevice.

. Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved adjustable electrical fixture.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved adjustable electrical lamp fixture.

Afurther object ofthe present invention is to provide an.- improved-Ielectric lampfixture which is readily and simplylinearly,adjustablewithoutthe necessity of varying thelengthondisposition of any associated conductor cable, Still a fuither object of the present invention is to provide an improved combined electrical conductor car-- ryingsHPPOrt member and, an associated electrical fixture adjustable-along the length ofsaidgsupport member and readil'yjconpled to theconductors.

Another.{object. of vthe present invention is to provide animproyed electrical device of the above nature characteriz ed byitsilow.cost,:simplicity, ruggedness,-ease of useand application and its safety, and. absence of shock hazardsi' The-above" andffurther objects ofthe present inven tion will becomeapparent from a reading of the following description taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawing wherein: a I I 1 a Fig. l is-a' front elevational fragmentary view partially in section andiipartiallybroken-away of a support memher and lamp, fixture embo'dying thepresent invention;

v F 1g. 2 1s 1 aenaglnentafy elevationa-Lview OfrtllQSllP- mernb and" lam'p fixture "illustrate dv in assembled L. awn, ..c... 1 A

Fig. 3. is an enlarged'detailed sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2; a

Fig. 4 is a sectional view similar to -Fig. '3 illustrating,

however, the lamp fixture during the assembly operation With the support member; and

Fig. 5' is a longitudinal fragmentary sectionaltvijew 'of thelamp'fixture'supportbracket. i

{in a sense the present invention contemplates the protherein, a pair of laterally spaced conductor strips disposed in said housing behind said front wall and parallel to and along opposite sides of saidslot, and an adjustable fixture provided with an electrical coupling member and including a first jaw member disposed within said housing and extending laterally of said slot and being'narrower than said slot, a pair of oppositely located mutually insulated contact elements carried on said first jaw and separably engaging said respective conductor strips, a shank projecting from said first jaw member through said slot, 2. second jaw member mounted on said shank external of said housing and movable relative to said first jaw member and electrical leads connecting said coupling member to said contact elements.

According to a preferred form of the present invention the housing is in the form of a tubular member having a Patented Apr. 25, 1 961 longitudinal slot formed therein; Disposed within thev tubular member are a pair of insulator bars located on' opposite sides of the slot and provided with flanges directed toward each other, the inner edges being spaced to define a slot aligned with the tube slot. A conductor strip is mounted on the inner face of each flange and is connected by way of a conductor to a source of current. The adjustable fixture includes a pair of cooperating first and sec- 0nd jaw members, mounted on a tubular shank and movable toward and away from each other. The first jaw is removably located within the tube and is narrower. thanthe slots and longer than the slot width. The second jaw is located outside the housing and movably cooperates with includes a conductor housing support member 11- and a separable adjustable larnpbracket carrying electrical'fix- A ture 12. The supportmember 11 comprises a tubular housing 13, shown by way of illustration "as being prefervision of an improved'electrical device of the character I described comprising in combination a housingfm'e mber of the .slot 16 and having compartments. -Anot-herjlongitudinal-e slot associated components;

ably vertically disposed and mounted alongthe edge of a wall or partition-14 formed of a corrugated thermoplastic material, the tubular housing 13 having alongitudinal slot 16 formed therein'and extending to points shortof'theends of the tubularhousing l3. Therhousingilla is preferably; formed ofmetalor othersuitable rigid material and theends thereof are closed by plugs or walls 17.

Located withinthe housing 13 and extending for sub pairof laterally stantiallythe full length thereof are a spaced insulator members 18 disposed on opposite-sides outer; surfaces coinciding with:

and abutting the-inner face of the tubular housing. 13-

for approximately half its circumference.

The trailing faces. of the insulators 18 are. coplanar and connected by a partition 19 which extends diametricallyi across the tubular'housing 1 3 to divide it into qtwol cent compartment may be constructed and manner similar to-that containing the insulators 18 and The insulator members 18 are provided with flanges 21 e which Formed in the inner suitable electrical conducting material.

longitudinal T s 20 may; be? formed in; the housing; 13' opposite slot 16 :and the; adja.

equipped in a,

are directed toward each} other and separated by a slot defining space 22 of slightly greater width than the slot 16. f rearwardly'directed faces of the flanges '21 are longitudi nally extending recesses in which conductor strips-23 formed of copper, brass, or other fThe insulators I 18 may be formed of any suitable material suchas an are nested andlsecure'd extruded or cast organic thermoplastic or thermoset material, for example, a phenolic or polystyrene resin, and extends for substantially the full length of the housing 13 as do the conductor strips 23. The conductor strips may be connected by way of leads 24 of a conductor cable to a suitable source of electric current by means of a conventional plug 25.

The separable adjustable electrical fixture 12 includes a switch containing electric light socket member 26 of conventional construction and a support bracket 27 therefor. The support bracket 27 comprises a first jaw member 28, a second jaw member 29 and a connecting.

shaft or shank 30. The shank 30 is defined by a tube formed of metal, plastic, or other suitable material and having an externally threaded outer end 32 from which there radially projects a pin 33. Mounted on the inner end of the shank 30 is the transversely extending rigid rectangular bar shaped first jaw member 28 having a width less than the widths of the slots 16 and 22 and being longer than these widths. A pair of electrical contact elements 34 are mutually insulated and mounted at opposite ends of the inwardly directed face of the first jaw member 28. The distance between the electrical contact elements 34 is equal to the lateral spacing of the longitudinal axes of the conductor strips 23.

The second jaw member 29 is of hollow cylindrical form having its inner edge 36 which is directed toward the first jaw member 28 of concave cylindrical contour complementing the outer surface of the tubular casing 13. Medially located relative to the concave edge 36 are a pair of oppositely disposed projecting tongues 37 of a width substantially that of the slot 16. A longitudinally extending slot 38 is formed in the wall of the jaw member 29, the pin 33 slidably registering with the slot 38. Projecting outwardly from the outer edge of the second jaw member 29 is a peripheral flange or lip 39.

A cap 40 is provided with an end wall 41 having a tapped axial bore formed therein and engaging the shank threaded end 32. Depending from the periphery of the end wall 41 is a shirt 42 provided at its bottom with an inwardly directed portion 43 having formed in its inner face an annular groove rotatably engaging the lip 39. The lamp socket 14 is mounted on the shank threaded end 34 in the usual manner and is connected to the contact elements 34 by way of leads 44 which pass through the tubular shank 30.

In mounting the fixture 12 on the housing 11 and effecting the electrical coupling thereof, the second jaw member 29 is moved to its retracted position relativeto the first jaw member 28 by turning the cap 40 in the proper sense. The first jaw member 28 is then aligned with and inserted through the slots 16 and 22 into the housing 11 and turned 90 by correspondingly rotating the shank 30. The second jaw member is advanced by rotating the cap 40 on the shank 30 while maintaining the jaw member in the aforesaid oriented position, the tongues 37 being in alignment with the slot 16 by reason of the engagement between the pin 33 and slot 38. Upon adequate tightening of the cap 40 the wall of the housing 11 and the conductorcarrying insulating strips 18 are firmly clamped between the confronting faces of the jaw members, the electrical contact elements engaging the corresponding conductor strips 23. The tongues 37 register with the slot 16 and the arcuate edge 36 of the 4 second jaw member 27 embraces the outer face of the tubular housing 13 to rigidly support the fixture 12 which is electrically energized by the current carrying strips 23. The fixture 12 may be readily adjusted along the length of the housing 13 by merely loosening the cap 40, sliding the fixture to the desired position and then tightening the cap. In order to remove the fixture 12 from the support housing the above procedure is merely reversed.

While there has been illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of the present invention it is apparent that numerous alterations and omissions may be made without departing from the spirit thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. An improved electrical device of the character described comprising in combination a housing member provided with a front wall having an elongate slot formed therein, apair of laterally spaced conductor strips disposed in said housing behind said front wall and parallel to and along opposite sides of said slot, and an adjustable fixture including a first jaw member disposed within said housing bridging said slot and of a size and shape to be rotatable in said housing about an axis extending through said slot and movable along said axis outward from said housing, a pair of oppositely located mutually insulated contact elements carried on said first jaw member and separably engaging said respective'conductor strips, a shank fixed to and projecting from said first jaw member outward through said slot and having a threaded outer end, said shank being rotatable in and withdrawable outward through said slot for effecting rotation and withdrawal of said first jaw member, a second jaw member mounted on said shank exteriorly of said housing for rotation with said shank and movement longitudinally along said shank toward and away from said first jaw member, formations on said second jaw member configured for non-rotative engagement with said housing upon movement toward said first jaw member, and a threaded locking member exteriorly of said housing connected to said shank and second jaw member for moving the latter along said shank into nonrotative engagement with said housing and drawing said first jaw member firmly against said conductor strips.

2. An improved electrical device according to claim 1, said formations comprising a tongue engageable into said slot upon movement of said second jaw member toward said first jaw member to prevent rotation of said first jaw member, said second jaw member and said shank relative to said housing.

3. An improved electrical device according to claim 1, V

said second jaw member being of tubular configuration spacedly surrounding said shank, pin-and-slot means connecting said shank and second jaw member for nonrotative relative longitudinal movement, said locking member being circumposed about said shank in threaded engagement therewith and connected to said second jaw member for rotation relative thereto, to effect longitudinal movement of said second jaw member relative to said shank.

References Cited in the file of this patent I UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,250,175

Hills et al. Dec. 18, 1917 1,590,569 Fisk June 29, 1926 1,763,495

Young June 10, 1930

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