US3299265A

US3299265A - Luminaire

Info

Publication number: US3299265A
Application number: US353419A
Authority: US
Inventors: Carle E Rackley; Nieder-Westermann Winfried
Original assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp
Current assignee: Cooper Industries LLC
Priority date: 1964-03-20
Filing date: 1964-03-20
Publication date: 1967-01-17
Anticipated expiration: 1984-01-17

Description

Jan. 17, 1967 c, E, RACKLEY ET AL LUMINAIRE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 20, 1964 INVENTORS Corle E. Rockley 8 Winfried Nieder-Westermonn WITNESSES MW 3N1 W ATTORNEY 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Y m NN l a mm mm Q @N w mm M mm v V w m v R w H Jan. 17, 1967 Q RACKLEY ET AL LUMINAIRE Filed March 20, 1964 II 1 II 1 III/AllIl/v XIII Jan. l7, 1967 j c E, RACKLEY ET AL 3,299,265

LUMINAIRE 5 Sheets-Sheet Filed March 20, 1964 Fig.9.

Fig.4.

United States Patent 3,299,265 LUMINAIRE Carle E. Rackley, Westlake, and Winfried Nieder-Westermann, Parma, Ohio., assignors to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Mar. 20, 1964, Ser. No. 353,419 6 Claims. (Cl. 240-147) This invention relates generally to luminaires and, more particularly, to a luminaire suitable for interior use.

There is a great demand in interior lighting for a recessed luminaire which presents a clean appearance. Usually recessed luminaires are designed with a support: ing frame around the light diffusing member. This is necessary to have a light system which is leak-proof. The frame serves to effectuate a tight physical fit between the diffusing means and the luminaire housing. It also provides mountings for hinges and latches. Of course the structure does not present an appearance which is as pleasing as a clean, unframed light diffuser.

It is also customary for access to the interior of the fixture to be had by means of a diffuser or light shield which serves as a closure assembly. In keeping with the aforementioned requirements of a clean appearance, the hinges and latches on such a closure assembly must remain obscured from vision. To maintain a tight physical fit between the light shield and the luminaire housing, a new and unique hinge and latch are required.

It is the general object of this invention to provide an improved interior recessed luminaire.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved recessed interior luminaire in which the light diffuser itself serves as the closure assembly and the luminaire hinges and latches are concealed from view.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a latch mechanism which may be operated to open and also to closed by a slight push upward on the closure assembly.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a luminaire which has a hinge mechanism which may be attached directly to the diffuser.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hinge mechanism that permits the light shield to move away from the hinge side of the housing to obtain the swing clearance necessary to move the diffused beyond a vertical plane.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide hinges and latches which are small in physical size.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a luminaire with hinges which insure a tight seal between the diffuser and housing and also permit swing clearance on the hinge side on opening the diffuser.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an interior recessed luminaire which incorporates all of the aforementioned features.

The aforesaid objects and other objects Which will become apparent as the description proceeds are achieved by providing a recessed interior luminaire which has a light shield recessed in the housing. The shield or light control means is not surrounded by any frame. Hinges and latches are attached directly to the shield. Located within the enclosure of the luminaire, the hinges and latches are of such size, shape and location that they do not cast objectionable shadows on the light shield. The latch is operated by merely lifting upward a short distance on the latch side of the light shield. This lift upward is effective either to open or close the latch assembly. The hinge mechanism comprises a stationary pin mounted to the light controlling closure assembly and a hook-shaped member mounted to the luminaire housing. The hookshaped member is provided with basically two pivot points, one for small angular displacement of the closure from the housing, and the other for permitting a large angular displacement.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the luminaire, partly broken away, showing one hinge and one latch, when viewed from beneath the luminaire;

FIG. 2 is a sectional end elevation of the luminaire, partly broken away, showing the latch and hinge taken along lines II-II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view, partly in section, of the latch mechanism shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top plan, partly in section, taken along line IVIV in FIG. 2, showing the hinge mechanism of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 5 is a top plan, partly in section, taken along lines VV in FIG. 2, showing the latch mechanism of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of an alternate form of the latch mechanism as taken on the line VIVI in FIG. 7;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the alternate configuration of the latch mechanism shown in FIG. 6 taken on the line VIIVII in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary elevational View of another alternate configuration of the latch mechanism; and

FIG. 9 is a bottom plan of the alternate latch configuration of FIG. 8.

Referring to the particular embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, it can be seen that the luminaire has a housing or troffer 11 with a top wall or member 13, downwardly extending side walls 15 and end walls 17 defining a bottom opening 19. The pan-shaped light diffusing closure assembly 20 fits snugly into the bottom opening 19. Wall portions 21 of the closure assembly extend upwardly from the bottom panel or portion 22 and are spaced a slight amount from the inner surface of

troffer Walls

15 and 17, so that no direct light will be radiated from the troffer without passing through the closure assembly. Connecting the inner surface of one wall portion 21 of the closure to the corresponding wall or side of the troffer is a hinge member 23 located near each end. Each hinge comprises basically two major portions, a hook member 25 and a pivot pin or journal member 27. The pin member 27 is attached to the closure assembly 21 by any suitable means such as rivets or bolts 29. If desired, the pin 27 could I be attached to another upwardly extending surface of closure assembly'21, such as the upper periphery of side portions 21. The hook member 25 is likewise attached, by similar means 31, to an end wall 17 of the troffer portion 11 of the luminaire, which troffer remains stationary throughout operation of the closure assembly 21. As shown best in FIG. 2 the hook member 25 has basically two bearing surfaces or points. The primary bearing point 33 is contacted by the pin 27 when angular displacement of the closure assembly from the horizontal or closed position is small. The secondary bearing portion 35 of the hook member 25 is engaged by pin 27 after the closure assembly 21 has been opened slightly and moved laterally away from the hinge side of the troffer 11. When it is desired to swing the closure assembly 21 downward and even beyond a vertical plane, there will be sufficient swing clearance for the hinge end of the closure because of the shape of the hook.

In operation the sequence is as follows. Once the closure 21 is unlatched, and the latch end is dropped downwardly a few degrees, the entire assembly may be moved laterally toward the latch side of the luminaire. Correspondingly the hinge pins 27 will move from the primary bearing portion 33 of the hook member 25 to the secondary bearing portion 35; thence the remainder of the swinging motion may be accomplished without interference on the hinge side resulting from the snug clearances between closure and housing.

In the embodiment as described, a hinge assembly 23 is located at each end portion of the troffer to hingeably secure one side of the closure assembly to the troifer. A releasable latch assembly 37 connects to wall portions of the trofier and to the inner surface of side portions 21 of the closure assembly which are oppositely disposed from the hinges 23.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3 it can be seen therein that the latch assembly 37 comprises a latch clip 39, a cylinder 4'1 with a mounting bracket or frame 43, a spring 45, a piston 47 and a latch arm 49. The piston 47 has a series of axially spiralling grooves or tracks 51 indented or recessed in its outer surface. The cylinder has a small inwardly projecting finger 53 which engages the recessed grooves in the piston. The spring 45 urges the piston 47 and latch arm 49 mechanism to a static position after one-half cycle of operation. Operation of either half cycle is accomplished simply by causing the lower portion 55 of the latch clip 39 to displace upwardly the latch arm 49 and piston 47. Accordingly, the latch arm will be caused to rotate 180 by the inter-action of the \grooves 51 and the projecting finger 53. Removal of the upward force will then permit the spring 45 to return the piston to its initial axial position without any rotation. A second axial motion of the piston 47 and latch arm 49 in the upward direction again will cause 180 rotation of the latch arm, thereby returning the latch arm to its fastening position in engaging relationship with the upper portion 57 of the latch clip 39.

FIG. 4 shows the hinge mechanism in plan. It can be seen that the hook 25 and pin 27 project inwardly only a slight amount, rendering very little obstruction to the passage of light. Consequently no objectionable shadows are cast by the hinge.

FIG. 5 shows the latch mechanism in plan. Likewise its size and location are such as to be unobservable when viewed from beneath the luminaire.

FIGS. 6 and 7 depict an alternate configuration of the latch assembly. In this embodiment, the grooved piston 47:: is aifixed to the luminaire troffer, by means of bracket 43a, in a stationary manner. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the cylinder is attached to the trofi'er wall. The cylinder 41a, when actuated axially by the latch clip 39, will turn 180 because of the protruding finger 53a, which is mounted to the cylinder 41a and is engaged in the spiralling grooves 51a of the piston 47a. The latch 4%, which is mounted to the cylinder in this embodiment will engage and disengage the upper portion 57 of the latch clip 39 with alternate axial movements of the cylinder.

FIG. 8 depicts still another alternate embodiment of the latch assembly. In this embodiment it can be seen that four spiralling grooves 51b are cut in the piston 4717, whereas in the aforementioned embodiments only two grooves were present. Corresponding with this fourgroo've piston, two latch arms 4%, as shown in FIG. 9, would be provided on either the cylinder 41a or the piston 47, depending upon which of the alternate configurations alluded to previously would be employed. Consequently, instead of rotating 180, the mechanism would rotate, for example, only 90 with each axial displacement if two diametrically opposed latch arms and four spiralling grooves were provided. Furthermore, it is within the scope of this invention to provide a latch wherein the spiralling grooves are recessed into the cylinder rather than the piston, and the cooperating projection is mounted on the piston rather than the cylinder.

The construction of the latch assembly is such that it readily lends itself to die casting of metal or injection molding of plastic, resulting in accuracy of parts and reliability of operation at nominal cost. Accordingly, economy and simplicity of manufacture will result.

The size of the latch mechanism is sufiiciently small to permit its being completely obscured from view. When mounted a short distance away from the bottom panel of the closure, no objectionable shadows will be cast on the panel. As a specific example the diameter of the cylinder is approximately inch and its length 1% inches.

Accordingly, it can be seen that with the use of the hinge mechanism and latch mechanism alluded to herein, close physical fits or tolerances between the closure assembly 20 and the luminaire trolfer 11 may be obtained, without any other sacrifice in versatility. The luminaire itself can accordingly take any shape or size. Customarily it has been common for interior recessed luminaires to take a rectangular shape because of the nature of the fluorescent lamps. However, the aforementioned hinge, latch and closure mechanisms may be incorporated into any closure assembly and housing whatsoever. It is not restricted to luminaires.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that the objects of the invention have been achieved by providing an interior recessed luminaire having latches and hinges which are not observable. Opening and closing of the luminaire door is quick and effective. Its unique hinge permits a wide arc of opening of the door. The luminaire therefore can be constructed so as to eliminate all possibility of light leaks and also to eliminate the necessity for a frame surrounding the light diffuser.

Since numerous changes may be made in the abovedescribed construction and different embodiments of the invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is intended that all subject matter contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be considered as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

We claim as our invention:

1. A luminaire comprising: a trofier having a top memher and downwardly extending walls defining a bottom opening; closure means comprising light perforate matter, unbounded by framing members, being substantially pan-shaped and said closure means adapted to be recessed snugly into said bottom opening; hinge means pivotally connecting said troifer and said closure means, said hinge means comprising at least one generally hoo-k shaped member mounted on one of said troffer and said closure means, said hook shaped member having a first bearing surface adapted to permit rotation of said closure means when the angle between said closure and the plane of said bottom opening is small, and said hook shaped member also having a second bearing surface adapted to permit rotation of said closure means when said angle is larger, the spacing between said bearing surfaces being sufficient to permit lateral movement of said closure means away from the hinge areas of said troffer, and said hinge means also comprising pin means mounted on the other of said closure means and said troffer, said pin means engaging said first bearing surface when said angle is small and said pin means engaging said second bearing surface when said angle is large and said hinge means being obscured from view when said closure means is in the closed position; and latch means engaging said closure means and said trofier, said latch means located within said troffer and said latch means being obscured from view when said closure is in the closed position.

2. A luminaire comprising: a trolfer having a top member and downwardly extending walls defining a bottom opening; closure means comprising light perforate matter, unbounded by framing members, having a substantially pan-like shape and said closure means adapted to be recessed snugly into said bottom opening; hinge means pivotally connecting said troifer and said closure means, said hinge means located within the troffer and said hinge means being obscured from View when said closure means is in the closed position; and latch means engaging said closure means and said troifer, said latch means comprising a sub-assembly consisting of, a cylinder having an inward projection, a spring loaded piston provided with grooves, said piston having an elongated axial arm, and a latching projection mounted to and extending laterally of one of said cylinder and said arm, said projection rotating when said piston undergoes axial displacement relative to said cylinder, at least one said sub-assembly mounted to one of said closure means and said troifer, and said latch means also comprising latch clip means attached to the other of said closure assembly and said troffer, said projection adapted to engage and disengage said clip means when axial displacement of said piston relative to said cylinder is activated by movement of said closure means and said latch means being obscured from view when said closure is in the closed position.

3. A luminaire comprising: a trolfer having a top member and downwardly extending walls defining a bottom opening; closure means consisting of light-transmitting material unbounded by framing members, having a substantially pan-shaped configuration comprising a bottom portion and wall portions and said closure means adapted to be recessed snugly into said bottom opening; hinge means pivotally connecting said trofier and said closure means, said hinge means adapted to permit said closure means to be rotated about a first axis when in a substantially closed position, and about a second axis when opened further, said second axis disposed laterally of said first axis to permit lateral movement of said closure means and said hinge means being obscured from view when said closure means is in the closed position; and latch means including a piston and a cylinder interconnected to produce rotary motion engaging said closure means and said trofifer, said latch means being rotatably operable to permit latching and unlatching of said closure means in response to a slight upward movement of said closure means and said latch means being obscured from view when said closure is in the closed position.

4. A luminaire comprising: a troffer having a top member and'downwardly extending walls defining a bottom opening; pan-shaped closure means comprising light perforate matter 'having a bottom portion and upwardly extending wall portions, and said closure means adapted to be [recessed snugly into said bottom opening; hinge means pivotally connecting said troffer and said closure means, said hinge means comprising at least one generally hook shaped member mounted on one of said troiTer and said closure means, said hook shaped member having a first bearing surface adapted to permit rotation of said closure means when the angle between said closure and the plane of said bottom opening is small, and said hook shaped member also having a second hearing surface adapted to permit rotation of said closure means when said angle is larger, the spacing between said bearing surfaces being sufficient to permit lateral movement of said closure means away from the hinge areas of said troffer, and said hinge means also comprising pin means mounted on the other of said closure means and said troffer, said pin means engaging said first bearing surface when said angle is small and said pin means engaging said second bearing surface when said angle is large and said hinge means being obscured from view when said closure means is in the closed position; and latch means engaging said closure means and said troffer, said latch means comprising a sub-assembly consisting of a cylinder provided with an inward projection, a spring loaded piston provided with a plurality of spiralling grooves, said piston having an elongated axial arm and a latching projection mounted to and extending laterally of one of said cylinder and said arm, said projection rotating when said piston undergoes :axial displacement relative to said cylinder, at least one said sub-assembly mounted to one of said closure means and said troffer, and said latch means also comprising latch clip means attached to the other of said closure assembly and Said troffer, said projection adapted to engage and disengage said clip means when axial displacement of said piston relative to said cylinder is activated by movement of said closure means and said latch means being obscured from view when said closure is in the closed position.

5. A luminaire comprising; a troffer having a top member and downwardly extending walls defining a bottom opening; light-transmitting closure means having a body portion which fits snugly into the bottom opening of said trofler and side members which extend upwardly from edges of the bottom opening of said troifer; the side members of said closure means spaced a slight amount from the inner surface of wall portions of said trofier; hinge means connected to wall portions of said troffer and to the inner surfaces of opposite side members of said closure means to hingeably secure one edge of said closure means to said troffer; latch means including a groove and finger associated to produce rotary motion, connected to wall portions of said troffer and to the inner surface of side members of said closure means which are oppositely disposed from said hinge means; and said latch means being rotatably engageable and disengageable by a slight upward motion of said closure means respectively to secure said closure means within said troiier bottom opening and to release said closure means to permit same to swing to an open position about said hinge means.

6. The luminaire as specified in claim 5, wherein said hinge means has two pivot points, one of said pivot points providing support for said closure means when said closure means is in closed position, and the other of said pivot laterally spaced from said one pivot point to permit said closure means to move laterally upon rotation toward open position in order that the side wall and peripheral portions of said closure means which are proximate to the axis about which said closure means is hinged will clear the proximate wall portion of said troffer.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,721,635 10/ 1955 Fullerton 240-147 X 2,978,575 4/1961 Cohen 24051.11 X 2,981,560 4/1961 Wehner 292-197 X 3,064,851 11/1962 Guigli 240-147 X 3,093,322 6/1963 Boutelle 240-78 3,211,905 10/1965 Picha et al. 240-147 X JOHN M. HORAN, Primary Examier. NORTON ANSHER, Examiner.

CHARLES C. LOGAN II, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

5. A LUMINAIRE COMPRISING; A TROFFER HAVING A TOP MEMBER AND DOWNWARDLY EXTENDING WALLS DEFINING A BOTTOM OPENING; LIGHT-TRANSMITTING CLOSURE MEANS HAVING A BODY PORTION WHICH FITS SNUGLY INTO THE BOTTOM OPENING OF SAID TROFFER AND SIDE MEMBERS WHICH EXTEND UPWARDLY FROM EDGES OF THE BOTTOM OPENING OF SAID TROFFER; THE SIDE MEMBERS OF SAID CLOSURE MEANS SPACED A SLIGHT AMOUNT FROM THE INNER SURFACE OF WALL PORTIONS OF SAID TROFFER; HINGE MEANS CONNECTED TO WALL PORTIONS OF SAID TROFFER AND TO THE INNER SURFACES OF OPPOSITE SIDE MEMBERS OF SAID CLOSURE MEANS TO HINGEABLY SECURE ONE EDGE OF SAID CLOSURE MEANS TO SAID TROFFER; LATCH MEANS INCLUDING A GROOVE AND FINGER ASSOCIATED TO PRODUCE ROTARY MOTION, CONNECTED TO WALL PORTIONS OF SAID TROFFER AND TO THE INNER SURFACE OF SIDE MEMBERS OF SAID CLOSURE MEANS WHICH ARE OPPOSITELY DISPOSED FROM SAID HINGE MEANS; AND SAID LATCH MEANS BEING ROTATABLY ENGAGEABLE AND DISENGAGEABLE BY A SLIGHT UPWARD MOTION OF SAID CLOSURE MEANS RESPECTIVELY TO SECURE SAID CLOSURE MEANS WITHIN SAID TROFFER BOTTOM OPENING AND TO RELEASE SAID CLOSURE MEANS TO PERMIT SAME TO SWING TO AN OPEN POSITION ABOUT SAID HINGE MEANS.