US3001061A - Floodlight having segmented reflector - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 19, 1961 B. MOORE 3,001,061

FLOODLIGHT HAVING SEGMENTED REFLECTOR Filed Sept. 30, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ue// Moa/"e INVENTOR.

ATTORA/EVJ Sept. 19, 1961 B. MooRE 3,001,061

FLOODLIGHT HAVING SEGMENTED REFLECTOR Filed Sept. 30, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 W Bue// Moo/ e INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS 3,001,061 FLOODLIGHT HAVING SEGMENTED REFLECTOR Buell Moore, Houston, Tex., assignor, by Inesne assignments, to Esquire, Inc., a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 30, 1957, Ser. No. 687,011 3 Claims. (Cl. 240-4135) This invention relates broadly to a floodlight for use in industrial areas and, more particularly, to such a floodlight having an improved reflector.

In a floodlight of the type contemplated by the present invention, a strip of highly polished sheet metal is disposed behind a lamp mounted within the case of the floodlight and curved from one end to the other for refleeting a wide beam of light out an open side of the case. Preferably, the strip is formed from a flat sheet which is polished and then bent to the desired shape.

The height or thickness of the reflected beam may be controlled by the curvature of the reflector in a direction transverse to its end-to-end curvature. However, bending a flat sheet in two directions will crack its polished surface and thus distort the reflection. On the other hand, it is not possible to polish the surface of a sheet of metal drawn into the desired shape to the degree which a flat sheet may be polished.

An object of this invention is to provide a floodlight of this general type having an undistorted, highly polished reflector which is curved in the two directions above noted.

Another object is to provide such a floodlight in which the reflector enables the dimensions of the reflected beam to be adjusted with considerable ease.

In accordance with the present invention, these and other objects, which will be apparent from the description to follow, are accomplished by means of a floodlight having a reflector comprising a plurality of separate side-by-side, flat strips of highly polished sheet metal arranged in an arcuate path from one end of the reflector to the other and curved intermediate their opposite ends. Since these strips are bent in only one direction, their surfaces are not distorted by cracks. Also, since they are fiat, the strips may be polished to the highest degree. Preferably, a side edge of each strip overlaps a side edge of an adjacent strip to insure a continuous reflecting surface across the reflector.

In accordance with another novel aspect of this invention, the opposite ends of the strips are removably received within arcuate grooves in the top and bottom of the case of the floodlight, such that the height of the reflected beam may be changed merely upon replace ment of the strips with other strips bendable into another curvature. Also, there are two or more such grooves in each of the top and bottom of the case so that the strips may be arranged in a corresponding number of different arcuate paths to provide reflected beams of different widths.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters are used to designate like parts:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of an illustrative embodiment of the floodlight of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the floodlight of FIG. 1, as seen along broken line 2-2 of FIG. 1, and with the strips of the reflector broken away in part to show the relationship of the two grooves in the bottom of the case;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the floodlight, as seen along broken line 33 of FIG. 1;

nited States Paten ice FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the centermost strip of the reflector and a portion of the groove in the bottom of the case in which it is removably received; and

FIG. 5 is another enlarged perspective view of one of the other strips of the reflector removed from the case.

Referring now to the above-described drawings, the floodlight will be seen to comprise a case 10 made up of upper and lower parts bolted together to define a top 11, bottom 12 and back 13 for the case. The side of the case opposite the back 13 is open, and the inside of the case is enclosed by a glass window 14 disposed across the open side. More particularly, the window is held in place and sealed about its edges by means of a frame 15 bolted or otherwise secured across the front edge of the case.

A lamp 16 is connected at its lower end to an electrical socket 17 (FIG. 3) on the bottom of the case for mounting in an upright position in front of the reflecting surface of a reflector 18 extending laterally across the case. As can be seen from the drawings, and as will be explained more fully hereinafter, this reflector faces oppositely to the open side of the case and is curved from one end to the other so that it reflects a wide beam of light through the window 14. The back 13 of the case may also be curved so as to fit rather closely about the back surface of the reflector. On the other hand, it is contemplated that the reflector itself may provide a back for the case. Also, of course, the window 14 may be eliminated. However, the illustrated construction is preferred for protecting the reflector and lamp against breakage and weathering.

As best shown in FIG. 3, the lower end of the lamp is received through an opening 19 in the bottom 12 of of the case and the electrical socket 17, which may be of the conventional screw-in type, is carried within a well or bowl 20 removably connected by bolts 22 to the bottom of the case and across the opening therethrough. As will be seen from FIG. 2, the opening 19 is of a size to pass the lamp 16 so that the lamp may be inserted into and removed from operative position within the interior of the case through such opening.

If desired, the top 11 of the case 10 may be provided with a non-electrical guide socket 21 to closely receive the upper end of the lamp 16 as it is inserted into the case and thereby hold it in a predetermined posit on with respect to the reflector 18. Since this guide socket does not form a part of the present invention, and is described and claimed in my copending application, Serial No. 673,356, filed July 22, 1957, and entitled Floodlight, reference is made to such copending application for the details thereof. Obviously, this portion of the floodlight is not essential to the present invention.

As above mentioned, the reflector 18 comprises a plurality of separate side-by-side, flat strips 23 of highly polished sheet metal having their opposite ends removably received within grooves 24 and 25 in the top and bottom, respectively, of the case. These grooves are arcuate, as best shown in FIG. 2, so that the reflector is curved about the lamp 16 from one end to the other.

Each of the strips 23 is also bent. from its normally flat shape (FIG. 5) into the curved shape in which its opposite ends are disposed within the grooves and provide a reflected beam having the characteristics previously mentioned. As shown in FIG. 2, and in a manner to be described more particularly hereinafter, a side edge of each strip 23 overlaps the side edge of an adjacent strip to insure a continuous reflecting surface across the reflector.

These strips are formed of sheets of metal commonly employed for reflecting purposes. One such material is anodized aluminum sheet metal manufactured by Alcoa under the trade name Alzak.

When the top and bottom 11 and 12 of the case are disposed parallel to one another, each ofthe strips normally will be of equal length. Thus, if, as shown, the strips are also of equal width, they are interchangeable with one another and thus simplify fabrication and assembly of the reflector.

It is obvious that the strips 23 are bent to permit their opposite ends to be snapped into and removed from the grooves in the top and bottom of the case. Since the height or thickness of the reflected beam is controlled by the curvature of these strips intermediate their opposite ends, the strips need only be replaced by strips of greater or lesser length in order to effect a change in this beam characteristic.

As indicated in FIGS. 2 and 4, each of the grooves is provided with interruptions 26 therealong to locate the ends of the strips 23. More particularly, each of these strips is provided with a slot 27 in its upper and lower ends adjacent one side edge thereof for fitting over one of the interruptions in the groove, and is of a width from the slot 27 to the other side edge thereof for fitting closely between adjacent interruptions 26. Thus, the remaining width of the strip overlaps a side edge of an adjacent strip, for the purpose previously described.

The top and bottom of the case are each also provided with another groove, the groove in the bottom of which is shown at 28 in FIG. 2. These grooves may correspond to grooves 24 and 25 except that they are curved about a different path so as to arrange the strips for reflecting a beam of a different width. As shown in FIG. 2, the central portions of these two sets of grooves may overlap one another.

It is preferred that the centermost portion of the reflector comprise a strip 29 which, as shown in FIG. 4, is preformed into a shape curved in both of the abovedescribed directions. More particularly, this strip 29 is creased at 30 along an intermediate portion of its length so as to provide a transition for the curved portions of the reflector on opposite side thereof. As shown in FIG. 2, the opposite edges of the two adjacent strips 23 on each side of the strip 29 may overlap with the opposite edges thereof. Although this particular construction is preferred, it is not essential to the present invention and may, if desired, be replaced by a flat strip of the type previously described.

It will also be understood that while the illustrated embodiment above described is preferred, the invention is not limited thereto. For example, the lamp 16 need not be supported from a socket on the bottom of the case and, for that matter, need not be mounted in an upright position. Of course, the latter arrangement is preferred inasmuch as this avoids any blind spots which might occur should the lamp be supported from a socket on a side of the case. Furthermore, although the curvature of the reflector 18 is convex, this again is merely illustrative and not intended as a limitation upon the scope of the invention.

Along this same line, it will also be appreciated that such terms as top, bottom, upright, etc., are merely relative.

As shown in FIG. 1, the floodlight may be mounted upon a standard 30 which permits it to be faced in any desired direction. This standard will be seen to comprise a yoke 31 mounted upon an upright 32 for rotation about a horizontal axis and pivotally connected at its opposite ends to opposite sides of the case as at 33. The yoke may include a tubular mounting 34 disposable over the upright 32 and having set screws 35 or other means selectively engageable therewith to permit rotation of the standard and floodlight about a vertical axis.

From the foregoing it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all of the ends and objects hereinabove set forth, together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to the apparatus.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the in vention without departing from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matters herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

The invention having been described, what is claimed 1. A floodlight, comprising a. case having a top and bottom and being open at a front side, an electrical socket for mounting a lamp within the case, a first set of upper and lower parallel grooves of substantially equal length respectively in the top and bottom of the case, a second set of upper and lower parallel grooves of substantially equal length respectively in the top and bottom of the case, the grooves of the first and second sets respectively curving concavely inwardly with respect to the open front side of the case With the grooves of the second set being of greater curvature than the curvature of the first set and being disposed behind the first set and intersecting therewith near the rear-center of the case so that the hereinafter mentioned strips can be placed in either set of grooves to thereby change the width of the light beam emitted by the floodlight, and a plurality of separate substantially rectangular strips of highly polished sheet metal arranged in side-by-side relationship and having their opposite ends removably disposed in one set of said grooves so that the strips are vertically extending, said strips being flat in transverse cross-section and being bowed longitudinally away from said front side to reflect light from said lamp out the open front side of the case in a broad beam.

2. A floodlight comprising a case having a top and bottom and being open at a front side, an electrical socket for mounting a lamp within the case, upper and lower parallel grooves of substantially equal length and being respectively in the top and bottom of the case, the grooves each extending from one lateral side of the case to the other lateral side and curving concavely inwardly from the open front side intermediate their ends, and a plurality of separate substantially rectangular strips of highly polished sheet metal arranged in side-by-side relationship and having their opposite ends removably disposed in said grooves so that the strips are vertically extending, said strips being flat in transverse cross-section and being bowed longitudinally away from said front side to reflect light from said lamp out the open front side of the casein a broad beam.

3. A floodlight comprising a case having a top and bottom and being open at a front side, an electrical socket for mounting a lamp within the case, upper and lower parallel grooves of substantially equal length and being respectively in the top and bottom of the case, the grooves each extending from one lateral side of the case to the other lateral side and curving concavely inwardly from the open front side intermediate their ends, and a plurality of separate substantially rectangular strips of highly polished sheet metal arranged in side-by-side relationship and having their opposite ends removably disposed in said grooves so that the strips are vertically extending, said strips being flat in transverse cross-section and being bowed longitudinally away from said front side to reflect light from said lamp out the open front side of the case in a broad beam, the outermost side edges of the strips lying behind the innermost side edge of the next outer adjacent strip to reduce the amount of light trapped within the fioodlight.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 671,814 Gatlin Apr. 9, 1901 6 Libson Nov. 17, 1925 Melton Mar. 13, 1928 Bauersfield Mar. 26, 1929 Ostrom July 4, 1950 Wagner Feb. 19, 1952 Talbot July 26, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS France Aug. 23, 1937

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