US3095155A

US3095155A - Illuminating arrangement

Info

Publication number: US3095155A
Application number: US814873A
Authority: US
Inventors: Schleifer Josef
Original assignee: Eugen Bauer GmbH
Current assignee: Eugen Bauer GmbH
Priority date: 1955-04-23
Filing date: 1959-05-21
Publication date: 1963-06-25
Anticipated expiration: 1980-06-25

Description

June 25, 1963 J. SCHLEIFER 3,0 5, 5

ILLUMINATING ARRANGEMENT Filed May 21, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 25, 1963 J. SCHLEIFER 3,095,155

ILLUMINATING ARRANGEMENT Filed May 21, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 25; 1963 JQ SCHLEIFER 3,095,155

ILLUMINATING ARRANGEMENT Filed May 21, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet s INVEA/TUR June 25, 1963 J. SCHLEIFER 3,095,155

ILLUMINATING ARRANGEMENT Filed May 21, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG. 5

v wws/vroR 3,095,155 4 ILLUMINATEJG ARRANGERENT Josef Sehleifer, Krumhach, Swahia, Germany, assignor to Eugen Bauer, G.m.b.H., Stuttgm-Unterturkheim, German y Filed May 21, 1959, Ser. No. 814,873 Claims priority, application Germany Apr. 23, 1955 6 Claims. (ill. 24052) The present invention relates to a new and improved mounting arrangement. More particularly, the present invention relates to a new and improved lamp holding arrangement for light projecting apparatus.

This application is a continuation-in-part of copending application, Serial No. 579,820, filed April 23, 1956 and now abandoned and entitled Mounting Arrangement.

In film projecting apparatus, it is common practice to use an elongated electrical discharge lamp which is arranged with its longitudinal axis perpendicular to the optical axis of the projector. It is apparent that in order to obtain the maximum illumination from the discharge lamp, the luminous center of the lamp must be accurately positioned in the lamp support arrangement for placing said center in the optical axis of the projector.

Elongated discharge lamps are very fragile lamps and great care must be taken not to unduly stress the lamp when the lamp is to be inserted in the mounting arrangement and after it is so inserted. On the other hand, it is necessary to grip the lamp properly so as to obtain the accurate alignment of its luminous center with the optical axis of the projector.

In conventional arrangements the lamps are mounted so loosely that the luminous center or" the lamp is readily shifted during operation of the projector with accompanying loss in light transfer eficiency.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved apparatus for overcoming the disadvantages of the prior art arrangements.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved apparatus for accurately mounting an elongated electrical discharge lamp.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved lamp holding arrangement having spaced holding members adapted to cooperate with opposite end portions of the elongated discharge lamp.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved apparatus for use with an elongated discharge lamp wherein the luminous center of the discharge lamp is accurately positioned by a securely mounted holding member.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved lamp holding arrangement for use with an electrical elongated discharge lamp wherein one of two spaced holding members is fixedly mounted with respect to the desired position of the luminous center of the lamp and the other holding member is movably mounted with respect thereto while both holding members have a fixed relation to the desired position of the longitudinal axis of the lamp.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive apparatus for accurately supporting an elongated discharge lamp so as to properly position the luminous center thereof.

With the above objects in view the present invention relates to a lamp holding arrangement for use with an elongated discharge lamp and including a support member, a first holding member adapted to be secured to one end portion of the elongated discharge lamp, means for mounting the first holding member on the support member immovably relative thereto in axial direction of the elongated discharge lamp at the point of mounting, a second holding member adapted to be secured to the other end Patented June 25, 1963 portion of the elongated discharge lamp, and means for mounting the second holding member on the support movably relative thereto in axial direction of the elongated discharge lamp.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention the mounting members are made of electrically conductive material and they are electrically insulated from the support member so that energizing conductors for the electrical discharge lamp may be connected to opposite end portions thereof.

A further feature of a preferred embodiment of the present invention is the use of resilient mounting members to relieve any stresses and strains from the elongated discharge lamp after it is mounted in the lamp holding arrangement.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of an embodiment of the lamp holding arrangement of the present invention shown partially in section;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line IIIIII of FIG. 1 and rotated therefrom in order to more clearly point out the features of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a partly sectional elevational view of another embodiment of a structure according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line V-V of FIG. 4 in the direction of the arrows; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary top plan view of the lower clamp structure of the FIG. 4.

Referring to the drawings and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 3, it can be seen that the lamp holding arrangement is mounted on a support member 1 having lower spaced

insulators

2 and 3 and upper spaced insulators 4 and 5. It can be seen that the

insulators

2, 3, 4 and 5 are arranged substantially horizontally in the illustrated figures.

As can best be seen in FIG. 3 a bridging member 6 is fixedly mounted on the spaced

insulators

2 and 3. Mounted above the center portion of the bridging member 6 is a substantially U-shaped leaf spring 10 which is threadedly mounted on the bridging member 6 by means of screws 8 and 9. It can be seen that the screws 8 and 9 prevent movement of the leaf spring 10 at the point of mounting thereof on the bridging member 6. At the opposite end portion of the leaf spring 10 is threadedly mounted a holding member 13 which is connected to the leaf spring 10 by means of screws 11 and 12.

It can be seen that the free end portion of the holding member 13 has a substantially U-shaped portion 14 therein and is also formed with a recess 15 of substantially cylindrical shape for accommodating the terminals of a discharge lamp. The holding member 13 is preferably made of an electrically conducting material and its inner end portion is threadedly connected to a flexible electrical conductor 16.

In FIG. 1, it can be seen that the holding member 13 is pivotally supported on the upper end of a pin 7 which is fixed in the bridging member 6 so that the member 13 may assume slightly tilted position in any direction within limits determined only by the resiliency of spring 10, while the center of recess 15 remains at all times at a fixed distance from support member 1 horizontally, and at a sufficiently preset level vertically.

At the opposite upper end of the support member 1, a second bridging member 17 is provided which is mounted on the spaced insulators 4 and 5. The bridging member 17 is provided with a bore 18 in which is disposed a coil spring 19. It can be seen that the coil spring 19 in its unstressed condition is longer than the depth of the hole 18.

Also formed in the bridging member 17 is a second bore 20 which is of substantially smaller depth than the bore 18. Disposed in the bore 20 is a pin 27 the upper end of which is fixedly mounted in a second holding member 24. The front end portion of the holding member 24 correspondssubstantially to the front end portion of the holding member 13. That is the holding member 24 is formed with a substantially U-shaped portion 29' and a substantially cylindrical recess at its outer end thereof adapted to cooperate with a terminal of an elongated dis charge lamp.

At the inner .endof the bridging member 17 at the upper surface thereof, as best seen in FIG. 2, are provided two

projections

22 and 23.

Projections

22 and 23 are formed withaligned holes in which is fixedly mounted a pin 21. The inner end of the holding member 24 is formed with a for -shaped portion 26 having a U-shaped recess 25 which cooperates with the pin 21. As can also be seen in FIG. 2, the side surfaces of the fork-shaped portion 26 of the holding. member 24 are cylindrically curved so that they may be moved along the inner surfaces of the

projections

22 and 23. Therefore, the member 24 is free to tilt slightly in any direction since it can turn about the axis of pin 21 and about an axis perpendicular thereto and to the side walls of the recess 25, while the center of recess 29 remains at all times at a fixed distance from support member 1' horizontally. In vertical direction, however, the member 24 is movable within practical limits as made possibly by the pin 21 being guided in recess 25, and pin 27 being movable in bore 20.

In FIG; 1, the elongated discharge. lamp is shown mounted in the holding members while in FIG. 3, this lamp has beenremoved in order to clearly illustrate the new and improved lamp holding arrangement of the present invention.

in FIG. 1 it can be seen that the elongated discharge lamp 31 is. formed with. two

opposite terminal portions

32 and 33, the end surfaces 30 of which are substantially planar. It is seen that the

terminal portions

30 and 32 are substantially cylindrical in shape so as to cooperate properly with the cylindrical recess 15 in the holding member 13 and the similar cylindrical recessin the holding member 24. r

The discharge lamp is also provided with opposite axially arranged threaded portions 34 and 35 adapted to cooperate respectively with

thumb screws

36 and 37.

. It must be borne in'mind that elongated discharge lamps for projectors are so constructed that upon energization there is a luminous center substantially in the longitudinal 7 center line of the lamp and at a fixed distance from at least one of the terminal ends of the lamp, substantially halfway between the terminal ends. it is, therefore, the

purpose of 'the present device to assure the lamp being held in exact position for locating said luminous center in the optical axis of the projector, the support member being itself in a fixed relation thereto.

In operation, the thumb screws 36-and 37 are loosened so as to permit mounting of the lamp 31- in the holding arrangement. The lower threaded portion 34' of the end portion 32 of the lamp 31 is inserted from the side into the U-shaped portion 14 of the lower holding member 13. The thumb screw 36 is then tightened so that the lamp 31 is supported with its terminal'end 32 in the re-' cess 15 of the lower holding member 13. At this point, since the lower holding member 13 is substantially horizontal, one point of the longitudinal axis of the lamp 31' is positioned at a predetermined distance from the mounting member 13 and thereby also from the support member 7. At the same time, the luminous center thereof is lo- 15. If the terminal portion 32 is thus mounted in the lower holding member 13 as described hereinabove, the luminous center of the lamp 31 will be properly positioned in the projector.

In order to accurately position the luminous center of the elongated lamp in the axial direction thereof, the pin 7 in the lower holding member 13 is initially set so that the location of the holding member 13 is correctly related to the support member 1 and to the projector.

When the lamp has been secured to the lower holding ,member 13, the upper end portion '33 is automatically positioned so that the threaded portion 35 thereof cooperates with the U-shaped portion29 of the holding member 24. The thumb screw 37 of the upper end portion can now be tightly threaded on the threaded member 35 until the lamp is securely fastened in the holding members.

It is a valuable feature of this device that under the action of spring 19 the upper'hold-ing member 24 is normally lifted so as to clear the end of the terminal port-ion 33. at 30 and thereby to permit the lamp 31 to be inserted into the holders with only one hand of the operator.

It can be seen that neither the lower holding member 13 nor the upper holding member 24 can be displaced in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the lamp 31. Accordingly, the longitudinal axis of the lamp 31 is accurately positioned. However, since the upper holding member 24 as well as the lower holding member 13 is resiliently mounted on the support member by means of the compression spring 19, and the blade spring :10, respectively, any stresses or strains that might otherwise be produced in the lamp 31 are taken up by the resilience of the springs. That is, the holding member 24 is free to pivot about the pin 21 in the bridg ing member 17. This pivoting motion is only limited by the amount of play on the pin 27 in the bore 20 of the bridging member. Also, as mentioned hereinabove and as seen in 'FIG. 2, since the side surfacesof the fork shaped portion 26 of the hold-ing member 24 are cylindrical, it is possible for the upper holding member 24 to assume a slightly tilted position sideways in case the face 30 should not be square with the longitudinal axis of the lamp 31. In addition, the vertical movability in direction of pin 27 makes it possible to accommodate different tube lengths.

In a similar manner, the lower holding member 13 is free to pivot in all directions about the tip of pin 7- due to'the resiliency of spring 10 for accommodating the end face of the terminal portion 32 should this face be particular, it will be seen that the structure of FIG. 4

includes a support means made up in part of a stand 51 which can be fixedly or movably mounted within an untillustrated housing of a projector. The stand 51 carries at its bottom end a pair of electrically

non-conductive support portions

52 and 53 and at its top end the stand 51 fixedly carries a pair of'electrically non-conductive support portions 54 and 55, the elongated support portions 52-55 extending horizontally, as illustrated.

A bridge member 56 extends between and is fixedly carried by the insulating

support portions

52 and 53, and this bridge member 56 in turn fixedly carries at a substantially central portion thereof which is located substantially midway between the supports 52 and 53 a pin 57 which projects upwardly beyond the top face of the bridge 56 through a slight distance, as is clearly shown at the lower part of FIG. 4. A pair of screw members 58 and 59 (FIG. 6) serve to fixedly connect a substantially U-shaped leaf spring 60 to the bridge member 56 with the leaf spring 60 located in a horizontal plane. This leaf spring 60 fixedly carries by means of a pair of screw members 61 and 62 a carrier means 63 which includes an intermediate plate portion 64. This plate portion 64 of the carrier means 63 is connected through the

screw members

65 and 66 to an electrical conductor 67. A fixed jaw 68 is fixedly connected with the carrier means 63 as by being formed integrally with the latter, and a movable jaw 69 is movable with respect to the fixed jaw 68 (FIG. 6), the carrier means 63 together with the fixed jaw 68 and movable jaw 69 forming a clamp which is carried by the support means which is formed by the stand 51, the

supports

52 and 53, the bridge 56, and the leaf spring 60.

This lower clamp of the assembly includes an addition to the carrier means 63 and the jaws 68 and 69 a screw member 70 which extends freely through a bore of the movable jaw 69 and which is threadedly connected with the fixed jaw 68 so as to be carried by the latter. The movable jaw 69 has a considerable play with respect to the screw member 70. The plate portion 64 of the clamp 63 slidably engages a top surface portion of the movable jaw 69 so as to prevent the latter from turning around the screw member 76. Thus, FIG. 4 shows the surface portion 71 of the movable jaw 69 slidably engaging a part of the plate portion 64 so that the jaw 69 cannot turn while at the same time being freely movable along the screw 7% toward and away from the fixed jaw 68. The movable jaw is in fact resiliently urged toward the stationary jaw in a manner described below with respect to the upper clamp of the assembly, the jaws of both clamps cooperating with each other in an identical manner.

The upper insulating support portions 54 and 55 of the support means are connected to each other by means of an upper bridge 72 which is provided at its ends with clamping rings 73 surrounding and clamped to the insulating supports 54 and 55. The bridge 72 carries a bearing block portion 74 which is integral with the bridge 72, and this bearing block portion 74 has a pair of upstanding cars which fixedly carry an elongated rod 75 extending across the space between the upstanding ears of the beating block 74. The upper clamp of the assembly includes a carrier means 77 which is formed at its left end portion, as viewed in FIG. 4, with an elongated slot 76 extending upwardly from the bottom surface of the carrier means 77 and through which the rod 75 freely passes so that the rod 75 cooperates with the slot 76 to guide the carrier means 77 for vertical movement with respect to the horizontal rod 75 and also for turning movement around the latter. However, it will be noted that the rod 75 cooperates with the slot 76 to restrain the carrier means 77 from movement to the right or left, as viewed in FIG. 4. Screws 78 serve to connect an electrical conductor 79 to the electrically conductive carrier means 77 of the upper clamp.

The carrier means 77 of this upper clamp fixedly carries a fixed jaw 77 and this upper clamp further includes a movable jaw 80 formed with a bore 81 through which a screw 82 freely passes into threaded engagement with the fixed jaw 77' so that the screw 82 serves to guide the movable jaw 80 for movement toward and away from the fixed jaw 77', and here again there is a substantial play of the screw member 32 in the bore 81 of the movable jaw 80 so that while the latter is guided by the screw member 82 nevertheless it can tilt with respect to the axis of the screw member 82. The movable jaw 80 has a flat :3 end face 83 located closely adjacent to a fiat surface 84 of the carrier means 77 so that the surface 84 cooperates with the surface 83 to prevent turning of the movable jaw around the screw member 82. Thus, the fixed jaw 77', the movable jaw 89 and the carrier means 77 cooperate to form the upper clamp 80 which is illustrated in FIG. 5, this clamp including also the structure which connects the jaw 89 to the remainder of the clamp.

The bore 81 of the movable jaw 80 is provided with an enlarged bore portion 85 in which is located a coil spring 86 which is coiled about the screw member 82, which has one end engaging a collar 87 of the screw 82, this collar 87 forming part of the head of the screw, and which has an opposite end engaging a shoulder 38 located in the bore 81 between the ends of the latter at the junction between the portions of the bore 81 which are of different diameters. Thus, it will be seen that the spring 86 acts as a spring means urging the movable jaw 80 along the screw member 82 toward the fixed jaw 77'. As was pointed out above, the identical structure is included in the lower clamp, and thus there is a coil spring surrounding the screw 79 and urging the jaw 69 toward the fixed jaw 68 of the lower clamp which is illustrated in FIG. 6.

The movable jaw 84 fixedly carries a pin 89 having a convexly curved free end portion 89 extending beyond the movable jaw 39 into engagement with the fixed jaw '77 so that the movable jaw 80 can tilt within the limits of play provided between the bore 81 and the screw member 82 around the point of engagement between the end 89' of the pin 89 and the fixed jaw 77. The lower clamp of the assembly includes an identical pin fixed to the movable jaw 69 and engaging the fixed jaw 68 to provide limited tilting movement of the movable jaw 69.

The carrier means 77 of the upper clamp is fixed by suitable screw members at its underside to a supporting leaf spring 90 which forms part of the support means for the upper clamp. A coil spring 91 is fixed at its top end to the leaf spring 90 and this coil spring 91 extends downwardly along the interior of a bore 92 extending vertically and formed in the bridge 72, this bridge carrying a pin 93 which extends across the bore 92 adjacent the lower end of the latter and to which the bottom end of the coil spring 91 is connected so that the spring 91 urges the entire upper clamp 80' downwardly to a limiting position determined by the upper surface of the bridge 72. In other words, this upper surface of the bridge 72 forms a stop which limits the downward movement of the upper clamp 80'.

As is shown most clearly in FIGS. '5 and 6, the pairs of cooperating jaws of the clamps are respectively formed with concave curved side surface portions 94 directed toward each other, and these surface portions 94 of the pairs of jaws form parts 'of a common cylinder. Next to the arcuate concave surface portions 94 the jaws are provided with flat surface portions 95 directed toward each other, and at their free end portions each pair of cooperating jaws has oppositely inclined surface portions 96 directed toward each other, these oppositely inclined surface portions 96 diverging away from each other as they approach the extremity of the free ends of the jaws, so that in this way introduction of the article to be clamped into the space between the jaws is facilitated.

The above-described structure of the invention is adapted to support a lamp 97, which may be, for example a xenon high-pressure lamp. This lamp 97 is provided at its ends with the

exterior sleeves

98 and 99 which are stepped so as to be provided with the shoulders 109 and 161 which are directed away from each other, and these sleeves terminate in cylindrical free end portions 102 and 103 located beyond the shoulders and 101, respectively.

When the lamp 97 is not connected to the structure of the invention, the springs 8-6 of the clamps locate the movable jaws thereof nearer to the fixed jaws than these jaws are located when the lamp is supported by the apparatus of the invention. The springs 86 tilt the movable jaws around the curved ends 89 of the pins 89 so as to locate the free end portions of the movable jaws nearer to the fixed jaws than these free end portions of the movable jaws are located when the cylindrical free ends 102 and 103 of the lamp are clamped. Also, when the lamp 97 is not connected to the structure of the invention, the spring 91 locates the leaf spring 99 in engagement with the upper stop surface of the bridge 72, and at this time the upper clamp 89 is located nearer to the lower clamp than when the lamp 97 is carried by the apparatus of the invention. In other words, when the lamp is not connected to the apparatus the jaws of the upper clamp 80 are located at a distance from the jaws of the lower clamp which is less than the distance between the shoulders 160 and 191 of the lamp 97.

'When mounting the lamp 97 on the apparatus of the invention, the upper cylindrical free end portion 192 of the lamp is first introduced into the upper clamp 80. This is done simply by advancing the upper end 182 of the lamp to the left, as viewed in FIG. 4, first between the oppositely inclined diverging surface portions 96 of the jaws of the upper clamp, so that the end portion 102 of the lamp 97 easily slides into the space between the jaws and moves the movable jaw 89 away from the fixed jaw 77, the operator continuing to advance the lamp toward the left, as viewed in FIG. 4, until the cylindrical upper end portion 1452 of the lamp snaps into the space between the surface portions 94 of the jaws, and then these surface portions are resiliently pressed against the exterior cylindrical surface of the upper end portion 192 of the lamp 97. The upper end portion 182 of the lamp 97 'forms a cylinder which is of the same diameter as that of which the surface portions 94- form a part.

At this time, the'lamp 97 is inclined downwardly to- .ward the right, as viewed in FIG. 4, since only the upper end of the lamp has been introduced into the upper clamp 86', but the upper clamp can freely adapt itself to this inclination because of the tiltability provided by cooperation of the pin 75 and the slot 76. The operator can now lift the entire upper clamp Sil together with the lamp 97, the slotted portion 76 simply moving upwardly with respect to the pin 75 at this time, and in this way the operator can locate the lower cylindrical free end 193 of the lamp 97 in alignment with the lower clamp of the invention, and now the operator simply presses the lower cylindrical end 1030f the lamp 97 into the space between the jaws of the lower clamp in the same way that the upper end 102 of the'lamp was introduced into the space between the jaws of. the upper clamp. Now when the operator releases the lamp, the spring 91 will move the upper clamp 80' together with the entire lamp 97' downwardly until the shoulder 101 of the lamp engages the top surfaces of the jaws 6S and 69 and until the carrier 63 of the lower clamp engages the top end of the pin 57. The

, coil springs 86 serve to resiliently clamp the ends of the lamp between the pairs of jaws. Now the operator can tighten the

screws

82 and 70 so as to fix the ends of the lamp in the jaws of the clamps. As may be seen from FIG. 5, the collar 87 of the screw 82 has a diameter larger than the enlarged portion 85 of the opening 31 of the movable jaw, so that While the screw members can be unloosened to be located with their head ends sufiiciently spaced from the movable, jaws to provide a desired yieldable movement of the latter, at the same time the screws can be tightened with their head ends directly engaging the movable jaws and acting entirely independently of the springs 86 for tightly clamping the ends of the lamp between the jaws of the clamps. Because of thistight clamping of the ends of the lamp as well as because of the fact that the surfaces 94 form portions of a cylinder of the same size as the exterior surfaces of the ends of the lamp, an extremely superior transfer of electrical current takes place between the clamps and the lamp. It should be noted that the tiltability of the movable jaws provided by the free ends 89' of the pins 89 also con tribute to the complete adaptability of the jaws to the ends of the lamp so as to provide the desired large area of high pressure contact between the lamp and the clamping jaws and in this way guarantee the efiicient transfer of electrical current.

The engagement between the carrier means 63 of. the lower clamp with the top surface of the pin 57 guarantees location of the lamp 97 properly with respect to the optical axis of the projector. The leaf spring 60 prevents movement of the lamp transversely to its axis while at the same time providing a limited yieldable tiltability of the lower clamping jaws 68 and 69 so that the latter can adapt themselves to the lamp without stressing the lamp.

As was pointed out above, the rod 75 cooperates with the slot 76 to also prevent movement of the upper clamp to the right or left, as viewed in FIG. 4, with respect to the axis along which the lamp 97 extends, and here again the cooperation of the pin 75 with the slot 76 permits the upper clamp at its

jaws

77 and 80 to yieldably adapt themselves to the attitude of the lamp during the mounting of the latter on the apparatus of the invention.

Thus, while the clamp structure of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3 is somewhat simpler than that of FIGS. 4-6, nevertheless by providing the above-described structure of P168. 4-6 the inconvenience of the nuts 36 and 3-7 is avoided and a far superior electrical connection is provided with the embodiment of FIGS. 4-6.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters latent is: a

l. Lamp-holding arrangement for holding a discharge lamp at opposite ends thereof, comprising, in. combination, a rigid support member; a first rigid holding member; a'second rigid holding member; first securing means for rigidly clamping said first holding member firmly to one end of said lamp; second securing means for rigidly clamping said second holding member firmly to the opposite end of said lamp, said first and second securing means defining a mounting axis for said lamp; first mounting means mounting said first holding member to said support member immovably in direction of said mounting axis away from said second holding member and in direction transverse to said axis, but tiltably in all directions relative thereto; and second mounting means mounting said second holding member to said support member'immovably in direction transversally of said mountingaxis but movably in direction thereof and tiltably in all directions relative thereto.

2. Lamp holding arrangement for holding an elongated discharge lamp at opposite ends thereof, comprising, in combination, a rigid support member, a first rigid holding member; a second rigid holding member, each of said holding members being provided with a'recess for receiving the corresponding end of said lamp, said recesses of said first and said second holding members, respectively, facing each other and being provided each with a radial slot for accommodating axially projecting studs that may form part of said ends of said lamp, and each of said holding members being made of electrically conductive material and are electrically insulated from said support member so that energizing conductors for the lamp may be connected to said holding members for pplying energy to said lamp; first securing means for rigidly clamping said first holding member firmly to one end of said lamp; second securing means for rigidly olampcluding a blade spring attached with one portion thereof to said support member and with another portion thereof to said first holding member for connecting said support member with said first holding member, and a support element fixedly mounted in said support member underneath said first holding member and contacting the latter in one point located between said two portions of said spring so as to enable said first holding member to tilt in various directions around said one point during flexing of said spring; and second mounting means mounting said second holding member to said support member immov-ably in direction transversal of said mounting axis but movably in direction thereof and tiltably in all directions relative thereto, said second mounting means ineluding hinge means for movably connecting said support member with said second holding member and said hinge means comprising a hinge pin fixedly mounted in said support member and extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to said mounting axis, and a slot provided in a portion of said second holding member remote from said recess thereof, said slot slidably embracing said hinge pin for enabling said second holding member to move both turningly about the axis of said pin and about an axis perpendicular to said slot, also in a direction which is simultaneously perpendicular to said slot, and parallel with said mounting axis, while being prevented from moving in a direction which is substantially perpendicular to said pin and to said mounting axis.

3. A lamp holding arrangement as defined in claim :1 in which said first mounting means includes a blade spring attached with one portion thereof to said support member and with another portion thereof to said first holding member; and means mounted on said support member and engaging said first holding member for preventing movement of the latter in direction of said mounting axis away from said second holding member while permitting tilting of said first holding member in all directions relative to said mounting axis.

4. A lamp holding arrangement as defined in claim 3 in which said last mentioned means comprises a support 10 element fixedly mounted on said support member underneath said first holding member and contacting the latter substantially in one point between said two portions of said blade spring.

5. A lamp holding arrangement as defined in claim 1 wherein said second mounting means comprises hinge means for connecting said second holding member to said support member immovably in direction transversally of said mounting axis but movably in direction thereof and tiltably in all directions relative thereto.

6. A lamp holding arrangement as defined in claim 5 wherein said hinge means comprises a hinge pin fixedly mounted in said support member and extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to said mounting axis, and a slot formed in said second holding member and slidingly embracing said hinge pin for enabling said second holding member to move both turningly about the axis of said pin and about an axis perpendicular to said slot and also in a direction which is simultaneously perpendicular to said slot and parallel with said mounting axis, while preventing said second holding member from moving in a direction which is simultaneously perpendicular to said pin and to said mounting axis.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

Claims

1. LAMP-HOLDING ARRANGEMENT FOR HOLDING A DISCHARGE LAMP AT OPPOSITE ENDS THEREOF, COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A RIGID SUPPORT MEMBER; A FIRST RIGID HOLDING MEMBER; A SECOND RIGID HOLDING MEMBER; FIRST SECURING MEANS FOR RIGIDLY CLAMPING SAID FIRST HOLDING MEMBER FIRMLY TO ONE END OF SAID LAMP; SECOND SECURING MEANS FOR RIGIDLY CLAMPING SAID SECOND HOLDING MEMBER FIRMLY TO THE OPPOSITE END OF SAID LAMP, SAID FIRST AND SECOND SECURING MEANS DEFINING A MOUNTING AXIS FOR SAID LAMP; FIRST MOUNTING MEANS MOUNTING SAID FIRST HOLDING MEMBER TO SAID SUPPORT MEMBER IMMOVABLY IN DIRECTION OF SAID MOUNTING AXIS AWAY FROM SAID SECOND HOLDING MEMBER AND IN DIRECTION TRANSVERSE TO SAID AXIS, BUT TILTABLY IN ALL DIRECTIONS RELATIVE THERETO; AND SECOND MOUNTING MEANS MOUNTING SAID SECOND HOLDING MEMBER TO SAID SUPPORT MEMBER IMMOVABLY IN DIRECTION TRANSVERSALLY OF SAID MOUNTING AXIS BUT MOVABLY IN DIRECTION THEREOF AND TILTABLY IN ALL DIRECTIONS RELATIVE THERETO.