Recessed Lighting Fixture With Tilting Spotlight

Abstract

A recessed lighting fixture of the type in which a lamp support frame is mounted in a housing on a horizontal pivot axis for directing light from a lamp in the frame through an opening in the bottom of the housing at different angles, with adjusting means for rocking the frame about its pivot axis in the form of an adjusting member which is mounted in the bottom part of the housing for linear movement, actuating means operatively connected to the adjusting member for imparting linear movement to the latter by manual manipulation from below the housing, and link means connecting the adjusting member to the lamp supporting frame so that movement of the adjusting member rocks the frame about its pivot axis.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Recessed lighting fixtures of the present type have been available on the market for a number of years, and the only mechanism heretofore used for rocking the lamp supporting frame about its pivot axis has been a very expensive threaded screw and worm drive. Since all the other component parts of such a lighting fixture are stamped out of sheet metal, the screw and worm adjusting means represents a disproportionate part of the total cost of the assembly.

The present invention provides a very inexpensive adjusting means for rocking a lamp supporting frame, because no machined parts are required, and the only component which cannot be produced from sheet metal in conventional forming operation is a plastic knob for manual manipulation of the adjusting means.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, a sheet metal adjusting member is supported in the recessed lighting housing for linear movement normal to the pivot axis of a lamp supporting frame in the housing. Actuating means which is accessible for manual manipulation from below the housing is operatively connected to the adjusting member for imparting linear movement to the latter, and a link connects the adjusting member to the lamp supporting frame so that linear movement of the adjusting member rocks the frame about its pivot axis.

Preferably the adjusting member is the rack of a rack and pinion means, and the actuating means includes the pinion of such means, with the pinion shaft projecting below the bottom of the housing and having a knob pinned to it for manually rotating the shaft and attached pinion.

Conveniently the adjusting member and the pinion are both carried in a simple U-shaped bracket which has an upright arm in facing relationship to a portion of the lamp supporting frame, and parallel top and bottom flanges which are positioned above and below the adjusting member to provide a guideway for the member, with the shaft of the actuating pinion projecting through and journaled in the top and bottom flanges of the bracket.

As is customary in units of the present type, a transversely extending bottom plate is rotatably mounted in the lower end of the housing, and the lamp-supporting frame and bracket which carries the rack and pinion means are both mounted on the rotatable bottom plate.

The adjusting member is a sheet metal plate which has a series of holes along its line of movement, the supporting means may be stamped out of sheet metal, the pinion shaft is a short, rectangular piece of flat stock, and the pinion may also be stamped out of sheet metal. Common friction washers grip the projecting upper and lower end of the pinion shaft flanking the supporting bracket, and a pair of short spacer tubes above and below the pinion hold the pinion at the proper level to engage the line of holes in the rack means.

The only component in the entire adjusting means which may not be stamped out of sheet metal is a plastic-adjusting knob which is secured to the lower end of the pinion shaft by means of a set screw.

The principal object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide improved adjusting means for rocking a lamp supporting frame about a pivot axis in a recessed lighting fixture housing.

Another object of the invention is to provide adjusting means for such a lighting fixture which is far less expensive than any adjusting means heretofore known to the art.

Still another object of the invention is to provide such adjusting means in which all the component parts may be stamped from sheet metal.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide adjusting means for such a recessed lighting fixture in which all the component parts may be made without close tolerances, and fit together relatively loosely with assembly into an operating combination being by means of rivets and friction washers.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a transverse central sectional view of a recessed lighting fixture embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a horizontal section taken substantially as illustrated along the line 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary section taken substantially as illustrated along the line 3--3 of FIG. 1 with its pivoted lamp-supporting frame in a first limit position;

FIG. 4 is a view like FIG. 3 with the lamp-supporting frame in a second limit position;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary section on an enlarged scale taken substantially as illustrated along the line 5--5 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary section taken substantially as illustrated along the line 6--6 of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, and referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, a plaster frame, indicated generally at 10, is mounted in a hole in a ceiling C, and a housing 11 of a recessed lighting fixture is mounted in the plaster frame as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 2,835,791. A lamp-supporting assembly, indicated generally at 12, is suspended in the housing by means of spring hooks 13 in a manner which is well known in the art.

The lamp-supporting assembly 12 includes an annular trim 14 which has an upstanding flange 15 within which is rotatably mounted a transversely extending bottom plate 16 which has an upstanding peripheral rim 16a and a generally oval opening 17. Flanking the long sides of the opening 17, and spot welded to the bottom plate 16, are an angle bracket 18 and a U-shaped supporting bracket, indicated generally at 19. A lamp-supporting frame, indicated generally at 20, includes an annular collar 21, and arms 22 which are rigidly secured to opposite sides of the collar by means of rivets 23 are pivotally mounted on rivets 24 on the angle bracket 18 and the U-shaped bracket 19, with the rivets 24 providing a horizontal pivot axis for the lamp frame. Three upstanding spring clips 25 on the collar 21 provide a snap mounting in which a lamp, in the form of a conventional spotlight S, is mounted so that light from the lamp is projected through the opening 17 in the bottom plate 16. With the exception of the U-shaped bracket 19, the structure as described up to this point is that found in prior art recessed lighting fixtures of the present type, and forms no part of the present invention.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 to 6, the U-shaped bracket 19 is best seen in FIG. 6 to have an upright arm 26 which receives the rivet 24 for the lamp-supporting frame 20, and the U-shaped bracket 19 also has parallel top and bottom flanges 27 and 28, respectively. The bottom flange 28 is spot welded to the bottom member 16 as heretofore stated. The top flange 27 has a narrow guide portion 27a at one end, and a wide supporting portion 27b at the other end.

The top flange 27 and the bottom flange 28 of the U-shaped supporting bracket 19 are positioned above and below an adjusting member, indicated generally at 29, for which they provide a support and guideway in which the adjusting member 29 is mounted for horizontal linear sliding movement normal to the pivot axis of the lamp-supporting frame 20. The adjusting member 29 includes a body 30 and turned top and bottom flanges 31 and 32 which are guided between the top flange 27 and bottom flange 28 of the U-shaped bracket 19. A series of holes 33 is formed in the body 30 of the adjusting member 29 along the line of movement of the member.

Also mounted in the U-shaped bracket 19 is an actuating means, indicated generally at 34, for imparting linear movement to the adjusting member 29. The actuating means include a flat upright pinion shaft 35 which extends through holes in the flanges 27 and 28, and the lower end portion 35a of the shaft 35 also extends through a hole in the bottom plate 16. The shaft 35 is journaled in the flanges 27 and 28 and in the bottom plate 16 by virtue of being supported therein by friction washers 36 which grip the shaft and are rotatable with respect to the flange 27 and the bottom plate 16. A pinion 37 loosely surrounds the shaft 35 and has teeth 37a which engage the series of holes 33 in the adjusting member 29, and the pinion 37 is held in the plane of the series of holes 33 by means of a top spacer tube 38 and a bottom spacer tube 39 which loosely surround the shaft 35 and respectively fill the spaces between the pinion 37 and the flanges 27 and 28. To permit easy manual manipulation of the actuating means 34 from below the lamp housing and the ceiling, a knob 40 is secured by means of a set screw to the projecting lower end portion 35a of the shaft 35. From the foregoing description, it is apparent that the adjusting member 29, by virtue of the series of holes 33 engaged by the pinion teeth 37a constitutes a rack member of a rack and pinion means.

The adjusting member 29 is operatively connected to the adjacent arm 22 of the lamp supporting frame 20 by link means consisting of a link 41 which has one end pivotally connected to the actuating member 29 at 42 by means of a rivet, and which has its opposite end connected to the arm 22 of the lamp frame 20 by a second pivot 43 which is also a rivet and which is located above the adjusting member in spaced relationship to the pivot axis of the lamp frame. Thus, as the actuating means 34 is rotated to move the adjusting member 29 between the position of FIG. 3 and the position of FIG. 4 the link means including the link 41 rocks the lamp-supporting frame 20 between the limit positions illustrated in those views. As seen in FIG. 3, the arms 22 of the lamp frame are perpendicular to the plane of the bottom of the housing, and the axis of illumination of the lamp S is also perpendicular to that plane. In that limit position of the lamp frame the link 41 is stopped by contact with the adjacent end of the supporting portion 27b of the top flange 27. Thus, the perpendicular position of the lamp is fixed by such contact of the link 41 with the flange portion 27b.

The foregoing detailed description is given for clearness of understanding only and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom as modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

Claims

We claim:

1. In a recessed lighting fixture of the type which includes a housing adapted to be mounted in a ceiling, said housing having an opening in its lower end, and a lamp-supporting frame mounted in the housing on a horizontal pivot axis for directing light from a lamp in said frame through said opening at different angles, adjusting means for rocking said frame about its pivot axis comprising, in combination: an adjusting member; means supporting said adjusting member in the lower end portion of the housing for horizontal linear movement; actuating means operatively connected to the adjusting member for imparting said horizontal linear movement to said member, said actuating means being accessible for manual manipulation from below the housing; and a link pivotally connected at one of its ends to the adjusting member and at the other of its ends to the lamp-supporting frame at a point which is substantially above the adjusting member and spaced from said pivot axis, so that said linear movement of the adjusting member, transmitted through said link, rocks said frame about its pivot axis.

2. The combination of claim 2, in which the adjusting member is a plate, the supporting means is a U-shaped bracket having an upright arm in facing relationship to a portion of the lamp-supporting frame and parallel top and bottom flanges which extend transversely with respect to said portion of the lamp-supporting frame above and below the adjusting member to provide a guideway for said member, there being a hole in said bottom flange, and in which the actuating means extends through said hole and has its lower end portion below the bottom of the housing.

3. The combination of claim 2 in which the adjusting member is a rack and the actuating means includes a pinion of a rack and pinion means.

4. The combination of claim 1, in which the adjusting member is a rack and the actuating means includes a pinion of a rack and pinion means.

5. The combination of claim 4 in which the pinion is on an upright shaft the lower end portion of which is below the bottom of the housing, and in which a knob is secured to said lower end portion.

6. The combination of claim 1, in which the adjusting member is a plate which has a series of holes along the line of movement of the member, the supporting means is a U-shaped bracket having an upright arm in facing relationship to a portion of the lamp-supporting frame and parallel top and bottom flanges which extend transversely with respect to said portion of the lamp-supporting frame above and below the adjusting member to provide a guideway for said member, and in which the actuating means includes an upright shaft journaled in said top and bottom flanges and a pinion on the shaft which has teeth engaging the series of holes in the adjusting member.

7. The combination of claim 6 in which the lower end portion of the shaft extends below the bottom of the housing, and in which a knob is pinned to said lower end portion.

8. The combination of claim 7 which includes a transversely extending bottom plate rotatably mounted in the lower end of the housing, the housing opening being in said bottom plate, in which the lamp-supporting frame and the supporting means are both mounted on said bottom plate, and in which the upright shaft has its lower end portion journaled in the bottom plate as well as in the bottom flange.

9. The combination of claim 6 which includes a transversely extending bottom plate rotatably mounted in the lower end of the housing, the housing opening being in said bottom plate, in which the lamp-supporting frame and the supporting means are both mounted on said bottom plate, and in which the upright shaft has its lower end portion journaled in the bottom plate as well as in the bottom flange.

10. The combination of claim 6 in which the link has one end pivoted near an end of the adjusting member and movement of said link in one direction is stopped by contact with the top flange of the adjusting means when the lamp-supporting frame is positioned so that the axis of illumination of a lamp in the frame is perpendicular to the plane of the bottom of the housing.

11. The combination of claim 1 in which the adjusting member is supported for horizontal linear movement normal to a vertical plane through the pivot axis of the lamp supporting frame, and in which the pivotal connections at the two ends of the link are on axes parallel to said pivot axis.