US2694776A - Lamp cage hook construction - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 16, 1954 R. c.w1TTMAN 2,694,776

LAMP CAGE HOOK CONSTRUCTION Filed July 21, 195o [lul nl' V I N V EN TOR. VRiehen/'1] C. ,W1/:ifm un ofmg/ United States Patent LAMP CAGE H001( CONSTRUCTION Richard C. Wittman, Emporium, Pa.

Application July 21, 1950, Serial No. 175,101

1 Claim. (Cl. 240-54) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in wire cages for work lamps, and the like, and has a special reference to the construction whereby the supporting hook is connected to the cage.

The main object of the invention is to provide a hook so related to the cage that the cage may be readily turned with respect to the hook, and direct the light of the lamp through the medium of the reflector, in any direction and to provide resistance in the connection between the hook and cage structure so that the lamp and reflector will remain in the desired adjusted position so as to throw the light just Where it is wanted.

A further object is to provide a construction for connecting the supporting hook to a lamp cage of such character that it may readily be adapted to most conventional cages without the requirement of any major alterations therein.

A still further object is to provide certain tension members in connection with the hook to furnish the desired resistance, and so arranged as to be applicable either on he outside or the inside of the cage as may be desire Another object is to provide construction that requires very little additional space for assembly and operation.

Another object is to provide a device wherein the spring tension regulating the resistance in the cage hook may readily be adjusted at the will of the operator.

Still another object is to provide construction in which resistance offered to the turning of the cage is relatively high in relation to the amount of tension employed.

A still further object is to provide a constructionuin which the frictional resistance member may be of spring or resilient metal, or of rubber or other resilient material.

Further and more specific objects, features and advantages will more clearly appear from a consideration of the detailed specification hereinafter set forth, especially when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate a present preferred form which the invention may assume and which form part of the specification.

The conventional hook as hitherto usually employed has either been rigidly fastened to the case or loosely swivelled thereto. This has the result that the light can not be directed under the complete control of the operator, or may be influenced by a twisted cord to throw the light to variable positions independent of the operator.

In brief and general terms, the improved construction constituting this invention involves the usual wire cage construction wherein the upper ends of the wires are connected to a cap piece or plate. ln the present construction, this cap piece or plate is apertured and the stem of the supporting hook passes therethrough. The lower end of the hook below the cap piece is provided with suitable locking devices, and a resilient frictional resistance member in the form of a resilient disk of metal of various forms or a disk of rubber is disposed adiacent the cap plate and around the stem either above or below the cap plate and associated with suitable bearing washers wherein frictional resistance to the turning of the cage with respect to the stem is offered, of sufficient magnitude to prevent the cage from being turned relative to the hook, or vice versa, except under the direct effort of the workman.

A further feature of the invention has to do with the disposition of the frictional resistance member in such position against the cap piece that the closely ad- ICC jacent bent upper ends of the cage wires surround it along at least a portion thereof to prevent lateral displacement thereof.

The present preferred forms which the invention may assume are shown in the drawings, of which,

Fig. 1 is an elevation of a work lamp and wire cage with the supporting hook connected thereto in accordance with the preferred form of the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged partial cross section through the form of a hook connection shown in Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a modied form in which the resilient disk and the bearing washer are disposed below the cap plate;

Fig. 4 is a still further modification in which no lock nuts are used and the disk of metal is above the cap piece;

Fig. 5 is a form similar to Fig. 4 in which the disk is below the cap piece; and,

Figs. 6, 7, and 8 are perspective views of different types of resilient disks which may be employed.

Referring now merely to the specific forms of the invention, as shown in the drawings, it is to be noted that this connection is shown applied to a work lamp having a handle 10 at the upper end of which is a socket 11 for a lamp bulb 12 which is surrounded by the usual wire cage generally indicated by the numeral 13. In the usual manner, the upper ends of the several wires of the cage extend upwardly and are curved toward each other, and their bent ends 14 are engaged with a cap piece or plate 15 in any suitable manner. Preferably, the bent ends eX tend over the top of the outer edges of this piece 15 and are bent downwardly through apertures 16 in the cap piece7 which are disposed at spaced points adjacent the periphery thereof. The wires are thus reversely bent so that their outer ends 17 lie somewhat closely to the main body of the wires. By being thus bent downwardly and around, these bent portions may act to hold or retain the upper end of a reeetor 18 as shown in Fig. l. However, this reflector may be supported in any other manner, and the wires may be bent in the opposite direction if desired, or may be connected to the cap piece in some other manner.

In the form shown in Fig. 2, a stem 19 of the hook 20 extends freely through an aperture 21 in the cap piece and its lower portion is threaded at 22 to threadably receive an elastic type of stop nut 23, which serves to maintain the resilient turning-resistance disk under tension, and also to provide a tensional bearing surface in contact with the cap piece.

Above the cap piece 15, there is disposed a resistance member which may be in the form of a resilient split ring washer 27 (Fig. 6), the lower face of which bears on the top of the cap piece and the upper face of which bears against a frictional bearing surface shown in the form of an apertured washer 28 through which the stem 19 loosely passes. Above the top of this washer 28 there is formed an enlarged abutment element 29 which may be formed out of the metal of the stem, or may be a supporting apertured piece to slip onto the stem and be welded thereto. It is obvious that the resilience of split ring 27 will press up against the washer 28 to force it against the abutment 29, and thus also cause the stop nut 23 to bear frictionally against the lower surface of the cap piece 15, with the various parts thus frictionally engaged. By the resilience, or pressure of the split ring 1?.7, it can be seen that the handle and the cage can be relatively turned, but that the frictional resistance thus created will not permit such relative turning on the part of the cage or hook themselves, but only under a deliberate turning effort on the handle 10 by the workman. Thus, the workman can turn the handle while the hook is supporting the lamp from any suitable supporting element and be thus enabled to position the reector 18 so as to direct the light in any desired direction, and when so positioned, the parts will remain therein. The size of the abutment members and washer is such that these elements nest within the circle of bent over cage wires formed at the connection of the cage wires with plate 15 "piece 15.' In this form this member takes the form of a shown in Fig. 2 and its upper face bears against the lower face of the cap piece 15, and its lower face bears against i africtional..bearingplate or `washer''30'.-whiclrwloosely 'surroundsthe loweriportion of'fthe stem 19 which, as

before, loosely-passes through the` central'aperture :'16 in thetcap piece :2Below-thisrwasher2'30 -isidisposed, as

before mentionedf-thevstop nuti-unit '213i held :securely to the stem 19. vIt will fbe seen -that the ring`27 is normally disposed with respect -to the `adjacentebent-..encl'sof the wires 14 so'that-lateraldisplacement of thisielement is .preventediby theadjacent disposition-.of these wires. This construction'will permit oa-shorter unit but :otherwise operates substantially the same as-the one =above set `forth.---The use of thev stoptype nut^unit'23--clearlyvallows for adjustment 'of' thesplit=ringvtension at thehoption of the workman.

As shown in Fig. 4, the construction is modied to 'vf's'how the1washeri28 'loosely disposed around` the-stem 19. Between this washer 28 andvthepcap .piece 15'lis disf'posed'a'v ilatapertured disk 32, preferablyrofi resilient material suchy asfrubber. On thef'lowerfend ofthestem 19," below the' cap ,piece 15, :there isdisposed a' friction '1 washer 33 "which vis preferably weldedorr riveted -to the stem.

In= the form shown inFig. 5,-thesame `general conv struction is employedtwith the use of the rubber-.disk 32, but in this case it is disposed-below-the cap Apiece 15, and

-. the yfrictionbearingwasher orelement 33 isnwelded or "riveted-to the'stem and'is of suiicient diameter ltoamply respectively contacting' the capy piece andrtheestern so thatat alb-times the relative turning=betweenfthe cap piece and the stem is `resisted-by apredetermined, or adnot to be limited to such details, since many changes and modifications may be -made inthe-invention- -without departing from the spiritand scope thereof. Hence, it is desired to cover any and all forms and modifications may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Hence, it is desired to cover any and all forms and modifications of the invention which may come within' the language and scope of the appended claim.

Ilclaim:

A wire cage for a worklamp comprising a cap plate having a circular'series of peripheral openings and vertical cage wires. extending'therethroughr-and bent over to secure them therein, said cap plate further having a central aperture,ga hooked stem loosely extending through the aperture, an abutment encircling and secured to the stem above the plate, said abutment being of substantially greater diameter than the stem and having africtio'nal bearing surface facing thetfoutemside of the s cap plate, anifabutmentfmember.'encircling: the-stem be- .f low theZ cap lplateand havinga frictionallbearingsurface substantially largerfwthan saiduaperturesfacing theifinner #iside of'the'cap plategand a lcompr'essiblerand .resilient 4deformed r :metal washer resistance? member fdisposed 'around the.' stem and 'under"compressionbetween the iirst 'mentioned .abutment member r; and'U the;l caps: plate, f -fsaid abutment members and.saidresistancexmember all being of suchfsize as to'` nestwithinthey circle of bent- :over cage wirespsaid resistancerrlember engaging the first mentioned abutment rmembere and the' cap"'plate,

z with the second mentioned abutment 'member being adw -Justably ixed 4on said` stemztowmaintain. frictional: contact between said'cap plate. andf'said fsecond abutment member and betweenrsaid' cap fplate'and said Yirst:men

tioned abutment member and said compressible;` and rersilient resistancemember, said compressiblciresilient reslstance' member maintainingxsubstantlal'.'frictional rei" slstance tounwanted rotating movement ofxsaidfstem 'justable, amount of resistance-which will nou'allow the f' parts to move-relatively of themselvesfebut-will lrequire `la definite turning forceexertedon the parts by thefwork- A man using theflampA Therefore,when the lamp is set in a definite position with respect to--the hook, lit'will-,stay in this Apositionwithr thefmanyresultant advantages above ..1 set'forth. Itis obvious-that in `the'eonstructions shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5, any oneof the yforms of resistant Vspring-disksshown in Figs. 6, -7 and Simay be employed maccordance'with the-.necessity 0in-requirements of the particular construction.

While the invention has been described in-detail and shown with respect tothe accompanying` drawing, it is being rotatable with respect to said cap plate only-when 'urged l by external force.

" Number Name iDate 77,326 Shaw -.."Apr. 28,` 1868 y'174,969 Metcalf L'Mar. 21,k 1876 1,958,222 i -Wilson May '8, 1934 f 2,019,387 -Blair Oct. 29, 1935 2,254,288 Cowan -iSept. 2, 1941 2,278,062 Koharovich Mar. 315 1942 2,291,907 Lebeda Aug. 4, 1942

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