CN100587315C - Gear Tilt Mechanism to Ensure Arc Lamp Works Horizontally - Google Patents

Abstract

This invention discloses an apparatus and method for maintaining a high-intensity discharge arc lamp relatively horizontal within a lighting device, regardless of the aiming direction of the lighting device towards a target. In one aspect, the light source is mounted in an independently rotating yoke within the lighting device. A transmission mechanism automatically and proportionally pivots the light source relative to any pivoting movement of the lighting device within its range of motion, such that the selected light source direction is maintained approximately regardless of the aiming direction of the lighting device.

Description

Gear Tilt Mechanism to Ensure Arc Lamp Works Horizontally

Cross References to Related Applications

Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §119, this application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/644,536, filed January 18, 2005, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. This application is also a non-provisional application of the following U.S. provisional applications all filed on January 18, 2005: No. 60/644639; No. 60/644747; No. 60/644534; No. 60/644720; No. 60/ No.60/644636; No.60/644517; No.60/644609; No.60/644516; No.60/644546; No.60/644547; No. 60/644637; No. 60/644719; No. 60/644784; No. 60/644687, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

incorporated by reference

The entire contents of the following US patents are incorporated herein by reference: 4816974; 4974303; 5161883; 5600537; 5816691; 5856721; 6036338.

I. Background technology

A.Technical field

Figures 1A to 1G generally illustrate a sports field lighting system (see also patents incorporated herein by reference). There is room for improvement with the lighting fixtures shown and the manner in which they operate.

B. Problems in the prior art

It is well known that in some HID lamps there is a problem of light loss due to the tilt factor. The applicant has developed several ways to make the arc tube in the glass cover work in a substantially horizontal position, and has obtained related patents. See the aforementioned patents incorporated herein by reference.

There is room for improvement in this area. Some solutions require that the structure must be manually adjusted after the lighting fixture is erected. This is prone to error and labor intensive. Some solutions fix the relationship of the arc tube relative to the lighting fixture. However, in most sports lighting systems, the angular orientation of the lighting fixtures relative to the ground is different. In these cases, it is not possible to ensure that all arc tubes of the system are ultimately installed in a horizontal position.

II. Contents of the invention

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for automatically maintaining the arc tube of a HID lamp in a predetermined orientation relative to a lighting fixture. The apparatus includes a mechanism that directs the arc tube toward the reflector of the lighting fixture in substantially the same direction regardless of whether the orientation of the reflector relative to the lighting fixture changes.

In one aspect, the invention relates to a transmission arranged between a yoke receiving a lamp, a knuckle on which a lighting fixture is mounted, and a reflector, and also relates to a new approach to sports lighting. The present invention relates to devices, methods and systems for effectively and more efficiently delivering light to a target space with reduced glare and light spillage outside the target space.

Therefore, the main object, feature or advantage of the present invention is to provide a high intensity lighting fixture, its method of use and its application in a lighting system, which improves or solves some of the problems and deficiencies in the art.

Apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention includes a high intensity lighting fixture having a yoke adapted to receive an arc lamp so that the arc tube of the arc lamp can be operated in a horizontal position or as far as possible in the most conventional working position of the lighting fixture. position.

In another aspect of the invention, an arc lamp has an arc tube offset from the longitudinal axis of the lamp housing, and the arc lamp is used in combination with a yoke. The arc tube offset may be at an aiming angle that is within the typical range of aiming angles for sports lighting. The yoke and associated structure will automatically keep the arc tube level or nearly level even if the reflector moves anywhere within the typical ranges described above.

These and other objects, features, advantages and aspects of the present invention can be better understood with reference to the appended specification and claims.

III. Description of the drawings

1A to 1G illustrate general components of a sports lighting system.

2A to 2C illustrate a high intensity discharge (HID) arc lamp used in an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic, partially exploded view of lighting fixture 10 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

4A to 4D schematically illustrate an automatic tilt factor correction mechanism according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

5A to 5J are various views of a lamp cone in which a HID lamp may be removably mounted and on which a reflector may also be mounted.

6A to 6I are various views of the knuckle base connected to the cross arm on the rod.

7A to 7K are various views of a knuckle that may be attached to the knuckle base shown in FIG. 6A and the light cone shown in FIG. 5A.

8A to 8D are various views of the transmission for the preferred embodiment.

9A to 9E are various views of the bushing used to pivotally connect the knuckle and light cone with the bolt.

Figures 10A to 10B show the springs used in the preferred embodiment.

11A to 11C show the strap used to lock the light cone to the steering knuckle.

Figures 12A to 12F illustrate an auxiliary strap for such locking.

13A to 13F show end stops that also serve to adjustably lock the angular orientation of the light cone relative to the steering knuckle.

14A to 14J are various views of a yoke in which a HID lamp is mounted, the yoke being angularly pivotable about the lamp cone.

15A to 15D are views of a yoke holder.

IV. Specific implementation

A. Exemplary Device

1. Overview of Lighting Fixtures 10

FIG. 3 shows the basic components of sports lighting fixture 10 in exploded form.

The light cone 40 (360 aluminum with polyester powder coating) rotates about an axis 52 relative to a knuckle 50 . Lamp cone 40 includes a socket 154 (shown schematically in FIG. 14A , commercially available) bolted to a flat connecting plate 160 between arms 156 and 158 of yoke 80 (see Figure 14A) on. The lamp 20 (Z-lamp( ^TM ) from Musco Corporation) has a threaded base that can be screwed in and out of the socket 154 (FIG. 3 shows the screwed into working position) to install or remove the lamp 20.

2. Lamp 20

The arc lamp 20 is of the general type disclosed, with some modifications, in U.S. Patent No. 5,856,721 to Musco Corporation, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. These types of lamps are available under the tradename Z-lamp( ^TM) by Musco Corporation and are typically 1000 watt or larger metal halide (MH) HID lamps. The arc tube 12 of the arc lamp 20 runs obliquely through the longitudinal axis of the arc lamp. In operation, arc lamp 20 is rotationally positioned within lighting fixture 10 such that the longitudinal axes of the arc tube and arc lamp define a vertical plane, and the longitudinal axis of arc tube 12 is as close as possible to the horizontal plane.

3. Yoke 80

Yoke 80 is pivotally supported in front of lamp cone 40 at pivot axis 140 (see FIGS. 3 and 5C ). The pivot pin 152 of the yoke 80 (see FIG. 14A, which will be described in more detail below) slides longitudinally into the mating receiver 134 (which defines the pivot axis 140) on the opposite side of the opening 132 to the lamp cone 40, and It is held in place by mechanical threads centered through threaded holes on opposite sides of receiver 134 via yoke retainer 173 ( FIGS. 15A to 15D ).

Lamp socket 154 is mounted between arms 156 and 158 of yoke 80 through rear end 160 of yoke 80 by means of bolts, screws, or other implements. Accordingly, the yoke 80 can rotate about an axis 140 defined by the receiver 134 in the lamp cone 40 . In combination with the gearing, the pivotable yoke 80 allows the arc tube 12 of the arc lamp 20 supported by the yoke 80 to remain in a horizontal position independent of the tilt of the lamp cone 40 . Figures 4A-4E, together with Figures 5A and 14A, illustrate this general tilt factor correction feature of lighting fixture 10.

The transfer gear 202 ( FIGS. 8A to 8D ) has a bull gear portion 204 spaced parallel to a pinion gear portion 206 by a shaft 208 . Shaft 208 is rotatably pivotally mounted in opening 138 in the side of light cone 40 (offset from the axis of rotation of light cone 40 relative to knuckle 50 ). Bushing 203 (plastic sleeve/bushing - FIGS. 9A to 9E ) provides a bearing surface for shaft 208 of gear 202 in opening 138 of lamp cone 40 .

When lighting fixture 10 is assembled, pinion gear 206 meshes with rack gear 170 (see FIG. 7A ) formed in steering knuckle 50 . The bull gear 204 in turn meshes with the rack gear 190 fixed on one side of the yoke 80 (see FIG. 14A ). Light cone 40 is rotatable in a vertical plane about its pivot axis 136 relative to knuckle 50 so that different aiming angles of lighting fixture 10 relative to the target are possible. Because the front portion of the yoke 80 (at its pivot axis 140 ) is fixed relative to the lamp cone 40 , the yoke 80 also rotates in a vertical plane when the lamp cone 40 rotates. If the yoke 80 is fully fixed relative to the lamp cone 40, the longitudinal axis of the lamp 20 will also rotate in a vertical plane. However, this would conflict with the preference to have the arc tube 12 operate in the horizontal plane regardless of the aiming angle of the lighting fixture.

Lighting fixture 10 therefore compensates for this as described below. The rack gear 170 is fixed in the knuckle 50 . The steering knuckle 50 is fixed relative to the cross arm 7 . The gearing and components associated therewith are selected so that rotational movement of the lamp cone 40 about the axis 136 causes a proportional rotation of the yoke 80 about a different pivot axis 140 . The location of the yoke pivot axis 140 is deliberately chosen to be at or near the front plane of the lamp cone 40 . As lamp cone 40 is rotated upward, the front of yoke 80 and drive gear 202 are raised accordingly, but at the same time bull gear 206 lifts the rear free end of yoke 80 proportionally so that lamp 20 and its arc The orientation of the tube 12 remains constant with respect to the horizontal plane.

When assembled, the longitudinal axis of the yoke 80 is aligned or parallel to the longitudinal axis of the lamp cone 40 . Thus, when the lamp 20 is properly mounted on the yoke 80, the longitudinal axis of the lamp will be inclined at the same angle as the longitudinal axes of the yoke 80 and the lamp cone 40. This position is basically a reference position. If the lamp cone 40 is for example inclined 30° downward from the horizontal relative to the cross arm 7 when the pole 6 is erected, the longitudinal axis of the yoke 80 is also inclined 30° downward from the horizontal. This will place the arc tube 12 on a horizontal plane.

This relationship allows the use of lamps such as the Z-lamp ^™ lamp 20 (FIGS. 2A to 2C) and allows it to be operated in a horizontal position as long as the angular deviation of the arc tube relative to the longitudinal axis of the arc lamp is equal to the inclination of the lamp cone 40 relative to the horizontal plane. Can. Thus, if the arc tube 12 is inclined at 30° with respect to the longitudinal axis of the lamp 20, and the lamp 20 is screwed into the socket of the yoke 80 so that the axis of the arc tube and the axis of the lamp lie in the vertical plane, then when the lamp cone 40 looks down from the horizontal The arc tube 12 is horizontal when tilted at 30°. Operation of the arc tube 12 in the horizontal plane will correct for the tilt factor as described above.

However, since not all lighting fixtures will be aimed at 30° below horizontal, there are steps for light cones to be made from 15° above horizontal to each side of the reference position (e.g. 30° below horizontal) over a selected range (e.g. in the plane of knuckle 50 to within 47° below the horizontal, the yoke 80 automatically adjusts to maintain the orientation of the yoke 80 relative to the horizontal.

Figures 4A to 4D further illustrate this automatic tilt factor correction. If the lamp cone 40 is tilted upwards by a few degrees from its reference position of 30° relative to the horizontal, the drive gear 202 will rotate counterclockwise in the opening 138 of the lamp cone 40 as shown in FIG. 4C . The rack gear 170 is fixed with respect to the knuckle 50 and with respect to space. The lamp cone 40 is tilted about its axis of rotation 136 (see FIGS. 4A to 4D ), which is also fixed in space. The front of the lamp cone 40, and thus the front of the yoke 80, will move upward along an arc (see reference numeral 302, Figures 4A to 4D). The transfer gear 202 will also move upward along an arc (referenced 304 ). However, counterclockwise rotation of drive gear 202 means that bull gear 204 will simultaneously rotate counterclockwise. Because the bull gear 204 is fixed relative to the lamp cone 40, counterclockwise rotation of the bull gear 204 will cause the rack 190 to follow a third arc (referenced 306) within the lamp cone 40 independent of the vertical direction of the lamp cone 40. Straight Up Movement Moves straight up. Then, because the rack 190 is fixed to the yoke 80 , the rear of the yoke 80 will pivot upwardly with the rack 190 in proportion to the amount of upward rotation of the light cone 40 . When the light cone 40 is rotated downward, the rear of the yoke 80 will automatically make a similar proportional downward movement (FIG. 4D). However, because the rear of the yoke 80 is closer to the pivot axis of the light cone 40 , the amount of movement of the rear of the yoke 80 is less than the amount of movement of the light cone 40 .

In this embodiment, the range of inclination above and below horizontal is approximately +15[deg.] to -60[deg.]. This range covers most conventional sports lighting aiming angles (95% of which are at the 30° beam and reference axis). It will be appreciated that the steering factor used to run the automatic tilt factor correction is the pivot position of the yoke 80 . The pivot does this because it is substantially in the same plane as the connecting surface between the lamp cone 40 and the reflector frame 30 . Accurate alignment will be more difficult to obtain if the yoke is pivotally attached to the lamp cone 40 closer to the rear of the lamp cone 40 . While some variation occurs between the position of the arc lamp 20 and the reflective surface of the lighting fixture 10, the variation will be relatively small. Thus, a small amount of retargeting can be performed if desired.

The gear ratios are carefully chosen (gear 204 and pinion 206 have the same number of teeth) so that any upward or downward tilt of lamp cone 40 can be accurately compensated to maintain the same downward angular orientation of yoke 80 . In other words, although the yoke 80 is connected to the light cone 40 and moves with the light cone 40 when the light cone 40 pivots away from the reference position, the transmission causes the yoke 80 to pivot to maintain relative horizontal plane. same direction. Because the lamp cone 40 rotates about a different axis than the yoke 80, the choice of gearing is critical to producing the correct proportional movement of the yoke 80. While there will be some variation in the actual physical position of the yoke 80 relative to the lamp cone 40, the orientation of the yoke 80 remains parallel to its reference position. This will allow the arc tube 12 of the Z-lamp ^™ lamp 20 to remain level whether the lamp cone 40 is in its reference position or somewhat off reference position (within the driving range).

To account for the play and to apply an eccentric force relative to the yoke 80 , a tension spring 210 (see FIGS. 10A to 10B ) is connected between a rod 212 of the yoke 80 and a rod 214 at the front of the lamp cone 40 . This spring is chosen to maintain proper eccentric force. It is necessary to preload the transmission so that there is no backlash or backlash in the gears. This increases aiming accuracy. Spring 210 can be easily disengaged by pulling spring 210 away from rod 214 when performing maintenance on lighting fixture 10 . The pitch circle diameters of the last few teeth on bull gear 204 are cut to be slightly larger than the pitch circle diameters of the other teeth. This makes the combined mechanism insensitive to re-engagement.

FIGS. 11 , 12 and 13 show the strap and end stop capable of being clamped along the curved slot in the steering knuckle 50 . When the lamp cone 40 is rotatably connected to the steering knuckle 50 through the bolt 174 , the protrusion on the side of the lamp cone 40 extends into the curved groove. Accordingly, the light cone 40 can be set relative to the steering angle by clamping the strap pair 146, 148 in place (as a lower end stop) and setting and clamping the end stop 142 in place (as an upper end stop). Angular orientation of section 50. This combination provides a stronger clamping force against torsion forces than fastening with bolts 174 alone. The strap and end stop may have a structure that allows them to be clamped in place along the curved slot by bolting. Furthermore, relatively easy release of the position of the lamp cone 40 is allowed. The two bolts on the band for the lower end stop can simply be unscrewed so that the lower end stop pair slides off. This would allow eg maintenance personnel to go up and work on the lighting fixtures. When the maintenance personnel operates the lighting fixture, the lower end stop strap can be released, and the lighting fixture is then tilted downward to hang vertically. With the upper end stop clamped in place, the worker need only rotate the lamp and lamp cone 40 back until it abuts the upper end stop, and slide the pair of lower end stop straps so that it meets the protrusion of the end lamp cone in the groove. objects or bosses, and tighten the bolts again. Thus, the original aiming of the lighting fixture is maintained. This avoids having to re-aiming or calibrating.

As noted above, it is a feature of the present invention that the orientation of the lamp relative to some reference position is maintained substantially independently of the pivoting of the lamp cone 40 . It will be appreciated that the exemplary embodiment utilizes multiple pivot axes and transmissions to accomplish this. However, this arrangement results in slight movement of the lamp relative to the reflector attached to the lamp cone 40 while maintaining a generally consistent orientation of the lamp to some external reference plane. This slightly adjusts the beam distribution pattern from the lighting fixture. For example, if the lamp cone 40 is tilted up approximately 15° from a downward position of 30°, then not only is the reflector attached to the lamp cone tilted upward by 15°, but the repositioning of the lamp within the reflector will cause the beam to shift upward an additional approximately 7.5 degrees. Sometimes it takes realizing that, and making up for it. However, since the proportions are perfectly known, once a configuration is chosen, this can be an integral part of the system design. It may actually be advantageous because even though there may be some physical limitations on how far up or down the lamp cone 40 can be adjusted (e.g. due to physical limitations of lighting fixture construction or practical limitations for that matter), The beam offset produced by that adjustment is again scaled up, resulting in a wider range of possible adjustments.

A further description of the advantages of the overall tilt factor correction architecture and options for this architecture can be found in the patents incorporated herein by reference.

It will be appreciated that the above-described exemplary embodiments have been given by way of example only, and not as a limiting illustration. Modifications obvious to those skilled in the art will be included in the present invention. The scope of the invention is limited only by the claims.

Utilization of Musco's Z-lamp ^TM is not required. With appropriate modifications, standard arc lamps can be utilized.

It will be appreciated that the combination of components shown in the figures is only one way in which adjustability between the base for mounting the lighting fixture to the cross arm and the lighting fixture can be achieved. The figure shows how, in an exemplary embodiment, the combination of the transmission and the adjustable yoke allows compensating and maintaining the orientation of the arc lamp regardless of the vertical orientation of the lamp cone (within reason) for receiving the yoke. ). The figures are intended to show a combination for those skilled in the art. The general concept includes supplements or mechanisms for the function and result of maintaining a certain orientation of the lamp.

Claims (14)

1, a kind of high strength lighting fixture that increases the available light of target area under the situation that does not increase the energy use amount comprises:

A. lamp is bored, and it is pivotably mounted on the knuckle that is used to install illuminating equipment;

B. can be installed to the reflector framework on the lamp awl;

C. high-intensity discharge lamp, it has the arc-tube that can be installed to the base in the lamp awl and can be positioned at reflector framework inside, regardless of the sighting angle of illuminating equipment with respect to the target area, the arc-tube of described lamp all is adapted to operate in horizontal plane or horizontal plane vicinity;

D. to the mechanism of the automatic location of lamp, described mechanism comprises:

The lamp york piece, it is installed in the lamp awl, and can center on the rotation of lamp yoke pivot axis, and described lamp awl can be thought the different sighting angle of illuminating equipment setting around the rotation of lamp drive key shaft axis with respect to described knuckle; Mechanical connection between lamp york piece and lamp awl, it is suitable for making the lamp york piece to bore any ratio that is rotated into that centers on lamp drive key shaft axis around the rotation and the lamp of lamp yoke pivot axis, and the amount and the direction of the proportional rotation in the lamp awl of lamp york piece are suitable for selected arc-tube operating position is with respect to the horizontal plane automatically maintained in the scope of illuminating equipment sighting angle.

2, illuminating equipment according to claim 1 is characterized in that, described high-intensity discharge lamp has the cloche of grip hold arc light pipe.

3, illuminating equipment according to claim 2 is characterized in that, described arc-tube has the longitudinal axis, and the described longitudinal axis departs from the longitudinal axis of described cloche.

4, illuminating equipment according to claim 3 is characterized in that, the described longitudinal axis that comprises described arc-tube of departing from rotates with respect to the longitudinal axis of described cloche, to such an extent as to described arc-tube tilts generally with respect to the longitudinal axis of cloche.

5, illuminating equipment according to claim 4 is characterized in that, the angle of inclination is 30 °.

6, illuminating equipment according to claim 1 is characterized in that, described high-intensity discharge lamp comprises the arc-tube that is positioned at cloche inside, and described arc-tube is coaxial basically with the longitudinal axis of described cloche or align.

7, illuminating equipment according to claim 1 is characterized in that, when illuminating equipment was in the operating position, the position of described selected arc-tube was level basically.

8, illuminating equipment according to claim 1 is characterized in that, described illuminating equipment and sports ground illuminator are used in combination.

9, illuminating equipment according to claim 1 is characterized in that, described illuminating equipment and a plurality of same illuminating equipment are used in combination.

10, a kind of method that increases high-intensity discharge light source to the available light of target area comprises:

A. described high-intensity discharge light source is installed in the illuminating equipment;

B. for the sighting angle of described illuminating equipment, automatically keep the angular orientation of described high-intensity discharge light source with respect to the reference operating position with respect to the certain limit of target area;

C. light source is installed in the structure that can independently move with respect to illuminating equipment;

Wherein, the described structure that can independently move can pivot with respect to described illuminating equipment.

11, method according to claim 10 is characterized in that, the described structure that can independently move can be with respect to described illuminating equipment around the pivot axis of separating with the pivot axis of illuminating equipment.

12, method according to claim 11 is characterized in that, any variation within the specific limits of the direction of described illuminating equipment causes the described structure that can independently move to pivot pro rata.

13, method according to claim 12 is characterized in that, described proportional motion realizes by transmission device.

14, a kind of illuminating equipment that is used for area illumination, comprise: the knuckle plate that is suitable for linking to each other, be suitable for admitting the lamp awl of high-intensity discharge light source and the knuckle that can link to each other with the lamp awl with described knuckle plate with transverse arm, described lamp awl can rotate around lamp drive key shaft axis with respect to described knuckle, and comprises:

A. lamp york piece, it is arranged in described lamp awl, and can be around the rotation of lamp yoke pivot axis;

B. compound transmission, it makes described york piece and described lamp awl pivot pro rata with respect to any pivot of described knuckle.

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