Illumination – Combined
Utility Patent
1999-05-26
2001-01-02
O'Shea, Sandra (Department: 2875)
Illumination
Combined
C362S364000, C362S431000, C362S805000
Utility Patent
active
06168290
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an outdoor lighting device suitable for use on pathways, gardens and patios etc. Prior art outdoor lighting devices which are used for lighting gardens etc. are generally of a vertical configuration where a lighting device is integrally mounted on a metal post or spike so that the spike may be driven into the ground so as to provide the stabilization necessary to keep the light in its vertical orientation. The fixture itself usually comprises a metallic framework which holds a socket for a bulb which is surrounded by a translucent cylindraceous lens on which are usually mounted a series of frusto-confical light deflecting rings (louvers) which direct the light diffused through the lens toward the surrounding ground.
Prior art devices, such as those described above, are not easily “hidden” in the landscape architecture because of the nature of the structure of the lamp, because of the characteristic vertical profile and the downward sloping light deflecting rings mounted on the refractor housing (giving the impression of a miniature weather station or a lamp suitable for enduring a hurricane).
The prior art devices do not provide reflected light but rather a filtered light which is passed through a translucent refractor between the deflecting rings. Because most prior art lights utilize a steel or plastic spike which is driven into the ground to stabilize the device, the lights are unsuitable for rocky or concrete surfaces.
The structure of the prior art garden lamps is quite fragile in that the lamp itself tends to be somewhat slender and elongated with the refractor serving to also provide substantial structural support for the lamp itself. The lamp itself is often placed where landscaping maintenance equipment must operate and the lamp is subject to lens fracture and other structural damage if inadvertently struck by maintenance equipment.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The garden lamp of this invention comprises a natural stone body (preferably limestone) which has a shape selected by a landscape designer. The stone body is sliced, usually with a diamond saw, to produce two stone pieces to produce a body and a cap. The body of the stone is bored to produce a bore completely passing through the body in a direction (usually) perpendicular to the surface of the flat surface produced by the saw cut.
Next, the original bore is subjected to a counter boring operation to provide an enlarged bore which extends in a co-axial direction a predetermined distance below the flat surface formed by the saw cut.
A weather resistant lighting fixture is installed in the bore of the body portion and the recess formed by the counter bore forms a ledge to support an inserted lighting device so as to accurately locate the lighting device a predetermined distance below the flat surface of the stone body.
Next, a series of pedestals (reasonably slim) of a stainless steel (preferably) are inserted into holes drilled into the flat surface of the body at preselected locations.
Similar recesses are formed in the matching stone cap and the stone cap is placed on the upwardly projecting pedestals to provide a cover for the lamp installed in the base.
The resulting lamp appears to be a stone having an evenly spaced cap and body where the cap appears to “float” above the body. This robust lamp is usually powered from a low voltage source and the lamp may be placed in a garden, a pathway or in a patio surrounding and when unlit will pass as a contemporary stone decoration but when lit during darkness produces a soft diffused light, which in this instance, has been conditioned by the reflection from the stone faces surrounding the lighting fixture. The lighting fixture is preferably depressed in the stone body sufficiently to avoid detection by the human eye.
In an alternate form, the lamp may utilize a transparent plastic cylinder to support the cap above the body.
PERTINENT PRIOR ART
U.S. Pat. No. 4,716,508 Dec. 29, 1987
A frusto-conical pedestal is provided with a horizontally extending fluorescent bulb in a luminaire assembly which arranged to produce a “slit” to permit reflected and directly emitted light from the contained fluorescent lamp to escape. This lamp features a conical concrete base which may be supplied with an auxiliary concrete collar to improve stability. The refractor-lens-reflector assembly is quite fragile and is subject to damage by landscaping maintenance equipment which may be operated in the vicinity of this lighting device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,627 Apr. 20, 1993
U.S. Patent Des 347,485 May 31, 1994
This garden lamp is formed by a pair of ceramic shells which are mated together to form a hollow structure, the outward appearance of which resembles a clam shell. This lamp is intended to “blend in” with other garden decorations such as “grey stones” thus the exterior ceramic surface is treated to match adjacent stones in the garden.
This lighting device employs a lens system and an integral reflector-bulb assembly which may be moved toward and away from the lens to change the lighting effect. This garden lamp exposes the bulb and reflector to an observer at the “front” of the lamp.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,996,636 Feb. 26, 1991
U.S. Pat. No. 5,398,180 Mar. 14, 1995
U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,828 Dec. 2, 1997
These are typical garden lamps presently found in great quantities in the U.S.A. Typically, the garden lamps of these patents show an elongated vertically extending housing which is attached to a stake which may be pushed into the ground to keep the lamp firmly located in its desired location. The housing serves as a mount for the semi transparent lens which serves to carry one or more frusto-conical louvers (for aesthetic purposes).
These garden lamps are quite functional in that they do provide a circle of light which tends to be deflected downwardly by the downwardly sloping louvers surrounding the lens, but the presence of these fixtures is not easy to camouflage in modern landscape settings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4716508 (1987-12-01), Kramer et al.
O'Shea Sandra
Oldham Edward H.
Ward John Anthony
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