Illumination – With liquid container
Patent
1996-11-22
1998-09-01
Quach, Y My
Illumination
With liquid container
362267, 362364, F21V 3102
Patent
active
058000410
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an underwater light fitting and particularly, but not exclusively, to an underwater light fitting for use in swimming pools and spa baths, hereafter referred to as "pools".
2. Description of the Prior Art
Underwater light fittings are often installed in pools and there are two basic designs of fitting. A first known design uses a modular unit which includes a bulb in a cavity enclosed by a permanently sealed body. The body includes a transparent or translucent face at its front so that illumination from the bulb may project into the pool. The body may also include a reflector in order to project additional illumination from the bulb through the face into the pool. When a bulb in such a unit needs to be replaced the entire modular unit is replaced.
A second design uses a separately replaceable bulb in a housing having a watertight seal between a casing at the rear of the housing and a plain glass face at the front of the housing. In pools the light housing, in use, is installed in a niche. Power is generally supplied via an insulated cable which emerges from some part of the niche wall and enters the housing via an aperture. The aperture includes a permanent seal, in order to prevent water from entering the housing. In use, the housing is cooled by water circulating in the space between the rear wall of the niche and the housing (and also, of course, by water in contact with the plain glass face at the front of the housing). Holes may be provided in order to allow water to enter the niche, enhancing the cooling effect. When it is necessary to replace the bulb or perform other maintenance the housing is demounted from the niche and lifted out of the water. The length of cable between the niche wall and the housing is generally about 1.5 yards (1.5 m), this being sufficiently long to allow the housing to be lifted out of the water but sufficiently short to enable the cable to fit comfortably in the niche cavity behind the housing when the housing is mounted in the niche.
Clearly the light housing cannot be moved further away from the niche than the length of the cable permits without being disconnected from the cable. For this reason, work that must be performed, such as replacement of the bulb or other maintenance, is generally performed at the poolside. This is not necessarily a convenient place to perform such operations.
The known light fittings also suffer from other problems in use. The fittings incorporating modular units are expensive to maintain since when a bulb needs to be replaced the rest of the modular unit is also replaced. The bulbs in such units tend to have a relatively short lifetime (of the order of 250 hours of use) and such frequent replacement may be prohibitively expensive.
The units having separately replaceable bulbs are less expensive to maintain. However, in order to replace the bulb the waterproof housing must be dismantled, normally by removal of the face from the rest of the housing. After replacement of the bulb, the housing must be reassembled ensuring that all seals are intact and in place so that the waterproof integrity of the housing is maintained.
Dismantling the housing may be difficult, since the fastenings are generally of metal and may be considerably corroded after spending a long period of time submerged in, for example, chlorinated water.
Once the housing is dismantled it may be found that the seals from between the face and the rest of the housing need to be replaced because that they have warped, perished or deformed so that they cannot be effectively reused. These seals are generally annular having a diameter of several inches (of the order of 20 cm), and are therefore particularly susceptible to such wear.
Another disadvantage of using known fittings of the type having replaceable bulbs is that wires inside the light housing may become brittle due to the build up of heat in the housing during use, and may break during maintenance or bulb replacement. This necessitates drawing some
REFERENCES:
patent: 1806435 (1931-05-01), Werner
patent: 1968072 (1934-07-01), Creighton
patent: 4156894 (1979-05-01), Berry
patent: 4290094 (1981-09-01), Jensen
patent: 4539629 (1985-09-01), Poppenheimer
patent: 4574337 (1986-03-01), Poppenheimer
patent: 4996635 (1991-02-01), Olsson
patent: 5045978 (1991-09-01), Gargle
patent: 5128845 (1992-07-01), Hoffmeier
Aqua Pharos International Limited
Quach Y My
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