Illumination – Housing – Recessed
Utility Patent
1998-11-27
2001-01-02
Cariaso, Alan (Department: 2875)
Illumination
Housing
Recessed
C362S148000, C362S288000
Utility Patent
active
06168298
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to ceiling-recessed downlighting fixtures and particularly to trim retention clip and mounting arrangements intended to facilitate snug mounting of a trim about a ceiling opening.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Lighting fixtures and particularly recessed downlighting fixtures mountable above the ceiling to building structural elements or to a gridwork of a suspended ceiling are commonly employed in both residential and commercial lighting applications due in part to the applicability of such lighting to an extraordinary variety of lighting applications as well as to the efficiency of such lighting. A description of recessed lighting fixtures in particular and components of such fixtures can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,423, the disclosure of which is incorporated hereinto by reference. While U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,423 provides particular disclosure of a pan or support element used for supporting the components of a downlighting fixture in place above a ceiling, it is to be understood that supporting pan structures of varying design are available in the art and that the present invention can be utilized with such supporting pan structures to produce the advantages described herein. In particular, downlighting pans conventionally mount a lamp housing and a junction box above an opening in a ceiling through which light is to be directed into an environmental space beneath the ceiling for illumination thereof. Electrical wiring is usually passed through a conduit between the junction box and the lamp housing for connection to lamping which produces the light directed into the environmental space. It is to be understood that the lamp housing can comprise a reflector per se such as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,800,050, the patent being assigned to the present assignee and being incorporated hereinto by reference. In this patent, the reflector itself also functions as a trim and as a lamp housing, a socket cup being mounted over an upper end of the reflector. Wiring from the junction box through the conduit connects to the socket cup to power lamping mounted within the reflector/lamp housing. An integral flange formed about an end of the lamp housing is intended to cover the ceiling opening and perimetric portions of the ceiling disposed about the opening. Similarly, a conventional can can be provided as the lamp housing either with or without reflector trim or finishing trim mounted within the interior of the can. In such situations, finishing trim is typically provided which has flange portions about a lowermost opening of the trim, the opening in the trim and an opening in the can being substantially coincidental. A flange formed about the trim opening covers the ceiling hole to prevent light leakage and to provide a pleasing appearance.
The prior art is replete with mounting arrangements including spring-like clips and the like which are intended to ensure that flanged lower portions of a lamp housing, reflector trim, finishing trim or the like are pulled into and held in snug engagement with the ceiling hole. However, component weight coupled with the eventual progress of time often causes such springs to function less than perfectly especially over time, the prior art thus feeling a long-standing need for a mounting arrangement which will positively hold a flanged lower end of a lamp housing, trim or the like in place against the force of gravity so that product performance is maintained over time. As an example, Caluori, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,414, describes a recessed lighting fixture having retaining clips which can be adjusted to secure a lamp housing in place about a ceiling opening. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,567,041, Slocum provides spring clips disposed about a lamp mounting can in a recessed lighting fixture, the spring clips being intended to support an exterior cylinder of a pair of cylinders within a ceiling hole, the interior cylinder then being positioned within the exterior ceiling, the cylinder mounting arrangement being intended to mount the fixture in place about the ceiling opening. Still further, Jones, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,314,148, describes a lamp-mounting can having a flange formed about a lowermost opening, the can being received into a ceiling opening such that the flange is flush with the surfaces of the ceiling about the opening. Jones then provides a pair of spring elements which are compressed and inserted through a pair of slots formed in walls of the housing, the springs bearing against the slot and the interior surface of the ceiling in order to hold the flanged can in a flush position with the ceiling opening. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,760,610, Lahti provides a mounting arrangement for a recessed electrical fixture wherein first and second spring supports and a locator plate are used to secure the spring supports to the fixture. Portions of the first and second spring supports bias against upper surfaces of a ceiling to maintain the fixture in position in an opening formed in the ceiling. While the prior art provides structure intended to produce a result essentially identical to the result provided by the present invention, it is to be noted that the prior art has experienced a long-felt need for a simple and inexpensive structure capable of mounting a recessed downlighting fixture above a ceiling hole to provide the functions herein described with a minimum of expense and with long-term reliability. The present invention in the several embodiments herein described provides structure for mounting a recessed lighting fixture in place above an opening in a ceiling to cause structure such as a flanged lamp housing or the like to be received into the opening such that a flange is pulled into engagement with ceiling portions about the opening to cover the opening.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention provides in embodiments explicitly described herein and implicitly disclosed mounting arrangements carried by a conventional supporting pan of a downlighting fixture to mount a lamp housing structure to the pan and to exert a force by means of a resilient clip and particularly a clip formed of flat spring steel stock on the lamp housing structure to cause the structure to be pulled inwardly or upwardly of a ceiling such that an annular flange forming the perimeter of an opening of the lamp housing structure as an example is pulled into engagement with perimetric portions of a ceiling surface adjacent the opening. Lighting trim which can take a variety of physical forms is thus caused to be pulled against the opening in a ceiling through which light is directed from a downlighting fixture, the resilient clip which forms the active portion of the lamp housing mounting arrangement acting to “invert” gravity in its action upon the lamp housing. The clip acts against the pull of gravity on the lamp housing to maintain the lamp housing in a desired position relative to the ceiling opening so that light leakage from perimetric portions of the opening about exterior surfaces of the lamp housing is prevented. The clip and mounting arrangements of the invention positively maintain a lamp housing or trim in place relative to the ceiling opening in order to provide a pleasing appearance.
The clip and mounting arrangement of the invention can be used with a variety of structure which will be described herein as “trim”, the term trim including a self-supported reflector such as is commonly provided with a socket cup or the like for mounting lamping, the lamping being disposed within the interior of the reflector. In such situations, the reflector is usually provided with a finishing flange located outwardly of the opening in the distal end of the reflector, the opening in the reflector essentially being disposed coplanar with or in proximity to the ceiling opening with the flange providing a finished appearance as is well known in the art. A self-supporting reflector as described can also be provided with a finishing trim which would be inserted into the opening or “mouth” of the reflector, t
Ashcraft Richard F.
Hentz Joseph A.
Mershon James M.
Cariaso Alan
Darnell Kenneth E.
Neils Peggy A.
NSI Enterprise, Inc.
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