FLEXIBLE HOUSING ASSEMBLY FOR SSL LIGHT FIXTURES
The present disclosure provides solid state lighting fixtures and housing assemblies for solid state lighting fixtures. The housing assemblies according to the present disclosure include multiple joints to permit manipulation of the housing assembly relative to its mounting structure so that a single solid state lighting fixture can be used with different mounting structures, and adjusted so that the light emitted by the solid state lighting fixture is in a desired direction.
This application claims priority to co-pending U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/155,264, filed on Apr. 30, 2015, titled “Flexible Housing Assembly for SSL Light Fixtures,” co-pending U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/155,166, filed on Apr. 30, 2015, titled “Solid State Light Fixtures with Integrated Controls,” co-pending U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/155,293, filed on Apr. 30, 2015, titled “Control Device for Solid State Light Fixtures,” and co-pending U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/156,251, filed on May 2, 2015, titled “Solid State Lighting Fixtures,” all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
BACKGROUND1. Field
The present disclosure relates to solid state lighting fixtures. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to housing assemblies for solid state lighting fixtures that include multiple joints to permit manipulation of the housing assembly to accommodate different mounting structures and adjust the direction of light emitted by fixture.
2. Description of the Related Art
Luminaires (light fixtures) utilizing light emitting diodes (LEDs) have in recent years become somewhat practical and continue to penetrate the lighting market due to the increased luminous efficacy of commercially available LED components. LED luminaires are desirable as they offer customers energy savings due to good luminous efficacy combined with the ability to precisely control light distribution patterns, which is of particular importance for certain lighting scenarios, such as outdoor environments, and open environments, such as parking garages and canopies. Another benefit of LED luminaires is that with the right control mechanism the LEDs are controllable. Each LED luminaire can start-up (i.e., illuminate) on a near-instantaneous basis, and may be dimmed to any level within the driver's operational range by varying the current through each LED via dimming drivers, e.g. power supplies, that offer dimming leads accepting the standard 0-10V input format.
Further energy savings of LED luminaires can be realized by providing light only where and when needed. For example, LED luminaires can be dimmed or turned off until motion is detected in an area. The LED luminaires can also be dimmed according to a time of day, or set to illuminate at full brightness from dusk through midnight or another time, and then dimmed, saving energy, but still providing an acceptable level of lighting for overnight security purposes. Selective dimming or on/off operation of LED luminaires also retards lumen depreciation and extends the service life of the LED luminaires.
Housings for solid state lighting fixtures are typically designed to rigidly mount to a wall, ceiling, pole or other mounting structure, and remain in a fixed orientation relative to the mounting structure. As a result, such fixtures have a single utility in that they can only be attached to the mounting structure they were designed for.
SUMMARYThe present disclosure provides solid state lighting (SSL) fixtures and housing assemblies for solid state lighting (SSL) fixtures. The housing assemblies according to the present disclosure include multiple joints to permit manipulation of the housing assembly relative to its mounting structure. In an exemplary embodiment, the SSL fixture includes a main body and a mounting assembly. The main body includes a housing and a light assembly within the housing. The mounting assembly has a first mounting joint for securing the mounting assembly to a mounting structure, at least one main body support member having one end secured to the first mounting joint, and at least one second mounting joint for coupling the at least one main body support member to the main body. The first mounting joint provides a first articulating joint for adjusting the position of the main body, and the second mounting joint provides a second articulating joint for adjusting the position of the main body.
The figures depict embodiments for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles described herein, wherein:
The present disclosure provides solid state lighting (SSL) fixtures and housing assemblies for solid state lighting (SSL) fixtures. The housing assemblies according to the present disclosure include multiple joints to permit manipulation of the housing assembly relative to its mounting structure so that a single SSL fixture can be used with different mounting structures, and adjusted so that the light (visible and/or non-visible light) emitted by the SSL fixture is in a desired direction. For example, the SSL fixture can be positioned for post top mounting, the SSL fixture can be positioned for arm mount if the yoke is rotated to a horizontal position, or the SSL fixture can be positioned as a flood light if the fixture is rotated around the yoke in the post top position or the arm mount position.
Referring to
The mounting assembly (or yoke) 50 includes a mounting joint, such as slip fitter 52, and a pair of main body support members 54 and 56. The slip fitter 52 is provided to connect the SSL fixture 10 to a mounting structure 51, such as the pole identified above. Preferably, the slip fitter 52 has a hollow center for electrical power connections and/or to allow wires to pass, and a cover 58 to permit access to the hollow center. The slip fitter 52 includes body support retaining members 60 and 62 that are configured to receive and support the main body support members 54 and 56 relative to the slip fitter 52, as shown. The slip fitter 52 can be made of metal, such as aluminum, die cast aluminum, stainless steel, galvanized steel or powder coated steel, or rigid plastic or composite materials to provide sufficient structural integrity. The slip fitter 52 may be releasably secured to a mounting structure, e.g., pole 51 or a tenon, such that the slip fitter can be rotated relative to Axis “A”, and thus relative to the mounting structure supporting the SSL fixture 10. In an alternative embodiment, the slip fitter 52 can be a two-piece member where a first member is used to secure the slip fitter 52 to the mounting structure, and the second member is coupled to the first member via a swivel joint that can be locked in place using a set screw.
The main body supports 54 and 56 secure the main body 20 to the slip fitter 52. Preferably, the main body supports 54 and 56 are rigid, hollow members that permit power wires to pass from the slip fitter 52 to the main body 20. Each of the main body supports 54 and 56 may be a single member with a hollow center, or a two piece member that is secured together via a fastener such as a rivet, bolt, screw or adhesive. The main body supports 54 and 56 can be made of metal, such as aluminum, die cast aluminum, stainless steel, galvanized steel or powder coated steel, plastics, composite materials, or other rigid material to provide sufficient structural integrity. The embodiment of
The main body 20 is secured to the main body supports 54 and 56 via mounting joints 70 and 72. The mounting joints permit manipulation of the main body 20 relative to the slip fitter 52, and thus relative to a mounting structure supporting the SSL fixture 10. The mounting joints 70 and 72 are preferably locking type mounting joints, such as locking knuckle joints, locking swivel joints, locking ball joints and adjustable locking hinges. In the embodiment of
As noted above, in the embodiment of
Referring to
The SSL light engine 102 illuminates when energized by driver 116, and can be dimmed or brightened depending upon the voltage applied to the driver dimming input via the SSL light engine 102 under the control of the dimming output control 112. An example of a suitable driver is the PLED150W-042-C3500-D3 Driver manufactured by Thomas Research Products. Another example of a suitable driver is shown in FIGS. 35 and 36 of Appendix A of Patent Application No. 62/155,264, filed on Apr. 30, 2015, titled “Flexible Housing Assembly for SSL Light Fixtures,” incorporated herein by reference. Dimming control is in the pulse width modulated (PWM) format. The driver 116 is capable of driving the SSL light engine 102 down to zero current, i.e. extinguished, where the auxiliary power supply takes over to supply power to the wireless module, since no electrical current would be available from the SSL element 103 strings to support the wireless module controls. The wireless module 104 is configured to transmit signals to the controller 210 (seen in
Referring to
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The signals sent to the wireless module 104 by the controller 210, via the wireless network 220, may include generally, user commands, such as set schedule command, manual control of fixture, turn fixture off, turn fixture on, dim fixture, set schedule to automatically dim fixture, or to activate fixture upon one or more sensor responses. Such commands can be sent to one SSL fixture 10 or to more than one SSL fixture. Signals sent to the controller 210 by the wireless module 104 may include diagnostic information from, for example, the status sensors 110, such as printed circuit board temperature, the number of kilowatt hours the SSL fixture has been operating, the RTC time, and other information reflecting that one or more SSL fixture components are not functioning properly and are in need of repair, such as RTC status, battery status, etc. Signals sent to the controller 210 by the wireless module 104 may also include acknowledgements that commands from the controller have been received. The real-time clock (RTC) 108 provides a suitably accurate clock to the SSL fixture 10 components to ensure timing operations are performed at a desired time of day. More details of these components are described in Appendix A of Patent Application No. 62/155,264, filed on Apr. 30, 2015, titled “Flexible Housing Assembly for SSL Light Fixtures,” incorporated herein by reference.
It will be understood that various modifications can be made to the embodiments of the present disclosure herein without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Therefore, the above description should not be construed as limiting the disclosure, but merely as embodiments thereof. Those skilled in the art will envision other modifications within the scope and spirit of the invention as defined by the claims appended hereto.
Claims
1. An SSL fixture for illuminating a desired area, comprising:
- a main body having a housing and a light assembly within the housing; and
- a mounting assembly having a first mounting joint for securing the mounting assembly to a mounting structure, at least one main body support member having one end secured to the first mounting joint, and at least one second mounting joint for coupling the at least one main body support member to the main body,
- wherein the first mounting joint provides a first articulating joint for adjusting the position of the main body, and wherein the at least one second mounting joint provides a second articulating joint for adjusting the position of the main body.
2. The SSL fixture according to claim 1, wherein the at least one main body support member comprises a pair of main body support members.
3. The SSL fixture according to claim 2, wherein the at least one second mounting joint comprises a pair of second mounting joints, wherein one mounting joint couples one main body support member to the main body, and wherein the other mounting joint couples the other main body support member to the main body.
4. The SSL fixture according to claim 1, wherein the first mounting joint comprises a yoke capable of being moved relative to the mounting structure.
5. The SSL fixture according to claim 1, wherein the at least one second mounting joint comprises a locking knuckle joint.
6. The SSL fixture according to claim 1, wherein the at least one second mounting joint comprises a locking swivel joint.
7. The SSL fixture according to claim 1, wherein the light assembly comprises an SSL light engine.
8. The SSL fixture according to claim 7, wherein the SSL light engine comprises a plurality of SSL elements capable of illuminating a desired area.
9. The SSL fixture according to claim 8, wherein the plurality of SSL elements can be activated or dimmed in response to control signals.
10. The SSL fixture according to claim 9, wherein control signals comprise at least one set time control signal.
11. The SSL fixture according to claim 9, wherein control signals comprise a date control signal.
12. The SSL fixture according to claim 1, wherein the light assembly further comprises a wireless module used for communicating with a controller using a wireless network.
13. An SSL fixture for illuminating a desired area, comprising:
- a main body having a housing and a light assembly within the housing, the light assembly including a plurality of LEDs; and
- a mounting assembly having a first mounting joint rotatable around a first axis for securing the mounting assembly to a mounting structure, at least one main body support member having one end secured to the first mounting joint, and at least one second mounting joint rotatable around a second axis different than the first axis for coupling the at least one main body support member to the main body,
- wherein the first mounting joint provides a first articulating joint for adjusting the position of the main body, and wherein the at least one second mounting joint provides a second articulating joint for adjusting the position of the main body.
14. The SSL fixture according to claim 13, wherein the at least one main body support member comprises a pair of main body support members.
15. The SSL fixture according to claim 14, wherein the at least one second mounting joint comprises a pair of second mounting joints, wherein one mounting joint couples one main body support member to the main body, and wherein the other mounting joint couples the other main body support member to the main body.
16. The SSL fixture according to claim 13, wherein the first mounting joint comprises a yoke capable of being moved relative to the mounting structure.
17. The SSL fixture according to claim 13, wherein the at least one second mounting joint comprises a locking knuckle joint.
18. The SSL fixture according to claim 13, wherein the at least one second mounting joint comprises a locking swivel joint.
19. The SSL fixture according to claim 13, wherein the light assembly comprises an SSL light engine.
20. An SSL fixture for illuminating a desired area, comprising:
- a main body having a housing and a light assembly within the housing, the light assembly including an SSL light engine and a plurality of LEDs; and
- a mounting assembly having a first mounting joint rotatable around a first axis for securing the mounting assembly to a mounting structure, at least one main body support member having one end secured to the first mounting joint, and at least one second mounting joint rotatable around a second axis different than the first axis for coupling the at least one main body support member to the main body,
- wherein the at least one second mounting joint comprises a pair of second mounting joints, wherein one mounting joint couples one main body support member to the main body, and wherein the other mounting joint couples the other main body support member to the main body, and
- wherein the first mounting joint provides a first articulating joint for adjusting the position of the main body, and wherein the at least one second mounting joint provides a second articulating joint for adjusting the position of the main body.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 29, 2016
Publication Date: Nov 3, 2016
Inventor: Adam Joseph Clark (Bradenton, FL)
Application Number: 15/142,981