Recessed lighting fixture

A recessed lighting fixture including a housing having spaced apart generally vertical walls defining an interior and an open bottom end. The walls have generally vertical slots through them. The fixture has lip means for maintaining the bottom end of the housing against a lower surface of a ceiling. The fixture further includes a plurality of mounting members disposed on an exterior surface of the wall means. Each of these mounting members has a first end, an outwardly curved elongated body portion made of resilient material and a second end. The first end of each mounting member is attached to the housing near the bottom end of the housing. The second end of the mounting member extends at least partially through the slot into the interior of the fixture so that at least a portion of the second end is accessible from the interior through the open bottom end. The second end is slidable within the slot so that, when the lighting fixture is inserted into the hole in the ceiling, sliding the second end to a lower position along the slot increases the degree of curvature of the curved elongated body portion above an upper surface of the ceiling to urge the elongated body portions against the ceiling to secure the fixture. The fixture further includes means for selectively locking the second end at the lower position along the slot.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to recessed lighting fixtures, and in 
particular to a recessed lighting fixture having resilient mounting means. 
There has come into wide use a class of lighting fixtures generally 
referred to as recessed lighting fixtures. Recessed lighting fixtures are 
lighting fixtures which may be installed in an appropriately sized hole in 
a wall or ceiling so that, once installed, the lighting fixture is 
substantially flush with the exposed surface of the wall or ceiling. Use 
of recessed lighting fixtures is popular in both new construction, and in 
remodeling where the recessed lighting fixture is installed in an existing 
wall or ceiling. 
In both new construction and particularly in remodeling, it may difficult 
to gain access to the hidden side of the wall or ceiling. Accordingly, 
recessed lighting fixtures must be designed so they can be installed from 
the exposed side of the wall or ceiling. Likewise, it is necessary that 
recessed lighting fixtures be removable for replacement, repair or access 
to the wiring inside the ceiling without access to the hidden side of the 
wall or ceiling. Furthermore, recessed lighting fixtures must generally be 
installed in ceilings with the lighting fixture overhead and in an awkward 
position. Because of this, it is desirable that recessed lighting fixtures 
be designed so that installation and removal is simple and quick, to 
minimize worker fatigue. Furthermore, because it is not always possible to 
position the recessed lighting fixture in the hold perfectly the first 
time, it is desirable that the recessed lighting fixture be repositionable 
without damage to the wall or ceiling from installation which would impair 
subsequent repositioning efforts. Still further, a recessed lighting 
fixture should be adaptable to installation in walls or ceilings of 
different constructions and different wall or ceiling thicknesses. 
Although various designs for mounting recessed lighting fixtures have been 
proposed to attempt to meet some of these objectives, such designs have 
not been entirely successful. In one type of design, exemplified by U.S. 
Pat. No. 4,048,491 issued Sept. 13, 1977, the recessed lighting fixture is 
provided with screw threads about its exterior periphery and a lower lip 
adapted to bear against the underside of the ceiling. Flanges are attached 
to each of the screw threads so that by screwing in the screw threads, the 
flange is brought into contact with the upper side of the ceiling, 
squeezing the ceiling between the flange and the opposing lip. Although 
such a design accomplishes the objective of securing a recessed lighting 
fixture in a variety of ceiling thicknesses, screwing in the screw threads 
and securing the flange is slow and cumbersome. 
Another type of design is exemplified by French Patent No 1.304.849, issued 
Aug. 20, 1972. In this type of design, the fixture is secured by means of 
a leg member which is pivoted to the vertical wall of the lighting fixture 
near the bottom of the fixture. The leg has a bracing member at its upper 
end which extends into the interior of the lighting fixture. The leg is 
maintained generally flush with the wall of the lighting fixture during 
installation of the fixture into the hole in the ceiling. When it is 
desired to secure the fixture, the bracing member is pressed outwardly 
from the interior of the fixture so as to pivot the leg into engagement 
with the ceiling. The bracing member is then locked into position to 
secure the fixture. 
Although this type of design eliminates the slow and cumbersome threading 
operation of U.S. Pat. No. 4,048,491 and can accommodate ceilings of 
different thicknesses, the bracing member extends a substantial distance 
into the interior of the lighting fixture, where it may interfere with 
other elements of the lighting fixture. Furthermore, the bracing member 
can exert considerable leverage against the pivoted leg member. Thus, when 
the leg is braced against the ceiling, the leg may tend to crush or 
otherwise damage the rim of the ceiling. This may limit repositioning 
efforts, or require repair of the ceiling. 
Accordingly, it can be seen that there is a need for a recessed lighting 
fixture which affords simple and rigid installation, is adaptable to walls 
or ceilings of a variety of thicknesses, is readily repositionable, will 
have a lesser tendency to damage the wall or ceiling during installation, 
and which eliminates the need for bracing members extending far into the 
interior of fixture where they might interfere with other components of 
the lighting fixture. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
These objects are achieved in a recessed lighting fixture in accordance 
with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In this preferred 
embodiment, the recessed lighting fixture includes housing means having 
spaced apart generally vertical wall means defining an interior and an 
open bottom end, which wall means have generally vertical slots 
therethrough. The fixture further includes a plurality of mounting members 
disposed on an exterior surface of the wall means. Each of these mounting 
members has a first end, an outwardly curved elongated body portion made 
of resilient material and a second end. The first end of each mounting 
member is attached to the housing means near the bottom end of the 
housing. This end provides a flange for maintaining the bottom end of the 
housing against the lower surface of the ceiling. The second end of the 
mounting member extends at least partially through the slot into the 
interior of the fixture so that at least a portion of the second end is 
accessible from the interior through the open bottom end, the second end 
further being slidable within the slot so that, when the lighting fixture 
is inserted into the hold in the ceiling, sliding the second end to a 
lower position along the slot increases the degree of curvature of the 
curved elongated body portion above an upper surface of the ceiling to 
urge the elongated body portion against the ceiling to secure the fixture. 
The fixture further includes means for selectively locking the second end 
at any of a plurality of lower positions along the slot thereby to hold 
the elongated body portion in its curved configuration.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
Referring now to the drawings in detail, and initially to FIG. 1 thereof, a 
recessed lighting fixture 20 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of 
the present invention is depicted partially inserted into an appropriately 
sized hole 21 in a ceiling 23. Recessed lighting fixture 20 includes a 
generally cylindrical housing 24 having generally vertical walls, which 
are spaced apart to form a generally open interior 36. Other shapes for 
the housing besides cylindrical may be employed, of course. An upper cap 
28 is advantageously provided at the upper end of housing 24. 
Conveniently, a light socket 38 is positioned inside the housing 24 in any 
convenient manner and flexible conduit 30 containing electrical wiring is 
connected to cap 28. An electrical junction box 32 is also advantageously 
attached to housing 24 by means of bracket 34. Housing 24 terminates in an 
open bottom end 27, so that the interior 36 of housing 24 can be manually 
accessed through the open bottom end 27. 
To retain recessed lighting fixture 20 in position in the ceiling, three 
elongated clips 40 are provided for mounting the fixture (only two of 
which are visible in FIG. 1). Although three clips 40 are depicted, it 
will be understood by those skilled in the art that greater or lesser 
numbers of clips may also be employed. 
Each of the clips 40 has an outwardly curved body portion 46, and is 
preferably made of a resilient material, such as flat spring steel. The 
body portion is outwardly curved even when the clip is unstressed. The 
degree of curvature is preferably such that, when the clip in an 
unstressed condition, as depicted in FIG. 1, the outwardmost portion of 
the curve extends farther than the diameter of hole 21. 
Preferably, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, the lower end 55 of clip 40 includes 
a dogleg portion 66 extending generally perpendicularly to the vertical 
wall of housing 24 and at right angles to the axis of clip 40. Dogleg 
portion 66 is integrally formed with mounting flange 67 of clip 40. 
Mounting flange 67 is attached to the lower end of housing 24 by 
convenient means, such as rivet 57. Although a pivoted connection may also 
be employed, the riveted connection tends to maximize flexing of the 
elongated body portion of clip 40 so that it's lower end is as horizontal 
as possible where it engages the ceiling. By maximizing the flexing of the 
clip at this point securement of the fixture is improved and the risk of 
damaging the ceiling by crushing with the clip is minimized. Dogleg 
portion 66 also functions as a radially extending lip, which serves to 
position the lower end of housing 24 flush with the lower side of ceiling 
23, when lighting fixture 20 is fully installed. Of course, a separate lip 
formed of or attached to the lower portion of housing 24 could also be 
employed to serve the same purpose. 
Clip 40 includes an upper end 69, which is preferably slightly wider than 
the width of body portion 46, and a narrowed neck 70 which fits into 
vertical slot 75 through the wall of housing 24. Slot 75 includes a first 
notch 76 extending to one side and second notch 77 extending to the other 
side. The arrangement of slot 75 and notches 76 and 77 is also depicted in 
FIG. 5. Of course, notches 76 and 77 could also be positioned on the same 
side of slot 75, and more or less than two notches could be provided, if 
desired. Preferably, neck 70 terminates in a fingerhold 72 which is 
slightly wider then the width of slot 75 to retain neck 70 within slot 75 
and to facilitate manipulation of the upper end of clip 40. Fingerhold 72 
extends into the interior of fixture 20, but preferably does not extend so 
far into the interior to interfere with other components of the lighting 
fixture. 
Mounting of the lighting fixture 20 in hole 21 of ceiling 23 and securing 
of the fixture to the ceiling by means of clips 40 will now be described, 
initially with reference to FIGS. 1-3, in order. Referring first to FIG. 
1, lighting fixture 20, preferably with conduit 30 and junction box 32 
already attached, is inserted upwardly into hole 21 cut into ceiling 23. 
Hole 21 is sized sufficiently large to permit ready insertion of fixture 
20 into the hole, but not so large that the dogleg portion 66 will not be 
able to rest flush with the lower surface of the ceiling. During the 
beginning of insertion depicted in FIG. 1, the body portions of clip 40 
are preferably in their curved but unstressed condition, positioned with 
neck 70 within slot 75, but not locked within either of notches 76 or 77. 
In this position, neck 70 is free to slide up or down within vertical slot 
75. 
Turning now to FIG. 2, lighting fixture 20 is depicted midway through the 
insertion operation, with resilient curved clips 40 resiliently deformed 
inwardly somewhat toward the walls of housing 24 by virtue of being forced 
through hole 21. 
Turning now to FIG. 3 and also to FIGS. 6 and 7, lighting fixture 20 is 
depicted fully inserted into hole 21 in ceiling 23 with lips of dogleg 
portion 66 abutting the lower surface of ceiling 23. In this position, the 
outwardly curved body portions of clips 40 resiliently spring back towards 
their fully outwardly arched condition, thus exerting a spring force 
against the upper portion of the rim of hole 21. 
The degree of spring force exerted by clips 40 against the rim should 
preferably be sufficient to maintain the recessed lighting fixture 20 in 
position, but not so great as to significantly crush or otherwise 
permanently deform the rim. Thus, if the initial insertion position is not 
correct, the fixture 20 can be easily repositioned without damage to the 
ceiling rim until the desired final position is attained. Furthermore, 
since the spring force is preferably sufficient to hold the fixture in 
position, it will not be necessary to manually hold the fixture in place 
against the underside of the ceiling until the final positioning is 
achieved. This helps to minimize worker fatigue. 
As shown in FIGS. 8-11, once the correct positioning of lighting fixture 20 
is achieved, the upper end of clip 40 can be manually pulled down by means 
of finger hold 72, thereby sliding neck 70 downwardly along vertical slot 
75, to increase the degree of curvature of the arch in the body portion 46 
of clip 40. Increasing this degree of curvature correspondingly increases 
the amount of resilient urging of the clip against the rim of the ceiling. 
Once the desired degree of curvature is achieved, the neck 70 is slid 
sideways into either notch 76 of 77. Fingerhold 72 may now be released, 
and clip 40 will be securely locked into position. Because the fingerhold 
72 is slid along the wall of the housing, rather than being moved in or 
out through the wall, the tendency of the fingerhold to interfere with 
internal components of the lighting fixture is minimized. This procedure 
is repeated for the other clips 40 of lighting fixture 20 until all clips 
are locked in place. If it is desired to remove the fixture from the 
ceiling, neck 70 is slid sideways out of notch 76 or 77 into the vertical 
slot 75. Lighting fixture 20 may now be removed in reverse manner to how 
it was inserted. 
As is clear from the foregoing, the present invention provides a recessed 
lighting fixture which can be easily and quickly installed, repositioned, 
and removed with a minimum risk of damage to the ceiling. Although an 
illustrative embodiment of the present invention has been described herein 
with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that 
various changes and modifications can be made therein by those skilled in 
the art without departing from the scope or spirit of this invention, and 
there is no intention of limiting the invention to the precise embodiment 
shown. Rather, the scope of the invention is to be defined by the appended 
claims.