Abstract:
A lamp suitable for desk tops and the like includes a leg or upright resting on a base or other stationary element. An arm is secured to the leg and has a light source at its end. The arm and upright can be pivoted about various axes to allow the light source to be positioned arbitrarily to various positions. A support mechanism is provided inside the upright and the arm. The mechanism includes coil springs that are selectively compressed as the arm and upright are moved to generate supporting forces. The arm and upright does maintain their position and do not fall over after the light source has been positioned to the desired location. In another embodiment, the leg is omitted.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation in part to application 13/927.252 filed Jun. 26, 2013 which in turn claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 61/666, 283 filed Jun. 29, 2012, all incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    a. Field of Invention 
         [0003]    This invention pertains to a lamp assembly formed of base an upright leg and cantilevered arm terminating at the free end with a light source. The leg and the arm include compression springs adapted to balance the arm and the light source so that the light source can be moved to any position and stay at the position when released without tipping in any direction. Alternatively, the leg is omitted and the arm mounted directly on a base. 
         [0004]    b. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0005]    Cantilevered lamp assemblies generally included an articulated arm with a light source at the free end and a mounting element used to mount the lamp to a desk, a wall or a stanchion extending to the floor or other flat service. These types of assemblies are used in residential, commercial or industrial settings, including, schools and universities, medical and dental offices, etc. 
         [0006]    Typically, the articulated arm for these lamp assemblies consists of two or more sections joined by complex hinges and other similar interconnecting components. The lamp assemblies are arranged and constructed to allow a user to move the light source in three different directions to direct light from a light source at a particular zone of a surface or work area. The combined weight of the arm sections, the light source and other elements impose considerable forces and twisting torques on the various interconnecting components of the system. It is difficult to make a cantilevered lamp that can resist these forces so that the light source can be moved to virtually any arbitrary position and left there without the light source tipping in any direction. 
         [0007]    In order to resolve this problem, lamps have been devices with various combinations of strain and force relieving means including various cables, strings, pulleys, springs, and arms arranged in a parallelogram etc. Of course, all these relieving means added more parts and complexity to the lamp resulting in increased costs and assembling difficulties. Moreover, external springs and other elements are undesirable since they are exposed to the elements, dust and corrosion and are esthetically unpleasing. 
         [0008]    The present invention provides a lamp assembly in which the above described problems are eliminated, or at least substantially reduced. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    A lamp constructed in accordance with this invention includes an upright member having a lower end and an upper end defining an upright member longitudinal axis; an arm having a first arm end and a second arm end; a light source attached to said second arm; a first pivot hingedly supporting said lower end; a second pivot hingedly supporting said first arm end at said upper end; said upright member including a support element preventing said arm and upright member from moving once said upright member and said arm have been pivoted to position said light source at a desired location, said support element including a rod having a first and a second rod end and being pivotably supported on a stationary member at said first end, and being pivotably connected to said upright member at said second end, a fixed block, and a first spring coupled between said second rod end and said block, said support element being configured to cause said first spring to compress against said block thereby generating a support force for said arm and said upright member. 
         [0010]    In one embodiment, the upright member includes a sleeve extending between said upper and lower ends, said block being attached to said sleeve, and a first slider attached to said second rod end and reciprocated within said sleeve as said upright member is pivoted, said first spring being compressed between said slider and said block. Preferably, the upright member further includes a second slider slidably disposed in said sleeve near said upper end and connected to said first slider, said first and second slider being moved simultaneously. A second spring is disposed between said second slider and said block, said second spring providing supporting force, 
         [0011]    In one embodiment, the lamp also includes a base, said first pivot being attached to said base. Preferably, the first pivot is adapted to pivot said upright member about a vertical axis and a horizontal axis. 
         [0012]    In one embodiment, the arm includes an arm block and an arm spring, said spring being configured to provide further support forces depending on the position of said upright member. 
         [0013]    In one embodiment, the lamp also includes an arm slider, said arm spring being selectively compressed between said arm slider and arm block an interconnecting member transmitting the movement of said first slider to said arm slider. The second pivot includes a hinge interconnecting said upper and said first arm ends and a cam linkage coupled to said first slider and said arm slider. 
         [0014]    In one embodiment, the upright member includes a second slider slidably disposed in said sleeve near said upper end, said second slider being connected to said first slider and said arm slider, said first slider, second slider and said arm slider being moved simultaneously, and a second spring disposed between said second slider and said block. 
         [0015]    In one embodiment, the leg is mounted in a socket incorporated into a horizontal surface. In another embodiment, a wall mount is provided with its own socket receiving the leg. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0016]      FIG. 1  shows an orthogonal view of the lamp constructed in accordance with this invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 1A  shows an orthogonal enlarged view of the lamp head; 
           [0018]      FIG. 1B  shows an orthogonal enlarged exploded view of the lamp head; 
           [0019]      FIG. 2  shows an orthogonal view of the lamp without sleeves; 
           [0020]      FIG. 3  shows left view of the lamp of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0021]      FIG. 3A  shows an enlarged view of the elbow as seen from the left; 
           [0022]      FIG. 4  shows a right view of the lamp of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0023]      FIG. 4A  shows an enlarged view of the elbow as seen from the right; 
           [0024]      FIG. 5  shows an orthogonal view of the lamp being removed from its base; and 
           [0025]      FIG. 5A  shows an enlarged view of the lamp and its base; 
           [0026]      FIG. 6  shows an orthogonal view of another embodiment of the lamp with an arm; 
           [0027]      FIG. 7A  shows an orthogonal view of the lamp support for wall mounting; 
           [0028]      FIG. 7B  shows two parts of the lamp support separated; 
           [0029]      FIG. 8  shows an orthogonal view of the lamp of  FIG. 1  on the lamp support of  FIGS. 7A ,  7 B; and 
           [0030]      FIG. 9  shows an orthogonal view of the embodiment of  FIG. 6  mounted on the lamp support of  FIGS. 7A ,  7 B. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0031]    Lamp  10  constructed in accordance with this invention includes a leg  12  attached to a base  14  by a hinge or pivot  15  and an arm  16  having a lamp head  18  at one end and attached to the leg  12  by a hinge or pivot  20 . 
         [0032]    The leg  12  includes a sleeve  120  preferably having a rectangular cross section with various internal elements of the lamp(described in detail below and in  FIG. 2 ) being disposed in this sleeve. Similarly arm  16  includes a sleeve  160 . A multiconductor wire (not shown) is threaded through the sleeves and extends from the base to the lamp head  18  to provide electricity. 
         [0033]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , leg  12  further includes, starting from the bottom, a first slider  122 , two compression springs  124 , a bearing block  126 , two more compression springs  128 ,  130  and a second slider  132 . The two sliders  122 ,  132  are connected by a pair of parallel rods extending through the bearing block  127  so that the two sliders  122 ,  132  always move together longitudinally within sleeve  120  (The springs  124 ,  126 ,  128 ,  130  are wrapped around these rods so that they are not visible in  FIG. 2 ). The block  126  is fixed in the sleeve and has holes for the rods interconnecting sliders  122 ,  132 . 
         [0034]    Arm  16  has a somewhat similar structure to leg  12  and it includes a slider  162 , two parallel compression springs  164 ,  166  ,a fixed bearing block  168  and two rods  170   172  slidably passing through block  168 . In this case, one end of the rods  170 ,  172  is secured to the slider  162  and the other end to the end block  174 . 
         [0035]    Wherever two parallel compression springs are shown, it is possible to use a single spring, however two parallel springs provide a smoother motion and insure that sliders attached thereto do not jam. 
         [0036]    Referring now to  FIGS. 3 ,  3 A,  4 ,  4 A, the hinge  20  is provided between the leg  12  and arm  16  to allow the arm  16  to be rotated with respect to the leg  12  as desired. The hinge includes a pin  200  with a cam linkage  202  and a first rod  204  connected between the top end  132 A of slider  130  and the cam linkage  202 . Another rod  206  extends between the cam linkage  202  and an end  162 A of slider  162 . The cam linkage  202  is generally triangular and is pivotably mounted on pin  200 . The rods  204  and  206  are also pivotably connected to the cam linkage  202  and the respective sliders  132 ,  162 . As mentioned above, the arm  16  and leg  12  can be be pivoted with respect to each other through hinge  20 . 
         [0037]    Referring to  FIGS. 5 and 5A , hinge  15  includes a hinging mechanism  150  arranged to hingedly a couple disc-shaped element  152  with leg  12 . In addition, a rod  154  is hingedly connected at one end with base  152  and at the other end with the lower end  122 A of slider  122 . 
         [0038]    Base  14  is provided with a round hole  142  having a bottom plate  144 . The round hole  142  is sized and shaped to element  152 . The element  152  (and therefore the rest of the lamp) is rotatably attached to the base  14  by screw  146 . The element  152  has an extension (not shown) that engages the plate  144  such that the rotational movement of the element  152  is limited to a predetermined angle, about a vertical axis (not shown) passing through hole  142  such as 90 degrees. 
         [0039]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 ,  1 A and  1  B, head  18  includes a generally square housing  180  holding a light source, such as an LED panel (not shown). The lighting panel is powered from a wire snaking through from the base  14 , through leg  12  and arm  16  and controlled by a switch  194 . In one embodiment, switch  194  is a multi-position proximity switch that senses when a person&#39;s hand is hovers over the switch  194  and operates the LED panel by setting off or turning on at one or more intensities. 
         [0040]    The head  18  is attached to arm  16  by a hinge  17  including a sleeve  182  extending into the end  174  of arm  16 . A corner piece  184  is formed with two pins  186 ,  188 . A second sleeve  190  is captured within a hole  190  in housing  180  as shown. The pins  186 ,  188  are inserted into, and are captured by sleeves  182 ,  190  respectively. 
         [0041]    As discussed above, the hinges  15 ,  17 ,  20  provide several degrees of freedom of rotation for head  18 . More particularly, leg  12  can be rotated with respect to base  14  about a horizontal axis X 1 -X 1  and a vertical axis Z-Z. Arm  16  can rotate about a horizontal axis X 2 -X 2  with respect to leg  12 . Head  18  can rotate about a horizontal axis X- 3 , X- 3  and another axis Y-Y with respect to arm  16 . 
         [0042]    Of course without any further restraints, once the head  18  is positioned to any arbitrary location with respect to the base  14  and is then released, the head  18  would either flop down or the hinges  15 ,  20 ,  17  would have to be so tight as to render essentially unusable. Thus the head  18 , as well as the arm  16  and leg  12  are provided support by the members within the sleeves  120 ,  160  as follows. Pivoting the leg  12  backward, away from the base  14 , causes the sliders  122 ,  132  to slide up. Since block  127  is fixed in position, this motion of the sliders  122 ,  132  causes springs  124 ,  126  to compress. In addition, when slider  132  moves upward, the rod  204  causes the cam linkage  202  to rotate counterclockwise (as viewed in  FIG. 2  or  3 A) thereby pushing the slider  162  to the right via rod  206 , and thereby compressing springs  164 ,  166  against block  168  and causing the arm  14  to rotate counterclockwise. 
         [0043]    Moving the leg  12  for causes reverses the action just described. When the leg  12  is pivoted beyond 90 degrees with respect to the base, springs  128 ,  130  are compressed against block  127 . 
         [0044]    When the leg  12 , arm  16  or lamp  18  are released, the force of the springs that are compressed retains the leg  12  and arm  16  in their last respective positions. In this manner, the need for cumbersome and expensive arrangements with parallelograms, or other external means such as springs, cables, pulleys, etc., as used in previous mechanisms is eliminated. 
         [0045]    The arrangement of springs blocks and sliders disclosed herein may be used in other types of devices as well, not just lamps. 
         [0046]      FIG. 6  shows another embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, a lamp  210  includes a base  214 , an arm  216  and a light source  218 . The base  214  is identical to the base  14  in  FIG. 1 , the light source  218  is identical to light source  18  and is mounted to arm  216  by a hinge  217  that is identical to hinge  17 . The arm  216  is connected to the base  214  by a hinge  215  that is identical to hinge  215 . Arm  216  is formed of a hollow sleeve  260  which houses includes slider  162 , the two parallel compression springs  164 ,  166 , fixed bearing block  168  and the two rods  170   172  slidably passing through block  168 . One end of each of the rods  170 ,  172  is secured to the slider  162  and the other end to the end block  174  forming hinge  217 . 
         [0047]    However end  162 A of slider  162  is now connected one end of rod  154  (see ( FIG. 6 ). The sleeve  260  is connected to hinge  150 . The hinge  150  and the rod  154  are connected to cylindrical element  152  which fits in a matching hole in base  214 . The element  152  can rotate about a vertical axis with respect to the base  214  thereby rotating light source  218 . The arm  216  can pivot by about 85-110 degrees with respect to a horizontal axis defined by hinge  150 . 
         [0048]    In another embodiment of the invention, the lamps described above can be provided in a wall-mounted version. For this embodiment, a wall mount  300  is provided instead of base  14  or  214 . As shown in  FIGS. 7A and 7B  wall mount  300  includes an L-shaped support  302  and a sleeve  304 . The support  302  includes a horizontal portion  310  formed with a hole  342  similar to hole  142  in  FIG. 5A . Hole  342  is sized and shaped to receive cylindrical element  152 . The support  302  further includes a vertical wall  310  that is generally flat and is made with several mounting holes  312  for securing the wall support to a vertical surface. The wall  310  is formed with two side wings  314  that are offset from the rest of the wall  310 . An L-shaped bar  316  reinforces the support  302  and may be hollow to accommodate electrical wiring for the lamp. 
         [0049]    Sleeve  304  is sized and shaped to fit over the wall  310  and cover it, as shown in  FIG. 7B . 
         [0050]      FIG. 8  shows a wall mounted lamp similar to the one shown in  FIGS. 1-5  but being mounted on support  300 . 
         [0051]      FIG. 9  shows a wall mounted lamp similar to the one shown in  FIG. 6  but being mounted on support  300 . 
         [0052]    Numerous modifications may be made to this invention without departing from its scope as defined in the appended claims.