Patent Publication Number: US-11384929-B2

Title: Fire rated recessed lighting fixture

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/077,198, filed on Sep. 11, 2020, the content of which is incorporated by reference herein. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     The present disclosure generally relates to light fixtures. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a fire rated recessed lighting fixture. 
     BACKGROUND 
     A recessed lighting fixture is a well-known type of light fixture that is configured to be installed into a hollow opening in a ceiling or in another similar opening. It conventionally includes three main parts: a housing, a trim and a bulb, the trim being the visible portion of the fixture, including a thin lining around the edge of the lighting fixture, and the housing being inside the ceiling and containing the bulb holder. 
     Building and housing regulations require that lighting fixtures be capable to prevent or at least to minimize the spread of fire. 
     An example of a fire-resistant lighting fixture is disclosed in international application publication No. WO 2005/124225 published on Nov. 29, 2005, titled “Heat Resistant Casing” and naming Rawlins as the inventor. Rawlins&#39; fixture is configured for incandescent bulb, and as such aims at being both fire-resistant and at preventing overheating. For such reason, it includes several ventilation openings in the top portion of the housing and since such openings could allow the spread of a fire, if further includes in the housing a solid fire-resistant intumescent material positioned between the interior surface of the top of the housing and the electrical fitting, which is configured to expend during a fire to help prevent a fire from spreading. 
     In addition to being complicated as including many safety components and to being relatively costly to manufacture, such fire-retardant mechanism has two safety mechanisms that might work one against the other in some situations defeating their respective purpose. 
     European patent application No. 1 688 633 published on Aug. 9, 2006, naming Hua as the inventor and titled “Fire-resistant lighting fixture” describes another fire-resistant lighting fixture that includes, similarly to Rawling, ventilation holes and bodies of material, secured to the main housing, that aim at inhibiting the transmission of fire. This lighting fixture by Hua shares some drawback with Rawlins&#39;, including the fact that only parts of the main housing is configured to inhibit the transmission of fire. 
     SUMMARY 
     The problem of the limited capability of known recessed lighting fixtures to act as a fire-retardant, and their relative complexity for including many parts aiming to achieve the afore-mentioned function, is solve by providing a one-piece casing, to be secured to a ceiling or the like, that is made of a fire-retardant material and by mounting a light-emitting diode (LED) assembly to the flange fitting that is in turn mounted to the one-piece casing. 
     A person skilled in the art would appreciate that using a light-emitting diode (LED) assembly removes the need to provide ventilation holes in the casing which can contribute to accelerating a fire. It can further allows limiting the height of the casing, reducing the overall cost of the fixture. 
     According to illustrative embodiments, there is provided a recessed lighting fixture comprising: 
     a one-piece casing made of a fire-retardant material; the one-piece casing having a flat-crown-hat-shaped defined by a peripheral wall having first and second longitudinal edges, a top wall that closes the peripheral wall at the first longitudinal edge and a peripheral flange extending outwardly from the peripheral wall near the second longitudinal edge; 
     at least two spring clips that are operatively secured to the one-piece casing; 
     a flange fitting assembly that includes i) a ring portion having first and second longitudinal edges and being configured to be snugly mounted to the one-piece casing therein at the second longitudinal edge thereof, and ii) an outer flange portion that extends outwardly from the ring portion near the second longitudinal edge thereof and generally perpendicularly therefrom; and 
     a light-emitting diode (LED) assembly operatively mounted to the flange fitting. 
     According to other illustrative embodiments, there is provided a recessed lighting fixture comprising a one-piece casing to be secured to a ceiling or the like that is made of a fire-retardant material, a flange fitting that is removably mounted to the one-piece casing therein, and a light-emitting diode (LED) assembly mounted to the flange fitting therein. 
     According to still other illustrative embodiments, there is provided a lighting to be mounted in a panel comprising: a single body cylindrical container made of a fire-proof material and having an opening that receives a flange fitting therein and a cold lighting assembly mounted to the flange fitting therein. 
     Other objects, advantages and features of the recessed lighting fixture will become more apparent upon reading the following non-restrictive description of preferred embodiments thereof, given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In the appended drawings: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a recessed lighting fixture according to an illustrative embodiment; the recessed lighting fixture being shown ready to be installed into a hollow opening in a ceiling; and 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the recessed lighting fixture from  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the following description, similar features in the drawings have been given similar reference numerals, and in order not to weigh down the figures, some elements are not referred to in some figures if they were already identified in a precedent figure. Herein, it shall further be noted that, for avoiding unnecessary details obscuring the invention, only device structures and/or processing steps closely relevant to schemes according to the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings while omitting other details less relevant to the invention. 
     The use of the word “a” or “an” when used in conjunction with the term “comprising” in the claims and/or the specification may mean “one”, but it is also consistent with the meaning of “one or more”, “at least one”, and “one or more than one”. Similarly, the word “another” may mean at least a second or more. 
     As used in this specification and claim(s), the words “comprising” (and any form of comprising, such as “comprise” and “comprises”), “having” (and any form of having, such as “have” and “has”), “including” (and any form of including, such as “include” and “includes”) or “containing” (and any form of containing, such as “contain” and “contains”), are inclusive or open-ended and do not exclude additional, un-recited elements. 
     A recessed lighting fixture  10  according to an illustrative embodiment will now be described with reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
     The recessed lighting fixture  10  comprises a one-piece casing  12 , two spring clips  14  that are operatively secured to the one-piece casing  12 , a flange fitting  16  that is configured to be snugly mounted to the one-piece casing  12  therein, a lenses assembly  18  secured to the flange fitting  16  therein, and a light-emitting diode (LED) assembly  20 , in the form of a well-known flexible LED strip, secured to the flange fitting  16 . 
     Each of these components of the recessed lighting fixture  10  will now be described in more detail. 
     The one-piece casing made  12  is made of a fire-retardant material such as cold rolled steel (SPCC). According to another embodiment (not shown), the casing  12  is a made of a plurality of pieces that are assembled using, for example, a laser welding process with a fire-resistant welding material, such as stainless steel. According to still another embodiment, the casing  12  is made of another fire-retardant material such as ceramic. 
     The one-piece casing  12  has a flat-crown-hat-shaped defined by a cylindrical wall  22  having first and second longitudinal tapered edges  24 - 26 , a top wall  28  that closes the cylindrical wall  22  at the first longitudinal edge  24  thereof and a peripheral flange  30  extending outwardly from the cylindrical wall  22  near the second longitudinal edge  26 , generally perpendicularly therefrom. 
     The cylindrical wall  22  is not limited to the illustrated embodiment and can have any shape allowing to integrally join the top wall  28  and the flange  30  while creating a distance therebetween. 
     The top wall  28  has an embossed portion  32  defining a lodging on the side thereof opposite the peripheral flange  30 . The lodging  32  is provided to receive a well-known selector switch with PCB assembly (not shown), parts thereof or other electrical and/or electronic components. The lodging  32  is provided with a connector-receiving hole  34  therein to allow passage for connectors or any wirings (not shown) from the LED assembly  20 . 
     The recessed lighting fixture  10  further comprises a cap  36  that is removably secured to the top wall  28  for closing the lodging  32 . The cap  36  is removably secured to the top wall  28  via fasteners  38 . Like the casing  12 , the cap  36  is made of a fire-retardant material. The cap  36  includes an embossed portion  40 , defining with the top wall  28  a channel to allow passage for electrical wirings (not shown). According to another embodiment (not shown), the cap  36  is mounted to the casing  12  differently than illustrated, such as slidably via tracks provided thereon. 
     According to another embodiment (not shown), the embossed portion  40  is replaced by a hole in the cap  36  or by a convex cap. 
     While the lodging  32  and cap  36  are illustrated as being rectangular, there are not limited to such configuration and can also be, without limitations, circular, irregular, etc. The overall dimensions of the lodging  32  may also differ than illustrated. 
     According to another embodiment (not shown), the lodging  32  is omitted. 
     The two spring clips  14  are operatively secured to the one-piece top wall  28  of the casing  12  at two diametrically opposite sides thereof via L-shaped mounting brackets  42 , which are secured to the casing  12  via fasteners  38 . According to another embodiment, the spring clips  14  are secured to the casing  12  using brackets or holders having another configuration. According to still another embodiment (not shown), the spring clips  14  are secured to another portion of the casing  12 . Since spring clips are believed to be well-known in the art, they will not be described herein in more detail for concision purposes. 
     The flange fitting  16  includes i) a ring portion  44  having first and second longitudinal edges  46 - 48  and being configured to be snugly mounted to the one-piece casing  12  therein, through the second longitudinal edge  26  thereof. 
     The flange fitting  16  further includes an outer flange  50  that extends outwardly from the ring portion  44  near the second longitudinal edge  48  thereof and generally perpendicularly therefrom. The flange  50  acts as a trim to cover any gap between the cylindrical wall  22  of the casing  12  and the edge of the mounting hole  52  in the ceiling or wall  54  into which the recessed lighting fixture  10  is to be mounted. The flange  50  further acts as a mechanical stop when mounting the lighting  10  into the hole  52 , and as a heat-sink. 
     The flange fitting  16  includes a recessed groove  53  between the ring portion  44  and the step/flange  50 . The flange fitting  16  is designed to receive and secure the peripheral flange  30  of the casing  12 . It also contributes to forming an airtight envelop and keeping the flame-retardant casing  12  secured in place. It further provides an aesthetic purpose to allow the surface of the plane  30  and  50  to sit flush against the fire rated ceiling surface. 
     The flange fitting  16  also includes an inner flange  56  that extends inwardly from the ring portion  44  near the second longitudinal edge  48  thereof and generally perpendicularly therefrom. The flange  56  defines with the ring portion  44  a housing for the lens&#39;s assembly  18 . 
     It is to be noted that the lenses assembly  18  may include any number and variety of glass and/or polymeric pieces and is then not limited to the illustrated embodiment. 
     The flange fitting  16  is secured to the casing  12  therein using mounting fasteners  38 . 
     According to another embodiment (not shown), the flange fitting  16  is secured to the casing  12  therein by press-fitting or by using another arrangement between the flange fitting  16  and casing  12 . 
     The flange fitting  16  is made of any material, including without limitations aluminum, plastic, ceramic, steel, etc. 
     According to a further illustrative embodiment (not shown), the LED assembly is in the form of a solid PCB (printed circuit board) that is secured to one of the flange fitting  16  and casing  12 . According to a more specific embodiment (not shown), a reflector is mounted between the LED assembly and the flange fitting  16 . Such a reflector can be in the form, without limitations, of a frustoconical body mounted to flange fitting  16  underneath the solid PCB. 
     Since light-emitting diode (LED) assembly are believed to be well-known in the art, it will not be described herein in more detail for concision purposes. 
     It is to be noted that many modifications could be made to the recessed lighting fixture  10  described hereinabove and illustrated in the appended drawings. For example:
         the LEDs assembly  20  can be mounted to a detachable part (not shown) independent from the flange fitting  16  so as to be mountable thereto. For example, such a detachable part can be in the form of a ring or clip that is mountable to a receiving part of the flange fitting.   LED assembly is not limited to being mounted to a PCB;   while the recessed lighting fixture  10  according to the illustrated embodiment has a general circular configuration, it can have another configuration, such as rectangular, square, irregular, etc.   while some parts of the fixture  10  are assembled using fasteners, other fastening means, such as male-female cooperating elements or press-fit or clipping parts can also be used.       

     Although a recessed lighting fixture has been described hereinabove by way of illustrated embodiments thereof, it can be modified. It is therefore to be understood that numerous modifications may be made to the illustrative embodiments. It is therefore to be understood that numerous modifications may be made to the illustrative embodiments and that the scope of the claims should not be limited by the illustrative embodiment but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole.