EP2314909B1 - Lighting device - Google Patents

The lighting device comprises a spotlight (1), a support (3), rotating means of the spotlight (1) with respect to a first pivot axis (B), rotating means of the spotlight (1) with respect to a second axis (L), locking means of said rotating means of the spotlight (1) with respect to a first pivot axis (B) and locking means of said rotating means of the spotlight (1) with respect to a second axis (L). It is characterized in that it comprises a single actuation element (16) for all the locking means and in that the locking means of the rotating means of the spotlight (1) with respect to a first pivot axis (P) act directly on said pivot axis (P).

• The present invention relates to a lighting device, especially of the recessed type.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

• Recessed lighting devices that are generally installed in ceilings and that allow to orientate a spotlight in the desired direction are known. Thanks to this feature, it is possible to address the beam of light of the lighting device towards a determined area without having to dismount said device.

• A problem related with this type of lighting devices is that the position of the spotlight can vary once it has been arranged in the desired orientation, due to its own weight, to the force of compression or traction exerted by power supply wirings or to an impact or contact with an external element.

• In the document

  EP 1923623

  a lighting device comprising a spotlight linked to a support and that rotates with respect to a first pivot axis and with respect to a second axis, is disclosed. In order to rotate the spotlight with respect to both previously mentioned axes, the device comprises a pair of actuation mechanisms. The first mechanism is actuated by means of a screwdriver and rotates the spotlight with respect to the first axis. The second mechanism is also actuated by means of a screwdriver and rotates the spotlight with respect to the second axis.

• Said lighting device allows the rotational and angular orientation of the spotlight and it allows to fix it in the desired position, as when the actuation mechanisms are not actuated the spotlight remains locked and does not move. Nevertheless, this device has the drawback that the actuation of the mechanisms is slow, as it is necessary to rotate each of them by means of a screwdriver. Likewise, the presence of said actuation mechanisms (a screw mechanism and a gear pinion-tooth wheel mechanism) increases the manufacturing cost and the complexity of the lighting device.

• Another lighting device known in the art comprises a spotlight linked to a support and rotating with respect to a first pivot axis and with respect to a second axis. This lighting device comprises a locking device that allows to fix the position of the spotlight. The locking device comprises a pair of brake elements. Each brake element consists of a screw, a lateral wing of the spotlight and a break shoe screwed to the free end of the screw. The screw passes through a ring, with respect to which the spotlight pivots, and through a slot present in the lateral wing.

• When said screw is tightened, the break shoe slides towards a support surface, until contacting the same, so that if the screw continues being tightened, the break shoe exerts enough pressure on the support and avoids the spotlight for being rotational orientated. At the same time, when the break shoe moves, it presses a spring arranged around the screw and situated between a part of said break shoe and the slot present in the lateral wing of the spotlight. Said spring exerts a pressure on said wing, so that the longitudinal position of the screw inside the slot is blocked, thus avoiding the pivoting of the spotlight.

• Said lighting device has the drawback of requiring the actuation of two screws to fix the position of the spotlight. Furthermore, the locking system of the pivoting movement of the spotlight is not effective, as the pressure of the spring on the wing does not allow to completely fix the position of the spotlight. Likewise, said system makes necessary to conform at least a pair of lateral wings in the spotlight, thus complicating its manufacturing and increasing its volume.

• US 2009/027900 A1

  describes a positionable outdoor lighting comprising the features of the preamble of

  Claim

  1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

• The object of the present invention is to overcome the drawbacks that the devices know in the art have, by providing a lighting device according to

  Claim

  1.

• According to an embodiment of the present invention, the screw is linked to the spotlight, to the first piece and to the second piece, so that when the screw is tightened the first piece presses a part of the pivot axis of the spotlight against the second piece, thus locking the rotation of the spotlight with respect to said pivot axis, and the second piece presses a part of the support, thus locking the rotation of the spotlight with respect to the second axis.

• Thanks to these features, it is possible to obtain a lighting device that allows to orientate the spotlight easily and without needing tools, and that also allows fixing the position of said spotlight by means of the actuation of a unique screw, simplifying and quickening in this way the operation of locking the position of the spotlight.

• Furthermore, since the locking means act directly on the pivot axis of the spotlight it is possible to apply the retaining force in a more effective way and without intermediate elements, by completely locking the pivoting movement of said spotlight.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

• In order to facilitate the description of what is mentioned above, some drawings schematically representing a practical embodiment of the lighting device according to the invention as a non-limitative example, but just by way of example, are included, wherein:

• Figure 1 is an exploded view of the lighting device according to the present invention;
• Figure 2 is a partial sectional view of the lighting device of Figure 1 installed, where the locking elements of the position of the spotlight can be seen; and
• Figures 3 and 4 are views in detail showing the actuation of the elements for locking the position of the spotlight of the lighting device according to the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

• In

  Figure 1

  an exploded view of a lighting device according to the present invention can be seen.

• The device basically comprises a

  spotlight

  1, a

  rotatable ring

  2 and a ring-

  shaped support

  3 which is intended to be fixed to the ceiling or to any similar element. The

  rotatable ring

  2 can rotate with respect to the

  support

  3, and the

  spotlight

  1 is articulated with respect to the

  rotatable ring

  2, so that it can pivot with respect to the same.

• More specifically, the

  rotatable ring

  2 is housed inside the

  support

  3 when the lighting device is installed. As one can see also in

  Figure 2

  , the

  ring

  2 comprises a

  lower flange

  4 that rests on the lower surface of a

  flange

  5 inside the

  support

  3. The device also comprises a

  rear lid

  6 that is attached to the

  ring

  2 at the opposed side of the

  support

  3, by means of some

  screws

  7. Said

  lid

  6 retains the

  ring

  2 with respect to the

  support

  3 in longitudinal direction, as the

  lid

  6 rests on the upper edge of the

  support

  3.

• In this way, the

  ring

  2 cannot move longitudinally with respect to the

  support

  3, but can rotate with respect to the same, above the longitudinal axis L, that matches with the longitudinal axis L of the

  support

  3.

• The

  ring

  2 comprises two

  opposed supports

  8a, 8b on which two

  legs

  9 rest in an articulated way with respect to the spotlight 1 (only one of the

  legs

  9 can be seen in the figures). One of the

  supports

  8b essentially comprises an orifice through the wall of the

  ring

  2, through which a rivet or through hole (not shown) passes that also passes through an orifice in the corresponding leg 9 (hidden in the figures), so that said

  leg

  9 can rotate with respect to the

  ring

  2 about said

  support

  8b. The

  other support

  8a comprises a seat having a substantially semicircular shape on which a

  circular protrusion

  10, which is present at the end of the

  other leg

  9 of the spotlight, rests. In this way, both supports 8a and 8b and the two

  legs

  9 form a pivot axis P with respect to which the

  spotlight

  1 can rotate inside the

  ring

  2. Hence, as one can see, the

  spotlight

  1 can rotate above the longitudinal axis L in order to vary its rotational orientation and can rotate with respect to the pivot axis P in order to vary its angular orientation. This allows to orientate the

  spotlight

  1 in the desired direction.

• As showed in

  figures 1

  and

  2

  , the lighting device further comprises a

  first piece

  11 and a

  second piece

  12, the function of which will be explained more in detail in the following.

• The

  piece

  11 comprises a lengthened body and is arranged on the

  circular protrusion

  10 of the

  leg

  9 of the

  spotlight

  1. The

  piece

  11 comprises a

  lower recess

  13 with a shape and an upper surface in correspondence with the outline of the top of the

  protrusion

  10.

• The

  piece

  12 also comprises a lengthened body, and it is arranged below the

  protrusion

  10. The

  piece

  12 comprises an

  upper recess

  14 with a shape and a lower surface in correspondence with the outline of the lower part of the

  protrusion

  10.

• When the device is installed, the

  piece

  11 is arranged on the

  protrusion

  10, and said

  protrusion

  10 is located inside the

  recess

  13. The

  piece

  12 is arranged below the

  protrusion

  10, in correspondence with the

  support

  8a of the

  ring

  2 and partially resting on the same. The

  protrusion

  10 is also located inside the

  recess

  14. In this way, the

  protrusion

  10 of the

  leg

  9 of the

  spotlight

  1 is located in a circular housing formed by the

  recesses

  13 and 14 of the

  elements

  11 and 12 that surrounds all the perimeter of said

  protrusion

  10. Likewise, the

  piece

  11 partially rests on the

  piece

  12 and the

  piece

  12 is arranged on the

  flange

  5 of the

  support

  3.

• Each of the

  pieces

  11 and 12 comprise through

  orifices

  15. The

  orifice

  15 of the

  piece

  11 is inwardly threaded. The

  ring

  2 also comprises a

  through orifice

  15. As one can see in the figures, when the lighting device is installed the

  orifices

  15 of the

  elements

  11 and 12 and of the

  ring

  2 are aligned.

• A

  screw

  16 is inserted through the

  orifices

  15, so that it passes through the

  ring

  2, the

  piece

  12 and the

  piece

  11. The head of the

  screw

  16 is arranged in a seat of the lower surface of the (hidden)

  ring

  2. Due to the fact that the

  orifice

  15 of the

  piece

  11 is inwardly threaded, the

  screw

  16 holds the

  elements

  11 and 12 with respect to the

  ring

  2.

• In

  Figure 3

  , the

  screw

  16 is in a not tightened condition. In this situation, the

  piece

  11 is slightly separated from the

  piece

  12, so that the

  respective recesses

  13 and 14 receive the

  protrusion

  10 of the

  leg

  9 of the

  spotlight

  1 with clearance. Likewise, the

  piece

  12 is arranged on the

  flange

  5 of the

  support

  3 without exerting any significant force.

• Hence, in the situation shown in

  Figure 3

  , the

  ring

  2, together with the

  spotlight

  1 articulated to the same, can rotate with respect to the

  support

  3 about the longitudinal axis L, and the

  spotlight

  1 can pivot with respect to the

  ring

  2 about the pivot axis P, as the

  protrusion

  10 is housed with clearance in the

  recesses

  13 and 14 of the

  respective elements

  11 and 12.

• In

  Figure 4

  , the

  screw

  16 has been tightened. When tightening the

  screw

  16 by rotating it clockwise, the

  piece

  11, which is screwed at the free end of said

  screw

  16, vertically moves down. When moving down, the

  piece

  11 gets closer to the

  piece

  12, so that the clearance present between the

  recesses

  13 and 14 of the corresponding

  pieces

  11 and 12 and the

  protrusion

  10 disappears. Hence, the

  protrusion

  10 is pressed by the inner surfaces of said recesses 13, 14. In this way, the

  spotlight

  1 cannot rotate with respect to the

  ring

  2 about the axis P, as the

  protrusion

  10 is pressed and blocked in rotation with respect to the

  pieces

  11 and 12.

• When the

  screw

  16 is tightened and the

  piece

  11 moves down, said

  piece

  11 pushes the

  piece

  12 down. When the

  piece

  12 is pushed down, its underside presses against the upper surface of the

  flange

  5 of the

  support

  3. This pressure causes a frictional force between the

  piece

  12 and the

  flange

  5 of the

  support

  3 that avoids that the assembly formed by the

  ring

  2 and the

  spotlight

  1 can rotate with respect to the

  support

  3 about the longitudinal axis L.

• Therefore, as it has been observed, the tightening of the

  screw

  16 allows to lock the position of the

  spotlight

  1 in rotation and in pivoting. In other words, by tightening a

  unique screw

  16 it is possible to lock the rotation of the

  spotlight

  1 with respect to the longitudinal axis L and the pivot axis P.

• That means that, when the lighting device of the present invention is installed, the user can orientate the

  spotlight

  1 with their hands, without needing the use of tools, and once obtained the desired orientation, he/she has just to tight the

  screw

  16 in order to fix the position of the

  spotlight

  1.

• In this way, the lighting device of the present invention allows to quickly and easily modify and lock the orientation of the

  spotlight

  1, and the configuration of said lighting device is simple and does not involves the incorporation of a considerable number of elements or actuation mechanisms.

• Likewise, since the two locking

  pieces

  11, 12 are arranged surrounding the

  protrusion

  10 of the

  leg

  9 of the

  spotlight

  1 they can exert mutually opposed pressure forces against said

  protrusion

  10. This allows to exert a retaining force directly on the pivot axis P of the

  spotlight

  1 and to absolutely lock its tilting movement.

1. Lighting device comprising a spotlight (1), a support (3), rotating means of the spotlight (1) with respect to a first pivot axis (P), rotating means of the spotlight (1) with respect to a second axis (L), locking means of said rotating means of the spotlight (1) with respect to a first pivot axis (P) and locking means of said rotating means of the spotlight (1) with respect to a second axis (L), wherein said device comprises a single actuation element (16) for all the locking means and the locking means of the rotating means of the spotlight (1) with respect to a first pivot axis (P) operate directly on said pivot axis (P), the actuation element comprising a screw (16) and the locking means of the rotating means of the spotlight (1) with respect to a first pivot axis (P) comprising a first piece (11) that presses a part (10) of said pivot axis (P), thus avoiding the rotation of the spotlight (1) with respect to the pivot axis (P), characterized in that the locking means of the rotating means of the spotlight (1) with respect to a second axis (L) comprise a second piece (12) that presses a part (5) of the support (3), thus avoiding the rotation of the spotlight (1) with respect to said second axis (L).

2. Lighting device, according to claim 1, characterized in that the screw (16) is linked to the spotlight (1), to the first piece (11) and to the second piece (12), so that when the screw (16) is tightened the first piece (11) presses a part (10) of the pivot axis (P) of the spotlight (1) against the second piece (12), thus locking the rotation of the spotlight (1) with respect to said pivot axis (P), and the second piece (12) presses a part (5) of the support (3) thus locking the rotation of the spotlight (1) with respect to the second axis (L).