Horizontal light guide based lighting fixture

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10240760-B1
Application number	US-201514970339-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Dec 15, 2015
Priority date	Jul 2, 2015
Publication date	Mar 26, 2019
Grant date	Mar 26, 2019

Abstract

A lighting fixture includes a housing bracket and pair of side rails, each side rail located adjacent opposite sides of the housing bracket. Further, the lighting fixture includes a light guide that is oriented horizontally and securely retained by the pair of side rails. Furthermore, the lighting fixture includes a plurality of light sources that are disposed on or within a cavity defined by at least one of the side rails such that the plurality of light sources are positioned in close proximity to and along an edge of the light guide. The light guide receives light emitted by the plurality of light sources through the edge of the light guide and emits the light through a major surface of the light guide. Further, the lighting fixture includes an end plate and an end cap disposed on each lateral end of the lighting fixture.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A lighting fixture comprising:
an elongated housing bracket comprising a cavity to house one or more electronic components, the cavity being defined by a middle panel, two side panels extending substantially perpendicular from opposite ends of the middle panel, and a base bracket member coupled to a bottom portion of the two side panels;
a side rail positioned adjacent one side of the elongated housing bracket and another side rail that is detached and separate from the side rail, the other side rail being positioned adjacent an opposite side of the elongated housing bracket;
a horizontally oriented light guide positioned below the elongated housing bracket and comprising a first longitudinal edge and a second longitudinal edge that is opposite to the first longitudinal edge, wherein at least a portion of the first longitudinal edge of the light guide is securely retained by the side rail and at least a portion of the second longitudinal edge of the light guide is securely retained by the other side rail;
a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) positioned on or within at least one of the side rails such that the plurality of LEDs are proximate to and directed towards one of the first longitudinal edge and the second longitudinal edge of the light guide; and
at least one reflector that is removably coupled to the elongated housing bracket on one side of the at least one reflector and the side rail on an opposite side of the at least one reflector, wherein the reflector is spaced apart from and positioned above the light guide and configured to reflect light exiting through a major surface of the lightguide that is facing the elongated housing bracket back towards the lightguide.

2. The lighting fixture of claim 1 , further comprising:
an end plate that is coupled to at least one of the elongated housing bracket, the side rail, and the other side rail; and
an end cap disposed on and overlapping a lateral end of the lighting fixture such that the end plate is positioned between the end cap and the elongated housing bracket, the side rail, and the other side rail.

3. The lighting fixture of claim 2 , wherein the end cap is configured to house one of a motion sensor and an emergency test switch, and wherein the end cap comprises a curved design to provide the lighting fixture a curved appearance.

4. The lighting fixture of claim 1 , wherein each of the side rail and the other side rail comprises:
a first side rail member; and
a second side rail member that is coupled to the first side rail member using a fastener such that an elongated space is formed between the first side rail member and the second side rail member, wherein the first longitudinal edge of the light guide is securely retained in the elongated space of the side rail and the second longitudinal edge of the light guide is securely retained in the elongated space of the other side rail.

5. The lighting fixture of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the side rail and the other side rail is a heat sink that dissipates heat from the plurality of LEDs.

6. The lighting fixture of claim 1 , wherein the at least one reflector is detached from the lighting fixture to provide an uplight.

7. A lighting fixture comprising:
an elongated housing bracket comprising a middle panel, two side panels extending substantially perpendicular from opposite edges of the middle panel, and a base bracket member coupled to a bottom portion of the two side panels to form a component housing compartment;
a hook member comprising a hook that defines a cavity and is configured to be coupled to the elongated housing bracket;
a light engine that is separate from the elongated housing bracket and comprising:
a side rail positioned adjacent one side of the elongated housing bracket and another side rail positioned on an opposite side of the elongated housing bracket;
a horizontally oriented light guide positioned below the component housing compartment, wherein at least a portion of opposite longitudinal edges of the light guide are securely retained by the side rail and the other side rail, respectively;
a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) positioned on or within at least one of the side rails such that the plurality of LEDs are proximate to and directed towards a respective longitudinal edge of the light guide retained by the at least one of the side rails; and

a tab member configured to be coupled to the light engine and comprising a tab feature that is configured to removably engage the cavity defined by the hook of the hook member in order to removably couple the light engine to the elongated housing bracket of the lighting fixture.

8. The lighting fixture of claim 7 , further comprising:
an end cap disposed on a lateral end of the lighting fixture such that the hook member and the tab member are positioned between the end cap and the elongated housing bracket, the side rail, and the other side rail.

9. The lighting fixture of claim 8 , wherein the end cap is configured to house one of a motion sensor and an emergency test switch, and wherein the end cap comprises a curved design to provide the lighting fixture a curved appearance.

10. The lighting fixture of claim 7 , wherein one of the side rails comprises:
a first side rail member that defines: a first cavity configured to receive and retain the portion of the respective longitudinal edge of the light guide, and a second cavity adjacent the first cavity; and
a second side rail member positioned within the second cavity,
wherein the plurality of LEDs are disposed on a circuit board that is disposed on the second side rail member such that the plurality of LEDs are proximate to and directed towards the respective longitudinal edge of the light guide received by the first cavity of the respective side rail, and
wherein the second side rail member slide fits within the second cavity of the first side rail member.

11. The lighting fixture of claim 7 , wherein one of the side rails comprises: a first side rail member that defines: a first cavity configured to receive the portion of the respective longitudinal edge of the light guide, and a second cavity adjacent the first cavity, wherein the second cavity houses a spring member that is configured to push against the respective longitudinal edge of the light guide such that an opposite longitudinal edge of the light guide is positioned proximate to the plurality of LEDs and a gap between the opposite longitudinal edge and the plurality of LEDs is reduced.

12. The lighting fixture of claim 7 , wherein at least one of the side rail and the other side rail is a heat sink that dissipates heat from the plurality of LEDs.

Assignees

• Lehman Gregg Arthur
• Lewis Paul Wayne
• Cooper Technologies Co

Inventors

• Lehman Gregg Arthur
• Lewis Paul Wayne

Classifications

• F21Y2115/10

  Light-emitting diodes [LED] · CPC title

• G02B6/0088

  of the light guide or other optical sheets in the package · CPC title

• F21Y2103/10

  comprising a linear array of point-like light-generating elements · CPC title

• F21V21/005

  for several lighting devices in an end-to-end arrangement, i.e. light tracks · CPC title

• G02B6/0086

  Positioning aspects · CPC title