Swing arm for recessed lighting fixtures

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11306757-B2
Application number	US-202017026450-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 21, 2020
Priority date	Sep 19, 2019
Publication date	Apr 19, 2022
Grant date	Apr 19, 2022

Abstract

A recessed lighting fixture includes an elongated body including a flange and a pair of swing arms. The swing arms are deployable between a stowed configuration adjacent to the elongated body, to a deployed configuration wherein the swing arms extend radially from the elongated body. In the deployed configuration the swing arms are translatable along threaded members extending along the elongated body in order to clamp a ceiling or other surface between the swing arms and the flange to secure the recessed lighting fixture into a hole in the ceiling. The swing arms comprise removable portions that can be used to increase the range of thicknesses of surface in which the recessed lighting fixture can be installed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A recessed lighting fixture comprising:
an elongated body defining a longitudinal axis and configured to house a light source;
a flange provided at an end of the elongated body;
a threaded member extending at least partially along the elongated body and rotatably coupled to the elongated body; and
a swing arm comprising a first portion threadably coupled to the threaded member, and a second portion extending from the first portion, wherein an end of the second portion most distal from the first portion defines an abutment end,
wherein the swing arm is configured to clamp a surface between the abutment end and the flange,
wherein the swing arm is configured to be transitioned from an elongated configuration to a shortened configuration,
wherein in the elongated configuration the second portion of the swing arm comprises a lower portion, an upper portion, and a breakaway interface between the upper portion and the lower portion,
wherein in the shortened configuration the second portion of the swing arm comprises the upper portion and does not comprise the lower portion,
wherein the threaded member is configured so that rotating the threaded member with the swing arm in a deployed configuration, with the second portion extending radially from the elongated body, causes the swing arm to translate relative to the elongated body from a first position wherein the abutment end is a first distance from the flange to a second position wherein the abutment end is a second distance from the flange that is less than the first distance, and
wherein the breakaway interface comprises one or more apertures between the lower portion and the upper portion, and a reinforcement bar between the one or more apertures and the upper portion of the lower portion and extending across a width of the second portion,
wherein the reinforcement bar is thicker than portions of the upper portion and lower portion adjacent to the breakaway interface, and
wherein the reinforcement bar is configured to cause bending stress to be concentrated on connection sections between the upper portion and the lower portion and defined by sides of the one or more apertures so that when a bending force is applied to the swing arm bending occurs adjacent the reinforcement bar across the connection sections in order to allow the lower portion of the second portion of the swing arm to be detached from the upper portion in order to transition the swing arm from the elongated configuration to the shortened configuration.

2. The recessed lighting fixture of claim 1 , wherein transitioning the swing arm from the elongated configuration to the shortened configuration allows a selection of a first end of the lower portion defining the abutment end or a second end of the upper portion defining the abutment end,
wherein the recessed lighting fixture comprises a clamping range defined by a maximum distance defined as a third distance between the flange and the abutment end of the swing arm in the shortened configuration with the swing arm at the first position and a minimum distance defined as a fourth distance between the flange and the abutment end of the swing arm in the elongated configuration with the swing arm at the second position.

3. The recessed lighting fixture of claim 1 , wherein the swing arm is configured to be positioned in a stowed configuration with the second portion adjacent to the elongated body, and
wherein the swing arm is configured so that rotating the threaded member with the swing arm in the stowed configuration causes the swing arm to rotate from the stowed configuration to the deployed configuration.

4. A method of installing the recessed lighting fixture of claim 3 , comprising:
inserting the elongated body of the recessed lighting fixture into a hole in a ceiling so that the flange is flush with a surface of the ceiling; and
rotating the threaded member to cause the swing arm (1) to transition from the stowed configuration to the deployed configuration and (2) to translate relative to the elongated body from the first position to the second position to clamp the ceiling between the flange and the abutment end of the swing arm.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein after inserting the elongated body into the hole in the ceiling and prior to rotating the threaded member, the method further comprises:
attempting to rotate the threaded member in order to rotate the swing arm from the stowed configuration to the deployed configuration and determining that rotation of the swing arm is prevented due to a thickness of the ceiling;
removing the elongated body of the recessed lighting fixture from the hole in the ceiling with the swing arm in the stowed configuration, and transitioning the swing arm from the elongated configuration to the shortened configuration; and
reinserting the elongated body of the recessed lighting fixture back into the hole in the ceiling with the swing arm in the shortened configuration and in the stowed configuration.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein transitioning the swing arm from the elongated configuration to the shortened configuration comprises bending the lower portion relative to the upper portion to separate the lower portion from the upper portion.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the recessed lighting fixture further comprises a second swing arm substantially identical to the swing arm, and
wherein the method further comprises:
transitioning the second swing arm from the elongated configuration to the shortened configuration when the elongated body is removed from the hole; and
rotating a second threaded member to cause the second swing arm to transition from the stowed configuration to the deployed configuration, and further rotating the second threaded member to cause the second swing arm to translate relative to the elongated body from the first position to the second position to clamp the ceiling between the flange and the abutment end of the second swing arm.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the recessed lighting fixture further comprises a second swing arm substantially identical to the swing arm, and
wherein the method further comprises:
maintaining the second swing arm in the elongated configuration when the elongated body is removed from the hole so that the swing arm and second swing arm are different lengths; and
rotating a second threaded member to cause the second swing arm to transition from the stowed configuration to the deployed configuration, and further rotating the second threaded member to cause the second swing arm to translate relative to the elongated body from the first position to the second position to clamp the ceiling between the flange and the abutment end of the second swing arm.

9. The recessed lighting fixture of claim 1 , wherein the swing arm is L-shaped with the second portion extending from the first portion in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the elongate body.

10. The recessed lighting fixture of claim 1 , wherein the threaded member extends along the elongated body parallel to the longitudinal axis of the elongated body.

11. The recess lighting fixture of claim 1 , wherein the elongated body is substantially cylindrical, and wherein the flange is circular.

12. The recessed lighting fixture of claim 11 , wherein the flange surrounds a bottom portion of the elongated body.

13. The recessed lighting fixture of claim 1 , further comprising a second swing arm substantially identical to the swing arm.

14. A method of installing a recessed lighting fixture in a ceiling, the method comprising:
providing a light fixture comprising:
an elongat

Assignees

• Abl Ip Holding Llc

Inventors

• Clark Stephen

Classifications

• F21S8/026

  intended to be recessed in a ceiling or like overhead structure, e.g. suspended ceiling · CPC title

• F21V21/047

  Mounting arrangements with fastening means engaging the inner surface of a hole in a ceiling or wall, e.g. for solid walls or for blind holes · CPC title

• F21V21/042 Primary

  using clamping means, e.g. for clamping with panel or wall · CPC title

• F21V29/773

  the planes containing the fins or blades having the direction of the light emitting axis · CPC title

• F16B21/02

  Releasable fastening devices locking by rotation (with snap-action F16B21/06; studs or coupling pins with resilient protrusions F16B21/08) · CPC title