Field of invention

The present invention relates to a provides an adjustable downlight armature, advantageously having an LED light source, comprises a housing 100 and a ball assembly 200, forming a ball joint like structure.

Requirements and background.

Adjustable downlight armatures comprising an at least in part ball shaped body holding an electrical light source and being at least in part disposed in a housing shaped to conform to the at least in part ball shaped body is disclosed in WO2014190379A1, WO2012126749A1, WO9520128A1, and AU2011100724A4.

There is a need for an adjustable downlight armature in which the direction of emitted light can be easily and freely adjusted before, at, or after installation of the downlight armature.

There is a need for an adjustable downlight armature in which the direction of emitted light can be easily and freely adjusted before, at, or after installation of the downlight armature, that is of simple design with few elements.

There is a need for an adjustable downlight armature in which the direction of emitted light can be easily and freely adjusted before, at, or after installation of the downlight armature, that provides sealing of an interior in which the light source is disposed from the surroundings.

There is a need for an adjustable downlight armature in which the direction of emitted light can be easily and freely adjusted before, at, or after installation of the downlight armature, and which effectively is sealing off a space in front of the downlight armature from a space behind downlight armature to substantially eliminate air or other gas, particles, insects, and other objects from migrating or flowing through the downlight armature. Summary of the invention.

The downlight armature according to the invention, advantageously having an LED light source, it is contemplated, in a general configuration comprises a housing 100 and a ball assy 200. The housing 100 has a cavity formed by an upper housing part 110 and a lower housing part 120 joined by a fastener 140. At least a portion of an inner surface of the cavity is spherical and formed in part by at least a lower portion of said upper housing part 110 and in part by at least an upper portion of said a lower housing part 120. The ball assy 200 is positioned within said cavity, and includes a ball shell 210 with an inner space adapted for holding an electrical light source and a reflector. The ball shell has an outer surface of which at least a portion is spherical and dimensioned for a loose fit within the portion of the cavity that has an inner spherical surface. The upper housing part comprises an upper portion formed by a plurality of resilient fingers 115. The fingers have inner surfaces at the finger tips that extend inwards with respect to said cavity so as to bear against the spherical outer surface portion of said ball shell..

A first embodiment of the downlight armature of the general configuration of above comprises a front glass 230 positioned in a first opening in the ball shell at a lower edged 212 thereof and being attached to said ball shell at said lower edged by a sealing attachment means so as to seal off said first opening.

In a second embodiment of the downlight armature of the general configuration of above, or of the first embodiment above, an inner surface of said ball shall at said lower edge carries first threads, and said sealing means being formed by a front glass retainer ring 220 being adapted to form a seal with said lower edge of the ball shell and said front glass and carrying matching threads on its periphery is entered into, and advantageously secured in place by, said first threads.

In a third embodiment of the downlight armature of the general configuration of above, or of the first or second embodiments above, said upper housing part 110 and said lower housing part 120 are joined in an equatorial plane of said spherical inner portion of said cavity, and comprising a sealing ring 130 of a flexible or elastic material positioned in said an equatorial plane and filling in a gap between a lower edge of said upper housing part 110 and an upper edge of said lower housing part 120, and a surface of said sealing ring facing inwards to said cavity bearing against said spherical portion of said outer surface of said ball shell so as to seal off the part of the spherical portion of the cavity formed by said at least a lower portion of said upper housing part 110 from the part of the spherical portion of the cavity formed by said at least an upper portion of said a lower housing part 120.

In the following description of the invention, the terms "upper", "lower", "above", "below", "top", "bottom", "up", "down", "behind", "in font of and the like indicating relative locations, positions or orientations of parts, portions and elements of embodiments of the invention are used to identify those elements as they appear in the drawing sheets, and as they would correspond to locations, positions and orientations with the downlight in a typical ceiling installation for projecting light towards a floor, and are not meant not indicate any actual location, position or orientation when the invention is in other use or otherwise, unless explained specifically to be understood differently. Accordingly, as an example, what is referred to as the upper part of the housing of a downlight according to the invention could in fact be located in a same horizontal level as the upper part of the housing when the downlight has been installed in a vertically oriented wall with its bezel flush with the wall panel. Hence, it will be understood that the downlight of the invention can be installed in a variety of different orientations, for light emitted from the downlight of the invention to be projected in any direction that could be different from and even opposite of what is typically understood to be the down direction using the earth as reference.

Detailed description.

In the following, the invention will be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

Figure 1 A is a first perspective view drawing illustrating a first embodiment of a downlight according to the invention with a single LED light source seen partly from above;

Figure IB is a first "X-ray" view of the first perspective view drawing of the embodiment of figure 1 A, in which outer elements forming an upper portion of the downlight are made transparent to make visible elements located inside the upper portion of the downlight;

Figure 1C is a second perspective view drawing illustrating the first embodiment of the downlight of figure 1 A seen partly from below;

Figure 2A is a first side view drawing illustrating the first embodiment of the downlight of figure 1 A;

Figure 2B is a second side view drawing illustrating the first embodiment of the downlight of figure 1 A rotated 90 degrees with respect to the view of figure 2 A;

Figure 2C is a first bottom view drawing illustrating the first embodiment of the downlight of figure 1 A seen directly from below;

Figure 3 is a first exploded perspective view drawing illustrating the first embodiment of the downlight of figures 1 A seen partly from below as in figure 1C;

Figure 4A is a third side view drawing illustrating a partially assembled first embodiment of the downlight of figure 1 A missing the lower part of the housing; Figure 4B is a third perspective view drawing illustrating the partially assembled first embodiment of the downlight of figure 1A seen partly from below as in figure 1C; Figure 4C is a variant of the third side view drawing of figure 4A including also the mounting clips;

Figure 5A is a fourth perspective view drawing illustrating a second embodiment of a downlight according to the invention with a multiple LED light source, seen partly from below;

Figure 5B is a second bottom view drawing illustrating the second downlight embodiment of figure 5A, seen directly from below;

Figure 5C is a fifth perspective view drawing illustrating a reflector element of the second downlight embodiment of figure 5A, seen partly from below;

Figure 5D is an "X-ray" sixth perspective view drawing illustrating a partially assembled second embodiment of the downlight of figure 1 A missing the lower part of the housing, in which cap and ball shell elements of an upper portion of the downlight are made transparent to make visible elements located inside the upper portion of the downlight;

Figure 5E is an "X-ray" seventh perspective view drawing illustrating the partially assembled second embodiment of the downlight of figure 5D, in which ball shell and upper housing part elements of the downlight are made transparent to make visible elements located inside an upper portion of the downlight;

Figures 6A-6E are photo illustrations of a production model downlight embodying the present invention;

Figure 7A is an eight perspective view drawing illustrating the ball shell element alone as seen partly from above as in the first perspective view drawing of figure 1 A; and Figure 7B is a ninth perspective view drawing illustrating the upper part of the housing alone as seen partly from above as in the first perspective view drawing of figure 1 A. In the following the adjustable downlight of the invention will be described and explained by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which the same reference numbers refers to the same or technically equivalent elements.

Referring to figure 1, an adjustable downlight according to the present invention comprises basically a lamp ball assembly 200, herein also referred to as the ball assay 200, with a ball shell 210 having an outer surface shaped as a part of a sphere, positioned in an interior of a housing 100 formed by an upper housing part 110 coupled to a lower housing part 120, which housing parts are herein also referred to as the upper housing 110 and the lower housing 120, respectively. A portion of an inside wall of the housing 100 where the upper and lower housings come together is also of spherical shape with a diameter slightly larger than an outer diameter of the spherical outer surface of the ball shell 210, thereby allowing the ball to rotate in any direction about a centre point of the spherical outer surface of the ball shell 210, like a ball of a ball joint, while keeping the centre point of the ball shell 210 in a substantially fixed position with respect to the housing 100. An opening or a connector arrangement in an upper portion of the ball shell above an upper edge 214, is covered and advantageously sealed off by a cap 240 which is secured in place by first fastener means 241. The first fastener means 241 is advantageously a screw type fastener, but could be provided by other

arrangement adapted to secure the cap 240 to the top of the ball shell. An opening 242, typically a slot opening, in the cap 240, provides a passage way for a suitably arranged electrical cable 245 that would extend from a connection point of an electrical light source assembly 300 positioned in the ball shell 210 to an external source of electricity. A sealing grommet, not shown in the drawings, suitably shaped to fit the opening 242 and the cable 245, is advantageously provided to fill any gap between the cable 245 and edges of the opening 242. The upper and lower housing parts are coupled and secured to each other by second fastener means 140. The second fastener means 140 is

advantageously comprised of screw type fasteners passing through suitably arranged lug portions of one housing part and entering into matchingly postitioned screw receiving body portions 125 of the other housing part, but could be provided by other arrangement or arrangements adapted to couple and secure the upper housing part 110 coupled to the lower housing part 120, such as for example a tongue arranged on one housing part that is adapted to enter into a locking engagement with a cooperating a groove or similar on the other housing part. The upper housing part 110 comprises a lower, substantially rigid portion in the form of a ring with a gradually changing diameter, which also provides a body for an upper portion of the spherical surface of the cavity of the housing 100, and an upper portion of a plurality of resilient tabs or fingers 115 that extend somewhat inwards with respect to an outer surface of an imaginary sphere that is an extension of the inner spherical surface forming the cavity of the housing. Hence, as the diameter of the outer spherical surface portion of the ball shell 210 is somewhat smaller or only slightly smaller than the diameter of the inner surface of the spherical portion of housing 200, with the ball assy 200 positioned within the cavity of the housing 100 with the outer spherical surface portion of the ball shell 210 in conformity with the inner spherical surface portion of the cavity of the housing, inner surfaces of tabs or fingers 115 will bear on the outer spherical outer surface portion of the ball shell 210. Thus, by friction against the outer surface of the ball shell 210 the tabs or fingers 115 provide a suitable and substantially even resistance against rotation of the ball assy within the range of adjustment of the orientation of the ball assy 200 in the housing 100, keeping the ball assy in any position in which it has been placed in an adjustment made to set an angle of light beam emitted by the light source in the ball assy with respect to the housing. The tabs or fingers 115 are advantageously an integral part of the upper housing part 110, the upper housing part 110 then being a unitary element

advantageously molded from an elastic material, with a thickness at the upper tabs or fingers portion of the upper housing part 110 being adapted to provide adequate resilience, and a thickness at the lower ring portion of the upper housing part 110 being adapted to provide adequate rigidity. The adjustable downlight armature of the invention is advantageously also provided with suitable means for mounting the armature in an opening in a panel of a building structure or the like, which in the embodiment examples being illustrated in the accompanying figures is provided by first and second mounting clips 410, 420 each comprising a clip body provided with a spring that are attached to the housing at respective ones of first and second mounts 126, 127 for the armature mounting clips. In an advantageous embodiment of the adjustable downlight armature of the invention, a ring shaped space or gap of is provided where the upper housing part and the lower housing part meet, and a sealing ring 130 of a flexible or elastic material is disposed in the space or gap. At installation of the downlight armature in a hole in a panel, the mounting tabs would in a well-known fashion be rotated about the springs for the bodies of the clips to point upwards and bias the springs, and would, when released as the armature is entered into the hole in the panel, bear against a back side of the panel by force exerted by the biased springs so as to pull the armature into the hole until a bezel 121 portion of the housing, provided at the lower housing part a front of the panel, comes to rest against a front side of the panel. Reference is now made to figure IB, showing the embodiment example of figure 1 A with the upper housing part 110, the ball shell 210, and the cap 240 all "X-rayed", to allow observation of typical elements disposed inside the ball shell, and some details of the ball cap 240 and its interior, the sealing ring 130, and cooperating or matching edges 122, 123 of areas of the upper and lower housing parts where the they meet at formation of the housing 100. Inside the ball shell is disposed a LED assembly 300 which includes an electrical LED light source 310, and a reflector 320 having in this particular embodiment a frustoconical shape, with a relatively small circular opening at an upper end being matched to the dimensions of the LED light source, and a relatively large circular opening at a lower end being adapted to match an lower opening in the ball shell. Objects shown disposed in the interior of the ball cap 240 represent electrical connector means advantageously including terminals for electrical connection with the electrical cable 245, and an electrical connector arrangement formed in an upper portion of the ball shell for transporting to the LED assy electrical power that is received from the electrical connector means disposed in the ball cap 240.

Reference is now made to figure 1C showing further details of the embodiment example illustrated in figures 1 A and IB, in particular an exposed reflecting inner surface of the frustoconical reflector 320, a single element LED light source 310 as disposed at the upper end opening of the reflector, a front glass retainer ring 220 disposed adjacently to a lower end of the frustoconical reflector 320 and holding an optically transparent front window in position in a lower opening in the ball shell 210, the front window appearing invisible in the drawing of figure 3 due to its optical transparency.

In figure 3 an embodiment of the downlight armature corresponding closely to the embodiment illustrated in figures 1 A-2C and explained above with reference to those figures, is shown in an exploded view presentation to illustrate the positions of the elements of the downlight armature with respect to each other. It should be noted that the embodiment in figure 3 comprises a parabolic or spherically shaped reflector 320 for adaption to a differently shaped LED light source 310, or to provide a spatial or angular distribution of emitted light that is different from what is obtained with the previously referenced conically shaped reflector. In this figure 3, is shown the ball shell 210 already disposed in the upper housing part 110. For further details of the ball shell 210 and the upper housing part 110, reference is made to figures 7 A and /B in which they have been illustrate in respective, separate drawings. A step 116 in the upper housing part 110 is shown to indicate a step in the thickness of the material at a level where there is a transition to the tab or finger upper portion of the upper housing part 110, above which step 116 the material thickness is less than below the step 116 to provide the greater resilience of the tabs or fingers 115. Threads at an inner surface at a lower end 212 of the ball shell 210 are also shown. Matching threads are also shown on the circumference of the front ring immediately below the front ring upper edge 221, by which the front ring 220 is attached to the lower portion of the ball shell 210 for keeping the front glass in place in the opening at the lower end opening of the ball shell through which light emitted by the LED light source 310 is radiated to the surroundings. A further detail related to the sealing ring 130 are the sealing ring lugs 131, which ring lugs 131 are distributed about the circumference of the sealing ring to match the distribution and locations of the fastener screws 140 to ensure that the sealing ring 130 is properly positioned to provide good sealing at the coupling of the upper housing part 110 to the lower housing part 120.

Figures 4A-C illustrate partially assembled downlight armatures according to the embodiments illustrated in and explained with reference to the previous figures. In figure 4A, a complete ball assy 200 has been disposed in the upper housing part 110 being also provided with screw fasteners 140 and a sealing ring 130. As no lower housing part 120 is present in these partially assembled downlight armatures, a lower portion of the spherical outer surface of the ball shell 210 and the front ring 220, that would be hidden with the lower housing part 120, are also visible in the side view drawings of figures 4 A and 4C.

In figures 5A-5E is illustrated an embodiment of the downlight armature of the invention that is different from the embodiments explained above and with reference to other drawing figures in that the LED assy 300 comprises a multi element LED 310 light source having a light emitting area that is substantially larger than the light emitting area of the single element LED light source of previously explained

embodiments. The embodiment comprising the multi element LED 310 light source is provided by a LED assy 300 having an adaption of the multi element LED 310 light source to the already described ball shell 210 as illustrated also in figure 7 A, and a reflector having a larger upper end opening and dimensions to accommodate the larger light emitting area of the multi element LED light source, while dimensions of a lower end opening of the reflector for the multi element LED light source are advantageously the same as the dimensions of the lower end opening of the previously described reflector for the single element LED light source.

In figures 6A-6E photographic recordings of an actual production model downlight armature according to the invention corresponding to the embodiments illustrated in and explained with reference to figures 1 A-4C and figures 7A-7B. In particular, in bottom view photo of figure 6E the ball assy 200 is in a position with respect to the housing 100 that is tilted from the position of the ball assy 200 shown in the in bottom view photo of figure 6D, whereby some of the ball shell spherical surface portion 210, as well as some of the spherical inner surface 124 of the lower housing part, is made visible in that view.

Further details of the ball shell 210 are now explained with reference to figure 7A. In the illustrating embodiment, the ball shell 210 is cut at a bottom at a lower edge 212 and at a top at the upper edge 214. In the drawing is indicated by reference numeral 213 an optional circumferential step or ledge at the lower edge of the ball shell, that may be provided for making a seal against the front window that is held in place by the front ring 220. It is contemplated that sealing off of the interior of the ball shell by the front window may be improved by disposing a window sealing ring of an elastic or flexible material between the step and the perimeter of the front window. The broken line in figure 7 A indicates the part of the lower edge 212 of the ball shell 210 that in the perspective view of figure 7 will be hidden when the ball shell 210 is made from a non- transparent material. A structure visible within the upper edge 214 of the ball shell represents a structure for an electrical connector and a centrally located hollov post for engagement by the ball cap fastener means 241.

In figure 7B is shown also details of the inner surface of the upper housing part 110, in which at least a portion of the inner surface 111 located below the tabs or fingers 115 and at or adjacently to the lower edge 112 of the upper housing part 110 is spherical. In the illustrated embodiment, the inner surface 111 is advantageously continued stepless towards the tips or upper edges of the tabs or fingers, with a gradually decreasing inner diameter of an imaginary surface formed by the inner surface of the tabs or fingers 115. It is contemplated that instead of obtaining bearing of inner surfaces of the resilient tabs or fingers against the ball shell in an assembled downlight armature of the invention, the inner surface of the tabs or fingers forming upper portion of the upper housing could be describing a different shape, such as for example the shape of the spherical shaped portion on the lower portion of the upper housing part, or even a spherical shape with a larger diameter, and the bearing of inner surfaces of the resilient tabs or fingers against the ball shell may then be provided by one or more nippels, warts, protrusions, or protuberances, not shown in the drawings, that extend inwardly at or near the tips or upper edges of the tabs or fingers. It should be noted that although the invention has been explained by way of example in which examples of specific fastener means, in particular screws, for securing elements of the invention to each other, other means for coupling and securing parts to each other may be used, such as for example clips, bayonet fastening arrangements, and threads that allow suitably threaded parts to be attached to each other, to mention a few.

Drawing Item Descriptions

Elements of examples of embodiments of a downlight armature according invention, advantageously having an LED light source, being illustrated in drawings:

100 housing

110 upper part of housing

111 spherical inner surface of upper part of housing

112 lower edge of upper part of housing

113 step at lower edge of upper part of housing

114 lug with hole for screw fastener in upper part of housing

115 ball retainer finger portion of upper part of housing

116 step in outer surface of upper part of housing at transition to fingers

120 lower part of housing

121 bezel portion of lower part of housing

122 upper edge of lower part of housing

123 step at upper edge of lower part of housing

124 spherical inner surface of lower part of housing

125 screw fastener receiving portion of lower part of housing

126 second mount for armature mounting clip

127 first mount for armature mounting clip

130 sealing ring

131 lug with hole for screw fastener in sealing ring

140 screw fastener

200 ball assy

210 ball shell

211 outer spherical surface of ball shell

212 lower edge of ball shell

213 step at lower edge of ball shell

214 upper edge of ball shell

220 front ring

221 upper edge of front ring

222 step at upper edge of front ring

223 threaded outer surface of front ring

230 front glass ball cap

ball cap fastener and electrical connector device cable slot in ball cap

LED assy

LED light source element

reflector

lower edge of reflector

upper edge of reflector

first spring biased armature mounting clip first mounting clip body

first mounting clip biasing spring

second spring biased armature mounting clip second mounting clip body

second mounting clip biasing spring