TECHNICAL FIELD

This present utility model refers to a novel construction arrangement introduced in a turning mechanism having a sealing jacket and used in articulating illumination posts or similar pieces such as projectors, cameras, panels, safety sensors and so on in which said turning mechanism is provided with innovated features in its construction designed to facilitate sloping movement of the articulating section of said illumination posts. Said mechanism is also provided with a sealing jacket over its body in order to ensure that its integrity is maintained thus preventing any possible damage caused by bad weather,

HISTORIC OF THE TECHNIQUE illumination of posts in general like those types used in pedestrian walkways, public streets, yards and mails, in large areas like those of residential and commercial buildings, industries, commercial shops and in other sites, require some periodic maintenance. Such maintenance is generally made by specialized manpower that use individual protection equipments 0PE) as ladders, safety belt and so on in said maintenance operations in order to avoid labor accidents like electrical shocks, burns, falls and other types of accidents.

Therefore to prevent such accidents from happening it is currently known models of illumination posts that are formed by a two-sectioned beam capable of being articulated and sloped down in such a way that the lower section remains standing vertically and the upper section becomes articulated and tilted down so as to be maintained at 90° and thus allowing an easier access to that part requiring maintenance, that is, the lamp. So the maintenance worker is allowed to remain standing on the floor and is able to carry out necessary cleaning and repairs in a safe and practical manner, yet maintenance and/or any replacement or installation may be carried out by just one single worker.

For doing so said models of articulating posts are provided with articulating mechanisms to move the parted section of the post such as a mechanism formed by a pair of inverted U-shaped bases having different and complementary dimensions in relation to one another, said bases placed at distal contact ends of tubular sections of the two-sectioned post, yet said bases having a pair of oblong cuttings nearby an edge of said bases. At least one pair of said oblong cuttings in one of said bases is aligned with a transversal shaft in which iocker pins are placed. When said locker pins are found in an orthogonal position they become engaged into the other oblong cuttings of a complementary base thus allowing said bases to become locked and as a consequence the parts in the two-sectioned post also become locked. Said bases also become locked to one another by means of a thin sheet plate.

Another model of articulating mechanism found was one made of a pair of sheet placed at distal contact ends of an articulating post. Said plates are interconnected to one another at one single edge by means of hinges and said plates have cuttings aligned to one another wherein locker pins are engaged.

However, for the purpose of having the two-sectioned part sloped down in said articulating post by means of the aforesaid mechanisms disengaging the pins from said cuttings is required in addition to manual articulation by an operator and such actions may cause some hazardous accidents since the upper section of the post may happen to abruptly fall down while being articulated to tilt,

Another inconvenience found is that the articulating mechanisms are exposed to bad weather, dust and things alike, mainly when said post is installed onto some piece of equipments of a type as ore moving conveyors having accumulation of dirt that might turn articulation locked and cause some damage to said mechanisms thus imposing difficulties to periodic maintenance.

ANALISYS OF THE PRIOR ART

A search was carried out in specialized databank and some documents were found referring to articulated illumination posts or similar pieces as, for example, document no. MU8702626-0 which discloses an articulating illumination post made of two electrical ducts, one of a Sower segment and the other of an upper segment made up into one single set. Said electrical ducts are mounted and united to an articulating device made of two stainless steel stamped plates that laid over one another and connected together by a transversal articulating master shaft locked at distal ends by means of bolts with eyebolts. However, a second transversal shaft supports said two bolts with eyebolts, said bolts inserted into cuttings made in steel plates in addition to a safety Socker to prevent accidental and voluntary opening.

Another document numbered MU9102040-9 refers to an articulating turn post made of a system having three sections which are coupled to each other by means of fixing bolts and nuts thus forming a single set locked by a safety pin. Two electrical ducts are installed thereupon, one at the upper section which is used for fixing together the equipments and also used as a mobile part to provide movement of the articulation thus facilitating the operator to access said equipment. The other electrical duct located in the lower section is used to secure the turn articulating post in some particular site defined by the user by means of fixation accessories.

The aforesaid documents do not teach any of the features taught in the subject-matter now improved in spite of sharing the same field of application, that is, an articulating post, thus ensuring that this present patent application meets legal requirements for patentability.

OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION

Thus aiming at providing improvements to the consumer market the applicant developed this present construction arrangement introduced in turning mechanism having a sealing jacket for illumination articulating post or similar pieces such as projectors, cameras, panels, safety sensors and so on.

Said turning mechanism is made of forged aluminum or any other suitable material and basically comprises a dented wheel and a rotating screw installed between a base and a cover of the mechanism. Said dented wheel and rotating screw are activated by the movement of a transversal shaft which is turned by a crank or by an electric motor in such a way to allow tilting articulation of the two-sectioned tubular portion of a tubular beam that makes up said post.

A flat base is fastened in a free distal end of said supporting tubular section of the post and In its center portion an orifice to go through is provided wherein a cylindrical support of said dented wheel is fitted.

A fiat side of the dented wheel is fastened to a free distal end of said sloping tubular beam which is part of said post. Said tubular beam is passed through a cutting in a locker plate and also passed through a cutting in a cover of the turning mechanism, said cover fastened to said base by means of separating pins.

Said dented wheel is positioned in such a way that its teeth are engaged in the teeth of a rotating screw provided in said transversal shaft and, in its turn, said transversal shaft is driven by said crank or electric motor both of them installed in a command box located between a base and a cover.

The whole turning mechanism is covered by a sealing jacket manufactured with rubber or any other type of resilient material and is basically formed by a main cover and a secondary cover. The main cover have a peripheral shape identical to the shape of the base and identical to the turning mechanism cover as well and have a center orifice for mounting said secondary cover which is meant to shelter a part of the tubular sloping beam and upper side of the dented wheel.

Therefore, for tilting down said beam of the post it is enough to have the operator moving the crank or start the electric motor in order to turn the transversal shaft and consequently the rotating screw thus making the dented wheel start turning and in its turn said dented wheel tilts down the upper section of the illumination post bringing the lamp down to a desired height so that maintenance required is made with no need for using ladders or any other equipment. A main advantage is found in the fact that said crank or eiectricai motor makes safe the sloping down of the upper section in the articuiating beam that accommodates the lamp or other devices in the post because said turning mechanism makes the fali slowly and tilting locked by means of a gear set.

Another advantage is found in that a sealing jacket shelters the whole turning mechanism against dust, powder and other types of dirty materiais and protects the mechanism against daily bad weather as welt thus allowing installation of the post in any kind of site such as nearby ore transportation conveyors.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS in order to complement the present patent specification and aiming at obtaining a better understanding of this utility model and in accordance with a preferred practical embodiment of the invention a set of drawings is attached herewith whereof, in an exemplified manner, although not to limit, the following is illustrated:

Figure 1 represents a perspective view of said illumination post illustrating a mechanism of articulation;

Figure 2 reveals an enlarged perspective view of the mechanism of articulation now innovated and illustrating the sealing jacket in an exploded position;

Figure 3 shows a perspective view of the mechanism of articulation illustrating an exploded view of a cover;

Figure 4 represents a front view of the mechanism illustrating the movement of the crank and consequently the movement of the two-sectioned post;

Figure 5 represents an A.A. longitudinal cut-off view of the mechanism indicated in the previous figure; and

Figure 6 represents a side view of the post illustrating the sioping down movement of the articulating section.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE OBJECT

Referring to the illustrated drawings this present, utility model refers to a construction arrangement introduced in a turning mechanism having sealing jacket for use in illumination articulating post or similar piece, more precisely it refers to a turning mechanism (10) for tilting down an upper section (PI) of an illumination articuiating post (PT) or similar piece such as projectors, cameras, panels, safety sensors and so on. Said post (PT) comprises a supporting beam (P2) with a base fixed to the ground and a sloping beam or section (PI) whose free distal end accommodates a lamp (LU) or some other device. As per this present utility model said turning mechanism (10) is preferably manufactured with forged aluminum or some other adequate material comprising a fixed base (20) installed in a distal upper section of said supporting beam (P2). A dented wheel (30) is mounted over said fixed base (20), said dented wheel (30) in its turn accommodates fixation of a lower distal end of said articulating beam (P1) of said post (PI). Said dented wheel (30) is engaged in said rotating screw (41) of a transversal shaft (40). Said transversal shaft (40) is also mounted over the base (20) and is driven by means of rotation (R) produced by a crank (50) or by an electric motor (60) which is installed in a command box (70) (figure 3) that is secured into said base (20), said crank or electric motor is meant to provide gradual slow tilting (BG) of said upper beam (PI).

Said turning mechanism (10) is disposed at a certain angle (a) in relation to a longitudinal axis (El) of said post (PT) and comprises (refer to figure 5) a cylindrical support (80) inserted into an orifice (21) provided in a center portion of said base (20). A tubular portion (81) of said cylindrical support (80) is coupled into an orifice (31) of the dented wheel (30). At the upper side (32) of said dented wheel (30) a distal end (ΡΓ) of said sloping beam (PI) is secured. Said beam (PI) goes through a cutting (91) of a locker plate (90), said plate installed in -coplanar at a fiat side (32)

Said locker plate (90) is secured by means of separating pins (PS),, said pins (PS) also secure a cap (100) of the turning mechanism (10) in said base (20). The height (x) of every separating pin (PS) allows maintenance of an internal space (e) for free rotation of said dented wheel (30) when said crank (50) or said electric motor (60) is driven.

The whole turning mechanism (10) is sheltered by a sealing jacket (110) which is preferably manufactured with rubber or some other type of resilient material and said sealing jacket is basically formed by a main cover (111) and a secondary cover (120). The main cover (111) is provided with a U-shaped transversal section having a peripheral shape identical to the shape of said base (20) and said cap (100) in such a way to make up an upper flat wall (114) from where a peripheral wall (112) is originated having a higher height (xl) than the height (x) of said separating pins (PS). From an edge of peripheral wall (112) flanges (113) are originated and are disposed in coplanar position in relation of said lower side (22) in said base .(20).

An orifice (115) is provided in said flat side (114) of the cover (111) to allow passage of the articulating beam (PI) of said post (PT) whereof said secondary cover (120) is mounted, said secondary cover made of a tubular section (121) and from said lower edge of said tubular section (121) a circular flange (122) is originated having diameter (d1) larger than diameter (d2) of said center orifice (115) of said main cover (111).

The installation of both covers (111) and (120) in said turning mechanism (10) and said beam (PI) makes up a protective wrap of said dented wheel (30) and of said rotating screw (41) of said transversal shaft (40). When said transversal shaft (40) Is rotated (R) by said crank (50) or electric motor (60) rotation (r1) of said dented wheel (30) is activated and consequently tilting down said beam (P1) for a safe maintenance of said lamp (LU) or any other device.

The turning mechanism of said illumination post provides significant advantages in relation with the documents found in the prior art, thus perfectly meeting criteria that define a utility model, that is, promotes combination and modification of elements already known and brings into knowledge a novel form or arrangement thus having as result functional improvement in its use or in its manufacture.

A preferred embodiment of this present utility model was described and any and all modifications and/or alterations should be understood as falling into the scope of this utility model herein described.