CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to U.S. Application No. 63/125,664 filed on December 15, 2020, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a housing assembly for a light source and, more particularly, to a lamp head connection for connecting an ultraviolet (UV) light source to a lamp stand.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The prior art abounds with numerous housing assemblies which can be used with various types of light sources for various illumination purposes. In particular, UV disinfecting is widely used in hospitals, healthcare facilities, doctor’s offices, and similar environments where germs can easily spread by virtue of human interaction with patients, instruments, surfaces, and the like. There are many, commercially available UV disinfectant systems which can be installed in hospitals or similar facilities where curtailment of the spread of germs is paramount.

U.S. Patent 9,901 ,652 (‘652 Patent), which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes, discloses a UV disinfection apparatus that can be used in a hospital or similar facility. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the present invention relates to a lamp head connection assembly for a light source.

In a further aspect, the present invention relates to a lamp head connection for a UV light source and a visible light source.

In yet a further aspect, the present invention relates to a lamp head connection for a UV light source which can be easily mounted to focus disinfecting UV light on surfaces, instruments, tools, or the like which are periodically subject to human interaction. In another aspect, the present invention relates to a lamp head connection which allows the lamp head to be readily repositioned or replaced with longer or shorter lamp heads as needed.

These and further features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, wherein reference is made to the figures in the accompanying drawings

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figs. 1 A-1 B show the lamp head and an exploded view of the lamp head, respectively.

Figs. 2A-2D, shows top, front, side, and rear views of the lamp head, respectively.

Fig. 3A shows an exploded view of the lamp assembly.

Fig. 3B is a view taken along the lines 3B — 3B of Fig. 3A.

Fig. 3C shows a perspective view of a portion of the lamp assembly.

Figs. 4A-4E show perspective, side, top, front, and bottom views, respectively, of the lamp head connected to a lamp stand.

Fig. 5 shows a mounting bracket in place of a lamp stand.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Turning first to Figs. 1A and 1 B, the lamp head of the present invention is shown generally as 10. The lamp head 10 includes elongate housing 12 formed of upper wall 11 , lower wall 13, and rear wall 15. Mounted in housing 12 is lighting strip 14 on which are disposed light emitting diodes 5 (LEDs). In a preferred embodiment the LEDs 5 include both ultraviolet (UV) LEDs and non-UV LEDs. The UV LEDs are used to disinfect or sanitize objects placed under the lamp. The non-UV LEDs provide an indication of where the lights are shining, UV not being visible, and are bright enough to discourage users from looking at the UV lights and possibly damaging their eyesight. The housing could be molded or extruded. In a preferred embodiment housing 12 is made of extruded aluminum. Lamp head 10 further includes reflector 16 which directs the light outwardly from the front opening of housing 12. Housing 12 includes a pair of end caps 18.

In a preferred embodiment, lamp head 10 includes a motion sensor 20 which will detect motion in the area around the light and turn the UV light off if motion is detected. The motion sensor can be a passive infrared sensor, capacitive sensor, inductive sensor, infrared sensor, heat or thermo sensor, imager, or the like. The lamp head 10 also preferably includes at least one indicator light 22 which will change colors to indicate the status of the UV light, e.g., whether the UV light is on. The lamp head 10 can also include a port 23. Port 23 can be of any well-known type including, but not limited to a power inlet, USB port, micro USB port, etc. As depicted in the drawing, port 23 is a micro USB port such that a user can connect an external device and download information regarding the disinfection cycles of the light. It will also be appreciated that more than one port can be included.

Turning to Figs. 3 and 4, there is shown the lamp head 10 attached to stand assembly 50. Stand assembly 50 includes a base shown generally as 52. Attached to base 52 is a riser plate 54. Riser plate 54 can be attached to base 52 by any means well known to those skilled in the art. As shown in Fig. 3A, riser plate 54 has lower foot plate 55 which is affixed to base 52 by a plurality of screws. As best seen in Figs. 3B and 3C, the upper end of riser plate 54 has a generally L-shaped head 56 including a pair of holes 57. Riser plate 54 has an elongate opening 59 which provides access to holes 57.

We turn to the means for connecting the lamp head 10 to a stand assembly shown generally as 50. As best seen in Fig. 2D, the rear of housing 12 includes an elongate slot 24. In a preferred embodiment, slot 24 extends along the length of housing 12 except for the very ends. Disposed within housing 12 is a nut plate 26 (Fig. 3C) which is slidably positionable along the length of housing 12. Nut plate 26 includes holes 28 for receiving bolts or screws. Holes 28 of nut plate 26 are in line with elongate slot 24. Accordingly, screws, bolts, or the like can be attached to nut plate 26 regardless of its position along the length of housing 12. In a preferred embodiment nut plate 26 includes a tab 30 which extends out of elongate slot 24 to allow for easy positioning of nut plate 26 along the length of housing 12 from outside housing 12.

Fig. 3C shows how nut plate 26 and head 56 interact. To make it easier to see head 56, riser plate 54 is indicated in phantom. Housing 12 is not shown in Fig. 3C. To attach lamp head 10 to head 56, screws I bolts 60 are threaded into holes 57, through elongate slot 24, and through holes 28 of nut plate 26. When screws I bolts 60 are tightened, the pressure exerted by the threads of screws I bolts 60 on nut plate 26 prevent nut plate 26 from sliding along the length of housing 12. Opening 59 (shown in phantom) in riser plate 54 allows for access to the screws to attach lamp head 10. After the lamp head is attached, cover plate 65 can be affixed to the back of riser plate 54 by any means known to those skilled in the art.

As noted above, in a preferred embodiment, nut plate 26 includes tab 30 which extends out from slot 24. Likewise, in this preferred embodiment, head 26 includes a hole 61 for receiving tab 30. It will be appreciated that the exact shape of hole 61 can vary and may instead constitute a slot, or a notch in the side of head 56. In fact, head 56 may simply be sized I shaped such that tab 30 does not extend through it at all.

As shown in the drawings, lamp head 10 is mounted at a generally central position along its length. However it will be appreciated that during assembly of the lamp, lamp head 10 can be mounted at a non-central point. Because slot 24 is continuous along the length of housing 12, nut plate 26 can be easily slid back and forth along the housing. During assembly of the lamp, the nut plate 26 is moved to the desired position along the length of housing 12 and screws 60 are inserted as described above. Cover plate 65 is then attached.

As depicted, the controls for the lamp of the present invention may be contained within base 52. As shown in Fig. 3A, the controls are in the form of a printed circuit board assembly 70. It will be understood though that the controls could be mounted within housing 12 or even along riser plate 54. As shown in Fig. 4, the lamp includes a power supply 75, but it will be appreciated that the lamp could be powered by other means well known to those skilled in the art, e.g., battery power. Base 52 has a lower wall 90 to which is affixed gripper pad 91 , made of rubber or the like, which prevents the lamp from sliding and provides an amount of cushioning I protection for surfaces at risk of being scratched. It will be appreciated that various connectors and components which may be necessary for the operation of the light are not depicted in the drawings but are common in such devices and are well known to those skilled in the art. Likewise, the various screws, bolts, etc. used to assemble the lamp are not all described in detail herein.

Turning to Fig. 5 there is shown a bracket which can be used in place of stand assembly 50. The housing 12 is not shown. The nut plate 26 would be positioned in housing 12 again with the holes 28 in line with elongate slot 24, in the same way as it is shown in Fig. 2D. A bracket 80 having holes 82 in register with holes 28 can be attached to housing 12 using screws I bolts 60. It will be understood that the exact shape of bracket 80 can vary, so long as it include the holes for connecting to nut plate 26. Bracket 80 can include multiple additional holes, tabs, hooks, adhesives, or the like for mounting the bracket 80 onto various surfaces. In a preferred embodiment, bracket 80 also includes a hole 84 through which tab 30 of nut plate 26 can extend. It will be appreciated that hole 84 could be a notch or that bracket 80 could be shaped such that it is not in the way of tab 30 at all. The UV light stand of the present invention can be placed in a location to shine over and disinfect frequently touched surfaces, e.g., computer keyboard or mouse. The UV light stand can be placed in a location and frequently touched items be placed underneath the light for disinfection, e.g., cell phones, ear buds, car keys, etc. As noted above, the motion sensor will turn the UV lights off in response to detecting motion around the light. The light can also include a timer such that it will not turn the UV light back on again until after a certain amount of time with no motion detected. The timer can also be used to program periodic repeating UV disinfection cycles, provided no motion is detected at those times. The non-UV LED bulbs provide a visible indication of where the UV light will be and are bright enough to prevent users from looking into the housing at the UV bulbs.

The unique connection of the present invention allows for the lamp head to be positioned on different sized stands or other mounts with minimal change. If a larger lamp head is desired, the housing 12 can be extended and, if necessary to support the weight, a plurality of nut plates can be positioned along the length of the housing. If the lamp head is to be mounted off center, the nut plate 26 can be positioned anywhere along the length of the housing during assembly such that the lamp head can be attached to the lamp stand at a non-central location.

Although specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein in some detail, this has been done solely for the purposes of explaining the various aspects of the invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention as defined in the claims which follow. Those skilled in the art will understand that the embodiment shown and described is exemplary, and various other substitutions, alterations and modifications, including but not limited to those design alternatives specifically discussed herein, may be made in the practice of the invention without departing from its scope.