US2725465A - Mounting strap for jamb lights - Google Patents

Description

1955 D. D. DE LASHMUTT MOUNTING STRAP FOR JAMB LIGHTS v Filed April 6, 1955 INVENTOR. .DaMdQDeZaMmu/l ArrozeMfY This invention relates to improvements in jamb lights of the type employed for illuminating the door locks v and the porch flooradjacent the door.

Residents of ordinary single family dwellings are greatly inconvenienced when returning from a visit or a place of entertainment on a dark evening by the difli culty they experience in unlocking their doors. In the first place they usually carry an assortment of keys on a key ring or chain and there are frequently several keys for the same type of locks, which are so nearly alike that it is difficult to select the key for a particular lock. Even where the owner has marked the key in some distinguishing manner and is thus enabled to select the right key in the dark he finds it dilficult to insert the key in the lock. If as is often the case, the owner returns from late shopping with an assortment of packages he must lay them on the porch floor while selecting the right key and inserting it in the lock.

In most cases residences are provided with porch lights but the lights are not kept burning when the occupants are out and the control switches are invariably on the inside and therefore cannot be operated until the door is opened.

It is the object of this invention to produce a lamp assembly of such a construction that it can be readily installed in the door jamb and connected with the house lighting circuit, which lamp assembly shall have a switch accessible from the outside and be so positioned and arranged that it will illuminate the lock and the porch floor.

I am aware that lamp assemblies of the type usually referred to as keyhole lamps have been invented by others and I therefore do not claim any novelty in the idea broadly, but rather in the lamp assembly per se that will now be described in detail, for which purpose reference will be had to the accompanying drawing in which the invention is illustrated and in which Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a strap forming an element of my assembly and a part of my invention;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section taken on line 2-2 Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a transverse section taken on line 3-3 Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a section taken on line 4-4 Figure 5 and Figure 5 is a view, partly in section and partly in elevation, taken on line 55 Figure 4.

In the drawing, numeral designates an outlet box of usual construction having at least one opening 11. The ends of the box are provided with the usual adjustable brackets 12 and with threaded lugs to which the strap 13 and the face plate 14 are attached by screws 15. The means used for attaching the strap and the face plate to the box are conventional and no novelty is claimed therefor.

Strap 13 is provided with an opening comprising two substantially rectangular areas A and B which are connected along the base of area A forming an opening of the shape shown. Reference numeral 16 designates a lamp socket which is available on the market and comprises the hollow substantially cubical body containing the necessary contact elements for effecting electrical connections with the center and the screw base of a small electric lamp 17. Since no novelty is claimed for the lamp socket element and since the same is a well known article of commerce the details of its con- States Patent 0 struction will not be described. The dimensions of the socket element 16 are such that it can pass through opening A. The front end of the socket element is provided with a projection 18 whose sides are provided with grooves 19 for the reception of the vertical edges 20, as shown in Figures 4 and 5. Strap 13 has upstanding edges 21 that serve to separate the face plate from the strap a suflicient distance to provide space for projection 18 and for a screen 22 for preventing insects from entering the box.

The strap has a depressed circular area whose bottom has been designated by numeral 23. The bottom has an opening 24 for the reception of the tubular threaded neck 25 of switch 26. Nuts 27 serve to hold the switch in position as shown in Figure 5. The switch has been shown as of the toggle type and is operated by handle 28. A push button type switch can, of course, be substituted. Wires 29 and 30 are connected to the volt lighting circuit as shown and the lamp and switch are connected in series with wires 29 and 30 in a manner well understood.

The strap is covered by the face plate 14 in the manner shown in Figures 4 and 5. The face plate forms the subject of a design application of even date herewith and is provided with a number of transverse louvers 30 through which light from lamp 17 can emerge: Some of the light will fall directly onto the door and the lock and a portion will be reflected downwardly and illuminate the porch floor.

The relative position of the lock and the lamp has not been shown as it is not considered material. It is substantially as shown in Figure 1 of U. S. Patent 2,562,687.

The face plate is provided with a depressed area 31 having an opening through which lever 28 extends, as shown in Figure 5. A resilient gasket 32 may be positioned between the outer nut 27 and the depressed area of the face plate to prevent the entrance of water although there is very small likelihood of water entering because of the sheltered position of the fixture.

The depressed area 23 to which the switch is attached, serves to bring the handle 28 to a position where it is sufliciently retracted to make it improbable that it will accidently be hit by persons walking in and out and still be readily available when the switch is to be operated.

What is claimed as new is:

A strap for use in mounting a switch and an incandescent lamp socket and holding them in a predetermined position in an elongated switch and outlet box, said strap comprising a rectangular metal plate of a size to cover the open side of an outlet box of the type mentioned, the plate having an opening for the passage therethrough of light, said opening having a width slightly less than the width of the plate, the side edges of the opening being parallel, the lower portion of the opening having side edges that are spaced a shorter distance apart than the width of the side edges of the upper part of the opening forming accessible edges for use in attaching a lamp socket body thereto, the plate having a circular depressed area below the upper opening, the bottom of the depressed area having an opening for use in attaching a switch to the plate, the side edges having narrow portions thereof projecting outwardly forming spacers for a face plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,230,643 Anderson June 19, 1917 2,254,842 Gray Sept. 2, 1941 2,562,687 Anderson July 31, 1951 2,580,056 Wheeler Dec. 25,

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