US2880006A - Lamp bulb holder - Google Patents

Description

March 31, 1959 J. P. ZAZAC LAMP BULB HOLDER Filed Aug. 22, 1957 lnven tor': Joseph P. Zazac, b9 W lllllllllllllll l 5 His A t tOTZ United States Patent LAMP BULB HOLDER Joseph P. Zazac, Painesville, Ohio, assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application August 22, 1957, Serial No. 679,565

2 Claims. (Cl. 279-2) This invention relates to a lamp bulb holder, and more specifically to an apparatus for holding lamp bulbs which is readily adaptable for accommodating various size lamp bulbs.

A bulb holder which is readily adaptable for different sizes and shapes of bulbs has application on various types of lamp making machinery. For example, it may be used to hold an electric projection bulb during the application of an opaque coating to portions of the outside of the bulb; or it may be used to support a bulb in a turret or conveyor of an automatic lamp making machine.

It is an object of my invention to provide an improved lamp bulb holder.

A further object of my invention is to provide a holder for lamp bulbs which is readily adaptable for accommodating various size lamp bulbs.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds and the features of novelty which characterize my invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

Briefly stated, according to the invention, a lamp bulb is slipped over a bulb holder and is held in place by a series of fingers, one or more of which are biased radially outwardly against the inner wall of the lamp. The location of the bulb holder fingers with respect to the spindle of the bulb holder is variable, as well as the distance that a bulb may be slipped over the bulb holder.

The invention will best be understood when described in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 represents an assembled bulb holder and lamp bulb shown partly in section; and

Fig. 2 is an exploded view of the working parts of the bulb holder.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, the bulb holder consists of a hollow cylindrical body 1 having one or more elongated openings 2 in its wall and the body being internally threaded at both ends. Retaining finger members 3 extend radially outwardly of the wall of the body 1, the fingers 3 having lips 3a which bear against the inside surface of the body 1 as a stop to retain the fingers 3 in the body 1. A rubber cylindrical compression bushing or biasing member 4 bears against the inner surface of the fingers 3 and biases them radially outwardly of the body 1 through the openings 2. When a bulb 5 is assembled over the bulb holder, the bushing 4 is compressed by the fingers 3. The fingers 3 in turn bear against the neck 5a or inside surface of a bulb 5 and retain the bulb 5 in assembled position with respect to the bulb holder.

The bulb holder is held in proper position in the lamp making machine by means of a spindle or base member 6. The location of the bulb 5 with respect to the spindle 6 is variable and can be fixed by the appropriate adjustment of an adjusting screw 7 threaded in the body 1 and spindle 6. Two lock nuts 8 fix the adjusting screw 7 in the selected position to thereby fix the location of the bulb 5 with respect to the spindle 6.

The bulb 5 may be slipped over the bulb holder a variable distance, which is determined by screwing an adjustable tip bolt 9 further into or out of the body 1. A tip lock nut 10 secures the tip bolt 9 in the desired position.

The fingers 3 can be inserted or removed from the body 1 through the opening at either end of the body 1. When in assembled position, the fingers act to support the rubber compression bushing 4 in operative position within the interior of body 1 inasmuch as the bushing is fitted into recesses 3b on the inner surfaces of the fingers. The lower edge walls of such recesses prevent the bushing from dropping down out of engagement with the fingers.

The fingers may be composed of any suitable highfriction material which will not scratch the bulb surface, such as a felt-containing material or a plastic composition. The fingers retain the bulb in assembled relation by frictionally engaging the inner surface of the bulb.

It is to be understood that while the construction shown by the drawings utilizes three fingers 3 the number of fingers may be increased or decreased at will.

The bulb holder herein described ofiers ease of assembly of the bulb with the holder, while making it possible to change the size and/or shape of the bulb to be processed merely by changing the bulb holder fingers and possibly by adjusting the bulb holder tip. Various size bulbs are readily located with respect to the holder spindle 6 by adjustment of the adjusting screw 7.

While I have described only a preferred modification of my invention by way of illustration, many modifications may occur to those skilled in the art. I, therefore, wish to have it understood, that modifications may be made within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A lamp bulb holder for supporting a lamp bulb comprising a hollow cylindrical body having a plurality of openings extending through the wall of the body, a retaining finger in each of said openings, said fingers each having an outer face extending beyond the wall of said hollow body and an inner face located within the interior of said body provided with a recess therein, and a cylindrical compression bushing supported by the recesses in said fingers within the interior of said body and biasing said fingers radially outwardly through the openings into engagement with the inner surface of the lamp bulb.

2. A lamp bulb holder for supporting a lamp bulb comprising a hollow cylindrical body having at least one elongated opening in its wall, a retaining finger in said opening arranged to engage the inner surface of the lamp bulb so as to frictionally retain the bulb, a rubber cylindrical bushing bearing against the inner surface of the finger for biasing said finger radially outwardly through the openings in said body, whereby said fingers engage and frictionally retain the bulb.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,430,598 Barsam Nov. 11, 1947 2,537,492 Tidland Ian. 9, 1951 2,576,254 Fletcher Nov. 27, 1951

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