Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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F I ELD OF TH E I NVENT I ON
The pEesent invention relates to a cove
fixture and, more particularly, to such fixture for
indirect lighting.
BACKGROI~ND OF THE INVENTION
Cove fixtures generally serve to conceal
light. They usually take the shape of a concave trough
in which are concealed a series of fluorescent lamps.
In most cases, they extend the entire length of a room
with the back wall of the trough attached to the wall
of a room near the ceiling; they may also extend
between and mounted to transverse supports or hang
freely. One problem usually associated with such
fixtures is that, whenever the dimensions of a room are
altered, the coves must be arranged so as to provide
uniform distribution of light on the ceiling. These
coves, are of a standard size; thus in rearranging the
coves to suit the new si~e of the room, some cove
fixtures must be removed or added but, very often, the
total length of the coves does not equal that of the
room wall whereby some dark areas are left on the lit
wall where there is a gap between the cove fixtures. To
overcome the problem of having a non-continuous length
of cove fixtures along a room wall, some cove ixtures
have been divised so as to be cut to complete the
overall length; however~ in these cases, there still
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remains the problem of dark spots on the ceiling as a
result of the absence of light being emitted from those
cut cove fixtures.-
OBJECTS AND STATEMENT OF_THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to
overcome the above problems. This is achieved by
providing a cove fixture where the lamps inside the
entire fixture arrangement may be adjustably positioned
to provide optimum light distribution on the ceiling of
a room.
The present invention provides a trough ~ody
having grooves so that the accessories supporting the
fluorescent lamps may be slidably moved within the body
thus allowiny the lamps to be positioned in the cove
fixture in a way that distribution of light on the
ceiling may be made uniform.
The present invention, therefore, relates to
a cove fixture for indirect lighting which comprises,
in its broadest aspect, an extruded elongated trough
body having a first wall means for mounting to a
building structure and a second wall means extending
outwardly and upwardly from the lower porticn of the
first wall means; a third wall means extending upwardly
from the inner face of the second wall means a first
support means extends lengthwise of the inner face of
first wall means while a second support means extend
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lengthwise of one face of the third wall means and in
substantially facing horizontal alignment with the
first support means. The opposite ends of fluorescent-
supporting plate means are removably and slidably
mounted in the first and second support means
respectively so that one or more fluorescent lamps
received within the body may be longitudinally ad~usted
therein to provide optimum light distribution in a room
wherein said light fixture is mounted.
In one preferred form of` the invention,
groove means are provided to allow the assembly
of an associated juxtaposed similarly constructed cove
fixture in longitudinal alignment with said fixture so
that adjustment of a lamp may be made in two adjacent
cove fixtures.
Other objects and further scope of appli-
cability of the present invention will ~ecome apparent
from the detailed description given hereinafter. It
should be understoo~, however, that this detailed
description, while indicating preferred embodiments of
the invention, is given by way of illustration only,
since various changes and modifications within the
spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent
to those skilled in the art.
BRIEF D~SCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
For a better understanding of the present
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invention, reference is add to the following des-
cription taken in connection with the accompanying
drawings in whlch:
- figure l is a top perspective view, with
parts broken away, showing one ~embodiment of a cove
fixture made in accordance with the present invention;
- figure 2 is an end view of the cove fixture
shown in figure l;
- figure 3 is a top plan view of a supporting
plate means of the present invention;
- figure 4 is a top plan view of a variant of s
the supporting plate means;
- figure 5 is a cross-sectional side view
showing another embodiment of a cove fixture made in
accordance with the present invention; and
- figure 6 is an elevational view of a
supporting wall forming part of the cove fixture of
figure S.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to ~igures l and 2, there is shown
a cove fixture, generally denoted 10, consisting of
elongated concave trough body having a rear vertical :
side-wall 14 and an outwardly and upwardly extending
curved front wall 16. The vertlcal side-wall 14 is
adapted to be mounted to the wall of a building ~ .
structure, preferably adjacent the ceiling of a room.
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The vertical wall 14 of the trough body has,
on the inner face thereof, a series of longitudinal
horizontally extending grooves 18, 20 and 22 while the
curved wall 16 has, on its inner face, a series of
longitudinal grooves 24, 26, 28 and 30; the function of
these grooves will be described further hereinbelow.
Upwardly extending from the inner face of the
curved wall 16, is a third wall 32 having its lower
part integrally formed of the curved wall while the
upper part thereof includes a longitudinal horizontally
extending groove 34 which is in horizontal alignment
with groove 18 of the vertical wall 14.
Figure 3 shows a plate 36 which has a
straight edge 38 engageable in groove 34 and an
opposite upwardly inclined edge 40 which is engageable
in groove 18. Plate 36 has a central opening 42 for
securing an electrical socket 44 by appropriate fas-
tening means ~not shown). With reference to figure 1,
there are shown two plates 3~ arranged side-by-side
each carrying a respective socket 44. These sockets
serve to electrically connect one or more fluorescent
lamps 46.
Figure 4 shows a variant of plate 36; it
consists of a larger plate 48 with edges 50 and 52
engaging the respective grooves 34 and ~8; a pair of
openings 54, 56 serve to secure a pair of sockets 44. .
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The inner face of the curved wall 16 displays
two longitudinally extending shoulder portions 58 and
60 on which rest opposite edges of a ballast device 62
for the operation of the fluorescent lamps. The top
edges 64 and 66 of groove 24 are in horizontal align-
ment with shoulders 58 and 60 so that the ballast
device may also rest thereon.
Wall 32 forms a partition defining a pair of
chambers 68 and 70, the former enclosing the ballast
device while the latter receives electrical wires (not
shown) connecting the fixture to an electrical outlet
(not shown).
The upper free extremities of walls 14 and 16
define projecting portions 72, 7~ defining a lip
underneath which is engaged the edges of a flexed
reflector 76. This reflector extends between a pair of
sockets and underneath the fluorescent lamp. Such
reflector is well known in the art and will not be
described in detail; they include an upper reflective
surface for reflecting light.
Grooves 22, 26 and 28 which extend longi-
tudinally of the cove fixture serve only at the
opposite ends of the fixture means, such as screws, to
secure end platesr having a shape corresponding to the
cross-sectional shape of the cove f`ixture, for closing,
if required, the opposite ends of the trough body.
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Referring ~.o fiyure 5, a cove fixture 10
resembling cove fixture 10' is shown. The inner faces
of walls 14' and 16' are identical to that of walls 14
and 16 with the exception of two projecting ribs 80 and
82. Each of these ribs includes side grooves in which
are engaged the projections 88 and 90 ~see figure 6) of
the lower part of a removeable portion wall 91. This
wall displays a longitudinal groove 92 the function of
which is the same as that of groove 34 in figure 1,
that is to support plate 36.
Grooves 20, 24 and 30 of the cove fixtures
shown in figures 1 and 5 serve to receive coupling
rods, such as that shQwn as 94 in figure 1, allowing
similarly constructed cove fixtures to be mounted in a
juxtaposed arrangement. Hence, cove fixtures may be
cut to suit the exact length of a room and are then
connected by means of these coupling rods which are
slid in aligned grooves of adjacent fixtures. Holes 96
in these rods allow fastening means, such as screws, to
secure the rods in the grooves. Thus, with a series of
cove fixtures arranged in juxtaposed fashion in
accordance with the present invention and disposed
along the entire length of a wall, the fluorescent
lamps within the fixtures may be adjusted lengthwise by
sliding the plates 36 (36' or 48) ~in their grooves to
provide optimum light distribution on an adjacent
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ceiling. Similarly, the ballast device 62 for each
fluorescent lamp may be slid on the shoulder portions
of the trough body. If desired, end plates may be
mounted at opposite ends of the body to h~de the
contents of the cove fixture; this is achieved by
securing the end plates to the cove fixtures by means
of screws which engage the respective grooves 22, 26
and 28 of the body.
Although the invention has been described
above with respect to two specific forms, it will be
evident to the person skilled in the art that it may be
refined and modified in various ways. It is therefore
wished to have it understood that the present invention
should not be limited in interpretation except by the
terms of the following claims.
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SUPPLEMENTARY DISCLOSURE
I-t has been found that the cove fixture made
in accordance with the present invention may be shaped
to include two lamps disposed in parallel relationship
to one another.
Figure 7 is a cross-sectionnal side view
showing another embodiment of a cove fixture made in
accordance wi.th the present invention.
Referring to fig. 7 the cove fixture consists
of a trough body 110 somewhat larger in cross-section
than body 10 described above, with a rear vertical side
wall 114 and an outwardly and upwardly extending front
wall 116. The vertical side wall 114 is structured to
be mounted to the wall of a building structure as
explained above. The inner face of vertical wall 114
has a series of horizontal longitudinally extending
supports 118, 120 and 122.
Upwardly extending from and integral with the
inner face of the front wall 116, a third wall 132 has,
at its upper part, a hoxizontal longitudinally
extending edge 134.
A plate 136, of the type illustrated in
figures 3 and 4, is supported on a projecting edge 121
of support 120 and secured to the edge 134 by means of
an attachment screw 138. In this embodiment, plate 136
is structured with openings ~not shown) to fixedly
receive a pair of electrical sockets 144, 145 into
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which are connected the ends of two fluorescen-t lamps
146, 148, respectively.
The trough body 110 has, integrally formed in
its inner bottom wall 149, a longi-tudinal groove 150
and, integrally formed at -the upper extremi-ty of its
front wall 116, a second groove lSl, both grooves
adapted to receive coupling rods, such as that shown as
94 in figure 1, thus allowing similarly constructed
cove fixtures to be mounted in a juxtaposed
arrangement.
A flexed reflector 158 has its opposite ends
160 and 162 adapted to engage respective edges 164, 166
of the rear wall 114 and front wall 116 and extends
beneath lamps 146 and 148.
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