Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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IMPROVED LAMP POST ARM
This invention concerns an improved lamp post arm,
and more particularly an arm fixed on the one side to a
support element, such as the post of the lamp post or a
wall, and supporting or being connected to a lighting
unit on the other side.
Public lighting devices equipped with an arm,
generally attached in a more or less horizontal
position to a vertical support such as a lamp post or a
support wall, are well known in the art. The
functionality, as well as the external appearance of
the lighting device, and in particular of the said arm,
have led to arms with complex shapes becoming very
popular. In order to make such complex structures,
fixed cast arms are used, made of cast aluminium or
cast iron for example. This technique involves a
certain number of disadvantages. Consequently an arm
that is cast has defined dimensions, and different arm
dimensions are not possible with the same tooling, but
on the contrary other moulds of different lengths are
required to make cast arms of varying lengths.
Furthermore, the mechanical resistance of a cast part
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is not always optimal, especially when the structure is
complex and features weak areas, as is often the case
with lamp post arms.
The purpose of this invention is to provide a lamp
post arm that does not have the above mentioned
disadvantages.
The purpose of this invention is therefore to
propose a lamp post arm that is easy and cheap to make
and assemble.
The purpose of this invention is also to propose a
lamp post arm which allows them to be made to the
dimensions and shapes required, with good mechanical
resistance.
The purpose of this invention is also to propose a
modular lamp post arm, which is to say that its shape
and functionality can be changed at will, without a new
arm needing to be required each time. This is
especially important to satisfy using a same design the
various models required for complete equipment of a
site that can be provided in different heights, numbers
of lighting units and therefore arms, and also the
length of these arms.
The purpose of this invention is therefore a lamp,
post arm fixed on the one side to a support element,
such as a post or a wall, and connected to a lighting
unit on the other side, characterised in that the said
arm has a drawn section made of a material with good
mechanical resistance with a given transversal section
that is constant along the full length of the arm.
Preferably, the said arm comprises internal bosses
which define an imaginary cylinder.
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In a preferred embodiment, the said imaginary
cylinder co-operates with an additional cylindrical
projection provided on or connected to the said support
element, in order to attach the said arm to the said
support element.
In a preferred embodiment, the said arm is
assembled on the said support element.
In a preferred embodiment, the said arm has
cavities that are adapted in particular to house
cables.
In a preferred embodiment, the said cavities are
sealed by means of removable sealing means such as
cover plates.
In a preferred embodiment, the said arm comprises
connection means such as cavities or ribs adapted to
accommodate external elements fitted onto it, equipped
with connection elements in addition to the said
connection means.
In a preferred embodiment, the said arm is
attached to a support element such that it forms an
angle of between approximately 900 and 120 with
respect to the support element.
In a preferred embodiment, the said arm may be
curved in the longitudinal plane.
This invention al.so concerns a public lighting
lamp post comprising one or more arms as described
above.
Other characteristics and advantages will become
clearer in the following detailed description of
several of its embodiments, given in reference to the
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appended drawings, given by way of non restrictive
examples and in which:
- figure 1 is a diagrammatic cross sectional
view of an arm according to a preferred embodiment of
this invention,
- figure 2 is a similar view to figure 1,
showing another embodiment of the invention,
- figures 3 to 5 are diagrammatic cross
sectional views of other embodiments of this invention,
- figure 6 is a diagrammatic perspective view
showing a public lighting device according to one
preferred embodiment of the invention, in which the arm
has the section represented in figure 5,
- figure 7 is a diagrammatic perspective view
of a public lighting device according to another
embodiment of the invention,
- figure 8 shows yet another embodiment of the
invention, in which the arm has the section shown in
figure 1, and,
- figure 9 also shows a diagrammatic
perspective view of another embodiment of the
invention, in which the arm has the section shown in
figure 2.
The public lighting devices of the invention
traditionally include an arm 10, generally called a
lamp post arm, that is fixed on the one side to a
support element 20, such as the post of the lamp post,
as shown in figures 6, 8 and 9, or a support wall, as
shown in figure 7. on the other side, with respect to
the support element 20, the arm 10 is connected to a
lighting unit 30, which will not be described in
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further detail here as it is not directly connected to
the invention.
According to the invention, the arm 10 has a
profiled section that is created by drawing or
5 extruding a material with good mechanical resistance,
in particular aluminium, and a given transversal
section that is constant along the full length of the
arm. This technique permits lamp post arms to be
produced of any complex shapes or lengths required. In
particular, several arms may be manufactured from a
same extruded section. The profiled section may also be
machined after extrusion. Advantageously, the profile
of the arm 10 has several internal bosses 11, which
define contact surfaces 12 on their inside radial edge,
advantageously forming an imaginary cylinder 13 on the
inside of the arm 10. The presence of these bosses 11
improves on the one hand the resistance of the arm 10,
and on the other hand allows, by means of the imaginary
cylinder 13, to attach the arm onto the support element
20, in particular by sliding the said imaginary
cylinder 13 onto a cylindrical projection (not shown)
located on or connected to the said support element 20.
The said arm may possibly, among others, be screwed
onto the said support element, for example by means of
threads made in the holes 15, and which allow the said
arm 10 to be screwed onto the said support element 20.
As a variant, it can also be envisaged to glue and/or
weld the said arm 10 to the said support element 0, or
to assemble it inside a connecting bush 60 attached to
the post 20, in particular by using the imaginary
cylinder to slide a connecting element in it.
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Due to the fact that any shape is possible for the
arm 10, one advantageous characteristic of the
invention consists of providing cavities or pre-
machining 16, 17, running along the length of the arm
10. These cavities 16, 17, can be adapted to
accommodate cables, in which case these said cavities
are advantageously sealed by means of removable sealing
means 18, for example such as a plate or a covering mat
or tarpaulin. As a variant, these cavities 16, 17, can
also be used to accommodate and attach additional
external elements such as decorations, which allow the
external shape of the said arm to be modulated very
easily from a single central arm.
More precisely, the arm 10 may comprise connection
or attachment means, 16, 17, 19, which can either be in
the form of the previously mentioned cavities 16, 17,
or in the form of ribs 19, as shown in figure 5. The
external added elements 50 comprise in this case
additional connection or attachment elements. Thus in
figure 5, the external added element 50, which in this
case is a decorative element, has a groove of the same
shape as the external rib 19 of the arm 10, so that the
element 50 can be clipped on under the arm 10. Thanks
to this modularity, a wide variety of shapes can be
obtained without the machine tooling of the said arm
needing to be modified, by simply adding various
external elements that can also be of any shape.
It is also possible to provide for the machining
of the arm, for example to make orifices as shown in
figure 7. In the variant shown in figure 8, the arm 10
forms an angle a of between 90 and 120 with respect
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to the support element 20. This angle a may be less than 90 (in which case
the arm
will slope downwards) or greater than 120 if desired. In the variant shown in
Figure 9, the arm 10 is curved in its longitudinal plane, whilst maintaining a
constant
transversal section. A brace 40 extends between the post 20 and the arm 10.
5 This invention therefore provides an arm structure that simultaneously
optimises the following functions:
- good mechanical resistance due to extruded aluminium profiled section
that has rio welds, which is not altered even if the arm is subsequently
machined to
change its appearance,
10 - any external shapes, especially complex geometrical ones, and in
particular different from the usual smooth sections such as round, square or
rectangular profiled sections,
- modular external shapes, by means of added external elements,
- different applications on a same section, according to the length of the
section used,
- easy attachment of the support element by means of the imaginary
cylinder inside the arm structure,
- improved functionality and in particular cable runs that are completely
protected and hidden.
Other modifications may be made by those skilled in the art within the scope
of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.
