High-voltage lamp enclosure with access hatch

The high-voltage lamp enclosure with an access hatch enables safe lamp replacement by ensuring the connector is unpowered when the hatch is open, addressing the risk of electrical injury and device disruption during lamp replacement.

WO2025137779A1PCT designated stage Publication Date: 2025-07-03UVX INC
View PDF 6 Cites 0 Cited by

Patent Information

Application Number
PCT/CA2025/050226
Authority / Receiving Office
WO · WO
Patent Type
Applications
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2025-02-21
Publication Date
2025-07-03

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

High-voltage lamps pose a risk of electrical injury during replacement due to the need for power disconnection, which disrupts other devices and requires expertise, and existing enclosures do not adequately protect against accidental contact with high-voltage components.

Method used

A high-voltage lamp enclosure with an access hatch featuring a hinge-mounted hatch plate that swings between closed and opened positions, allowing safe lamp replacement by maintaining electrical contact only when the hatch is closed, using snap fit arms and alignment members for secure mounting and dismounting.

Benefits of technology

Facilitates safe and efficient lamp replacement by minimizing accidental contact with high-voltage components, ensuring the connector is unpowered when the hatch is open, thus reducing electrical hazards and eliminating the need for power disconnection.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

Smart Images

  • Figure CA2025050226_03072025_PF_FP_ABST
    Figure CA2025050226_03072025_PF_FP_ABST
Patent Text Reader

Abstract

Some embodiments of the present invention provide a high-voltage lamp enclosure having an access hatch, the enclosure comprising: an enclosure body; a high-voltage connector mounted within the enclosure body; one or more hinges mounted within the enclosure body; a hatch plate mounted to hinges, wherein the hinges are configured to swing the hatch plate between a closed position and an opened position; a lamp mount mounted to an inside side of the hatch plate and configured to retain a lamp, the lamp mount comprising a plurality of snap fit arms and a plurality of alignment members.
Need to check novelty before this filing date? Find Prior Art

Description

HIGH-VOLTAGE LAMP ENCLOSURE WITH ACCESS HATCHTechnical Field

[0001] The present disclosure is directed to lamp enclosures. More particularly, the present disclosure is directed to lamp enclosures with access hatches to access and replace an enclosed high-voltage lamp.Background

[0002] Electric lamps are used in various applications, most commonly illumination. Other applications include sanitization, wherein an ultraviolet lamp is used to emit ultraviolet light to sanitize a surface, area, or object.

[0003] Many electric lamps require a high voltage to operate. For example, some fluorescent lamps may require voltages of hundreds of volts (V) to operate. Ultraviolet lamps may require even higher voltages, for example over 1 ,000 V to operate. The high voltage to power a lamp may be provided by a lamp enclosure, where a lamp is mounted in a lamp enclosure. The lamp enclosure typically has a high-voltage voltage source for generating the high-voltage for the lamp, and a high-voltage connector or terminal for electrically connecting the lamp to the voltage source.

[0004] High-voltage components, for example high-voltage lamps and their enclosures, have the potential to be hazardous to individuals and equipment. If an individual or equipment inadvertently contacts a high-voltage component, the high-voltage component may generate an electrical current in the individual or equipment, thereby injuring the individual or damaging the equipment. The higher a voltage, the more likely, and the more dangerous, the electrical current generated by the voltage. As such, high-voltage lamps, and their high-voltage enclosures, have a higher likelihood of generating more dangerous electrical currents from inadvertent contact, than lower voltage lamps and their lower voltage enclosures.

[0005] Electric lamps, and in particular high-voltage lamps like ultraviolet lamps, typically need to be periodically replaced. Such lamps have limited lifetimes, and the lifetimes of thelamps is typically much shorter than the lifetime of a lamp enclosure. For example, an ultraviolet lamp may have a lifetime of only a few hundred to a few thousand hours, while an enclosure for the ultraviolet lamp may have a lifetime of over ten thousand hours.

[0006] Replacing a high-voltage lamp in a high-voltage lamp enclosure has the potential to expose an individual replacing the lamp, or the equipment used by the individual, to the high-voltage of the enclosure, for example the high-voltage connector which electrically connects the lamp to the power supply. As such, when replacing a high-voltage lamp within a lamp enclosure, the power may be turned off to the enclosure to reduce the risk from contacting the high-voltage connector of the enclosure.

[0007] T urning off the power to an enclosure may require turning off the power to other devices, thereby disrupting those other devices. Furthermore, an individual replacing a lamp may not always be familiar with the power source powering the enclosure, and therefore may be unable to confidently turn off power to the enclosure.

[0008] There is a general desire for an improved lamp enclosure which facilitates replacement of an enclosed lamp with a reduced likelihood of contacting high-voltage components of the lamp enclosure while replacing said lamp.

[0009] The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related thereto are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.Summary

[0010] Further aspects and example embodiments are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and / or described in the following description.

[0011] One aspect of the invention provides a high-voltage lamp enclosure having an access hatch, the enclosure comprising: an enclosure body defining a hatch aperture having an aperture periphery; a high-voltage connector mounted within the enclosure body; one or more hinges mounted within the enclosure body; a hatch plate having a plate periphery matching the aperture periphery and mounted to hinges, wherein the hinges are configured to swing the hatch plate between a closed position and an opened position; a lamp mount mounted to an inside side of the hatch plate and configured to retain a lamp,the lamp mount comprising a plurality of snap fit arms and a plurality of alignment members, wherein the alignment members are configured to align a lamp retained by the snap fit arms in electrical contact with the high-voltage connector when the hatch plate is in the closed position; wherein the hatch plate is in the closed position when the hatch plate is within the hatch aperture and an outside surface of the hatch plate is flush with an outside surface of the enclosure body, and the hatch plate is in the opened position when the outside surface of the hatch plate is substantially perpendicular to the hatch aperture and a lamp retained by the lamp mount is at least an access distance from the high-voltage connector.

[0012] Another aspect of the invention provide a method for replacing a high-voltage spent lamp with a high-voltage replacement lamp within a lamp enclosure having an access hatch, the method comprising: releasing a hatch plate in a closed position from an enclosure body, wherein the hatch plate is in the closed position when the hatch plate is secured to the enclosure body, the spent lamp is retained by a lamp mount and in contact with a high-voltage connector, and an outside surface of the hatch plate is flush with an outside surface of the enclosure body; swinging the hatch plate out from the enclosure body and down into a opened position, wherein the hatch plate is in the opened position when the outside surface of the hatch plate is substantially perpendicular to the enclosure body and the spent lamp retained by the lamp mount is at least an access distance from the high- voltage connector; pulling the spent lamp from the lamp mount while the hatch plate is in the opened position, thereby deflecting one or more snap fit arms of the lamp mount from a neutral position outward from the lamp mount until the spent lamp passes over the snap fit arms and is removed from the lamp mount, after which the hook of each of the snap fit arms returns to a neutral position; mounting a replacement lamp to the lamp mount while the hatch plate is in the opened position by centering the replacement lamp with the lamp mount and depressing the replacement lamp into the lamp mount, thereby deflecting the snap fit arms from a neutral position outward from the lamp mount until the replacement lamp passes over the snap fit arms, after which the snap fit arms return to the neutral position and hold the lamp within the replacement lamp mount; and replacing the hatch plate in the enclosure body by swinging the hatch plate from the closed position to the opened position, thereby contacting the replacement lamp with the high-voltage connector.

[0013] In addition to the exemplary aspects and embodiments described above, further aspects and embodiments will become apparent by reference to the drawings and by study of the following detailed descriptions.Brief Description of the Drawings

[0014] The accompanying drawings illustrate non-limiting example embodiments of the invention.

[0015] Fig. 1 is a cut-away side view of a high-voltage lamp enclosure with an access hatch in an opened position and a lamp mounted to a lamp mount, according to an example embodiment of the present invention.

[0016] Fig. 2 is a cut-away side view of the high-voltage lamp enclosure of fig. 1 in an opened position and a lamp removed from the lamp mount, according to an example embodiment of the present invention.

[0017] Fig. 3A is a bottom view of the high-voltage lamp enclosure of fig. 1 in a closed position, according to an example embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] Fig. 3B is a bottom view of the high-voltage lamp enclosure of fig. 1 in an opened position and a lamp mounted to the lamp mount, according to an example embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] Fig. 4 is a cut-away view of the high-voltage lamp enclosure of fig. 1 in a closed position and a lamp mounted to the lamp mount, according to an example embodiment of the present invention.

[0020] Fig. 5 is a block diagram of a method for replacing a high-voltage spent lamp with a high-voltage replacement lamp within a lamp enclosure, according to an example embodiment of the present invention.Description

[0021] Throughout the following description, specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the invention. However, the invention may be practiced without these particulars. In other instances, well known elements have not been shown ordescribed in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the invention. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative, rather than a restrictive sense.

[0022] Fig. 1 is a cut-away side view of high-voltage lamp enclosure 100 having access hatch 10. Fig. 1 depicts enclosure 100 in an opened position and lamp 28 mounted to lamp mount 24 (described in further detail below).

[0023] Enclosure 100 comprises enclosure body 12 defining hatch aperture 14 having an aperture periphery. Enclosure 100 further comprises high-voltage connector 16 mounted within enclosure body 12, one or more hinges 18 mounted within enclosure body 12, and hatch plate 20 having a plate periphery matching the aperture periphery and mounted to hinges 18. Hinges 18 are configured to swing hatch plate 20 between a closed position and the opened position.

[0024] Lamp mount 24 is mounted to an inside side of hatch plate 20 and is configured to retain lamp 28. The inside side of hatch plate 20 is the side of hatch plate 20 facing inside of enclosure body 12 when hatch plate 20 is within hatch aperture 14.

[0025] Lamp mount 24 comprises a plurality of snap fit arms 30 and a plurality of alignment members 32. Alignment members 32 are configured to align lamp 28 with high-voltage connector 16 and hold lamp 28 in electrical contact with high-voltage connector 16, when lamp 28 is retained by snap fit arms 30 and hatch plate 20 is in the closed position.

[0026] Hatch plate 20 is in the closed position when hatch plate 20 is within hatch aperture 14, and outside surface 26B of hatch plate 20 is flush with outside surface 32B of enclosure body 12. Hatch plate 20 is in the opened position when outside surface 26B of hatch plate 20 is substantially perpendicular to hatch aperture 14 and lamp 28 retained by lamp mount 24 is at least an access distance from high-voltage connector 16.

[0027] As further described below, lamp 28 may be removed from, and mounted to, lamp mount 24 when hatch plate 20 is in the opened position. The access distance is the minimum distance lamp 28 may be to high-voltage connector 16, in order to reduce the likelihood that an individual will accidentally contact high-voltage connector 16 when removing or installing lamp 28.

[0028] Figs. 2, 3A, 3B and 4 provide further views of high-voltage lamp enclosure 100. Like reference numerals are used between the figures to identify like features. Fig. 2 is a cutaway side view of enclosure 100 in the opened position, and lamp 28 removed from lamp mount 24. Fig. 3A is a bottom view of enclosure 100 in the closed position, and fig. 3B is a bottom view of enclosure 100 in the opened position and lamp 28 mounted to lamp mount 24. Fig. 4 is a side cut-away view of enclosure 10 in the closed position and lamp 28 mounted to lamp mount 24.

[0029] In some embodiments, high-voltage connector 16 comprises a high-voltage terminal connected to a high-voltage power source, and lamp enclosure 100 further comprises an interlock configured to connect the high-voltage terminal to the high-voltage power source when hatch plate 20 is in the closed position, and disconnect the high-voltage terminal from the high-voltage power source when hatch plate 20 is not in the closed position. As such, high-voltage connector 16 is only powered when hatch plate 20 is in the closed position, meaning lamp enclosure 100 is closed. High-voltage connector 16 is unpowered when hatch plate 20 is not in the closed position, meaning lamp enclosure 100 is open. Having high-voltage connector 16 unpowered when lamp enclosure 100 is open reduces the risk of accidentally contacting high-voltage connector 16 when lamp enclosure 100 is open, for example when installing or removing lamp 28.

[0030] In some embodiments, high-voltage connector 16 comprises one or more spring contacts, and a lamp retained by lamp mount 24 depresses the spring contacts when hatch plate 20 is in the closed position.

[0031] Hinges 18 may comprise a first hinge and a second hinge. Each of the first hinge and the second hinge may comprise a track and a pin configured to slide through the track. The track may comprise a first slot substantially parallel to hatch aperture 14 and a second slot at an angle to the first slot, wherein the first slot and second slot are connected by a curved slot. In such embodiments, hinges 18 may be configured to swing hatch plate 20 from the closed position to the opened position by first swinging hatch plate 20 out of hatch aperture 14, and then substantially perpendicular to hatch aperture 14.

[0032] In one or more embodiments of lamp enclosure 100:• lamp mount 24 comprises a gasket, and the gasket is compressed when a lamp is mounted to lamp mount 24;• lamp enclosure 100 further comprises a captive screw mounted to enclosure body 12 and configured to screw into hatch plate 20 when hatch plate 20 is in the closed position, thereby retaining hatch plate 20 in the closed position;• lamp enclosure 100 further comprises a screw spring, wherein the screw spring biases the captive screw away from hatch plate 20.

[0033] Alignment members 32 may comprise one or more nubs arranged in a pattern matching a pattern of notches on a lamp mounted to lamp mount 24. For example, alignment members 32 may comprise two nubs, and the two nubs match two notches in lamp 28.

[0034] In some embodiments, snap fit arms 30 comprise a body and a hook. The body of the snap fit arms may be tapered. The hook of each of the snap fit arms may comprise a triangular projection extending from the body of the snap fit arms.

[0035] A lamp may be mounted to lamp mount 24 by centering the lamp with lamp mount 24 and depressing the lamp into lamp mount 24, thereby deflecting the hook of each of snap fit arms 30 from a neutral position outward from lamp mount 24 until the lamp passes over each hook of snap fit arms 30, after which the hook of each of snap fit arms 30 returns to the neutral position and holds the lamp within lamp mount 24.

[0036] A lamp may be removed from lamp mount 24 by pulling the lamp from lamp mount 24, thereby deflecting the hook of each of snap fit arms 30 from the neutral position outward from lamp mount 24 until the lamp passes over each hook of snap fit arms 30 and is removed from lamp mount 24, after which the hook of each of snap fit arms 30 returns to the neutral position.

[0037] The lamp may be mounted to and removed from lamp mount 24 when hatch plate 20 is in the opened position.

[0038] Some embodiments of the present invention provide a method 200 for replacing a high-voltage spent lamp with a high-voltage replacement lamp within a lamp enclosure having an access hatch, for example lamp enclosure 100. Fig. 5 is a block diagram of metho 200.

[0039] Method 200 comprises:• step 202: releasing a hatch plate in a closed position from an enclosure body, wherein the hatch plate is in the closed position when the hatch plate is secured to the enclosure body, the spent lamp is retained by a lamp mount and in contact with a high-voltage connector, and an outside surface of the hatch plate is flush with an outside surface of the enclosure body;• step 204: swinging the hatch plate out from the enclosure body and down into an opened position, wherein the hatch plate is in the opened position when the outside surface of the hatch plate is substantially perpendicular to the enclosure body and the spent lamp retained by the lamp mount is at least an access distance from the high-voltage connector;• step 206: pulling the spent lamp from the lamp mount while the hatch plate is in the opened position, thereby deflecting one or more snap fit arms of the lamp mount from a neutral position outward from the lamp mount until the spent lamp passes over the snap fit arms and is removed from the lamp mount, after which the hook of each of the snap fit arms returns to the neutral position;• step 208: mounting a replacement lamp to the lamp mount while the hatch plate is in the opened position by centering the replacement lamp with the lamp mount and depressing the replacement lamp into the lamp mount, thereby deflecting the snap fit arms from the neutral position outward from the lamp mount until the replacement lamp passes over the snap fit arms, after which the snap fit arms return to the neutral position and hold the lamp within the replacement lamp mount; and• step 210: replacing the hatch plate in the enclosure body by swinging the hatch plate from the opened position to the closed position, thereby contacting the replacement lamp with the high-voltage connector.

[0040] In some embodiments of method 200, step 202, releasing the hatch plate in the closed position from the enclosure body, comprises unscrewing a captive screw from the hatch plate, and replacing the hatch plate in the enclosure body further comprises screwing the captive screw into the hatch plate.

[0041] In some embodiments, method 200 further comprises disconnecting a high-voltage terminal of the high-voltage connector from a high-voltage power source with an interlock when the hatch plate is released from the closed position, and connecting the high-voltageterminal of the high-voltage connector to the high-voltage power source with the interlock when the hatch plate is returned to the closed position.

[0042] While a number of exemplary aspects and embodiments have been discussed above, those of skill in the art will recognize certain modifications, permutations, additions and sub-combinations thereof. It is therefore intended that the following appended claims and claims hereafter introduced are interpreted to include all such modifications, permutations, additions and sub-combinations as are consistent with the broadest interpretation of the specification as a whole.Some Embodiments

[0043] In one or more embodiments of the present invention:• the high-voltage connector comprises two electrical terminals configured to contact two respective electrical terminals of a lamp;• the high-voltage connector has a voltage over 100 V;• the lamp comprises a high-voltage ultraviolet lamp;• the hinges comprise two hinges;• the hatch plate is substantially rectangular;• the hatch plate has rounded comers;• the hatch plate has a lamp aperture, wherein light emitted by a lamp mounted to the lamp mount passes through the lamp aperture;• the plurality of snap fit arms comprises four snap fit arms;• the four snap fit arms comprises two sets of two opposing snap fit arms; and / or• the plurality of snap fit arms comprises a first set of two snap fit arms arranged along a first side of the lamp aperture, and a second set of two snap fit arms arranged along a second side of the lamp aperture, wherein the first side of the lamp aperture opposes the second side of the lamp aperture.

[0044] In some embodiments of the present invention, the access distance is one of: at least 5 cm, at least 10 cm, and the like.Interpretation of Terms

[0045] Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims:• “comprise”, “comprising”, and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense, as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of “including, but not limited to”;• “connected”, “coupled”, or any variant thereof, means any connection or coupling, either direct or indirect, between two or more elements; the coupling or connection between the elements can be physical, logical, or a combination thereof;• “herein”, “above”, “below”, and words of similar import, when used to describe this specification, shall refer to this specification as a whole, and not to any particular portions of this specification;• “or”, in reference to a list of two or more items, covers all of the following interpretations of the word: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list, and any combination of the items in the list;• the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” also include the meaning of any appropriate plural forms.

[0046] Words that indicate directions such as “vertical”, “transverse”, “horizontal”, “upward”, “downward”, “forward”, “backward”, “inward”, “outward”, “vertical”, “transverse”, “left”, “right”, “front”, “back”, “top”, “bottom”, “below”, “above”, “under”, and the like, used in this description and any accompanying claims (where present), depend on the specific orientation of the apparatus described and illustrated. The subject matter described herein may assume various alternative orientations. Accordingly, these directional terms are not strictly defined and should not be interpreted narrowly.

[0047] For example, while processes or blocks are presented in a given order, alternative examples may perform routines having steps, or employ systems having blocks, in a different order, and some processes or blocks may be deleted, moved, added, subdivided, combined, and / or modified to provide alternative or subcombinations. Each of these processes or blocks may be implemented in a variety of different ways. Also, while processes or blocks are at times shown as being performed in series, these processes or blocks may instead be performed in parallel, or may be performed at different times.

[0048] In addition, while elements are at times shown as being performed sequentially, they may instead be performed simultaneously or in different sequences. It is therefore intended that the following claims are interpreted to include all such variations as are within their intended scope.

[0049] Where a component (e.g. a connector, hinge, plate, enclosure, lamp, etc.) is referred to above, unless otherwise indicated, reference to that component (including a reference to a “means”) should be interpreted as including as equivalents of that component any component which performs the function of the described component (i.e., that is functionally equivalent), including components which are not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performs the function in the illustrated exemplary embodiments of the invention.

[0050] Specific examples of systems, methods and apparatus have been described herein for purposes of illustration. These are only examples. The technology provided herein can be applied to systems other than the example systems described above. Many alterations, modifications, additions, omissions, and permutations are possible within the practice of this invention. This invention includes variations on described embodiments that would be apparent to the skilled addressee, including variations obtained by: replacing features, elements and / or acts with equivalent features, elements and / or acts; mixing and matching of features, elements and / or acts from different embodiments; combining features, elements and / or acts from embodiments as described herein with features, elements and / or acts of other technology; and / or omitting combining features, elements and / or acts from described embodiments.

[0051] Various features are described herein as being present in “some embodiments”. Such features are not mandatory and may not be present in all embodiments. Embodiments of the invention may include zero, any one or any combination of two or more of such features. This is limited only to the extent that certain ones of such features are incompatible with other ones of such features in the sense that it would be impossible for a person of ordinary skill in the art to construct a practical embodiment that combines such incompatible features. Consequently, the description that “some embodiments” possess feature A and “some embodiments” possess feature B should be interpreted as an express indication that the inventors also contemplate embodiments which combine features A andB (unless the description states otherwise or features A and B are fundamentally incompatible).

[0052] It is therefore intended that the following appended claims and claims hereafter introduced are interpreted to include all such modifications, permutations, additions, omissions, and sub-combinations as may reasonably be inferred. The scope of the claims should not be limited by the preferred embodiments set forth in the examples, but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole.

Claims

CLAIMS1 . A high-voltage lamp enclosure having an access hatch, the enclosure comprising: an enclosure body defining a hatch aperture having an aperture periphery; a high-voltage connector mounted within the enclosure body; one or more hinges mounted within the enclosure body; a hatch plate having a plate periphery matching the aperture periphery and mounted to hinges, wherein the hinges are configured to swing the hatch plate between a closed position and an opened position; a lamp mount mounted to an inside side of the hatch plate and configured to retain a lamp, the lamp mount comprising a plurality of snap fit arms and a plurality of alignment members, wherein the alignment members are configured to align a lamp retained by the snap fit arms in electrical contact with the high-voltage connector when the hatch plate is in the closed position; wherein the hatch plate is in the closed position when the hatch plate is within the hatch aperture and an outside surface of the hatch plate is flush with an outside surface of the enclosure body, and the hatch plate is in the opened position when the outside surface of the hatch plate is substantially perpendicular to the hatch aperture and a lamp retained by the lamp mount is at least an access distance from the high-voltage connector.

2. The lamp enclosure according to claim 1 , wherein the high-voltage connector comprises a high-voltage terminal connected to a high-voltage power source, and the lamp enclosure further comprises an interlock configured to connect the high- voltage terminal to the high-voltage power source when the hatch plate is in theclosed position, and disconnect the high-voltage terminal from the high-voltage power source when the hatch plate is not in the closed position.

3. The lamp enclosure according to either of claims 1 and 2, wherein: the hinges comprise a first hinge and a second hinge; each of the first hinge and the second hinge comprise a track and a pin configured to slide through the track; and the track has a first slot substantially parallel to the hatch aperture and a second slot at an angle to the first slot and connected to the first slot by a curved slot.

4. The lamp enclosure according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the hinges are configured to swing the hatch plate from the closed position to the opened position by first swinging the hatch plate out of the hatch aperture, and then substantially perpendicular to the hatch aperture.

5. The lamp enclosure according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the high-voltage connector comprises one or more spring contacts, and a lamp retained by the lamp mount depresses the spring contacts when the hatch plate is in the closed position.

6. The lamp enclosure according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the lamp mount comprises a gasket, and the gasket is compressed when a lamp is mounted to the lamp mount.

7. The lamp enclosure according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a captive screw mounted to the enclosure and configured to screw into the hatch plate when the hatch plate is in the closed position, thereby retaining the hatch plate in the closed position.

8. The lamp enclosure according to claim 7, further comprising a screw spring, wherein the screw spring biases the captive screw away from the hatch plate.

9. The lamp enclosure according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the alignment members comprise one or more nubs arranged in a pattern matching a pattern of notches on a lamp mounted to the lamp mount.

10. The lamp enclosure according to claim 9, wherein the alignment members comprise two nubs.

11. The lamp enclosure according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein each of the snap fit arms comprise a body and a hook.

12. The lamp enclosure according to claim 11 wherein the body of each of the snap fit arms is tapered.

13. The lamp enclosure according to either of claims 11 and 12, wherein the hook of each of the snap fit arms comprise a triangular projection.

14. The lamp enclosure according to any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein a lamp is mounted to the lamp mount by centering the lamp with the lamp mount and depressing the lamp into the lamp mount, thereby deflecting the hook of each of the snap fit arms from a neutral position outward from the lamp mount until the lamp passes over each hook of the snap fit arms, after which the hook of each of the snap fit arms returns to a neutral position and holds the lamp within the lamp mount.

15. The lamp enclosure according to claim 14, wherein the lamp is mounted to the lamp mount when the hatch plate is in the opened position.

16. The lamp enclosure according to any one of claims 11 to 15, wherein a lamp is removed from the lamp mount by pulling the lamp from the lamp mount, thereby deflecting the hook of each of the snap fit arms from a neutral position outward from the lamp mount until the lamp passes over each hook of the snap fit arms and is removed from the lamp mount, after which the hook of each of the snap fit arms returns to a neutral position.

17. The lamp enclosure according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the lamp is removed from the lamp mount when the hatch plate is in the opened position.

18. A method for replacing a high-voltage spent lamp with a high-voltage replacement lamp within a lamp enclosure having an access hatch, the method comprising: releasing a hatch plate in a closed position from an enclosure body, wherein the hatch plate is in the closed position when the hatch plate is secured to the enclosure body, the spent lamp is retained by a lamp mount and in contact with ahigh-voltage connector, and an outside surface of the hatch plate is flush with an outside surface of the enclosure body; swinging the hatch plate out from the enclosure body and down into an opened position, wherein the hatch plate is in the opened position when the outside surface of the hatch plate is substantially perpendicular to the enclosure body and the spent lamp retained by the lamp mount is at least an access distance from the high-voltage connector; pulling the spent lamp from the lamp mount while the hatch plate is in the opened position, thereby deflecting one or more snap fit arms of the lamp mount from a neutral position outward from the lamp mount until the spent lamp passes over the snap fit arms and is removed from the lamp mount, after which the hook of each of the snap fit arms returns to the neutral position; mounting a replacement lamp to the lamp mount while the hatch plate is in the opened position by centering the replacement lamp with the lamp mount and depressing the replacement lamp into the lamp mount, thereby deflecting the snap fit arms from the neutral position outward from the lamp mount until the replacement lamp passes over the snap fit arms, after which the snap fit arms return to the neutral position and hold the lamp within the replacement lamp mount; and replacing the hatch plate in the enclosure body by swinging the hatch plate from the opened position to the closed position, thereby contacting the replacement lamp with the high-voltage connector.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein: releasing the hatch plate in the closed position from the enclosure body comprises unscrewing a captive screw from the hatch plate; andreplacing the hatch plate in the enclosure body further comprises screwing the captive screw into the hatch plate.

20. The method according to either of claims 18 and 19, further comprising disconnecting a high-voltage terminal of the high-voltage connector from a high- voltage power source with an interlock when the hatch plate is released from the closed position, and connecting the high-voltage terminal of the high-voltage connector to the high-voltage power source with the interlock when the hatch plate is returned to the closed position.

Citation Information

Patent Citations

  • Safe wall washer lamp

    CN213810189U

  • holding device for light strips with fluorescent lamps

    DE944511C

  • Lighting fixture

    EP2034238A1

  • Luminaire

    EP2194313A1

  • Flashlight

    US20020041493A1