Quick-Change Lighting Assembly for Overhead Socket Replacement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing illumination device installations, often located in elevated or hard-to-reach positions, require labor-intensive processes for replacement, necessitating elevated workers or extending tools due to the difficulty in easily installing and removing socket assemblies.
Innovation Solution
A quick-change assembly that secures a socket assembly with a single motion for installation and disengagement using a specifically shaped tool, featuring a housing with clips and a compression member that translates along a central axis, allowing for easy insertion and removal of socket assemblies from overhead locations using a pole or extending tool.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If traditional illumination devices are installed in elevated locations, then light coverage area is improved, but installation and removal complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The assembly is divided into separable components: a socket assembly with illumination device and a quick-change housing. The socket assembly can be independently removed from the housing using a tool, allowing easy replacement without working at height. This segmentation enables the illumination device to remain in the elevated location while simplifying maintenance operations.
2Reliability
If socket assemblies are secured robustly in elevated positions, then reliability is improved, but removal difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
A specifically shaped tool acts as an intermediary to interact with the quick-change housing. The tool engages with features on the housing (such as slots or lugs) to lever the socket assembly out of its secured position. This intermediary mechanism provides both robust securing during operation and easy removal during maintenance.
Solution Approach 2:
The quick-change housing incorporates movable retaining features (such as spring-loaded clips or cam-actuated latches) that dynamically transition between locked and unlocked states. When the tool is inserted, it actuates these dynamic features to release the socket assembly, providing both secure holding and easy release.
3Ease of operation
If extending tools are used to reach elevated locations, then accessibility is improved, but operation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The quick-change housing is designed with universal features that work with a standardized tool design. The same tool can be used for both installation and removal operations, and potentially with different socket assemblies. This universality reduces the need for multiple specialized tools and simplifies the overall system.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables efficient and safe installation and removal of socket assemblies from elevated positions with a single motion, reducing the need for elevated workers and minimizing the complexity of the replacement process while ensuring secure engagement and disengagement.
Implementation Method 1
a compression member arranged between the stationary member and the plurality of clips along the central axis
Implementation Method 2
the retaining end of the clips are deflected in a direction radially outward from the central axis and upward when moving from the retaining position to the releasing position
Data Source
AI summary
A quick-change lighting assembly includes a stationary ring, a plurality of clips, and a compression ring arranged between the stationary ring and the clips. Each clip has a retaining end and moves between a retaining and a releasing position, whereby the retaining end is deflected against the compression member when moving from the retaining position to the releasing position. The compression member can move towards the stationary member from an extended position, such that movement of the clips moves the compression member from the extended position to a first position. The clips accept a flange of a socket assembly, the flange defects the retaining ends from the retaining position to the releasing position until the flange directly engages the compression member and further translates the compression member to a second compressed position and the clips return to the retaining position below the flange.