Pre-Wired Unitary Support Assembly for Floodlights

This invention relates to a pre-wired unitary support assembly for mounting floodlights on a pole.

A principal object of this invention is to provide a novel pre-wired support assembly which simplifies the installation of floodlights on a support pole, such as at an athletic field or stadium.

Another object of this invention is to provide such a support assembly which can be used with a variety of floodlight fixtures pre-aimed at the factory and requiring little or no adjustment at the installation site.

Preferably, the present invention comprises a hollow cross arm on which the floodlights are to be mounted and having an electrical junction box located centrally below the cross arm, a wiring tube assembly extending up from the junction box to the cross arm, a wiring sleeve extending down from the junction box, a vertically elongated back member extending behind the cross arm and the junction box and attachable to a pole, and wiring extending from the junction box up through the wiring tube and along the inside of the cross arm to where the floodlights are to be mounted on the cross arm. The cross arm has removable access plates at each floodlight position to permit the wires therein coming from the junction box to be connected to the wires of the external cable for the floodlight. Attached to the top of the cross arm at each floodlight location is an adapter to which the usual support yoke of the floodlight is attached by a single bolt-and-nut assembly.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment which is illustrated schematically in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of the present invention with one part broken open and mounted on a pole and with the wiring removed from the pole;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the FIG. 1 assembly, broken open near the right end;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation taken from the left side of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a known type of adjustable adapter which preferably is part of the present assembly and is used to mount a floodlight on the cross-arm of the present assembly;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of the cross arm taken from the line 5--5 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-section taken along the line 6--6 in FIG. 1 but with the wiring extending inside the pole;

FIG. 7 is a front elevation of the present invention mounted on a pole and supporting two floodlights;

FIG. 8 shows part of the present invention in vertical cross-section and supporting a floodlight, its mounting bracket and the adjustable adapter of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section taken at the same location as FIG. 8.

Before explaining the disclosed embodiment of the present invention in detail it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the particular arrangement shown since the invention is capable of other embodiments. Also, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

In broad outline, the present invention comprises a vertically elongated back member in the form of a channel 10 (FIGS. 1,2 and 3), a junction box 11 on the front of the channel, a horizontally elongated, hollow, cross-arm 12 attached to the front of channel 10 above the junction box 11 and extending on opposite sides of both the channel and the junction box, a tube assembly 13 extending between the top of the junction box 11 and the bottom of cross arm 12 and receiving electrical wiring, insulated electrical wires 41,42,43 and 44 extending from the junction box 11 up through the tube assembly and along the inside of cross arm 12 to the locations of floodlights thereon, and a wiring sleeve 14 extending down from junction box 11. Preferably, the present assembly also includes mounting adapters A (FIGS. 4 and 8) attached to the top of the hollow cross-arm 12 at the floodlight locations.

As best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the vertically elongated channel 10 has a flat front wall 15 and opposite end legs 16 and 17 extending rearward from the flat front wall 15 into engagement with the flat front wall 18 of a vertically elongated, hollow pole 19 of rectangular cross-section. Upper and lower bolts 20 and 21 (FIGS. 1 and 6) extend through the pole and through the front wall 15 of channel 10. These bolts have enlarged heads 20a and 21a (FIG. 6) on their front ends which hold corresponding flat annular washers 22 and 23 against the outer face of the front wall 15 of channel 10. Respective nuts 24 and 25 on the threaded back ends of bolts 20 and 21 hold similar washers 26 and 27 against the back wall 28 of pole 19.

As an optional feature, a lightning rod 29 is rigidly attached to the front wall 15 of channel 10 on one side of the head 20a of the upper bolt, as shown in FIG. 1. This attachment of the lightning rod is through a metal-to-metal connection and both the channel 10 and the pole 19 are of metal, so if lightning strikes the lightning rod 29 the current surge will be conducted to the ground through channel 10 and pole 19. Alternatively, a lightning conductor may be cast in the pole 19 and connected conductively to the hollow cross arm 12.

As best seen in FIG. 6, the hollow cross arm 12 is of a rectangular cross-section with a flat top wall 12a, a flat bottom wall 12b, a flat front wall 12c and a flat back wall 12d. The back wall 12d of the cross arm is welded along the top and bottom to the front wall 15 of channel 10, as shown at 30 and 31. The front wall 12c of the cross arm has two laterally spaced openings 32 (FIG. 9) where tubular wiring fittings 33 are mounted. As shown in FIG. 7, these fittings are located close to the outer ends of cross arm 12 substantially centrally below the respective floodlights F. The bottom wall 12b of the cross arm has a single central opening which opens down into the tube assembly 13 that extends down through the top wall 11a of junction box 11. Also, the bottom wall 12b of cross arm 12 has a pair of rectangular openings 70 and 71 (FIGS. 2 and 5) which are covered by access plates 72 and 73 (FIGS. 1 and 5) attached to the bottom wall 12b by screws 74 (FIGS. 8 and 9).

As shown in FIG. 9, the wiring fitting 33 at each front opening 32 in the hollow cross arm comprises an externally screw-threaded, hollow sleeve 75 threadedly received in the opening 32, an inside nut 76 threadedly engaging the sleeve 75 and abutting against the inside face of the front wall 12c of cross arm 12, an outside nut 77 threadedly engaging the sleeve 75 and abutting against the outside face of front wall 12c, an annular washer 78 of rubber-like material encircling the sleeve 75 in front of nut 77, a nut 79 threaded onto the front end of sleeve 75 in front of washer 78 and having a screw-threaded outer periphery, and a flanged cap 80 threaded onto nut 79 and holding the washer 78 compressed to prevent moisture from getting into the hollow cross arm 12.

As shown in FIG. 7, the floodlights F are mounted on top of the hollow cross arm 12 at the wiring fittings 33. FIGS. 8 and 9 show one of the floodlight mounting arrangements in detail. The other is identical. This mounting arrangement includes an adapter A, as shown in FIG. 4, which may be a General Electric Company model CAA-001 cross arm adapter. As best seen in FIG. 9, this adapter has a flat bottom wall 53 overlying the top wall 12a of the cross arm, a front wall 54 which is inclined upward and rearward from the front end of bottom wall 53, a rear wall 55 which is inclined downward and rearward from the top of the front wall 54, and a flat upper wall 56 extending behind the rear wall 55 and directly overlying the bottom wall 53. The bottom wall 53 and the upper wall 56 of adapter A have aligned openings which slidably receive mounting bolts 51 and 52. The top wall 12a of the hollow arm 12 has a screw-threaded opening 51a which threadedly receives bolt 51 and an opening 52a which slidably receives bolt 52. A nut N is threadedly attached to the lower end of bolt 52 inside the hollow cross arm 12 and it clamps a pair of lock washers up against the top wall 12a of this cross arm.

As shown in FIG. 4, the upper wall 56 of the adapter is formed with an arcuate slot 58 which extends in a semi-circle behind the front mounting bolt 52. The axis of bolt 52 is the center of this semi-circle. Behind its slot 58, the adapter presents a semi-circular back edge 57 where a graduated scale 60 is located, calibrated in degrees from a center point 61. The back mounting bolt 51 extends down loosely through the arcuate slot 58, and the head of this bolt overlies the upper wall 56 of adapter A in front of and behind this slot. After loosening bolts 51 and 52, the adapter A can be turned either way to the desired angle with respect to the cross arm 12, and then these bolts can be tightened to clamp the adapter tightly to the cross arm.

The front wall 54 of adapter A has a circular opening 64 about half-way up.

Each of the floodlights is of known design with a parabolic reflector 81 (FIG. 8) and a lens assembly 82 attached to a housing 83 for wiring and ballast. The floodlight may be a General Electric "POWR-SPOT" floodlight or a SPORTSLITER floodlight of Hubbell Incorporated. A rubber-covered wiring cable 84 capable of withstanding the ravages of the weather extends down from floodlight housing 83 through the respective wiring fitting 33 into the interior of the hollow cross arm 12 directly above the removable access plate 72 or 73.

The housing 83 is connected to a bracket B in the form of a rigid yoke having opposite legs extending up on opposite sides of housing 83 from a flat connecting segment 85 (FIG. 8) which has an opening that registers with the opening 64 in the front wall 54 of adapter A. A bolt and nut assembly 86,87 clamps this segment of the yoke against the adapter. Housing 83 is pivotally adjustable on a horizontal axis at the upper end of the yoke where clamping nuts 88 are provided to clamp housing 83 at any selected position angularly with respect to the yoke.

The junction box 11 (FIG. 6) has a flat bottom wall 11b extending parallel to its top wall 11a, and a flat back wall 11d extending between its bottom and top walls and attached to the front wall 15 of channel 10 by sheet metal screws 34. The junction box has a front cover 11c attached to the top wall 11a by a piano hinge 35 and having a transverse lip 11c' along its periphery that fits closely outside the top and bottom walls 11a and 11b and the opposite end walls 11e and 11f (FIG. 2) of the junction box when the cover 11c is closed.

Inside the junction box 11 its back wall 11d supports a dielectric block 36 (FIG. 6) on the front of which are positioned the holders for four electrical fuses 37,38,39 and 40 (FIG. 1). The upper terminals of fuses 37 and 38 are connected conductively to insulated wires 41 and 42 which pass up through tube assembly 13 and along the interior of hollow cross arm 12 to a position above the removable access plate 72 near the left end of the cross arm. The upper terminals of fuses 39 and 40 are connected conductively to insulated wires 43 and 44 which pass up through tube assembly 13 and along the interior of cross arm 12 to a position above the access plate 73 near the right end of the cross arm. One input power wire 45 is connected directly to the lower teminal of fuse 37 and by a jumper wire 46 to the lower terminal of fuse 39. The other input power wire 47 is connected directly to the lower terminal of fuse 40 and by a jumper wire 48 to the lower terminal of fuse 38.

The wiring sleeve 14 passes the power supply wires 45 and 47 and a ground conductor 49 from an annular fitting 50 on the lower end of this sleeve which is releasably attachable to the front 18 of the hollow pole 19 at an opening therein in a water-tight manner. The power supply and ground wires extend down through the hollow interior of the pole. As shown in FIG. 6, the upper end of wiring sleeve 14 is screw-threaded and is attached in fluid-tight fashion to the bottom wall 11b of junction box 11 by nuts 65,66 and 67. The fitting 50 on the lower end of wiring sleeve 14 comprises similarly arranged nuts 65',66' and 67'.

As shown in FIG. 9, the wires 43 and 44 coming from the upper terminals of fuses 39 and 40 in junction box 11 are connected to the wires 89 and 90 in the floodlight wiring cable 84 by wiring connectors C of known design.

The unitary support assembly of the present invention includes the hollow cross arm 12, junction box 11, wiring tube 13, wiring sleeve 14, the channel 10 for mounting them on a pole and the wires 41,42,43 and 44 running along the inside of the hollow cross arm 12 from the fuses 37,38,39 and 40 in junction box 11. Preferably, the assembly also includes the adapters A attached to the cross-arm 12 and angularly adjusted thereon so that the floodlights are pre-aimed, in effect, by the positions of the adapters A, as established at the factory where the present unitary support assembly is assembled. The installation contractor need only remove the access plates 72 and 73 to have access to the interior of cross arm 12 where these wires are to be connected to the wires 89 and 90 of the respective floodlight wiring cables 84. The wiring cables 84 may come with the floodlights or may be purchased separately. The contractor mounts the floodlights F on the adapters A by means of the yoke-shaped floodlight brackets B. The contractor need only attach the brackets B to the adapters A by a single nut-and-bolt assembly 86,87 at each and connect the wires 89,90 of the floodlight's wiring cable 84 to the wires (e.g., 41,42,43,44) running along the inside of the hollow cross arm 12. It is also the installation contractor's responsibility to run the power supply and ground wires 45,47 and 49 up through the pole 19 and through the wiring sleeve 14 of the present support assembly to the lower terminals of fuses 37,38,39 and 40 and the ground terminal inside junction box 11. It is a great convenience to the contractor to have the floodlight support assembly delivered to the installation site pre-assembled structurally and pre-wired from the junction box 11 to the wiring fittings 33 on the front of the cross arm. Also, it is convenient to have the floodlights effectively pre-aimed by the factory-installed positioning of the adapters A on the cross-arm 12 so that the installation contractor is relieved of this responsibility.

It is to be understood that the pre-wired support assembly of the present invention may be designed for three, four, five or more floodlights instead of the two shown in the drawings. Also, the lamp ballasts may be located in the junction box with the fuses or in a separate junction box instead of being in the housings directly behind the floodlights, as shown.