The History of Invention of Conveyable Lighting Tower
Who invented the first cartable lighting tower?
This depends largely on your definition of a lighting tower. An extensive definition could include something as simple as a candle or primitive torch placed on a tall mast to cast light over an enormous area, such a device has likely been in use since the Stone Age.
In more up to date history it’s un-clear as to when the modern lighting tower was invented. Researching patent applications reveals that machines not dissimilar to today’s lighting towers were being designed in the 1930s.
A patent from 1932 shows what might be the first machine of its kind filed in US patent 1934576 and is named as a transportable floodlighting unit for airfields.
The patent describes a chassis with 4 wheels at every corner ( permitting the machine to be towed ), a generator powered by an engine and one large electrical lamp at each end of the car. The machine is meant to be used to provide on-demand lighting of alternative landing sites at airports on occasions when the main landing areas are out of use because of inclement weather conditions.
More recently in 1980 a US patent 4181929 was filed for a Portable illuminating tower that illustrates a much closer resemblance to modern day lighting towers.
The US patent 4181929 describes a portable lighting tower composed of a base frame ( which has an engine and generator ) and a vertical, extending, hydraulic mast with two electric lamps at the higher end. The unit doesn’t permit towing but instead is lightweight and compact enough to be easily transported. The design also includes jack legs that are now common place on all lighting towers to ensure stability in gusty winds.
This is quite a significant development in the history of the lighting tower as this patent principally forms the root of most modern day lighting towers which contain similar elements like a base that stores the engine and generator with an extending hydraulic mast that supports the luminaries.
The subsequent patent was filed later on in the same year of 1980 but was for a solution to provide more intensive illumination. The US patent 4220981 describes a framework with 4 wheels to hold the generator and engine and two folding telescopic masts at opposite corners of the framework that each hold a cluster of electrical lamps. The design also permits for the masts to be revolved enabling finer control of the area of illumination. By offering two masts the light tower also allows for illumination over just about every side of the machine. This is not like previous light towers which generally offer illumination on only 1 side of the machine.
Since 1980 considerable progress has been made by lighting tower makers. Although the final design has sundry tiny from those seen in the 1980s many improvements have been made to make lighting towers easier to use and more ecologically friendly.
The Hylite lighting tower from Taylor Construction Plant includes Adjustabeam technology which permits the user to adjust the direction of each lamp from the ground. The TCP Hylite also has a flexible framework design which permits just about any generator to be used to power the light heads.
The TCP Ecolite lighting tower has additionally damaged new ground by utilising extremely cost-effective lamps to reduce fuel consumption significantly, which is very timely seeing as global warming is becoming a more and more plentiful concern.
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