The History of Invention of Portable Lighting Tower
Who invented the 1st portable lighting tower?
This depends principally on your definition of a lighting tower. An extensive definition could include something as straightforward as a candle or primitive torch placed on a tall mast to cast light over a big area, such a device has doubtless been used since the Stone Age.
In more current 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 frame with 4 wheels at every corner ( allowing the machine to be towed ), a generator powered by an engine and one large electrical lamp at each end of the vehicle. The machine is meant to be used to provide on-demand lighting of alternative landing sites at airfields on occasions when the main landing areas are out of use due to adverse weather conditions.
More lately in 1980 a US patent 4181929 was filed for a Portable illuminating tower that illustrates a much nearer resemblance to present day lighting towers.
The US patent 4181929 describes a portable lighting tower composed from a base frame ( which contains an engine and generator ) and a vertical, extending, hydraulic mast with 2 electric lamps at the upper 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 high winds.
This is quite a big development in the history of the lighting tower as this patent principally forms the basis of most current day lighting towers which contain similar elements such as a base that stores the engine and generator together with an extending hydraulic mast that supports the luminaries.
The following patent was filed later on in the same year of 1980 but was for a solution to provide more extensive illumination. The US patent 4220981 describes a chassis with 4 wheels to hold the generator and engine and 2 folding telescopic masts at opposite corners of the frame that each hold a cluster of electrical lamps. The design also allows for the masts to be rotated enabling finer control of the area of illumination. By offering two masts the light tower also allows for illumination over virtually all sides of the machine. This is unlike prior light towers which often offer illumination on only 1 side of the machine.
Since 1980 substantial progress has been made by lighting tower makers. Though the final design has sundry tiny from those seen in the 1980s many enhancements have been made to make lighting towers simpler to use and more green.
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 chassis design which permits almost any generator to be used to power the light heads.
The TCP Ecolite lighting tower has additionally damaged new ground by utilising intensely cost-effective lamps to reduce fuel consumption dramatically, which is especially timely seeing as global warming is starting to become a more and more plentiful concern.
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