The History of Creation of Conveyable Lighting Tower
Who invented the first conveyable lighting tower?
This depends largely on your definition of a lighting tower. A broad definition may include something as straightforward as a candle or primitive torch placed on a tall mast to cast light over an enormous area, such a device has probably 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 indicates that machines not dissimilar to today’s lighting towers were being designed in the 1930s.
A patent from 1932 shows what could be the 1st machine of its kind filed in US patent 1934576 and is named as a transportable floodlighting unit for airports.
The patent describes a chassis with 4 wheels at each corner ( permitting the machine to be towed ), a generator powered by an engine and one massive electrical lamp at each end of the auto. The machine is designed 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 due to harsh weather conditions.
More lately in 1980 a US patent 4181929 was filed for a Portable illuminating tower that illustrates a much nearer resemblance to modern day lighting towers.
The US patent 4181929 describes a conveyable lighting tower composed from 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 guarantee stability in gusty winds.
This is reasonably a serious development in the history of the lighting tower as this patent principally forms the basis of most modern day lighting towers which contain similar elements like a base that stores the engine and generator along 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 an answer to provide more intensive illumination. The US patent 4220981 describes a framework 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 electric lamps. The design also permits for the masts to be revolved enabling finer control over the area of illumination. By offering two masts the light tower also allows for illumination over nearly every side of the machine. This is not like previous light towers which often offer illumination on just one 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 frame design which permits almost any generator to be used to power the light heads.
The TCP Ecolite lighting tower has also damaged new ground by utilising extremely cost-effective lamps to reduce fuel consumption seriously, which is especially timely seeing as global warming is becoming a more and more plentiful concern.
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