The History of Invention of Cartable Lighting Tower
Who invented the first conveyable lighting tower?
This depends principally on your definition of a lighting tower. A detailed 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 likely been used 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 suggests 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 framework 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 vehicle. The machine is intended 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 because of adverse weather conditions.
More lately in 1980 a US patent 4181929 was filed for a Portable illuminating tower that illustrates a much more close resemblance to modern day lighting towers.
The US patent 4181929 describes a conveyable lighting tower consisting of a base frame ( which has an engine and generator ) and a vertical, extending, hydraulic mast with 2 electrical lamps at the upper end. The unit does not permit towing but instead is lightweight and compact enough to be simply transported. The design also includes jack legs that are now common place on all lighting towers to guarantee stability in strong winds.
This is kind of a significant development in the history of the lighting tower as this patent largely forms the foundation 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 next 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 two folding telescopic masts at opposite corners of the chassis that each hold a cluster of electric lamps. The design also allows for the masts to be rotated enabling finer control over 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 unlike prior light towers which generally offer illumination on just one side of the machine.
Since 1980 considerable progress has been made by lighting tower manufacturers. Though the overall design has sundry little from those seen in the 1980s many enhancements have been made to make lighting towers easier to use and more green.
The Hylite lighting tower from Taylor Construction Plant includes Adjustabeam technology which allows the user to adjust the direction of each lamp from the ground. The TCP Hylite also has a flexible framework design which allows virtually any generator to be used to power the light heads.
The TCP Ecolite lighting tower has additionally broken new ground by utilising extremely cheap lamps to reduce fuel consumption dramatically, which is very timely seeing as global warming is beginning to become a more and more prevalent concern.
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