The History of Invention of Cartable Lighting Tower
Who invented the 1st cartable lighting tower?
This depends mostly on your definition of a lighting tower. An extensive definition may include something as easy as a candle or primitive torch placed on a tall mast to cast light over a large area, such a device has probably been used since the Stone Age.
In more recent 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 first machine of its kind filed in US patent 1934576 and is named as a Portable floodlighting unit for airports.
The patent describes a framework with 4 wheels at each corner ( allowing 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 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 due to inclement weather conditions.
More recently in 1980 a US patent 4181929 was filed for a Portable illuminating tower that illustrates a much nearer similarity to current day lighting towers.
The US patent 4181929 describes a portable lighting tower composed of a base frame ( which contains 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 light 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 strong winds.
This is quite a significant development in the history of the lighting tower as this patent principally forms the root of most present day lighting towers which contain similar elements such as 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 an answer to provide more extensive illumination. The US patent 4220981 describes a frame 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 revolved 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 often offer illumination on only 1 side of the machine.
Since 1980 substantial progress has been made by lighting tower makers. Although the final design has sundry little from those seen in the 1980s many improvements have been made to make lighting towers easier to use and more environmentally friendly.
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 just about any generator to be used to power the light heads.
The TCP Ecolite lighting tower in addition has damaged new ground by utilising intensely cheap lamps to reduce fuel consumption dramatically, which is particularly timely seeing as global warming is beginning to become a more and more prevalent concern.
There’s a lot of information on this topic online, so you can get more of it if you want, and you can watch csi: miami season 8 episode 16 or survivor: heroes vs villains season 20 episode 4 meantime.
Tags: lighting, lighting tower