The History of Invention of Cartable Lighting Tower
Who invented the 1st conveyable lighting tower?
This depends largely on your definition of a lighting tower. An extensive definition may include something as straightforward as a candle or primitive torch placed on a tall mast to cast light over a large area, such a device has doubtless been in use 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 might be the 1st machine of its kind filed in US patent 1934576 and is named as a movable floodlighting unit for airfields.
The patent describes a chassis with four wheels at each corner ( allowing the machine to be towed ), a generator powered by an engine and one large electrical lamp at every end of the car. The machine is designed 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 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 cartable lighting tower consisting of a base frame ( which contains an engine and generator ) and a vertical, extending, hydraulic mast with 2 electrical 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 strong winds.
This is quite 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 together 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 chassis 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 over the area of illumination. By offering 2 masts the light tower also allows for illumination over virtually every side of the machine. This is not like previous light towers which sometimes offer illumination on only one side of the machine.
Since 1980 substantial progress has been made by lighting tower makers. Although the overall design has varied tiny from those seen in the 1980s many enhancements have been made to make lighting towers better to use and more ecologically 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 virtually any generator to be used to power the light heads.
The TCP Ecolite lighting tower in addition has broken new ground by using highly cheap lamps to reduce fuel consumption seriously, which is particularly timely seeing as global warming is beginning to become a more and more common 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 the new adventures of old christine season 5 episode 15 or archer season 1 episode 8 meantime.