Street Light Technical Information Willis Lamm   STREET LIGHTS: Patents from 1936 through 1937

Patents are an effective way to understand the development of street lighting in the United States. In this section I have posted patents as I located them. (Early patents are difficult to locate as they were not cross-indexed.) All patents are listed in order of their filing dates. Click on the patent number or thumbnail to view the entire patent.

Here are some additional innovations from the mid 1930s.

Patent No. 2078793 Filing date: January 9, 1936 Patent date: April 27, 1937 Title: Lighting Fixture Inventor: Harold J. Flaherty Assignee: General Electric Co. Claims: Improved luminaire body and socket support. (Form 46.)
Patent No. 2081051 Filing date: January 9, 1936 Patent date: May 18, 1937 Title: Electric Cut-Out Inventor: Ernst Friederich Assignee: General Electric Co. Claims: Improved method of making film cutouts.
Patent No. 2078137 Filing date: March 20, 1936 Patent date: April 20, 1937 Title: Lighting Unit Inventor: Cromwell A. B. Halvorson Assignee: General Electric Co. Claims: Asymmetrical illumination by offsetting the socket.
Patent No. 2110018 Filing date: April 18, 1936 Patent date: March 1, 1938 Title: Lighting Unit Inventor: Cromwell A. B. Halvorson Assignee: General Electric Co. Claims: Internal cutoff deflector. (Illustrated on a Form 72 luminaire.)
Patent No. 2059890 Filing date: May 1, 1936 Patent date: November 3, 1936 Title: Film Cut-Out Inventor: George J. Meyers, Jr. Assignee: General Electric Co. Claims: Moisture resistant film cut-out.
Patent No. 2136191 Filing date: May 5, 1936 Patent date: November 8, 1938 Title: Traffic Signal and Lighting System Inventor: Lee J. Jennings Claims: Transformer and circuitry to power traffic signals from series lamp circuits.
Patent No. 2109990 Filing date: June 26, 1936 Patent date: March 1, 1938 Title: Luminaire Inventor: Harold J. Flaherty Assignee: General Electric Co. Claims: Improved reflector design. (For Form 72.)
Patent No. 2170912 Filing date: July 28, 1936 Patent date: August 29, 1939 Title: Luminaire Inventor: Thomas W. Rolph Assignee: Holophane Co. Claims: Prismatic gumball to provide asymmetrical illumination.
Patent No. D104447 (Design Patent) Filing date: October 30, 1936 Patent date: May 11, 1937 Title: Design for a Lighting Unit Inventor: Carl F. Haas Assignee: Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Co. Claims: Decorative pendant luminaire design.
Patent No. 2147482 Filing date: December 1, 1936 Patent date: February 14, 1939 Title: Highway Luminaire Inventor: Henry E. Butler Assignee: General Electric Co. Claims: Magnetic canopy mount for post top luminaire.
Patent No. 2161957 Filing date: December 21, 1936 Patent date: June 13, 1939 Title: Lighting Unit Inventor: Lawrence F. Geise Assignee: Line Material Co. Claims: Improved refractor luminaires.
Patent No. 2183048 Netherlands filing dade: January 28, 1937 Filing date: December 13, 1938 Patent date: December 12, 1939 Title: Lamp Construction Comprising a Reflector Inventor: Frans Lambert Gerard Schneider Assignee: Holland Electro N.V. Claims: Prismatic refractor inside a smooth globe.
Patent No. 2166393 Filing date: April 8, 1937 Patent date: July 18, 1939 Title: Lighting Unit Inventor: Royal E. Crossley Assignee: Crouse-Hinds Co. Claims: Prismatic refractor inside a smooth globe.
Patent No. 2125765 Filing date: April 9, 1937 Patent date: August 2, 1939 Title: Remote Control System Inventor: Henry E. Butler Assignee: General Electric Co. Claims: Tube relay that responds to fluctuations in line voltage.
Patent No. 2179340 Filing date: April 10, 1937 Patent date: November 7, 1939 Title: Lighting Fixture Inventor: Guernsey F. Mudgett Assignee: Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Co. Claims: Improved pendant luminaire latching and design.
Patent No. 2115421 Filing date: April 27, 1937 Patent date: April 26, 1938 Title: Highway Lighting System Inventor: Charles H. Goulding Claims: Full cutoff lighting system.
Patent No. 2194300 Filing date: September 24, 1937 Patent date: March 19, 1940 Title: Vapor Lamp and Method of Operation Inventor: Clifton G. Found Assignee: General Electric Co. Claims: Improved method of controlling temperature of sodium vapor lamp.
Patent No. 2186079 Filing date: October 23, 1937 Patent date: January 9, 1940 Title: Luminaire Inventor: Thomas W. Rolph Assignee: General Electric Co. Claims: Improved sodium vapor luminaire.
Patent No. 2194431 Filing date: November 17, 1937 Patent date: March 19, 1940 Title: Reflector Inventor: James A. O'Neil Assignee: General Electric Co. Claims: Improved gumball reflector.

Continue to 1938 - 1939

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Please note: This index is a work in progress. If you notice an error or are aware of something that is missing, please feel free to Email me. Thanks!