The History of Creation of Portable Lighting Tower
Who invented the 1st conveyable lighting tower?
This depends largely on your definition of a lighting tower. An extensive definition might include something as simple as a candle or primitive torch placed on a tall mast to cast light over an enormous area, such a device has doubtless 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 first machine of its kind filed in US patent 1934576 and is named as a transportable floodlighting unit for airfields.
The patent describes a chassis with 4 wheels at each corner ( allowing the machine to be towed ), a generator powered by an engine and one giant electrical lamp at each end of the auto. The machine is meant 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 more close similarity to present 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 two electrical 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 ensure stability in high winds.
This is quite a big development in the history of the lighting tower as this patent largely forms the root of most present day lighting towers which contain similar elements such as 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 an answer to provide more extensive illumination. The US patent 4220981 describes a framework with four wheels to hold the generator and engine and two folding telescopic masts at opposite corners of the chassis that each hold a cluster of electrical lamps. The design also permits for the masts to be rotated enabling finer control of the area of illumination. By offering 2 masts the light tower also allows for illumination over nearly every side of the machine. This isn’t like prior light towers which sometimes offer illumination on just one side of the machine.
Since 1980 substantial progress has been manufactured by lighting tower manufacturers. Though the overall design has sundry small from those seen in the 1980s many enhancements have been made to make lighting towers better 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 frame design which allows almost any generator to be used to power the light heads.
The TCP Ecolite lighting tower has additionally damaged new ground by using highly cost-effective lamps to reduce fuel consumption significantly, which is particularly timely seeing as global warming is beginning to become a more and more plentiful concern.
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