The History of Invention of Conveyable Lighting Tower
Who invented the first portable lighting tower?
This depends principally on your definition of a lighting tower. A detailed definition may include something as simple 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 up to date history it’s un-clear as to when the modern lighting tower was invented. Researching patent applications reveals 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 Portable floodlighting unit for airports.
The patent describes a chassis with 4 wheels at every corner ( allowing the machine to be towed ), a generator powered by an engine and one giant electrical lamp at every 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 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 similarity to current day lighting towers.
The US patent 4181929 describes a conveyable lighting tower consisting of a base frame ( which contains an engine and generator ) and a vertical, extending, hydraulic mast with 2 electric 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 ensure stability in high winds.
This is quite a significant development in the history of the lighting tower as this patent principally forms the root of most current day lighting towers which contain similar elements like a base that stores the engine and generator 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 in depth illumination. The US patent 4220981 describes a chassis with 4 wheels to hold the generator and engine and 2 folding telescopic masts at opposite corners of the framework that each hold a cluster of electric lamps. The design also permits 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 all sides of the machine. This is not like previous light towers which generally offer illumination on only one side of the machine.
Since 1980 substantial progress has been made by lighting tower makers. Though the final design has sundry tiny from those seen in the 1980s many improvements have been made to make lighting towers simpler 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 frame design which allows just about any generator to be used to power the light heads.
The TCP Ecolite lighting tower has also broken new ground by utilising extremely cost-effective lamps to reduce fuel consumption dramatically, which is particularly timely seeing as global warming is starting 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 the new adventures of old christine season 5 episode 15 or medium season 6 episode 15 meantime.