A 2-piece adapter for use with a clip-on style lampshade when using an energy-efficient ¨CFL¨bulb. Because of their odd shapes (i.e. spiral) the clip-on lampshades cannot be attached.
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Energy-efficient CFL (compact florescent light) bulbs are quickly replacing the less efficient incandescent bulbs. In fact these types of bulbs will no longer be available to be purchased in the U.S. beginning in 2014. Because of the shapes of many of these bulbs, the clip-on style lampshades cannot be used, they were designed to clip over the rounded top of these old bulbs. This adapter will allow the use of a clip-on shade over a CFL bulb.
The adapter is a 2-piece, high-impact plastic of any color. Because CFL bulbs emit very little heat, there is no danger of melting the plastic. In Figure 1 of the attached sheet, the different steps in using the adapter are demonstrated. Step1- place the CFL bulb through the bottom half of the adapter, then in Step 2, screw the bulb and bottom half of the adapter into the light socket. Step 3 attach the top half of the adapter to the bottom half by aligning the 3 equally placed tubes over the posts on the bottom half and pushing down until the tubes cover the posts. Finally in Step 4 clip the lampshade on the top of the adapter as you would a incandescent bulb.
To replace a CFL bulb the same procedures would be followed, only in reverse. Different sized adapters could be manufactured to allow for a variety of CFL bulbs.
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More Information
Development Status: Rough Prototype US Patent Status: US Provisional Patent
