Luminaire assembly

A luminaire assembly, comprising:

• a ballast housing;
• an optical assembly supported by said ballast housing;
• a spring mechanism operatively connected to said optical assembly;
• a lens adapted to be supported on a lower end of said optical assembly;
• and
• a grasping member operatively connected to said spring mechanism and said lens, wherein said lens is biased toward and into releasable engagement with the lower end of said optical assembly by cooperation of said spring mechanism and said grasping member, and further wherein said lens is operable to be manually pulled away from the lower end of said optical assembly in a direction generally parallel to the vertical axis of said optical assembly thereby establishing clearance between said lens and the lower end of said optical assembly and simultaneously pivoting relative to said optical assembly upon sufficient clearance being established between said lens and the lower end of said optical assembly so that a light transmitting portion of said lens pivots within said optical assembly, thereby permitting relamping of said optical assembly.

A method of making a luminaire assembly, comprising:

• providing a ballast housing;
• supporting an optical assembly from the ballast housing for distributing light emanating therefrom in a desired pattern on a surface to be illuminated;
• and
• biasing the lens toward and into releasable engagement with a lower end of the optical assembly;
• wherein the lens is operable to be manually pulled away from the lower end of the optical assembly in a direction generally parallel to the vertical axis of the optical assembly, thereby establishing clearance between the lens and the lower end of the optical assembly, and simultaneously pivoting relative to the optical assembly upon sufficient clearance being established between the lens and the lower end of the optical assembly so that a light transmitting portion of the lens pivots within the optical assembly, thereby permitting relamping of the optical assembly.