Emergency lighting device

Details Emergency lighting device Emergency lighting device

1999-06-10

2001-08-28

Sember, Thomas M. (Department: 2875)

Illumination

Automatic substitution of power supply or light source

C362S287000, C362S238000, C362S427000, C362S322000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06280042

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to electrical lighting sources. More particularly, it relates to emergency electrical lighting sources.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Under current local fire and building codes, buildings to which the public has access are required to have emergency lighting devices. These devices must provide specific amounts of illumination and have emergency backup power sources to provide emergency illumination to lights for a specified period of time during periods when utility power to the building is discontinued, thereby facilitating egress of persons from the building.
Traditionally, two incandescent lamps driven by a self-contained emergency battery power supply are used for illumination during power failure situations. A switching or transfer device will automatically operate the emergency illumination system when a power failure is detected.
While these traditional lighting arrangements perform adequately, they do have a few drawbacks. A major drawback is that the incandescent bulbs use large amounts of electrical power, thus requiring a relatively large emergency battery power supply for use during emergency lighting situations. Furthermore, while the incandescent bulbs provide adequate illumination, such bulbs do not have a long life in service and require frequent replacement.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel emergency lighting device using commercially available halogen lamps.
It is also an object to provide such a lighting device which allows the halogen lamps to be powered by an emergency battery power supply and associated charging and transfer circuitry during emergency power situations.
Still another object is to provide such a lighting device in which the halogen lamps are arranged to provide the amount of illumination required by building codes.
A further object is to provide such a lighting device which may be readily and economically fabricated and will enjoy a long life in operation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention comprises an emergency lighting unit in the form of a housing containing the necessary circuit elements, which may include a rechargeable power supply battery and battery charging circuitry such as a transformer, rectifier, transfer circuitry, test switch, and indicator lamp. The housing wall defines an opening through which partially extends a substantially spherical lighting head. The lighting head houses a light source such as, for example, a halogen lamp. The lighting head is rotatable within its opening to vary the direction of illumination provided by the light source.
Preferably, the rotation of the lighting head is restrained, as by friction, so as to fix the direction of illumination while allowing manual rotation to adjust the direction of illumination. Furthermore, a plurality of lighting heads may be employed—both to increase and disperse the illumination and for redundancy.


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Escort Series, Provider Series, ME Series, JS Series and LP, LS and LC Series—Emergi-Lite pp. 9-16.
Emax-P.8; Elb Series-P.10; Designer Series-P.5; Emergency Light/Exit Combination-P.30; Eds-P.EL1—Presolite Emergency Sys. Oct. 1989.
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Two (2) photographs of Chloride Systems Infinity Series Emergency Light.
Two (2) photographs of Chloride Systems Celebrity Series Emergency Light.
Two (2) photographs of Atlite Lighting Equipment, Inc. PC Series Emergency Light.
Two (2) photographs of Emergi-Lite Escort Series Emergency Light.
Two (2) photographs of Emergi-Lite PRO Series Emergency Light.
Three (3) photographs of Chloride Systems GM Series Emergency Light.
Two (2) photographs of Hubbell Lighting Inc. PE Series Emergency Light.
Two (2) photographs of Emergi-Lite Escort Series Emergency Light.
Two (2) photographs of Lightalarms Electronic Corp. Cavalier II Emergency Light.
Two (2) photographs of JUNO Lighting, Inc. ECR Series Emergency Light.
Six (6) photographs of Lithonia lighting ELM Series Emergency Light.
Two (2) photographs of Sure-Lites/Cooper Lighting CCX Series Emergency Light.
Dual-Lite EXT—133 Remote Lighting Fixture.

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