Illumination – Self powered lamp – Rechargeable electrical source of with external connections
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-01
2001-01-16
Husar, Stephen (Department: 2875)
Illumination
Self powered lamp
Rechargeable electrical source of with external connections
C362S470000, C340S946000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06174070
ABSTRACT:
FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a portable lighting instrument suitable for use, in taking off and landing of a helicopter on a temporary heliport safely at night at the urgent time or the like, with emergency “a boundary lamp” or “a boundary guide lamp” in the heliport.
In the place for taking off and landing of a helicopter, there are some kinds and natures determined under laws and ordinances, which are represented by a name peculiar thereto. However, the respective places are obliged to provide a lighting system necessary in taking off and landing of a helicopter. For example, it is necessary for places called “an urgent taking off and landing place” and “an urgent rescue space” to install at least “a heliport lighthouse” whose light is an alternate flash of white or an alternate flash of white and green, “a wind lamp” whose light is white, “a boundary guide lamp” whose light is green, and “a boundary lamp” whose light is white or yellow. Further, in “a taking off and landing place outside an airport, it is requested to install various kinds of lighting instruments in accordance with “an urgent taking off and landing place” or “an urgent rescue space” according to the using object on all such occasions.
The above-described various kinds of lighting instruments presently used include lamps such as a xenon lamp, a halogen lamp and the like, and these lamps are fixedly mounted in a fixed position. In order that lighting and lighting-out may be controlled by manually operating a control unit available nearby or operating a control unit placed in a remote center, the lighting instruments are connected with the control unit by necessary wiring. Installing operation accompanied by wiring is cumbersome, and obviously there lacks in conformity at the time of emergency.
Recently, there has been proposed a lighting system for a helicopter taking off and landing place in which with respect to the “a heliport lighthouse”, “a wind lamp” and “a landing area lighting lamp”, a generator with a lamp such as a halogen lamp is separately installed, and with respect to the “a boundary lamp” and “a boundary guide lamp”, a lamp with a charging type battery is installed to thereby eliminate the necessity of a wiring. However, since a lamp of large consuming power is involved, a generator and a battery having a large capacity are necessary, and as a result, cost for apparatuses increases. Further, since noises and exhaust gases are generated when the engine is operated in addition to the cumbersome that the engine of a generator should be started and prepared in advance, there has posed a problem of exerting an unfavorable effect on the peripheral environment. In the case of a charging type lamp, since long charging time for 6 to 8 hours is necessary, precharging is necessary, and the lighting time also ought to be relatively short. A secondary battery such as a lead battery is used, and when the battery is left for a long period of time, it becomes naturally discharged not to obtain necessary and sufficient voltage, which is therefore possibly be useless at the time of emergency. Even if an attempt is made to use the battery again after discharge, it takes a long time for charging, and there lacks in conformity.
An attempt of using a light emitting diode as a light source for general lighting has been made so far, but application thereof to a lighting system for a helicopter taking off and landing has not yet been succeeded.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a portable lighting instrument which can be carried anywhere, and particularly to a portable lighting instrument which can be suitably used in assisting that a helicopter which mobilizes for rescue activity at the time of urgent accidents can be taken off and landed safely even at night.
A portable lighting instrument according to the present invention is characterized by comprising a box body provided with a chargeable electrical double-layer capacitor, and a lid for covering an opening of the box body, the lid comprising a light source comprising a light emitting diode assembly lighted by a current supplied from the electrical double-layer capacitor, and a lens body for covering the light source and controlling the diffusion range of irradiation light in a direction of an optical axis.
Since the electrical double-layer capacitor is low in internal resistance, rapid charging is possible, and a discharge output at a high ampere level is obtained. There is a merit that there are many chargeable and dischargeable times, and the constituent material contains no public hazardous substances such as lead, Ni—Cd and so on. For example, when use is made of a group consisting of 36 electrical double-layer capacitors whose single characteristic is 2.5 V, 100 F, and 250 coulombs, the group of capacitors are fully charged in a few minutes (a rapid charging mode) by normal batteries mounted on an automobile.
On the other hand, it is known that in the light emitting diode, a relatively large quantity of light is obtained in spite of a very small consuming power. In the present invention, however, 25 light emitting diode assemblies can be used which has a brightness of approximately 4,000 mcd per one, and has a rate of 20 mA with 2.2 V or 2.3 V. In this case, preferably, each light emitting diode is of a wide angle shape having an irradiation angle of about 30 degrees.
The lighting instrument according to the present invention can be applied to a lighting system for a helicopter taking off and landing place. This system is constituted by a light instrument including a heliport lighthouse, a wind lamp, a landing area lighting lamp, a boundary guide lamp, and a boundary lamp. The portable lighting instrument according to the present invention can be used for at least the boundary guide lamp and the boundary lamp out these lighting instruments. In this case, preferably, a solar cell module is provided in addition to the above-described constitution. That is, there are provided a portable casing, a solar cell module disposed on the outer surface of the casing, an electrical double-layer capacitor placed within the casing and charged by the solar cell, and a light emitting diode assembly disposed on the top of the casing and lighted by a current supplied from the electrical double-layer capacitor. The casing is constituted by a box body provided with the electrical double-layer capacitor and a lid for covering an opening of the box body, the light emitting diode assembly being supported on the lid. The lid is also provided with a lens body for covering the light emitting diode assembly and controlling the diffusion range of irradiation light in a direction of an optical axis thereof.
The solar cell module(s) is constituted in the shape of a plurality of, for example, four solar panel connected in series, each panel having a voltage of 4.5 V and a current of 114 mA, and outputting a power of 18 V, 114 mA as a whole. The capacity of the electrical double-layer capacitor can be charged about 1 F by the output of 1 mA of the solar cell.
In the case where 36 electrical double-layer capacitors and 25 LED assemblies are combined, lighting for about 2 hours is possible at the time of full charge as a general standard. The laws and ordinances in this field stimulate that the lighting instrument is lighted at least 10 minutes before the landing scheduled time and being kept lighted for at least 5 minutes after taking off. However, in case of urgent taking off and landing, since the staying time is short, the lighting instrument according to the present invention can be applied to the lighting system for helicopter taking off and landing place.
REFERENCES:
patent: 6060658 (2000-05-01), Yoshida et al.
patent: 6069557 (2000-05-01), Anglin, Jr. et al.
Hikita Masao
Takamura Katsutoshi
Yamada Katsumi
Elna Kabushiki Kaisha
Husar Stephen
Jordan and Hamburg LLP
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