AU2018256529A1 - Magnetic marker lamp system - Google Patents

Abstract

There is provided a marker lamp system including a housing (11) having docking stations (12) having a floor portion (13) including a ferromagnetic attractor (14) and charging terminals (15), and marker lamp assemblies (17) each having a casing comprising a lens portion (20) and a base portion (21) mounting an internal LED (31), a switchable driver circuit PCB (30) for the LEDs (31) and a rechargeable battery (25). The base portion (21) is shaped to fit the docking station (12) and has a base surface (22) supported on the floor portion (13) with a pair of charging contacts (23) corresponding to the terminals (15) and magnets (23) to both mount the marker lamp assembly to a ferromagnetic substrate in marker lamp use, and magnetically engaging the ferromagnetic attractor (14) to urge the contacts (23) into the terminals (15) for charging. LO* / \9$\ ( c)

Description

MAGNETIC MARKER LAMP SYSTEM

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a magnetic marker lamp system. This invention has particular application to a magnetic marker lamp system for use by oversizetransport carriers and for illustrative purposes the invention will be described with reference to this application. However we envisage that this invention may find use in other applications such as detachable marker lamp applications generally and the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that the referenced prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in Australia.

Magnetically attached, rechargeable lamps, strobes and beacons find application as side and other marker lamps, hazard warning strobes and beacons and the like. For example, magnetic-base beacons provide a lights-and-siren option for unmarked emergency-service vehicles and the like. Rechargeable and dry-cellpowered magnetic marker lamps are used as rear lamps for bicycles and removeable side and rear marking lamps for oversize transport items.

These types of lamp are generally used as a discrete article despite often being deployed in multiples. For example, rechargeable lamps are connected individually to a matched recharger cable or base. The present applicant has determined synergistic advantages of integration of multiple marker lamps into a magnetic marker lamp system as described hereinafter.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect the present invention resides broadly in a magnetic marker lamp system including:

a housing having a plurality of discrete docking stations, each docking station having a floor portion including a ferromagnetic attractor and a pair of spring-loaded charging terminals associated with a charging system; and

2018256529 30 Oct 2018 a plurality of discrete marker lamp assemblies each including a casing having a lens portion and a base portion, at least one LED mounted to shine through said lens portion, a switchable driver circuit for said LED and a rechargeable pile powering said driver circuit, said base portion being shaped to fit said docking station and having a base surface conforming to and supported on said floor portion, said base surface having a pair of charging contacts corresponding to said terminals and at least one embedded permanent magnet of magnetic strength selected to mount said marker lamp assembly to a ferromagnetic substrate in marker lamp use, said magnet or magnets magnetically engaging said ferromagnetic attractor and urging said contacts into said terminal for charging said pile.

The housing may comprise a clamshell case having said plurality of docking stations moulded into one or both halves. For example, the clamshell case may include docking stations for 12 marker lamp assemblies. The clamshell case may be formed with a handle, self-hinge and integral latch or latches by rotary or injection moulding of a thermoplastic.

The floor portion and base surface may be substantially flat.

The spring-loaded charging terminals may be positive pressure spring type charging electrode terminals.

The ferromagnetic attractor may be selected from a ferromagnetic material and a magnet.

The charging system may comprise a DC to DC converter mounted within the housing and having means for connection to an external DC power supply. The DC power supply is preferably delivering 12 VDC by step down transformation and rectification of mains AC and interchangeable with vehicle-associated 12 volt DC supply. DC to DC converters may accept a wide range of input voltages and so may be used in both 12 and 24 volt vehicle systems.

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The input to the DC to DC converter may be connected to a photovoltaic cell mounted on an outer surface of the housing.

The lens portion may be selected from optically clear polymer for use with coloured LEDs and optically filtered polymer for use with white LEDs.

The lens portion may be optically clear polymer and the LED may consequentially comprise one or more LEDs selected from red, amber and white LEDs.

The LEDs may comprise red, amber and white LEDs and the driver circuit may be selectively operable to provide side marker lamp, marker lamp and rear and frontend outline marker lamp functions as used by heavy vehicle oversize road transport carrier operators.

The base surface may be substantially oval shaped and embed a pair of the permanent magnets spaced along the long axis of the oval shape and finishing substantially flush with the base surface.

The base portion may be shaped to fit the docking station in a single relative interengagement by engagement of a lug with a slot to reduce the degrees of freedom of the interengagement to one.

The contacts may be embedded in said base surface adjacent an edge spaced from the long axis of the oval shape and finish substantially flush with the base surface.

The switchable driver circuit may be controlled by a switch operable via a rubber boot embedded in the base surface adjacent the opposite edge to that adjacent the contacts and finished substantially flush with the base surface. Alternatively, the switching function may be associated directly with the driver circuit perse.

The driver circuit may be formed on a printed circuit board (PCB) bearing said LED or LEDs. The PCB may be supported such as by snap in connection by the lens

2018256529 30 Oct 2018 portion. Optionally the lens portion and PCB assembly may include an electrical switch and switch cover. In another embodiment the electrical switch may be a contactless inductive type switch that is mounted directly behind a portion of the outer facing lens cover.

The lens portion and PCB assembly may have a light output performance certifiable for ECE, SAE, CCC, ADR and other internationally recognized standards as a side marker lamp, marker lamp and both a rear & front end outline marker lamp used by heavy vehicle oversize road transport carrier operators.

The white, red and amber colour LEDs may be assembled onto the PCB in both perpendicular and inclined facing directions relative to the PCB face. Optionally, each LED or LED pair maybe controlled in a turn on and off state such that each marker lamp may operate in each required state of function.

The PCB may comprise an additional indicator lamp function using one or more LEDs to alert the status of the lamp battery storage capacity and charging status.

The lens portion and the base portion pair circumferentially with one-way interlocking means which, when connected, form a circumferential seal allowing the injection of environmental sealant.

The switchable driver circuit may include a Wi-Fi client transceiver having a secure IP network connection with a Wi-Fi router, the network connection providing for remote switching of the driver circuit over the network controlled by said router. The router may be associated with a modem wherein one or more of a turn on and turn off operation command and authorization for local control is by modem connection to a remote computer server.

For example, the vehicle operator’s smartphone may comprise Wi-Fi client on the same peer-to-peer network and be configured to transmit a command to turn on or turn off the marker lamps using that Wi-Fi connection. The Wi-Fi module in the lamp may be selected to automatically awakes and checks for a current turn on or

2018256529 30 Oct 2018 turn off command following connection and disconnection from the charging rack electrode terminals.

Alternatively other radio based systems could provide similar capabilities to that of using Wi-Fi and be readily configurable eg. Bluetooth, Zigbee, GSM, 3G, 4G, 5G, LTE, LoRo and 433MHx etc. to facilitate the required wireless bandwidth on which the system requires.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described with reference to the following non-limiting embodiment of the invention as illustrated in the drawings and wherein:

Fig. 1 is an isometric view of a magnetic marker lamp system in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a section through the system of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top isometric view of a marker lamp for use in the system of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a bottom isometric view of a marker lamp for use in the system of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a wirelessly switched example of a marker lamp circuit in accordance with the present invention; and

Fig 6 is an electromechanically switched example of a marker lamp circuit in accordance with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT

In the figures, there is provided a magnetic marker lamp system 10 including an injection moulded clamshell housing 11 having twelve discrete oval docking stations 12. Each docking station 12 has a substantially flat floor portion 13 concealing iron inserts (hidden detail at 14) forming a ferromagnetic attractor. A pair of spring-loaded charging terminals 15 are associated with a charging system comprising a DC-DC converter concealed in the housing 11 and fed via DC charging port 16.

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Twelve discrete marker lamp assemblies 17 (six illustrated in use in Fig. 1) each include a casing having a lens portion 20 and a base portion 21. The base portion is shaped to fit the docking station 12 and has a substantially oval base surface conforming to and supported on the floor portion 13. The base surface 22 has a pair of charging contacts 23 corresponding to the terminals 15 and a pair of spaced, embedded permanent magnets 24 of magnetic strength selected to mount the marker lamp assembly to a ferromagnetic substrate in marker lamp use.

The magnets 24 magnetically engage the ferromagnetic attractors 14 and urge contacts 23 into terminals 15 for charging a rechargeable battery 25. The base portion 21 is shaped to fit the docking station 12 in a single relative interengagement by engagement of a lug 26 with a slot 27 to reduce the degrees of freedom of interengagement to one.

The lens portion 20 is optically clear polymer. A driver circuit is formed on a printed circuit board (PCB) 30 which is supported within the lens portion 20. The PCB 30 mounts red, amber and white LEDs (collectively 31) and the driver circuit is selectively operable to provide side marker lamp, marker lamp and rear and front-end outline marker lamp functions as used by heavy vehicle oversize road transport carrier operators.

The driver circuit is switchable by a switch 32 operable via a rubber boot 33 embedded in the base surface 22 and finished substantially flush with the base surface 22.

Fig. 5 illustrates a wireless example of a driver circuit based on the HOPERF® FM219SW ultra low power, high performance, VLSI receiver 34 for various 300 to 960MHz wireless applications. All I/O features can be configured either by off-line EEPROM programming or on-line registers writing. The RFM219SW operates from a power supply voltage of notionally 3V (not shown, voltage delivered to terminals at 35). The receiver 34 is maintained by a standby 3V60R NiMH computer memory battery 36. The receiver includes an antenna electronically tuned by EEPROM programming to a channel in the 433Mhz band and adapted to

2018256529 30 Oct 2018 receive a corresponding on/off signal driven by a transmitter associated with a vehicle sidelight condition.

The outputs of the receiver 34 are configured to provide low power LED indication of READY at 40 and SIGNAL at 41. In the energized and receiving SIDELIGHTS ON condition, the primary output terminal 42 switches a driver circuit 43 to drive a pair of RED LEDs 44 and a pair of ORANGE LEDs 45.

In the embodiment of Fig. 6, a control chip 46 monitors a circuit driven by a battery 10 47. The battery 47 is switched at 50 to drive a RED LED circuit 51 and an

ORANGE LED circuit 52 via power transistor 53. ON status of the switch 50 is monitored at pin 5 of the chip and output to indicator LED 54. LOW status of the battery 47 is monitored at pin 5 and output to “low battery” indicator 55. Indicator LEDs 54, 55 are powered by common collector voltage supplied at 56.

It will of course be realised that while the above has been given by way of illustrative example of this invention, all such and other modifications and variations thereto as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of this invention as is set forth in the claims appended hereto.

Claims (20)

1. A magnetic marker lamp system including:

a housing having a plurality of discrete docking stations, each docking station having a floor portion including a ferromagnetic attractor and a pair of spring-loaded charging terminals associated with a charging system; and a plurality of discrete marker lamp assemblies each including a casing having a lens portion and a base portion, at least one LED mounted to shine through said lens portion, a switchable driver circuit for said LED and a rechargeable pile powering said driver circuit, said base portion being shaped to fit said docking station and having a base surface conforming to and supported on said floor portion, said base surface having a pair of charging contacts corresponding to said terminals and at least one embedded permanent magnet of magnetic strength selected to mount said marker lamp assembly to a ferromagnetic substrate in marker lamp use, said magnet or magnets magnetically engaging said ferromagnetic attractor and urging said contacts into said terminal for charging said pile.

2. A magnetic marker lamp system according to Claim 1, wherein said housing comprises a clamshell case having said plurality of docking stations moulded into one or both halves.

3. A magnetic marker lamp system according to Claim 2, wherein said clamshell case is formed with a handle, self-hinge and integral latch or latches by rotary or injection moulding of a thermoplastic.

4. A magnetic marker lamp system according to Claim 1, wherein said floor portion and base surface are substantially flat.

5. A magnetic marker lamp system according to Claim 1, wherein said spring loaded charging terminals are positive pressure spring type charging electrode terminals.

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6. A magnetic marker lamp system according to Claim 1, wherein said ferromagnetic attractor is selected from a ferromagnetic material and a magnet.

7. A magnetic marker lamp system according to Claim 1, wherein said charging system comprises a DC to DC converter mounted within the housing and having means for connection to an external DC power supply.

8. A magnetic marker lamp system according to Claim 7, wherein said DC to DC converter is connected to a photovoltaic cell mounted on an outer surface of said housing.

9. A magnetic marker lamp system according to Claim 1, wherein said lens portion is selected from optically clear polymer for use with coloured LEDs and optically filtered polymer for use with white LEDs.

10. A magnetic marker lamp system according to Claim 9, wherein said lens portion is optically clear polymer and said LED comprises one or more LEDs selected from red, amber and white LEDs.

11. A magnetic marker lamp system according to Claim 10, wherein said LEDs comprise red, amber and white LEDs and said driver circuit is selectively operable to provide side marker lamp, marker lamp and rear and front-end outline marker lamp functions as used by heavy vehicle oversize road transport carrier operators.

12. A magnetic marker lamp system according to Claim 1, wherein said base surface is substantially oval shaped and embeds a pair of said permanent magnets spaced along the long axis of said oval shape and finishing substantially flush with said base surface.

13. A magnetic marker lamp system according to Claim 12, wherein said base portion is shaped to fit said docking station in a single relative interengagement by engagement of a lug with a slot to reduce the degrees of freedom of said interengagement to one.

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14. A magnetic marker lamp system according to Claim 12, wherein said contacts are embedded in said base surface adjacent an edge spaced from the long axis of said oval shape and finish substantially flush with said base surface.

15. A magnetic marker lamp system according to Claim 14, wherein said switchable driver circuit is controlled by a switch operable via a rubber boot embedded in said base surface adjacent the opposite edge to that adjacent said contacts and finished substantially flush with said base surface.

16. A magnetic marker lamp system according to Claim 1, wherein said driver circuit is formed on a printed circuit board (PCB) bearing said LED or LEDs.

17. A magnetic marker lamp system according to Claim 16, wherein said PCB comprises an additional indicator lamp function using one or more LEDs to alert the status of the lamp battery storage capacity and charging status.

18. A magnetic marker lamp system according to Claim 1, wherein said lens portion and said base portion pair circumferentially with one-way interlocking means which, when connected, form a circumferential seal allowing the injection of environmental sealant.

19. A magnetic marker lamp system according to Claim 1, wherein said switchable driver circuit includes a Wi-Fi client transceiver having a secure IP network connection with a Wi-Fi router, said network connection providing for remote switching of said driver circuit over the network controlled by said router.

20. A magnetic marker lamp system according to Claim 19, wherein said router is associated with a modem wherein one or more of a turn on and turn off operation command and authorization for local control is by modem connection to a remote computer server.