Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
  • H01R35/00—Flexible or turnable line connectors, i.e. the rotation angle being limited
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B61—RAILWAYS
  • B61J—SHIFTING OR SHUNTING OF RAIL VEHICLES
  • B61J1/00—Turntables; Traversers; Transporting rail vehicles on other rail vehicles or dollies
  • B61J1/02—Turntables; Integral stops
  • B61J1/06—Turntables; Integral stops for railways with suspended vehicles, e.g. aerial rope railways
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F21—LIGHTING
  • F21V—FUNCTIONAL FEATURES OR DETAILS OF LIGHTING DEVICES OR SYSTEMS THEREOF; STRUCTURAL COMBINATIONS OF LIGHTING DEVICES WITH OTHER ARTICLES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • F21V21/00—Supporting, suspending, or attaching arrangements for lighting devices; Hand grips
  • F21V21/34—Supporting elements displaceable along a guiding element
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F21—LIGHTING
  • F21S—NON-PORTABLE LIGHTING DEVICES; SYSTEMS THEREOF; VEHICLE LIGHTING DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR VEHICLE EXTERIORS
  • F21S2/00—Systems of lighting devices, not provided for in main groups F21S4/00 - F21S10/00 or F21S19/00, e.g. of modular construction
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F21—LIGHTING
  • F21W—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASSES F21K, F21L, F21S and F21V, RELATING TO USES OR APPLICATIONS OF LIGHTING DEVICES OR SYSTEMS
  • F21W2131/00—Use or application of lighting devices or systems not provided for in codes F21W2102/00-F21W2121/00
  • F21W2131/40—Lighting for industrial, commercial, recreational or military use
  • F21W2131/406—Lighting for industrial, commercial, recreational or military use for theatres, stages or film studios
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
  • H01R25/00—Coupling parts adapted for simultaneous co-operation with two or more identical counterparts, e.g. for distributing energy to two or more circuits
  • H01R25/14—Rails or bus-bars constructed so that the counterparts can be connected thereto at any point along their length

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a rotating device for attachment to crossing points of a Ford rail system with transport units. It serves to feed the transport units to the Ford rails running in any direction and at the same time to ensure the supply of electricity and control pulses to the transport units. Attached to the transport units are, for example, lighting fixtures which are supplied with energy and possibly control signals by the transport units and thus ensure flexible and, depending on the case, even mobile illumination of a room, for example a television studio.
• Usual lighting systems for television studios, theater stages or the like have, for example, headlights which are attached to a conveyor rail system with turntables located on the ceiling and on which
• Rails can be positioned manually. At regular intervals there are supply boxes on the ceiling, from which a spotlight once positioned can be supplied with power and control pulses.
• a lighting system provides for the attachment of a large number of headlights which are only adjustable in height, it being possible for the headlights which are in the appropriate place to be used as required. Only the height of the headlights can be chosen arbitrarily.
• Yet another system is based on a Ford rail system that can be installed in the ceiling structure of a studio. Such a Ford rail system points
• Rails that are parallel to each other and run the entire length of the area where the headlights are to be used.
• On a pair of such rails several rail sections are slidably mounted, the running direction of which is perpendicular to the running direction of the rails.
• the headlights are attached to transport units that can be moved on the rail sections. Two rail sections on adjacent pairs of rails can then be brought into position so that they are aligned with one another and a transport unit of a headlight can be moved from one rail section to the next. In this way, a headlight can in principle be brought to any desired position on the ceiling.
• the object of the present invention is to enable a lighting system which does not have the disadvantages of the systems described above and in which the lighting elements can also be moved flexibly while they are in use.
• the invention relates to a turning device, namely a turning device for mounting at points of intersection between fixed Ford rails of a Ford rail system for conveying transport units provided with contact tracks, the turning device having two components which can be rotated relative to one another, one of which serves as a pivot bearing for fastening at the crossing point the other is formed, while the other is a rail carrier containing at least one rail section.
• the device according to the invention is characterized in that each rail section of the rail carrier is provided with contact tracks so that a transport unit having current collectors located on the rail section can draw energy.
• the invention also relates to a lighting system with lighting elements for illuminating television studios, theater or concert stages or the like, which is characterized in that the lighting elements are provided with transport units which can be positioned on a Ford rail system with Ford rails having contact tracks, these being Transport units have current collectors which contact the contact tracks and that there is a rotating device according to one of claims 1 to 7 at the intersections of this front rail system.
• FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a rotating device according to the invention
• FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the pivot bearing of this device
• FIG. 3 is a perspective view of their rail support
• FIG. 4 shows a longitudinal section through the rail section of the rail carrier with an inserted, uncut trolley and
• FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of a part of a lighting system, which is provided with rotating devices according to the invention, with a schematically illustrated lighting fixture.
• the rotating device consists of two components, one of which, designated as a whole with 1 and to be installed permanently at intersection points of the Ford rail system, as a pivot bearing for the other, designated as a whole with 2, and in The following rail support is formed.
• the rotary bearing 1 essentially consists of a hollow cylinder 11 with an outer diameter D a and an inner diameter D_. This is provided with threaded holes 12, on which fasteners can engage in order to fasten the rotating device to a ceiling or to a bar frame.
• cylinder lugs 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, for example are fixed to the cylinder 11 by stationary Ford rails which are guided radially outward from the cylinder surface, two adjacent approaches at an angle of 45 ° to each other.
• the rail support 2 also essentially consists of a hollow cylinder 50, the outer diameter d a of which is slightly smaller than the inner diameter D_ of the hollow cylinder 11 associated with the rotary bearing 1. It is additionally provided on the top with a flange 51 with an outer diameter d of at least is equal to D a . In the lower part of the rail support, a rail section 52 is attached, which runs on a diagonal of the cylinder 50.
• Each of the rail attachments 21 to 28 as well as the rail section 52 are mirror-symmetrical with respect to a plane which runs along the rail direction and is vertical in the example shown.
• Each rail attachment 21 to 28 or each rail section 52 has a ceiling 31, two side walls 32, 33 and two roller tracks 34, 35.
• a transport unit 70 designed as a trolley can be displaced along the running direction of the rail on the runways 34, 35.
• a plastic strip 36 is attached to each of the two rare walls 32, 33 of the rails.
• Each of the plastic strips is provided with at least two grooves, in which there is a busbar 37 or 38, which is exposed on the inside of the rails and serves as a contact track.
• connections 46, 47 can be designed, for example, as power line cables attached to the outside of the rail extensions 21 to 28, which contact the contact tracks 37, 38 through openings in the side walls 32, 33.
• Busbars 37, 38 of the rail lugs 21 to 28 are connected.
• the rail support 2 now has contact pins 44, 45 which are connected to the contact tracks 37, 38 of the rail section 52 and are pressed, for example by a spring, onto the busbars 42, 43 so that they make electrical contact with them.
• the trolley 70 shown schematically in FIG. 4 has several axes with wheels 71 rolling on the roller tracks 34, 35 as well as drive means with which it can move on the rail.
• current collectors 72 are attached, which slide on the contact tracks 37, 38.
• the trolley 70 has one set of pantographs in the direction of travel, front and rear, with only two pantographs 72 per set corresponding to the number of contact tracks 37, 38.
• the number of current collectors naturally increases with the number of contact tracks 37, 38 if there are more than two of them.
• the trolley also has wheels 73, which are attached to its upper side and which, by rolling off the ceiling 31, prevent the trolley 70 from being able to stand up under high accelerations and the pantographs losing contact with the busbars 37, 38 .
• the rail support 2 As shown in FIG. 1, is inserted into the rotary bearing 1 of the rotating device.
• the rail support 2 has an actuator.
• An electric motor 63 connected via leads 62 to the busbars 37, 38 of the rail section 52 is fastened to the inside of the rail carrier 2.
• this causes the rail support to rotate via a plastic gear 64, which engages through an opening 65 in the cylinder 50 into the teeth of a plastic toothed rack 66 ' which is countersunk on the inner wall of the cylinder 11.
• spherical depressions 67 are provided at predetermined positions at an angular distance of 45 ° from one another on the inside of the hollow cylinder.
• a ball 68 is attached to the outside of the cylinder 50 and is pressed outwards by a spring against a stop or, in the operational state, against the inside of the cylinder 11. It then snaps into one of these recesses when the rail support is aligned such that one of the rail extensions 21 to 28 is in the direction which leads radially outward from its rail section 52. In this way, the positions in which a transport unit can be moved onto the rail support 2 or away from it are defined as fixed positions of the rail support 2.
• FIG. 5 shows a view of part of such a lighting system with a lighting element 80 which is only shown schematically. shows.
• the lighting fixture 80 is, for example, a headlamp with a set of color filters and a device for inserting a filter from this set. As is known for traditional lighting systems, it is provided with means with which its height can be adjusted and with which its light can be thrown in any direction.
• the headlights, together with the device for inserting the color filters, are supplied with current via the contact tracks via the trolley 70.
• the contact tracks 42, 43 of the rotary bearing 1 together with the connections 46, 47, which contact the opposite contact tracks 37, 38 of the stationary rails, and with the connections to the rail sections 52 of the rail supports 2 via the contact pins 44, 45 ensure that the whole
• Rail network is constantly connected to power supply and control devices, with larger lighting systems depending on which can still be divided into sectors, each with a separate power supply.
• the trolley of each transport unit like that in the
• FIG. 4 is shown to have two sets of pantographs one behind the other in the direction of travel and a relay circuit that switches back and forth between the two pantograph sets so that a trolley cannot short-circuit two sectors with one another.
• the lighting system also has a central control unit, not shown in the drawing.
• this control unit With the help of this control unit, the position and current function of each headlight according to a predetermined program or continuously adapted to requirements by direct operation.
• the control of the headlights, the devices for inserting the color filters, the trolleys and the actuators by the control unit then takes place either via a control signal modulated onto the power supply, via additional contact tracks (not shown in the drawing) and parallel to the drawn busbars 37, 38 for transmitting the control signal or via an infrared remote control.
• the seamless supply of current and control pulses to the headlights, regardless of their position, enables them to change their position even during use, which enables novel and spectacular lighting effects during demonstrations, for example at rock concerts.
• the rotary device according to the invention is provided with an actuator with a low-noise power transmission via a plastic gearwheel, a lighting body can also be easily moved during a broadcast, for example in television studios, which results in greater flexibility compared to conventional lighting systems and in particular allows working with fewer headlights.
• a rail support 2 it is also readily possible for a rail support 2 to have more than one rail section 52. If at 10
• each rail support 2 For example, two crossed rail sections, which are at an angle of 90 ° to one another, are attached to each rail support 2, the maximum angle by which the rail support must be rotated before a transport unit 70 can be moved from a predetermined fixed rail to one of its rail sections, can be reduced to 45 °. In this way, the speed at which the positions of the transport units 70 can be adjusted can additionally be increased.
• the structure of the Ford rail system can of course also differ from the exemplary embodiment shown schematically in FIG.
• the rotating devices can be installed, for example, in such a way that one rotating device connects directly to the next, so that the transport units could go directly from one rail support 2 to the next without having to travel over permanently installed rails.
• the pivot bearing 1 would of course not have eight rail extensions 21 to 28, but only four of them, for example, which would run in the diagonal directions of the front system.
• Lighting units are not the only possible transport units.
• a conveyor rail system provided with the rotating devices according to the invention, for example, television cameras, loudspeaker boxes, etc., can also be flexibly and mobilely positioned by themselves or in combination with lighting fixtures.
• the turning device is of course also suitable for applications other than for the entertainment area, for example for use for program-controlled transport devices in a warehouse.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Transportation (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Non-Portable Lighting Devices Or Systems Thereof (AREA)
• Power Steering Mechanism (AREA)
• Steering Control In Accordance With Driving Conditions (AREA)
• Valve Device For Special Equipments (AREA)
• Platform Screen Doors And Railroad Systems (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=4193730

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (14)

Cited By (1)

Families Citing this family (22)

Family Cites Families (9)

• 1999
  • 1999-03-24 EP EP99907226A patent/EP1066188B1/fr not_active Revoked
  • 1999-03-24 AT AT99907226T patent/ATE240861T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1999-03-24 BR BR9909134-8A patent/BR9909134A/pt not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1999-03-24 CN CN99804456A patent/CN1295520A/zh active Pending
  • 1999-03-24 IL IL13872099A patent/IL138720A/xx not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1999-03-24 DE DE59905648T patent/DE59905648D1/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1999-03-24 US US09/647,182 patent/US6435698B1/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1999-03-24 TR TR2000/02783T patent/TR200002783T2/xx unknown
  • 1999-03-24 KR KR1020007010668A patent/KR20010042181A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1999-03-24 AU AU27099/99A patent/AU747478B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 1999-03-24 JP JP2000541051A patent/JP2002509840A/ja not_active Withdrawn
  • 1999-03-24 ES ES99907226T patent/ES2198128T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1999-03-24 WO PCT/CH1999/000126 patent/WO1999050122A1/fr not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1999-03-24 CA CA002326122A patent/CA2326122A1/fr not_active Abandoned

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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