EP1103755A2 - Système d' éclairage - Google Patents

Système d' éclairage Download PDF

Info

Publication number
EP1103755A2
EP1103755A2 EP00310415A EP00310415A EP1103755A2 EP 1103755 A2 EP1103755 A2 EP 1103755A2 EP 00310415 A EP00310415 A EP 00310415A EP 00310415 A EP00310415 A EP 00310415A EP 1103755 A2 EP1103755 A2 EP 1103755A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
wires
conduit
holder
lighting system
lamp
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP00310415A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Stephen Robert Jackson
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Individual
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Publication of EP1103755A2 publication Critical patent/EP1103755A2/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • 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
    • F21V21/002—Supporting, suspending, or attaching arrangements for lighting devices; Hand grips making direct electrical contact, e.g. by piercing
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F21—LIGHTING
    • F21S—NON-PORTABLE LIGHTING DEVICES; SYSTEMS THEREOF; VEHICLE LIGHTING DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR VEHICLE EXTERIORS
    • F21S4/00—Lighting devices or systems using a string or strip of light sources
    • F21S4/10—Lighting devices or systems using a string or strip of light sources with light sources attached to loose electric cables, e.g. Christmas tree lights

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a lighting system particularly, though not exclusively, for outdoor use in applications such as festive lights, street illumination, illumination of building exteriors and architectural features.
  • Conventional outdoor lights usually comprise either one of two types, according to whether the lamps making up the system are connected with two wires, in which case the lamps are usually constantly illuminated, or more than two wires, in which case the lamps may be illuminated according to a predetermined sequence to provide more interesting effects.
  • a flexible, waterproof lighting system for such purposes which comprises very small lamps wired in parallel and embedded within a solid flexible plastic cylinder of indeterminate length.
  • Such a system is used with a controller which causes the lights either to be constantly illuminated, or to be illuminated intermittently in a particular sequence.
  • One disadvantage of such a system is that it is not possible to change the lamps, and whilst the parallel wiring ensures that should one lamp fail the remainder will continue to be illuminated, should too many lamps fail the pleasing aesthetic effect would be lost.
  • the colour is determined by the colour of the plastic, and this system does not therefore provide for more than one colour within each section.
  • a lighting system comprising a plurality of lights, each comprising an assembly including a lamp and a lamp holder, and having connection means to an electrical conduit for connecting said lights together and to a controller for controlling the illumination of the lamps, individual lights or groups of lights being capable of selective illumination according to a predetermined sequence or randomly at least a part of each assembly being accessible from outside the electrical conduit.
  • the lights conveniently include a cover, which is either transparent or one of a variety of different colours.
  • the cover may take the form of a lens, to focus the light emitted from the incandescent element thus enhancing and diffusing its brightness.
  • the electrical conduit preferably includes at least two separate wires, more preferably three or four, within a waterproof external cladding such as flexible plastic tubing.
  • the cladding conveniently includes a number of internal channels within which each wire runs and is electrically isolated from its neighbouring wires. In a three wire system, two of the wires are live and one neutral at any one instant.
  • connection means of each lamp holder to connect with a selected pair of wires out of three or more wires, it is possible to achieve the random or sequenced intermittent illumination of the prior art system described above, whilst maintaining the versatility of being able to access the lamps individually from the exterior of the conduit, either to change them or to change the colour of the cover or lens.
  • each holder has both means for making connection with the electrical conduit, and means for receiving the lamp.
  • the holder also includes means for receiving the cover.
  • the holder comprises two initially separate parts which are joined together around the electrical conduit at the required position.
  • the first part includes means for holding the electrical conduit during the joining process, and may also include electrical connection means which, when the two parts are joined together, makes electrical connection with the selected pair of wires of the conduit.
  • the first and second parts are made of rigid plastics material.
  • Said electrical connection means may comprise a pair of metal pins, one end of each pair of pins being sharpened so as to pierce the plastic cladding of the electrical conduit and bite into the wire when the two parts of the holder are joined together around the conduit.
  • the orientation of the holder with respect to the conduit determines which pair of wires the holder will be electrically connected to during assembly.
  • there are two alternative orientations allowing groups of two lights to be addressed separately from other groups of two lights.
  • a light for use as part of a lighting system having electrical conduit means with more than two wires for connecting a number of such lights together and to a controller for controlling the illumination of the lights, each light including a lamp received within a lamp holder, the lamp holder being capable of making electrical connection to a selected wire or pair of wires of said electrical conduit means from the exterior of the conduit means.
  • a holder for a lamp including electrical connection means for connecting a lamp inserted within the holder to a selected wire or pair of wires within an electrical conduit.
  • a method of connecting a number of lights to each other and to a controller using an electrical conduit having at least two wires comprising connecting each light to a selected wire or pair of said wires from the exterior of the conduit.
  • this is achieved by providing means within the light assembly by which the wires of the conduit may be accessed from outside of the conduit, such as for example means for piercing the conduit where the latter includes a flexible cladding layer. More preferably, the method includes altering the orientation of the lamp holder relative to the conduit to determine which pair of wires within the conduit become electrically connected to the lamp assembly.
  • a light comprising a lamp and a lamp holder, the lamp holder having means for connecting with at least two wires of an electrical conduit having wires surrounded by a cladding by piercing said cladding.
  • a lighting system 10 comprises a multi-wire electrical conduit 12 which comprises a flexible, waterproof plastic cladding 13 within which is embedded three or more wires 16, 17, 18 such that each is electrically isolated from its neighbouring wire(s), and a number of lights 23 each having a lamp holder 14 attached to and in electrical contact with the conduit 12 at intervals therealong.
  • Each lamp holder 14 is designed to receive a lamp 20 which for example may be a 24V/40mA/3W wedge lamp.
  • a cover in the form of a cap 22 is selected from a range of different colours and is simply pushed over the holder/lamp assembly, to make the light unit waterproof, but this may be replaced by a lens type cover, which may also be provided in a range of different colours, such as 24 in Figure 4.
  • the lighting system which comprises an indeterminate length of conduit with any number of lights 23 attached thereto, and a controller (not shown) in electrical contact with the conduit, may be used in the form shown in Figure 1, or may be disposed within a housing 26 with only the cover or lens 24 of each light protruding from the housing.
  • each holder 14 comprises two parts - a first part 30 as shown in Figures 7 through 8A, and a second part 32 shown in Figure 8B, the two parts being welded together around conduit 12 at the desired location.
  • Two pins 34, 36 are disposed within slots 38, 40 respectively in the first part 30, for the purpose of making electrical connection between a selected pair of the three wires 16, 17, 18 in conduit 12 and the lamp 20.
  • the first part 30 of holder 14 has at one end a threaded neck portion 30a, with the lamp 20 being received within the interior of the neck portion by pushing the lamp in the direction of arrow X.
  • a square or rectangular flange 30b At the opposite end from the neck portion there is a square or rectangular flange 30b, with two or more step portions therebetween.
  • An O-ring 30c provides means whereby the cap 22 or lens 24 may be sealed in a watertight manner to the holder 30, thereby rendering the holder and lamp assembly waterproof.
  • Second part 32 has matching grooves 32d which, when the two parts are welded together, form a profile which surrounds and retains the conduit 12.
  • Second part 32 has two lugs 32a which are arrange to fit within two mating recesses within first part 30 to aid in location prior to welding.
  • the metal pins are of two types.
  • the first type 34 shown in Figure 5 & 5A has two legs 34a, 34b which make electrical contact with the lamp 20, and a sharpened portion 34c offset from centre.
  • the second type 36 shown in Figures 6 & 6A also has two legs 36a, 36b for making electrical contact with the lamp 20, but in this type of pin the sharpened portion 36c is central with respect to the two legs.
  • each lamp holder a first type of pin 34 and a second type of pin 36 are inserted in slots 38, 40 respectively and it is the subsequent orientation of the holder with respect to the conduit 12 which will determine which pair of wires of the three wires are contacted by the sharpened portions 34c, 36c which cut through the cladding 13 of the conduit 12 and bite into their respective wires during the welding process.
  • the same lamp holder with the same pair of pins 34, 36 can be made to contact either wire pair 16,17 or wire pair 17,18, such that individual lights or groups of lights can be lit separately from other lights or groups of lights by utilising the controller to switch the power from one wire pair to the other in a sequenced or random fashion.
  • the neck portion 30a of the first part 30 is inserted into the hole on the bed of a welding machine such that the grooves 30d are exposed, the conduit 12 is laid across and into the grooves 30d, the second part 32 is laid on top of the first part 30 and the conduit, locating the lugs 32a within their respective mating recesses in part 30, and the whole assembly is welded together using conventional methods and apparatus for welding plastics, for example sonic welding at approximately 70lbs per square inch.
  • the sharpened portions 34c, 36c of pins 34, 36 are pushed through the cladding 13 into a particular one of two possible wire pairs, according to the orientation of the part 30 with respect to the conduit.
  • the present invention enables lights to be attached to selected pairs of wires within an encased conduit from the exterior of the conduit, in such a manner that the lights may be operated to provide random or sequenced (e.g. chasing) effects, thereby providing enhanced display possibilities whilst retaining good accessibility of the lights for the purpose of replacement or changing the colour.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Arrangement Of Elements, Cooling, Sealing, Or The Like Of Lighting Devices (AREA)
  • Non-Portable Lighting Devices Or Systems Thereof (AREA)
EP00310415A 1999-11-23 2000-11-23 Système d' éclairage Withdrawn EP1103755A2 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB9927559 1999-11-23
GBGB9927559.6A GB9927559D0 (en) 1999-11-23 1999-11-23 Lighting system

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1103755A2 true EP1103755A2 (fr) 2001-05-30

Family

ID=10864908

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP00310415A Withdrawn EP1103755A2 (fr) 1999-11-23 2000-11-23 Système d' éclairage

Country Status (2)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1103755A2 (fr)
GB (2) GB9927559D0 (fr)

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5121310A (en) * 1984-10-24 1992-06-09 Ahroni Joseph M Chaser decorative light set
US5051877A (en) * 1990-11-05 1991-09-24 Liao Nan W Miniature light set
JP2779726B2 (ja) * 1992-02-07 1998-07-23 雅章 鶴薗 装飾電球の点灯装置
US5339232A (en) * 1993-01-12 1994-08-16 Lin Te H Miniature light set

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
None

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB9927559D0 (en) 2000-01-19
GB0028508D0 (en) 2001-01-10
GB2356695A (en) 2001-05-30

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