IE86721B1 - Illumination unit - Google Patents

Abstract

A pedestrian crossing illumination unit comprising a cover (22) and a primary light source within the cover, said cover comprising one or more recesses each for location of an auxiliary light unit (11) which, in use of the beacon assembly, can be arranged to direct light primarily in a direction to face oncoming traffic. <Figure 3>

Description

Illumination Unit This invention relates to an illumination unit and in particular, though not exclusively, to an illumination unit for use as part of a Belisha beacon assembly.

Conventionally an illumination unit for use as part of a Belisha beacon assembly comprises a globe of translucent material within which a light source is provided.

The intensity of illumination provided by the light source needs to be sufficient to ensure that even in bright sunlight the beacon is clearly and distinctly visible to both pedestrians and road users whilst at the same time not being of such a great intensity as to present a nuisance to occupants of nearby dwellings during periods of darkness.

Provision of down light illumination of a pedestrian area is another useful feature of a Belisha beacon assembly. Preferably also the illumination unit should be aesthetically pleasing and a further preferred feature is that it is not of a size that unduly interferes with the line of sight of road users or pedestrians.

To address these matters the present invention provides a pedestrian crossing illumination unit comprising a cover and a primary light source within the cover to provide multi directional illumination of the cover, said cover comprising one or more recesses each for the location of an auxiliary light unit which, in use of the beacon assembly, provides a beam of light of greater intensity than the intensity of illumination of the cover by the primary light source. Thus the intensity of illumination provided by the conventional light source within the illumination unit does not need to be as great as otherwise might be necessary.

A recess in the illumination unit cover may be positioned to accommodate an auxiliary light unit which, in use of the beacon assembly, directs light substantially only in one direction, for example to face on-coming traffic, to face across from one side of a pedestrian crossing to the other, or to act as a down light to illuminate a pedestrian area adjacent a road crossing.

The cover may be in the form of a substantially spherically shaped globe or of a part-spherical shape, for example it may be of a substantially hemispherical shape. The cover may be of translucent material and that material may be a coloured material or provided with a coating of coloured material, typically yellow or orange.

Typically the illumination unit is mounted on a post and one or more recesses may comprise a mounting surface which lies in a plane which is parallel with the longitudinal direction of the post thereby to be particularly suitable for mounting an auxiliary light unit that provides a beam of light directed substantially horizontally towards oncoming traffic. Additionally or alternatively the illumination unit may comprise a mounting surface for an auxiliary light unit in use provides illumination at an angle inclined to the horizontal, for example downwards to illuminate a pedestrian area.

The illumination unit may comprise two or more recesses. The mounting surfaces of two or more recesses may be co-planar.

The illumination unit may comprise at least one recess having a mounting surface for an auxiliary light unit that, in use, faces in a first direction, and at least one recess having a mounting surface for an auxiliary light unit that faces in a second direction which may be an opposite direction. One auxiliary light unit may face in a direction between, say, 30 and 180 degrees, for example 90 degrees, relative to another auxiliary light unit of the illumination unit. A recess mounting surface may comprise a substantially planar support section.

Preferably the or each recess accommodates an auxiliary light unit comprising a light source, such as an LED light source secured to a support section of the auxiliary light unit, and a transparent cover section which protects the light source from exposure to the elements. An LED light source of an auxiliary light unit may comprise a plurality of LED lights. Preferably the cover section extends over the recess to provide an outer surface which is substantially contiguous with the outer surface of the illumination unit. Typically the illumination unit may comprise a substantially spherically shaped globe cover and in that case preferably the cover section of an auxiliary light unit has a curvature corresponding to that of the globe shaped cover.

A mounting surface and other surfaces defining a recess may be formed integrally with the cover of the illumination unit, for example by a rotational moulding technique.

The illumination unit may comprise one or more recesses whereby, in use, at least one recess or a part of one recess is positioned at a pedestrian side and another recess or other part of a recess is positioned at the road side of the illumination unit. In that case it may be provided that the light source at one side, typically the pedestrian side, is dimmable in some ambient light conditions thereby to facilitate avoidance or reduction of nuisance to occupants of nearby dwellings. Additionally or alternatively one or more recesses may be positioned for enabling an auxiliary light unit to direct light downwards to a ground surface when the unit is secured to a support.

The illumination unit may comprise a control device which controls the intensity of illumination of one or more of a plurality of light sources of the auxiliary light unit in response to ambient light conditions and or time of day.

The illumination unit of the present invention may be of a kind suitable for mounting at the top of a support post, or around a support post, for example at an intermediate position along the length of a post. In the latter case the cover of the illumination unit may be in two parts and said two parts may be interconnected by a bracket arrangement of a kind known per se, for example of the kind referred to in the specifications of our UK patents GB 2418447 and GB 2436026.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which :- Figure 1 is a side view of a top beacon globe unit, of a first embodiment of the invention, for securing to the top of a support post; Figure 2 is a front view of the top beacon globe unit of figure 1 in a direction perpendicular to that of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective view of the globe unit of Figures 1 and 2: Figure 4 is an assembly view of the globe unit of Figures 1 to 3 in combination with a support post; Figure 5 is an exploded perspective view of part of the globe unit of Figures 1 to 3; Figure 6 is a section on the line E - E of Figure 1; Figure 7 is an enlargement of the detail “A “of Figure 6; Figure 8 is perspective view of a globe unit in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention; Figure 9 is a side view of the globe unit of Figure 8; Figure 10 is a section on the line A - A of Figure 9, and Figure 11 is an exploded perspective view of the globe unit of Figures 8 to 10.

A globe unit 10 comprises a moulded body 22 of a yellow translucent material such as polyethylene and formed by a rotational moulding technique.

The body 22 is moulded to provide eight recesses. Four recesses 11 each have a mounting surface 12 which faces in a first direction and four recesses 13 each have a mounting surface 14 which faces in an opposite, second direction (see Figures 1 and 2).

Within each recess 11, 13 a light unit 15 is secured to a mounting surface 12, 14. Each light unit comprises four LED lamps 17 and is of an arcuate shape such that the LED lamps in the four recesses 11 lie disposed on a circle, as viewed in Figure 2, which is concentric with the centre of curvature of the globe body.

Each light unit 15 is shown in more detail in Figure 7 in situ in a recess. The light unit is secured by small bolts (or by snap fitting) to a mounting surface 12 formed integrally with the spherically shaped globe body 22.

The light unit 15 is a sealed unit comprising a backing section 24 which is secured by the small bolts to the mounting surface 12, side sections 25 and a polycarbonate transparent cover 26, said cover 26 having a curvature corresponding to that of the globe. The backing section 24 of the light unit supports four LED units 17 which are wired to an LED driver PCB 32 (see Figure 5) housed within the illumination unit.

The moulded body 22 of the globe unit is secured to a shroud member 31 which is part of a support assembly 30 by means of which the globe unit may be secured to the top of a support post 29 (see Figure 4). The support assembly (see Figure 5) comprises a section 31 which extends upwards centrally within the globe body and comprises a conventional internal light source for illumination of the globe body 22. The support 30 has secured thereto the LED driver PCB 32 for operation of the light units 15, necessary internal wiring connections being omitted for clarity.

A light sensor, not shown, may be provided for dimming the relatively high visibility LED light units 15 in response to decreasing ambient light conditions. More particularly a set of four light units facing in one direction, at the pedestrian side of the beacon, may be dimmed independently of the light units that face oncoming traffic. The light units facing the oncoming traffic also may be dimmable and may be dimmable independently of the other set of four light units, or may be arranged continually to operate at full intensity.

Having regard to the foregoing it will be appreciated that the invention provides a Belisha beacon having a globe unit which has a spherical shape corresponding to that of a conventional Belisha beacon but with the ability more clearly to alert oncoming traffic to the presence of the Belisha beacon and thus the associated pedestrian crossing, particularly in conditions of high ambient light levels.

The feature aforedescribed of light units located in the recesses of a globe unit may be applied also to a globe unit of the type for securing at a position intermediate the ends of a support post. In a second embodiment of the invention the globe unit 40 (see Figures 8 to 11) is of a two-part construction with the moulded body of each part 41,42 being connected to the other by formations 43, 44 of a type know per se and, for example, as disclosed in the specifications of our UK patents GB 2418447 and GB 2436026.

In this embodiment of the invention each half of the globe unit is provided with a support member formation 45 which is provided with conventional internal illumination units and additionally supports an LED driver PCB 32 for operation of the auxiliary light units 15 of the respective part of the globe unit. Operation and dimming of the auxiliary light units may be performed in a manner similar to that described in respect of the first embodiment of the invention.

Claims (17)

Claims.

1. A pedestrian crossing illumination unit comprising a cover and a primary light source within the cover to provide multi directional illumination of the cover, said cover comprising one or more recesses each for location of an auxiliary light unit which, in use of the beacon assembly, provides a beam of light of greater intensity than the illumination of the cover by the primary light source.

2. An illumination unit according to claim 1 wherein the illumination unit comprises a mounting adapted for mounting the illumination unit on a post and the or each recess comprises an auxiliary light unit mounting surface which lies in a plane which is parallel with the longitudinal direction of the post when the illumination unit is mounted on a post by means of said mounting.

3. An illumination unit according to claim 1 and claim 2 and comprising at least two recesses each for location of an auxiliary light unit.

4. An illumination unit according to claim 3 wherein each recess comprises a mounting surface and said mounting surfaces are co-planar.

5. An illumination unit according to any one of the preceding claims and comprising at least one recess having a mounting surface for an auxiliary light unit that faces in a first direction and at least one recess having a mounting surface that faces in an opposite direction.

6. An illumination unit according to any one of the preceding claims wherein an auxiliary light unit comprises a light source secured to a support section of the auxiliary light unit and a transparent cover section which protects the light source from exposure to the elements.

7. An illumination unit according to any one of the preceding claims wherein a recess is provided with a cover section which extends over the recess to provide an outer surface which is substantially contiguous with the outer surface of the surrounding part of the illumination unit.

8. An illumination unit according to claim 7 wherein the outer surface of the illumination unit surrounding a recess is of a part-spherical shape and the cover section of an auxiliary light unit has a curvature corresponding to that of said part-spherical surface.

9. An illumination unit according to any one of the preceding claims and comprising a control device operable for control of intensity of illumination of the light source of an auxiliary light unit in response to ambient light conditions and or time of day.

10. An illumination unit according to any one of the preceding claims and comprising at least two auxiliary light units wherein at least one of the auxiliary light units is dimmable independently of at least one other auxiliary light unit.

11. An illumination unit according to any one of the preceding claims and comprising at least one auxiliary light unit that faces in a first direction and a second auxiliary light unit that faces in an opposite direction, wherein the light unit that faces in one of the two directions is dimmable independently of the auxiliary light unit which faces in the other direction.

12. An illumination unit according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the cover is of a substantially spherical shape.

13. An illumination unit according to any one of claims 1 to 11 wherein the cover is of a substantially hemi-spherical shape.

14. An illumination unit according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the recess accommodates an auxiliary light unit which, in use, directs light substantially only in one direction.

15. An illumination unit according to claim 14 wherein, in use, the recess directs light substantially only in a direction which is one of facing oncoming traffic, across a pedestrian crossing or downwards to illuminate a ground surface area.

16. An illumination unit according to any one of the preceding claims and substantially as hereinbefore described.

17. A pedestrian crossing beacon assembly comprising a support post and an illumination unit according to any one of the preceding claims secured to the support post.