IPC분류정보
국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
|
국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
|
출원번호 |
US-0533018
(2009-07-31)
|
등록번호 |
US-8099886
(2012-01-24)
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발명자
/ 주소 |
|
출원인 / 주소 |
- Airfield Guidance Sign Manufacturers, Inc.
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대리인 / 주소 |
Molldrem, Jr., Bernhard P.
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인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
4 인용 특허 :
5 |
초록
▼
An improved illuminated airfield guidance sign of the type used for marking ground traffic routes on runways and taxiways employs LED-based lamps for even illumination of the legend panels. The lamps each employ an array of white LEDs mounted on a generally cylindrical turret, and oriented with the
An improved illuminated airfield guidance sign of the type used for marking ground traffic routes on runways and taxiways employs LED-based lamps for even illumination of the legend panels. The lamps each employ an array of white LEDs mounted on a generally cylindrical turret, and oriented with the turret axis horizontal, so that the LEDs aim their beams up, down, or laterally, and not towards the legend panels. The illumination has to bounce at least once on an interior reflective surface before reaching the legend panels. These can receive power from storage batteries that are charged from solar panels or wind turbines, with back-up power coming from the standard runway-taxiway power.
대표청구항
▼
1. In an illuminated airport guidance sign for the type that includes a pair of rectangular translucent or transparent legend panels each formed of a generally rectangular sheet of a sturdy rigid translucent or transparent material; a sign frame supporting the pair of legend panels in symmetric oppo
1. In an illuminated airport guidance sign for the type that includes a pair of rectangular translucent or transparent legend panels each formed of a generally rectangular sheet of a sturdy rigid translucent or transparent material; a sign frame supporting the pair of legend panels in symmetric oppositely facing orientations, the frame having a base closing off a bottom of the sign; a top cover that closes off a top of the sign; end portions that close off ends of the sign; a plurality of lamps supported within the sign between said pair of legend panels, each said lamp having a generally horizontal lamp axis; support means within said sign frame on which said lamps are mounted, each said lamp being mounted on said support means such that its axis is horizontal and disposed towards each of said pair of legend panels; electrical power means for providing electrical power to said lamps so as to produce even illumination from said lamps; support legs supporting the base of said sign upon a support surface alongside a runway or taxiway; and the improvement in which each of said lamps is formed as an array of white LEDs supported on a cylindrical turret, the turret having its axis disposed on said lamp axis with all of the LEDs all being disposed in a radial direction only relative to said lamp axis to emit respectively in directions that are radial only in respect to the axis of the cylindrical turret, and with no LEDs emitting in a direction towards either of said legend panels, such that substantially all the LEDs emit beams of light in directions that are generally parallel to said legend panels, so that the all the light from said LEDs reflects off at least one interior surface of the frame of the sign before being incident upon either of said legend panels, and none of the LEDs of said lamp have their beams oriented directly at either of said legend panels. 2. The illuminated airport guidance sign of claim 1, wherein said legend panels each are formed of a transparent or translucent sheet having an interior surface that has a reflective coating. 3. The illuminated airport guidance sign of claim 1, wherein said frame has a highly reflective coating on its interior. 4. The illuminated airport guidance sign of claim 1, wherein each of said lamps is formed with a flat circuit board, and said turret is disposed on one side of said circuit board. 5. The illuminated airport guidance sign of claim 4, wherein array of LEDs on said turret is arranged as a plurality of axial rows of LEDs, with the rows being arranged at successive angles around the axis of the turret. 6. The illuminated airport guidance sign of claim 5, wherein said array of LEDs are electrically connected in groups of LEDs in which each LED of each group is in a different row, so that in the case of a failure of a group in which the LEDs thereof go dark, the LEDs of that group are distributed at different angular positions about the axis of the turret. 7. The illuminated airport guidance sign of claim 5, comprising means for shutting off the power to the entire array of LEDs when a predetermined plurality of said groups of LEDs fails. 8. The illuminated airport guidance sign of claim 4, comprising an auxiliary LED mounted upon said circuit board, and means for illuminating said auxiliary LED when some or all of said LEDs of said array fail. 9. The illuminated airport guidance sign of claim 4, comprising a diffusion plate mounted on an axis of said turret on the side thereof remote from said circuit board. 10. The illuminated airport guidance sign of claim 1, wherein said electrical power means includes a storage battery within the frame and including means for providing electrical power to said lamps from said storage battery. 11. The illuminated airport guidance sign of claim 10, comprising a solar panel disposed outside the sign, and means coupling the solar panel to said storage battery for charging the same during daylight hours. 12. The illuminated airport guidance sign of claim 10, comprising a wind-turbine generator disposed outside the sign, and means coupling the generator to said storage battery for charging the same during times there is sufficient wind. 13. The illuminated airport guidance sign of claim 10, comprising means carrying runway-taxiway power to the electrical power means within said guidance sign; and means for detecting the amount of electrical charge on said storage battery, and switching from said battery to said runway-taxiway power when detected the electrical charge on said battery is below a predetermined threshold. 14. The illuminated airport guidance sign of claim 1, (a) wherein said support means includes one or more support channels positioned between the legend panels of said pair of legend panels; and(b) wherein said plurality of lamps includes a first lamp and a second lamp both mounted on said one or more support channels with the turret of the first lamp being oriented towards one of said legend panels and the turret of the second lamp being oriented in an opposite direction towards the other said legend panel. 15. The illuminated airport guidance sign of claim 14, (c) wherein said plurality of lamps includes a third lamp and a fourth lamp both mounted on another of said one or more support channels, such that the first lamp is positioned directly above said fourth lamp and said second lamp is positioned directly above said third lamp, with said first and third lamps having their axes directed towards one of said legend panels and said second and fourth lamps both having their axes oriented in an opposite direction towards the other of said legend panels. 16. In an illuminated airport guidance sign for the type that includes a pair of rectangular translucent or transparent legend panels each formed of a generally rectangular sheet of a sturdy rigid translucent or transparent material; a sign frame supporting the pair of legend panels in symmetric oppositely facing orientations, the frame having a base closing off a bottom of the sign; a top cover that closes off a top of the sign; end portions that close off ends of the sign; a plurality of lamps supported within the sign between said pair of legend panels, each said lamp having a generally horizontal lamp axis; support means within said sign frame on which said lamps are mounted, each said lamp being mounted on said support means such that its axis is horizontal and disposed towards each of said pair of legend panels; electrical power means for providing electrical power to said lamps so as to produce even illumination from said lamps; support legs supporting the base of said sign upon a support surface alongside a runway or taxiway; and the improvement in which each of said lamps is formed as an array of white LEDs supported on a cylindrical turret, the turret having its axis disposed on said lamp axis with all of the LEDs all being disposed in a radial direction only relative to said lamp axis to emit respectively in directions that are radial only in respect to the axis of the cylindrical turret, and with no LEDs emitting in a direction towards either of said legend panels, such that substantially all the LEDs emit beams of light in directions that are generally parallel to said legend panels, so that the all the light from said LEDs reflects off at least one interior surface of the frame of the sign before being incident upon either of said legend panels, and none of the LEDs of said lamp have their beams oriented directly at either of said legend panels; and wherein said support means within the frame of the guidance sign supports two pairs of said lamps, with one pair having its lamp axes facing one said legend panel and the other pair having its lamp axes facing the other legend panel. 17. The illuminated airport guidance sign of claim 16, wherein each of said lamps is formed with a flat circuit board, said turret is disposed on one side of said circuit board, and wherein each said lamp has a translucent diffusion plate mounted at the axis of said turret at a side thereof remote from said flat circuit board, and between said turret and an associated one of said legend panels. 18. In an illuminated airport guidance sign for the type that includes a pair of rectangular translucent or transparent legend panels each formed of a generally rectangular sheet of a sturdy rigid translucent or transparent material; a sign frame supporting the pair of legend panels in symmetric oppositely facing orientations, the frame having a base closing off a bottom of the sign; a top cover that closes off a top of the sign; end portions that close off ends of the sign; a plurality of lamps supported within the sign between said pair of legend panels, each said lamp having a generally horizontal lamp axis; support means within said sign frame on which said lamps are mounted, each said lamp being mounted on said support means such that its axis is horizontal and disposed towards each of said pair of legend panels; electrical power means for providing electrical power to said lamps so as to produce even illumination from said lamps; support legs supporting the base of said sign upon a support surface alongside a runway or taxiway; and the improvement in which each of said lamps is formed as an array of white LEDs supported on a cylindrical turret, the turret having its axis disposed on said lamp axis with all of the LEDs all being disposed in a radial direction only relative to said lamp axis to emit respectively in directions that are radial only in respect to the axis of the cylindrical turret, and with no LEDs emitting in a direction towards either of said legend panels, such that substantially all the LEDs emit beams of light in directions that are generally parallel to said legend panels, so that the all the light from said LEDs reflects off at least one interior surface of the frame of the sign before being incident upon either of said legend panels, and none of the LEDs of said lamp have their beams oriented directly at either of said legend panels; wherein said support means includes a support channel positioned between the legend panels of said pair of legend panels; and said plurality of lamps includes first, second, third, and fourth LED lamps, with the support channel holding said first and second LED lamps above the support channel and holding the third and fourth LED lamps below the support channel, with said first and third LED lamps having their turrets oriented towards one of said legend panels and said second and fourth LEDs having their turrets oriented in an opposite direction towards the other of said legend panels.
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