LIGHTING DEVICE
There is provided a lighting device for illuminating objects inside an enclosure including a housing, an array of light emitting diodes enclosed by the housing consisting of at least two groups of diodes, one group emitting substantially white light and one group emitting colored light, a DC to DC converter feeding the light-emitting diodes and enclosed by the housing, and a light intensity controller for operating each of the groups of diodes at variable light intensities.
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This application is a Continuation-in-Part Application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/879,084, filed Jun. 30, 2004.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to a lighting device and more particularly, to a lighting device suitable for military use, especially in vehicles.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThere often exists a need, both for military and civilian purposes, to utilize a lighting device which can provide regular bright illumination as commonly required, as well as to selectively provide lighting of a different nature, e.g., white and colored lights of limited illumination or of controllable light intensity.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTIONAccording to the present invention, there is therefore provided a lighting device for illuminating objects inside an enclosure comprising a housing, an array of light emitting diodes enclosed by said housing consisting of at least two groups of diodes, at least one group emitting substantially white light and at least one group emitting colored light, a DC to DC converter feeding said light-emitting diodes and enclosed by said housing, and at least one light intensity control means for operating each of said groups of diodes at variable light intensities.
The invention is herein described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings.
With specific reference now to the drawings in detail, it is stressed that the particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of the preferred embodiments of the present invention only, and are presented in the cause of providing what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood description of the principles and conceptual aspects of the invention. In this regard, no attempt is made to show structural details of the invention in more detail than is necessary for a fundamental understanding of the invention, the description taken with the drawings making apparent to those skilled in the art how the several forms of the invention may be embodied in practice.
In the drawings:
A first embodiment of a lighting device 2 according to the present invention is illustrated in
The PCB-mounted array of LEDs 12, advantageously consists of 32 white LEDs 24 interlaced with 16 blue (wavelength ˜470 nm), green or red LEDs 26 providing an active LED area of approximately 30×68 mm. The 32 white LEDs 24 are energized from a 160 mA, 14Vdc source, while the 16 blue LEDs 26 are energized from 100 mA, 14Vdc source. The desired luminous intensity of each white LED is typically ˜400 mcd at 120 degrees.
The white LEDs provide light for general activity, e.g., map reading, orientation etc. during daytime and nocturnal non-combat activities, whereas the blue LEDs provide light for nocturnal combat activity. The advantage of blue light during combat activity is that blue light is less detectable by night vision equipment of the enemy in the event that some of it leaks out through openings in the vehicle, e.g., periscope. Alternatively, red (wavelength ˜630 nm) LEDs may be used instead of the blue ones during nocturnal activity. The advantage of red light is that (although detectable by night vision equipment) it does not impair the high sensitivity of the dark-adapted human eye.
Referring to
The device 2 is externally powered from a DC source, e.g., 18-36 Vdc of a vehicle's battery 38 (
Turning now to
The light intensity control 52 serves for controlling the variable light intensity of at least one group of the two groups of light emitting diodes, for the purpose of dimming or brightening same. It may be activated manually by the manipulatable member 18 or by any per-se known manner such as a selector, a keypad, a proximity sensor, etc. It can also be activated by a software program either directly or via a communication line.
It will be evident to those skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the details of the foregoing illustrated embodiments and that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.
Claims
1-2. (canceled)
3. The lighting device as claimed in claim 14, wherein said converter is fed from the battery of a vehicle.
4. The lighting device as claimed in claim 14, further comprising a rechargeable powerpack unit enclosed in said housing and selectively operating said converter.
5. The lighting device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the lighting device is connectable to a vehicle's battery and, upon disconnection of the vehicle's battery, said rechargeable powerpack is automatically activated for a predetermined period of time and wherein additional periods of operations are selectable.
6. (canceled)
7. The lighting device as claimed in claim 10, further comprising means for attaching the device to a wall or ceiling of an enclosure.
8. The lighting device as claimed in claim 10, wherein said housing is a two-part, hermetically sealed, housing.
9. (canceled)
10. A lighting device for illuminating objects inside a vehicular enclosure, said lighting device comprising:
- a housing;
- an array of light-emitting diodes within said housing consisting of at least a first and a second group of diodes;
- said first group emitting substantially white light providing light for general activity during day time and nocturnal non-combat activities;
- said second group emitting colored light consisting of blue light of wavelength ˜470 nm up to green light for nocturnal combat activity that is less detectable by night vision equipment, or red light of wavelength ˜630 nm to be used instead of said blue light, to provide light during nocturnal activity that does not impair high sensitivity of a dark-adapted human eye;
- at least one light control means for operating each of said groups of diodes; and
- a controller for controlling the operation of the device, including monitoring a vehicle's power supply.
11. (canceled)
12. The lighting device as claimed in claim 10, wherein said controller is adapted to cause the light-emitting diodes to blink when the voltage of said vehicle's power supply falls below a predetermined value.
13. The lighting device as claimed in claim 10, further comprising a heat sink for dispersing heat generated by said light emitting diodes.
14. A lighting device for illuminating objects inside a vehicular enclosure, said lighting device comprising:
- a housing; an array of light-emitting diodes within said housing consisting of at least a first and a second group of diodes; said first group emitting substantially white light providing light for general activity during day time and nocturnal non-combat activities; said second group emitting colored light consisting of blue light of wavelength ˜470 nm up to green light for nocturnal combat activity that is less detectable by night vision equipment, or red light of wavelength ˜630 nm to be used instead of said blue light, to provide light during nocturnal activity that does not impair high sensitivity of a dark-adapted human eye; and at least one light control means for operating each of said groups of diodes; wherein said housing comprises a DC to DC converter feeding said light-emitting diodes and enclosed by said housing.
15. (canceled)
16. The lighting device as claimed in claim 14, further comprising means for attaching the device to a wall or ceiling of said enclosure.
17. The lighting device as claimed in claim 14, wherein said housing is a two-part, hermetically sealed, housing.
18. The lighting device as claimed in claim 14, further comprising a heat sink for dissipating heat generated by said light emitting diodes.
19. (canceled)
20. (canceled)
21. (canceled)
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 8, 2006
Publication Date: Sep 25, 2008
Applicant:
Inventor: Ya'akov Shofar (Kibbutz Ein Hashofet)
Application Number: 11/448,793
International Classification: F21S 8/10 (20060101);