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Patent Searching and Data


Title:
LIGHTING ARRANGEMENT FOR A POST
Document Type and Number:
WIPO Patent Application WO/2019/145539
Kind Code:
A1
Abstract:
A lighting arrangement for fitting around a post (100), the lighting arrangement including a light diffusing tube (200) for being placed as a sheath around the post (100) and one or more light sources (211) arranged to direct light along the length of the light diffusing tube (200).

Inventors:
AMDAL ENDRE (NO)
Application Number:
PCT/EP2019/052007
Publication Date:
August 01, 2019
Filing Date:
January 28, 2019
Export Citation:
Click for automatic bibliography generation   Help
Assignee:
ELO X AS (NO)
International Classes:
F21V3/02; E01F9/615; F21S8/08; F21S9/03; F21V8/00; F21V21/116; F21V33/00; F21W111/023; F21Y103/00
Foreign References:
GB2399125A2004-09-08
US20160053947A12016-02-25
US20020145878A12002-10-10
US20050231938A12005-10-20
Attorney, Agent or Firm:
TAYLOR, Adam (GB)
Download PDF:
Claims:
CLAIMS:

1 . A lighting arrangement for fitting around a post, the lighting arrangement including a light diffusing tube for being placed as a sheath around the post and one or more light sources arranged to direct light along the length of the light diffusing tube.

2. A lighting arrangement as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the light diffusing tube transmits light along its length as well as allowing emission of light around the

circumference of the post, and wherein the light diffusing tube is sized to fit around to the post with an annular gap for passage of light in between the tube and the post.

3. A lighting arrangement as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the light diffusing tube comprises a transparent or a translucent material such as a plastic or glass material.

4. A lighting arrangement as claimed in claim 1 , 2 or 3, wherein the light sources are placed around a cross-section of the tube on a support ring that has a size and shape arranged to extend across the cross-section of the tube.

5. A lighting arrangement as claimed in claim 4, wherein the support ring is placed about an end of the tube.

6. A lighting arrangement as claimed in claim 4, comprising a first support ring with a first set of light sources at the top of the tube and a second support ring with a second set of light sources at the bottom of the tube.

7. A lighting arrangement as claimed in claim 4, 5 or 6, wherein the support ring(s) form(s) an end-cap for the tube.

8. A lighting arrangement as claimed in claim 7, wherein the support ring(s) include a groove for receiving the end of the tube.

9. A lighting arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim, comprising a solar panel for generating solar power and a battery for storage of power.

10. A post including a lighting arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim.

11. A method for installation of a lighting arrangement as in any of claims 1 to 9, the method comprising threading the light diffusing tube over the post. 12. A method as claimed in claim 1 1 , being a method for retro-fitting an existing post with the lighting arrangement.

Description:
LIGHTING ARRANGEMENT FOR A POST

The present invention relates to a lighting arrangement for a post, such as for a post provided as a part of street furniture. The invention also relates to a method for installing a lighting arrangement for a post.

It can be desirable to allow for increased visibility for posts such as posts provided as a part of street furniture including street signs and street lighting. One example with particular benefits from increased visibility is a post for a sign marking a pedestrian crossing such as a zebra crossing. It can also be desirable to use such posts to provide illumination of the surrounding area. Night time can affect the visibility of pedestrians and crossing points to drivers of vehicles and other road users. By providing illumination for the post and also ideally for the area around the signpost then it is possible to increase the visibility of the post to road users and to pedestrians, as well as adding extra illumination for the surrounding area, such as to illuminate pedestrians that are using a crossing marked by signposts.

It is known to illuminate posts such as signposts for zebra crossings. In some countries, such as the UK, so called "Belisha beacons" are commonplace and these use a striped pole with an internal light source along with a globe shaped lamp at the top of the pole. Street lighting devices can also be placed to illuminate signs or signs can be incorporated into street lighting to ensure visibility. The inventors have determined that improvements can be made in relation to lighting arrangements for posts, and that many posts are currently without adequate illumination.

Viewed from a first aspect, the invention provides a lighting arrangement for fitting around a post, the lighting arrangement including a light diffusing tube for being placed as a sheath around the post and one or more light sources arranged to direct light along the length of the light diffusing tube.

With this arrangement it becomes possible to easily add illumination to any post by encircling the post with a suitably sized sheath in the form of a light diffusing tube. This can be done when originally installing the post, or advantageously it may be added to an existing post as discussed below in connection with retrofitting existing posts to add the proposed lighting arrangement. The post may be any pole or tube-like structure, especially posts provided as a part of street furniture such as for signposts indicating zebra crossings or other crossing points for pedestrians to cross a road.

The light diffusing tube may transmit light along its length as well as allowing emission of light around the circumference of the post. It is advantageously sized to fit around to the post with an annular gap for passage of light from the light sources in between the tube and the post. Thus, the central aperture along the tube may be larger than the size of the post in order to provide the annular gap, which may for example be 5- 20 mm across. The tube may be a cylindrical tube for use with cylindrical posts. Other cross-sections for the tube may be used for other shapes of post, such as a square tube for posts having a square cross-section.

The light diffusing tube may allow transmission of light along its length inside of the tube as well as ideally also scattering light outward from the outer surface of the tube. The tube may allow for light to be transmitted within the material of the walls of the tube as well as within the annular gap. The light diffusing tube may comprise a transparent or a translucent material such as a plastic or glass material. Example embodiments use a plastic material as this is less fragile than glass. The plastic material may be PVC, for example. The material of the light diffusing tube may be clear or a translucent white.

The light sources may be lamps such as LED lamps. LEDs have advantages in terms of small size and low power usage.

The light sources may be placed around a cross-section of the tube for directing light along the inside and/or the outside of the tube. For example, they may be on a support ring that has a size and shape arranged to extend across the cross-section of the tube, such as a circular ring for placement across a circular cross-section of a circular tube. In some examples the light sources are placed about an end of the tube. Thus, there may be light sources located around a cross-section of the tube at the top and/or the bottom of the light diffusing tube. Some examples include a first ring of light sources at the top of the tube and a second ring of light sources at the bottom of the tube. The first ring and second ring may be similar in design, for example with light sources in a matching arrangement about the inside of the top and bottom of the tube. Alternatively they may be different, for example the first ring at the top of the tube may include added light sources for better illumination of the street below the post, such as light sources around the outside of the top of the tube in addition to light sources around the inside of the top of the tube. Further light sources may be added along the length of the tube so as to be spread along the height of the tube when it is, in use, on a vertical post.

The light sources may be mounted in a ring that also forms an end-cap for the tube. This ring may have an inner diameter of similar size to the post, for example with just a small clearance to fight tightly around the post, and an outer diameter that is larger than the light diffusing tube, for example to provide an overhang at the end of the tube. The size of the overhang may be in the range 5-20 mm. The ring may include a groove for receiving the end of the tube, i.e. a circular groove in the case of a circular tube. The groove may include a seal or a sealant may be added in order to form a waterproof seal. A sealant and adhesive compound may be used to both form the seal and fix the lighting arrangement in place.

In one example the lighting arrangement includes a solar panel for generating solar power. The lighting arrangement may further include a battery for storage of power. In this way the light sources can be powered directly via the solar panel and/or by solar generated electrical energy that has been stored in the battery, and there may be no need for a connection to an external power source. The battery may be housed within the post to make use of the space within the hollow post.

The invention extends to installation of the lighting arrangement on a post, and hence, viewed from a second aspect, the invention provides a method for installation of a lighting arrangement as in the first aspect, the method comprising threading the light diffusing tube over the post. The lighting arrangement of this method may include any of the features discussed above in connection with optional features of the first aspect. The method may advantageously be used to add the lighting arrangement to a pre-existing post, such as a post for pre-existing pedestrian crossing signposts. In that instance the method may be a method for retro-fitting an existing post with the lighting arrangement.

In one example method the lighting arrangement includes light sources mounted on a ring as discussed above, and in this case the method may include threading the ring over the post. This step may be carried out before the light diffusing tube is placed on the post when the ring is to be placed at the bottom end of the tube, or it may be carried out after the light diffusing tube when the ring is to be placed at the top end of the tube. As noted above the lighting arrangement may include a first ring of light sources at the top of the tube and a second ring of light sources at the bottom of the tube, in which case the installation sequence may start with threading of the second ring onto the post, followed by the light diffusing tube, and then the first ring.

The ring may include a groove for receiving the end of the light diffusing tube and the method may hence comprise seating the light diffusing tube in the groove of the ring (or rings). The groove may include a seal or a sealant may be added in order to form a waterproof seal. The method may include using a sealant and adhesive compound to form the seal and to also fix the lighting arrangement in place.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figures 1(a), (b) and (c) show a side and front view of a crossing sign where the sign post is fitted with a lighting arrangement, along with a conventional unlit crossing sign for comparison;

Figure 2 is a section through the centre of the post of Figure 1 along the vertical length of the post as indicated by the line A1 ;

Figure 3 is a section through the post of Figure 1 across a diameter of the post as indicated by the line B1 ; and

Figure 4 shows a support ring for light sources of the lighting arrangement.

As discussed above the invention involves a lighting arrangement for a post such as a sign post. In this example the post is for a crossing sign as shown in Figures 1(a) to 1(c). Figure 1(c) shows a traditional sign post 100. This is a hollow tube, typically metal with a suitable coating or treatment to avoid corrosion, with a mounting bracket 110 at the top of the post 100 and a sign 120 fitted to the mounting bracket 110.

Figures 1(a) and 1(b) show a proposed lighting arrangement for fitting around a post. The lighting arrangement includes a light diffusing tube 200 that is placed as a sheath around the post 100 along with light rings 210 arranged to direct light along the length of the light diffusing tube 200. The light rings 210 are support rings with various functions. They support light sources 211 as shown in Figure 4. They also act as end caps for the light diffusing tube 200. The shape and form of the light rings 210 can be seen in more detail in the cross section of Figure 2 and the enlarged view of the light ring 210 in Figure 4. The post 100 is similar to the traditional post and hence has a bracket and a sign in the same way. The post 100 may be any pole or tube-like structure, especially posts provided as a part of street furniture such as for signposts indicating zebra crossings or other crossing points for pedestrians to cross a road. The post 100 with the proposed lighting

arrangement further includes a solar panel 300 mounted on a pivotable bracket 310. The solar panel 300 can provide electrical power to the light sources 211 in the light ring 210.

With this arrangement it becomes possible to easily add illumination to any post 100 by encircling the post 100 with a suitably sized sheath in the form of a light diffusing tube 200. This can be done when originally installing the post 100, or advantageously it may be added to an existing post 100. It therefore is possible to retrofit existing posts 100 to add the proposed lighting arrangement.

Figures 2 and 3 show two cross-sections of the lighting arrangement as indicated by the lines A1 and B1 in Figure 1(a). As seen in Figure 2, the light diffusing tube 200 encases the post 100 and thus forms an outer post that can emit light. The material for this tube 200 can be clear or translucent PVC for example. Light rings 210 are placed at the upper and lower ends of the tube 200, with the tube set into a groove 212, which is most clearly seen in Figure 4. In this way the light rings 210 enclose the ends of the tube 200 and can seal it for protection from the weather. The light sources 21 1 , typically LED lamps, are spaced apart around the circumference of the light rings 210 and direct light along the length of the light diffusing tube 200. In this example light is directed from inner and outer light sources 21 1 at the top of the tube 200 so as to illuminate both the inside and outside of the tube 200 from the top, whereas at the bottom the light sources 21 1 are only on the inside in order to direct light along the inside of the tube 200. The light sources 21 1 could be powered from mains electricity or the solar panel 300 may provide the main or only source of power, i.e. without a mains connection. To allow for storage of energy from the solar panel and illumination of the sign during darkness then a battery 400 is provided, which is

conveniently placed within the post 100. Figure 3 shows a view looking along the length of the light diffusing tube 200 toward one of the light rings 210. It can be seen that there are four LED lamps as the light sources 21 1 and these are spaced apart around the light ring 210 inside the tube 200, with an overhang of the light ring outside of the tube 200. The tube 200 sits in the groove 212 as mentioned above, and this is an annular gap in the light ring 210 that is sized to closely fit the tube 200. The light ring 210 may be moulded in plastic or it could be cast or machined from metal.