PRIORITY CLAIM

This application claims priority from Italian Patent Application No. 102017000047167 filed on 02/05/2017, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a system to generate light effects in an ice-skating rink.

BACKGROUND ART

Systems are known for illuminating and creating light effects on an ice-skating rink. The more traditional known lighting systems comprise white or coloured lights, of the spot-like or diffused type, which are usually supported by fixed or mobile supports arranged along the edges of the rink or, in the case of ice-skating rinks located inside large enclosed arenas, hanging from the ceiling of the arenas. The lights of the systems illuminate the entire ice-skating rink from the top downwards, allowing to have both, sufficient brightness in order to skate safely, and to create mixed lighting or scenic effects so as to enhance the skating experience or the vision of the ice-skating rink, by an audience present in the stands to the sides of the ice-skating rink, even more effective and exciting.

The most recent lighting systems comprise LED lights in the form of spots or light bars, embedded in the ice to emit light from the bottom upwards through the ice of a certain thickness of the ice-skating rink. The LED lights are switched on and off according to predetermined layouts. However, the scenic effects produced are rather limited, as the light transmitted by the ice, which is semitransparent , is rather limited and because the effects are independent of the movements performed by the skaters. DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a lighting system for ice-skating rinks, which allows to increase the scenic effects and, at the same time, being both easy and inexpensive to produce.

According to the present invention a system to generate light effects in an ice-skating rink is provided and an ice-skating facility, according to the appended claims .

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be described with reference to the annexed drawings, which illustrate an example of a non- limiting embodiment, wherein:

- Figure 1 illustrates, according to a plan view, the system made according to the present invention;

- Figure 2 illustrates a detail of the system of Figure 1 during an example of use;

- Figure 3 illustrates a block diagram of a part of the system of Figure 1; and

- Figure 4 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the part of the system of Figure 3.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

In Figure 1, with 1, as a whole, the system to generate light effects in an ice-skating rink according to the present invention is generally denoted. The system comprises a plurality of lighting nodes 2, which are adapted to be embedded in the ice of the ice-skating rink (not illustrated) according to a predetermined layout, preferably in a matrix-like arrangement as in the example illustrated by Figure 1. The system 1 comprises an electric power supply device 3 and waterproof electric wiring 4, for example with an IP68 protection rate, to connect the power supply device 3 to the lighting nodes 2. Also, each lighting node 2 is enclosed in a respective casing with an IP68 protection rate. With reference to Figure 2, which also illustrates a portion of an ice-skating rink 5, the system 1 comprises, for each pair of ice skates, only one of which is illustrated in Figure 2 and is denoted with 6, at least one permanent magnet 7, which is adapted to be applied to the boot 8 of one of the two ice skates 6, preferably in the sole 9 of the boot 8.

The permanent magnet 7 is sized according to the type of ice skate 6. For example, the permanent magnet 7 has a cylindrical shape, with a diameter ranging from 5 to 15 mm and a length ranging from 20 to 80 mm, or has a parallelepiped shape, with width, length and maximum thicknesses of 40, 60 and 20 mm, respectively .

According to various embodiments of the invention, the permanent magnet 7 is applied to the boot 8 so that in use the magnetic axis, defined by the north-south poles, is vertical, i.e. substantially perpendicular to the ice-skating rink 5, or horizontal, i.e. substantially parallel to the ice-skating rink 5. Advantageously, the material of the permanent magnet 7 is a Neodymium-Iron-Boron alloy. Advantageously, the permanent magnet has a magnetization degree ranging from N35 to N50. Still with reference to Figure 2, the lighting nodes 2 are embedded in the ice 5a of the ice-skating rink 5 at a given distance D from the surface 10 of the same ice-skating rink 5. The distance D, i.e. the thickness of ice above the lighting nodes 2, has a value ranging from 3 to 10 cm. The ice-skating rink 5 comprises a network of cooling pipes 11 to produce the ice, and the lighting nodes 2 are preferably arranged along a plane which extends above the network of cooling pipes 11. In this way, the light generated by the lighting nodes 2 is not intercepted by obstacles and is thus clearly visible from the surface 10 since the ice 5a is semi-transparent. With reference to Figure 3, each lighting node 2 comprises at least one LED device 12, a magnetic sensor 13 to detect the presence of a permanent magnet 7, and therefore of an ice skate 6, above the surface 10, and a control means 14 appropriately configured to switch on the LED device 12 when the magnetic sensor 13 detects the presence of the permanent magnet 7 and to switch off the LED device 12 after a given amount of time T from the moment in which the presence of the permanent magnet is no longer detected. The value of the amount of time T is pre- established according to the reciprocal distance DL between the lighting nodes 2.

Each LED device 12 comprises one or more LEDs, for example a LED strip made with SMD technology on a flexible PCB support and enclosed by a transparent casing with an IP68 protection rate.

Each magnetic sensor 13 is formed, for example, by a Reed contact or by an AMR (Anisotropic Magnetoresistance ) sensor or by a Hall effect sensor. Preferably, the magnetic sensor 13 is a Hall effect sensor.

With reference to Figure 4, the control means 14 comprises an electronic circuit 15, which comprises an RC circuit to define a time constant which in turn directly defines the amount of time T. The electronic circuit 15 comprises two transistors Ql and Q2 polarized via a network of resistors R1-R4 and connected to the magnetic sensor 13 and to the RC circuit to control the switching on and off of the LED device 12.

The RC circuit, and therefore the respective time constant, is dimensioned according to the predetermined layout of the lighting nodes 2, and in particular of the distance or distances, between the lighting nodes 2, and of the desired type of lighting effect, and in particular the length of the light trails to be produced in relation to the type of use of the ice-skating rink 5, i.e. depending on whether the ice-skating rink 5 is used for a sport event with fast skaters or for entertainment with a general public.

The power supply device 3 is of the direct current and low voltage type, i.e. it supplies a continuous supply voltage VCC of a value ranging from 3 to 48 V. The value of the supplied voltage VCC depends on the technology of the components of the electronic circuit 15. In use, the magnetic field generated by the permanent magnet 7 of each ice skate 6 passes through the layer of ice 5a which separates the surface 10 from the lighting nodes 2. When the ice skate 6 is in the vicinity of a lighting node 2, the magnetic sensor 13 of said lighting node 2 detects the presence of the permanent magnet 7 and switches on the respective LED device 12. The skater who wears the ice skates 6 moving on the ice-skating rink 5 following a given path causes the ignition in sequence of LED devices 12 of the lighting nodes 2 that it encounters along the path. Since the LED devices 12 are switched off after an amount of time T from being switched on, the movement of the skater creates a light trail in the ice 5a which follows the skater itself.

According to a further embodiment not illustrated in the invention, the control means 14 differ from the one illustrated in Figure 4 in that it comprises, instead of the electronic circuit 15, a microcontroller configured to switch on the LED device 12 based on the detection made by the magnetic sensor 13, calculate the amount of time T based on preset parameters and to switch off the LED device 12 after the amount of time T from the switching on.

The preset parameters for the calculation of the amount of time T comprise, for example, the predetermined layout of the lighting nodes 2, and in particular the distance or the distances between the lighting nodes 2, and the light effect to be generated, and m particular the length of the light trails to be produced in relation to the type of use of the ice-skating rink 5.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, an ice- skating facility is provided comprising the ice-skating rink 5, at least one pair of ice skates 6 and the system 1 described above, in which the lighting nodes 2 are embedded in the ice 5a of the ice-skating rink 5 at a distance D from the surface 10 of the ice-skating rink 5 and according to a predetermined layout, preferably in a matrix-like arrangement, and the permanent magnet 7 is fixed to a boot 8 of the pair of ice skates 6.

The main advantage of the system 1 described above is to allow a skater to draw light trails on the ice of the ice-skating rink 5, thus making the ice skating experience even more engaging and exciting than what is made possible by the current open or indoor ice-skating facilities, illuminated in a conventional way.