LIGHTING ARRANGEMENT FOR AN EMERGENCY LINE

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a lighting arrangement for an emergency line, and in particular, to a lighting arrangement for an underground emergency line in a mine.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Emergency lines are currently well-used in underground mines. Typically, the aim of the emergency line is to guide underground miners during an emergency, when, for example, visibility is very poor, to a place of safety. This may be achieved by releasably fitting the emergency line, which may be in the form of a rope or cable, to the roof of an underground tunnel or working area, with the line then being released from the roof by pulling downwardly on the line. The miner may then walk along the line, by feeding the line through his or her hands, to the place of safety.

In an example prior art embodiment, the emergency line may be fitted with direction-indicating cones, for indicating the correct direction in which the miners need to walk.

However, a problem with the above is that as the miners are walking along the emergency line, not only do the general surroundings remain relatively dark, and thus still relatively dangerous and uncomfortable, but also the emergency line, once released from overhead, can get lost in pools of water on the floor of the underground tunnels.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to address the above shortcoming by providing a lighting arrangement that automatically produces light when a miner activates and uses the emergency line.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to this invention there is provided a lighting arrangement for an emergency line, the lighting arrangement comprising:

a holder for holding a housing that accommodates an inactive lighting composition, the ends of the holder being fixable to a support, the lighting composition being activated to produce light upon the housing bending sufficiently; and

a clip extending from the holder for releasably holding the emergency line,

so that upon a person tugging on the emergency line, the resulting movement of the clip will cause the holder to bend, thereby causing the housing within the holder to bend, thereby activating the lighting composition to produce light, with

the emergency line then being releasable from the clip so as to guide the person to a place of safety.

In an example embodiment, the holder is elongate, with the ends defining supports for carrying the ends of the housing.

In an example embodiment, the clip is located approximately midway along the length of the holder, so that upon the line, and thus the clip, being tugged upon, the holder will deflect approximately midway along its length, this deflection causing the housing to bend simultaneously.

In an example embodiment, the clip is integrally formed with the holder. Alternatively, the clip is fitted to the holder as an add-on component.

In an example embodiment, the clip comprises a pair of spaced apart legs arranged to hold the emergency line captive when the clip is tugged upon sufficiently hard so as to bend the holder, but upon a further sufficiently hard tug on the line and thus the clip, the legs can yield so as to release the emergency line from the clip.

In an alternate example embodiment, the clip comprises a pair of spaced apart legs arranged to receive the emergency line therebetween, with an end piece extending between the ends of the legs so as to hold the emergency line captive when the clip is tugged upon sufficiently hard so as to bend the holder, but upon a further sufficiently hard tug on the line and thus the clip, the end piece can fracture and/or be released from the legs so as to release the emergency line from the clip.

In an example embodiment, the holder comprises a roof coated with a reflective material so as to enhance the distribution of the light produced by the activated lighting composition.

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In an example embodiment, the roof of the holder comprises a pair of angled side walls, the pitch of the side walls varying depending upon the strength required by the holder.

In an example embodiment, the lighting arrangement is for an underground emergency line, with the holder being fixable to an underground roof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 shows a front perspective view of a lighting arrangement that automatically produces light when a person activates and uses an emergency line, according to a first example embodiment;

Figure 2 shows a rear perspective view of the lighting arrangement shown in Figure 1; and

Figure 3 shows a front perspective view of a lighting arrangement, according to a second example embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring first to Figures 1 and 2, a lighting arrangement 10 for an underground emergency line 12, according to an example embodiment, is shown. The emergency line 12 may be a steel cable covered by a fibrous sheath. In an example embodiment, the emergency line 12 may be sprayed with a fluorescent ink to provide additional illumination.

The lighting arrangement 10 comprises a holder 14 for holding a chemiluminescent housing 16. The housing 16 accommodates an inactive lighting composition, which gets activated upon the housing 16 bending sufficiently, thereby producing light. The housing 16 is commonly referred to as a glow stick, and is well known in the art.

In an example embodiment, the housing 16 comprises an outer plastic sheath with an inner frangible compartment. The inner compartment is filled with a first ingredient or mixture, and the space between the inner compartment and the outer plastic sheath is filled with a second ingredient or mixture. To activate the ingredients to produce light, the inner compartment needs to be ruptured, which is typically achieved by bending the outer plastic sheath of the housing 16 sufficiently. This causes the first and second ingredients or mixtures to mix to produce light, with the reaction being accelerated by shaking the housing 16.

The ends 14A, 14B of the holder 14 are typically fixed to an underground roof via cords 18A and 18B, as shown. In an example embodiment, a loop 20 extends from the cords 18A, 18B, which can then be looped around a hook fitted to the underground roof.

In an example embodiment, the holder 14 is elongate, with the ends 14A, 14B defining L-shaped supports 14C, 14D (as best seen in Figure 2) for supporting the ends of the housing 16.

An L-shaped clip 22 extends from the holder 14 for releasably holding the emergency line 12. In an example embodiment, and as shown, the clip 22 is integrally formed with the holder 14. Alternatively, the clip 22 may be fitted to the holder 14 as an add-on component.

Thus, in use, when a person tugs upon the emergency line 12, the resulting movement of the clip 22 will cause the holder 14 to bend so as to rupture the inner frangible compartment of the housing 16. As described above, this causes the activation of the lighting composition within the housing 16, with the emergency line 12 then being released from the clip 22 so as to guide the person to an underground place of safety.

The holder 14 may be moulded from a plastics material, so as to allow it to bend resiliently, thereby making it reusable.

In an example embodiment, the clip 22 is located approximately midway along the length of the holder 14. Thus, upon the line 12, and thus the clip 22, being tugged upon, the holder 14 will deflect approximately midway along its length.

In an example embodiment, the clip 22 comprises an L-shaped base 22A for supporting the housing 16, from which a pair of spaced apart legs 22B, 22C extends. The pair of spaced apart legs 22B, 22C is arranged to hold the emergency line 12 captive when the clip 22 is tugged upon sufficiently hard so as to rupture the inner frangible compartment of the housing 16, as described above. However, upon a further sufficiently hard tug on the line 12 and thus the clip 22, the legs 22B, 22C can yield so as to release the emergency line 12 from the clip 22.

Conveniently, the L-shaped supports 14C, 14D and L-shaped base 22A face in opposite directions so as to securely hold the housing 16 in place in an effective yet simple manner.

Although not shown, legs 22B and 22C may have teeth to enhance their ability to retain the emergency line 12 until sufficient downward tension is exerted to release the emergency line 12. The number, shape and configuration of the teeth may be selected to assist in controlling the different tensions required to break the inner frangible compartment of the housing 16 before the emergency line 12 is released from the clip 22.

In the period between the rupturing of the inner compartment of the housing 16 and the releasing of the line 12 from the clip 22, the holder 14 can be shaken so as to accelerate the activation of the lighting composition. If, however, the composition is not agitated in this manner, when the emergency line 12 is released from the clip 22, the elasticity of the plastic holder 14 will cause the holder 14 to flick back to its original state and thereby assist with agitation of the lighting composition.

In an example embodiment, the holder 14 comprises a roof 24 coated with a reflective material so as to enhance the distribution of the light produced by the activated lighting composition. In an example embodiment, the roof 24 of the holder 14 comprises a pair of angled side walls 24A, 24B ₁ the pitch of the side walls 24A, 24B varying depending upon the strength required by the holder 14.

Turning now to Figure 3, an alternate lighting arrangement 30 for an underground emergency line, according to an example embodiment, is shown. The lighting arrangement 30 comprises an elongate holder 32 for holding a chemiluminescent housing, not shown, but which may be similar to the housing 16 shown in Figure 1.

The holder 32 has a substantially flat roof 34 to which a support and strengthening bracket 36 is fitted. The ends of the bracket 36 terminate in apertures 38A, 38B for allowing the holder 32 to be fixed to an underground roof via cords, substantially as described above. The bracket 36 defines a pair of gaps 40A, 40B for facilitating the bending of the holder 32, substantially as described above, but which will be described in more detail further on in the specification.

In an example embodiment, the holder 32 is elongate, with the ends of the holder 32 defining L-shaped supports 32A, 32B for supporting the ends of the housing.

An L-shaped clip 42 extends from the holder 32, approximately midway along the length of the holder 32, for releasably holding an emergency line, such as the emergency line 12 shown in Figure 1. In an example embodiment, and as shown, the clip 42 is integrally formed with the holder 32.

In an example embodiment, the clip 42, which may be made from a plastic material, comprises an L-shaped base 44 for supporting the housing 16, from which a pair of spaced apart legs 46A, 46B extends. The pair of spaced apart legs 46A, 46B is arranged to receive the emergency line therebetween, with an end piece 48 extending between the ends of the legs 46A, 46B. As

substantially described above, the end piece 48 is arranged to hold the emergency line captive when the clip 42 is tugged upon sufficiently hard so as to bend the holder 32, but upon a further sufficiently hard tug on the line and thus the clip 42, the end piece 48 can fracture and/or be released from the legs 46A, 46B so as to release the emergency line from the clip 42. As described above, the resulting movement of the clip 42 will cause the holder 32 to bend so as to rupture the inner frangible compartment of the housing, thereby activating the lighting composition within the housing.

The present invention thus provides an easy and convenient way of producing light when a miner activates and uses an emergency line. It is, however, envisaged that the lighting arrangement of the present invention may have other applications, such as underwater diving.