The present invention relates to a framing system for limiting/shaping a light beam and to light fixtures comprising such framing system.
Framing systems for shaping a light beam where a number of shutter blades are moved in and out of the light beam in order to adjust the shape of the beam have been known for many years.
Typical framing systems have a number of shutter blades which can be moved in and out of the light beam by a number of actuators. The light beam is shaped/delimited/framed by adjusting the position of each shutter blade relatively to the light beam and thereby achieving the wanted framing of the light beam. The framing systems are typically used in light fixtures such as moving heads, follow spots and spotlights generating a light beam. Such light fixtures comprise a light source generating a light beam and a number of optical components generating different optical effects.
WO9636834, WO03023513, WO07134609, disclose framing systems according to prior art where a number of shutter blades surrounds the light beam and can be moved in and out of the light beam by a number of actuators. The shutter blades and actuators are mounted on a frame support rotatable carried by a base support. These framing systems are used in light fixtures having a light source generating a light beam, a lens system for focusing and/or zooming the light beam and controlling means (CPU; microprocessors, microcontrollers, PLD or the like) for controlling the components of the light fixture. The framing systems according to WO9636834 and WO03023513 do not from a sharp image of the shutter blades when projected onto a target surface by an optical system and do also take up a lot of space inside the light fixture, as the shutter blades are positioned in at least two different planes.
WO07134609 tries to solve this by providing a light assembly comprising at least one light source for generating a beam of light and a framing system. The framing system comprises a number of shutter blades cooperating with a number of motors to move the shutter blades in and out of the light beam. The shutter blades form a merged pile, where the shutter blades in the merged pile are placed with the front area placed over the front area of a first neighboring shutter blade and the front area placed below the front area of the second neighboring shutter blade. Forming the shutter blades in a merged pile leads to a thin assembly, where the operating edges of the shutters are operating substantially in the same plane. The shutter blades are movable mounted and co-operates with motors to move the shutter means in and out of the light beam. The shutter blades comprise a front end to delimit the beam of light and the two toothed sides and interacting with pinions on the motors. One motor is placed in a fixed position, and second motor is movable in a sideward direction. The two motors allow movement and adjustment of the individual shutter blades in order to delimit the light beam.
The framing system disclosed in WO07134609 is however not very useful as it is very hard to manufacture. The toothed sides of the framing blades tend to break during use, especially during longtime use. The shutter blades must further be moved in a very controlled manner, as the shutter blades can be moved in and out the merged pile causing crucial failure of the framing system. This can for instance occur if the corners of two adjacent shutter blades are moved too far away from each other, which results is in fact that the shutter blades get mixed up and will not work properly. It is possible through the software or by introducing mechanicals stops to limit this movement but this will also limit the framing system's flexibility and degree of freedom.
The object of the present invention is to solve the above described limitations related to prior art framing systems. This is achieved by a framing system, light fixture and method as described in the independent claims. The dependent claims describe possible embodiments of the present invention. The advantages and benefits of the present invention are described in the detailed description of the invention.
a illustrates a top view and
a illustrates a top view and
a illustrates a top view and
a-5c illustrate another embodiment of the framing system according to the present invention, where
a and
a illustrates a top view and
This setup makes it possible to construct a very flexible framing system with a large degree of freedom; meaning that each shutter blade can be positioned in many different positions and than the light beam can be shaped in many different shapes. The framing blades can in this embodiment be moved over the entire area of the aperture and angled at any angle. Shutter blade 105d is, in the illustrated framing system 101, for instance nearly moved across the entire aperture 107 whereas shutter blade 105b only covers a small part of the aperture. The consequence is that a light beam passing through the aperture can be shaped in large many different shapes. It is further possible to merge the framing blades in a pile where at least a part of a first shutter blade is in placed over at least a part of a second shutter blade and where at least a part of the first shutter blade is placed below at least a part of a third shutter blade. The shutter blades are hereby positioned in substantially the same plane whereby it is possible to provide a very sharp image of the shutter blades at a target surface a distance from the framing system. The image can for instance be constructed by using an optical system as known in the art. It is further possible to form the shutter blades such that they can not be mixed up in any position and simultaneously maintain a very flexible framing system.
The shutter blades 105a-105d comprise in the illustrated embodiment a first arm 115a-115d pivotally connected to the first rotational point 109a-109d and pivotally connected to the frame support at a frame pivot point 117a-117d. The second actuator moves the first rotational point by pivoting first arm 115a-115d around the frame pivot point 117a-117d. This makes it possible to reduce the size of the framing system, as the shutter blades, due the fact that the shutter blade can move below the arm of neighboring shutter blades, can be positioned very close together.
a illustrates a top view and
a illustrates a top view and
a illustrates a top view and
a illustrates a top view and
a-5c illustrate another embodiment of the framing system 501 according to the present invention, where
The shutter blades are in this embodiment merged in a pile such at each shutter blade overlaps a part of a second shutter blade and such that a part of the shutter blade is overlapped by a part of another shutter blade. However, the person skilled in the art realizes that it is possible to position the shutter in two or more planes instead of merging the shutter blades. The frame support 503 comprises also a mechanical stop 519a-519d for each shutter blade. The mechanical stop is adapted to limit the movements of the shutter blades and prevents the shutter blades form moving into a position were the shutter blades can move out of their mutual positions.
The top plate comprises also blade tensioning means providing tension to the shutter blades whereby the shutter blades are herby squeezed together and kept in substantially the same plane. Displacement of the shutter blades, for instance due to thermal expansion of the shutter blades, is hereby avoided. The blade tensioning means (not shown in
a and
The shutter blades 505a comprise in the illustrated embodiment an approximately L-shaped first arm 601 where a first leg is pivotally connected to the first rotational point 517a and the corner end is pivotally connected to the top plate 513 at a frame pivot point 603 (using bearing 524a in
The shutter blade 505a comprises also a second arm having a first part 619 pivotally connected to the shutter blade at a blade pivot point 621 and a second part 623 pivotally connected the top plate at the frame pivot point 603. The first part 619 and a second part 623 are pivotally interconnected at an arm pivot point 625. The arm pivot point comprises a threaded cylinder 627 connected the rotatable spindle 629 of the first actuator 507a. The second actuator 509a is thus adapted to move the threaded cylinder 627 of the arm pivot point as illustrated by arrow 631. The first part 619 of the second arm will as a consequence push/pull the blade pivot point 621 in relation to the first rotational point causing the shutter blade 505a to rotate around the first rotational point 517a as illustrated by arrow 633. The second actuator 509a is like the first actuator pivotally connected to the top plate and can pivot as indicated by arrow 634 in order to eliminate the mismatch between linear are movement and rotational transitions in the mechanical system.
The shutter blade comprises further an overhang 635 which is elevated from the shutter blade 505a by a number of spacers 637. The first rotational point 517a and the blade pivot point 621 are positioned at the overhang 637. The result is that a neighboring shutter blade can move into the area beneath the overhang whereby the degree of freedom of the shutter blades is increased. The overhang is illustrated as one single overhang to which both the blade pivot point and the first rotational point is connected. The person skilled in the art realizes that it is possible to provide a single overhang for each pivot point.
The length of the first part of said second arm is substantially equal to length of the first arm and the length of the second part of the second arm is substantially equal to the distance between the blade pivot point and the first rotational point. The first rotational point, blade pivot point, frame pivot point and arm pivot point constitutes thus the corners of a parallelogram.
The length of the first part 619 of the second arm substantially equals the length of the first arm 601 and in that the length of the second part 623 of the second arm substantially equals the distance between the blade pivot point and the first rotational point. The first arm 601, first part 619 of the second arm, the second arm 623 of the second arm and the distance between the blade pivot point and first rotational point constitutes thus a substantial parallelogram, where the first rotational point 517a, blade pivot point 621, arm pivot point 625 and frame pivot point 603 constitutes the comers of the parallelogram. The consequence is that the angle of the shutter blade in relation the light beam (aperture) will not change during movement of the first rotational point 517a. The control system controlling the movement of the shutter blades can in this way be simplified as the first actuator does not need to compensate for the change in angle of the shutter blade in relation to the light beam when the second actuator moves the rotational point in relation the lighten beam. This is achieved as the frame pivot point 603 and the arm pivot point 625 is fixated in relation to each other during rotation of the first arm 601 if the first actuator is not moved. The first rotational point 517a and the blade pivot point 621 are, due the properties of the parallelogram, also fixated in relation to each other and the shutter blade will thus not rotate in relation to the light beam if the first arm and the first part of the second arm are rotated. A linear movement of the shutter blade will as a consequence appear inside the light beam.
The framing system can for instance be embodied in a framing system as described in our Danish pending patent application filed Sep. 11, 2009 and having application number DK PA200901015 incorporated herein by reference. The patent application DK PA200901015 describes in short a framing system for shaping a light beam. The framing system comprises a base support rotatable supporting a frame support. The frame support comprises a number of shutter blades surrounding the light beam and a number of actuators adapted to move the shutter blades in and out of said light beam. The framing system comprises further rotatable electric connecting means, the rotatable electric connecting means enabling transferring of electric energy between the frame support and the base support during rotation of the frame support in relation to said base support. The bottom plate of the framing system disclosed in the present invention for instance be embodied as the base support of DK PA200901015 and the upper plate can be embodied as the frame support. The framing system according the present invention can thus be rotated more the 360 degrees around the light beam.
One light effect is a framing system according to the present invention. The framing system comprises a base support 103 rotatable supporting a frame support 105 and an actuator 117 adapted to rotate the frame supports described in DK PA200901015. The frame support comprises a number of shutter blades 107 surrounding an aperture, through which the light beam passes and number of actuators 111 are adapted to move the shutter blades in and out of the aperture and thus also in and out of the light beam the light beam as described in
The light source can be any known light sources e.g. discharge lamps, LEDs, OLEDS, plasma lamps, lasers etc. The reflector can be any kind of reflectors and in some applications also be embodies as optical lenses such as TIR lenses. It is also possible to include a multiple number of light sources and mixing the light from these light sources into a light beam.
The moving head light fixture comprises first rotating means for rotating the yoke in relation to the base, for instance by rotating a shaft 823 connected to the yoke by using a motor 825 positioned in the base. The moving head light fixture comprises also second rotating means for rotating the head in relation to the yoke, for instance by rotating a shaft 827 connected to the head by using a motor 829 positioned in the yoke. The skilled person would realize that the rotation means could be constructed in many different ways using mechanical components such as motors, shafts, gears, cables, chains, transmission systems etc.
The moving head light fixture receives electrical power 831 from an external power supply (not shown). The electrical power is received by an internal power supply 833 which adapts and distributes electrical power through internal power lines 835 (dotted lines) to the subsystems of the moving head. The internal power system can be constructed in many different ways and the illustrated power lines is for simplicity illustrated as one system where all subsystems are connected to the same power line. The skilled person would however realize that some of the subsystems in the moving head need different kind of power and that a ground line also can be used. The light source will for instance in most applications need a different kind of power than step motors and driver circuits.
The light fixture comprises also a controller 837 which controls the other components (other subsystems) in the light fixture based on an input signal 839 indicative of at least one light effect parameter and at least one position parameter. The controller receives the input signal from a light controller 841 as known in the art of intelligent and entertainment lighting for instance by using a standard protocol like DMX, ArtNET, RDM etc. The light effect parameter is indicative of at least one light effect parameter of said light beam for instance the amount of dimming and/or the dimming speed of the light beam, a color that the CMY system 817 should mix, the kind of color filter that a color filter system (not shown) should position in the light beam and/or the kind of gobo that the gobo system 819 should position in the light beam, the divergence of the light beam that light fixture should create using a zoom system 821, a focus distance that indicate the distance form the lens to a surface where a gobo effect should be imaged, etc.
The light effect parameter can also be indicative of how the framing system should frame the light beam and can therefore comprises information of how each shutter blade should move in relation to the light beam, how the frame support should be rotated in relation the base support. The controller 837 receives the light parameter and sends commands to the controlling means 822 adapted to control the framing system. The controlling means 822 adapted to control the framing system will then instruct the actuators to activate the relevant parts as instructed and the descried framing effect is achieved.
The controller is adapted to send commands and instructions to the different subsystems of the moving head through internal communication lines 843 (solid lines). The internal communication system can be based on a various type of communications networks/systems and the illustrated communication system is just one illustrating example.
The position parameter is indicative of rotation of at least said yoke in relation to said base and/or rotation of said head in relation to said yoke. The position parameter could for instance indicate a position whereto the light fixture should direct the beam, the position of the yoke in relation to the base, the position of the head in relation to the yoke, the distance/angle that the yoke should be turned in relation to the base, the distance/angle that the head should be turned in relation the base etc. The rotation parameter could also indicate the speed and time of the rotation.
The moving head could also have user input means enabling a user to interact directly with the moving head instead of using a light controller 841 to communicate with the moving head. The user input means 845 could for instance be bottoms, joysticks, touch pads, keyboard, mouse etc. The user input means could also be supported by a display 847 enabling the user to interact with the moving head through menu system shown on the display using the user input means 847. The display device and user input means could in one embodiment also be integrated as a touch screen.
The present invention relates also to a method for shaping a light beam using a framing system comprising a frame support comprising a number of shutter blades surrounding the light beam and a number of actuators adapted to move said shutter blades in and out of said light beam. The method comprises the step of said method comprises the step of:
moving at least one of said shutter blade in and out of said light beam using said actuator; where the said step of moving the at least one shutter blade comprises the steps of:
rotating said shutter blade around a rotation point using a first actuator and;
moving said rotation point in relation to said light beam using a second actuator.
The framing system comprises in a further embodiment also a base support where the frame support is rotatable connected to the base support the method comprises in this embodiment the steps of:
rotating the shutter blades around blade around the light beam by rotating said frame support in relation the base support; where the step of rotating the shutter blade around the light beam comprises the steps of rotating the frame support at least 360 degrees and transferring electric energy between said frame support and said base support. It is hereby achieved that several light effects can be created as the shape of the light beam can be changes and continuously/endless rotated.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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PA2010 00034 | Jan 2010 | DK | national |
This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/522,387, having a §371 date of Oct. 2, 2012; which application is a National Stage Entry of PCT/DK2011/50009, filed Jan. 14, 2011; which application claims benefit of priority to DK PA2010 00034, filed Jan. 18, 2010; each application entitled “Light Beam Framing System with Merged Shutter Blades.” The above-identified related applications are incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 13522387 | Oct 2012 | US |
Child | 14539468 | US |