TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention relates to production lamps having an array of LEDs, and more particularly to production lamps having removeable, replaceable LED modules.
BACKGROUND
Traditional production lamps for use in stage and theater have sodium bulbs mounted in a tube-like housing that includes a lens package for focusing and patterning the light. The housings are commonly mounted on pipe structures built on tripods or into stage and theater facilities. Color slides called gels are used to alter the color of the mostly white light generated by the sodium bulbs. For environmental and other reasons, retrofit structures with an array of LEDs have begun to replace sodium bulbs in production lights.
One disadvantage of these LED bulbs is that they continue to require color gels. Another disadvantage is that the white light is generated at a different color temperature than the sodium bulbs such that the color light generated by the LED and gel combinations varies from the color light generated by gel and sodium bulb combinations. A further disadvantage is that the LEDs fade and color drift over time, exacerbating the color matching issue and adding an intensity issue.
Production lamps also generate lots of heat. Cooling the lights is an important aspect of production lamp design because it can significantly extend the usable life of lights used in the lamps. There are many examples of vented housings, fans, heat sinks and even liquid cooling systems used in lights. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 9,404,648 which discloses a variety of cooling techniques, including circulating cooling fluid around heat sink fins. The most effective cooling strategies make it particularly difficult to replace LED or other lights used in production lamps to meet the fade and drift quality issues.
SUMMARY
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a production lamp with a removable, replaceable LED lighting module.
It is another object of the invention to provide a production lamp with an LED lighting module capable of producing virtually any color output.
A further object of the invention is to provide a production lamp having a focusable LED output using a Fresnel lens.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a liquid-cooled production lamp with a removable lighting module.
Still a further object of the invention is to provide a production lamp in which the cooling, electrical and mechanical connection of the lighting module all can be actuated with a single motion.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1A is a front isometric view of a lamp, according to the invention.
FIG. 1B is a rear isometric view of a lamp, according to the invention.
FIG. 2A is a front isometric view of a lighting module trolley for use in the lamp of FIGS. 1A-1B, showing a color mixer, hydraulic connectors, and toothed brackets for engagement with pinions for moving the trolley within the lamp.
FIG. 2B is a rear isometric view of a lighting module trolley mounted for axial movement in the production lamp of FIGS. 1A-1B and depicting the electrical connection pins and locking cam raceways for receiving lighting module pins.
FIG. 3A is a front elevation view of a removeable lighting module for use in the production lamp of FIGS. 1A-1B, showing an LED array, electrical and hydraulic connectors, guide pins, and locking pins or latches in the position in which the lighting module would be locked into the trolley depicted in FIGS. 2A-2B.
FIG. 3B is a rear elevation view of a removeable lighting module for use in the production lamp of FIGS. 1A-1B, depicting an actuator and locking pins or latches in the position in which the lighting module would be locked into the trolley depicted in FIGS. 2A-2B.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the removeable lighting module showing its actuator and locking pins in the unlocked position in which the lighting module could be removed from the trolley.
FIG. 5A is a top view of the lighting module trolley of FIGS. 2A-2B along with a liquid cooling system that is connected to the trolley by hoses.
FIG. 5B is a front elevation view of the lighting module trolley and liquid cooling system that are shown in FIG. 4.
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional plan view of the cooling fluid passages located behind the LED array in the removable lighting module that is shown in FIGS. 3A-3B.
FIG. 7 depicts a schematic of a control unit and LED arrays of the lamp shown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
It is understood that the following description, with reference to the above-described figures, depicts a structure according to the invention but that this particular structure is merely an example and in no way limits the scope of the invention. Indeed, one of ordinary skill in the art could incorporate the teachings of the invention into many other particular structures within the scope of the claims.
Referring first to FIGS. 1A-1B, lamp 10 is depicted in front and rear isometric views. Lamp 10 includes a generally tubular housing 12 extending along an axis 14. Fresnel lens 16 is fixed at a front end of housing 12, and an access door 18 is located at a rear end of housing 12. Access door 18 opens via hinges 20 to expose the lighting module and trolley structure (not shown in these figures).
Housing 12 features vents 22 located in a region of lamp 10 near the lighting module. A rotatable mounting bracket 24 can be used to mount lamp 10 to stages, tripods and the like in conventional fashion. For this purpose, hand grips 26 are provided for transporting and positioning lamp 10.
A lower portion 13 of housing 12 includes internal electronic components and a rail system for moving the trolley structure (see FIGS. 2A-2B) along axis 14 to focus light from the LED array (see FIG. 3A) from a flood pattern to a spot pattern via Fresnel lens 16. The housing 12 also includes a control unit 110, which is further described with reference to FIG. 7.
Turning now to FIGS. 2A-2B, a trolley 30 is shown in front and rear isometric views. Trolley 30 is mounted within housing 12 for motion along axis 14 to bring the LED array toward and away from Fresnel lens 16. Trolley 30 enables electrical, mechanical, and fluid connection to a removeable lighting module (see FIGS. 3-5).
Electrical connection is accomplished by a plurality of pogo pins 32 or the like mounted on circuit board 34, with a wiring harness leading from circuit board 34 through passage 36 to lower portion 13 of housing 12 where a power connection (not shown) and control logic is contained. The control logic may advantageously incorporate a wireless transceiver for remote control of production lamp 10.
A fluid connection is used for liquid cooling in lamp 10, and that is achieved in trolley 30 via inlet/outlet 38/40 which are mated to dripless connectors (see FIG. 5) when the lighting module is assembled to trolley 30.
Trolley 30 includes two pairs of cam raceways 46/48. Mounting pins 64/66 enter the raceways at rear edge 50 of trolley 30 and as they respectively follow the raceways inwardly. Upon actuation, the follower pins cam the lighting module inwardly and mechanically lock it in place after driplessly connecting the fluid cooling lines at 38/40 and electrically connecting the pogo pins (or other known electrical connectors) at 32. One or more elongated guide pins 52 may provide axial alignment to the camming action ensuring proper liquid and electrical connection.
Turning to FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, the lighting module 60 has one or more arrays of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) 62 that are mounted in a body of the lighting module. For example, the lighting module 60 may include a first array of LEDs of a first color, a second array of LEDs of a second color, a third array of LEDs of a third color, etc. In some embodiments, the lighting module 60 may include four, five, six, or more different colors of LEDs. The lighting module 60 also includes electrical connectors 132 that are connected within the body of the lighting module to junctions (not shown) of the LEDs. Further, referring briefly to FIG. 6, the lighting module 60 has a cold plate 80 mounted to the back of the body such that an inner cavity 82 of the cold plate 80 is aligned with the junctions of the LEDs 62 for removing heat from the LED junctions. Cold plate fluid connectors 138, 140, which are connected in fluid communication with the inner cavity 82, protrude from the cold plate 80 through the body to a front side of the lighting module 60.
Considering FIGS. 2A, 2B, 3A, and 3B, the lighting module 60 is mounted into the trolley 30 by positioning the module and twisting the handle 70 so that mounting pins 64 (and a pair of mounting pins 66 at the other side of the lighting module 60, as shown in FIG. 4) engage with and cam inwardly along respective cam raceways 46/48. When the mounting pins 64/66 are fully engaged into the raceways 46/48, the lighting module 60 is locked into place such that a fluid connection is completed between dripless connection pairs 38/138 and 40/140, and such that an electrical connection is completed between pins and electrical contacts 32/132. As shown in FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, it will be understood that mounting pins 64 are illustrated in their locked position.
As a front side of lighting module 60 is pulled into a rear side of trolley 30, the LED array 62 is aligned with color mixer 61 to deliver light to lens 16. The color mixer 61 has a conical portion 55 and a translucent diffuser 56. When the lighting module 60 is mounted into the trolley 30, light from the LED array 62 is reflected from the inner surface of the conical portion 55 onto the diffuser 56, which blends the colors of the light and illuminates the Fresnel lens 16.
Upon review of the mounting pins and their respective cam raceways it will be appreciated that one pair of pins 66 moves downwardly and the other pair of pins 64 moves upwardly during their inward actuation to mechanically lock lighting module 60 into trolley 30. This helps balance the forces on lighting modules 60 and trolley 30, although it will be understood to one of the skill in the art that many other actuation types, with and without cam actions, with or without pins and the like could be used to achieve a similar, simultaneous, three-phase connection between these components.
Comparing FIGS. 3 and 4, the actuating mechanism used in this example of the exemplary production lamp 10 is depicted in both its locked position 70 (FIG. 3) and its unlocked position 70′ (FIG. 4). Note that the mounting pins 64 shown in their locked position in FIG. 3, also move to their unlocked position in FIG. 4, when actuator handle 70 is rotated counterclockwise to unlocked position 70′.
Handle 70/70′ is biased in both the locked and unlocked positions, such that actuation requires two manual actions or steps. In this regard, handle 70/70′ must be pulled or raised against the bias or detents 72 before it can be rotated between the locked and unlocked positions.
FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B depict connections of the trolley 30 to a coolant system 90. The coolant system 90 includes a pump 92, heat rejecting tanks 94, 96, and an expansion tank 98. The expansion tank 98 has a vent 99 that can be operated by a user pressing a button 100. When the button is pressed it moves the vent 99 to an open position. When the button is released it spring-returns to a closed position. The vent 99 is provided because repeated (dis) connection of the dripless connectors 38/138 and 40/140 may introduce air into the coolant system.
In some embodiments, referring to FIG. 7, the lamp 10 may include a control unit 110 (which includes, e.g., a computer processor) that implements various functionality such as selecting which colors of LEDs to illuminate at what intensities for how long or where to position the trolley 30 within the housing 12. The control unit 110 may have buttons 112 and a screen 114 that provide an interface for a user to operate the lamp 10 by selecting LED colors, intensities, durations of lighting, patterns of lighting, trolley position, etc. The control unit 110 may adjust the settings of an LED driver module 116 in response to the user operation of the buttons 112, and may display the settings of the LED driver module 116 at the screen 114. The control unit 110 also may count how many times the removeable lighting module 60 is electrically (dis) connected to the trolley 30. For example, the control unit 110 may include a flip-flop circuit that becomes energized and increments a value in a register, each time that the electrical contacts 32/132 connect with each other. Based on the value in the register, the control unit may signal a user to operate the button 100 for venting the expansion tank 98. For example, the control unit may illuminate a light 118 at the outside of the housing 12. FIG. 1A shows the light 118 adjacent to where the button 100 protrudes out of the housing 12.
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a cold plate 80 that is mounted on the back of lighting module 60. Fluid passage 82 circulates cooling fluid from reservoir 42 in trolley 30 directly behind LED array 62 to reduce color and intensity drift and extend LED life.
Patent Application
20240392962
