Onboard equipment for aircraft and the like

• US 20050104740A1
• Filed: 09/20/2004
• Published: 05/19/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Saf-T-Glo Limited
• Original Assignee: Saf-T-Glo Limited
• Inventors: Stokes, Peter David, Leach, Dan
• Granted Patent: US 7,265,684 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/815.450
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 10/00 Flight suits helmets in general A42B3/00; breathing helmets A62B18/00
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 2011/0038 Illumination systems for cabins as a whole
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 2045/007 Indicators or signs in the cabin, e.g. exit signs or seat numbering
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 45/357 specially adapted for retrofit LED light sources
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/195 the transmission using visible or infrared light

Abstract

An emergency lighting system for an aircraft comprises networked light units that communicate wirelessly with a master controller to switch the light units on in an emergency. Each unit has its own battery power source and is arranged conserve power consumption by cycling between an operable (awake) condition in which it can communicate with the master controller and an inoperable (sleep) condition wherein the wake-up time is approximately 1 millisecond or less. Power consumption is also reduced by employing LEDs as the light source and pulsing the LEDs with a variable load factor to adjust the illumination level.

Claims

1. A system for a vehicle such as an aircraft comprising a plurality of networked communication devices arranged to communicate wirelessly with a master controller wherein each device is arranged to cycle between an operable (awake) condition and an inoperable (sleep) condition in which the wake-up time is approximately 1 millisecond or less.

2. A system according to claim 1 wherein a multi-code generator is employed providing multiple switched outputs and spacing the switched outputs in the code space such that a search time for each device to detect a broadcast signal is reduced.

3. A system according to claim 2 wherein the switched outputs are spaced approximately equally in the code space.

4. A system according to claim 1 wherein the devices communicate with the master controller using spread spectrum communication centred on a single frequency.

5. A system according to claim 1 wherein one or more devices is provided with a light source comprising at least one LED.

6. A system according to claim 5 wherein the light source comprises an LED flat panel diffuser.

7. A system according to claim 5 wherein one or more devices is operable to provide a self-test check.

8. A system according to claim 7 wherein each device includes one or more of a battery life check, light source check and circuit integrity check.

9. A system according to claim 8 wherein each device is a light unit employing LEDs as the light source, and the light source check is used to determine the number of LEDs that are working and provide a signal to the master controller to indicate that the unit is operational.

10. A system according to claim 9 wherein the number of operational LEDs is tested using a sub millisecond pulse, measuring the total current, and comparing this with a current for a permitted minimum number of operational LEDs.

11. A system according to claim 5 wherein, in use, power consumption is reduced by pulsing said at least one LED.

12. A system according to claim 11 wherein said at least one LED is pulsed at a frequency so that no pulsing is visible to the human eye.

13. A system according to claim 11 wherein the light source is pulsed with a variable load factor.

14. A system according to claim 11 wherein the light source is operable at full brightness for an initial period after switching on and then gradually reduce the brightness to a pre-determined minimum.

15. A system according to claim 5 wherein, in use, said at least one LED is capable of providing a variable illumination level.

16. A system according to claim 1 wherein one or more devices is provided with an infra-red data (IRDA) interface for local communication with the device.