Abstract:
A roadway diversion lighting fixture. The lighting fixture includes a casing, a solar panel for receiving sunlight and a light-emitting source capable of producing flashes. The lighting fixture can provide illumination all day and can operate in all kinds of weather conditions. The lighting fixture is easy to mount and operate. Moreover, there is no need to replace battery regularly or to lay down power cable. The casing is painted to prevent rusting, the accumulation of dust and infiltration by water.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
         [0001]    This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 89210935, filed Jun. 26, 2000.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of Invention  
           [0003]    The present invention relates to roadway warning light. More particularly, the present invention relates to a set of light fixture for showing roadway diversion.  
           [0004]    2. Description of Related Art  
           [0005]    Due to rapid commercialization of society, motorized vehicles have become an indispensable means for people to move around from place to place performing different kinds of activities. Hence, road safety is a very important issue for the public. In general, people driving a motorized vehicle needs to follow road signs and light signals to progress or stop. Partitioned roadways often have lights or signs put in the middle of separate roadways to show the forward direction. These roadway lighting fixtures fall into two main categories. One type employs a multiple of reflecting plates that serve to give warning to drivers about the road conditions ahead, especially during bad weather. The other type of fixtures uses battery to power a lamp. However, this type of lighting fixture not only demands considerable power but also requires long length of electrical supply lines.  
           [0006]    [0006]FIG. 1A is a sketch of a conventional roadside diversion fixture that employs a light reflector. The fixture with the light reflector at the top is implanted in the middle of a roadway. The fixture has no light source. Hence, light will appear to a driver only when the headlight of the driver&#39;s car or some other cars ahead or behind happens to fall on the reflecting plate. Typically, the maximum visual distance on a clear day is only about 15 meters. In general, the further away, the weaker is the back reflection and corresponding warning effect. Furthermore, if the headlight of a car is weak or the weather condition is bad such as rainy, snowy or foggy, the warning effect is even weaker.  
           [0007]    [0007]FIG. 1B is a sketch of a conventional road diversion indicator lighting fixture. The lamp within the lighting fixture is powered by electrical supply lines or self-contained battery packs. However, everybody knows that conventional lamp is a power hungry device. Once the battery power is low, maintenance peoples have to replace the battery on site, thereby wasting considerable manpower. Similarly, lighting fixture powered by electrical lines requires cable laying and routine maintenance. Since the lamps can operate for a limited period, a team of maintenance workers has to get around to check battery power level from time to time. In a time when environmental protection and the use of reusable energy resource are of utmost importance, this type of roadway lighting fixture is highly inefficient and environmentally unfriendly.  
           [0008]    In brief, the two most common conventional fixtures for roadway diversion indication have some drawbacks. Fixtures that employ reflection panel suffer from insufficient brightness level and short operable distance. Moreover, bad weather often results in poor visibility condition. On the other hand, lighting fixture with battery or electrical power line driven lamps suffer from the need for routine maintenance such as battery renewal, light bulb replacement, thereby increasing the cost of operation.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0009]    Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide a roadway diversion lighting fixture that not only performs better than a conventional roadside fixture, but is also less affected by changing atmospheric conditions.  
           [0010]    A second object of this invention is to provide a roadway diversion lighting fixture that improves upon the conventional light reflector design. In the convention reflector design, light is emitted only when a beam of light of sufficient strength impinges upon the reflector plates. Since brightness level of the reflector is difficult to ensure and the reflector may operate only within a very short distance, a driver may misjudge the distance or escape attention altogether.  
           [0011]    A third object of this invention is to provide a roadway diversion lighting fixture that avoids routine maintenance including periodic battery renewal, laying of electrical power cable and light bulb replacement, thereby reducing cost of operation considerably.  
           [0012]    A fourth object of this invention is to provide a roadway diversion lighting fixture that can be easily installed and instantly used. Furthermore, the lighting fixture has an outer casing protected by an anti-rusting, water-resistant, dust-resistant paint, water-resistant paint.  
           [0013]    To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the invention provides a roadway diversion lighting fixture. The lighting fixture includes a rectangular casing having a sealed end and an open end. A plurality of bright light emitting diodes is flushed on the rectangular casing. The lighting fixture also includes a solar panel coupled to the sealed end of the rectangular panel. The solar panel can pick up sunlight and transform sunlight into useful electrical energy for battery charging.  
           [0014]    This invention also provides a roadway diversion lighting fixture that includes a light-emitting device. An electrical energy storage unit is electrically connected to the light-emitting device to provide the power necessary for lighting up the device. The lighting fixture also includes an energy absorption and conversion unit coupled to the electrical energy storage unit. The energy absorption and conversion unit is responsible for capturing natural energy and converting the energy into useful electrical energy. The electrical energy is stored inside the electrical energy storage device.  
           [0015]    Because an energy absorption and conversion unit such as a solar panel is employed in the invention, neither the lay down of long stretch of electrical supply cable nor regular battery replacement is necessary. In addition, the use of bright light-emitting diodes extends visibility of roadway diversion considerably.  
           [0016]    It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0017]    The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings,  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 1A is a sketch of a conventional roadside diversion fixture that employs a light reflector;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 1B is a sketch of a conventional road diversion indicator lighting fixture;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the operating units of a roadway diversion lighting fixture according to one preferred embodiment of this invention;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the circuit of the roadway diversion lighting fixture according to this invention; and  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of the roadway diversion lighting fixture according to this invention. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0023]    Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the operating units of a roadway diversion lighting fixture according to one preferred embodiment of this invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the lighting fixture includes an energy absorption and conversion unit  20  such as a solar panel, an electrical energy storage unit  24  such as a battery, a control unit  22  such as a control circuit and a light-emitting device  26  such as a panel of light-emitting diodes. The energy absorption and conversion unit  20  is capable of absorbing natural power resources and converting the energy resource into electrical energy. Under the supervision of the control unit  22 , the electrical energy is transferred and stored inside the electrical energy storage unit  24 . The control unit  22  is also responsible for controlling the supply of electrical energy from the electrical energy storage unit  24  to the light-emitting device  26  as well as switching the light-emitting devices  26  on or off.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the circuit of the roadway diversion lighting fixture according to this invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the electrical circuit includes a solar panel  30 , a storage battery  34 , a control chip  36 , a light-emitting diode  40 , a diode  32  and a junction transistor  38 . The solar panel  30  absorbs sun&#39;s ray and converts solar energy into electrical energy. The electrical energy is transferred to the storage battery  34 . The diode  32  prevents the flow of electrical current from the storage battery  34  back to the solar panel. A signal will send to the control chip  36  when the solar panel is not operating (due to insufficient sunlight). The control chip  36  will send a signal to the junction transistor  38  and switch on the junction transistor  38  so that the storage battery  34  can provide the necessary power to drive the light-emitting diode  40 . In this way, the control chip  36  controls the opening and closing of the junction transistor  38  so that the light-emitting diode  40  is turned on or off according to brightness level.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of the roadway diversion lighting fixture according to this invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the roadway diversion lighting fixture of this invention includes a steel casing  42 , a light-emitting source  46  and a solar panel  44 . The lighting fixture can be erected inside a tunnel, on a traffic island and at the tip section of a road diversion. The steel casing  42  is a rectangular box-like structure having a sealed top end and an open bottom end. In general, the surface of the casing  42  is covered by a layer of yellow rust proof, water and dust resistant paint. The solar panel  44  is positioned at an angle with the horizontal for easy capturing of sunlight or car light. Captured solar or light energy is converted into electrical energy and stored inside a large capacity storage battery that can provide energy to light up the light-emitting source  46  for more than 24 hours. The solar panel  44  is preferably of the type capable of generating electrical current even under snowy or cloudy condition. The light source  46  is an assembly of about 240 bright light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Unlike conventional light reflector, the light-emitting diodes are powered by electricity. Hence, visibility can be as high as 300 meters. Moreover, the light-emitting diodes have great penetrating power so that driver may clearly see the road condition in total darkness and in rainy or foggy days. In addition, the LEDs may be set in a flashing mode to attract attention. Since light emitted by the LEDs is collimated, drivers and pedestrians alike are less likely to be interfered as in conventional diffused lighting fixture. Furthermore, LED has low power consumption and very long working life. Hence, the cost due to routine maintenance work such as bulb and battery replacement can be reduced considerably. Moreover, the locking holes  48  on the front and back side near the bottom section of the casing  42  can be utilized to mount the lighting fixture. Therefore, the lighting fixture is easy to install and convenient to operate.  
         [0027]    In summary, the advantages of the roadway diversion lighting fixture of this invention includes:  
         [0028]    1. The roadway diversion lighting fixture uses an assembly of light-emitting diodes, which is brighter than a conventional light bulb. Solar panel is used to charge up the storage battery. Hence, the lighting fixture is operable in all kinds of weather conditions. Moreover, the LEDs can be set to flash for an improved performance.  
         [0029]    2. The lighting fixture is self-illuminated and the light is more collimated. Unlike a conventional reflector whose brightness level depends on incoming light, standard brightness level can be maintained for the lighting fixture of this invention.  
         [0030]    3. The energy resource is unlimited and there is no need to replace battery regularly. In addition, light-emitting diodes have long working life and hence there is no need to replace light bulbs regularly. Furthermore, the lighting fixture is self-contained and hence there is no need to lay down power supply lines. In other words, routine maintenance work is kept to a minimum, thereby saving operation cost.  
         [0031]    4. The lighting fixture has a steel casing protected by a rust proof, water and dust resistant paint. The light fixture also has holes for easy mounting. Therefore, the fixture is easy to install and convenient to operate.  
         [0032]    It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.