Runway LED Lighting Device with Asymmetric Optics
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current aircraft exterior lighting devices, particularly 'taxi' and 'runway turn-off' lights, rely on fragile filament bulbs that have short lifespans and high power consumption, and are sensitive to vibrations, limiting their effectiveness and reliability.
Innovation Solution
A lighting device using a set of aligned light-emitting diodes as a light source, combined with specific optics that concentrate the light beam into an ellipsoidal section, providing directional illumination with reduced power consumption and increased durability, and allowing for the use of multiple devices to enhance luminous power and reduce bulk.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a filament bulb is used as a light source, then a light beam can be generated in all directions, but the filament exhibits significant fragility when heated, reducing its lifespan and increasing sensitivity to vibrations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical filament-based incandescent lighting system with a semiconductor light-emitting diode (LED) system. This substitution eliminates the fragile heated filament while providing comparable or superior light output with lower power consumption and enhanced durability against vibrations and thermal stress.
2Use of energy by moving object
If a filament bulb is used, then light emission is achieved, but the electrical power consumed is important and reduces efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the fundamental operating parameters of the light source by transitioning from thermal radiation (incandescent) to electroluminescence (LED). This parameter change enables significantly lower electrical power consumption to produce the same or greater illumination intensity, as LEDs convert electrical energy to light more efficiently without the energy losses associated with heating a filament.
3Manufacturing precision
If traditional spherical lenses are used, then light transmission is achieved, but optical aberrations occur because rays passing through the center do not converge at the same point as rays passing through the edges
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs an asymmetric optical element design where the lens geometry is specifically tailored to the linear arrangement of LED light sources. Rather than using symmetric spherical lenses that cause aberrations with linear sources, the optical element features asymmetric surfaces optimized to collect and focus light from the linear array, ensuring all rays converge at a common focal point and eliminating spherical aberration.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides a more reliable, energy-efficient, and durable lighting solution with improved beam directionality and power, enabling better visibility for pilots during aircraft maneuvers, while also allowing for redundancy to compensate for failed units.
Implementation Method 1
a light source comprising a plurality of aligned light emitting diodes
Implementation Method 2
the optical element being shaped to concentrate a light beam emitted by the light source in a plane orthogonal to the line of light-emitting diodes
Implementation Method 3
deflecting said light beam parallel to an illumination plane comprising the line of light-emitting diodes
Data Source
AI summary
Lighting device (100) comprising a light source (1) and an optical element (2). The light source (1) comprises a plurality of aligned light-emitting diodes (10), and the optical element (2) is shaped to focus a light beam emitted by the light source (1) in a plane orthogonal to the line of light-emitting diodes (10) and to deflect said light beam parallel to an illumination plane comprising the line of light-emitting diodes (10), so as to form a light beam having an ellipsoidal cross-section.