WHELEN DEVELOPING A NEW CRUISE LIGHT TECH TO KEEP UP WITH OTHERS?

Listen and Learn about Warning Light Technology Patents:

Before LEDs became powerful enough as a stand alone as a vehicle warning light source, incandescent bulbs or small led arrays were used to augment or illuminate the dome of emergency vehicle light bars as so called cruise lights. For many years now OEM headlights, tail lights and other aftermarket products have produced items that include primary purpose LEDs and additional branding, recognition or stylistic LEDs. Lets see what Whelen is up to in their recent patent application.

"A lightbar with additional periphery lights for further functionality. The periphery lights can be operated through LEDs positioned behind the primary emergency lights of the lightbar. The LEDs can transmit light through a light transmissive material to the periphery. These periphery lights can be operated independently of the primary emergency lights to provide identification during non-emergency situations or additional information for coordinating emergency response."

"Emergency vehicle lightbars are typically made with series of light emitting diode (LED) lights and reflectors to generate bright visual signals and to alert people in the area of the existence of an emergency condition. These lights are unused during non-emergency conditions and often cannot be used for any other function due to concerns with creating confusion as to whether the vehicle is responding to an emergency situation. Because of this, these lights cannot be used to alert people to the presence of an emergency vehicle that may need to respond to an emergency during periods of limited visibility, and based on their configuration, emergency vehicles are usually indistinguishable from vehicle to vehicle."

"at emergencies with multiple emergency response vehicles, the activated lightbars can result in a confusing scene of lights. In these situations, it can be difficult to determine which vehicle is coordinating the emergency response, especially in situations with limited visibility where vehicle markings may not be readily apparent. Because of this, there is a need in the art for emergency vehicle lighting systems, including for use with lightbars, that have lighting options outside of the primarily emergency signaling LED setup."

"The present invention is directed to a system and method for providing a light channel system to selectively transmit light from a light source to a desired light output location different from the light source location, while minimizing the area required to transmit the light. The light channel system may include one or more light sources, a controller to selectively control the light sources, one or more light channel components to direct and transmit light from the one or more light sources, and one or more housings or mounting components. The light channel component may be formed from a clear, solid material or may be formed as a component with a hollow center and reflective internal surfaces. For example, the light channel component may be formed from an optical lens material made from a transparent material, such as acrylic, silicone, clear plastic, polycarbonate, glass, or fiber optic material. The light channel component may be configured as a light pipe or light guide and can be of different shapes and cross-sections. The light channel may have a source end and an emitting surface, with the source end positioned in proximity to a light source such that light enters the light channel. The light from the source is then propagated within the light channel, such as by internal reflection, and exits the light channel at an emitting face or surface. The lightbar can also include at least one peripheral LED and light transmissive material making up a lighting channel. The light transmissive material can be in visual communication with at least one source LED, the front periphery, and the back periphery of the lightbar. The system and method may also include a light splitter. With the light splitter, the light channel source LEDs can be split to transmit to the front periphery and the back periphery. Light can be emitted from the source LEDs to the splitter, and then independently through the light transmissive material making up one or more light channels to the different selected light emitting locations.