Guiding light system and lighting strip

A lighting strip adapted to be used as optical means for influencing persons to follow one designated of two opposite directions of movement along the lighting strip, and intended for use in a guiding light system of the type comprising operation control means to control the light function of the lighting strip in such a manner that light sources located in the lighting strip indicate light transfer in the form of a traveling light in the direction of movement designated, said lighting strip comprising at least one lighting strip module (32) comprising an elongated casing (33) for the internal disposion of a number of said light sources (35), one after the other, wherein said light sources (35) are low power light sources, preferably of a type comprising light emitting diodes, emitting scattered light of high light intensity, said casing having on one side face a light permeable portion provided with optics (37), preferably formed mainly on the inside of the casing, to gather the scattered light from the light sources (35) disposed within the casing, in bundles of light for emission substantially slanting relative to a plane extending in the longitudinal direction of the casing and being perpendicular to the light permeable portion of the casing, by an angle of between 10 and 30 degrees, preferably 20 degrees, with respect to said plane, in such a way that said bundles of light appear as points of light on a reflecting field external to the lighting strip.

A guiding light system for providing visual guidance along a plurality of routes comprising:

• a central controller;
• a display device electrically connected to the central controller for displaying views of alternate routes of movement along the guiding light system;
• a manual input device electrically connected to the central controller for receiving manual control commands from an operator;
• a plurality of modular light strips disposed along the alternate routes of movement, each of the modular light strips including a plurality of light sources and a processor for controlling the plurality of lights in the modular light strip;
• a communication link formed between the central controller and each of the processors of the modular light strips for providing control signals from the central controller to the plurality of modular light strips;
• and
• wherein the plurality of modular light strips are controlled to create visual guidance along a path corresponding to a selected route of movement based on input from manual input device.

A method of providing visual guidance along a plurality of routes of movement comprising the steps of:

• providing a central controller;
• providing a manual input device electrically connected to the central controller;
• placing a plurality of modular light strips along alternate routes of movement, each of the modular light strips having a plurality of light sources;
• providing a communication link between each of the plurality of modular light strips and the central controller;
• using the manual input device to manually select a route of movement from the plurality of routes of movement;
• and
• controlling a number of the modular light strips based on the selected route of movement to provide visual guidance along the selected route of movement.