FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
The Patents Rules, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See section 10; rule 13)
1. Title of the invention. - INDICATOR LAMP MODULE

2. Applicant
(a) NAME :
(b) NATIONALITY
(c) ADDRESS :

LARSEN & TOUBRO LIMITED
An Indian Company
L&T House, Ballard Estate, Mumbai 400 001, State of Maharashtra, India

3. PREAMBLE TO THE DESCRIPTION
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed:

FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to indicating lamp modules used for electrical switch boards which receives controls, regulates, distribute and supply to down stream applications. More particularly, the invention relates to an indicating lamp module which is compact, panel door independent and without any requirement for additional cut outs on the panel door.
BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART
With the advancement in the technology related to the power and distribution sectors, a need for realization of the actual status/electrical health in a power and distribution network has been a basic requirement in a power and distribution plant for knowing the status of a network from a remote place. For this control panels are used which comprises of indicating lamps for indicating the current status of an electrical network. However, for mounting each indicating lamp module the basic requirement is to make proper cut outs on the panel boards. The number of cut outs depends on the number of indicating lamps to be fixed on the panel. Also the cut outs have to be made standardized with the structure and the module of the indicating lamps and the cut out area has to be framed in a specific manner which requires skills and adds to the total cost for manufacturing of panel and the indicating lamp module.
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The present day availability of the indicating lamps is on individual basis. They are bulky, looks staggered while mounted and occupies major amount of panel's door space when mounted in numbers exceeding three or four. To mount an indicating lamp, a cut out of 2 5mm diameter is to be made on the panel door, as 75% of the module protrudes in to the panel. And such kind of cut-outs would be required depending on the number of indicating lamps which varies from four to ten. A legend plate, which mentions the type of indication, is trapped between the indicating lamp and the door panel. This leads to the consumption of further more space on the surface of the door, longer assembly time and misalignment of the plates which hampers the look and feel of the board.
Electrical switchboards are used to protect the electrical circuitry and equipment from the damage due to an abnormal condition, such as an overload condition, a relatively high level short circuit or a fault condition. Switchboards are basically housed in separate electric substations which are not well lit. Hence indicating lamps form the effective communication, visually.
The basic function of indicating lamp is to visually communicate / indicate the various functional aspects of the switch board like ON, OFF, TRIP, R- PHASE, Y- PHASE, B- PHASE...Etc. The status of the board can be directly read and understood with the help of the text that is printed on the lamp that glows. The existing lamps in the
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market use bulkier and number of components. Till date there are no advancements in this specific line of industrial application.
US5963126 describes a visual signaling devices, and more particularly to signaling lights which may be arranged in stacks of separate modules and provide illumination of different color suitable for use in industrial plants and factories to indicate the status (operating condition) of assembly lines and other apparatus therein. But the way one module is stacked to another makes each of the lamp modules dependent on the other both electrically as well as structurally.
Thus one of the disadvantages is that if any one of the modules is electrically faulty or disconnected from the circuit then the continuity in the circuit arrangement of the lamps will break thereby giving no indication of the current status of the network / circuit. Thus the biggest disadvantage of the lamp module as described in the prior art is that a single module cannot exist in isolation.
Thus there is a need to overcome the above disadvantages of the prior art. Therefore, there is a need to provide an indicator lamp module which is compact, panel door independent and without any requirement for additional cut outs on the panel door.
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The lamp modules of the present invention are structurally dependent only in combination. They can be also used and put to function independently in isolation based on the requirement. This offers a unique advantage of using the same indicating lamps for various other applications too.
l)The indicating lamp modules in combination would be used on the panel of POWER CONTROL CENTER where there would be several other components that are going to be mounted and a severe space crunch would be created.
2) A MOTOR CONTROL CENTER which comprises of 4 0 draw-out modules of size 125* 135 stacked in a group. Each module would be requiring an indicating Lamp. The present invention of the indicating lamp module accommodates such Requirement as it can be used in isolation.
Wherein this is not true with the prior art pat no. US5193126. The biggest difference and the disadvantage with the prior art is that a single module can not exist in isolation with out being dependent on the base module 12.
The present inventor have found that by way of unique construction of the lamp module, it can be made compact and panel independent. Also it will provide easy stacking of lamp modules with one another and reduce the assembly time substantially.
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OBJECTS OF INVENTION
Thus one object of the present invention is to overcome the aforesaid disadvantages as discussed in the prior
art.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a unique indicator lamp module.
Another object of the present invention is to provide indicator lamp module which is panel area independent.
Yet anther object of the present invention is to reduce space occupied by the lamp module by at least 50%.
Yet another object of the present invention is to reduce the assembly time by at least 75% than the existing lamp modules.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an improved indication visibility.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
According to one aspect of the present invention there is
provided an indicator lamp module for use in control
panels and/or switch boards, said lamp module comprising:
housing;
diffuser plate operatively located in the housing
covering partially/wholly the housing such that it
communicates glow of lamps fixed inside the housing;
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enclosure cap operatively fitted to the housing;
wherein enclosure cap comprises projection means haying
female portion
wherein said housing comprising male portion such that
the female portion of the enclosure cap co-operatively
engages with the male portion of the housing.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided an indicator lamp module for use in control panels and/or switch boards, said lamp module comprising : housing;
diffuser plate operatively located in the housing covering partially/wholly the housing such that it communicates glow of lamps fixed inside the housing; enclosure cap operatively fitted to the housing; wherein enclosure cap comprises projection means having female portion wherein said housing comprising male portion such that the female portion of the enclosure cap co-operatively engages with the male portion of the housing and wherein said housing comprises projection means along the width of the housing said projection means comprising female portion so as to co-operatively engage with the male portion on the housing of other module thereby stacking one module with the other.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provide there is provided an indicator lamp
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module for use in control panels and/or switch boards,
said lamp module comprising:
housing;
diffuser plate operatively located in the housing
covering partially/wholly the housing such that it
communicates glow of lamps fixed inside the housing;
enclosure cap operatively fitted to the housing;
mounting surface comprising plural holes so as to allow
connecting means of the lamp module to pass through and
connect with the panel board
wherein said holes on the mounting surface being enable
to accommodate connecting means of other lamp modules
stacked with first lamp module.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION
In the present invention the indicating lamp module consists of basic thermoplastic housing which houses the LED s in 2 no's, which glows when ever it has to indicate some specific status of the switchboard. A diffuser plate through which the emitted light of LED passes out to communicate by glowing in the designated color. It fits on the frontal side of the housing. An enclosure cap fits on the top of the housing there by closing it completely.
The enclosure cap comprises feature for click fitting which is female portion present on both the extreme ends, along the horizontal length of the enclosure cap enabling it to get locked with male portion on the housing and stay integrated. The male portion comprises a latching
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projection which co-operates with the female portion comprising a rectangular aperture to lock into it. On the back side of the module rectangular mounting surface of the housing comprises a hole through which the cables from the LED s passes out and connect to the electric supply of the panel board. The backside / mounting surface of the housing comprises nut pockets where the nuts get trapped, arresting their rotary movement. The indicating lamp module gets fitted to the panel door with the help of nut and bolt. The housing comprises rib means which aid in locking the diffuser plate with the help of predetermined protrusions.
Diffuser plate comprises flat portion upon which the indication types like ON, OFF, TRIP etc are printed. These would get prominently visible during illumination of the lamp. The diffuser plate (3) has an appropriate curvature which provide visibility angle ranging 0° to 180° giving improved visibility of the status indication.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING FIGURES
Fig. 1 represents the brief view of the existing scenario of indication lamp.
Fig. 2 & 3 represents the mounting condition of the indicating lamp and its assembly.
Fig. 4 represents the general layout of the invention.
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Fig. 5 & 6 represents the general isometric view of the indication lamp assembly from front and rear side respectively.
Fig. 7 represents the isometric view of the indication lamp during assembly.
Fig. 8 represents the backside view of the indication lamp during assembly.
Fig. 9 represents the comparison of the existing indicating lamp and the new indicating lamp in mounting condition.
Fig. 10a and 10b represents the comparison of the existing indicating lamps and the new indicating lamps in mounting condition.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING FIGURES
As denoted in the fig 1, indicating lamps are mounted on the panel door of the ACB / equivalent switching devices on the switchboard. The number of indicating lamps that get mounted depends on the various aspects of the switchboard that needs to be indicated. This may vary form 4 to 10 depending on the customer requirement. As shown in the fig 1 each indicating lamp is a stand alone module which needs a cut-out of 25mm diameter to mount it.
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Fig 2 shows the mounted condition of the existing indicating lamp module where the electronic module protrudes inside the panel.
As shown in the Fig 3 the indicating lamp consists of an electronic module, tightening screw, legend plate, mounting barrel, lamp and indication cover.
In figure 4 the indicating lamp module of the present invention is illustrated. The indicating lamp assembly-consists housing (1) . A diffuser plate (3) fits on the frontal side of the housing (1) . An enclosure cap (2) fits on the top of the housing there by closing it completely.
In figures 5 and 6 exploded isometric view of the lamp module of the present invention is illustrated. Enclosure cap (2) comprises female portion (2A) enabling it to get locked with male portion (IB) on the housing (1) and stay integrated. Rectangular mounting surface (1H) of the housing (1) comprises a hole (1A) through which the cables from the LED s passes out and connect to the electric supply of the panel board. The backside / mounting surface (1H) of the housing (1) comprises nut pockets (IC) where the nuts get trapped, arresting their rotary movement. The indicating lamp module gets fitted to the panel door with the help of nut and bolt. The feature/rib means (IF) on the housing aids in locking the diffuser plate (3) with the help of protrusions (3B). The open window (1G) on the housing (1) through which the
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light emitted by the LED lamps passes out via diffuser plate (3) , illuminating it to indicate a specific aspect / status of the switchboard. Set of vents (IE) are present on the backside (IH) of the housing (1) to let out the heated air that forms inside housing due to the LED illumination.
Diffuser plate (3) comprises flat portion (3A) upon which the indication types like ON, OFF, TRIP etc are printed. These would get prominently visible during illumination of the lamp. The diffuser plate (3) has an appropriate curvature which provide visibility angle ranging 0° to 180° giving improved visibility of the status indication.
Fig 7 explains the integration of one indicating module with another in the click fitting assembly. Female portion (II) gets locked/co-operatively engaged with the male portion (IB) to stay, integrated. This locking arrangement is provided at two locations for the consolidation of the stacking. This sequence of operation keeps repeating as the plurality of the indicating lamps continues.
Fig 8 represents the back view/ mounting surface of the indicating lamp assembly. These lamps are mounted on the door panel by means of only one of any indicating lamp among the whole group. As shown in Fig 8 any set of holes among (Al Bl), (A2 B2)... .are aligned with holes A and B... on the door panel respectively during mounting. Fixing is done passing M4 bolts through A and B tightening with the
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nuts which are already trapped in the nut pockets of the housing. However, this nut and bolt do not strict the scope of the present invention and nut bolt of any other specification or any other fixing means can be used. The wires which are coming out of indication module from the LED circuitry through CI C2... come together to form a bunch passes through the hole, C on the panel door for further connection to the internal components of the switchboard.
From figure 9 it is realizable that the indicating lamp of the present invention is absolutely a surface mounted device, which does not protrude inside the panel door and occupy panel volume.
As shown in the Fig.10a and Fig.10b the present invention accommodates more no of indicating lamps than the existing indicating lamps in the same available space. Its modularity and simple integrating and stack ability makes it look compact and consumes 50% less space when compared to the existing lamps of same number. Aesthetics contributes contemporary beauty and creates a new and strong identity as a technically futuristic product.
Advantages :
1. Offers the novelty of systematic arrangement of the indicating lamps, occupying 50% less space than any other existing indicating lamps of the same number making it compact.
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2. Choice of having any no of lamps where and when required with out drilling any additional cut-outs on the door panel and with out any additional hardware usage. This removes the present day's manufacturing difficulty of making the door dependent on the indicating lamps.
3. Indicating lamp module does not consume any internal volume as it is completely a surface mounted device. Thus there is about 75% reduction of time during assembly, when compared to the existing indicating lamps of same number.
The invention has been described in a preferred form only and many variations may be made in the invention which will still be comprised within its spirit. The invention is not limited to the details cited above. The projections, the fixing means on the panel board, the shape of the diffuser plate, material of the housing as herein described do not limit the scope of the present invention and can be replaced by its technical equivalence and yet the invention can be performed. The structure thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all the details may furthermore be replaced with elements having technical equivalence. In practice the materials and dimensions may be any according to the requirements, which will still be comprised within its true spirit.
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WE CLAIM
1. An indicator lamp module for use in control panels
and/or switch boards, said lamp module comprising :
housing;
diffuser plate operatively located in the housing covering partially/wholly the housing such that it communicates glow of lamps fixed inside the housing; enclosure cap operatively fitted to the housing; wherein enclosure cap comprises projection means having female portion
wherein said housing comprising male portion such that the female portion of the enclosure cap cooperatively engages with the male portion of the housing.
2. An indicator lamp module for use in control panels
and/or switch boards, said lamp module comprising :
housing;
diffuser plate operatively located in the housing covering partially/wholly the housing such that it communicates glow of lamps fixed inside the housing; enclosure cap operatively fitted to the housing; wherein enclosure cap comprises projection means having female portion
wherein said housing comprising male portion such that the female portion of the enclosure cap cooperatively engages with the male portion of the housing
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and wherein said housing comprises projection means along the width of the housing said projection means comprising female portion so as to co-operatively engage with the male portion on the housing of other module thereby stacking one module with the other.
3. An indicator lamp module for use in control panels
and/or switch boards, said lamp module comprising :
housing;
diffuser plate operatively located in the housing covering partially/wholly the housing such that it communicates glow of lamps fixed inside the housing; enclosure cap operatively fitted to the housing; mounting surface comprising plural holes so as to allow connecting means of the lamp module to pass through and connect with the panel board wherein said holes on the mounting surface being enable to accommodate connecting means of other lamp modules stacked with first lamp module.
4. An indicating lamp module as claimed in claims 1 and 2, wherein the female portion comprises aperture of predetermined rectangular cross-section.
5. An indicator lamp module as claimed in claims 1 and
2, wherein the male portion comprises a latching
projection such that it co-operatively engages with
the female portion providing locking.
6. An indicator lamp module as claimed in claims 1 to
3, wherein the housing comprises plural rib means so
as to lock the diffuser plate.
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7. An indicator lamp module as claimed in claim 3,
wherein the mounting surface comprises plural vents
so as to provide escape paths for the heat produced
inside the lamp module.
8. An indicator lamp module as claimed in claims 1 to
3, wherein the diffuser plate comprises flat portion
comprising indicating means such that it is
prominently visible during illumination of LED.
9. An indicator lamp module as claimed in claims 1 to
3, wherein the diffuser plate comprises an
appropriate curvature so as to provide visibility
angle ranging between 0° and 180°.
10. An indicator lamp module as herein substantially
described and illustrated with reference to the
accompanying figures.
Dated this the 31st day of July 2007.
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ABSTRACT
TITLE: INDICATOR LAMP MODULE
The present invention relates to an indicator lamp module for use in control panels and/or switch boards. The module, said lamp module comprising housing (1) , diffuser plate (3), enclosure cap (2) operatively fitted to the housing (1) . The enclosure cap (2) comprises projection means having female portion (2A) . The housing (1) comprises male portion (IB) such that the female portion (2A) of the enclosure cap (2) co-operatively engages with the male portion (IB) of the housing (1). Housing (1) comprises projection means along the width of the housing so as to co-operatively engage with the male portion on the housing of other module thereby stacking one module with the other.
Figures 5 & 6