Rotorcraft having lighting equipment with a plurality of headlights operated for landing, winching, and searching

1. A rotorcraft having on-board lighting equipment for lighting the surrounding environment, the lighting equipment comprising a plurality of lighting devices for lighting specific remote zones for illumination, the lighting equipment including at least a landing lighting device and a winching lighting device, each of the lighting devices having at least one headlight comprising a unit housing a lighting module having an optical system and a light source, and control means for controlling the emission of a light beam by the headlights, the headlights from the landing lighting device and winching lighting device forming a group of headlights, the landing lighting device and winching lighting device selectively cooperatively defining a searching lighting system, the searching lighting system comprising at least two searchlights providing a searching lighting function, the at least two searchlights comprising at least two headlights from the group of headlights mounted to move on the rotorcraft and fitted with drive means for driving the searchlight in azimuth and in elevation relative to the rotorcraft, the drive means being operated by search control means from a search lighting command to light a search zone for illumination, which command is generated by at least one search control member operated by a human, the headlights of the landing lighting device and winching lighting device being distributed over the rotorcraft in a landing lighting function and a winching lighting function, the searching lighting function obtained by applying a search lighting command common to all of the headlights, and on the basis of selective activation by the control means of the headlights of the lighting equipment.

2. A rotorcraft according to claim 1 , wherein the search control means comprise:

identification means for responding to the search lighting command common to all of the headlights used for searching lighting function, for identifying a search zone for illuminating relative to a frame of reference (R) determined relative to an origin point (O) located on the rotorcraft and relative to the respective positions on the rotorcraft of the headlights in the frame of reference (R); and

coordination means for coordinating individual operations of the headlights used for searching lighting function, to cause the light beams emitted by the headlights having their respective light sources selectively activated to converge on the search zone.

3. A rotorcraft according to claim 2 , wherein the coordination means generate selective activation orders for selectively activating the light sources of the headlights used for searching lighting function, and individual drive orders for driving these headlights towards the search zone to cause the drive means fitted respectively to the headlights to be activated individually so as to cause the light beams respectively emitted by the headlights having their respective light sources selectively activated to converge on the search zone.

4. A rotorcraft according to claim 2 , wherein the coordination means generate individual focusing orders for the headlights, which orders are derived from a focusing lighting command generated either by a human operated focusing control member or by measurement means for measuring the distance separating the rotorcraft from the search zone, the focusing orders relating to individual separation distances between each headlights and the search zone and activate respective actuators of the optical system of the headlights to modify their focal length.

5. A rotorcraft according to claim 2 , wherein the coordination means generate lighting sweep orders that relate to individually driving the headlights used for searching lighting function to convergence on the search zone, selectively either on a fixed point or else continuously driving the lighting to sweep a moving search zone defined relative to the frame of reference (R), the lighting sweep orders being derived from a sweep lighting command generated by a lighting sweep control member operated by a human.

6. A rotorcraft according to claim 5 , wherein the lighting sweep orders include sweep speed orders for moving the search zone, which orders are generated by the coordination means, being derived from a sweep speed lighting command generated by a sweep speed control member operable by a human and fitted to the lighting sweep control member.

7. A rotorcraft according to claim 2 , wherein the coordination means generate convergence orders relating to driving the headlights used for searching lighting function to cause the projections on the search zone of the light beams respectively emitted by the headlights selectively to overlap either fully or partially, the convergence orders being derived from a convergence lighting command generated by a convergence control member operated by a human.

8. A rotorcraft according to claim 2 , wherein the coordination means generate zone orders relating to driving the headlights used for searching lighting function selectively towards a plurality of search zones respectively allocated thereto, the zone orders being derived from a zone lighting command generated by a zone control member operated by a human.

9. A rotorcraft with lighting equipment according to claim 2 , the lighting equipment comprising a plurality of headlights each comprising a unit housing a light source and an optical system, the unit being fitted with movable mounting means on a housing and with drive means about at least two intersecting movement axes (AP, AR), the lighting equipment having control means for controlling the emission of a light beam by the headlights and at least one control member operated by a human that generates a lighting command from which the control means are operated, wherein:

the control means incorporate identification means responsive to a lighting command common to all of the headlights to identify a zone for illumination that corresponds to a remote search zone relative to a frame of reference (R) previously defined relative to an origin point (O) under consideration, and coordination means for individually operating the headlights to cause the light beams respectively emitted by the headlights having their respective light sources selectively activated to converge on the search zone; and

the lighting equipment includes control apparatus comprising a multiple-choice control member forming a lighting function control that generates a lighting function command relating to selectively operating one of the functions of the lighting equipment selected from among a predefined plurality of lighting functions.

10. Lighting equipment according to claim 9 , wherein the multi-choice control member comprises a lighting function control member that generates a lighting function command relating to selectively operating a function of the equipment selected from at least a landing lighting function, a searching lighting function, and a winching lighting function.

11. Lighting equipment according to claim 10 , wherein the control apparatus comprises a main control member for generating a lighting command common to all of the headlights used for searching lighting function and that relates to a location of a search zone relative to the origin point (O) of the frame of reference (R), the main control member being in communication with said identification means to which it transmits the lighting command.

12. Lighting equipment according to claim 11 , wherein the main control member is arranged as a hinged stick movable in multiple directions and fitted with at least a focusing control member, a lighting sweep control member, a convergence control member, a zone control member, and the multiple-choice control member.

13. Lighting equipment according to claim 9 , wherein the drive means individually fitted to each of the headlights comprise:

the housing, being fitted with turning drive means for turning about a turning axis (AR) corresponding to a first direction of movement of the headlight; and

a support for the headlight, the support being fitted with pivot drive means for pivoting relative to the housing about a pivot axis (AP) intersecting the turn axis (AR) and corresponding to a second direction of movement of the headlights.

14. Lighting equipment according to claim 13 , wherein in the drive means for pivoting the support constitute means for retracting the headlight inside the housing, which housing is arranged as a container for housing the support.

15. A method of operating lighting equipment according to claim 9 , wherein the method comprises:

an initial step of issuing a said lighting function command to the control means on the basis of an operator operating a said lighting function control;

a step of the control means selectively activating a light source of at least one of the headlights operated for the lighting function selected on the basis of the lighting function control; and

where appropriate, if the selected lighting function is a searching lighting function, a step of the identification means identifying a said search zone on the basis of the operator operating the main control member issuing a lighting command, and a step of individually driving the headlights having their respective light sources activated, so as to cause the light beams that they emit respectively to converge on the previously-identified search zone.

16. A method according to claim 14 , including at least one control step derived from the operator operating a corresponding control member, selected from control steps generating control orders comprising focusing orders, lighting sweep orders, convergence orders, and zone orders.

17. A method according to claim 16 , wherein for the control step comprising generating convergence orders, the individual drives of the headlights used for searching lighting function under the control of the coordination means cause the projections of the respective light beams emitted by a group of headlights having their respective light sources activated by the coordination means to converge on at least one search zone in any one of the following overlap patterns for said projections:

total overlap of all of the projections;

partial overlap between at least two projections; and

a plurality of partial overlaps between at least three projections.

18. The rotorcraft of claim 1 , wherein the at least two headlights from the group of headlights include a headlight from the landing lighting device and a headlight from the winching lighting device.

19. The rotorcraft of claim 1 , wherein the at least two headlights from the group of headlights include two headlights from the landing lighting device or two headlights from the winching lighting device.

20. A rotorcraft including lighting equipment comprising:

a landing lighting device including a first headlight mounted to the rotorcraft and a first associated drive system configured to pivot the first headlight relative to the rotorcraft, the landing lighting device being configured to illuminate a landing zone during a rotorcraft approach flight phase;

a winching lighting device including a second headlight mounted to the rotorcraft and a second associated drive system configured to pivot the second headlight relative to the rotorcraft, the winching lighting device being configured to illuminate a winching zone; and

a controller configured to, in response to a searching lighting request, control the first and second drive systems according to a searching lighting function to pivot the first and second headlights to cooperatively illuminate a zone remote from the rotorcraft.