High intensity marine LED strobe and torch light
A submersible light fixture including an outer casing with a window and a housing, the outer casing being sealed for operation underwater, an LED array within the outer casing behind the window including a plurality of light-emitting diodes, and a driver within the outer casing including a microprocessor, at least one capacitor, a charging circuit, and discharging circuit. The charging circuit charges the at least one capacitor to a voltage of at least two times a forward voltage of the LED array. The discharging circuit delivers power from the at least one capacitor to the LED array in discrete pulses at a voltage of at least two times the forward voltage of the LED array.
1. A submersible light fixture, comprising:
an outer casing including a window and a housing, said outer casing being sealed for operation underwater;
an LED array within said outer casing, behind the window, including a plurality of light-emitting diodes;
a driver within said outer casing including a microprocessor, at least one capacitor, a charging circuit, and discharging circuit;
said charging circuit charging the at least one capacitor to a voltage of at least two times a forward voltage of said LED array;
said discharging circuit delivering power from the at least one capacitor to said LED array in discrete pulses at a voltage of at least two times the forward voltage of said LED array.
2. The submersible light fixture of claim 1 , wherein said microprocessor limits at least one of a maximum pulse duration and repetition rate of the power delivered to said LED array.
3. The submersible light fixture of claim 1 , wherein the fixture produces greater than 30,000 lumens.
4. The submersible light fixture of claim 1 , wherein said driver further includes a torch circuit for providing constant current from a power source to said LED array, said driver selectively switchable between the torch circuit and the discharging circuit.
5. The submersible light fixture of claim 4 , wherein said LED array produces greater than 25,000 lumens when receiving power via the discharging circuit and at least one capacitor.
6. The submersible light fixture of claim 4 , wherein the fixture produces at least 10,000 lumens at 105W or less when receiving power via the torch circuit.
7. The submersible light fixture of claim 1 , wherein the at least one capacitor has a capacity to provide at least five times the forward voltage to said LED array.
8. The submersible light fixture of claim 7 , wherein the at least one capacitor has a capacity to provide up to ten times the forward voltage to said LED array.
9. The submersible light fixture of claim 1 , wherein the fixture is operable at depths of at least 6,000 m.
10. The submersible light fixture of claim 1 , further comprising a Fresnel lens within said outer casing behind the window.
11. The submersible light fixture of claim 1 , wherein the discharging circuit comprises at least one of an insulated-gate bipolar transistor (“IGBT”) or a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (“MOSFET”).
12. The submersible light fixture of claim 1 , further comprising at least one microchip temperature monitoring integrated circuit.
13. A method of operating a light fixture, including steps of:
charging, via a charging circuit of a driver board, at least one capacitor to a voltage of at least two times a forward voltage of an LED array of the light fixture;
discharging, via a discharging circuit of a driver board, power from the at least one capacitor to the LED array in discrete pulses at a voltage of at least two times the forward voltage; and
regulating at least one of a maximum pulse duration and repetition rate of the discharging.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the at least one capacitor has a capacity to charge up to ten times the forward voltage to said LED array.
15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising the step of monitoring a temperature of at least one of the driver board or the array of light emitting diodes via a microchip temperature monitoring integrated circuit.
16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising the step of selectively operating the LED array between a strobe mode and a torch mode.
17. The method of claim 13 , wherein the fixture produces greater than 30,000 lumens.
18. A submersible light fixture, comprising:
an outer casing including a window and a housing, said outer casing having a diameter of less than 80 mm and being sealed for operation at depths of at least 1,000 m;
an LED array within said outer casing including a plurality of light-emitting diodes a forward voltage of less than 35V;
a high voltage potential LED driver, within said outer casing, including a at least one capacitor, a charging circuit charging the at least one capacitor, and a discharging circuit delivering power from the at least one capacitor to said LED array in discrete pulses at a voltage of at least two times the forward voltage;
said driver including a microprocessor limit at least one of maximum pulse duration and repetition rate.
19. The submersible light fixture of claim 17 , said driver further including a torch circuit for providing constant current from a power source to said LED array, said driver selectively switchable between the torch circuit and the discharging circuit.
20. The submersible light fixture of claim 17 , further comprising a Fresnel lens within said outer casing behind the window.