Portable traffic light
The Invention is a center-of-intersection portable traffic light for emergency use. The portable traffic light features a cart with wheels, a telescoping light standard and one or more light assemblies. A preemption signal detector and traffic detector detect emergency vehicles and traffic, respectively. A control system controls the operation of the portable traffic light. A radio transceiver allows the portable traffic light to communicate with the other portable traffic lights. One of the portable traffic lights in a group acts as a master and controls operation of slave portable traffic lights. Any of the portable traffic lights in a group may act as master and any may act as slave.
1. A portable traffic light apparatus, the apparatus comprising:
a. a cart;
b. a plurality of wheels rotatably connected to said cart and adapted to selectably support said cart;
c. an upright light standard attached to said cart, said upright light standard being having a first and a second position, said first position being a retracted position, said second position being an extended position;
d. a light head supported by said light standard, said light head including a lamp;
e. a power supply, said power supply being connected to said cart;
f. a control system connected to and supported by said cart, said control system being operably connected to said power supply, said control system being operably connected to said lamp, said control system being programmed to control illumination of said lamp, said control system being programmable as a master capable of controlling a slave, said control system being programmable as said slave capable of being controlled by said master;
g. a radio transceiver supported by said cart and connected to said control system, said radio transceiver being configured to receive a report and to transmit an instruction when said control system is programmed as said master, said radio transceiver being configured to transmit said report and to receive said instruction when said control system is programmed as said slave;
h. said cart is a one of a plurality of said carts;
i. said upright light standard is a one of a plurality of said upright light standards;
j. said light head is a one of a plurality of said light heads;
k. said lamp is a one of a plurality of said lamps;
l. said power supply is a one of a plurality of said power supplies;
m. said control system is a one of a plurality of said control systems; and
n. said radio transceiver is a one of a plurality of said radio transceivers, each other of said plurality of carts supporting in operable association another of said plurality of upright light standards, another of said plurality of light heads, another of said plurality of lamps, another of said plurality of power supplies, another of said plurality of control systems and another of said plurality of radio transceivers, each other of said plurality of control systems being configured to be selectably programmed as said master, and each other of said plurality of control systems being configured to be selectably programmed as said slave, wherein when said one of said plurality of control systems is programmed to be said master and each other of said plurality of control systems is programmed to be said slave, said master is configured to communicate with said slave to control said illumination of said lamp operably associated with said slave, the apparatus further comprising: a plurality of docking stations, each of said plurality of carts supporting a one of said plurality of docking stations in operable association with said one of said plurality of said control systems supported by said cart, each of said plurality of said docking stations being configured to receive a programming instruction from an operator and to convey said programming instruction to said control system with which said docking station is associated, said control system with which said docking station is associated being configured to transmit said programming instruction to each other of said plurality of control systems using said radio transceiver, said each other of said plurality of control systems being configured to implement said programming instruction, whereby each of said plurality of control systems may be programmed by said operator utilizing said docking station associated with any one of said plurality of control systems, the apparatus further comprising: a programming module, said programming module being configured to mate with any of said plurality of docking stations, said programming module being configured to transmit said programming instruction to said docking stations, said programming module being configured to be selectably and magnetically retained to said docking station, said programming module being configured to transmit said programming instruction to said docking station by infrared light.