Lamp device which is worn on the head

The invention relates to a head-mounted lighting device for, for example, medical applications for illuminating a treatment area with an integrated energy supply.

The subject of the invention is a lamp that is worn on or directly in front of the forehead and by which the freedom of movement of the user of the lamp is neither restricted nor hindered by cables or other connections. Such a lamp is intended, for example, for medical applications, for illuminating the treatment area during diagnosis or treatment. However, this lamp can also be used for non-medical applications in which there are similar lighting problems.

Head-mounted lights and lighting devices were designed in different versions, especially for the medical sector. The light is either a) generated directly in front of or on the user's head, or b) generated in an external light source and guided to the front of the user via light guides made of glass, plastic or liquid. In case b) the freedom of movement of the user is more or less hindered or prevented by the light guide cable. and the weight of the light guide creates an uncomfortable tension that leads to muscle tension in the neck, headaches, or other premature fatigue. In case a), wireless energy sources are also in use that allow the user of the lamp to move their head unhindered, but the light sources used are of a thermal nature, with the result that considerable heat is generated in front of or above the user's forehead. Furthermore, the light generation process takes place with low efficiency, so that the accumulator packs or batteries usually used are relatively heavy, which in turn leads to the above-mentioned symptoms of fatigue. In addition, the light from the thermal light sources first has to be bundled by means of suitable optics, which leads to a relatively high weight and unwieldy dimensions of these headlights.

The invention is based on the object of avoiding the above-described inadequacies of conventional headlights and is characterized in that several non-thermal, light-emitting elements are provided as a light source in a known manner, and that the individual light-emitting elements are arranged so that they Emit generated light bundled with a defined direction of radiation. It is thus advantageous that

1. the light is generated directly on the head, ie in front of the user's forehead, by means of non-thermal, light-emitting elements. These light sources are preferably designed as light-emitting semiconductors, the emission of which is modified in such a way that the impression of white light is created for the human eye. On the one hand, this ensures a high degree of efficiency when converting electrical energy into light, and on the other hand, the light emission is highly directed due to the mode of operation and the structure of these light-emitting semiconductors. This focusing of the emitted light is used in the present invention, namely to the extent that

2. several of these light emitting elements can be used, the

3rd are arranged so that the direction of radiation of each individual light-emitting element with the visual axis of the user includes an angle such that the central axis of the radiation of all light-emitting elements has a common intersection in the plane of symmetry of the user's eyes in the desired observation or. Working distance has resp.

4th the distance between the individual light-emitting elements and this common point of intersection is the same for all elements and furthermore

5. the light-emitting elements are accommodated on or in a vertically pivotable component so that the user can adjust the height of the illumination field generated according to points 2 to 4 to his observation or work requirements.

The above-mentioned features and advantageous properties of the head lamp according to the invention become even clearer from the accompanying drawing figures of a preferred embodiment. The drawing figures show in detail:

Figure 1 shows a preferred embodiment in a view from vertically above.

FIG. 2 shows the same preferred embodiment from the right sideways.

FIG. 3 shows a reduced representation of FIG. 1, from which the common point of intersection of the central axes of the radiation of the light-generating elements can be seen.

AT 407 698 B

The arrangement of the light-emitting elements (1) according to the invention ensures that the light, which is non-thermally generated with high efficiency, is optimally used for illuminating the observation or work area. This means that, on the one hand, the weight of the head lamp described can be kept to a minimum, since the energy sources or Energy storage can be made very small, on the other hand, the disruptive heat generation in front of or at the head of the user is reduced to a minimum. This ensures optimal wearing comfort for the user. The use of several light-emitting elements (1) also ensures that tools or instruments that are used while working with the headlamp described in the area of ​​the observation field can only partially shade the illuminating light, thus ensuring adequate lighting at all times.

Furthermore, FIGS. 1-3 show a vertically pivotable component (2) on or in which the light-emitting elements are accommodated. As a result, the illumination field can be shifted in the vertical direction and thus adapted to the viewing requirements of the user.

The head holder consists of an adjustable head strap (3) which is secured against slipping down by two additional straps (one lengthwise (4) and one crosswise (5)). These two additional bands are also adjustable in length, namely at their intersection point (6). In the forehead area, a support (7) is fixedly connected to the headband (3), on the two arms of which the pivoting part (2) is rotatably attached. The pivoting part is fastened in such a way that small notches at the pivot points on the one hand allow easy adjustment and on the other hand prevent unintentional lowering of the pivoting part. The power supply (8) is housed in the area of ​​the back of the head and can either be in the form of batteries or rechargeable batteries. The attachment exactly opposite the front pivoting part enables at least partial weight compensation and thus a reduction in muscle tension in the neck of the wearer of the lighting device.

The power supply from the power supply (8) to the light-emitting elements takes place via a two-pole line (9), which is led from the batteries along the headband over the right arm of the support to a switch (10). This switch (10) is housed at the top right in the pivoting part (2) so that it can be easily operated with the right hand while the lighting device is carried on the head. The switch is expediently designed as a pressure switch.