| Impact-resistant marker lights are suitable for on/off road motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, and signaling devices, as well as construction, military, and marine equipment. |
Incandescent marker lights, such as those used for on and off-road motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles, have a short lifespan when subjected to extreme temperatures, vibrations, impacts, or corrosive fluids and gases. That's why engineers at Polyflex Lighting Inc., Claremont, Calif., designed a nonbreakable marker light that lasts the lifetime of the motorcycle and never needs maintenance. In fact, the new lights operate continuously for more than 100,000 hr without self-heating problems, and are said to exceed SAE LED lighting standards for ground-vehicle applications.
The patent-pending light, encased in an impact-absorbing, high-strength, flexible thermoplastic elastomer, uses extremely bright LEDs mounted to a flexible wiring harness. LEDs operate from both ac and dc power sources and power is supplied via two high-strength, polymer-coated, stainless-steel cables with built-in strain reliefs. The marker lights emit from 48 lumens/in.2 (intermittent duty) to 20 lumens/in.2 (continuous duty).
According to the company, the LEDs are about 80% more energy efficient than incandescent lighting and take less than 100 nsec to turn on, compared to incandescent bulbs which take about 100 to 300 msec.
Besides being dustproof, the lights work in water as deep as 350 ft and in temperatures ranging from -40 to 212°F. For added styling, the 0.5-in.-thick lights can be molded from tint and diffusant-containing polymers. Light, ranging from the visible to infrared spectrum, can be emitted from one or both sides of the marker lights.