Emergency flashing light system for indicating exits of passenger carriers

Claim 1

An emergency stroboscopic type of lighting system for directing passengers to an appropriate exit of a large passenger carrier having a plurality of doors, one or more of which may be unopenable in an emergency situation, which comprises in combination, a. a strobe system including a plurality of electronic flash lamps which are maintained in spaced positions along the length of the passenger area of the carrier; b. battery power supply means and high voltage-capacitive-trigger discharge means for each of the electronic flash lamps of the system; c. an output driver means with switching means to connect to said flash discharge means for operating said flash lamps; d. a time-base generator means connecting to a logic controller means and the latter in turn connecting to said output driver means to provide for the timing and switching thereof and the sequential firing of said plurality of electronic flash lamps in a manner whereby such sequential firing will create the effect of a moving light beam that will indicate a direction of egress from said carrier; and e. a switch means at each door of the plurality thereof, each such switch being interconnected with said controller means, said controller means including programming means to provide a controlled sequence of firing from the driver means such that resulting lamp flashings will indicate directions to only such doors that are available for egress.