April sees once again the opening of the world's biggest lighting show Light + Building, and Thorn will be there at Frankfurt in force. The stand, No B31 in Hall 2 alongside the other Zumtobel Group brands, will be featuring an unprecedented number of new products which demonstrate the company's ability to provide lighting for people and places.Thorn will showcase the world premiere of the new low level road lighting luminaire Orus, featuring the FlatBeam® optical concept, as well as present the debut of an attractive streamlined aluminium street lighting lantern. Exterior-minded customers will also enjoy the colourful display of LED developments, including a new, compact, LED spotlight and upgraded recessed ground lights, bollards and lighting columns.
Joining them on the Thorn stand will be a new range of interior downlights, numerous recessed, surface and suspended fluorescents and a family of display spotlights. All reflect Thorn's intention to continue delivering performance, efficiency and comfort in all its products.
Of particular interest to most Frankfurt Fair-goers will be the display of recently introduced products, including Concavia high bays – now extended to three sizes, Champion low glare sports floodlights, Optus IV suspended T5 fluorescents, Voyager Elite emergency signs and Rivers bulkheads.
Low down on Orus – Thorn makes new breakthrough in road lighting
Pride of place at the show goes to the new Orus luminaire. It's yet another world beater from Thorn Lighting! And motorists and lighting practitioners alike will welcome it! It's a new road lighting concept which, for the first time, puts a compact low wattage metal halide lamp in a special bi-directional optic. The result is phenomenal: a unique light distribution; excellent uniformity with no glare; low energy; and - above all – a mounting height of 0.9m, which is under the horizontal line of sight of most passenger vehicles.
Although intended primarily for use on bridges, around airports and locations facing extreme weather conditions Orus can also meet the requirements of areas where obtrusive light, structural fragility or maintenance difficulties are a concern.
Outstanding feature of the luminaire is its unique 'FlatBeam® asymmetric optic. This is optimised for 8 to 15m spacings and complies with EN 13201, using either a single-sided or twin opposite layout. It is impact resistant and sealed to IP66.
In developing this new unit Thorn Lighting has taken the initiative in what is probably the only logical progression in the development of metal halide lamps road lighting optics. Hitherto lighting engineers have had to use high columns, which can range between 6 to 14 metres or more. With a road lighting system at only 0.9m – the advantages are obvious. No columns are required, maintenance costs are greatly reduced and motorist safety enhanced.
This is another triumph for the Lighting Application Centre at Les Andelys, France who has achieved world-renown for their work on advanced airfield landing light products. The concept is a result of extensive research involving optical design, theoretical and simulated photometry and road testing of prototypes. The product will be available later in 2006.
