Photoluminescent (pl) applications on moveable equipment

Abstract

An equipment article and method of illuminating equipment articles in low light conditions. The equipment article includes a rotatable element and a photoluminescent application to a surface of the rotatable element. The photoluminescent application includes a plurality of strontium aluminate phosphor crystals. The photoluminescent application exhibits a luminance of greater than or equal to 0.05 millicandela per square meter (mcd/m 2 ) for a period of at least 4000 minutes. The method of illuminating equipment articles in low light conditions illuminates the articles by the exhibited luminance.

1 . An equipment article comprising:
 a rotatable element; and   a photoluminescent application to a surface of the rotatable element, the photoluminescent application comprising a plurality of strontium aluminate phosphor crystals, wherein the photoluminescent application exhibits a luminance of greater than or equal to 0.05 millicandela per square meter (mcd/m 2 ) for a period of at least 4000 minutes.   
     
     
         2 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the rotatable element is a piece of equipment for use in a nautical environment. 
     
     
         3 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the rotatable element is a piece of equipment for use in a supporting flight operations. 
     
     
         4 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the rotatable element comprises a part of a rotor, a helicopter rotor, a fan, a belt drive mechanism, a wheel, a spoke, a pulley, a rotary grinder, a pulper, a crusher, a mixer, a circular saw blade. 
     
     
         5 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the rotatable element comprises a rotatable blade. 
     
     
         6 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the strontium aluminate phosphor crystals comprise lanthanide doped strontium aluminate phosphor crystals. 
     
     
         7 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the photoluminescent application comprises a photoluminescent paint. 
     
     
         8 . The article of  claim 7 , comprising:
 the photoluminescent paint including a reflective coat;   the reflective coat applied to said surface of the rotatable element; and   the photoluminescent paint applied to the reflective coat.   
     
     
         9 . The article of  claim 7 , wherein the thickness of the photoluminescent paint is between 12.5 and 13.0 mils. 
     
     
         10 . The article of  claim 7 , wherein the photoluminescent application further comprises a sealer. 
     
     
         11 . The article of  claim 10 , wherein the photoluminescent application further comprises an edge sealer. 
     
     
         12 . The article of  claim 1 , comprising:
 the photoluminescent application including a photoluminescent film and an adhesive film;   the photoluminescent film contacting the adhesive film; and   the adhesive film disposed on the surface of the rotatable element.   
     
     
         13 . The article of  claim 12 , wherein the photoluminescent film has a thickness between 6 and 22 mils. 
     
     
         14 . The article of  claim 12 , wherein the adhesive film is a peel-and-stick adhesive. 
     
     
         15 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the photoluminescent application comprises a photoluminescent powder coating. 
     
     
         16 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the photoluminescent application comprises a plurality of glass beads. 
     
     
         17 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the photoluminescent application exhibits a luminance between 0.05 and 10 millicandela per square meter (mcd/m 2 ) for the period of at least 4000 minutes after charging under the ASTM E 2073-00 standard. 
     
     
         18 . The article of  claim 1 , comprising:
 said surface of the rotatable element having a reflective coat disposed thereon;   the strontium aluminate phosphor crystals comprising lanthanide doped strontium aluminate phosphor crystals disposed over the reflective coat;   a clear topcoat disposed over the lanthanide doped strontium aluminate phosphor crystals;   the photoluminescent application having a thickness between 6 and 22 mils; and   the photoluminescent application exhibiting a luminance between 0.05 and 10 millicandela per square meter (mcd/m 2 ) for the period of at least 4000 minutes after charging under the ASTM E 2073-00 standard.   
     
     
         19 . The article of  claim 18 , wherein the lanthanide doped strontium aluminate phosphor crystals comprise europium doped strontium aluminate phosphor crystals. 
     
     
         20 . A method to improve visibility in low light conditions of equipment, the method comprising:
 applying a photoluminescent material to a rotatable element of the equipment; and   emitting light from the photoluminescent material, the photoluminescent material comprising a plurality of strontium aluminate phosphor crystals, and the application of the photoluminescent material exhibiting a luminance of greater than or equal to 0.05 millicandela per square meter (mcd/m 2 ) for a period of at least 4000 minutes.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , further comprising:
 emitting light from the photoluminescent material is in a nautical environment.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 20 , further comprising:
 emitting light from the photoluminescent material in a flight operation environment.   
     
     
         23 . A marker for passive illumination of an object, comprising:
 a photoluminescent application applied to a surface of the object; and   said photoluminescent application exhibiting a luminance between 0.05 and 10 millicandela per square meter (mcd/m 2 ) for a period of at least 4000 minutes after charging under the ASTM E 2073-00 standard.   
     
     
         24 . The marker of  claim 23 , wherein the photoluminescent application is disposed on a piece of equipment for use on land, in a nautical environment, or in a supporting a flight operation. 
     
     
         25 . The marker of  claim 23 , wherein the photoluminescent application is disposed on an at least one of an unpowered article and an unmanned vehicle. 
     
     
         26 . The marker of  claim 23 , wherein the photoluminescent application is disposed on at least one of a cart, a pull handle, a boxcars, equipment used in loading goods to or unloading goods from railway cars, moveable equipment used to support ground trucking operations, a pallet, a wheel chock, a work stand, a ladder, a tow bar, a turnbuckle, a deck of a barge, a deck of a marine vessel, and a container. 
     
     
         27 . The marker of  claim 23 , wherein the photoluminescent application is disposed on at least one of a railway component, a truck component, an aviation component, airship-based transportation operation component, a land-based transportation operation component, a nautical-based transportation operation component, a construction or mining or drilling component. 
     
     
         28 . The marker of  claim 23 , wherein the photoluminescent application comprises a plurality of strontium aluminate phosphor crystals. 
     
     
         29 . The marker of  claim 28 , wherein the strontium aluminate phosphor crystals comprise lanthanide doped strontium aluminate phosphor crystals. 
     
     
         30 . The marker of  claim 23 , wherein the photoluminescent application comprises a photoluminescent paint. 
     
     
         31 . The marker of  claim 30 , comprising:
 the photoluminescent paint including a reflective coat;   the reflective coat applied to said surface of the object; and   the photoluminescent paint applied to the reflective coat.   
     
     
         32 . The marker of  claim 30 , wherein the thickness of the photoluminescent paint is between 12.5 and 13.0 mils. 
     
     
         33 . The marker of  claim 23 , wherein the photoluminescent application further comprises a sealer. 
     
     
         34 . The marker of  claim 33 , wherein the photoluminescent application further comprises an edge sealer. 
     
     
         35 . The marker of  claim 23 , comprising:
 the photoluminescent application including a photoluminescent film and an adhesive film;   the photoluminescent film contacting the adhesive film; and   the adhesive film disposed on said surface of the photoluminescent element.   
     
     
         36 . The marker of  claim 35 , wherein the photoluminescent film has a thickness between 6 and 22 mils. 
     
     
         37 . The marker of  claim 35 , wherein the adhesive film is a peel-and-stick adhesive. 
     
     
         38 . The marker of  claim 23 , wherein the photoluminescent application comprises a photoluminescent powder coating. 
     
     
         39 . The marker of  claim 23 , wherein the photoluminescent application comprises a plurality of glass beads. 
     
     
         40 . The marker of  claim 23 , comprising:
 said surface of the object including a reflective base coat;   the strontium aluminate phosphor crystals comprising lanthanide doped strontium aluminate phosphor crystals disposed over the reflective coat;   a clear topcoat disposed over the lanthanide doped strontium aluminate phosphor crystals; and   the photoluminescent application having a thickness between 6 and 22 mils.   
     
     
         41 . The marker of  claim 40 , wherein the lanthanide doped strontium aluminate phosphor crystals comprise europium doped strontium aluminate phosphor crystals. 
     
     
         42 . A method to improve visibility in low light conditions, the method comprising:
 applying a photoluminescent material to a surface of a marker; and   emitting light from the photoluminescent material, the application of the photoluminescent material exhibiting a luminance between 0.05 and 10 millicandela per square meter (mcd/m 2 ) for a period of at least 4000 minutes under the ASTM E 2073-00 standard.   
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 42 , further comprising:
 emitting light from the photoluminescent material in a nautical environment.   
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 42 , further comprising:
 emitting light from the photoluminescent material in a flight operation environment.   
     
     
         45 . A marker for passive illumination of an object, comprising:
 a photoluminescent application applied to a surface of the object; and   said photoluminescent application exhibiting a luminance less than 8000 millicandela per square meter (mcd/m 2 ) and greater than 2,480 mcd/m 2  for a period of at least 1 minute after charging under the ASTM E 2073-00 standard.   
     
     
         46 . The marker of  claim 45 , wherein the photoluminescent application exhibits a luminance less than 700 mcd/m 2  and greater than 262 mcd/m 2  for a period of at least 10 minutes after charging under the ASTM E 2073-00 standard. 
     
     
         47 . The marker of  claim 45 , wherein the photoluminescent application exhibits a luminance less than 100 mcd/m 2  and greater than 35 mcd/m 2  for a period of at least 60 minutes after charging under the ASTM E 2073-00 standard. 
     
     
         48 . The marker of  claim 45 , wherein the photoluminescent application exhibits a luminance less than 90 mcd/m 2  and greater than 15 mcd/m 2  for a period of at least 120 minutes after charging under the ASTM E 2073-00 standard. 
     
     
         49 . The marker of  claim 45 , wherein the photoluminescent application exhibits a luminance less than 75 mcd/m 2  and greater than 4.5 mcd/m 2  for a period of at least 320 minutes after charging under the ASTM E 2073-00 standard.