At the AIMEX show this week, attended by IM, HELLA Mining made the global launch of the RokLUME™ 380 and RokLUME™ 280 LED worklights – “incorporating over 100 years of automotive optical design into the world’s most advanced heavy-duty worklights for the mining industry.” By combining the strength and durability of the AS 5000LED with the same optical technology developed for luxury cars, HELLA have created ZEROGLARE™, which it believes to be a new benchmark in mining equipment lighting, with full market roll out planned for January 2016.
The RokLUME 380 ZEROGLARE has been installed on the fleet of Komatsu 785 HD trucks at the Erzberg iron ore mine in Austria; while the RokLUME 280 is due to be trialled on underground LHDs and trucks with a major underground equipment OEM at a major gold-copper mine in Western Australia.
While the impetus in mining lighting in recent years has been on more lumens and brighter LED lighting, some solutions have actually been too bright for certain applications and in some extreme cases, mines have gone back to halogen lights. To provide another option, HELLA Mining has developed the ZEROGLARE™ optical system “to bring the safety and comfort of highway driving to mining operations.” The ZEROGLARE optical system ensures no light from oncoming traffic will be directed into the eyes of oncoming haul truck drivers eliminating the occurrence of discomfort or blinding glare. The innovative optical system has a sharp horizontal cut off to control the light onto the ground in front of the vehicle and not into oncoming operators field of vision.
HELLA Mining utilised the HELLA Automotive LED optical developments for high end LED headlights for luxury cars and developed an extremely robust worklight which offers all the benefits of highway driving. HELLA states: “Most work light manufacturers active in the mining industry do not have the capability to design and develop in house optics, optical systems typically used are “off the shelf” components from household down lights or outdoor flood lights. This means as light outputs increase, so does the issue of glare where lots of the light going into the oncoming operators eyes. This was such an issue that a lot of mine sites that had tested LED worklights reverted back to the original lighting systems, despite the many benefits of LED technology.” The company adds: “At HELLA Mining we consulted with the mining industry and invested into the research and development of an optical system that would put the light only where it was needed. The end result is ZEROGLARE™ where operators get increased visibility and increased safety without blinding oncoming operators on-site for both surface and underground operations.
The RokLUME 380 and RokLUME 280 feature a powerful light engine of 7,000 and 3,800 measured lumens respectively, with the ability to choose from five different light distributions including the industry first ZEROGLARE optic. To meet the demands of different weather conditions, the RokLUME worklights are available in two colour temperatures, including 5,000° Kelvin colour temperature for enhanced colour rendering in normal conditions and 1,800° Kelvin colour temperature for minimal back scatter in fog or snow use.
Advanced design techniques and assembly robotics ensure that the RokLUME™ worklights are manufactured to be fully sealed and submersible to meet the stringent requirements of IP 6K9K and IP 6K8, ensuring no dust or water ingress can occur. The RokLUME™ worklights feature an advanced NanoSafe non-stick and easy to clean surface coating, and are fast to install thanks to the Nord-Lock washers and the aiming angles laser engraved onto the bracket.
“The ZEROGLARE optical system ensures all emitted light is directed below the horizontal plane. The ZEROGLARE optics ensure light vehicle operators are not blinded by oncoming haul trucks lighting systems. Connecting the RokLUME 380 to the machine is safe thanks to the double insulated silicone supply cable and heavy duty cable gland.” HELLA also supplies a DT Connector with both ends of the plug, so retrofitting as well as new installations are easy. “Only the best manufacturing materials were considered during the development stage of the RokLUME worklights, including a high impact resistant hardened polycarbonate compound lens, stainless steel bracket and premium grade anti-corrosion aluminium housing. A proven rubber dampening system keeps everything in check from vibration and statutory approvals include ECE-R10 and RCM compliance.
