Light balloon
A light balloon is a lamp that emits glare-free, daylight-like light.
construction
A light balloon consists of a wire-reinforced, fire-proof fabric and is either opened like an umbrella or inflated with a blower. Inside, high-performance light sources shine, for example metal halide or halogen lamps in the past , now more LED lights. The upper half of the sphere is mirrored on the inside and reflects the light downwards. The lower half is translucent matt. The large diameter of up to several meters and the tripod height of a few meters ensure low-glare, uniform illumination of large areas from above, without sharp shadows.
There are also lighting balloons made of foil-textile composite material that are filled with helium and rise up to 50 meters on the power supply cable due to the buoyancy . Ball-shaped or melon-shaped, with an increasing diameter from 2 meters, they withstand a little more wind outdoors and can also be angled downwards at two to four eyelets with auxiliary cords. The largest light balloons are shaped as an ellipsoid ( airship ) in order to be more stable in the wind due to less turbulence in the flow around them. These can present a graphic, for example an elongated font format, attached as a banner or printed on in a legible manner.
Safety devices: Airships often have elastic lacing on the belly in order to maintain the pressure and thus the shape despite the inevitable loss of gas due to leakage or gas volume contraction by cooling. Illuminated balloons that are operated with hot lamps and / or dangerously high electrical voltage must be monitored, especially if they are exposed to the weather outdoors. In gas-inflated balloons, a rope that is axially tensioned on the inside and that also carries the lamps can detect sufficient filling: a balloon that becomes slack relaxes the rope and thus opens a pull switch that interrupts the lamp circuit. An additional device on the floor protects against being switched on again.
Areas of application
Light balloons can be used stationary or mobile. Depending on the design and size, it can be set up in just a few minutes. They are used to illuminate an event location, a film set, a construction site, an emergency location or a dangerous spot in road traffic. They also act as elements for interior or exterior design or as a show or stage effect. Indoors, tied up , inexpensive latex balloons (so-called giant balloons with a diameter of 60 to 200 cm) are also possible. LEDs are increasingly being used as light sources, which need harmlessly low electrical voltage and little power, are light and not so hot.
White balloons or inflatable advertising sculptures are also used as a projection surface for still images or videos; the movement or rotation of the balloon has hardly any effect on the projection image, as it does not rotate like a permanently printed graphic.
Balls under two meters in diameter or elongated cylinders are practically only used indoors. Air-filled balloons are particularly suitable for hanging from above, for example from the building ceiling.
- Road or track construction ,
- Salvage or rescue
- Illumination, e.g. B. Application sites, assembly points, parking lots , sporting events
- advertising
- film records
- Stage, show effect and much more.
See also
- Kong Ming Lantern (paper hot air balloon)
