Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 19, 1995 TAG: 9508210050
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A maker of fiber-optic architectural lighting in Salem was recently awarded a patent for its innovative low-profile lighting system and a state grant that it will use to help develop a new light source for the system.
Lightly Expressed Ltd. got help in submitting its patent application from Gary Atkinson of Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology at Virginia Western Community College.
"The patent process generally takes 18 to 24 months. However, with the help of Gary Atkinson, we were able to complete ours in about a year," said Jon West, one of the partners in the business.
The patent is for a mounting system that holds several strands of fiber-optic lighting in rows for use in lighting displays. The system can be assembled quickly and at a low cost, according to the patent.
The company acquired a Virginia Economic Bridge Initiative grant with the help of Doug Murray of the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce's small business development center. Because this was the company's first grant application, Murray's assistance was helpful, William Leaman, West's partner, said.
Leaman and West will use the grant funds to develop a light source that will be made in Virginia and replace a device they are now buying from a California firm.
The two partners, both Virginia Tech engineering graduates, founded Lightly Expressed in April 1993. They are still the firm's only employees and custom-build lighting as orders are received. Leaman declined to talk about sales figures, but said the company has been growing by about 50 percent a year.
In just over two years, the company has landed contracts that include lighting for a rare wine collection in Lafayette, Calif., and illumination for a 225,000-piece museum collection in Beloit, Wis. Many examples of the firm's work can be seen at the Science Museum of Western Virginia in downtown Roanoke, including the low-profile patented lighting and fiber-optic spotlights.
Also on display at the museum is the fiber-optic sphere that the company designed as a tree-topper for the 1993 national Christmas tree in Washington.
Fiber-optic lighting uses a central light source that feeds fiber-optic strands that carry the light to the point where it is used for illumination. The plastic fibers used in lighting are larger than the tiny glass fibers that are used for telecommunications.
The advantage of fiber-optic lighting, particularly for museums, is that, at the point of illumination, it produces no harmful ultraviolet radiation or heat. Also, a single light source can be used to provide several individually directed points of light, eliminating the need for several different bulbs and the stringing of electric wires to each point.
by CNB