The Norton Trunking System light rail system brings all the benefits of the latest in powerful LED lighting to the floor - whether that floor is inside a factory, supermarket, distribution center, warehouse, workshop or hangar.
We went through all current light rail systems we could find, and kept shaving off material, parts, assembly steps, logistic hassle, packed volume and mounting steps until we had designed what we think is the smallest footprint and most economical way of bringing the most efficient, reliable and high quality light to the floor.
Based on a single sheet metal roller set with adapter sets for the base rail (top) and the light rail (under), the sheet metal housing elements are produced, ready to assemble, at walking speed. Injection molded parts were designed, tooled and tested for end caps, wire and signal LED retainers, dust protectors and safety leashes, as were stamped metal parts for rail coupling and mounting of internal components such as LED drivers and emergency modules.
The project took us just under a year to get to the first-out-of-tool parts, which was quite exciting for the engineering team as we had no guarantee - beyond FEA analysis, 3D -printed samples and lots of intuition - that the click and hold force of the rail mounting method would actually work. The roll forming process induces a lot of cold work hardening in the fairly soft sheet metal, and we had to assume that would be enough for a secure fit. We couldn't be happier with the result, as designers we just have to love a loud click!
On the assembly and installation side: A torx size 10 screwdriver is the only tool required, as we didn't want to bother the people in the factory and the installation technicians any more than strictly necessary. These kinds of light rails are usually extending over dozens of meters and can be suspended up high inside buildings. Standing on a scissor lift at 8m, you don't want to be bothered with difficult assembly tasks, let alone three different screwdrivers!