It has become increasingly common for entertainers to include a light system as part of the equipment carried from location to location during a concert tour. The light system is used to enhance the performance of an entertainer, with individual lights remotely controlled to pan a stage or to tilt, as well as to change the color and intensity of the beam issuing from the light.
The type of lighting best suited for an entertainer depends upon the style of music of the entertainer. What is considered tasteful and aesthetically pleasing for a concert featuring classical music will differ from that of a concert featuring rock music or jazz music, for example. Individualized lighting systems permit entertainers to create an atmosphere best suited for a style of music and to vary the lighting for particular songs.
The negative aspect of utilizing an individualized lighting system is that the set-up time and takedown time involved in assembly of touring equipment is substantially increased. The electronics and the lens positioning within each stage light requires that the lights be handled carefully. Thus, in transporting lights from one tour stop to a second tour stop, the lights must be packaged so that they are not struck with any significant amount of force. Generally, stage lights are suspended from a number of truss units which are hoisted above a stage. The truss units provide protection if stage lights are transported while still affixed to the truss units, but the protection is limited since the truss unit will not encase the stage lights. Stage lights are normally mounted on a truss unit so that each stage light may be rotated a complete 360.degree.. Any downward extension of a truss unit would, therefore, affect stage lighting. Consequently, the protection offered by the truss unit is limited to a single direction in those systems designed to take advantage of the full 360.degree. of rotation.
FIG. 1 of U. S. Pat. Nos. 4,392,187 to Bornhorst and 4,512,117 to Lange illustrate truss units which support stage lights but which offer only a very limited amount of protection. Stage lights of such systems must be individually removed from the truss units prior to transportation or further protection must be added to the truss unit.