1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to series wired light strings, such as used in Christmas decorative lighting and, more particularly, to an identity marking to facilitate the replacement of defective lights in the series-wired light string.
2. Description of the Related Art
Consumers of light strings are often frustrated in finding replacement lights (bulbs or LEDs) for Christmas light strings in which one or more lights are burned out or otherwise defective. The main problem for the consumer is determining the proper type of light bulb or LED for replacement—i.e., a bulb with the correct current rating or an LED of the correct color.
Not too long ago, there was only one type of bulb: a 2.5 volt incandescent bulb used in a 50 or 100-light string—it drew a current of 170 milliamperes (170 mA). Today, Christmas light strings use light bulbs with a variety of current ratings—85 mA; 100 mA; 135 mA; 170 mA; 200 mA—just to name a few. All are rated at 2.5 volts.
LEDs in various colors are also becoming increasingly popular for use in Christmas light strings. Each color LED operates at 20 mA, but the voltage drop across the LED varies according to the color of the LED. For example, a red LED only requires about 2 volts for illumination, while a blue LED requires about 3.4 volts.
As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, it is important, for safety reasons and for proper illumination of the light string, that replacement bulbs inserted by consumers have the correct current rating and that replacement LEDs are the correct color.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide, on the light string, an indication to the user of the current rating of the bulb or the color of the LED to use as a replacement for a burned out or missing bulb or LED.
The present invention provides an elegant but simple solution to the aforementioned replacement identity problem by providing a marking on the bulb holder or socket with the identity of the bulb or LED, specifying the current rating of the replacement bulb or the color of the replacement LED. The identity marking can be applied to the bulb/LED holder or socket during molding or afterwards by other means.
Other advantages, variations and other features of the invention will become apparent from the drawings, the further description of examples and the claims to follow.
Referring now to the drawings,
As shown in
If desired, indicators of both the current rating and the voltage rating of the bulb can be provided, preferably on opposite sides of the bulb holder 8, as shown in
The present invention advantageously simplifies the replacement of defective bulbs or LEDs in a series-wired light string, by providing consumers with an identification of the current rating of the bulb to be replaced, or the color of the inoperative LED to be replaced. The present invention thus increases the safety of bulb/LED replacement by consumers.
Although the invention has been described in detail in connection with the exemplary embodiments, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the above disclosed embodiments. Rather, the invention can be modified to incorporate any number of variations, alternations, substitutions, or equivalent arrangements not heretofore described, but which are commensurate with the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not limited by the foregoing description or drawings, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/071,696, filed Sep. 30, 2014, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62071696 | Sep 2014 | US |