Patent Application
20150233547
The field of the present invention relates to decorative lights to provide decorative illumination, and particularly lights which are used in or on a body of water.
Bodies of water are frequently included as part of landscape and architectural designs. At times it is desirable to decorate the bodies of water in order to highlight them as part of the landscape or architectural features, or simply to introduce an additional festive appearance. Frequently, such bodies of water are decorated with fountains and lights. In most instances, the lights are positioned and arrange to illuminate the water and or surfaces underneath the water. It is desirable to have other types of decorative lights for such bodies of water to provide illumination features that are not presently available in the market.
The present invention is directed toward a decorative light which provides decorative illumination. The decorative light includes a housing having a bottom shell and a top shell, with the shells configured to seal against each other along an outer perimeter. A partial mirror is affixed to an inside of the top shell, and an internal support plate is disposed within the housing and includes a mirrored surface facing the partial minor. A plurality of lighting elements are disposed between the partial mirror and the mirrored surface, and a plurality of light filters are disposed about a periphery of the mirrored surface, with each light filter being disposed between two of the lighting elements.
Accordingly, an improved decorative light is disclosed. Advantages of the improvements will be apparent from the drawings and the description of the preferred embodiment.
The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiments, will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown in the following figures:
The description of illustrative embodiments according to principles of the present invention is intended to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings, which are to be considered part of the entire written description. In the description of embodiments of the invention disclosed herein, any reference to direction or orientation is merely intended for convenience of description and is not intended in any way to limit the scope of the present invention. Relative terms such as “lower,” “upper,” “horizontal,” “vertical,” “above,” “below,” “up,” “down,” “left,” “right,” “top” and “bottom” as well as derivatives thereof (e.g., “horizontally,” “downwardly,” “upwardly,” etc.) should be construed to refer to the orientation as then described or as shown in the drawing under discussion. These relative terms are for convenience of description only and do not require that the apparatus be constructed or operated in a particular orientation unless explicitly indicated as such. Terms such as “attached,” “affixed,” “connected,” “coupled,” “interconnected,” and similar refer to a relationship wherein structures are secured or attached to one another either directly or indirectly through intervening structures, as well as both movable or rigid attachments or relationships, unless expressly described otherwise. Moreover, the features and benefits of the invention are illustrated by reference to the preferred embodiments. Accordingly, the invention expressly should not be limited to such preferred embodiments illustrating some possible non-limiting combinations of features that may exist alone or in other combinations of features; the scope of the invention being defined by the claims appended hereto.
Turning in detail to the drawings, the decorative light 11 shown in
The decorative light 11 has a housing 13 which includes a top shell 15 and a bottom shell 17. The top shell 15 and the bottom shell 17 mate together to form a seal 19 about an outer perimeter of the housing 13, thereby protecting the interior of the housing 13 against ingress of water, so that the housing 13 forms a buoyant body. The seal 19 may be a substantially water tight barrier (i.e., water will not typically pass the seal so long as the seal is not submerged in water), as the decorative light 11 is intended to float on the surface of water, with the seal positioned so as to be disposed above the water line on the housing when the decorative light is floating. In embodiments in which the seal rests below the waterline, it may be desirable to make the seal a water-proof barrier (i.e., water will not pass through the seal when the seal is submerged in water, up to a predetermined depth) to better protect the interior of the housing 13 against the ingress of water.
Inside the housing 13, the decorative light includes a plurality of lighting elements, shown as LEDs 21 in the figures, and the LEDs are controlled by driver circuit (not shown). Other types of lighting elements may be used. The LEDs 21 illuminate in the visible spectrum, and they may be single color LEDs or multi-color LEDs. Each LED may be of any type or color, independently of the other LEDs. For example, of the nine LEDs 21 shown, three may be one color, three may be a second color, and three may be a third color, with all three colors being different. Alternatively, each of the LEDs 21 may be a tri-color LED. In all embodiments, the selection of which LED is illuminated during operation, and how they are illuminated (e.g., steady state illumination, flashing illumination at predetermined intervals, or in the case of multi-color LEDs, which color is illuminated), is controlled by the driver circuit.
As shown, the LEDs 21 are distributed in a circular pattern, evenly spaced apart. Other distribution and spacing patterns may be used in other embodiments.
Referring to
The internal support plate 37 secures to the bottom shell 17, and the LEDs 21 are secured to the internal support plate 37. The conductive legs of each LED extend through the internal support plate 37 to be connected to the driver circuit (not shown). In some embodiments, the internal support plate 37 may be a printed circuit board (PCB) for the driver circuit, with appropriate driver circuitry secured directly to the PCB. In other embodiments, the driver circuit may be formed on a separate PCB, which is then secured to the underside of the internal support plate. Like the bottom shell 17, the internal support plate 37 may be formed of a material that is opaque to light in the visible spectrum. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the internal support plate 37 may include a coating which is opaque to light in the visible spectrum. Whether the material is opaque or an opaque coating is used, in certain embodiments, the internal support plate 37 blocks transmission of at least 95% of light emitted from the lighting elements that may be incident upon it.
As seen in
The internal support plate 37 also includes a mirrored surface 41 on the side opposite the bottom shell 17. This mirrored surface 41 is substantially reflective to light in the visible spectrum. In the embodiment shown, this mirrored surface 41 is circular and planar, and it extends under and between all of the LEDs 21. In other embodiments, the mirrored surface may have other form factors and curvatures. For example, it may be convenient from a manufacturing perspective to have the mirrored surface take on a peripheral form factor which matches the distribution of the LEDs, or to have the entire upper surface of the internal support plate be the mirrored surface. In still other embodiments, the mirrored surface may be curved, such as having a concave or convex curvature, depending upon the location and distribution of the LEDs, and upon the desired decorative illumination from the light.
A partial mirror 43 is affixed to the top shell 15 and disposed above the LEDs 21 and opposite the mirrored surface 41. In the embodiment shown, the partial mirror 43 is circular and planar. In other embodiments, the partial mirror may have other form factors and curvatures. For example, it may be convenient from a manufacturing perspective to have the partial minor take on a peripheral form factor which matches the form factor of the mirrored surface. In other embodiments, the partial mirror 43 may be curved, such as having a concave or convex curvature, depending upon the desired decorative illumination from the light.
The extent to which the partial mirror 43 is transparent and reflective will impact the decorative illumination directed through the top shell 15. For example, the partial minor 43 may be 50% reflective and 50% transmissive for light in the visible spectrum. In certain embodiments, the material of the partial minor 43 does not otherwise interact with light, so that light in the visible spectrum is either transmitted through or reflected by the partial mirror 43. In other embodiments, the partial mirror may be between 30%-70% reflective and between 70%-30% transmissive, or between 10%-90% reflective and between 90%-10% transmissive.
The top shell 15 of the housing 13 is forms a transparent outer cover, so that the decorative illumination created by interaction between the LEDs 21, the mirrored surface 41, and the partial mirror 43 is easily seen through the housing 13. The top shell 15 also includes a plurality of light filters 47 which are translucent to light in the visible spectrum. The light filters 47 are affixed to the top shell 15 and extend toward the internal support plate 37, with each light filter 47 being between two of the LEDs 21 along the periphery of the mirrored surface 41. The light filters 47 serve as diffusion filters for light from the LEDs 21 that is directed out the side of the top shell 15, which when the light 11 is floating in water, this diffused light would be directed laterally along the surface of the water. In certain embodiments, just enough spacing is included between adjacent ones of the light filters 47 so that the LEDs can extend through the space to be positioned between the mirrored surface 41 and the partial minor 43. This helps ensure that most of the illumination emerging laterally is diffuse and spread out evenly over the periphery of the light 11, despite being emitted from one or more of the LEDs 21.
During operation, with LEDs installed that are commonly available on the market, such as hemispheric LEDs having clear encapsulation, much of the light emitted over the 180° emission cone is directed to the light filters positioned across the mirrored surface from each respective LED. The light directed at the various light filters produces diffuse illumination laterally outward from the top shell, which would be along the surface of water when the light is floating. The remaining light emitted from each LED is directed at either the mirrored surface or the partial minor. Most of the light directed at the partial minor is totally reflected toward the partial minor. Depending upon the transmission/reflection properties of the partial mirror, at least part of the light incident on the partial minor is reflected back to the mirrored surface, and reflection back and forth between the partial mirror and the mirrored surface continues. Looking at the top shell of the light from an angle normal to the partial minor, for an embodiment in which the partial mirror is planar, many different reflected images of light emitted from each LED may be seen from the back and forth reflections, as is illustrated in
While the invention has been described with respect to specific examples including presently preferred modes of carrying out the invention, those skilled in the art will appreciate that there are numerous variations and permutations of the above described systems and techniques. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural and functional modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Thus, the spirit and scope of the invention should be construed broadly as set forth in the appended claims.
Priority is claimed U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/940,723, filed Feb. 17, 2014, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61940723 | Feb 2014 | US |
