Patent Application
20070126293
(a) Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a decorative lighting device, and in particular to a decorative lighting device that is readily mounted to a rotation axis of a rotary body to make use of the rotation of the rotary body to generate electrical power and powering illuminating elements to emit light.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Due to the improvement in living standard, and also due to the increase of modern commercial activities, decoration with light is now of great attraction to general consumers. It is thus a great challenge for manufacturers in various fields, including entertainment, exercising, decorative articles, education, and transportation, to develop relative products to suit the need of markets.
Conventional decorative lighting is classified as dynamic type and static type. For the later, to increase the operation period, the lighting device is often powered by electric main by plugging into for example a wall outlet. The former, however, is often powered by internal or built-in power source, such as battery, to allow for portability. Examples include transportation vehicles, exercising devices, helmets.
The conventional designs, although effective in generating lighting for different purposes, can still be further improved to offer better economic and operation benefits. Thus, the present invention is aimed to provide an improvement of lighting devices that is readily fixed to a rotary body to make use of the rotational motion of the rotary body for generation and supply of power to illuminating elements that emits light.
The primary purpose of the present invention is to provide a decorative lighting device that can be readily mounted to a rotary body that is driven by motor power, human power, wind power, or hydraulic power to induce rotation for generation of power that drives illuminating elements to emit light thereby achieving advantages in both economic aspect and practical use.
To realize the above object, the present invention provides a decorative lighting device comprising a casing, a generator assembly comprising an armature spindle which rotates to induce relative rotation in an electrical winding-magnet system, a counter weight device, and at least one illuminating element. The casing is attachable to a rotary body to be rotated with the rotary body. The casing defines an interior space to receive the generator assembly in such a way that the armature spindle is fixed to and rotates with the casing. The counter weight device is fixed to the generator assembly and is constructed to maintain the gravity center of the generator assembly downward by means of eccentric counterbalancing. The illuminating element is electrically connected to the generator assembly. When the rotary body rotates, a relative rotation is caused between the electrical winding and the magnet of the generator assembly to induce electrical power by electromagnetic induction. The power is then supplied to the illuminating element for emission of light.
The foregoing object and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.
Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.
The following descriptions are of exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
With reference to the drawings and in particular to
The generator assembly (20) generates electricity by relative motion induced between electrical windings and magnets, which are arranged inside the generator assembly (20) to form an electromagnetic inductive power generation device, by the rotation of the armature spindle (201) with respect to the generator assembly (20). The electromagnetic inductive power generation is well known and similar to that employed in a bicycle dynamo and thus no further detail is needed herein.
The counter weight device (30) comprises a hub (not labeled) fit over and fixed to the generator assembly (20) and a plurality of radially extending arms (301). Each arm (301) defines a linearly extending channel (302) movably receiving at least one steel ball (303) to induce eccentric counterbalancing that allows the generator assembly (20) to be supported on the armature spindle (201) in a condition that constantly keeps the gravity center of the generator assembly (20) downward. Thus, relative rotation between the armature spindle (201) and the generator assembly (20) is realized.
The illuminating elements (40) are preferably low power consumption lighting devices, such as light-emitting diodes, but not limited thereto. The decorative lighting device of the present invention comprises at least one illuminating element (40) mounted on a circuit board (401) and in electrical connection with the generator assembly (20) to be powered thereby.
Also referring to
It is noted that the rotary body (50) to which the decorative lighting device of the present invention can be coupled, may also include a windmill-like blade assembly (53), as shown in a second embodiment of the present invention illustrated in
Besides serving as decorative lighting, the lighting device of the present invention can also be used as a night lamp.
As a further variation of the lighting device of the present invention, the rotary body (50) to which the lighting device of the present invention is coupled, may comprise a hydraulics-based system, as shown in the third embodiment of the present invention illustrated in
Further, besides the arrangement of the illuminating elements (40) soldered to the circuit board (401) that is fixed in the casing (10) as illustrated in previous embodiments, the illuminating elements (40) can be arranged outside the casing (10), as shown in
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims. For example, the counter weight device, which as shown previously has three radially extending arms, can be shaped differently provided the eccentric counterbalancing is realized.
It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.
While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.
