Patent Application
20190290036
The present invention comprises a method of using a light source in combination with a liquid creating an illuminated and glowing liquid in a beverage container.
There are cups in the marketplace that are manufactured using molded clear plastic, having LED's as a light source located in the base of the cup. Besides the LEDs, there is a means of electrical power, battery or batteries, and a means of power control, a simple switch, or a switch and a microprocessor used to control the LEDs to create patterns of light, a “light show”. These cups are used to hold clear or lightly-tinted liquids, and the LEDs are then flashed on and off in order to function as a novelty drinking cup at parties, meals, restaurants and/or bars.
While the LEDs are often multi-color, therefore emitting various colors of light over time, “dancing colors of light”, there is a limitation to the lighting effect: When the cup is viewed from the side or straight on, the LEDs are clearly seen as points or sources of light, and the liquid itself does not light-up, or “glow”. If the end-user, “drinker”, is content that the LEDs in the cup provide some entertainment and novelty of the experience of using the cup to hold a drink, that is fine. Furthermore, the end-user must also be content in that the LEDs are the brightest light sources when the cup is viewed, and the liquid contents itself does not glow or give the impression that it is glowing.
If the end-user desires to give the impression that the liquid contents within the cup are in fact fluorescent or luminescent, the LEDs cannot appear as bright point sources of illuminating light. To accomplish de-emphasizing, the LEDs as point sources of the light, the liquid itself must appear to glow and diffuse the emitted light from the LEDs.
The main embodiment of the invention is to present a lighting effect, such that when viewed from near or far, the liquid contents within a container appear to be illuminating and glowing, as opposed to the effect that the container contents are slightly lighted.
The liquid contents of the container must appear to light-up and glow, that the liquid contents in the container must scatter and redirect the light rays (photons) emanating and concentrated from the bottom of the container, to the sides and as many angles as possible, resulting in the appearance that the liquid itself is glowing.
Using optical reflection or diffraction techniques on the light rays to redistribute the light energy emanating from the bottom of the container, to give the appearance that the liquid contents are glowing has been tried, however the resulting lighting effect, as to giving the appearance that the liquid contents are glowing, is very weak, and does little to show that the LEDs at the bottom of the container are optically hot.
The invention herein, employs dyes and molecular chemistry techniques, such that light photonic energy emanating from the LEDs at the bottom of the container are first absorbed by key dye molecules distributed within the liquid contents, and then the dye molecules, later using the captured photonic energy to release a new photon from the dye molecule, literally resulting in the liquid contents glowing.
“Wavelength” is scaled for convenience in nanometers [10−9 meters], and is directly related to what we detect as humans, as “color of the light”. Some prefer “frequency” which is the inversion of wavelength [1/wavelength] and hence also related to “color of the light”. This description will continue to use “wavelength” herein. Additionally, “Ray”, “Light Ray”, or “Light Rays”, are used herein to refer to a multiplicity of photons in transit from a source, and not intended to be limiting in scope. Furthermore, the use “LED” (Light Emitting Diode) as a general class of semi-conducting devices in the broadest sense. As a means of illustration, but without limitation to include “OLEDs” (Organic Light Emitting Diodes), Quantum-Well Emitter LEDs, LEDs that employ lasing techniques, light emitters that use nano-scale resonation techniques, and LEDs that employ Quantum Dot techniques (“OLEDs).
The dye molecules to be used are those known to be benign to the health of the user. Specifically, the drinks, if employing dyes that are added to, and not already naturally occurring in the drink, to be those known and accepted as safe for human consumption by the Federal Drug Administration, such as those that are listed and specified under the 1938 Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. Also, there are dyes recognized and approved for human consumption by other federal and world controlling authorities.
Molecule (90) has a chemical base, and contains two Chromophores (100) and (110) attached to that chemical base. A Chromophore is a subsection of a dye molecule that can receive photonic energy from an outside source, and then capture and hold that photonic energy by resonating certain chemical bonds within the molecule. Chromophores (100) and (110) are “tuned” to specific optical wavelengths (435-480 nanometers in this example). The base atomic structure of the dye molecule (140) is static in that bonds do not change and the atoms are passive and do not participate in reference to determine wavelength processing. Other dye molecules share this same atomic (chemical) base.
Chromophores (100) and (110) determine what wavelengths of light and photons the molecule will respond to, and the wavelength of the photon that will be emitted from the molecule. As an analogy to an electronic circuit, in effect, the Chromophores (100) and (110) can be thought of as the sections of tuned circuits, that in a radio circuit determines which radio wavelength or wavelength the radio is listening to.
When a photon (for example from a light ray) enters the molecule and strikes a Chromophore, one of two reactions can occur: if the entering photonic energy is within the band of acceptable wavelengths, that the Chromophore will resonate to, then the photonic energy will be captured by the Chromophore. Or, should the entering photonic energy be outside of the band of acceptable wavelengths, the Chromophore will not resonate and the photonic energy will not be stored, but will be absorbed, resulting in a small gain in heat energy within the molecule.
If the entering photonic energy did cause the Chromophores (100) and (110), and the associated single-double bonds (120) and (130) to resonate with captured energy, then the dye molecule, in a quest to become more stable, will soon employ the resonate energy within the molecule to create and emit a photon with a wavelength (color) of light centered at the wavelength on the Chromophores (100) and (110).
In
In a similar fashion, the Green light photons in the form of rays (320) are emitted from the Green LED located inside or outside of the base of the container and are absorbed into the Blue dye molecule (300) and not re-emitted or reflected, because their wavelength (500-560 nanometers) is also outside of the band of acceptable Blue wavelengths (435-480 nanometers) of the Chromophores.
Finally in
As the photonic energy of the LED array travels up towards the lid (“top”) of container (400), photonic energy will impact numerous dye molecules (420) which in turn will reflect or retransmit Blue Photonic energy (430) creating the desired appearance of the water-based liquid “glowing” Blue.
Any color can be presented to the user of the cup or container. By utilizing a different primary color source other than Blue, or a mixture of primary color sources (which might include Blue), any color in the visible spectrum can be created using the same techniques as described herein above.
For example, and not by means of limitation to a single primary color, if a Red LED is substituted for the Blue LED that comprises the light source (410) in
As a further example, if both a Red LED and a Blue LED are operated as light sources, and if both Red dye molecules and Blue dye molecules are present in the liquid, then the drink can be made to glow Violet. Indeed, varying the brightness of the LED or light sources as individual light means, then the liquid can be made to glow Red or Blue, or any shade of Red-Blue color (such as violet as an example).
Further still, if all three primary light colors (Red, Green, and Blue) are operated as light sources (or as one or more single RGB LED's), and if properly selected Red dye molecules and Green dye molecules, and Blue dye molecules are present in the liquid, then the drink can be made to glow any color (from approximately 400 to 700 nanometers) of the visible light spectrum. Depending on the LED light source control scheme, the contents of the container can be displayed as a single static color, as a slowly-changing color or as a rapidly-changing color.
The practical limitation for an acceptable visual display being the quantity of dye molecules in the liquid and their mix both by color and by photonic mode. Taking naturally existing liquids, such as water, fruit juices, etc., or one that is accepted by many as quasi-natural, such as beers, wines, etc., or common off-the-shelf, name brand carbonated beverages such as Cola drinks from Coke, or Pepsi, Orange Crush, etc., some of these liquids are suitable for providing for a medium with an acceptable visual presentation.
As an example, in the category of wines, both White Wines and Rose Wines present an acceptable visual display. With the proper light source, given that these liquids possess natural dyes that are predominately photon transmissive (as illustrated in
Colas and Dark Coffees present a very poor medium for the targeted glow effect. In the case of Colas and Dark Coffee, their density is not the only primary limiting factor, as the color “Brown” itself is not conducive to production or even detection as a color of light. On the other hand, other colored sodas such as Orange Crush provide quite acceptable visual displays even with lower intensity light sources.
Some Lighter Coffees and Teas present a viable medium for acceptable visual displays so long as the height of the liquid is limited. However, adding milk or cream to the drink, because of the high-density of light-absorbing molecules, blocks the transmission of light, and blocks the lighting effect entirely. The same can be said of some alcoholic bar drinks. Some clear colored drinks can be used to generate the glowing effect, while others (e.g. those predominately made of crushed ice, made with cream, or dark brown in color) cannot.
Fluorescing dyes with UV or Near-UV (Dark Blue to Purple) light sources, such as LEDs or OLEDs (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) may be used for visual displays. As an example, a clear liquid drink (e.g. water with sugar and light citrus flavoring, etc.) can have a dye added that is clear without UV or Near-UV photonic excitation. When the UV or Near-UV light source is on, the dye becomes excited and glows a color other than UV or Near-UV. Several fluorescent dyes exist in nature and are known to be safe for human consumption and approved by the FDA.
Light sources that change color by manual or automatic means such as a light controller circuit following a programmed color pattern, that has abrupt changes, or gently faded up and down to create a color-morphing effect. There can be a steady light source, or a flashing light source in patterns that are slow enough for the flash pattern to be visible to humans, in order to stimulate interest in the light.
Furthermore, the light source can be static, fading between colors or lighting levels, or flashing. If flashing, the light source can be flashed at rates that are perceptible, or not perceptible to humans. Non-perceived optical flash rates are usable in certain mood and therapeutic applications.
As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.
