Patent Application
20240044479
Decorative lighting displays are used to communicate a joy of a holiday season, to draw attention to merchandise, or to simply decorate or adorn an object. Decorative lighting displays can be used both indoors and outdoors. Decorative lighting displays have been used residentially to adorn trees, shrubs, and houses. Commercial businesses can use decorative lighting displays to provide festive atmospheres at their places of business.
Some such decorations can involve many decorative lighting displays. Such lighting displays can provide a constant illumination display, while others provide a time sequence of spatial illumination patterns. Such constant or time-sequence patterns of illumination are produced by a constant or time-sequence of an electrical signal provided to the decorative lighting display. Some decorative lighting displays have lighting elements that can change color and/or intensity in a response to command data provided thereto. Other decorative lighting displays have only fixed color lighting elements that do receive such command data. Such fixed-color lighting elements can still have temporal variation of illumination in response to temporal variation of an electrical signal. Such fixed-color lighting elements can be combined with other and sometimes differently colored fixed color lighting elements in a decorative lighting display. But such lighting elements are typically not customizable beyond their response to various electrical signals.
Some embodiments relate to a lighting-element/ribbon-cable connector with selectable wire connection. the lighting-element/ribbon-cable connector includes a cable interface, a plurality of wire contacting members, a lighting-element socket, and a channel selector. The cable interface is configured to mechanically and electrically connect the lighting-element/ribbon-cable connector to a flat ribbon cable having a plurality of power-channel wires and a common wire. The plurality of wire contacting members includes a plurality of power-channel contacting members and a common contacting member. The plurality of power-channel contacting members are aligned and configured to pierce insulation of corresponding ones of the plurality of power-channel wires, and the common contacting member is aligned and configured to pierce insulation of the common wire when the cable interface mechanically connects the lighting-element/ribbon-cable connector to the flat ribbon cable. The lighting-element socket is coupled to the cable interface. The lighting-element socket is configured to receive a lighting element and to provide electrical connection between power and common electrical contacts of the lighting element received and the power and common contacts of the lighting-element socket, respectively. The channel selector is conductively connected to the power contact of the lighting-element socket and configured to select and electrically connect to a selected one of the plurality of power-channel contacting members.
Some embodiments relate to a method for providing power-channel selection and electrical connection of a lighting element to a selected one of a plurality of insulated wires of a flat ribbon cable, the method includes connecting, via a cable interface, a lighting-element socket to the flat ribbon cable. The method includes piercing, via a plurality of piercing members, insulation of corresponding ones of the plurality of insulated wires when the cable interface connects the lighting-element socket to the flat ribbon cable. The plurality of piercing members includes a plurality of peripheral ones located at a common radial distance about a central one. The method includes providing, via each of the plurality of piercing members, a conductive connection point to the corresponding one of the plurality of insulated wires. The method includes receiving, via a lighting-element socket coupled to the cable interface, a lighting element within. The method includes conductively connecting, via the lighting-element socket, a central electrical contact at a base of the lighting element received and the central one of the plurality of piercing members. The method includes conductively connecting, via the lighting-element socket, a peripheral electrical contact about the base of the lighting element received and an inner conductive peripheral wall of the lighting-element socket. The method also includes rotatably selecting and conductively connecting, via a rotatable power-channel selector conductively connected to the inner conductive peripheral wall of the lighting-element socket, to a selected one of the peripheral ones of the plurality of piecing members.
Apparatus and associated methods relate to a lighting-element/ribbon-cable connector that provides power-channel selection to a lighting element received therein. A cable interface is configured to mechanically engage and electrically connect to, via a plurality of piercing members, power-channel wires and a common wire of a ribbon cable. A lighting-element socket coupled to the cable interface is configured to receive a lighting element within and to provide electrical connection between power and common electrical contacts of the lighting element received and power-channel and common electrical contacts of the lighting-element socket. A channel selector conductively connected to the power electrical contact of the lighting-element socket is configured to select and electrically connect to a selected one of the plurality of power-channel wires via the power-channel contacting members.
Each of lighting-element/ribbon-cable connectors 18 has cable interface 22 and cylindrical lighting-element socket 24. Cylindrical lighting-element sockets 24 mechanically and electrically connect cable connectors 18 to lighting elements 16. Cable interfaces 22 mechanically and electrically connect lighting-element/ribbon-cable connectors 18 to ribbon cable 14. The combination of cylindrical lighting-element socket 24 and cable interface 22, thereby mechanically and electrically couple lighting elements to ribbon cable 14. Although cable 14 includes five insulated wires 20A-20E, lighting elements 14 can be illuminated by connecting lighting elements 14 to only two of channel wires 20A-20E, provided that a voltage difference is being supplied therebetween. Each of lighting elements 14 is connected to power return wire 20C as well as a selected one of power-channel wires 20A-20B and 20D-20E. Each of cable interfaces 22 includes a channel selector (not depicted in
Each of lighting-element/ribbon-cable connectors 18 also includes a channel selector that independently selects (i.e., independently of the channel selectors of the other cable interfaces 22 of lighting display system 10) and electrically connects to one of power-channel wires 20A-20B and 20D-E. Such selection puts the lighting element coupled element thereto (i.e., via the corresponding cylindrical lighting-element socket 24) in electrical connection with the selected power-channel wire 20A, 20B, 20D, or 20E. For example, lighting display system 10 can be configured so that all lighting elements 16 of lighting display system 10 receive operating power from channel wire 20A. In another example, lighting display system 10 can be configured so that all lighting elements 16 of lighting display system 10 receive operating power from power-channel wires 20A and 20B in an alternating fashion. In still another example, lighting display system 10 can be configured so that all lighting elements 16 of lighting display system 10 receive operating power from power-channel wires 20A-20B and 20D-E in a A-B-C-D fashion. Such configurability permits lighting display system 10 to have lights powered by power-channel wires 20A-20B and 20D-E in a variety of configurations.
Each of power-channel wires 20A-20B and 20D-E can provide power that causes lighting elements 16 to be illuminated in a different manner (i.e., a different manner than the power provided by the other power-channel wires 20A-20B and 20D-20E). For example, power-channel wires 20A-20B and 20D-E can provide operating power that has a different temporal behavior or pattern that the temporal behavior or pattern of the others. For example, one of power-channel wires 20A-20B and 20D-E can provide DC operating power with no AC component, while the other of power-channel wires 20A-20B and 20D-E can provide operating power that has AC components (e.g., a regular pulsed signal, a wave signal, A random pulsed signal, etc.). In other embodiments, each of power-channel wires 20A, 20B, 20D, and 20E are provided the same DC power level, but different data can be superimposed thereon. Such embodiments can be referred to as data over power. Thus, by selecting a specific power-channel wire, 20A, 20B, 20D, or 20E, the channel selector of a specific lighting-element/ribbon-cable connectors 18 causes its corresponding lighting element 16 to be illuminated in response to the specific manner of power that is provided thereby.
Wire contacting members 28A-28E includes power-channel contacting members 28A-28B and 28D-28E and common contacting member 28C (which can also be called power-return contacting member 28C). Power-channel contacting members 28A-28B and 28D-28E are arranged along circle C. Common contacting member 28C is located at a center of circle C, which is also a center of cylindrical lighting-element sockets 24, as will be shown below. Such arrangement of wire contacting members 28A-28E with relation to circle C facilitates selection and electrical connection of power-channel contacting members 28A-28B and 28D-28E by a rotatable channel selector, as will be shown below. Such electrical connection can be made to contact faces 30A-30B and 30D-30E. Such a rotatable channel selector can select and electrically connect one of contact faces 30A-30B and 30D-30E to a first terminal (e.g., an outer surface of the electrical connector of lighting element 16) of lighting element 16, when coupled element to cylindrical lighting-element socket 24. A second terminal of lighting element 16, which is located at a bottom center of the electrical connector of lighting element 16, can electrically connect to contact face 30C of contacting member 28C, thereby providing a return power connection to power return wire 20C of ribbon cable 14. As shown in the embodiment depicted in
In
Although lighting-element sockets, such as cylindrical lighting-element sockets 24 have been depicted to be cylindrical, and lighting elements 14 have been depicted as having a cylindrical base, other types of lighting-element sockets can be configured to receive lighting elements having various types of bases and connectors. In some embodiments, the channel selector is a rotatable channel selector, as depicted in the figures. In other embodiments, other configurations of channel section can be used, such as, for example, a linear slidable channel selector.
In some embodiments, the cable interface has a top member and a bottom member forming a clamshell structure that provides a passageway for the flat cable to pass therethrough. In some embodiments, the top member and bottom member of the cable interface have an open position and a closed position. The open position permits alignment of the lighting element/ribbon-cable connector with the ribbon cable. The closed position provides conductive connection between the lighting-element socket and the plurality of wires of the ribbon cable. Such conductive connection results from the piercing members extending into the passageway, so that when the clamshell structure is closed about the ribbon cable, the piercing members will pierce the insulation of corresponding ones of the plurality of insulated wires. In some embodiments, the top member is hingeably connected to the bottom member. In other embodiments, the top member is removably connected to the bottom member. In some embodiments, the passageway for the flat ribbon cable to pass therethrough is sized substantially equal to a size of the flat ribbon cable.
While the invention has been described with reference to an exemplary embodiment(s), it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment(s) disclosed, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.
