The present invention relates to lighting and display apparatus, systems and methods and, more particularly such systems and methods that can be implemented into an office or household product or item such as, for example, a pillow or furniture.
In one embodiment, the lighting apparatus comprises one or more light modules integrated into or associated with the product, with each light module having individual luminaries, lights or light sources of different colors.
In one preferred embodiment, the light or light sources are red, green and blue. One reason for this is that these colors constitute a known technology that forms a full electrical light color spectrum, i.e., in electrical light format, it is possible to produce virtually all colors from these three basic colors. This technology may be referred to as “rgb” technology.
Each of the lights in a module can be controlled or activated or de-activated independently, and each module can be controlled or activated and de-activated independently. The lighting apparatus also comprises a power source, a central processing unit (“CPU”), integrated circuit (“IC”) or other suitable controller that controls the lights, and at least one activation switch for activating or de-activating the lighting apparatus. The system, method, and apparatus of the present invention provides for a lighting system that can create variable, sequenceable and/or patterned colored lighting that originates within some portion of the product or item into which the lighting apparatus is integrated. Such a system, according to one embodiment, can provide aesthetically pleasing patterns of light such as flashing lights, repeating lights of different colors, smoothly transitioning colored light changes, animation of color or imagery, or any other types of lighting displays possible with colored lights.
While multiple exemplary embodiments, including preferred embodiments, are disclosed and described herein, and depicted in accompanying
The present invention comprises novel and advantageous lighting and display apparatus, systems and methods. As discussed in one embodiment herein, the lighting system of the present invention is integrated into a pillow. However, according to alternative embodiments and without limitation, the lighting system can be integrated or implemented into bedding, plush figures, such as a teddy bear, rugs, articles of clothing, furniture, inflatable items (including for example inflatable furniture, toys, figures, sports equipment, tents, outdoor play sets), lamps, lanterns, dispensing devices, clocks, wall décor, desk accessories, CD racks, home décor, other home products, other office products, or any products for which a lighting system in accordance with the present invention would be useful or desirable. Examples of some of these and other aspects or embodiments of the present invention are depicted in
With regard to fastening, mounting, attaching or connecting the components of devices of the present invention, unless specifically described as otherwise, conventional fasteners such as screws, rivets, toggles, pins and the like may be used. Other fastening or attachment means appropriate for connecting components include friction fitting, adhesives, welding and soldering, the latter particularly with regard to electrical or processing components or systems of the devices. Any suitable electronic, electrical, communication, computer or processing components may be used, including any suitable electrical components and circuitry, light sources, wires, wireless components, sensors, chips, boards, micro-processing or control system components, software, firmware, hardware, etc.
A cutaway profile view of a light module 12 in accordance with one aspect of the present invention is depicted in
The module 12 has a cover component 34 that is positioned on a top portion 36 of the module 12. In one aspect of the invention, the cover component is a circular piece with a hole 36 in the center that is positioned above the lights 32 as shown in
Returning to
The power source 16 is a battery power source. The power source 16 requires three “AA” batteries. Alternatively, the power source 16 may comprise any number of any type of battery. In further alternatives, the power source is a wall outlet, an AC transformer, a car lighter, any other power source or combination thereof.
The wires 14 and 24 are typical electrical wires used for battery powered items. Alternatively, the wires 14, 24 can be any suitable electrical wires appropriate for an electrically-powered item. In some embodiments, all or a portion of the system 10 may incorporate suitable wireless technology. For example, a suitable wireless remote may be used to turn the system 10 on or off or to select a particular mode of operation.
The activation switch 22 sends a command to the IC control unit, e.g., on, off, or is a switch that simply completes the circuit (i.e., in some embodiments, it may not communicate with the IC controller). The slide activation switch 26 is a mode switch. It sets the device, apparatus or system to a predetermined operational mode, such as on, off, “try-me,” etc. The apparatus 10 can include any other known activation component such as, for example, a shake sensor, remote switching assembly, a thermal sensor, a light sensor, or a sound sensor.
The CPU 18 is an integrated circuit that controls the operation of the lights 32 in each of the modules 12. That is, the integrated circuit controls which lights 32 are activated at any given time and the duration of that activation. It is the integrated circuit that controls any lighting pattern of the apparatus 10 as described above. While an integrated circuit is depicted, it should be appreciated that any suitable controller or control unit may be used to control the functions, appearance and operations of the present invention.
With reference to
In this configuration of exemplary lighting system 100, the transistors, the operation of which is well known in the art, function as switches that allow microcontroller 120 to control each LED in the array 160 individually. The physical LEDs D1-D10 (red), D11-D20 (green), and D21-D30 (blue) respectively, are situated in close proximity, such that microcontroller 120 can create any desired color, at a desired time, and for a desired duration, by managing the intensity of the current across each transistor in a light module (e.g., light module [D1, D11, D21], light module [D2, D12, D22], light module [D3, D13, D23], etc.). Lighting system 100 is configurable in products similarly as lighting system 10. Whereas lighting system 10 includes a light module 12 embedded in a pillow and is controlled by CPU 18, similarly, lighting system 100 includes a plurality of light modules formed from LEDs D1-D10, D11-D20, and D21-D30, that are controlled by microcontroller 120.
In one embodiment, the LEDs are driven at either full on or full off. The amount of light emitted by an LED is controlled by varying the amount of time that the LED is switched on over the course of a fixed period of time, commonly referred to as “pulse width modulation.” In this embodiment, it is critical that the pulse width modulation period is short enough so that the LED switches between on and off faster than the human eye can detect. For example, a period of 50 μS should be more than sufficient to be imperceptible to the human eye.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the light modules 12 are organized in groups of eight. For simplification of control logic, LEDs of the same color from each of the eight light modules 12 may be connected together at a single I/O port of the microcontroller. Thus, in this embodiment, the circuit uses three ports of eight control lines each, for a total of twenty-four control lines, to individually control any of the three LEDs within any of eight individual modules 12. This level of control makes it possible to generate any color of the visible spectrum.
In a further embodiment, a ramp pattern may be used to produce different colors from one or more light modules. One method of applying a ramp pattern initializes all of the one or more light modules 12 to the same points of the ramp pattern. Over time, the individual red, green and blue LEDs will ramp up and down, in unison, producing single, but changing, colors. Adding light modules 12 will increase the intensity of the light or will allow coverage of a greater area, but will not increase the number of colors visible at any single point in time.
A second exemplary method of using a ramp pattern 170, as illustrated in
Once at step 220, the pulse width modulation period timer is checked. Once the timer has reached the end of the designated time period, the node index, indicating one of the eight light modules 12 in this example, is incremented [step 230]. If the node index reaches the value nine, or in other cases, a value that indicates that the value of the node index has gone beyond the number of light modules 12 in the system, the node index is reset to the value one [steps 240 and 250]. After incrementing the node index, the periods for each of the red, green and blue LEDs of the light module indicated by the node index are incremented [step 260].
In steps 270 and 280, it is determined whether the period for the blue LED should be reset back to zero. If that is the case, then the values for the LEDs of the light module indicated by the node index are updated to the initial values of a specified ramp pattern. That is, once a fixed time period has passed, the display pattern is reset to the initial values.
During steps 290, 300 and 310, it is determined, for each of the three LEDs (red, green and blue), whether the ramp value is less than the period value. Generally, it is determined whether the LED should be switched on or off. After these steps are completed, the pulse width modulation period timer is checked in step 220, and the process just discussed is repeated.
In a further embodiment, it may be possible to change the display pattern of the light modules 12. In such an embodiment, the mode switch is checked at step 320 to determine if a change has been made. If the mode switch was changed, the mode value is incremented or reset to one if the value incremented to is beyond the number of modes available [step 330]. The light modules are then set to the initialization values of the new mode selected [step 340] before repeating the process.
In one embodiment, the apparatus 10 of the present invention is integrated into a pillow, as shown in
In other embodiments, the lighting system of the present invention may be used on or in furniture items to create a stimulating visual effect. For example, the lighting system may be used in inflatable furniture, such as shown in the lounge chair in
The lighting system, including the wires 14 and lighting modules 12, may be attached to the furniture as shown in
The battery pack 410 and microcontroller, in an exemplary embodiment, may be attached to the article of furniture by means of its own storage compartment 420, illustrated in
The lighting system of the present invention may further be used in other items. For example, the lighting system may be used on or in articles of clothing, such as shirts, hats, jackets, etc. Similarly, the lighting system may be used in book bags, purses, briefcases, etc. Additionally, the lighting system may be used in toys, such as stuffed animals or balls and blocks of all shapes and types of material. The lighting system may be attached to such items by sewing the system into the material or gluing the system onto the material. Alternatively, any suitable means of attachment may be used to generally integrate or embed the lighting system to the fabric or item, including means of attachment previously mentioned.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, persons skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
This application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/667,858, filed Apr. 1, 2005, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60667858 | Apr 2005 | US |