Patent Application
20130335949
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lighting device, and more particularly to a lighting device that reuses a plastic bottle and uses at least one water-activated battery to supply power for environmental protection.
2. Description of the Prior Arts
Plastic bottles are typically used to store liquids such as water, carbonated beverages and juices because they are lightweight and less expensive and provide good gas barrier properties and chemical resistance.
Although the plastic bottles have advantages as described above, the plastic bottles are not environmentally friendly. The plastic bottles cause a large amount of garbage after use. To reduce the amount of the plastic waste, recycling the plastic bottles for reuse is a useful solution. Therefore, how to reuse the used plastic bottles is an important issue.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a lighting device having at least one water-activated battery mounted between a bottle cap and a bottle to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.
The main object of the present invention is to provide a lighting device that reuses a plastic bottle and uses at least one water-activated battery to supply power for environmental protection. To achieve the foregoing objective, the lighting device in accordance with the present invention comprises a bottle, a bottle cap and at least one water-activated battery. The bottle cap is mounted on the bottle and includes a light module having a printed circuit board (PCB) and a light source. The light source is mounted to a top surface of the PCB. The at least one water-activated battery is mounted between the bottle cap and the bottle and includes a top end and a bottom end. The top end is connected to the PCB via contacts. The bottom end is disposed in the bottle. In use, the bottle is filled with water to make the water-activated battery soaked in the water. The constituents of the water-activated battery then chemically react to generate electricity to supply power to the light source. Therefore, the bottle can be reused. In addition, the water-activated battery is environmentally friendly due to an absence of heavy metals.
Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
With reference to
The bottle 10 includes a neck having a top end, a mouth, an outer surface and external threads 11. The mouth is disposed at the top end of the neck. The external threads 11 are formed on the outer surface of the neck.
The bottle cap is mounted on the bottle 10 and includes a bottom cap 20, a middle cap 30, a light module 40, a top cap 50 and a lens 60. The bottom cap 20 seals the mouth of the bottle 10 and has a bottom annular sidewall 21, a top board 22, at least one mounting tube 23, a plurality of locking holes 24 and internal threads 25. The bottom annular sidewall 21 has an inner surface and a top portion. The at least one mounting tube 23 is formed on the top board 22 and extends downward therefrom. The locking holes 24 are formed through the top portion of the bottom annular sidewall 21. The internal threads 25 are formed on the inner surface of the bottom annular sidewall 21 for engagement with the external threads 11 on the bottle 10.
The middle cap 30 is disposed above the bottom cap 20 and has a middle annular sidewall 31, a bottom board 32, a plurality of locking projections 33 and a plurality of positioning grooves 34. The middle annular sidewall 31 has a top portion and a bottom portion. The locking projections 33 extend inward from an inner surface of the bottom portion of the middle annular sidewall 31 and engage the locking holes 24 of the bottom cap 20. The positioning grooves 34 are formed in an outer surface of the top portion of the middle annular sidewall 31 and each positioning groove 34 is inverted T-shaped and has a longitudinal portion 341 and a lateral portion 342. The lateral portion 342 extends from and communicates with a bottom of the longitudinal portion 341 and has a first side 3421 and a second side 3421′.
The light module 40 is mounted in the middle cap 30 and has a printed circuit board (PCB) 41, a light source 42 and a switch 43. The PCB 41 is secured to a top surface of the bottom board 32 of the middle cap 30 and has a top surface and a plurality of slots 411. The slots 411 are formed through the PCB 41 for engaging snap tabs 321 extending from the top surface of the bottom board 32 of the middle cap 30. The light source 42 is a light emitting diode (LED) and is mounted to a center of the top surface of the PCB 41. The switch 43 is mounted to a periphery of the top surface of the PCB 41 and has a movable part 431. The movable part 431 can be moved to turn the light source 42 either on or off.
The top cap 50 is disposed above the middle cap 30 and has a top annular sidewall 51, a top board 52, an aperture 53, a first push block 54, a second push block 55 and a plurality of positioning projections 56. The top annular sidewall 51 has a bottom portion. The top board 52 has a bottom surface and a center. The aperture 53 is formed through a center of the top board 52 and corresponds to the light source 42. The first push block 54 and the second push block 55 extend downward from a periphery of the bottom surface of the top board 52. The positioning projections 56 extend inward from an inner surface of the bottom portion of the top annular sidewall 51. The positioning projections 56 are disposed into the longitudinal portions 341 of the positioning grooves 34 of the middle cap 30 and the top cap 50 is then rotated to make the positioning projections 56 engage the first sides 3421 or the second sides 3421′ of the lateral portions 342 of the positioning grooves 34.
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
The at least one water-activated battery 70 is mounted between the bottle cap and the bottle 10 and includes a top end and a bottom end. The top end of the at least one water-activated battery 70 is mounted through the at least one mounting tube 23 of the bottom cap 20 and is connected to the PCB 41 via contacts 80 to supply power to the light source 42. The bottom end of the at least one water-activated battery 70 is disposed in the bottle 10. The number of the water-activated battery 70 is equal to the number of the mounting tube 23 of the bottom cap 20. With reference to
With reference to
When the lighting device of the present invention is in use, the bottle 10 is filled with water to make the bottom end of the water-activated battery 70 soaked in the water. Water flows through the retaining ring 74 and the absorbent member 73 and penetrates the activated carbon 76. The constituents of the water-activated battery 70 then chemically react to generate electricity to supply power to the light source 42. The object of the present invention is to provide the lighting device that reuses a plastic bottle 10 and uses at least one water-activated battery 70 for environmental protection.
Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and features of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details, especially in matters of shape, size and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
