Patent Application
20080230113
The embodiments described herein relate to a lighting system.
Conventional lighting systems for vehicles include a lighting device, such as a light bulb that is powered by a power source (e.g., a battery). In some systems, along with a battery, solar cells are integrated with vehicles to serve as a power source for the lighting system. These solar cells are typically mounted on exterior portions of the vehicle. Although the conventional lighting systems having batteries and solar cells are useful, there exists a wide horizon for improvement. For example, it is commonly known that solar cells may occupy an undesirable amount of packaging space on a vehicle that interferes with other vehicle accessories such as the placement of a vehicle sunroof. Additionally, with conventional vehicles that utilize solar cells and batteries, the utilization of energy from these various sources is inefficient.
The embodiments described herein were conceived in view of these and other disadvantages of conventional lighting systems.
A lighting system is described herein that includes a solar cell being capable of receiving light and converting the light into electrical signals. An energy conversion device may be included that converts movement of the energy conversion device into electrical signals. Additionally, an energy storage device receives the electrical signals from the solar cell and the energy conversion device. The energy storage device is also adapted to supply energy. Accordingly, a lamp that emits light may be coupled to and energized by the energy storage device.
The novel features of the described embodiments are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. These embodiments, both as to their organization and manner of operation, together with further advantages thereof, may be best understood with reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:
As required, detailed descriptions of embodiments 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, and some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for the claims and/or as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art.
Referring to
As shown, vehicle 12 includes an engine 13, a power supply device 16, an energy storage device 22 and a plurality of lamps 14. As recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art, engine 13 is adapted to provide motive force to vehicle 12. Additionally, device 16, which may be an alternator, is adapted to provide electrical signals for storage by an energy storage device 22.
Lamps 14 emit light through the use of a light source when energized. In one embodiment, the light source includes a light emitting diode. Lamps 14 also includes a light absorbing surface or solar cell 14a that aligns portions of a lamp housing 14b. The solar cell 14a receives light from a variety of sources for conversion into electricity. Solar cell 14a may receive light from sources that include, but are not limited to, ambient light provided by celestial objects (e.g., the sun, moon, etc.), vehicles, street lamps and the like. Solar cell 14a may be formed of an organic photo cell material or be embodied as a polymeric photovoltaic diode.
Energy storage device 22 may be a battery, ultra-capacitor and the like. As such, energy storage device 22 is configured to store a charge and supply power to lamps 14. It is recognized that the placement or location of energy storage device 22 may be virtually any location on a vehicle depending upon the particular implementation of the present invention.
Referring back to
As shown, energy conversion device 18 may include a spring 18a, a magnet 18b, and a coil 18c. One end of spring 18a may be securely fastened to vehicle 22 while a second end is coupled to magnet 18b. As vehicle 12 moves, spring 18a enables magnet 18b to traverse the inner portions of coil 18c. Based on electromagnetic principles commonly known to those of ordinary skill in the art, the movement of magnet 18b within coil 18c causes an electrical signal to be generated, which is received and stored by energy storage device 22. Spring 18a also serves as a restoring spring, thereby enabling magnet 18b to return to a predetermined position when vehicle 12 is stationary.
Vehicle 12 also includes a controller 20. Controller 20 is adapted to assess and determine the charging power of power supply device 16, energy conversion device 18, and solar cell 14a. Based on signals received by power supply device 16, energy conversion device 18 and solar cell 14a, controller 20 is also adapted to generate control signals for a switch 30 (
As shown in
While the best mode for carrying out the invention has been described in detail, those familiar with the art to which this invention relates will recognize various alternative designs and embodiments for practicing the invention as defined by the following claims.
