BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Referring particularly to the drawings for the purpose of illustration only and not limitation, there is illustrated:
FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of the present invention electronic luggage tag containing an electronic motion detector.
FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the present invention electronic luggage tag containing an electronic circuit motion detector, wherein it also contains an information card compartment for installation of the information card.
FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of the present invention electronic luggage tag containing an electronic circuit motion detector, with the information card having a name, telephone and fax number placed into the information card compartment which is located on the rear side of the luggage tag.
FIG. 4 is a front view of the present invention an electronic luggage tag which shows an entrance of the information card compartment for placing and removing of the card into the compartment.
FIG. 5A is a perspective exploded view to show the structural features of the top cover on the inner side and the electronic circuit board on the rear side of the present invention electronic luggage tag.
FIG. 5B is a perspective exploded view to show the structural features of the bottom information card frame with the battery compartment cover, and a transparent plastic sheet used to cover the information card for protection.
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the electronic circuit which is used in the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view to illustrate one alternative location where the present invention luggage tag can be attached onto a piece of luggage.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Although specific embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings, it should be understood that such embodiments are by way of example only and merely illustrative of but a small number of the many possible specific embodiments which can represent applications of the principles of the present invention. Various changes and modifications obvious to one skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains are deemed to be within the spirit, scope and contemplation of the present invention as further defined in the appended claims.
The present invention is an electronic luggage tag to enable a person to easily find their luggage when it is located among numerous other pieces of luggage at a location such as the luggage retrieval conveyor belt in an airport terminal. The present invention luggage tag contains a motion sensor which is set off by the jostling of the piece of luggage to which the tag is attached when the luggage comes down a chute and onto the luggage retrieval conveyor belt. The motion detector generates a signal to activate a built in DC powered electronic circuit which causes an output of power for a period of time to drive multiplicity of LEDs which emit a blinking light for a period of time. The luggage tag also retains an information card having information including a name, telephone number, and an address of the luggage owner for identification of the piece of luggage.
Referring to the perspective top and rear views of FIGS. 1 and 2, there is illustrated one preferred embodiment of the present invention electronic luggage tag 100 which comprises outer components including a top cover 10 as a top outer side surface 18 and a rear information card frame 40 which serves as the rear side of the luggage tag. The top cover 10 of the luggage tag is illustrated as a piece of plastic with an outer top surface 18 with a proximal round end 12 of the top surface which extends to a generally rectangular section 19 which terminates in a distal flat bottom end 16 with rounded corners. Adjacent to the round proximal end 12 is a transverse 14 extending through the entire thickness of the top cover 10. The top cover 10 is further comprises a first elongated side wall 22 and a second elongated sidewall 24 which is generally parallel to the first elongated sidewall 22. A transverse distal end wall 26 extends between the elongated sidewalls 22 and 24 at the distal flat bottom end 16.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, there is illustrated two openings 28a and 28b located on the first sidewall 22 of the top cover 10, wherein the opening 28a is closer to the proximal round front end 12, and the opening 28b closer to the distal flat bottom end 16. Similarly as illustrated in FIG. 2, another two openings 30a and 30b are located on the second side wall 24, wherein the opening 30a is closer to the proximal round front end 12 and the other opening 30b closer to the distal flat bottom end 16. The openings are use to install LED lights which are connected to an electronic circuit board, wherein the electronic circuit board is installed inside of the luggage tag 100. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the LED 63a and 63b are installed into the respective openings 28a and 28b on the first side all 22, and the LED 64a and 64b are installed into the respective openings 30a and 30b on the second sidewall 24 of the top cover 10.
Referring to FIG. 2, the rear information card frame 40 which is also a piece of plastics has a generally rectangular shape. It comprises a proximal strip bar 48 at its proximal end, a distal curved bar 50 at its distal end which matches the bottom end 16 of the top cover, a first and second side flat elongated area 43 and 45 which match the 1 respective vertical first sidewall 22 and the vertical second sidewall 24 of the top cover 10. The proximal strip bar 48, the distal curved end bar 50, and the first and second side flat areas 43 and 45 comprise the frame which contains a rectangular opening 46 for use as a window for displaying an information card. Referring further in FIG. 2, there is illustrated a battery compartment cover 36 having a generally rectangular shape, which is located adjacent to the distal curved end bar 50, wherein the battery cover 36 is affixed by two screws at its two respective ends, one 38 is close to the first side flat area 43, and the other one 37 is close to the second side flat area 45 of the frame 40. In addition, an additional strip bar 49 is shown located transverse to the first and second side flat areas 43 and 45, and located between the battery compartment cover 36 and the rectangular opening 46.
The present invention electronic luggage tag 100 also physically retains an information card 80 for luggage identification. In FIG. 3 there is illustrated a rectangular information card 80 containing contact information including a name 80a, a telephone number 80b, and a fax number 80c which is placed under the window of the rectangular opening 46 of the rear frame 40, and over a rear side 62 of an electronic circuit board 60, which is shown in FIG. 2. The information card 80 is installed along the elongated rectangular direction so that a proximal end 82 of the card is under the strip bar 48 as the proximal end of the frame, and a distal end 84 of the card is under the strip bar 49 of the frame 40. It will be appreciated that the information card 80 is inserted through an entrance 34 of a flat opening illustrated in FIG. 4, and is further under an inner side of the frame 40 but over the rear side 62 of the electronic circuit board 60. Referring to FIG. 4, the flat opening 34 is constructed from the proximal strip bar 48 of the rear information card frame 40, a proximal end 23 and 25 of the respective first and second sidewall 22 and 24 of the top cover 10, and an inner side 20 of the top cover 10.
One preferred embodiment of the present invention components of the electronic luggage tag 100 are illustrated in FIG. 5 which include the top cover 10, an electronic circuit board 60 placed between the top cover 10 and the rear information card frame 40, and a transparent plastic sheet 90 as a cover to protect the information card 80.
Although the structural features of the top cover 10 is illustrated in FIG. 1, the structure of the top cover 10 on the inner side 20 is illustrated in the rear side view of FIG. 5A. The top cover 10 on its inner side 20 includes a first group of two female threaded screw holes 41b and 39b, which are located close to the respective proximal front end 23 and 25 of the first and second sidewalls 22 and 24, a second group of two female threaded screw holes 38c and 37c, which are located adjacent to the distal sidewall 26 and also close to the respective first and second sidewalls 22 and 24 and a base 32 of a battery compartment, which is surrounded by an enclosed side wall 31. As illustrated, the base 32 of the battery compartment is generally a rectangular shape for placing three disc batteries in series, which is located adjacent and further parallel to the distal sidewall 26 of the top cover, wherein a strip pad 33a of an electric connector for contacting two disc batteries is placed inside of the base 32 parallel to the distal side wall 26 and further close to the first sidewall 22 of the top cover.
The electronic circuit board 60 shown in FIG. 5A is a generally square shape having the flat rear side 62 with a first end 65 and second end 67. The board contains a first group of two LED lights, the LED 63a and 63b located at one side of the board, which are installed into the respective opening 28a and 30a on the first sidewall 22 of the top cover 10 after the board 60 is assembled into the tag 100. The board 60 also contains a second group of two LED lights, the LED 64a and 64b located at the opposite side of the board, which are installed into the respective opening 30a and 30b on the second sidewall 24 of the top cover 10. Two electric contacting pads 66a and 66b which are placed on the second end 67 of the board 60 link the DC electricity of the batteries to the electronics on the circuit board. The electronic circuit board 60 is installed, as illustrated in FIG. 2, between the top cover 10 and the rear information card frame 40, wherein the second end 67 of the board 60 is close to the base 32 of the battery compartment, and the first end 65 is closed to the two female threaded screw holes 39b and 41b of the rear frame 40.
The rear information card frame 40 is further illustrated in FIG. 5B to comprise an opening 52 for the battery compartment, which has a room to contain three disc batteries placed in series parallel to the slightly curved flat end 50. A pair of screw holes 38b and 37b are respectively placed around two ends of the opening 52, which match the respective screw holes 38a and 37a on the battery compartment cover 36, which is also shown in FIG. 5. The battery compartment cover 36 at its inner side 56 is illustrated to comprise an electric connector 33b which is a piece of metal strip pad having a length long enough to contact two disc batteries. The electric connector 33b is further placed close to the screw hole 37a, which is adjacent to the second side flat elongated area 45 of the frame 40 after installation of the battery compartment cover 36. An additional two screw holes 41a and 39a are illustrated to be place close to the proximal strip bar 48 on the respective first and second side flat elongated area 43 and 45. Referring to the illustration in FIGS. 2 and 5, it will be appreciated that a pair of screws 39 and 41 can affix the rear information card frame 40 to the top cover 10 by penetrating the respective screw holes 39a and 41a on the frame 40 to link the respective female threaded screw hole 39b and 41b on the inner side 20 of the top cover. Similarly, an additional pair of screws 37 and 38 can affix the battery compartment cover 36 onto the rear information card frame 40 and further affix the frame 40 to the top cover 10 by penetrating the respective screw holes 37a and 38a on the cover 36 and continuing through the respective screw holes 37b and 38b on the frame 40 to the respective female threaded screw holes 37c and 38c on the inner side 20 of the top cover 10.
Referring to FIG. 5B, there is illustrated the present invention electronic luggage tag 100 which further comprises a piece of transparent plastic sheet 90 to protect the card 80. The sheet 90 comprises a proximal round front end 92 which extends to a rectangular body with a flat end 96 transverse to the round front end 92. A round opening 94 is located close to the front round end 92. It will be appreciated that the round front end 92, the opening 94, and the flat end 96 of the plastic cover 90 match the respective the proximal round end 12, the opening 14 of the top cover 10, and shape of the information card 80. It will be further appreciated that the transparent plastic sheet 90 can be placed over the information card 80, and then both the sheet and card together can be inserted through the entrance 34 to extend along the rear flat side 62 of the electronic circuit board shown in FIG. 2, and finally be displayed under the window of the opening 46 shown in FIG. 3, wherein the flat end 96 of the plastic sheet 90 is placed under the bar 49 of the frame 40.
The present invention luggage tag is also an electronic device, containing various electronic components, which are shown from a schematic circuit diagram of FIG. 6. The electronic luggage tag comprises a D.C. power source 35 having three disc batteries in series, which are connected through the strip bars of the electric connectors 33a and 33b, and further through the electric connectors 66a and 66b to the electronics on the electronic circuit board 60.
As illustrated in FIG. 6, all electronic components of the luggage tag 100 are electrically powered but they are not activated and are in a standby state, which only consumes a finite standby current. Therefore, the DC power source of the disc batteries can sustain the standby power consumption for years. The electronics can be activated which makes the present invention electronic luggage tag work in accordance with a mechanism that detects a physical motion of the tag, such as a jostling of the tag which is detected by the motion detector. The detector 39 then exports electrical signals to trigger the integrated electronic circuit 68, therefore, the powered electronics is then activated to further output a sequential power in a short period of time to the LEDs for emitting blinking lights, based on preprogramed lighting time instruction stored inside of the electronic circuit 68, for example, lighting about 15-20 seconds before the electronics turns back to the standby state.
The above designed working mechanism of the luggage tag 100 can be executed from a luggage 200 in travel as that shown in FIG. 8, which is attached the present invention electronic luggage tag 100, A connecting means 70 such as a strap penetrates the open 14 on the top cover 10 and the opening 94 of the card plastic cover 90 of the tag to further connect the luggage tag 100 to the luggage 200. In operation, after being transported in the luggage compartment of an airplane, the luggage 200 is transported to the retrieval carousel in the airport terminal. The luggage 200 is caused to slide down a chute onto the conveyor belt or carousel. This jostling causes the motion detector 39 to be activated which in turn activates the electronic circuit so that the circuit goes from standby mode to activation mode and thereby activates the LEDs which are caused to blink on and off, either in unison or sequentially, for a period of time such as 10 seconds to 1 minute, so that the blinking lights alter the owner to the location of the luggage. While four LEDs are the preferred embodiment, it will be appreciated that it is within the spirit and scope of the present invention to have at least one illumination source such as an LED. In addition, while a series of three DC batteries is the preferred power source, any other source of power such as at least one DC battery is within the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Defined in detail, the present invention is a luggage tag, comprising: (a) a top cover having an outer top surface with a proximal round end which extends to a rectangular body terminating in a distal end, a transverse opening located close to the proximal round end, the top cover further having a first elongated sidewall, a second elongated sidewall, and a distal sidewall extending transversely to the elongated sidewalls, the first and second elongated sidewalls each having two spaced apart openings, with one opening nearer the proximal round end and the other opening nearer the distal sidewall, the top cover having an inner side which includes a base of a battery compartment to retain at least one battery and connector means to contact the at least one battery; (b) a rear information card frame having a generally rectangular shape having a proximal strip bar as its proximal end, a distal curved bar as its distal end to match a flat bottom end of the top cover, a first and second side flat elongated area which match the respective vertical first sidewall and second sidewall of the top cover, wherein the proximal strip bar, the distal flat end bar, the first and second side flat area form a frame containing a rectangular opening as a window for displaying an information card, the rear of the information card frame further comprises a battery compartment with a cover which is located adjacent to the distal flat end bar, the rear information frame further including an additional strip bar transverse to the first and second side flat area, and further being between the battery compartment cover and the rectangular opening; (c) an electronic circuit board containing a plurality of LED lights with a respective LED inserted through a respective opening in a sidewall of the top cover, an integrated electronic circuit, and a motion detector, and means to electronically connect the circuit board to the at least one battery; (d) a transparent plastic sheet having a proximal round front end which extends to a rectangular body with a flat end transverse to the round front end, the plastic sheet has a round opening located close to the proximal round end; (e) the electronic components of the luggage tag are powered by the at least one battery but are at a standby state which only consumes a finite standby current, the electronics being activated by a physical motion of the tag wherein the physical motion is detected by the motion detector which exports electrical signals to trigger the integrated electronic circuit to output a sequential power to the LEDs for emitting a blinking light from each LED for a period of time, before the electronics turns back to the standby state; and (f) means by which the luggage tag is connected to a portion of a piece of luggage, the connecting means extending through the transverse opening in the top cover and the plastic sheet.
Defined more broadly, the present invention is a luggage tag, comprising: (a) a top cover having an outer top surface with a proximal end which extends to a body terminating in a distal end, a transverse opening located in the outer top surface, the body of the top cover having a multiplicity of openings, the body of the top cover having a housing for retaining a source of power and means to connect the source of power; (b) the top cover having an underside which includes retaining means for retaining an information card and protecting means to protect the information card; (c) an electronic circuit board containing a multiplicity of LED lights with a respective LED inserted through a respective opening in the body of the top cover, an integrated electronic circuit, and a motion detector, and means to electronically connect the circuit board to the source of power; and (d) the electronic components of the luggage tag are powered by the source of power but are at a standby state which only consumes a finite standby current, the electronics being activated by a physical motion of the tag wherein the physical motion is detected by the motion detector which exports electrical signals to trigger the integrated electronic circuit to output a sequential power to the LEDs for emitting a blinking light from each LED for a period of time, before the electronics turns back to the standby state.
Defined even more broadly, the present invention is a luggage tag, comprising: (a) a top cover having an outer top surface with a proximal end which extends to a body terminating in a distal end, the body of the top cover having a multiplicity of openings; (b) the luggage tag having a housing for retaining a source of power and means to connect the source of power; (c) an electronic circuit board containing a multiplicity of LED lights with a respective LED inserted through a respective opening in the body of the top cover, an integrated electronic circuit, and a motion detector, and means to electronically connect the circuit board to the source of power; and (d) the electronic components of the luggage tag are powered by the source of power but are at a standby state which only consumes a finite standby current, the electronics being activated by a physical motion of the tag wherein the physical motion is detected by the motion detector which exports electrical signals to trigger the integrated electronic circuit to output a sequential power to the LEDs for emitting a blinking light from each LED for a period of time, before the electronics turns back to the standby state.
Defined most broadly, the present invention is a luggage tag, comprising: (a) a top cover having an outer top surface with a proximal end which extends to a body terminating in a distal end, the body of the top cover having at least one opening; (b) the luggage tag having a housing for retaining a source of power and means to connect the source of power; (c) an electronic circuit board containing at least one source of illumination which extends through the at least one opening in the body of the top cover, an integrated electronic circuit, and a motion detector, and means to electronically connect the circuit board to the source of power; and (d) the electronic components of the luggage tag are powered by the source of power but are at a standby state which only consumes a finite standby current, the electronics being activated by a physical motion of the tag wherein the physical motion is detected by the motion detector which exports electrical signals to trigger the integrated electronic circuit to output power to the at least one source of illumination for a period of time, before the electronics turns back to the standby state.
Of course the present invention is not intended to be restricted to any particular form or arrangement, or any specific embodiment, or any specific use, disclosed herein, since the same may be modified in various particulars or relations without departing from the spirit or scope of the claimed invention hereinabove shown and described of which the apparatus or method shown is intended only for illustration and disclosure of an operative embodiment and not to show all of the various forms or modifications in which this invention might be embodied or operated.
Patent Application
20080088445
