Patent Application
20060072325
This invention relates to decorative and/or safety lighting devices for bicycles, automobiles and other vehicles, and, more particularly, to lights for attachment to a valve stem of a vehicle wheel.
Valve stem lights of various types are known, such as in the following patents which are hereby incorporated by reference:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,359,551 to Suda, U.S. Pat. No. 6,467,939 to Deutsch et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,527,408 to Korenek disclose motion-activated valve stem lights, which have the capability of preserving battery life by turning off when the vehicle on which they are mounted is not moving. Existing valve stem lights responsive to motion have been found not sensitive enough to motion in some common applications, however, such as on bicycle wheels. The problem is particularly evident with children's bicycles and during low-speed operation.
Battery drainage during shipment, due to vibration and other motion, is another problem with a motion-activated valve stem light if the product is shipped with batteries installed. A very sensitive motion switch in the valve stem light would exacerbate this problem. A pull-tab insulator has been used between installed batteries in other products to avoid battery drainage during shipment, but such a pull tab conventionally extends into the product through a slot that is left open when the pull tab is pulled out to allow normal use of the product. The batteries and possibly other parts of the interior circuitry of the product are exposed to the elements as a result. A valve stem light should be weatherproof, however, because of its exposure to rain and road spray in wet weather, and thus a slot into the battery area would be considered unsuitable for such a product. A need therefore exists for a design which allows shipment of a sensitive motion-activated valve stem light without draining installed batteries and without sacrificing the weatherproof character of the product.
There is also a need for valve stem lights having improved switch designs providing greater sensitivity to motion while maintaining predictability and reliability of performance and ease of manufacture.
The present invention provides, as one aspect thereof, a motion-activated valve stem light comprising a housing adapted to fit securely on a valve stem of a vehicle wheel, and a light circuit contained within the housing, the light circuit including an LED, a power source, a control circuit connected to the power source and the LED, and a self-contained motion switch connected to an input of the control circuit, wherein the motion switch includes a sealed case having first and second conductive terminal portions, an electrical insulator between the terminal portions, and a conductive member freely movable within the case and adapted to electrically interconnect the conductive terminal portions at a plurality of spaced points within the case.
Another aspect of the present invention is a novel trial activation mechanism. According to this aspect of the invention, a motion-activated valve stem light comprises a multi-piece housing adapted to fit securely on a valve stem, the housing including first and second housing portions having respective male and female coupling portions. A slot is provided through a sidewall of the male coupling portion, while the female coupling portion has a solid sidewall. The housing has a partially assembled state in which the male coupling portion engages the female coupling portion leaving the slot exposed, and an assembled state in which the female coupling portion engages and covers the male coupling portion and thereby covers the slot. A light circuit is contained within the housing, the light circuit including an LED and a battery power source. The trial activation mechanism includes a normally open switch external to the housing and a thin insert extending through the slot and between two parts of the light circuit when the housing is in the partially assembled state, the insert having an insulating portion and including an electrical contact connected to each of the two parts of the light circuit and to the normally open switch.
For the purpose of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated device and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.
The valve stem light attaches to a conventional threaded valve stem of a vehicle wheel by means of internal threads 36 in the lower housing portion 28. The vehicle wheel may have a valve stem mounted directly on or in its rim, as in the case of tubeless tires, or the wheel may have a valve stem that protrudes through the rim as part of the inner tube of a bicycle tire or other tire having an inner tube. The mounting threads of the valve stem light may be designed for a Schrader valve or alternatively for a Presta valve or other threaded valve stem. The lower housing may have a plurality of exposed ribs 38 which may be used to tighten the light on a valve stem.
Alternatively, the lower housing 128 may include a hexagonal body portion 132 as in the embodiment of
Switch 16 is a self-contained switch suitable for solderless connection to respective contacts on the pc board, whereby the switch may be readily inserted during assembly and readily replaced if necessary. It has a conductive BB 20 or other movable conductive member contained within a modified button cell battery case, preferably an AG3 case. The switch in the disclosed embodiment includes a conductive ring 42 inside and in electrical contact with an anode cup 44 which is insulated from a cathode 46 by an annular insulator 48. The case is otherwise empty except for the BB, which is free to move within the case, both laterally and longitudinally. When the valve stem light is moved or oriented such that the BB simultaneously contacts the cathode and ring 42, the BB makes an electrical connection between the cathode and anode via the ring as illustrated and thereby closes the switch. The two degrees of freedom of the BB within the case permit it to electrically interconnect the cathode and ring at any point on the inner circumference of the ring. The inside of the case may be gold plated for increased conductivity.
Switch 16 may be laterally inserted into a holder 50 which is secured to the pc board and which may have upper and lower contacts 50a,b providing solderless connections to the flat upper and lower portions of anode 44 and cathode 46, respectively, which cross the axis of the housing at right angles. Instead of a contact 50a secured to the pc board at two points, the upper solderless connection to the light circuit on the pc board may be made by means of a spring-biased metal contact (not shown) against the flat top surface of anode cup 44. The anode cup sidewall is spaced apart or insulated from the sidewalls of holder 50b in this embodiment. Holder portion 50b also serves as the contact for the negative terminal of the top battery. The button cell batteries are stacked as shown and held together by a compression spring 52 during use. The positive terminal of the bottom battery is connected to the pc board through a peripheral conductor (not shown) in a conventional manner, with the peripheral conductor spaced apart or insulated from the sidewalls of the other batteries.
The IC for this embodiment is preferably configured to operate in true one-shot mode, i.e., as a non-retriggerable one-shot, whereby, once triggered, the one-shot cannot be triggered again during the timing interval and times out at the end of that interval. The IC is preferably edge-triggered but may be otherwise configured so as to require the switch to change state twice, e.g., to open and then close again, in order to trigger the IC after it has timed out. One suitable IC is available in die form, as part number wel62-7, from Winfar Electronics Co., Ltd, Shenzhen, China. With this type of IC and the disclosed BB switch, the valve stem light is highly sensitive to motion of the wheel on which it is mounted but times out and turns off after the wheel stops moving, regardless of its orientation at that time.
The valve stem light advantageously includes a trial activation switch mechanism which may include a normally open membrane switch (not shown) external to the housing, the switch having two contacts electrically connected to spaced contact points on a small pc board 60 or other material suitable for insertion in a slot 62 provided for this purpose in the sidewall of male coupling portion 30. The spaced contact points are preferably on opposite sides of the pc board. The slot is exposed when the valve stem light is in a partially assembled state in which the male coupling portion partially engages the female coupling portion as illustrated, and, in that state, the insert 60 extends through the slot and between two parts of the light circuit, such as between two of the batteries as shown in
The trial activation switch external to the housing is effectively connected in series with motion switch 16 in the partially assembled product, whereby, when the trial activation switch is open, the light circuit is disabled, but, when the trial activation switch is closed, the light circuit is responsive to the motion switch and may be tested by a prospective customer. Such a trial activation switch may be included in packaging for the product, which may be sealed with installed batteries inside a blister pack, for example, with the membrane switch left exposed for prospective customers to use to test the product before purchase. The trial activation switch allows such testing while preventing battery drainage as might otherwise occur due to motion during shipment.
The female coupling portion has a solid sidewall which covers the male coupling portion and thereby covers the slot when the trial activation switch is removed and the lower housing portion is fully screwed onto the upper housing portion. In this fully assembled state the connection between the upper and lower housings is sealed by an O-ring 64, which may be made of silica gel, and the housing is substantially waterproof. This embodiment of the invention thus allows shipment of a sensitive motion-activated valve stem light without draining installed batteries and without sacrificing the weatherproof character of the product.
A valve stem light with such a trial activation mechanism is useful with a BB switch as described above, or with other types of motion switches in certain applications. For example, the valve stem light may employ a coil spring switch such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,419,384 to Lewis et al., which patent is incorporated herein by reference. A suitable IC for such an embodiment is a type AP3761-03 IC, commercially available in die form from Advanced Microelectronic Products, Inc., Taiwan. With a normally open spring switch, the IC may be configured to operate in a retriggerable one-shot mode such that it is triggered when the switch first closes and is retriggered as long as the switch remains closed. The one-shot times out, and thus the LED turns off, a set period of time after the switch is opened. The IC may be configured to operate in one-shot mode generating a predetermined number of flashes or sequential ON intervals in a predetermined period of time in response to a trigger signal. So configured, the light circuit effectively creates moving bars of light on a revolving bicycle wheel.
In another contemplated embodiment, the light circuit has a bicolor or tricolor LED which is controlled by a suitable LED driver so as to sequentially produce bars of light in different colors, thereby producing a rainbow effect as described more fully in U.S. Pat. No. 6,206,537 to Hauck, which patent is hereby incorporated by reference. Likewise, a plurality of valve stem lights may be used to create the appearance of moving bars of light, providing amusement to the rider of the bicycle and others.
As an alternative to a bubble rod which is suitable for certain applications, the transparent rod may have a plurality of laser-etched or laser-cut lines along its length that accentuate the illumination produced by the LED. More specifically, such lines may be formed parallel to the longitudinal axis of the rod for the purpose of transmitting light from the LED through the rod in distinguishable lines and radiating such light radially therefrom.
While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood that only the preferred embodiments have been shown and described and that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the invention are desired to be protected. For example, the BB switch may be oriented with its anode side down for certain applications, such that the internal conductive ring is on the side closer to the batteries, although the orientation shown in
This application claims the benefit of Provisional Application No. 60/616,407, filed Oct. 6, 2004, which application is hereby incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60616407 | Oct 2004 | US |
