This invention relates generally to outdoor solar powered garden lamps (Des. 316,458) that commonly used in residential backyards and commonly using surface-piercing (e.g., typically soil-piercing) instrumentation as the means of lamp support (U.S. Pat. No. D464,156 S). A disadvantage of the surface-piercing solar lamps for support is that they can only be placed on penetrable surfaces which limits the areas in which they can be used to places with soft or penetrable surfaces. The current invention solves this problem by substituting the surface-piercing base with an outdoor floor lamp base which then enables the solar powered garden lamp to be used on both hard and soft surfaces. This improvement expands their utility.
A wide variety of outdoor solar powered garden lamps are either patented or on the market without patent but none appear to exist that specifically include the outdoor floor lamp base that is the sole claim this invention. The patents identified as related to the invention during a patent search include:
Pat. No.: 4,835,664
Date of Patent: May 30, 1989
Solar Powered Outdoor Recreational Light with Positionable Solar Panel
Pat. No: 4,977,488
Date of Patent: Dec. 11, 1990
Pat. No.: Des. 316,458
Date of Patent: Apr. 23, 1991
Pat. No.: U.S. Pat. No. D450,140 S
Date of Patent: Nov. 6, 2001
Pat. No.: U.S. Pat. No. D456,917 S
Date of Patent: May 7, 2002
Pat. No.: U.S. Pat. No. D464,156 S
Date of Patent: Oct. 8, 2002
The current invention uses any rigid non-corrosive outdoor floor lamp base in combination with an outdoor solar garden lamp to allow the lamp to rest firmly, steadily, and safely on any flat surface, hard or soft. This application improves upon current outdoor solar garden lights with surface-penetrating (spike) bases which are useful only on soft penetrable surfaces. The specific style of the outdoor floor lamp base is not of importance to the current invention and may be any design, solid or otherwise, as long as it is heavy and wide enough to support the lamp in a horizontal gravity-centered position in a variety of weather conditions (e.g., wind, rain). The unique application of the outdoor floor lamp base to the outdoor solar garden lamp allows these lamps to be used in a wider variety of locations than those that use the soft surface-piercing method. The new uses for this solar lamp would include but not be limited to apartment and other balconies, patios, underneath gazebos, decks, piers, concrete pool sides, etc., and yet also still includes use on traditional garden edges, lawns and other flat but soft surfaces. This invention allows for such solar lamps to be used effectively indoors as well, for example during power outage circumstances or where electricity is unavailable or unaffordable. This invention increases the utility areas for outdoor solar lamps.
The above descriptions in
The current invention uses any rigid non-corrosive outdoor floor lamp base in combination with an outdoor solar garden lamp to allow the lamp to rest firmly, steadily, and safely on any flat surface, hard or soft. The outdoor floor lamp base is heavy enough to maintain an upright and gravitationally centered balance for the outdoor solar lamp. The base may be made of one or more materials such as metals, plastics, or other materials that are rigid and non-corrosive. The base may have a decorative housing of any material or be decorative in itself (for example, it could have any heavy outdoor floor lamp base design.). The base may have ridges on the underside to provide space for water flow, or be any other preferred design as long as it holds the solar lamp firmly and safely upright.
Joined to the outdoor floor lamp base is a lamp pole that may screw into the base or otherwise fit precisely into the base so as to allow for vertical gravitational balance. The lamp pole may include pole segments that may fit into one another in a screw-in or fit-in manner or any sturdy manner so that the lamp will maintain a steady vertical balance. The pole is required but may be of any design.
On top of the lamp pole is a required solar lamp with any style decorative housing and globe design. The solar lamp housing is required and may be joined to the topmost pole segment in the same manner as the pole segments are connected, fitted or screw-on. A solar energy collecting panel or apparatus is required and may be located at the top of the lamp cap such that the rays of the sun may shine on to it. The solar powered lightbulb(s) are required and automatically turn on when it becomes dark outside and may be amber (or other color), flickering (or steady) light emitting diode type light. A means of storing the solar energy, such as with batteries, is required. All apparatus necessary to power (collect, store, and use) the solar light are required.
The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The exemplary embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the basic principles of the present invention and its practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the present invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61384048 | Sep 2010 | US |