Patent Application
20120023794
The present disclosure is directed to the field of portable lighting and, specifically, to solar lighting having a sports-related theme.
Many times, a sports fan may entertain friends and family at his home, particularly on game days when his favorite team is playing on television. At these occasions, the guests may enjoy a cook-out or picnic on a deck, porch, or patio before gathering indoors in a living room or den to watch the game. To decorate either the indoor or outdoor spaces for the game-day festivities, the sports fan may use signs, banners, memorabilia, or the like to convey his support for his favorite team.
Often, a patio, deck, or walkway may be illuminated by outdoor lighting, solar lighting, torches, and/or candles. However, none of the existing lighting devices offer the sports fan a way to effectively express his support and enthusiasm for his favorite team or school.
The present lighting units provide an attractive, eye-catching, and effective means by which a sports fan may express his support for a favorite team or school, whether it be a professional team, a collegiate team or college, or a high school team or high school. The portable lighting unit includes a housing having the appearance of a plurality of connected tiers, each of the tiers having a differing dimension such that the tiers convey a stair-step configuration. To represent the sports team or school, at least two three-dimensional alphabetic characters are affixed to a front surface of the tiers. A solar-powered lighting fixture is attached to the uppermost surface of the top tier to provide illumination for outdoor or indoor use.
The lighting unit provides illumination to a yard, walkway, patio, deck, or porch on which it is displayed and, because the lighting unit includes a solar-powered lighting fixture, it requires no external power sources or complicated installation. Conveniently, the lighting unit may be transported indoors for decorating the area in which the sporting event will be viewed. The lighting unit may feature one or more colors associated with the sports team or school, and may further feature a depiction of the team's mascot, logo, or insignia.
A method of producing a portable lighting unit for demonstrating support for a particular sports team is also provided herein. The method includes the steps of providing a housing having the appearance of a plurality of tiers connected together, each of the tiers having a differing dimension such that the tiers convey a stair-step configuration; affixing a solar-powered lighting fixture to an uppermost surface of a top tier; and applying at least two alphabetic characters to the front surfaces of two of the tiers, the alphabetic characters being selected to represent the particular sports team.
A full and detailed disclosure is set forth in the accompanying specification, which makes reference to the appended figures, in which:
Reference is now made to the drawings for illustration of various components of the present portable lighting units. While the particular illustrations provided herein are directed to portable lighting units having three tiers, various elements and embodiments are equally applicable to creating portable lighting units of other shapes and sizes. Moreover, while the tiers of the portable lighting units are described as being made of wood, the tiers may be made of other durable materials instead, such as plastic. In addition, although the lighting units are shown with solar light fixtures, hard-wired lighting fixtures could instead be used, if desired to mount the lighting unit in a single location.
While reference is made throughout the description to showing support for football teams, it should be understood that the portable lighting units provided herein could be used to indicate support for other types of athletic teams, such as baseball teams, basketball teams, hockey teams, soccer teams, and the like, as well as schools, colleges, or universities in general. Finally, it should also be noted that, while reference is made to use of the lighting units in a home environment, the lighting units may be equally well-suited for use in a tail-gating situation or in a business or commercial setting.
A front surface 12 and an upper surface 16 of the first tier 10 may be of equal widths. One exemplary width is approximately 4.5 inches. The front surfaces 22, 32 and the upper surfaces 26, 36 of the second and third tiers 20, 30, respectively, may have a similar width to one another and to the dimensions of the first tier 10 to provide a consistent appearance to the lighting unit 2.
The upper surface 16 of the first tier 10 forms the uppermost surface of the lighting unit 2 and, as such, acts as the support for a solar-powered lighting fixture 100. The lighting fixture 100, which is affixed to the upper surface 16 by conventional means, provides decorative accent lighting for indoor or outdoor use. The lighting fixture 100 includes a solar-powered cell, or battery, 102. The lighting fixture 100 may be of any style or dimensions, depending on the tastes and preferences of the consumer, but one representative height for the lighting fixture 100 is about 5 inches.
A decorative element may be affixed, using one or more of an adhesive, nails, brads, staples, or rivets to the front surfaces 12, 22, 32 of each tier 10, 20, 30. The decorative element is three-dimensional and may be a letter (e.g., letters 14, 34) or a depiction of mascot, logo, or insignia 24 of a sports team or school. By way of example and not of limitation, the letters 14, 34 may have a height of between about three inches to about four inches, and the logo 24 may be similarly sized. The letters 14, 34 may be selected to represent a team name (for example, “N” and “O” for “New Orleans”) or may be selected to represent a team name and mascot (for example, “W” and “R” for “Washington Redskins”). Alternately, as shown in
The tiers 10, 20, 30 may display the primary and secondary colors of the team being represented. For instance, the first tier 10 and the third tier 30 may be the primary color of the team, while the intermediate second tier 20 may be the secondary color of the team. With reference to the lighting unit 2 shown in
The decorative elements 14, 24, 34 may be colored to coordinate with or to complement the colors used for the tiers 10, 20, 30. For instance, if the first and third tiers 10, 20 are colored in the primary color of the team, the decorative elements 14, 34 attached to those tiers may be colored in the secondary color of the team. Alternately, the decorative elements 14, 34 may be colored in a neutral color, such as black or white, for contrast. Another option is that the decorative elements 14, 24, and/or 34 may be decorated with a pattern associated with the team being supported, such as tiger stripes used to represent the Cincinnati Bengals professional football team.
As shown in
Optionally, decorative foliage or vines 18, such as ivy, may be attached to the upper surfaces 16, 26, 36 of the tiers 10, 20, 30, as shown in
An alternate configuration for a lighting unit 200 is shown in
The first tier 110 includes a front surface 112 to which a first decorative element 114 (the letter “D”) is attached and an upper surface 116 to which a lighting fixture 100 is secured. As before, the lighting fixture 100 includes a solar battery 102. The first tier 110 may have a representative length of about 4.5 inches, a representative height of about 6 inches, and a representative width of about 4.5 inches.
The second tier 120 includes a front surface 122 to which a second decorative element 124 (the letter “H”) is attached and an upper surface 126 that supports the first tier 110. By way of example, the second tier may have a length of about 9 inches, a height of about 6 inches, and a width of about 4.5 inches.
The third tier 130 includes a front surface 132 to which a third decorative element 134 (the letter “S”) is attached and an upper surface 136 that supports the second tier 120. Exemplary dimensions of the third tier 130 may be a length of about 13.5 inches, a height of about 6 inches, and a width of about 4.5 inches.
Although the lighting unit 200 of
A method of producing a portable lighting unit for demonstrating support for a particular sports team includes the steps of providing a housing having the appearance of a plurality of tiers connected together, each of the tiers having a differing dimension such that the tiers convey a stair-step configuration; affixing a solar-powered lighting fixture to an uppermost surface of a top tier; and applying at least two alphabetic characters to the front surfaces of two of the tiers, the alphabetic characters being selected to represent the particular sports team.
The method may further include providing three tiers for the lighting unit and arranging the three tiers in an upright orientation based on height to achieve the stair-step configuration. Alternately, three tiers having different lengths may be provided, and the three tiers may be arranged in a horizontal orientation based on length to achieve the stair-step configuration.
A first tier and a third tier may be colored in a first color, and a second tier positioned between the first tier and the third tier may be colored in a second color different from the first color, where the first color and the second color are the primary and secondary colors of the particular sports team. As described above, the alphabetic characters may be colored in the second color for contrast with the tiers.
The preceding discussion merely illustrates the principles of the present portable lighting units. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art may be able to devise various arrangements, which, although not specifically shown or described herein, embody the principles of the invention and are included within its spirit and scope. Furthermore, all examples are conditional language recited herein are principally intended for educational purposes and to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions.
Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the invention, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass both structural and functional equivalents thereof. Additionally, it is intended that such equivalents include both currently known equivalents and equivalents developed in the future, i.e., any elements developed that perform the same function, regardless of structure.
This description of the exemplary embodiments is intended to be read in connection with the figures of the accompanying drawings, which are to be considered part of the entire description of the invention. The foregoing description provides a teaching of the subject matter of the appended claims, including the best mode known at the time of filing, but is in no way intended to preclude foreseeable variations contemplated by those of skill in the art.
