Patent Application
20140226358
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method, system, and apparatus for lighting a stroller or baby carriage, and more particularly to a light that attaches to a stroller, for example, a headlight that attaches to the front of the stroller for lighting the path ahead of the stroller and for making the stroller more visible to people at night.
2. Related Art
The inventor of the present application is a father. In the course of pushing his children in a stroller he discovered that conventional strollers pose potentially dangerous situations, particularly at dusk/dawn and during the evening, in a number of respects, as explained herein.
The dangerous situations discovered by the inventor of the present application are as follows.
First, it can be difficult for others at night (e.g., bikers and motorists) to see a stroller or to see a parent pushing his or her child in a stroller, particularly since most strollers are black. This creates a potentially perilous situation.
Second, it can be difficult for someone pushing the stroller at night to see what is in front of them. This includes objects on the sidewalk or other dangerous conditions. Conventional strollers have no headlights attached to them to enable the person pushing the stroller to see in front of the stroller.
The foregoing and other problems are overcome by the stroller light or headlight of the present invention and the methods, apparatuses, and systems disclosed herein. The stroller light disclosed herein can attach to suitable areas of a stroller, e.g., to a pole or post of the stroller.
The present invention according to one aspect provides a stroller headlight, comprising a body having a nub or hook protruding from the bottom of the body and a flexible strap protruding from the back of the body. The strap has a mating portion towards an end of the strap which is adapted to surround a stroller post and mate with the nub or hook to secure the body to the stroller post.
The nub or hook can be made of a suitably hard material such as metal or plastic such that it can mate with the mating portion of the strap, and the strap can be made of a suitably flexible material that also has a sufficient measure of strength to mate with the nub or hook and hold the stroller light in place, such as flexible rubber. Of course, any other suitable material will do.
At least one front LED (and preferably five) is arranged on the front of the body, and at least one side LED (and preferably two) is arranged on each side of the body. A button or switch enables a user to control the front and side LEDs.
By virtue of the features of the present invention, various dangers of pushing a stroller at dawn/dusk or during the evening can be ameliorated, and, moreover, a person pushing a stroller can better see what is in front of them.
Further features and advantages of the present invention as well as the structure and operation of various embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The features and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood from a detailed description of the exemplary embodiments taken in conjunction with the following figures:
The invention will next be described in connection with certain exemplary embodiments; however, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that various modifications, additions, and subtractions can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims.
As noted above, the present invention is directed to a method, system, and apparatus for lighting a baby carriage or stroller, and more particularly to a light that attaches to a stroller, for example a headlight that attaches to the front of the stroller for lighting the path ahead of the stroller and for making the stroller more visible to people at night. The light could also attach to other areas of the stroller, e.g., the side or back.
The stroller lights 2 attached to the front of the stroller 4 emit light in a forward direction to enable the person pushing the stroller 4 to see in front of the stroller 4. This also enables others to see the stroller 4 from a distance.
Each stroller light 2 is attached to a stroller post 6 for securing the stroller light 2 to the stroller 4. Of course, while the stroller lights 2 are shown in
In
Stroller light 2 also has an LED 10 on each side (only one side LED 10 is shown in the figure) which can light a larger side safety light area 12. Together these can emit blinking lights or flashing lights or constant light of any color (e.g., red, blue, white, green, yellow, purple, etc.) and at any timing pattern or mode. The user can manipulate these lights (turn them off and on or switch timing patterns) using button 14 (which may also be a switch or any suitable device).
It will now be explained in conjunction with the side view of
In this embodiment of
In the embodiment shown in
The following are features of the stroller light of the present invention.
The stroller light is easy to attach and detach at any position on the stroller post. It is rotatable and provides for very quick installation, typically of no more than a few seconds. Its unique rubber strap or “hand” firmly holds to a stroller post without scratching the post. Its light or LED signal is visible for up to approximately one mile or more. It is weatherproof, and has three LED functions (Random Flash, Steady Flash, Steady Beam). It has a high impact rubber casing that surrounds it for protection. It fits most strollers, infant car seats, and ride-on-toys.
A challenge overcome by the inventor was to attach the stroller light to the stroller so that the stroller light is securely attached to the stroller and in a convenient and useful location, and also so that the user can have multiple attachment locations to choose from depending on which is more useful and convenient. With the attachment methods of the present invention, a stroller can be fitted with a stroller light even after the stroller is manufactured.
Functions
The Operation LED life is up to approximately 100,000 hours. It can be designed in multiple colors (e.g., black, blue, red, green, yellow, purple, etc). It has a plurality (e.g., 5) of bright LED bulbs (e.g., white), and a plurality (e.g., 2) of side lights (e.g., red). It can be powered very easily by, e.g., three AAA batteries. A preferred size of the stroller light is approximately 10 cm×3.3 cm, but of course any other suitable size works as well.
These are of course just examples and the present invention is not limited thereto:
By virtue of the features of the present invention, it can be made easier for people at night (e.g., pedestrians, bikers, skateboarders, rollerbladers, motorists) to see a parent pushing his or her child in a stroller. Moreover, the dangerous situation in which it is difficult for someone pushing the stroller at dusk or at night to see what is in front of them can be ameliorated.
While various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example, and not limitation. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s) that various changes in form and detail can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.
In addition, it should be understood that the Figures illustrated in the attachments, which highlight the functionality and advantages of the present invention, are presented for example purposes only. The architecture of the present invention is sufficiently flexible and configurable, such that it may be utilized (and navigated) in ways other than that shown in the accompanying figures.
Further, the purpose of the foregoing Abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The Abstract is not intended to be limiting as to the scope of the present invention in any way. It is also to be understood that the steps and processes recited in the claims need not be performed in the order presented.
