Patent Application
20140007474
The present invention relates to inexpensive bright energy efficient illuminated signs, lighting fixtures and displays. It relates particularly to signs used to advertise real estate for sale or rent, but advantages of the present invention would be applicable to various other signs, displays and light devices for a variety of other uses.
Prior art signs are generally wood, plastic or metal panels with text and indicia printed on both sides and suspended by a cross arm attached to a post, or attached to a rectangular or U shaped frame. In particular most real estate signs used today are not illuminated and as a result cannot be easily seen at night. This is particularly unfortunate during winter months when people who are potential home buyers are commuting home from work at dusk or night during winter or daylight savings times. At such times an illuminated sign may catch their attention where otherwise the home for sale may go unnoticed.
There are a few existing solutions that try to address this problem, but they have failed to gain widespread use. Generally real estate signs are placed near the front of the property or street where there is no readily available source of electric power. To solve this problem several kinds of signs and signage lighting systems use battery power charged by a solar panel. Currently such signs are commonly lit by shining a light at them (from the top, bottom or sides), or back lit (where a light source is placed in a box behind a translucent panel). Examples of these signage solutions fall into two groups. Group one are signage lighting systems that light standard real estate signs by shining a light at them. Examples of this group are disclosed in Holman, U.S. Pat. No. 7,585,085 B1, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Meyers, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,357,527, the contents of which are all incorporated herein by reference. Giannone, U.S. Pat. No. 6,004,002, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference and Doyle, U.S. Pat. No. 5,101,329 the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. The other group includes various forms of back-lit signage powered by solar charged batteries. Examples of these include: Reading, U.S. Pat. No. 5,729,924, Emert, U.S. Pat. No. 6,263,601 B1, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, and Ter-Hovhannissian, U.S. Pat. No. 7,549,245 B2 the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
It is believed the reason these signs have not gained wide spread acceptance and use is the often unorthodox and unprofessional appearance of the signs, as well as, the cost associated with their complex designs. In addition, these and other prior art back lit signs or displays are bulky requiring a custom built box-like enclosure; or, if made with an edge lit panels, are heavy and are limited in size. Also, prior art signs using light emitting diode (LED) light strips tend to exhibit “hot spots”, which are sections where the light is more intense than other sections, i.e. uneven light distribution. The instant invention provides solutions to these problems.
This invention relates to the design of a novel thin, bright, energy efficient, inexpensive illuminated thin-wall panel modular display (TWMD) suitable for signs and other uses. A TWMD is disclosed comprising a thin wall panel comprising two outer walls with a plurality of ribs in between such that a series of chambers are created in the thin wall panel. The TWMD comprises at least one light strip. The light strip may be positioned on an edge of the TWMD or within one or more chambers of the thin wall panel or both. In one embodiment the TWMD may be powered by a battery, preferably a solar charged battery, or connected to an AC or DC power source. The TWMD is particularly well suited to be used as an illuminated replacement for the current form of real estate signs without a significant change to the outward appearance of the sign during daylight hours. The design may be adapted for vehicle signage, house number signs, emergency exit signs, and a variety of other illuminated display or lighting uses.
A solar powered real estate sign has been selected to illustrate the invention by way of example and is hereinafter described in detail with reference to accompanying drawings.
Reference will now be made in detail to some specific embodiments of the invention including the best modes contemplated by the inventor for carrying out the invention. Examples of these specific embodiments are illustrated in the accompanying figures. While the invention is described in conjunction with these specific embodiments, it will be understood that it is not intended to limit the invention to the described embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. The present invention may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood to one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It is understood that the embodiments described herein including the figures disclose only illustrative but not exhaustive examples of the present invention. It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that many different ways of powering, controlling, lighting, shaping, and attaching or displaying lighted displays and fixtures incorporating the invention are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. All patents, publications and disclosures disclosed herein are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes.
In one embodiment the present invention is a thin, bright, energy efficient, inexpensive back-lit illuminated TWMD suitable for signs and other display uses. In one embodiment the TWMD may be assembled from only a few parts and at the same time comprises an easily changeable number of light sources. Another advantage of the TWMD is that it is thin, preferably less than three quarters of an inch thick so it is suitable as a replacement for traditional real estate signage, and traditional picture frames and may also be used for other forms of signage, lighting, advertising or art displays. Other advantages of the invention are its light weight and strength, and it can be easily fabricated with simple hand or power tools.
The present invention alters the structure and composition of prior art thin wall panels to create an effective and pleasing TWMD having many different uses. The thin wall panels used in the present invention can comprise any material but preferred are thermoplastics and particularly preferred are polycarbonate (PC), PC-acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) mixtures; ABS; polyacrylates, for example poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA); acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA) styrene-acrylonitrile (SAN); polyalkylenes, e.g., polypropylene (PP); and polyesters, e.g., poly(butanolterephthalate) (PBT).
In one embodiment the invention contemplates thin wall panels comprising outer walls having ribs attached thereto. By “attached” it is meant joined or fastened. The thin wall panels comprise at least one light strip positioned on or within the thin wall panel. By “positioned” it is meant placed physically in a location. As used herein “location” includes any part of the TWMD including the perimeter edges, the outer or inner walls and chambers. When used herein “light strip” is meant to include structures comprising at least one light means. A preferred light means or light is a light emitting diode (LED) but the invention contemplates that many types of light means are suitable including electroluminescent ceramics, electroluminescent wire, organic light emitting diode (OLED), neon, xenon and halogen lights, depending on the desired end use. The light strip may comprise a single light means or a plurality of light means. The lights on the light strip may be arranged in any order or shape desired. The light strip also comprises a means for connecting or interconnecting several light strips to an electrical power source. The light strip may be flat, round or other shape and may be flexible or rigid. The light strip may comprise any width and length. The light strip used in the present invention may comprise a laminate structure comprising two or more layers. Suitable laminates for the light strip include films covering or partially covering the light strip having a surface relief pattern to enhance contrast or focus or disperse light. In another embodiment a binary phase grating may be used in the laminate structure for a larger viewing angle or a blazed phase grating for a narrower viewing angle. Binary phase gratings are known in the art for example in U.S. Pat. No. 6906861 B2 the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. A blazed grating also called an echelette grating is a type of diffraction grating optimized to achieve maximum grating efficiency in a given diffraction order. Maximum optical power is concentrated in the desired diffraction order while the residual power in the other orders (particularly the zeroth) is minimized. The direction in which maximum efficiency is achieved is called the blaze angle and is the third crucial characteristic of a blazed grating directly depending on blaze wavelength and diffraction order. Particularly useful is a light diffusion layer for reducing hot spots. Light diffusion sheets and compositions are known in the art and their use is contemplated with this invention. In one embodiment the invention contemplates that Makrolon LD™ by Bayer Material Science LLC which is a polycarbonate sheet may be placed over an outer surface of the TWMD or the light box frame. In one embodiment a polycarbonate diffuser layer is laminated to the light strip. In another embodiment the thin wall panel may comprise a thermoplastic comprising a filler that will scatter and diffuse light. For example, a mineral filler particle like vitriolic barium having a mesh size of 300 and constituting an approximate 5% wt. of the thermoplastic can be added. Barium sulfate is a white pigment powder that can be used as filler in plastics and may act as a diffuser for a light source. The particle size is approximately 50 microns. One embodiment of the invention contemplates that the walls of the thin wall panel will be composed of a thermoplastic with a light diffusing additive while the ribs of the panel will be composed without the additive.
In one embodiment the outer walls may comprise films which comprise at least one layer of material. Preferably a thermoplastic and preferably the walls have the shape of a flat sheet. However, each wall or rib may be independently the same or different and may have a different three-dimensional structure which is not identical to the structure of the other outer wall or internal ribs.
In one embodiment of the invention the inside of one or both of the outer walls may be structured such that the wall is not smooth but has ridges or a repeating zig zag pattern. Similar examples of structured surfaces are described in the art in EP Patent Application 0150534 A2, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
With reference to
Thin wall panels suitable for some embodiments of the invention include multiple wall sheets such as Verolite™ Multiwall Sheet manufactured by AmeriLux™ International, LLC. There are different wall structures that are suitable for some embodiments of the present invention. Modular light emitting diode (LED) light strips 11, 13a, 13b, 16a, 16b provide illumination. Light strip 16b is positioned in a chamber 18a defined by ribs 15a, 15b. The light strips may comprise different lengths. Light strips 11, 13a, 13b, 16a, 16b may comprise different colors and/or shapes. Light strips 11, 13a, 13b, 16a, 16b may be interconnected one to the other electrically so that one power source powers the TWMD 200 via power cord 4. In one embodiment the light strips are connected in series using a snap together connector 12 with a detachable end 19. Light strips 11, 13a, 13b, 16a, 16b may comprise a rigid material or a flexible material that will bend around various curved panel shapes or between the ribs. Light strips 11, 13a, 13b, 16a, 16b may be of any width desired provided they are sufficiently narrow that they can be inserted in thin wall panel chambers 18, 18a or placed around the perimeter of the thin wall panel 14. In one embodiment the modular light strips 11, 13a, 13b, 16a, 16b comprise a plurality of LEDs 10 such that one, two, four or any number of LEDs 10 in light strip 11, 13a, 13b, 16a, 16b emit light in an arc away or substantially away from the top of the plane defined by the length and width of the light strip 11, 13a, 13b, 16a, 16b. In another embodiment, the light strips 11, 13a, 13b, 16a, 16b comprise a plurality of LEDs 10 that may emit light alternating from the top and bottom of the light strips 11, 13a, 13b, 16a, 16b. In another embodiment, the light strips 11, 13a, 13b, 16a, 16b comprise a plurality of LEDs 10 that can be individually controlled to emit various intensities and/or colors of light. LED 10 within a light strip 11 may be recessed within the light strip 11 so that the top surface of the LED 10 is flush with the top surface of the light strip 11 or the LED 10 may protrude from the top of the light strip 11. In one embodiment the chambers 18, 18b comprise light strips but not the perimeter of the thin wall panel 14. The flexibility of varying positioning of light strips 11, 13a, 13b, 16a, 16b without requiring any special vestibule or attachment means to hold or connect the light strips is an advantage over the prior art. TWMD 200 may also comprise a light diffusing sheet. This sheet may be positioned over the TWMD 200 outer walls to diffuse light from the light strips 11, 13a, 13b, 16a, 16b.
In one embodiment light strips 13a and/or 13b are positioned along the perimeter edge of the TWMD 200 such that the center of at least one LED and preferably all LEDs in the light strip are substantially aligned with the center of a chamber such that a straight line through the center of a chamber the line would intersect the center of an LED on a light strip.
The thin wall panel 14 may be made by any method such as extrusion processes known in the art. One such method is disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0170662 A1 published Nov. 21, 2002 the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 3D printing is also a method for making the thin wall panels of the present invention. A display surface of the first outer wall 20 of the thin wall panel 14 may have laminated thereon or placed in close proximity thereto a sheet 17 which may comprise a translucent or transparent film and may comprise indicia and/or text printed thereon. TWMD 200 may also comprise sheet 9 which may comprise a translucent or transparent film comprising indicia and/or text printed thereon. In one embodiment a diffusing sheet or film is positioned over the front and/or back wall of the TWMD 200 and/or light box frame 7. For example, the outer walls 20, 21 of the TWMD 200 may be coated or laminated with a light diffusing film. First and second sheets 17, 9 may be independently the same or different and can comprise a reflective film or mirrored surface to reflect light that would otherwise pass out through the outer wall 20, 21. In this manner the light may be reflected back toward the front or rear of the sign or display increasing the front TWMD 200 brightness. Sheet 9 and/or 17 may be blank or omitted. Sheet 9 and/or 17 may comprise a reflective film or surface so that the TWMD 200 may be used as a light fixture. In one embodiment the TWMD 200 comprises surface printing on a surface of the first and/or second outer wall 20, 21. The invention contemplates that one or more light strips 16a may be positioned along a side edge on one or more edges of the TWMD 200 using any attachment means desirable such as adhesives, tape, mechanical fasteners, Velcro, magnets and the like.
In one embodiment of the present invention flexible photovoltaic strips may be placed in the chambers 67a and/or 67b in conjunction with or in place of the light strips. The angle theta 66 may be optimized to provide a maximum source of light impinging on the photovoltaic cell. In some embodiment ribs may have holes placed therein for the cooling of cells and/or light strips.
The invention contemplates that TWMDs according to the present invention may be useful as light source placements, power sources, shapes, signage, lighting or displays such as emergency exit signs, traffic signs that would be more identifiable from opposing sides of traffic, business signage, including portable trade show signage, photograph and art framing and display, new or retrofitting lighting fixtures for outdated incandescent and fluorescent light fixtures are non limiting examples.
In claim 1 I claim a thin wall modular display (TWMD) comprising:
In claim 2 I claim a thin wall modular display (TWMD) as claimed in claim 1, wherein:
In claim 3 I claim a thin wall modular display (TWMD) as claimed in claim 1, wherein:
In claim 4 I claim a thin wall modular display (TWMD) as claimed in claim 1, further comprising,
In claim 5 I claim a thin wall modular display (TWMD) as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the light strip comprises at least one light chosen from the group consisting of LEDs, OLEDs, electroluminescent ceramics, electroluminescent wire, neon, xenon and halogen lights.
In claim 6 I claim a thin wall modular display (TWMD) as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:
In claim 7 I claim a thin wall modular display (TWMD) as claimed in claim 1, which is used as a sign,
In claim 8 I claim a thin wall modular display (TWMD) as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:
In claim 9 I claim a thin wall modular display (TWMD) as claimed in claim 8, wherein: at least one light strip is positioned within a chamber.
In claim 10 I claim a thin wall modular display (TWMD) as claimed in claim 8, wherein:
In claim 11 I claim a thin wall modular display (TWMD) as claimed in claim 8, further comprising,
In claim 12 I claim a thin wall modular display (TWMD) as claimed in claim 8, wherein: the light strip comprises at least one light chosen from the group consisting of LEDs, OLEDs, electroluminescent ceramics, electroluminescent wire, neon, xenon and halogen lights.
In claim 13 I claim a thin wall modular display (TWMD) as claimed in claim 8, further comprising:
In claim 14 I claim a thin wall modular display (TWMD) as claimed in claim 8, which is used as a sign,
In claim 15 I claim a sign comprising:
In claim 16 I claim a kit for assembling a TWMD, comprising:
In claim 17 I claim a kit for assembling a TWMD as claimed in claim 16, wherein: the light strip comprises at least one light chosen from the group consisting of LEDs, OLEDs, electroluminescent ceramics, electroluminescent wire, neon, xenon and halogen lights.
In claim 18 I claim a kit for assembling a TWMD as claimed in claim 17, further comprising:
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/669,636 filed Jul. 9, 2012 the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61669636 | Jul 2012 | US |
