BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a side view of a bicycle wheel having intermittent phosphorescent material sections upon the tire sidewall that uses complementary colors.
FIG. 2 shows a side view of a bicycle wheel having intermittent phosphorescent material sections upon the tire sidewall that uses analogous colors.
FIG. 3 shows a side view of a bicycle wheel having a single ring of phosphorescent material having an alternating pattern in solid bands of white and a second color.
FIG. 4 shows a side view of a bicycle wheel having a single ring of phosphorescent material having a different alternating pattern of complementary colors.
FIG. 5 shows a side view of a bicycle wheel having intermittent phosphorescent material sections upon the tire sidewall arranged in shape and spacing to form a word or image to the viewer as the tire is rotated.
FIG. 6 shows a side view of a bicycle wheel having mag rims having intermittent phosphorescent material sections upon the sides.
FIG. 7 shows a side view of a bicycle having a front and rear wheels with different color phosphorescent pigments, such as white and red.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In some embodiments, the present invention is an arrangement of multiple phosphorescent visages within a single band or other shape, or multiple bands or shapes, on the same wheel assembly. With the phosphorescent material charged and glowing, and the wheel assembly rotating, the different visages will appear to the human eye to visually overlap (either completely or partially). With this effect, the wheel assembly will visual effect not seen while the wheel assembly is stationary, such as having a strobing, flashing, and/or vibrating appearance. The approach may use alternating clashing colors, varied tones, variations in color saturation, and variation in pigment brightness of the phosphorescent material along the lateral side or sides of the wheel and/or tire.
There are some combinations of colors and tones that are particularly suited for this application. Colors that are known to be opposite on the color chart are very effective for this use. These combinations include red and green, blue and orange, purple and yellow. These colors are commonly known as the complementary colors. Another method would involve using a bright color such as white in combination with another color or colors. The variance in the brightness of the colors creates a flashing appearance. The use of spacing between phosphorescent segments can break the glow pattern enough to cause a blinking effect while the wheel is rotated.
Another approach is to use multiple colors of an analogous color group. Analogous colors are the colors on a standard color chart which lay to either side of a third color. An example would be the use of orange, yellow-orange, and yellow. Another example of this is the use of blue, blue-green, and green. This usage of analogous colors on a rotating wheel or tire may cause a single color to appear, but with an observable surface tension or vibrating effect.
In addition to complementary and analogous color combinations, the colors may alternatively be triadic, tetradic, or split-complementary. Triadic are three colors that are at an even distance from each other on the color wheel. Tetradic is similar to triadic, but with four colors evenly spaced from each other on the color wheel. Split-complementary uses a color and the two colors on either side of its complementary color. Further still, a monochromatic approach may be used, with a variation in tones for a single color. An example of this latter approach is bright red, dark red, and faded out red.
These and other methods of creating a visually enhanced phosphorescent appearance are discussed below. It should be noted that, for simplicity, the invention is discussed below generally in the context of a bicycle. However, the present invention is not limited to bicycles, but may instead be used on any wheels and/or tires, such as on motorcycles, baby strollers, or the like, as is appropriate.
FIGS. 1-4 depict a bicycle wheel assembly, generally indicated at 10. The wheel assembly 10 typically includes a tire 12 mounted on a conventional spoked wheel structure having a generally peripheral rim 14. The wheel 10 rotates about a rotational axis or center C. The tire 12 includes lateral sidewalls 13 that face generally opposite lateral directions. In most embodiments, the relevant phosphorescent material is located on one or both lateral sidewalls 13 so that the center thereof is spaced from the rotational axis C by distance D. The phosphorescent material may be securely disposed to the wheel 10, including the tire 12 and/or rim 14, by any suitable means, such as by adhesives, spray coated, thermal bonding, being integrally molded thereto, or the like. See U.S. Pat. No. 7,001,051 to Palmer et al., and in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/346,956, filed 3 Feb. 2006, the disclosures of which are both incorporated herein by reference. While not shown in FIG. 1, the relevant phosphorescent material may alternatively, or additionally, located on the lateral side of the wheel structure, such as on the rim 14.
In FIG. 1, a series of phosphorescent material segments 16A-E of a first visage color are located at equal distance from each other along the sidewall 13. A second series of phosphorescent material segments 18A-E are located at equal distance from each other along the sidewall in an alternating pattern with segments 16A-E. The second segments 18A-E are of a color complementary to the color of the first segments 16A-E. As the wheel 10 rotates, the segments 16A-E, 18A-E, upon being charged to glow, visually blend to create a flashing or strobing effect. A further embodiment (not shown) may be similar to that of FIG. 1, but with three or more interspaced series of segments, each of a different visage. For example, with three series, the visages may be related such that their respective colors are triadic colors.
In FIG. 2, a series of phosphorescent material segments 20A-E are disposed in circumferentially spaced relation to each other along the sidewall 13 of tire 12 of wheel 10, advantageously in a radially symmetric configuration. Segments 20A-E each have three sections containing a separate color from the same analogous color scheme. Each segment 20A-E is advantageously arranged with the same analogous color scheme lined up in the same color order. As the wheel 10 rotates, the segments 20A-E, upon being charged to glow, visually blend to create a flashing or strobing effect.
In FIG. 3, a ring 22 of phosphorescent material is located along the sidewall 13 of the wheel 10 at a location that is spaced from the rotational axis C of wheel 10. The ring 22 of phosphorescent material includes an alternating pattern of generally radial stripes of white 22a and another color 22b. As the wheel 10 rotates, the ring 22, upon being charged to glow, visually blends the white stripes 22a with the other color stripes 22b to create a flashing or strobing effect.
In FIG. 4, a solid ring 26 of phosphorescent material is located along the sidewall of wheel 10, in spaced relation to rotational axis C. The ring 26 of phosphorescent material is adorned with an alternating pattern of irregularly shaped segments 26a,26b of a color and it's complementary color. As the wheel 10 rotates, the ring 26 of phosphorescent material, upon being charged to glow, visually blends the segments 26a,26b to create a flashing or strobing effect.
FIG. 5 depicts another bicycle wheel 10 with three series 30A-E, 32A-E, 34A-E of phosphorescent material segments disposed in circumferentially spaced relation to each other along the sidewall 13 and in spaced relation from rotational axis C. The series 30A-E, 32A-E, 34A-E are interspaced so that a segment from the first series 30A-E is followed by a segment from the second series 32A-E and then a segment from the third series 34A-E, followed by the next segment from the first series 30A-E, and so forth in a repeating cycle. The segments may have any appropriate shape, and are typically irregular in shape (as contrasted with the regular shapes depicted in FIG. 1). As the wheel 10 rotates, the segments of the series 30A-E, 32A-E, 34A-E, upon being charged to glow, visually blend to form a recognizable symbol, picture, word, or character(s), or combination thereof—generically an indicia.
FIG. 6 depicts a “mag” style wheel for a bicycle with a tire, generally indicated at 36. An area 38 having phosphorescent material is located along the side of the mag wheel 36, along a spoke, and disposed in spaced relation from the rotational axis C. A second area 40 having phosphorescent material analogous in color to the first area 38 is located along another spoke. A third area 42 having phosphorescent material analogous in color to areas 38,40 is located along the remaining spoke. As the wheel 36 rotates, the areas 38,40,42 of phosphorescent material, upon being charged to glow, visually blend to create a flashing or strobing effect.
Most of the embodiments are described above in the context of using different colors. However, as discussed above the desired effect may alternatively be achieved by varying the color, hues, tones, color saturation, and/or pigment brightness of the phosphorescent material. Accordingly, as used in the following claims, the term “visage” is intended to mean a combination of color, tone, color saturation, and emitted brightness of the phosphorescent material at a uniform charge level. Thus, phosphorescent materials of two different visages may have the same color, hue, and tone, but have a different color saturation; or may be of the same color saturation, but of different colors.
Many of the embodiments discussed above utilize phosphorescent segments of different visages that are disposed at a substantially common radial distance D from the rotational center. Such an arrangement is believed advantageous. However, some variability in radial distance between the phosphorescent segments of different visage sets, and between the phosphorescent segments of a single visage set, is also envisioned. Provided the relevant phosphorescent segments appear to visually overlap (entirely or partially) when the wheel assembly is rotated, the desired effect may be achieved, and such is within the present invention.
Further, while many of the embodiments discussed above utilize phosphorescent segments located on the sidewall 13 of tire 12, it should be noted that, in some embodiments, other portions of the tire 12 may additionally include phosphorescent material, such as on the opposing lateral side, and/or in or on the tread. Further, for embodiments that utilize phosphorescent material on the wheel structure (e.g., rim 14), the phosphorescent material may extend inward all the way to the rotational axis of the wheel structure, but the portion of such phosphorescent material disposed away from the rotational axis (even if closer to the rotational axis than the perimeter) should be considered as the relevant phosphorescent material that is disposed at a position spaced from the rotational center. In some embodiments, the phosphorescent material may not be present any closer to the rotational center than the innermost portion of the circular rim 14 (e.g., the surface where the outboard end portion of spokes attach); in other embodiments, the phosphorescent material may be located inboard thereof.
FIG. 7 depicts a bicycle of any conventional type, generally indicated at 43, having a frame 44, a front wheel 46, and a rear wheel 50. One or more phosphorescent chargers 49, such as battery or generator powered ultraviolet LEDs, may be mounted to frame 44, and associated with one or both wheels 46,50 for charging the phosphorescent sections associated with the corresponding wheel(s) 46,50 so as to make the same glow. Additional details of a bicycle or other wheeled vehicle, and phosphorescent chargers, may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 7,001,051, and in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/346,956, incorporated by reference above. Any of the phosphorescent material arrangements of the various embodiments discussed above may be used in conjunction with bicycle 44. Further, in one embodiment, the front wheel 46 has at least one phosphorescent section 48 located on the surface of a first color (e.g., white) and the rear wheel 50 has at least one phosphorescent section 52 located upon its surface of a second color (e.g. red). The phosphorescent sections 48,52 may be disposed on the tire, on the rim, or any other portion of wheel, advantageously in spaced relation to the rotational axis of the respective wheel. As the phosphorescent sections 48,52 are activated to glow, an onlooker may determine the front wheel 46 from the rear wheel 50, without the need to view the rest of the bicycle 44. It should be noted that the front wheel 46 and the rear wheel 50 may also have other phosphorescent sections, other than sections 48,52, that may optionally have the same or different visages. For example, the front wheel 46 may have red, white, and blue sections, while the rear wheel 50 may have red, white, and green sections. For such a scenario, the blue section acts as section 48, while the green section acts as section 52.
The present invention may, of course, be carried out in other specific ways than those herein set forth without departing from the essential characteristics of the invention. Indeed, the aspects of the various embodiments, including phosphorescent material location on the wheel assembly, shape, etc., may be combined as desired. Thus, the disclosed embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.
Patent Application
20070285938
