Year-round decorative lights with multiple strings of series-coupled bipolar bicolor leds for selectable holiday color schemes
First Claim
1. A decorative lighting apparatus, comprising:
- a first wire having a first plurality of lamps coupled in series therealong;
a second wire having a second plurality of lamps coupled in series therealong;
a return wire coupled to ends of the first and the second wires;
each lamp of the first plurality comprising a first light-emitting diode (LED) device which is coupled in parallel and in reverse orientation with a second LED device;
each lamp of the second plurality comprising a third LED device which is coupled in parallel and in reverse orientation with a fourth LED device;
the first and the second wires being positioned together such that each lamp of the first and the second pluralities are positioned adjacent to each other but sufficiently separated such that little or no color mixing occurs between lamps;
a controller;
a first output from the controller for controlling an illumination of a color in the first plurality of lamps along the first wire;
a second output from the controller for controlling an illumination of a color in the second plurality of lamps along the second wire;
a decorating selector which provides a plurality of user-selectable switch settings;
the controller being adapted to control the first and the second outputs to provide a different color scheme in the first and the second pluralities of lamps for each user-selectable switch setting; and
at least some of the different color schemes comprising at least two different colors simultaneously illuminated in the first and the second pluralities of lamps.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A decorative lighting apparatus provides user-selectable color schemes corresponding to several holidays and other occasions and themes for year-round use. In one illustrative example, a decorative lighting apparatus includes a decorative light strand having a first wire with a first plurality of lamps coupled in series therealong, a second wire with a second plurality of lamps coupled in series therealong, a third wire with a third plurality of lamps coupled in series therealong, and a return wire coupled to ends of the first, the second, and the third wires. Each lamp of the first plurality has a first light-emitting diode (LED) device (e.g. red) which is coupled in parallel and in reverse orientation with a second LED device (e.g. orange/yellow), each lamp of the second plurality has a third LED device (e.g. blue) which is coupled in parallel and in reverse orientation with a fourth LED device (e.g. green), and each lamp of the third plurality has at least a fifth light-emitting diode (LED) device (e.g. white). Preferably, each lamp of the first and the second pluralities is a two-leaded bipolar, bicolor LED. The first, the second, and the third wires are positioned together such that each lamp of the first, the second, and the third pluralities are positioned adjacent to each other but sufficiently separated such that little or no color mixing occurs between the lamps. A controller includes a first output for controlling an illumination of a color in the first plurality of lamps, a second output for controlling an illumination of a color in the second plurality of lamps, and a third output for controlling an illumination of a color in the third plurality of lamps. The controller is adapted to control the first, the second, and the third outputs to provide a different color scheme in the first, the second, and the third pluralities of lamps for each user-selectable switch setting of a decorating selector, to provide various simultaneously-illuminated combinations of color.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A decorative lighting apparatus, comprising:
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a first wire having a first plurality of lamps coupled in series therealong;
a second wire having a second plurality of lamps coupled in series therealong;
a return wire coupled to ends of the first and the second wires;
each lamp of the first plurality comprising a first light-emitting diode (LED) device which is coupled in parallel and in reverse orientation with a second LED device;
each lamp of the second plurality comprising a third LED device which is coupled in parallel and in reverse orientation with a fourth LED device;
the first and the second wires being positioned together such that each lamp of the first and the second pluralities are positioned adjacent to each other but sufficiently separated such that little or no color mixing occurs between lamps;
a controller;
a first output from the controller for controlling an illumination of a color in the first plurality of lamps along the first wire;
a second output from the controller for controlling an illumination of a color in the second plurality of lamps along the second wire;
a decorating selector which provides a plurality of user-selectable switch settings;
the controller being adapted to control the first and the second outputs to provide a different color scheme in the first and the second pluralities of lamps for each user-selectable switch setting; and
at least some of the different color schemes comprising at least two different colors simultaneously illuminated in the first and the second pluralities of lamps. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A decorative lighting apparatus, comprising:
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a first wire having a first plurality of lamps coupled in series therealong;
a second wire having a second plurality of lamps coupled in series therealong;
a third wire having a third plurality of lamps coupled in series therealong;
a return wire coupled to ends of the first, the second, and the third wires;
each lamp of the first plurality comprising a first light-emitting diode (LED) device which is coupled in parallel and in reverse orientation with a second LED device;
each lamp of the second plurality comprising a third LED device which is coupled in parallel and in reverse orientation with a fourth LED device;
each lamp of the third plurality comprising at least a fifth light-emitting diode (LED) device;
a controller;
a first output from the controller for controlling an illumination of a color in the first plurality of lamps along the first wire;
a second output from the controller for controlling an illumination of a color in the second plurality of lamps along the second wire;
a third output from the controller for controlling an illumination of a color in the third plurality of lamps along the third wire;
each lamp of the first, the second, and the third pluralities being sufficiently separated such that little or no color mixing occurs between lamps;
a decorating selector which provides a plurality of user-selectable switch settings;
a controller which is adapted to control the first, the second, and the third outputs to provide a different color scheme in the first, the second, and the third pluralities of lamps for each user-selectable switch setting;
at least some of the different color schemes consisting of two colors which are simultaneously illuminated in the lamps; and
at least some of the different color schemes consisting of three colors which are simultaneously illuminated in the lamps. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A decorative lighting apparatus, comprising:
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a first wire having a first plurality of lamps coupled in series therealong;
a second wire having a second plurality of lamps coupled in series therealong;
a return wire coupled to ends of the first and the second wires;
each lamp of the first plurality comprising a first light-emitting diode (LED) device which is coupled in parallel and in reverse orientation with a second LED device;
each lamp of the second plurality comprising a third LED device which is coupled in parallel and in reverse orientation with a fourth LED device;
the first and the second wires being positioned together such that each lamp of the first and the second pluralities are positioned adjacent to each other but sufficiently separated such that little or no color mixing occurs between lamps;
a decorating selector which provides a plurality of user-selectable switch settings;
a controller;
a first output from the controller for controlling an illumination of a color in the first plurality of lamps along the first wire;
a second output from the controller for controlling illumination of a color in the second plurality of lamps along the second wire;
the controller being adapted to control the first and the second outputs to provide a different color scheme in the first and the second pluralities of lamps for each user-selectable switch setting;
the different color schemes including;
a first color scheme which consists of the color white;
a second color scheme which includes the colors red and green which are simultaneously illuminated along the decorative light strand;
a third color scheme which includes the colors red and white which are simultaneously illuminated along the decorative light strand;
a fourth color scheme which includes the color green and white which are simultaneously illuminated along the decorative light strand; and
a fifth color scheme which includes the color blue.
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21. A decorative lighting apparatus, comprising:
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a first plurality of two-leaded, fixed-color light-emitting diodes (LEDs) coupled in series along a first wire of the decorative light strand;
a second plurality of two-leaded, fixed-color LEDs, each of which is coupled in parallel and in reverse orientation with a corresponding LED of the first plurality;
a third plurality of two-leaded, fixed-color LEDs coupled in series along a second wire of the decorative light strand;
a fourth plurality of two-leaded, fixed-color LEDs, each of which is coupled in parallel and in reverse orientation with a corresponding LED of the third plurality;
the first and the second wires being positioned together such that each lamp of the first and the second pluralities are positioned adjacent to each other but sufficiently separated such that little or no color mixing occurs between lamps;
a decorating selector which provides a plurality of user-selectable switch settings;
a controller;
a first output from the controller for controlling an illumination of the first and the second pluralities of LEDs along the first wire;
a second output from the controller for controlling an illumination of the third and the fourth pluralities of LEDs along the second wire;
the controller being adapted to control the first and the second outputs to provide a different color scheme in the first, the second, the third, and the fourth pluralities of LEDs for each user-selectable switch setting; and
at least some of the different color schemes comprising at least two colors which are simultaneously illuminated along the decorative light strand.
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Specification