Article of wearing apparel

• US 4,231,079 A
• Filed: 03/28/1979
• Issued: 10/28/1980
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/1979
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Stephen R. Heminover
• Original Assignee: Stephen R. Heminover
• Inventors: Heminover, Stephen R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hayes, Monroe H.
• Application Number:
  US06/024,672
• Time in Patent Office: 580 Days
• Field of Search: 362/103, 362/104, 362/105, 362/106, 362/107, 362/108, 362/184, 362/227, 362/252, 362/249, 362/800, 362/183
• US Class Current: 362/106
• CPC Class Codes: A41D 27/085 Luminous ornaments
• CPC Class Codes: A41F 9/002 Free belts
• CPC Class Codes: A42B 3/044 Lighting devices, e.g. helmets with lamps
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 362/80 Light emitting diode

Abstract

An article of wearing apparel such as a rigid opaque hat or a multi-layer belt has light emitting diodes mounted therein for being viewed, the terminals of the diodes and the circuitry for controlling the same being concealed within the article of apparel or on the person of the wearer. Control circuitry includes an electronic clock which sends electric pulses to an electronic counter, the output of which passes through a decoder which controls which diodes are sequentially illuminated to create an illusion of motion for getting the attention of others or for providing a type of theatrical ornamentation for the user.

Claims

1. A hat assembly comprising, in combination:

(a) a rigid opaque hat having a side exposed to view when worn, and having perforations through said side leading to the space above the head of the wearer;

(b) a series of light emitting diodes of the display type disposed in and projecting through said perforations for being viewed, the terminals thereof being disposed out-of-view;

(c) a battery for powering said diodes; and

(d) control circuitry interconnecting said battery and said diode terminals, said circuitry being adapted to energize said diodes sequentially at a rate to optically simulate motion and including

(1) an electronic clock adapted to emit electrical pulses,

(2) an electronic counter driven by said clock pulses, and

(3) a decoder connecting said counter to predetermined ones of said diodes.

2. A hat assembly according to claim 1, including an external variable resistor connected to said clock for manually changing the speed of said clock.

3. A hat assembly according to claim 1, including a pair of gates connecting said clock to separate up-down inputs of said counter, and a flip-flop circuit enabling one of said gates at a time and pulsed by a source of control signals.

4. A hat assembly according to claim 1, including a manual selector connected between said clock and separate up-down inputs of said counter.

5. A hat assembly according to claim 1, including a series of electronic gates in series with selected ones of said diodes, said gates being controlled by the outputs of said decoder.

6. A hat assembly according to claim 5, said electronic gates comprising PNP transistors whose bases are connected to said decoder outputs, whose collectors are grounded, and whose emitters are connected to said selected ones of said diodes.

7. A hat assembly according to claim 1, said battery being of the rechargeable type, a full-wave rectifier bridge circuit connected thereto, a jack connected to said bridge and adapted to be connected to a low-voltage ac-power supply, and a selector switch for

(a) closing said bridge circuit while opening said control circuitry, and for

(b) opening said bridge circuit while closing said control circuitry.

8. A hat assembly according to claim 3, said source of control signals being two of the outputs of said decoder.