Simplified illuminating means for safety illuminated shoe

• US 5,406,724 A
• Filed: 08/15/1994
• Issued: 04/18/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Wen-Tsung Lin
• Original Assignee: Wen-Tsung Lin
• Inventors: Lin, Wen-Tsung
• Primary Examiner(s): Foster, Jimmy G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): KAVANAUGH, JOHN T
• Application Number:
  US08/290,569
• Time in Patent Office: 246 Days
• Field of Search: 36/137, 36/136, 362/103, 362/800
• US Class Current: 36/137
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 1/0072 made at least partially of transparent or translucent materials
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 3/34 with electrical or electronic arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 3/36 with light sources
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 3/40 Batteries

Abstract

An illuminating device for safety illuminated shoe includes: a retaining base fixed in a transparent holder in a shoe heel for securing a printed circuit board on the retaining base, a restoring trigger switch formed in a laminate sheet of the printed circuit board by directly punching the laminate sheet for decreasing production cost to form a resilient blade member having an electrically conductive foil plated on a bottom of the resilient blade member, and a battery attached to a bottom of the printed circuit board with a negative pole of the battery positioned under the resilient blade member to be normally separated from the resilient blade member, whereby upon treading of the shoe to depress the resilient blade member downwardly to contact the electrically conductive foil with the negative pole of the battery for powering and illumiating the illuminators through the transparent holder in the shoe heel.

Claims

1. An illuminating means for use in a safety illuminated shoe comprising:

a retaining base made of electrically insulative material and embedded in a transparent holder formed in a shoe heel, a printed circuit board secured in an upper portion of the base and having an electrically insulative laminate sheet and an integrated circuit printed in the laminte sheet, a restoring trigger switch formed in the laminate sheet, a battery attached to the laminate sheet of the printed circuit board, a plurality of illuminators secured on the printed circuit board and controlled by the integrated circuit for a timing control of the illumination of the illuminators, a photoresistive switch electrically connected between the battery and the integrated circuit through the trigger switch for powering the illuminators and the integrated circuit at night, and an electrically insulative washer packed between a bottom of the laminate sheet of the printed circuit board and the battery to normally separate the trigger switch from the battery;

improvement which comprises;

said restoring trigger switch of the illuminating means including;

a resilient blade member and directly punched from the electrically insulative laminate sheet of the printed circuit board to form a punching slit with a connector portion connecting the resilient blade member to the laminate sheet;

an electrically conductive foil plated on a bottom of the resilient blade member and electrically connected to a trigger pin of the integrated circuit of the illuminating means by a negative leading wire;

the battery formed as a button cell jacketed in the electrically insulative washer and held in a battery bracket and positioned under the resilient blade member, the battery bracket made of electrically conductive material having at least two clips secured to the laminate sheet of the printed circuit board with a positive pole formed on a bottom of the battery contacted with the battery socket, the clips and electrically connected to the integrated circuit through a positive leading wire and a soldering joint connecting each said clip of said battery bracket with the positive leading wire, and with a negative pole of the battery formed on a top of the battery positioned below and adjacent to the electrically conductive foil of the resilient blade member; and

the electrically insulative washer having a shallow cylinder portion disposed around the battery of button cell, an annular rim formed on a top portion of the cylinder portion and defining a central opening within the annular rim with the annular rim packed between the laminate sheet of the printed circuit board with the negative pole of the battery for normally separating the electrically conductive foil from the negative pole of the battery;

whereby upon treading of the shoe, the resilient blade member will be depressed downwardly to allow the electrically conductive foil to contact the negative pole of the battery, thereby closing the trigger switch for triggering and powering the integrated circuit and the illuminators for illuminating the illuminators; and

upon releasing of the treading of the shoe, the resilient blade member will be automatically restored by its self resilience to be horizontally straightened to disconnect the foil from the negative pole of the battery for opening the trigger switch.

2. An illuminating means according to claim 1, wherein said central opening of the insulative washer has an area larger than that of the resilient blade member, thereby allowing a downward depression of the blade member to contact the foil on the bottom of the blade member with the negative pole of the battery.

3. An illuminating means according to claim 1, wherein said shallow cylinder portion of the insulative washer has a height shorter than that of the battery of button cell to ensure an electrical contact between the positive pole of the battery with the battery bracket.

4. An illuminating means for use in a safety illuminated shoe comprising:

a retaining base made of electrically insulative material and embedded in a transparent holder formed in a shoe heel, a printed circuit board secured in an upper portion of the base and having an electrically insulative laminate sheet and an integrated circuit printed in the laminate sheet, a restoring trigger switch formed on the laminate sheet, a battery attached to the laminate sheet of the printed circuit board, a plurality of illuminators secured on the printed circuit board and controlled by the integrated circuit for a timing control of the illumination of the illuminators, a photoresistive switch electrically connected between the battery and the integrated circuit through the trigger switch for powering the illuminators and the integrated circuit at night, and an electrically insulative washer packed between a bottom of the laminate sheet of the printed circuit board and the battery to normally separate the trigger switch from the battery;

the improvement which comprises;

said restoring trigger switch of the illuminating means including;

a resilient blade member and made of electrically conductive material and secured to the laminate sheet and electrically connected to a trigger pin of the integrated circuit of the illuminating means by a negative leading wire;

the battery formed as a button cell jacketed in the electrically insulative washer and held in a battery bracket and positioned under the resilient blade member, the battery bracket made of electrically conductive material having at least two clips secured to the laminate sheet of the printed circuit board with a positive pole formed on a bottom of the battery contacted with the battery socket, the clips and electrically connected to the integrated circuit through a positive leading wire and a soldering joint connecting each said clip of said battery bracket with the positive leading wire, and with a negative pole of the battery formed on a top of the battery positioned below and adjacent to the resilient blade member;

said laminate sheet punched with a punching hole therein allowing a downward depression of said resilient blade member to contact the negative pole of said battery upon a treading of the shoe for closing the trigger switch; and

the insulative washer having a shallow cylinder portion disposed around the battery of button cell, an annular rim formed on a top portion of the cylinder portion and defining a central opening within the annular rim with the annular rim packed between the laminate sheet of the printed circuit board with the negative pole of the battery for normally separating the resilient blade member from the negative pole of the battery; and

said blade member generally being coplanar to an upper surface of said laminate sheet to be normally separated from said battery and operatively depressed downwardly to contact the battery for triggering said integrated circuit and said illuminators.