Strobe light for a vehicle tire and wheel
First Claim
1. A lighting device for a vehicle having at least one wheel and a direct current (DC) power supply, each wheel being located within a wheel well of said vehicle and having a rotating portion including a tire and a non-rotating portion including a hub, said tire being in rolling contact with a roadway when in use and removable for making repairs to said tire and said wheel, said lighting device comprising:
- a light attached to said vehicle and having a stroboscopic flash tube to illuminate said wheel of said vehicle;
a pulse modulator energized by said DC power supply when activated by a first power switch for monitoring a first electrical signal from said rotating wheel and for generating a second electrical pulse signal at a modulated frequency and a modulated phase angle; and
a flash generator energized and activated by said second electrical pulse signal for triggering said flash tube at said modulated frequency and said modulated phase angle, wherein said wheel is illuminated by said lighting device at said modulated frequency.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The lighting device and method of this invention makes the wheel well areas of a vehicle available for displaying messages and graphical indicia. The lighting device also allows the wheel well to be illuminated during normal and emergency repairs when insufficient light is available. The lighting device further enhances the appearance of the vehicle and will attract the attention of others. The lighting device can have a sensor to monitor the rotation of the tire and has a pulse modulator to synchronize light flashes from a flash generator with information a sidewall of the tire. The tire will appear to be stopped. A stroboscopic flash tube is used to provide bright flashes of light for a short duration to illuminate the wheel well including the tire. A number of different indicia can be displayed on each tire by modulating the frequency and the phase angle of the light flashes.
66 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A lighting device for a vehicle having at least one wheel and a direct current (DC) power supply, each wheel being located within a wheel well of said vehicle and having a rotating portion including a tire and a non-rotating portion including a hub, said tire being in rolling contact with a roadway when in use and removable for making repairs to said tire and said wheel, said lighting device comprising:
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a light attached to said vehicle and having a stroboscopic flash tube to illuminate said wheel of said vehicle; a pulse modulator energized by said DC power supply when activated by a first power switch for monitoring a first electrical signal from said rotating wheel and for generating a second electrical pulse signal at a modulated frequency and a modulated phase angle; and a flash generator energized and activated by said second electrical pulse signal for triggering said flash tube at said modulated frequency and said modulated phase angle, wherein said wheel is illuminated by said lighting device at said modulated frequency. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A lighting assembly for a wheel well of a vehicle having a tire, said assembly comprising:
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a sensor for monitoring a rotational frequency of said tire and generating a first electrical signal corresponding to said rotational frequency of said tire; a pulse modulator for modulating said first electrical signal to generate a synchronous second electrical pulse signal at a modulated frequency and a modulated phase angle; a direct current (DC) power source to energize said pulse modulator using a first power switch and to energize said sensor using a second power switch; a flash generator energized and activated by said synchronous second electrical pulse signal; and a light attached to said vehicle and having a stroboscopic flash tube which is energized and activated by said flash generator having a power trigger to produce light flashes at said modulated frequency and said modulated phase angle, wherein said light flashes illuminate said wheel well having said tire of said vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for stroboscopically lighting at least one wheel well of a vehicle having a direct current (DC) power supply, each wheel well having a tire, said method including for a respective wheel well the steps of;
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a) attaching a light having a stroboscopic flash tube to said vehicle adjacent said wheel well and said tire; b) sensing a rotational frequency of said tire using a sensor mounted on a wheel of said vehicle energized by said DC power supply and activated by a second power switch to generate a first electrical signal; c) providing a pulse modulator energized by said DC power supply and activated by a first power switch to receive and monitor said first electrical signal from said sensor; d) modulating said first electrical signal using a second control switch of said pulse modulator to generate a second electrical pulse signal at a predetermined modulated phase angle based on the circumferential location of indicia on a sidewall of said tire; e) modulating said first electrical signal using a first control switch of said pulse modulator to generate said second electrical pulse signal at a predetermined modulated frequency based on said rotational frequency of said tire and the number of said indicia equally positioned in an angular relationship around said sidewall of said tire; and f) operating said first and second power switches to provide stroboscopic lighting of said wheel well and said tire at said modulated frequency and said modulated phase angle.
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Specification