Inertially responsive footwear lights
First Claim
1. In footwear of a type that includes a lighting system having an electric light, a battery for energizing the light, and an electrical circuit for electrically connecting the battery to the light, improved switching means disposed within the electrical circuit for selectively connecting and disconnecting the battery to and from the light in response to inertial forces acting on the footwear, the improved switching means comprising:
- a base portion disposed in the footwear;
a spring attached to the base portion, at least a portion of the spring being resiliently moveable with respect to the base portion;
an electrically conductive mass attached to the moveable portion of the spring to define an inertially responsive, spring-mass member having at least one degree of freedom of movement relative to the base portion and responsive to an inertial force applied to the footwear; and
,a conductive surface electrically connected to the battery and disposed within the footwear in opposed relation to the mass such that, when the mass is in contact with the conductive surface, the battery is electrically connected to the light, thereby causing the light to turn on, and when the mass is apart from the surface, the battery is disconnected from the light, thereby turning the light off, wherein an inertial force applied to the footwear causes the light to flash on and off.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An inertially responsive lighting system (10) for footwear has at least one electric light source (12), a battery (16), circuit means (22) to connect the battery to the light, and electro-mechanical switching means (24) disposed in the circuit means that are responsive to an inertial impulse force acting on the footwear to cause the light to flash on and off for a brief interval after the force is applied.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. In footwear of a type that includes a lighting system having an electric light, a battery for energizing the light, and an electrical circuit for electrically connecting the battery to the light, improved switching means disposed within the electrical circuit for selectively connecting and disconnecting the battery to and from the light in response to inertial forces acting on the footwear, the improved switching means comprising:
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a base portion disposed in the footwear; a spring attached to the base portion, at least a portion of the spring being resiliently moveable with respect to the base portion; an electrically conductive mass attached to the moveable portion of the spring to define an inertially responsive, spring-mass member having at least one degree of freedom of movement relative to the base portion and responsive to an inertial force applied to the footwear; and
,a conductive surface electrically connected to the battery and disposed within the footwear in opposed relation to the mass such that, when the mass is in contact with the conductive surface, the battery is electrically connected to the light, thereby causing the light to turn on, and when the mass is apart from the surface, the battery is disconnected from the light, thereby turning the light off, wherein an inertial force applied to the footwear causes the light to flash on and off. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. Footwear having a lighting system that flashes on and off in response to inertial forces acting upon the footwear, comprising:
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a flexible upper portion adapted to surround at least a portion of an upper surface of a wearer'"'"'s foot; a sole portion attached to the upper portion and adapted to underlie the wearer'"'"'s foot and to contact the ground; at least one electrical light source disposed in the footwear such that light emitted from the source is visible exteriorly of the footwear; a battery for powering the light source; electrical circuit means for electrically connecting the battery to the light source; and switching means for flashing the light source on and off in response to forces incident upon the footwear, said switching means comprising; a base disposed within the footwear; an electrically conductive spring-mass system resiliently mounted on the base and electrically connected to the circuit means, the spring-mass system having at least one degree of freedom of harmonic motion relative to an equilibrium position on the base in response to a force acting on the base; and
,an electrically conductive surface connected to the circuit means and mounted in opposed relation to, and within a range of motion of, the spring-mass system such that, when the spring-mass system moves into contact with the electrically conductive surface, the battery is electrically connected to the light, thereby switching the light source on, and when the spring-mass system and the electrically conductive surface are separated, the battery is electrically disconnected from the light source, thereby switching the light source off. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification