Wall clock with dial illumination

• US 7,054,233 B2
• Filed: 06/12/2003
• Issued: 05/30/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Equity Industries, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Equity Industries, Inc.
• Inventors: Chung, Charles Wong Tak, Kibiloski, Keith E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Miska, Vit W.
• Application Number:
  US10/459,793
• Publication Number:
  US 20030231553A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,083 Days
• Field of Search: 368/227, 368/67, 368/66, 368/204, 368/88, 368/276
• US Class Current: 368/67
• CPC Class Codes: G04G 9/0041 Illumination devices

Abstract

A wall clock of the analog type with hands for indicating the time includes a battery, a housing, a dial with time indicia disposed in the housing and an illumination module disposed adjacently to the dial. The illumination module has one or more recesses defined in an edge with one or more light sources disposed in the recesses to provide illumination into the module. The illumination module has edges and a back surface with light reflective properties to reflect light in the interior of the module and out the front surface and through the dial to provide night lighting exterior to the clock. Preferably, the module has an ovate shape such that the recesses and light sources are disposed outside of the dial area. A light sensor senses the ambient lighting conditions and activates and deactivates the light source. The starting and ending times for illumination may also be programmed into the clock. A battery icon has a plurality of bars to indicate the remaining battery capacity. A dimmer control adjusts the desired level of illumination.

Claims

1. A wall clock of the analog type with hands to indicate the hour and minute;

said wall clock comprising;

a housing;

a battery to supply power to the wall clock;

a dial disposed in the housing, said dial containing indicia for the hours, said dial being generally transparent;

an illumination module with generally planar front and rear surfaces, said illumination module of generally ovate shape with an enlarged end, said illumination module disposed in the housing with the front surface of said illumination module disposed behind and adjacently to the dial, said illumination module having a recess defined in the edge of the illumination module at the enlarged end; and

a light source comprising one or more light emitting diodes disposed in said recess to provide illumination into said illumination module;

said edge of the illumination module having light reflective properties, except in the recess, to reflect light about the interior of said illumination module and out the front surface of the illumination module and through said dial to provide illumination exterior to said clock.

2. The wall clock in accordance with claim 1 wherein said rear surface of the illumination module has light reflecting properties.

3. The wall clock in accordance with claim 1 wherein said rear surface of the illumination module has an engraved surface to improve light dispersion within and out of the front surface of said illumination module.

4. The wall clock in accordance with claim 1 wherein a light reflective material is disposed adjacently to the rear surface of the illumination module to reflect light within and out of the front surface of said illumination module.

5. The wall clock in accordance with claim 1 wherein said illumination module is formed of a clear plastic material.

6. The wall clock in accordance with claim 1 further comprising a light sensor to sense the ambient lighting conditions, to activate the light source when the ambient lighting conditions are below a predetermined threshold, and to deactivate the light source when the ambient lighting conditions are above the predetermined threshold.

7. The wall clock in accordance with claim 1 further comprising:

a programmable time control to program the time that the light source will be activated and to program the time that the light source will be deactivated.

8. The wall clock in accordance with claim 1 further comprising a dimmer control to control the amount of illumination provided by the light source to the illumination module.

9. The wall clock in accordance with claim 1 wherein said rear surface of the illumination module has an engraved surface to improve light dispersion within and out of said illumination module.

10. The wall clock in accordance with claim 1 further comprising:

a second recess defined in the edge of said illumination module; and

a second light source disposed in the second recess.

11. The wall clock in accordance with claim 10 wherein said second light source is of a different color than said light source.

12. The wall clock in accordance with claim 11 wherein said second light source is a red color and is activated when the battery needs replacement.

13. The wall clock in accordance with claim 1 further comprising:

a battery icon to indicate the level of charge remaining in the battery.

14. The wall clock in accordance with claim 13 wherein said battery icon has a plurality of bars to indicate the level of charge remaining in the battery.

15. The wall clock in accordance with claim 14 wherein said battery icon has a plurality of bars to indicate the level of charge remaining in the battery, with all of said plurality of bars activated when the battery has full charge and none of said plurality of bars activated when the battery has insufficient charge remaining.