Low power-consumption luminous decorative/warning means

• US 6,094,141 A
• Filed: 05/03/1999
• Issued: 07/25/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 05/03/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Leif J. Ostberg, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Leif J. Ostberg, Inc.
• Inventors: Tsai, Ching-Tien
• Primary Examiner(s): Wu, Daniel J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Tai T.
• Application Number:
  US09/304,470
• Time in Patent Office: 449 Days
• Field of Search: 340/669, 340/683, 340/573.1, 340/362, 340/691.1, 340/691.8, 36/137, 362/189, 362/84
• US Class Current: 340/573.1
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 1/0036 with fluorescent or phosphorescent parts
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 5/38 using flashing light

Abstract

A decorative/warning luminous means emitting flashes only in a vibrating state and in the night and therefore consuming only very small amount of power. The decorative/warning luminous means includes an actuating unit consisting of serially connected photo-sensor circuit, resistor, and vibration switch and capable of detecting surrounding luminance and vibrating condition. The actuating unit has two ends connected to two electrodes of a DC power source and outputs a trigger signal that is a signal of voltage value detected at a position between the photo-sensor and the resistor for actuating the decorative/warning luminous means to produce flashes. The actuating unit is always in an open state and does not consume any power in the daytime, so long as the decorative/warning luminous means is not actuated.

Claims

1. A low power-consumption luminous decorative/warning means, comprising:

a DC power supply unit having positive and negative electrodes for power output;

a light-emitting unit including at least one light emitting element;

a control unit electrically connected to said DC power supply unit and said light-emitting unit for controlling said light emitting element of said light-emitting unit to accept power supplied by said DC power supply unit and produce flashes, said control unit including at least one signal input circuit that is induced by an input trigger signal to cause said control unit to control said light-emitting unit to start producing said flashes; and

an actuating unit electrically connected to said DC power supply unit and said signal input circuit of said control unit for sending a trigger signal to said signal input circuit to cause said control unit to control said light-emitting unit to start producing said flashes, said actuating unit including at least a photo-sensitive resistor, a non-photo-sensitive resistor, and a vibration switch connected in series and in such order, two ends of said actuating unit being separately coupled with said positive and said negative electrodes of said DC power supply unit, and said signal input circuit is connected to said actuating unit at a point between said photo-sensitive resistor and said non-photo-sensitive resistor, so that said signal input circuit will receive a high or low voltage when said photo-sensitive resistor is exposed to light, and a reversed voltage in the absence of light exposure.

2. A low power-consumption luminous decorative/warning means as claimed in claim 1, wherein said trigger signal sent by said actuating unit is a signal of voltage value at a position between said photo-sensor and said resistor, and when said signal of voltage value between said photo-sensor and said resistor detected by said signal input circuit being lower than a predetermined voltage value, said control unit is triggered to control said light-emitting unit to start producing said flashes.

3. A low power-consumption luminous decorative/warning means as claimed in claim 1, wherein said control unit is a programmable integrated circuit.

4. A low power-consumption luminous decorative/warning means as claimed in claim 1, wherein said control unit further comprising:

a flash counting circuit electrically connected to said signal input circuit for controlling and counting times of flashing by each said at least one light emitting element of said light-emitting unit when said signal input circuit is induced by said trigger signal and actuated;

a frequency modulation circuit for controlling frequency and time delay of flashes produced by said light-emitting unit;

a flash pattern generation circuit electrically connected to said flash counting circuit and said frequency modulation circuit for receiving control signals from said flash counting circuit and said frequency modulation circuit and converting said received control signals into signals for controlling each said at least one light emitting element to produce predetermined times of flashes of predetermined frequency; and

an amplifying circuit located between said flash pattern generation circuit and said at least one light emitting element of said light-emitting unit for amplifying signals sent from said flash pattern generation circuit and sending said amplified signals to said at least one light emitting element.

5. A low power-consumption luminous decorative/warning means as claimed in claim 4, wherein said flash counting circuit has a flashing times adjusting switch connected thereto for adjusting times of flashing of each said at least one light emitting element, and wherein said frequency modulation circuit has a frequency modulation switch connected thereto for adjusting time delay and frequency of flashes produced by said at least one light emitting element.

6. A low power-consumption luminous decorative/warning means as claimed in claim 1, wherein said signal input circuit is a bias circuit.

7. A low power-consumption luminous decorative/warning means as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one light emitting element is a light emitting diode.

8. A low power-consumption luminous decorative/warning means, comprising:

a DC power supply unit having positive and negative electrodes for power output;

a light-emitting unit including at least one light emitting element;

a control unit electrically connected to said DC power supply unit and said light-emitting unit for controlling said light emitting element of said light-emitting unit to accept power supplied by said DC power supply unit and produce flashes, said control unit including at least one signal input circuit that is induced by an input trigger signal to cause said control unit to control said light-emitting unit to start producing said flashes; and

an actuating unit electrically connected to said DC power supply unit and said signal input circuit of said control unit for sending a trigger signal to said signal input circuit to cause said control unit to control said light-emitting unit to start producing said flashes, said actuating unit including at least a photo-sensitive resistor, a non-photo-sensitive resistor, and a vibration switch that are connected in series and in such order, two ends of said actuating unit being separately connected to said positive and said negative electrodes of said DC power supply unit, and signal input circuit is connected to said actuating unit at a point between said photo-sensitive resistor and said non-photo-sensitive resistor;

wherein said signal input circuit is a biased circuit that will cause said light-emitting unit to start producing said flashes only when receiving a low voltage signal, and said photo-sensitive resistor exhibits a low voltage upon light exposure and a high voltage in the absence of light exposure.