U.S. patent application number 11/568084 was filed with the patent office on 2007-10-25 for fan with bladers and method for displaying illuminated pictoral elements.
Invention is credited to Dale E. Barker.
Application Number | 20070247832 11/568084 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 35428214 |
Filed Date | 2007-10-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070247832 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Barker; Dale E. |
October 25, 2007 |
Fan with Bladers and Method for Displaying Illuminated Pictoral
Elements
Abstract
A fan with illuminated blades (9) for displaying pictoral
elements (19) on exposed faces of the blades. The display is
provided with in situ generated light in a display device (19) or
from a back lighting arrangement. The fan with illuminated blades
may be utilized to display static or animated messages.
Inventors: |
Barker; Dale E.; (Alton,
IL) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BLACKWELL SANDERS LLP
720 OLIVE STREET
SUITE 2400
ST. LOUIS
MO
63101
US
|
Family ID: |
35428214 |
Appl. No.: |
11/568084 |
Filed: |
April 23, 2004 |
PCT Filed: |
April 23, 2004 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/US04/12786 |
371 Date: |
October 19, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
362/96 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G09F 23/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
362/096 |
International
Class: |
F04D 25/08 20060101
F04D025/08 |
Claims
1. A fan with an illuminated blade for displaying pictoral elements
on an exposed face of the blade, said fan comprising: a power
drive; at least one blade operably connected to the power drive and
operable to be moved about a central axis by the power drive, said
at least one blade having a front face; an illumination apparatus
having a light projecting display device carried by at least one
blade and operable to provide an illuminated pictoral element on
the front face of said at least one blade at a predetermined
position of movement about the central axis, said pictoral element
having a width transverse to the blade length at least about 25% of
the width of the blade; and a synchronizer apparatus operable to
effect lighted display of the pictoral element at at least one
predetermined angular position of the display device about the
central axis.
2. The fan as set forth in claim 1 wherein there are a plurality of
blades having a respective display device.
3. The fan as set forth in claim 2 wherein the display device
including a light transmissive member with at least one graphic
element and a light source for selectively directing light through
the transmissive member in a direction from a fan blade back toward
a fan blade front.
4. The fan as set forth in claim 2 wherein the display device
including an array of light emitting diodes in rows and columns
each selectively lightable to form a graphic element.
5. The fan as set forth in claim 4 wherein the array of light
emitting diodes provides a resolution of at least about 4 dpi.
6. The fan as set forth in claim 2 wherein the display device
including a LCD display screen.
7. The fan as set forth in claim 2 wherein the display devices
including plasma display screen.
8. The fan as set forth in claim 2 wherein the synchronizer
apparatus including a sensor system operable to detect at least one
angular position of at least one blade during movement about the
central axis and provide a signal indicative of the at least one
angular position of the at least one blade.
9. The fan as set forth in claim 8 wherein the illumination
apparatus including a segmenter operable to segment pictoral data
from a memory and sending a data set to a selected display device
in accordance with the angular position of the display device.
10. The fan as set forth in claim 9 wherein a plurality of
different data sets are sequentially sent to said display devices
in accordance with their angular positions to form an animated
pictoral element.
11. A fan with illuminated blades displaying pictoral elements on
exposed faces of the blades, said fan comprising: a power drive; at
least one blade operably connected to the power drive and operable
to be revolved about a central axis by the power drive, said at
least one blade having a front face; a synchronizer apparatus
operable to detect at least one position of the at least one fan
blade during movement about the central axis and provide a signal
indicative of the at least one position of the at least one blade;
an illumination apparatus having a display device carried by at
least one blade and operable to provide an illuminated pictoral
element with a resolution of at least 4 dpi on a front face of at
least one said blade at a predetermined position of movement about
the central axis, said illumination apparatus including a pictoral
element signal generator operable to transmit a pictoral element
signal to the display device.
12. The fan as set forth in claim 11 wherein the signal generator
being operable to divide a message stored in a memory into segments
and transmit each said segment to a display device for display at a
predetermined angular position of a fan blade carrying the display
device.
13. A method of displaying a pictoral element on a fan, the method
comprising: moving a fan blade about an axis or rotation said blade
having a front face; intermittently illuminating a light projecting
display device comprising an X-Y array of lighted areas to display
at least one pictoral element at a predetermined angular position
of the blade; and sequencing the intermittent illumination to
display at least one graphic element at a desired time and
location.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] Associating signage, designs and/or other indicia with one
or more fan blades associated with a typical ceiling fan can result
in a great marketing tool for advertising a wide variety of
different types of goods and services if such indicia can be easily
viewed when the fan blades are in motion rotating about a central
axis. Such a device may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,213,617. Prior
to the just mentioned patent, such indicia was imprinted directly
onto a plurality fan blades or onto fan blade covers associated
with a particular ceiling fan but was not clearly visible when the
fan blades were in motion due to the rotational speed of the
ceiling fan. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,213,617, an advance in
the art was provided by front illumination of the fan blades and
message thereon freezing the motion of the blades through the use
of strobe lighting or other suitable lighting timed to illuminate a
fan blade at a particular rotational position. The fan blades could
be appropriately illuminated at any given ceiling fan rotational
speed. However, the apparatus of the mentioned patent utilized
front lighting resulting in lighting the areas behind or above the
fan and the message could not be changed on the blades while the
fan was rotating. It would be desirable to provide an illuminated
fan that could provide one or more messages or an animated message
during the operation to enhance its appeal and marketing
effectiveness.
[0002] Accordingly, the present invention is directed to overcoming
one or more of the problems as set forth above.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The present invention involves the provision of a fan with
blades for displaying an illuminated pictoral element on an exposed
face of a fan blade with the light source being direct lighting and
not reflected lighting from front mounted lights. At least one of
the fan blades has a display device mounted thereon and operable to
provide an illuminated pictoral element on a substantial portion of
an exposed face of the blade at a predetermined position of
movement about the axis of rotation of a fan blade system. The
display devices project direct light in a direction away from the
blade face and are lighted on their own or from a back lighting
arrangement. A synchronizer may be provided to effect operation of
a display device at one or more predetermined positions of the fan
blade system during rotation of the fan blade system.
[0004] The pictoral elements include graphic elements such as
artwork letters that may be back lit, generated by an array of
light emitting diodes, lights, LCDs, DLPs, LCOS, D-ILA, RPTU,
plasma screens or other illuminating display devices operable to
direct light away from the fan blade face.
[0005] These and other objects and advantages of the present
invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art after
considering the detailed specification of the present invention in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a ceiling fan having a
plurality of fan blades.
[0007] FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of a ceiling fan.
[0008] FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a fan blade and display
device.
[0009] FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of a fan blade and display
device.
[0010] FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of illumination apparatus
operable to provide signals to display devices.
[0011] FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a display device
showing an array of light sources.
[0012] Like numbers throughout the various figures designate like
or similar parts.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0013] A fan, designated generally 1, is provided. The fan includes
a power drive 3 to which is operably connected a fan blade system 5
comprising at least one fan blade 7 and as shown in a preferred
embodiment, a plurality of blades. The drive 3 is operable to
rotate the fan blade system 5 about a central axis 8 with the
blades 7 moving generally in a plane. At least one of the blades 7
has an exposed face 9 viewable from the front side 10 of the fan
blade system 5. In the illustrated structure, the front side 10 is
generally downwardly facing when the fan 1 is a ceiling fan. It is
to be understood that although a ceiling fan is described, any
bladed apparatus, such as a table fan may be utilized and the front
side 10 would be that portion which a person would normally see A
synchronizer designated generally 12, FIG. 5, is provided to time
sequential display of pictoral elements 21 on display devices 19.
The synchronizer 12 may include a sensor apparatus 13 that is
operable to detect at least one position of at least one fan blade
in its movement about the central axis 8 and provide a signal
indicative of the rotational position of at least one fan blade 7
and its light projecting display device 19. An illumination
apparatus 17 includes a display device 19 carried by at least one
fan blade 7 and is operable to provide one or more illuminated
pictoral elements 21 on an exposed face 9 of a fan blade 7 at a
predetermined rotational position of movement about the central
axis. In a preferred embodiment, the illumination apparatus 17
includes a pictoral element signal generator 25 operable to
generate a signal for transmission to the display device 19 to
effect its illumination and to thereby provide a predetermined
pictoral element 21 containing graphic elements 47 such as written
words, scenery, people, abstractions, colors, etc.
[0014] The fan 1 includes the power drive 3 that is suitably
suspended from a ceiling or structure under a ceiling as is well
known in the art. The power drive 3 includes an electric motor and
has an output 33 either as a component of the motor or through a
gear drive arrangement or the like providing the central axis of
rotation 8 of the output 33. Preferably, a plurality of blades 7
are mounted to the output 33 whereby the fan blade system 5 rotates
about the central axis 8 with the blades generally moving in a
plane about the central axis. The blades 7 each have a generally
downwardly facing exposed surface 9. Fans of the type as described
above are well known in the art. Such fans typically include three
to six blades 7. The fan blade system may rotate at a single fixed
speed or can have a speed controller to change and regulate the
speed of the fan, such that the fan may operate at any one of many
preselected rotational speeds. Generally, the blades 7 are set at a
pitch to effect air circulation with the pitch being on the order
of about 5-20 degrees.
[0015] The fan 1 includes the synchronizer 12 operable to time
(sequence) the intermittent illumination of the lighted display of
the pictoral elements 21 to the rotational positions of the blades
7 to provide the illumination of a graphic element 47 and pictoral
element 21 at the desired location (angular position) and time.
Preferably the synchronizer 12 will determine the rotational speed
of the fan blade system 5 and the angular position of the blades 7
during movement about the central axis 8. Any suitable synchronizer
12 can be provided. For example, a servo-controlled motor could be
used to provide such information. Additionally, and as shown, the
synchronizer 12 includes a sensor device 13 that includes an
electric eye emitter 42 and an electric eye sensor 44 fixedly
connected to support 40 as illustrated in FIG. 1. A reflector 46 is
positioned on a particular fan blade 7 in registration and/or
alignment with emitter 42. Reflector 46 will reflect a beam of
light emitted by emitter 42 substantially towards sensor 44 thereby
triggering sensor 44 when that particular fan blade is in a
particular angular position. When the fan 1 is operational,
reflector 46 will trigger sensor 44 once and only once during each
rotation of the fan blade system 5. Accordingly, the rotational
speed of the fan blade system 5 can be easily determined since the
number of times sensor 44 is triggered in a given time interval
will yield the rotational speed of the fan blade system 5. Also,
the position of a particular fan blade 7 may be determined and
since the remaining fan blades are fixed in relation to the
monitored fan blade which has its position determined, the position
of any or each and every fan blade in the system may be determined
as desired. Other sensor arrangements can be used, to provide
multiple triggers of the sensor 44 per revolution.
[0016] The illumination apparatus 17 includes at least one display
device 19 mounted on at least one of the fan blades 7 and is
carried thereby during its movement about the central axis 8. The
display device 19 is operable to provide an illuminated pictoral
element 21 on an exposed face or at an exposed face of the blade
carrying the display device 19. The display device 19 is operable
to be refreshed, e.g., turned off and on or changed, at
predetermined positions of the blade 7/display device 19 as it
moves about the central axis 8 to provide either a static message
or an animated message in the pictoral element(s) 21. The message
in this case can be print, written word, graphic design elements
such as people, scenery, animals or a combination of graphic
elements 47. Each pictoral element 21 may be comprised of more than
one graphic element 47. The display device 19 is operable to
provide its illumination outwardly directed either internally or
from the back side and does not utilize or does not need to utilize
front lighting to provide reflected light off of the display device
19 for viewing a pictoral element 21. The light source is carried
by and moves with the display device 19 and respective blade 7. The
display device 19 may be an array of LEDs (light emitting diodes),
lights, LCD screen, plasma screen, DLP, LCOS, D-ILA, CRT, RPTU, and
the like which can include any form of electrically generated light
and will generate their own light for projection during operation
and display light at discrete points (dots) 49. When LEDs are used,
the array will be an X-Y matrix and may include a plurality of rows
52 extending across the width of the blade 7 and a plurality of
columns 54 extending along the length of the column FIG. 6. LCD and
other display device types also utilize arrays of discrete points
49. LEDs of different colors may be provided. It is preferred that
a display device 19 and/or pictoral element 21 extend across at
least about 1/4 (25%) the width of the blade 7 and preferably at
least about 1/2 the length of the blade or at least about 1 inch
wide and at least about 8 inches long. It is also preferred that
the pictoral element have at least about 4 dots per inch (dpi)
preferably at least about 10 dpi and most preferably at least about
20 dpi resolution in the X-Y matrix or rows and columns. If the
pictoral element 21 includes a printed screen, the dpi will be
determined by the dot size used on the printing device. The display
device 19 may also have a printed area 62 as a pictoral element 21,
that may be back lit (FIG. 4), e.g., by a light source 61 such as
an array of light emitting diodes, fiber optic lighting or other
forms of lighting such as strobe lights or the like, so long as the
light source can be refreshed quickly enough. The display device 19
in this particular embodiment includes a light transmissive member
63 that has the printed area 62 thereon. The printed area 62
includes a pictoral element 21 and at least one graphic element 47.
Light from the light sources 61 is outwardly directed from the back
or top side toward the exposed face 9. The needed time of
refreshing will be determined by the particular message to be
displayed, whether it is static or animated and the rotational
speed of the fan blade system 5.
[0017] In a preferred embodiment, each of the blades 7 will carry
its own display device 19 particularly when complex pictoral
elements 21 or animated composites made from a plurality of display
devices 19 are to be displayed by the display devices. The use of
the described display devices 19 which utilize outwardly directed
light from its own internal light or back lighting prevents
diffusion of front lighting to areas behind the fan.
[0018] The illumination apparatus 17 is illustrated schematically
in FIG. 5. As seen, the illumination apparatus 17 includes a
plurality of display devices 19 each having a separate display
screen covering a substantial portion of a blade 7 and each capable
of presenting an illuminated pictoral element 21 that is the same
as or different than that displayed on the other display devices
19. The illumination apparatus 17 includes a signal generator
designated generally 25 that is operable, in one embodiment, to
receive from the synchronizer 13 a signal indicative of the
rotational speed and rotational position of at least one and
preferably each of the display devices 19. The signal generator 25
may include a digital data processor 50 such as a PLC (programmable
logic controller), an electronic control module (ECM), a computer
or the like. The signal generator 25 may be mounted to the fan 1 or
be remote therefrom. The signal generator 25 may be located at a
central position controlling multiple fans on premises or the
signal generator 25 may be located at a location remote from the
building containing one or more fans 1. The signal generator 25 may
have a memory 51 for storing the message or messages; including
pictures and/or words, to be displayed and be operable to divide
the message into discrete segments to provide multiple data sets
for transmission to the display devices 19 if more than one message
or an animated message is to be displayed by each display device.
The signal generator 25 may also operable to provide a single
message or data set to the display devices 19 and may be operable
to display a message at one position or various rotational
positions of the fan blade assembly. For example, a message may
always be displayed at 0.degree. of rotational position of one
blade of the fan assembly. The message may be moved about the fan,
for example, being first displayed at 0.degree. then 90.degree.,
then 180.degree., then 270.degree. and then back at 0.degree.
providing variability in the message and its appeal since it would
not be statically displayed at one location. Further, the message
may be changed wherein at 0.degree. the message may say "buy" for a
period of time then displaying at 90.degree. for a short period,
e.g., the name of some item to be purchased, e.g., "pop," and a
third message may be displayed say at 180.degree. for a period of
time, for example, "price" and then at 270.degree. the message may
be displayed for the period the "special." Such an arrangement
provides for messages with more information.
[0019] The signal generator 25 may also provide animated messages
to be sent for display as pictoral elements with various graphic
elements contained therein. For example, a short video clip may be
provided to a memory 51 of the signal generator 25. The signal
generator 25 may divide the video message into various components
or data sets containing portions of the pictoral elements 21 and
graphic elements 47 by a segmenter 53 and the segments are
comprised of data sets for transmission to the display devices 19,
for display of the segments at various angular positions of the
blades 7 of the fan blade assembly 5. By doing so, the fan blade
assembly 5 may function as a video screen. Such messages could be
music videos, movies, or the like. Animated and static displays may
be accomplished so long as the refresh rate of the display device
is adequate to accept the segmented message from the signal
generator. Thus, the illumination apparatus 17 can provide a simple
message to a simple system or a complex message that may be changed
without the necessity of changing some component carried by the fan
blade.
[0020] It is contemplated and anticipated that various other
arrangements and embodiment of the electric eye emitter 42 and
sensor 44 are usable. For example, sensor 44 may be positioned on
the fan 1 so as to be located behind the fan blades 7 in line with
the beam of light emitted by emitter 42, and reflector 46 may be
eliminated from the apparatus. In such an arrangement the cause of
beam of light between emitter 42 and sensor 44 will be interrupted
each time a fan blade 7 passes therebetween, each fan blade thereby
triggering sensor 44 when the fan 1 is in operation. The rotational
speed of the fan blade assembly 5 may then be determined by a
controller 48 as similarly discussed above taking into account the
total number of fan blades 7 associated with the fan 1.
Additionally, the reflector 46 may be positioned on the fan 1 so as
to be located behind fan blades 7 at an appropriate location and/or
angular orientation, and the emitter 42 and sensor 44 may be
positioned slightly offset from each other so as to produce two
separate light beams, one beam being emitted from emitter 42 to
reflector 46 and because of the angular orientation of reflector
46, a second beam extending from reflector 46 to sensor 44. As a
result, the emitted light beam from emitter 42 is interrupted twice
by each fan blade 7, and the distance and time interval between
each pair of interruptions will yield the instantaneous angular or
rotational speed of the fan blade assembly 5. Alternatively, other
types of sensors may be utilized such as a magnetic sensor or a
halifax emitter, which sensors can trigger an appropriate signal to
controller 48 in response to the rotational speed of the fan blade
system 5. Accordingly, numerous such implementations are
possible.
[0021] The speed sensor may be eliminated. Regulation of the output
of signal generator 25 through synchronizer 12, and adjusting its
output visually until a correct picture or message delivery is
accomplished may be done. In this case, the sensor would be the
operator of the illumination apparatus 17.
[0022] As is evident from the foregoing description, certain
aspects of the present invention are not limited to the particular
details of the examples illustrated herein, and it is therefore
contemplated that other modifications and applications will occur
to those skilled in the art. It is accordingly intended that the
claim shall cover all such modifications and applications that do
not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
[0023] Other aspects, objects and advantages of the present
invention can be obtained from a study of the drawings, the
disclosure and the appended claims.
* * * * *