U.S. patent application number 13/195218 was filed with the patent office on 2012-02-16 for night light balls.
Invention is credited to Jack William De SORT.
Application Number | 20120040785 13/195218 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 45565241 |
Filed Date | 2012-02-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120040785 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
De SORT; Jack William |
February 16, 2012 |
Night Light Balls
Abstract
Improvements in a football and beach ball to allow the balls to
be used at night. The illumination from the "EL" lights gives the
ball an exciting kaleidoscope of color as it spirals, adding a new
and exciting twist to an old game in addition to adding safety to
night play. The ball is made of various colored self-skinning
flexible urethane foam, or elastomer and has grip ridges between
electroluminescent lighting that surrounds ball. The ball is formed
with grip ridges to allow small to large hands to easily grip the
ball and throw a spiral when wet or dry. At least two different
colors of EL lights are equally spaced and glued to the outside of
the ball to allow spin on a ball to be more visible. The ball has a
compartment that holds a power supply on/off switch and the EL
driver.
Inventors: |
De SORT; Jack William;
(Redlands, CA) |
Family ID: |
45565241 |
Appl. No.: |
13/195218 |
Filed: |
August 1, 2011 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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61372599 |
Aug 11, 2010 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
473/570 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B 67/002 20130101;
A63B 71/06 20130101; A63B 2225/60 20130101; A63B 43/06 20130101;
A63B 2225/74 20200801; A63B 2243/007 20130101; A63B 71/141
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
473/570 |
International
Class: |
A63B 43/06 20060101
A63B043/06 |
Claims
1. A night light ball comprising: a ball made of self-skinning
flexible urethane foam, or elastomer which holds air; said ball
further has grip ridges on an external surface of said ball; said
ball further having at least two separate and different colored
electroluminescent lighting elements; each of said colored
electroluminescent lighting elements surrounds said ball and are
equally spaced from each other; a compartment inside said ball that
holds a power supply comprising at least one battery and a driver;
said driver inverts DC voltage to AC voltage, and an on/off switch
that controls said driver to illuminate said at least two separate
and different colored electroluminescent lighting elements.
2. The night light ball according to claim 1 wherein there are at
least three separate and different colored electroluminescent
lighting elements.
3. The night light ball according to claim 1 wherein there are at
four separate and different colored electroluminescent lighting
elements.
4. The night light ball according to claim 1 wherein there are at
six separate and different colored electroluminescent lighting
elements.
5. The night light ball according to claim 1 that has two separate
sets of batteries and drivers that power separate
electroluminescent lighting elements.
6. The night light ball according to claim 1 wherein said
electroluminescent lighting elements operate in an off and constant
on condition.
7. The night light ball according to claim 1 wherein said
electroluminescent lighting elements operate in an off and flashing
on condition.
8. The night light ball according to claim 5 wherein said two
separate sets of batteries and drivers are mounted opposite each
other within said night light ball.
9. The night light ball according to claim 1 wherein said
electroluminescent lighting elements are further covered with water
resistant tape.
10. The night light ball according to claim 1 wherein said
compartment is water resistant.
11. The night light ball according to claim 1 wherein said power
supply is water resistant.
12. The night light ball according to claim 1 wherein said power
supply is separable from said ball.
13. The night light ball according to claim 12 wherein said
separable connection is with a plug and socket.
14. The night light ball according to claim 1 wherein said power
supply is wired to said electroluminescent lighting elements.
15. The night light ball according to claim 1 wherein night light
ball is usable in reduced ambient light levels, total darkness and
daylight.
16. The night light ball according to claim 1 wherein said
battery(ies) are replaceable or rechargeable.
17. The night light ball according to claim 1 wherein said at least
two separate and different colored electroluminescent lighting
elements are secured to the exterior of said night light ball.
18. The night light ball according to claim 17 wherein said at
least two separate and different colored electroluminescent
lighting elements are essentially flat ribbons.
19. The night light ball according to claim 1 that further includes
a glove that has a separate power supply and electroluminescent
lighting element.
20. The night light ball according to claim 1 that further includes
a separate lighted cone.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of Provisional
Application Ser. No. 61/372,599 filed Aug. 11, 2010 and Provisional
Application Ser. No. 61/323,783 filed Apr. 13, 2010 the entire
contents of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference
herein.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
[0002] Not Applicable
THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT
[0003] Not Applicable
INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT
DISC
[0004] Not Applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
[0005] This invention relates to improvements in illuminated sports
equipment. More particularly, the present night light balls
includes footballs, baseball, soccer balls, Disks, field markers
and gloves with one or more colored electroluminescent (EL)
lighting elements.
[0006] Description of Related Art including information disclosed
under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98:
[0007] For many athletic events that require an object to be thrown
the play time is limited to daylight hours or when external
artificial lighting is available. To play these activities at night
some devices have been developed that either glow in the dark or an
internal lighting elements. For the devices to glow they must be
charged by a light source and then continue to dim as the activity
is played. When the devices are illuminated with power and lights
the illumination is spot lighted or illuminated so the entire
object or ball glows. Several products and patents have been.
Exemplary examples of patents covering these products are disclosed
herein.
[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,047 issued on Feb. 6, 1996 to Thomas J.
O'Rourke et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,133,528 issued on Jan. 9, 1979 to
Jeffrey Koblick and U.S. Publication2003/0224885 that published on
Dec. 4, 2003 all disclose balls that are internally illuminated to
make essentially the entire outer surface of the ball illuminate.
While these patents disclose a method that allows the ball to be
visible when it is dark, the illumination does not provide any
information of the spin of the ball.
[0009] U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,316 that issued on Nov. 4, 1997 to
Daniel Scott Campbell and U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,000 that issued on
Apr. 4, 1995 to John Woosley both disclose balls that use
illuminated tubes that are placed with the ball. The illumination
tubes use chemiluminescent light. The chambers of the tubes must be
broken and the chemicals mixed to start the illumination. When the
glowing properties are expended the tubes must be replaced. This
patent does not provide illumination strips that are electrically
powered where they can be turned on and off as desired. They
further do not provide the use of more than one color to identify
rotation or spin of the ball.
[0010] U.S. Pat. No. 5,888,156 that issued on Mar. 30, 1999 to
Peter J. Cmiel et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,179,181 that issued on Feb.
20, 2007 to Li-Lin Ko and published U.S. Application 2008/0132363
that published on Jun. 5, 2008 to Shiro Harada each disclose balls
with one or more spots of light. The spots of light allow the balls
to be seen from different sides of the ball but because the lights
are the same color information regarding the direction and speed of
a spinning ball can't be determined.
[0011] What is needed is an activity device or ball that uses
powered flat electroluminescent strips having different colors to
provide information on location and flight characteristics of the
activity device or ball. This application provides a solution to
the problem with a ball having multiple colored electroluminescent
lighting elements.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0012] It is an object of the night light ball for the ball to be
made of self-skinning flexible urethane foam, or elastomer which
holds air, and has grip ridges between electroluminescent lighting
elements that surround the ball. The ball can be formed in a
variety of colors.
[0013] It is an object of the night light ball for the ball to have
grip ridges to allow small to large hands to easily grip the ball
and throw a spiral. The ridges on a beach ball further give the
user a good grip when ball is wet.
[0014] It is an object of the night light ball, when configured as
a football, for the football to have at least two different colored
EL wires. Many more colors can be used. For example a beach ball
can have four colors. Each EL wire surrounds the ball equally
spaced from each other. The use of different colors allows spin on
a ball to be more visible.
[0015] It is another object of the night light ball to have a
compartment inside the ball that holds the power supply and the
driver. The driver inverts the DC power to AC current and contains
one or more batteries. An on/off switch controls the lights on the
ball. The football has one compartment and driver, the beach ball
has two drivers with battery(ies) and two compartments mounted in
opposing side of the ball to provide an even balance. In all cases
the compartment is waterproof or water resistive.
[0016] It is another object of the night light ball that the
compartment(s) that hold the driver has an electrical plug attached
to the inside of the compartment. The plug connects to the driver
for easy removing and battery replacement. This plug has wires on
the inside of the ball that are connected to the EL wire(s) that
are on the outside of the ball.
[0017] It is still another object of the night light ball for the
El wires to be glued to the outside of the ball. The El wires are
essentially flat ribbons that provide even illumination over the
entire length of the EL wires. The wires are encased in heavy
plastic to make them water resistant.
[0018] Various objects, features, aspects, and advantages of the
present invention will become more apparent from the following
detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention,
along with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals
represent like components.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)
[0019] FIG. 1 shows an external view of a football.
[0020] FIG. 2 shows a view of the driver and the battery pack.
[0021] FIG. 3 shows the flight of an illuminated football.
[0022] FIG. 4 shows a schematic of the inverter drive circuit.
[0023] FIG. 5 shows a cross section of a Disk.
[0024] FIG. 6 shows an underside view of the Disk in FIG. 5.
[0025] FIG. 7 is an external view of a baseball.
[0026] FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view of the baseball in FIG.
7
[0027] FIG. 9 is a top view of a glove.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0028] FIG. 1 shows an external view of a football. The ball 20
made of self-skinning flexible urethane foam 42, or elastomer. The
ball can be formed in a variety of colors or color combinations.
The ball 20 has a plurality of grip ridges 41 located around the
ball and arranged along the elongated body of the ball 20 or may be
arranged in a swirled pattern along the body of the ball 20. A
plurality of electroluminescent (EL) lighting elements 30 and 31
are placed in recess of the ball 20. The electroluminescent exist
in different colored strips extending from pointed end to pointed
end of the football 20. The electroluminescent ribbons 31 and 31
are located in slight recessed to protect the ribbons from being
accidentally lifted or peeled from the ball 20. The ball 20 is
designed to accommodate the thickness of the electroluminescent
wire and has grooves embedded into the skin of the ball 20 to
accommodate the wires 30 and 31. The ball 20 works with or without
lights, but the object of the games is to let players see the ball.
The ball has grooves that hold the EL wire which is glued to the
surface of the ball and are covered with protective strips of water
resistant tape. The wires themselves are embedded in recesses on
the ball.
[0029] The electroluminescent wires 30 and 31 are configured as
flat ribbons. The electroluminescent wires 30 and 31 are basically
a copper core wire, with a phosphor material sputtered onto it,
then 2 very fine small wires that conduct electricity to make the
phosphor material glow. The phosphor material glows in generally 9
different colors, but the colors can slightly change based upon the
driving voltage and the excitation frequency. The phosphor material
has a plastic coating, then a normal plastic insulation on top of
that. When AC current at the proper voltage and frequency is
applied to this wire, it glows.
[0030] The grip ridges 41 allow small to large hands to easily grip
the ball and throw a spiral. The ridges 41 further allow the ball
to be more easily gripped when the ball is wet or configured as a
beach ball (not shown). In one embodiment the ball 20 is made in
two halves where the internal components are added and the two
halves are bonded or otherwise secured together.
[0031] The football 20 has three different colored EL wires. An
embodiment of a beach ball can ideally have four colors. A minimum
of two colors are used to provide a visual contrast on the ball 20
to allow any spin on the ball to be visible. Each
electroluminescent wire 30 and 31 surrounds the ball equally spaced
from each other. The electroluminescent wires are countersunk glued
and covered with protective tape to the outside of the ball 20 to
prevent undesirable movement of the electroluminescent wires 30 and
31.
[0032] A compartment 40 inside the ball holds the power supply and
the driver as shown and described in FIG. 2. The football 20 has
one compartment and driver with a battery. In a beach ball
embodiment, two drivers and two compartments are mounted opposite
each other for the ball to balance and prevent the ball favoring a
particular orientation. This compartment is waterproof or at least
water resistant to prevent infiltration of unwanted water or
moisture. A hook and loop closure may also be used to ensure that
the opening remains closed during play.
[0033] The compartment 43 that holds the driver has an electrical
wiring 52 and plug 51 attached to the inside of the compartment 43
that the driver plugs into for easy removing and battery
replacement. This plug 51 has wires 52 on the inside of the ball 20
that are connected to the electro-luminescent wire (s) 30 and 31
that are on the outside of the ball 20.
[0034] Inside the ball wires connected from the electroluminescent
wire plug into an electrical connection that leads to a waterproof
container 52 that holds the driver 55 and battery(ies) 53. This
unit 52 has an on/off switch 54 that controls the light on the
ball. When the compartment cover is replaced on the ball that holds
the battery, driver and on/off switch.
[0035] FIG. 2 shows a view of the driver and the battery pack. The
housing 52 encloses a driver 55 that inverts the DC power to AC
current and contains one or more batteries 53. An on/off switch 54
controls the lights on the ball. An electrical connector 56
connects to the power connection 51 of the ball or other
equipment.
[0036] FIG. 3 shows the flight of an illuminated football. Using a
single color electroluminescent element limits the amount of
visible indication of the ball 20 spinning. A minimum of two
different colors are required to clearly discern the flight and
spin of the ball 20. In the preferred embodiment three different
colors are used to ensure that at least two different colors 30 and
31 are visible at the same time.
[0037] FIG. 4 shows a schematic of the inverter drive circuit. The
circuit shown uses an integrated circuit 60 that is custom made to
drive electroluminescent wires. The integrated circuit 60 in this
embodiment is from Sipex, but other devices including a simple 555
timer chip can be used. The circuit provides essentially 200 VAC at
1200 Hz. This device takes only a couple of external components
such as a resonance coil or inductor 61 and several capacitors and
a diode to drive the electroluminescent elements. This circuit can
operate from a single 1.5 volt battery 53. A switch 54 turns the
circuit on and off to turn the electroluminescent wires 30 and 31
on and off.
[0038] FIG. 5 shows a cross section of a Disk and FIG. 6 shows an
underside view of the Disk in FIG. 5. The Disk 70 is constructed
with the inverter and battery 53 pack 52 located in the center of
the Disk 70 to minimize aerodynamic interference. Wires or
conductors 58 and 59 connect the inverter to the external surface
of the Disk 70 where the electroluminescent elements are located in
the outer vertical rim of the Disk 70. The conductor 58 and 59 can
be enclosed in protective tubing or bonded onto the surface of the
Disk. Two different colored electroluminescent elements 30 and 31
are uses to provide a visual indicator of the spin rate of the Disk
70. While two colors are shown and described, three, four or more
colors are contemplated.
[0039] FIG. 7 is an external view of a baseball and FIG. 8 is a
cross sectional view of the baseball in FIG. 7. This embodiment
shows a baseball 80, but other balls are also contemplated
including but not limited to a kickball, volleyball, soccer ball,
beach ball and others. In this embodiment two color ribbons 30 and
31 are shown and arranged in an orthogonal arrangement. The
exterior of the ball has tiny grip ridges 81 that allow the ball to
be more easily gripped and thrown. An access door 40 functions as
both access to the internal battery and inverter driver as well as
functions to operate the switch 54 that turn the electroluminescent
elements 30 and 31 on and off. The cover is made of the same
material as the ball, is flat and has an on/off and removal
instructions. The internal housing 52 has wiring 58 and 59 that
connects to the electroluminescent elements 30 and 31.
[0040] FIG. 9 is a top view of once contemplated embodiment of a
glove 90. The battery(ies) 53 are enclosed within a housing that is
secured to the back of the wrist area of the glove 90. An elastic
band at the base of the glove helps to retain the glove 90 on the
hand of a player. The hand portion of the glove can be configured
with channels for individual fingers 91 or with an open area where
all of the fingers can exist in a single pocket 92. Wiring 58 and
59 connect the power supply to an electroluminescent element 32. It
is contemplated that each team will have a glove used as a target
with a color that matches all of the players on a team. This allows
one player to easily identify teammates when they play in the dark.
The surface of the glove can be printed or colored to identify a
particular team, logo, slogan or advertising.
[0041] Other contemplated electroluminescent equipment includes but
is not limited to wristbands, line markers, headbands, clothing,
vest and shoes. The electroluminescent equipment is a sports toy.
It can be played individually or with teams members. It is
excellent for tag, or flag night football, a new game. The beach
ball can be played with individually or with team members and is
beneficially used in the dark playing team volleyball. The lighting
element of the various disclosed products provides for sports
products and improves the education and safety.
[0042] Thus, specific embodiments of night light sports equipment
have been disclosed. It should be apparent, however, to those
skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those
described are possible without departing from the inventive
concepts herein. The inventive subject matter, therefore, is not to
be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims.
* * * * *