U.S. patent number RE47,688 [Application Number 15/456,343] was granted by the patent office on 2019-11-05 for bicycle light.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Light & Motion Industries. The grantee listed for this patent is Light & Motion Industries. Invention is credited to Roxanne Lo, Christopher McCaslin, Beau Jesse Robertson, Greg Weisenfeld.
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United States Patent |
RE47,688 |
McCaslin , et al. |
November 5, 2019 |
Bicycle light
Abstract
A bicycle light for securing to a handlebar or other part of a
bike, or to a rider's helmet, has an angled front face that allows
use of a single, flat LED circuit board with one or more deep conic
or parabolic reflectors positioned in front of the upper part of
the board and one or more shallow reflectors in front of the bottom
part of the board. This provides for both a spot beam produced by
the deep reflector and flood light produced by the shallow
reflector, in a compact and efficient assembly. Another important
feature of the device is side lighting which can be independently
controlled, important in affording the rider side lighting while in
street traffic but the option to pulse or switch off the side
lighting when riding on a trail.
Inventors: |
McCaslin; Christopher (Alameda,
CA), Weisenfeld; Greg (Carmel Valley, CA), Robertson;
Beau Jesse (Santa Cruz, CA), Lo; Roxanne (Santa Cruz,
CA) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Light & Motion Industries |
Marina |
CA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Light & Motion Industries
(Marina, CA)
|
Family
ID: |
48444076 |
Appl.
No.: |
15/456,343 |
Filed: |
March 10, 2017 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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Reissue of: |
13470178 |
May 11, 2012 |
8974098 |
Mar 10, 2015 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B62J
6/02 (20130101); B62J 6/015 (20200201); B62J
6/02 (20130101); B62J 6/015 (20200201) |
Current International
Class: |
F21V
7/00 (20060101); F21V 33/00 (20060101); H04M
1/22 (20060101); F21L 4/02 (20060101); F21S
4/00 (20160101); B62J 6/02 (20060101); F21V
21/00 (20060101); F21L 4/00 (20060101); B62J
6/00 (20060101) |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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201680161 |
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Dec 2010 |
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CN |
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199 41 987 |
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Mar 2001 |
|
DE |
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102005052179 |
|
May 2007 |
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DE |
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2003291870 |
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Oct 2003 |
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JP |
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Other References
DE 199 41 987 A1 machine translation. cited by examiner.
|
Primary Examiner: Menefee; James A
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Freiburger; Thomas M.
Claims
We claim:
1. A bicycle light, comprising: a light housing, a connector on the
housing for securing the bicycle light to a bicycle or to a user,
.[.a battery contained within the housing,.]. an LED circuit board
within the housing, and including an external switch .[.on the
housing for providing.]. .Iadd.to provide .Iaddend.power from
.[.the.]. .Iadd.a .Iaddend.battery to the LED circuit board when
desired, the LED circuit board being essentially planar and
containing at least one surface-mounted LED in an upper part of the
board and at least one surface-mounted LED in a lower part of the
board, both LEDs directed toward a front end of the housing,
reflectors positioned in the housing directly in front of the LED
circuit board to reflect light from the LEDs in a forward direction
out the front of the housing, the reflector at the upper LED being
a deep reflector producing a spot beam and the reflector at the
lower LED being a shallow reflector, shallower than the deep
reflector and extending forward less than the deep reflector and
producing a flood light beam out through the front of the housing,
and a front port or window in the housing including a transparent
window plate sealed in the housing, at least a part of the window
plate being planar and angled obliquely downwardly relative to the
LED circuit board and relative to the direction of projection of
light from the LEDs, such that a lower part of the window plate is
receded farther back than an upper part of the window plate, so as
to provide greater depth of space in the housing accommodating the
deeper reflector in the upper part of the housing, the deeper
reflector occupying such greater depth of space, and lesser depth
of space accommodating the shallow reflector in the lower part of
the housing, the shallow reflector occupying such lesser depth of
space.
2. The bicycle light of claim 1, wherein the window plate upper
part is essentially vertical and the window plate lower part is
angled.
3. The bicycle light of claim 2, wherein the window plate lower
part is angled about 15.degree. from vertical.
4. The bicycle light of claim 2, wherein the window plate is an
integrally formed plastic molding.
5. The bicycle light of claim 1, wherein the window plate defines a
single plane.
6. The bicycle light of claim 5, wherein the window plate is angled
at least about 7.degree. from the planar LED circuit board.
7. The bicycle light of claim 5, wherein the window plate is angled
at least about 10.degree. from the planar LED circuit board.
8. The bicycle light of claim 5, wherein the window plate is angled
about 12.degree. .Iadd.from .Iaddend.the planar LED circuit
board.
9. The bicycle light of claim 1, wherein the deep reflector at the
upper LED is a parabolic reflector.
10. The bicycle light of claim 1, wherein the deep reflector at the
upper LED is a biconic reflector.
11. The bicycle light of claim 1, with two LEDs in the upper part
of the circuit board, a said deep reflector being provided for each
of the upper LEDs.
12. The bicycle light of claim 1, wherein the battery is a
rechargeable battery .Iadd.within the light housing.Iaddend., and
the housing including a micro USB charging port for recharging the
battery.
13. The bicycle light of claim 1, further including left and right
side lights on the housing, the side lights producing amber
light.
14. The bicycle light of claim 13, wherein the side lights include
at least one side light LED, including a .[.second.]. .Iadd.side
light .Iaddend.switch on the housing, independently controlling the
side light LED so that the side lights need not be on when the
forward-projecting lights are on.
15. The bicycle light of claim 14, wherein the side light LED is
mounted on the LED circuit board.
.[.16. A bicycle light, comprising: a light housing, a connector on
the housing for securing the bicycle light to a bicycle or to a
user, a battery contained within the housing, an LED circuit board
within the housing, and including an external switch on the housing
for providing power from the battery to the LED circuit board when
desired, the LED circuit board containing at least one LED directed
toward a front end of the housing, a reflector positioned in the
housing directly in front of the LED circuit board to reflect light
from the LED in a forward direction out the front of the housing, a
single side light LED in the housing and side light means for
directing light from the side light LED to side light windows at
left and right on the housing, for side lights, and a second switch
on the housing, independently controlling the side light LED so
that the side lights need not be on when the forward-projecting
lights are on..].
.[.17. bicycle light of claim 16, wherein the side light means
comprises light pipes from the side light LED to the side light
windows..].
.[.18. The bicycle light of claim 16, wherein the side light LED is
mounted on a back side of the LED circuit board..].
.[.19. The bicycle light of claim 16, wherein the light housing
comprises two parts, a front metal part and a rear plastic part,
the rear part containing the battery and sliding into the front
part as assembled, the external switch being supported on the
plastic part and the metal part serving to dissipate heat to
exterior of the bicycle light..].
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention concerns bicycle lights attachable to a bicycle
(e.g. to handlebars) or to a rider's helmet. In particular the
invention concerns a bicycle light of efficient and compact
configuration, producing both spot and flood lighting and
preferably with side lights.
Front and rear bicycle lights have been available in many different
forms. Front bike lights have been provided for attachment to
handlebars and to helmets, have been self-contained with battery or
wired to a separately mounted battery. The front lights typically
have several modes of operation, i.e. steady or flashing, and
sometimes have ability to adjust brightness. Some have switched on
automatically with darkness. Side lights have been included on a
few of them. Many models of front lights have been offered by
Planet, Cygolite, Busch & Mueller, NightRider, Cat Eye, Knog,
and Light & Motion.
Some bicycle lights have provided light projection with fill light
around a spot beam, useful for illuminating trails. Light &
Motion's SECA light had upper deep biconic reflectors and lower
shallower reflectors behind a single curved front face. The
challenges with that design was the difficulty in creating a curved
face that is optically clean.
However, in available bicycle lights prior to this invention there
has not been a compact and efficient front light providing spot and
flood beams, with efficient optics and with optional side lights,
as in the bicycle light described below.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
As explained above, the optimum beam pattern for a bike light has a
deep-penetrating spot beam down the center, with fill light to the
sides to illuminate trail edges while allowing the rider to see far
down the trail. An efficient way to achieve this beam pattern, in
accordance with the invention, is with reflector cones, which
requires two reflector cones, one to essentially collimate light
from one or more LEDs, and the other to direct LED light more
widely as a flood beam, at a wide enough angle to fill in the sides
of the trail for a bike rider. An efficient spot beam generator
must be a deep cone or parabolic reflector receiving and projecting
the light of one or more LEDs. However, for flood light, or fill
light, a shallower reflector cone is needed (the flood reflector
could also be deep, but if so must spread widely so as to require
additional total area at the front end of the light). In the
compact and efficient construction of the current invention the
deep spot and wider angle beams are positioned one above the other,
so that the deeper reflector cone extends from an LED circuit board
farther forward than the adjacent shallow, wider-angle reflector.
The two reflectors are positioned closely adjacent to one another,
preferably formed in the same component. A window plate of the
housing, just forward of the reflector component, is angled with
respect to vertical (and with respect to the LED circuit board),
affording greater depth as needed for the spot beam reflector and
lesser depth as needed for the flood reflector. Preferably the spot
beam is above the flood beam, so that the window plate angles
downwardly, preferably about 12.degree. with respect to vertical or
with respect to the LED circuit board. The angle should be at least
7.degree., more preferably at least about 10.degree.; and optimally
12.degree. to 15.degree..
Another feature of the invention is side lights provided on the
light housing, preferably amber light, for safety in traffic. These
side lights may comprise amber lenses or windows, fed by one or
more LEDs separate from the spot and flood LEDs (or the lenses can
be clear and colorless, with the side LEDs being color LEDs). An
important feature of the front light of the invention is a separate
switch for the side lights, to optionally switch them off when not
needed, such as on a trail. A second switch is provided, serving
under the main switch, so that the side lights cannot be activated
without the main lights, but while the main lights are operating,
the side lights can be on, or switched to a pulse mode, or off.
It is among the objects of the invention to provide a front bicycle
light with an optimum beam pattern while also providing for
efficient use of the light either in traffic or on a trail. These
and other objects, advantages and features of the invention will be
apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment,
considered along with the accompanying drawings.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a bicycle light according to
the invention.
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the bicycle
light.
FIG. 2A is another exploded view.
FIG. 3 is a frontal view showing components of the bicycle
light.
FIG. 4 is a side elevation view in section, as seen along the plane
4-4 in FIG. 3, showing internal components of the assembled bicycle
light.
FIG. 5 is a detailed view in top plan section showing components of
side lights of the device.
FIGS. 6 and 7 are front and perspective views showing another
embodiment of the bicycle light of the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 shows a front bicycle light 10 of the invention, with a
housing or casing 12 on which are mounted push button type switches
14 and 16, preferably at a top side as shown.
A connector bracket 18 is seen secured to the bottom side of the
light casing 12. In a preferred form this connector has a
handlebar-engaging surface 20, appropriately curved as shown, and a
connection point 22 for a flexible, stretchable strap to be wrapped
tightly around the bottom of the handle-bar and secured back to the
connector device 18. Other forms of connection to a bicycle can be
used.
Left and right side lights 24 are included in a preferred
embodiment of the front light of the invention. These project
yellow or amber light, but other colors are also possible.
The front end 26 of the bicycle light is angled downwardly, as
described above. The downward angle is relative to vertical or with
respect to a plane indicated at 28 and defined by a decorative
circumferential groove as shown (the plane being perpendicular to
the length of the casing 12). This downward angle is also relative
to an LED circuit board, described below.
As indicated in the partially exploded view of FIG. 2, the bicycle
light assembly 10 has an internal LED circuit board 30 supporting,
in this preferred embodiment, two upper LEDs 32 and a lower LED 34,
with some of the LED driver electronics indicated at 36. The LED
board 30 is mounted essentially vertically within the casing 12,
that is, essentially perpendicular to the direction of light
projection from the head lamp 10. As explained above, however,
other components are angled downwardly, including a multi-cone LED
light reflector 38, a transparent window or port 40, and a
snapped-in securing bezel 42. The reason for this angled
relationship is to accommodate the required deeper reflectors for
the upper LEDs 32, which form a spot beam for deeper penetration
into the darkness along a trail, and a shallower reflector as
required for the lower LED 34, which produces a wider flood beam.
The angling of the front face of the head lamp device conserves
space and total size and volume of the device, while efficiently
providing for spot and flood beams.
FIG. 2A shows the casing 12 exploded, revealing a preferred
construction with the casing being assembled from a metal housing
component 12a and a plastic housing component 12b, the latter
carrying the push button switch activators 14 and 16 and receiving
a battery (shown in FIG. 4). The metal housing component 12a
dissipates heat.
FIG. 3 shows the assembled bicycle head lamp 10 in a frontal view.
The integrated reflector block 38 is shown, with its three
reflector cones 38a and 38b, in position to produce the spot beam
from the LEDs 32 and the flood beam from the LED 34. The word
"cone" is used to mean a reflector of an effective shape to produce
the beam desired, typically a parabolic reflector, not usually in
the shape of a true cone. The reflector device 38 is preferably a
single unit with the three reflectors, and it can be produced of
metallized molded plastic. The bottom reflector 38b may be greater
in width than height, to produce the desired wide flood beam to
illuminate a wide area in front of the rider, including the sides
of a trail. FIG. 3 shows that the headlamp casing 12, at its front
end 26 and preferably also through its length, is elliptical or
oblong in cross section, although it could be other shapes,
including circular.
FIG. 3 also shows the snapped-in securing bezel 42, a top clip 42a,
and legs or standoffs 40a that are integral with the window 40 to
position the window correctly (see FIG. 4).
FIG. 4 shows the bicycle head lamp 10 in side elevational section
as seen along the midline. The casing or housing 12 contains a
relative large battery 44, preferably a rechargeable battery,
chargeable via a charging port 46, which can be a micro USB port,
protected by a removable cover 48. Also shown are the two switches
14 and 16 that are included in a preferred embodiment. The switch
14 is a main switch, which will turn on the spot and flood lights
together, with additional pushes of the switch providing a
different light level or a pulsing mode, and also switching off the
head lamp. Operation of the switch 16 requires that the main switch
14 be on at one of its settings; the switch 16 operates the side
lights indicated at 24 in FIGS. 1 and 2 and also shown in FIG. 5.
This gives the bike rider the option to use side lighting for urban
riding, but to switch off the side lights when riding on trails.
Additional settings such as flashing of the side lights can also be
provided. The external push-button switches 14 and 16 operate
momentary switches 14a, 16a inside the housing, these being
connected on a switch circuit board 50 which connects with the
battery 44 and with the LED board 30, and supports some of the LED
driver electronics. A connector from the PC board 50 to the LED
board is shown at 51. The LED driver requires some space, and the
components that heat up most are on the LED pcb 30 for best heat
dissipation as explained below.
FIG. 4 also shows that the LED circuit board 30 is secured to a
metal heat sink block 52 via machine screws 54 (only one of which
is visible in FIG. 4), the block 52 being in heat conducting
contact with the metal exterior portion 12a of the casing and with
a mounting base 55 (with which the block 52 preferably is
integral), which connects to the connector bracket 18. This
dissipates heat from the battery and particularly from the LED
board 30. In FIG. 4 a plastic rib 56 is seen below and supporting
the battery 44.
At the front end of the head lamp 10, FIG. 4 shows the multi-cone
reflector 38. Since this cross section is taken through the midline
of the head lamp device, a shared wall 60 of the two top reflectors
38a is seen, indicated in cross section. The lower LED 34 is
visible in cross section, but the upper LEDs 32 are not seen in
FIG. 4. Just left of the junction area 60 in FIG. 4 is seen the
exterior of the left-side reflector 38a.
FIG. 4 shows the end profile of the front 26 of the housing as an
inwardly curving line 26a. This is a decorative feature by which
the front end sweeps concavely inwardly at left and right.
FIG. 5 shows the bicycle light 10 in a cross section taken on a
horizontal plane approximately at mid-level through the housing, at
the level of the side lights 24 seen in FIG. 1. The side light
structures 24 are each light pipes/lenses to carry light from
internal LEDs 62 to the sides of the head lamp. Each side light LED
62 is preferably mounted on the back side of the LED board 30.
Although the light pipes/lenses 24 could be amber colored with the
LED producing approximately white light, preferably the LEDs have
the yellow or amber color, with the light pipes/lenses 24 being
clear, essentially without color.
FIGS. 6 and 7 show a modified embodiment of the bicycle light 70 of
the invention. The light structure 70 is similar to the light 10 of
the first embodiment, having upper and lower LEDs 32 and 34 on a
common printed circuit board (not shown), oriented generally
upright in the housing 12a, and with a reflector structure 38c
which again has a lower, shallower reflector cone 38d for wide
angle beam projection. The lower reflector cone 38d, not being as
deep as the spot reflector cones 38e above, does not protrude as
far forward at the front of the light housing, thus being receded
with respect to the reflector cones 38e. The difference from the
earlier embodiment is that the front window 72 of the light
assembly is not a sloped single plane but instead has two separate
planar sections, an upper part which is a plane 72a and which may
be essentially vertical and perpendicular to the light path, and a
lower part which is a plane 72b which is sloped back, to conform to
the receded lower reflector 38d surface. The window 72 can be a
single plastic molding comprising the two separate planes 72a and
72b.
In other respects the light assembly 70 is similar to that
described above, especially with regard to internal components. The
LED circuit board (not shown) is vertical or approximately
vertical, essentially perpendicular to the light path. The
reflector block 38c is similar to that shown in FIG. 4 but with the
upper portion having an essentially vertically oriented front and
the lower portion being angled or recessed to recede as described
above. The angle of this lower portion can be in the range of about
15.degree. to 30.degree.. When angles are described herein as
"about" a specific number of degrees, this should be considered as
including a range of ten percent above and below that figure.
The above described preferred embodiments are intended to
illustrate the principles of the invention, but not to limit its
scope. Other embodiments and variations to these preferred
embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art and may be
made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention
as defined in the following claims.
* * * * *