AU2011101269A4 - Visibility Light - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract A visibility light, including: a flexible body capable of being wrapped around structures; at least one fastening device to secure said body in said wrapped position; and 5 one or more light emitters embedded within the body such that upon activation the light emitters illuminate said body. \ 1wPP-fnr kTP \%Q1A2AI 1 flA . r1/1i1 Om 2-c,

Description

Regulation 3.2 AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 INNOVATION PATENT SPECIFICATION (ORIGINAL) Name of Applicant: Lara Mikocki of 66 Foley Street, Kew, Victoria 3101, Australia Actual Inventor(s): Lara Mikocki Address for Service: DAVIES COLLISON CAVE, Patent Attorneys, I Nicholson Street, Melbourne 3000, Victoria, Australia Innovation Patent specification for the invention entitled: "Visibility Light" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: 1 Visibility light Field of the invention The present invention relates to visibility lights for removable mounting on items or persons to improve the visibility of that item or person. 5 Background of the invention It is desirable for people travelling either by walking or riding a bicycle to be visible in the dark, particularly to other travellers, such as other cyclists. The majority of visibility devices consist of reflective material, such as reflective fabric worn as outer garments or solid reflectors attached to a bicycles structure. These devices have the disadvantage 10 that they require an external light source to shine on them before they become reflective. This method is effective where a car is driving along a road, and once a person walking or cycling is within the cars headlight view they will become illuminated. However, particularly in situations such as bicycle tracks, where cars are not found, cyclists and walkers are not illuminated and may only become visible within short 15 distances or when located close to overhead lighting. It is therefore advantageous for those walking or cycling to have some other form of visibility that does not require an external light source. Small lights that clip onto a bicycle have been developed that include LEDs that either constantly glow or flash to provide external visibility to a cyclist. Such lights are typically 20 designed to either mount onto the handle bars of a bicycle or onto the seat post. Different types of lights and mounting arrangements are provided depending on where the light is to be mounted. Other small lights have been developed that include a simple slide clip to attach to bicycle helmets or bags. However, these cannot be subsequently mounted to a bicycle. 25 It is therefore a desired object of the present invention to provide an alternative visibility light. r -DDmIbln OTDM 19AA 1 fIlfl " .. Cl Aii 2 Reference to any prior art in the specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that this prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in Australia or any other jurisdiction or that this prior art could reasonably be expected to be ascertained, understood and regarded as relevant by a 5 person skilled in the art. Summary of the invention Accordingly, the present invention provides a visibility light, including: a flexible body capable of being wrapped around structures; at least one fastening device to secure said body in said wrapped position; and 10 one or more light emitters embedded within said body such that upon activation the light emitters illuminate said body. The body may be formed of rubber-like polymer material. Preferably, the at least one fastening device is located at at least one end of at least one arm of the body. Preferably, said rubber-like polymer material is silicone. Advantageously, a central layer 15 is provided to which the light emitters are attached. The central layer may be a rubber like polymer material, such as silicone. The body may comprise two outer layers and the central layer sandwiched between the outer layers, with the light emitters attached to one side of the central layer. The outer layers may be of rubber-like polymer material, such as silicone, overmoulded to encase the central layer and the light emitters. The 20 outer layers may be overmoulded via injection moulding. Advantageously, said body has an X shape, having a central section and four arms extending outwardly. Preferably, the thickness of the central section is greater than the thickness of the outer ends of the arms, such that the thickness tapers from the central section down the length of the arms. The ends of the arms are preferably rounded. 25 There may be at least three light emitters spaced along each arm. -%NRPrthj\CC\TRN\3914243 1 DOC . 5/10/11 3 The X shape may be dimensioned such that the length from the tip of one arm to the other is 160mm. The thickness at the central section may be around 10mm and the thickness at the ends of the arms may be around 3-5mm. Preferably, two fastening devices are provided, with each fastening device having two 5 opposing portions. Preferably, a fastening portion is located at the end of each arm. The fastening devices are advantageously magnets, such as rare earth magnets, which may be attached to the body, or wholly or partially embedded or potted within the silicone of the body. However, the fastening devices may be other means, such as Gecko Tape, VelcroTM, hooks, buttons, press studs etc., attached to or at least partially 10 embedded within the body. Where magnets are used, the magnets may be such that two adjacent arms can be fastened together, with the central section curving around a structure, such as a rod. Alternatively, the visibility light may be fixed flat to a metal surface. The light emitters may be a collection of light emitting diodes (LEDs), organic light 15 emitting diodes (OLEDs), or an electroluminescent material. In the case of LEDs and OLEDs, the conductive wires may also be embedded within the body. A power source may be provided, such as a rechargeable battery, button cell battery, dry cell battery or alternative power sources. The light emitters may be connected to the power source. The power source is preferably also fully or partially embedded within the body. The 20 power source is preferably located within the central portion of the body, with the conductive wires running down the arms. Brief description of the drawings / figures The present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 25 Figure 1 is a perspective view of a visibility light according to a first embodiment of the present invention; C \NRPrtbl\lCC\TRN\3914743 1 DOC - 5/10/11 4 Figure 2 is a perspective side view of the visibility light of Figure 1 wrapped around a tubular member; Figure 3 is a perspective front view of the visibility light of Figure 2: Figure 4 is a perspective view of a visibility light according to a second embodiment of 5 the present invention: Figure 5 is a top view of the visibility light of Figure 4, Figure 6 is an illustrative cross-sectional top view of the visibility light of Figure 4; Figure 7 is a perspective view of a visibility light of Figure 1 is a storage position; Figure 8a is an exploded perspective view of the visibility light of Figure 4; 10 Figure 8b is an exploded side view of the visibility light of Figure 4: Figure 9 is a perspective view of the visibility light of Figure 1 on a bicycle's handle bars; Figure 10 is a perspective view of the visibility light of Figure 1 on a bicycle's down tube; Figure 11 is a perspective view of the visibility light of Figure 1 on a bicycle's fork: Figure 12 is a perspective view of the visibility light of Figure 1 as a bicycle's head light; 15 Figure 13 is a perspective view of the visibility light of Figure 1 on a backpack; and Figure 14 is a perspective view of the visibility light of Figure 1 on a bicycle's basket. Detailed description of the embodiments A visibility light 10 is shown in the drawings having a body 12 made from a flexible rubber-like polymer material, such as silicone. The body 12 has a central section 14 and 20 four arms 16 extending outwardly from the central section 14 to create an X or + shape, C NRPortbl\DCC\TRN\3914243_1. DOC - 5110/11 5 as shown in Figure 1. The thickness of the central section 14 is greater than the thickness at the ends of the arms 16, such that the thickness tapers slightly towards the ends of the arms 16, as best seen in Figures 2 and 4. The ends of the arms 16 are preferably rounded. The thickness at the central section is typically around 10mm, with 5 the thickness at the ends of the arms 16 being around 5mm, or as little as 3mm. The length from the tip of one arm to the tip of the opposite arm is around 160mm. It will be appreciated that these dimensions may vary. Fastening devices in the form of magnets 18 are embedded within the ends of the arms 16. The silicone material of the body 12 means that the body can be wrapped around a 10 structure, such as the rod 20 shown in Figures 2 and 3. The magnets 18b and 18c of adjacent arms 16b and 16c lock together as the arms wrap around the rod 20. Similarly, as arms 16a and 16d wrap around the rod 20 their magnets 18a and 18d lock together. The inner surfaces of the arms contact in the Figures shown, however, it will be appreciated that the ends of the arms could overlap with the inner surface of one arm 15 sitting over the outer surface of the other arm, such that the arms fully wrap around the rod and over lap at the ends. Such an example of this is shown in Figure 12. It will be appreciated that due to the flexible nature of the body 12, the visibility light can be attached to a variety of different structures in a variety of different ways. Figures 9 through 14 illustrate the various locations on a bicycle 22 that the visibility light can be 20 attached, showing its flexibility, as well as its ability to attach to a strap 24 on a backpack 26, as shown in Figure 13. Similarly, the visibility light could be attached to an article of clothing or to a bicycle helmet. The Figures also show how the symmetrical nature of the shape of the body 12 means that it can be placed in any orientation with adjacent arms 16 attaching together. 25 Embedded within the body 12 is a plurality of light emitters in the forms of light emitting diodes (LEDs) 30. In the embodiment shown in Figure 6, three LEDs are spaced along each arm 16 between the central section 14 and the magnets 18. Flexible conductive wires (not shown) extend between the LEDs and the power source 32 located within the central portion 14. The power source illustrated is a rechargeable battery 32, which 30 would be about the size of a watch battery and can be accessed from the rear of the body 12 to allow either replacement or recharging. As the LEDs are embedded within C.NRPnrthl\fCr\TRN\X914743 1 flOC - vi/l /i 6 the silicone body 12 their activation results in the body 12 being illuminated from within. In effect, the body 12 glows. The nature of silicone means that maximum diffusion of light is obtained throughout the body. Figures 8a and 8b show one way in which the visibility light is constructed. A central 5 layer 40 being a thin sheet of silicone of around 1mm thickness, has the LEDs 30, the battery 32 and the circuitry (not shown) attached to it via a type of stitching. Outer layers 42 are overmoulded via injection moulding over the central layer 40 with attached LEDs 30, battery 32 and circuitry. The central layer 40 would be inwardly offset by 1.5mm from the edge of the outer layers, such that the outer layers 42 would contact each 10 other at the edges. The magnets 18 would also be encased between the outer layers 4:2, embedding them within the body 12. The use of silicone or other rubber-like polymer materials means that various colours can be provided. Such material is also water resistant and washable, whilst having low tear potential allowing for durability in a device that is wrapped around various sized and 15 shaped structures. The flexible nature of the body 12 is shown in Figure 7, where the visibility light is shown in a stored position, with the arms twisted so that the four magnets align. The advantage of the present invention over currently available visibility devices is that the embedded light emitters illuminate the entire body of the light, with the use of 20 silicone enhancing that illumination and allowing for the flexible mounting of the light so that it can be attached to various structures. It will be understood that the invention disclosed and defined in this specification extends to all alternative combinations of two or more of the individual features mentioned or evident from the text or drawings. All of these different combinations 25 constitute various alternative aspects of the invention. C :NRPortbl\DCC\TRN\3914243 1 DOC - 5/10111

Claims (5)

1. A visibility light, including: a flexible body capable of being wrapped around structures; at least one fastening device to secure said body in said wrapped position; and 5 one or more light emitters embedded within said body such that upon activation the light emitters illuminate said body.

2. A visibility light according to claim 1, wherein said body has an X shape, having a central section and four arms extending outwardly.

3. A visibility device according to claim 2, wherein the fastening devices are magnets 10 such that two adjacent arms can be fastened together, with the central section curving around a structure, such as a rod.

4. A visibility light according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one fastening device is located at at least one end of at least one arm of the body.

5. A visibility light according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the fastening 15 devices are magnets attached to or embedded within the body. r 'MRP hixnrr TN\2Q4941 1 ffC . ,/in/i