1. Field of the Invention
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The present invention relates to apparel in general and,
more particularly, to apparel with lights that randomly flash in
response to motion to enhance the visibility of the apparel when
worn.
2. Background of the Invention
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It is known to provide apparel with lights, as I discussed in
my U.S. Patent No. 5,546,681. Lighting devices have been
incorporated into a variety of hats, shoes (including athletic
shoes and dress shoes), for either safety reasons, such as allowing
the wearer of the apparel to see or be seen in reduced light
situations, or to provide special effects as an element of fashion
on the part of the wearer.
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Lighted footwear has been increasingly popular over the last
several years. As I described in my prior patent, existing lighted
footwear falls into several classes. The first is a simple on/off
switch by which a light is connected to a battery responsively by
a manually-operated switch. The second class is reflected in such
patents as U.S. Patent No. 4,158,122, issued to Dana, in which an
on/off switch causes an oscillator to run, producing a regular
pattern of flashing lights while the switch is closed.
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A third class of device is motion activated lights. The prior
art generally teaches one kind of motion activated light, as best
illustrated by U.S. Patent No. 4,848,009, issued to Rodgers. In
this patent, in response to movement of the shoe, a switch is
closed and a one-shot or monostable multivibrator causes a single
pulse to issue in response to the closure of a switch. Until the
pulse completes, further closures of the switch will have no
effect, thereby eliminating the flickering of the light that would
otherwise occur if the light was on for the small duration of time
the motion switch was closed.
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In my prior patent, I disclosed a new kind of lighted shoe
that was a combination of a pressure switch coupled to a pair of
monostable multivibrator circuits. In the arrangement disclosed
therein, the circuit was designed to operate and cause a single
flash for a predetermined length of time when the wearer of the
shoe jumped or otherwise lifted his or her shoes from the ground.
(A longer pulse occurred in a time-out situation where the shoe is
lifted from the ground in a non-jumping motion.)
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All the foregoing approaches are limited to either a
continuous flashing operation, such as that disclosed in the Dana
'922 patent, or to a pulse of predetermined duration, such as
disclosed in the Rodgers '009 patent and in my prior patent.
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For enhanced illumination effects, it would be preferable not
to be limited to either a Dana-style oscillator or a Rodgers-style
single pulse. A random flashing circuit, which has not been
disclosed by the art, would enhance the visibility and the artistic
effect of the flashing lights. This would be an entirely new
approach to apparel lighting.
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As discussed in my prior patent, any flashing unit used for
apparel must be small and economical to make, and must be such as
not to drain the battery prematurely. Any flashing unit must be
such that when consumers are selecting lighted apparel, they can
examine the operation of the flashing unit without having to put
the apparel on. Thus, for example, consumers often purchase
lighted shoes by picking them up from the display stand and shaking
them and observing the lighted effect that occurs.
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A random flashing shoe activated by a motion apparatus, all
combined in a small package that could be mounted in an item of
apparel such as a shoe or a hat that would operate with minimal
battery drain, would also increase the salability of the shoes or
other apparel.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
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The novel apparatus of the present invention overcomes the
problems of the prior art described above and enhances both the
visibility of the wearer, as well as the salability of the item
itself, with the provision of a random flashing circuit activated
by a switch responsive to motion. The flashing unit includes at
least one light that produces light visible from the exterior of
the apparel. A motion-responsive switch causes a switch closure
when the apparel is moved. A circuit, attached between the light
and the switch, causes the light to illuminate in a series of
random pulses for a predetermined time internal in response to at
least one of the switch closures.
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In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the invention
can be utilized with a variety of lights, such as light emitting
diodes, incandescent lights, and electroluminescent panels.
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Similarly, a variety of motion responsive switches can be
utilized. Such switches would include mercury switches,
piezoelectric transducer switches, and vibration switches of the
type having a first contact on the end of a vibrating spring and a
second contact which the first contact touches in response to
motion imposed upon or the inertia change in the switch.
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In accordance with yet another feature of the invention, the
circuit includes a signal generator coupled to the lights that
generates random width pulses. A monostable multivibrator,
attached to the switch, enables the signal generator for a
predetermined time interval in response to the switch closure.
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The signal generator includes an oscillator that defines a
clock signal, a shift register, and feedback logic, between the
output and input of the shift register. The feedback logic loads
the shift register such that the contents of the shift register are
random. When the switch closes, the shift register is allowed to
shift the random pulse stream through the register. The output of
the register is then combined with the clock signal to produce a
random pulse signal driving the lights.
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The foregoing circuit is simple and reliable, and may be
manufactured easily due to the low parts count. Since no power is
drawn from the battery except when the switch is closed, power
consumption is at a minimum.
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A more complete understanding of the invention will be
afforded to those skilled in the art, as well as a realization of
additional advantages thereof, by a consideration of the following
detailed description of the preferred embodiment. Reference will
be made to the appended sheets of drawing which will first be
described briefly.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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- Fig. 1 is a side perspective view of the footwear which
incorporates the novel lighting system of the present invention;
- Fig. 2 is a side perspective view of the footwear of Fig. 1
showing the illumination of the lighting system of the present
invention;
- Fig. 3 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the lighting
system of the present invention when installed in a shoe.
- Fig. 4 is a side cutaway view of the footwear of Fig. 1 taken
along lines 4-4;
- Fig. 5 is a partial bottom sectional plan view taken along the
lines 5-5 of Fig. 4;
- Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a preferred embodiment of the
lighting control circuit show in Fig. 3; and
- Fig. 7 is a timing diagram associated with the lighting
circuit of the present invention as depicted in Fig. 6.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
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Referring more particularly to the drawings, the following
discussion of the preferred embodiment and related process of the
present invention focuses on shoes, and in particular the
incorporation of the novel lighting system in an athletic shoe. It
should be understood, however that the present invention is not
limited to shoes, but all kinds of apparel that may be easily
enclosed in hats, jackets, gloves and the like. The small nature
of the module makes it adaptable for a wide range of apparel
applications. Shoes, as reflected in Figs. 1-5, are chosen for
discussion purposes, only because of the challenge of using a small
electronics package in the environment of a shoe. Other apparel
applications are much simpler. Figs. 1-5 illustrate no more than
an application of the present invention.
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Referring to Figs. 1-5, an athletic shoe 1 typically includes
an upper 5 and a sole portion 10. An insole 6 typically resides in
an upper 5 above the sole portion 10. A transparent, window-like
structure 20 is provided about a heel of the sole portion 10. The
transparent structure 20 may be molded integral with the sole
portion 10 or may be bonded thereto with a suitable adhesive. When
the shoe is moved, visible light 21 is emitted from the transparent
structure.
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The sole portion 10 of the shoe 1 includes a mid-sole 22 and
an outsole 23 which is fixably attached along the base of the shoe
1. As disclosed in my prior U.S. patent, the outer sole is
typically formed from a solid, wear-resistant material such as
rubber and certain polyuretane materials, whereas the mid-sole is
typically formed in an injection or thermoformive process from a
foamed resilient material such as polyurethane or ethylene vinyl
acetate.
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A light producing mechanism 30 is disposed in the midsole
portion 10 of the shoe 1, preferably below the heel of the wearers'
foot. The light producing mechanism 30 includes a plurality of
light emitting diodes 72 and 74, (each can be multiple diodes) each
is wired to a different part of the circuit. In the embodiment
shown, the plurality of light emitting diodes are provided about
the circumference of the housing 32, although other arrangements
could certainly be utilized. The housing 32, which can be made
from plastic or other suitable, resilient, yet solid material in an
injection molding process, contains a lighting control circuit 33.
Preferably, housing 32 is positioned within midsole 22 or
immediately adjacent thereto so that LEDs 72, 74 are positioned
next to the transparent source 20 thereby enabling light emitted by
the LEDs 72, 74 to be visible externally of the shoe 1.
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The lighting control circuit 33 is preferably disposed on a
printed circuit board 39 to which the LEDs 31 are connected by
conductors 38. A switch 40 is disposed within the housing 32 and
is a motion sensitive switch that closes in response to motion of
the shoe. The motion activated switch 40 may be a mercury switch,
such as disclosed in the Rodgers '009 patent, a piezoelectric
transducer of the type disclosed in Chiang U.S. Patent No.
5,188,447, a vibration-type switch such as disclosed in Wut U.S.
Patent No. 5,408,764, a magnetic reed switch disclosed in Rodgers
U.S. Patent No. 5,422,628, or the vibration light switch disclosed
in Wong, U.S. Patent No. 5,400,232. The switch arrangements
disclosed therein are hereby incorporated herein by reference. A
simple mechanical momentary contact switch may also be utilized.
The operative characteristics of all of these switches is a switch
closure of the mechanical or electrical type in response to motion.
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The lighting control circuit 33 is connected to a battery 41
which is located in the housing 32. While it is shown in the
diagrams as being beneath the printed circuit board 39, the exact
position is not important. The battery is electrically connected
to the lighting control circuit shown in Fig. 6. The battery can
be positioned at any convenient location within the housing.
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As noted, the illumination of the LEDs 72, 74 is controlled by
the lighting control circuit 33 shown in Fig. 6. The preferred
embodiment is reflected therein. Fig. 6 uses a conventional "+3v"
to indicate that a particular element is tied to a 3-volt power
supply which would generally be provided by a dry cell, "button-type"
lithium battery which provides extremely long life coupled
with a light weight structure. Obviously, other forms and voltages
of batteries could be utilized for the present invention. The
motion switch 40 is tied to the input of a monostable multivibrator
44. This monostable multivibrator 44 is configured so as to
trigger on a "negative" transition of the voltage at the switch 40,
which occurs when the switch is closed. This results in the
inverted input to the OR gate which forms a part of the
multivibrator being tied to ground and the monostable multivibrator
44 producing a pulse at the output Q1 which is defined by external
resistor 48 and capacitor 46. (The multivibrator can also be
configured to work on a positive transistor, such as a switch
opening, and it can also be configured to require a series of
switch closures within a set time interval to trigger.) Output Q2
is used to enable the outputs of inverters 66 and 70, which are of
the buffered variety.
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As described in my previous patent, the duration of the pulse
out of monostable multivibrator 44 is controlled by the resistor
and capacitor by forming an RC time constant network. Typical
arrangements are a 47 µfd capacitor and a 2 MΩ resistor.
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The output of the one shot is used to control a signal
generator which produces random width pulses. Operation of the
signal generator may be understood with reference to the timing
diagrams in Fig. 7 and the circuit in Fig. 6. The timing diagram
in Fig. 7 references a series of signal points A, B, C, S1, M1, L1
and L2. Signals A, B, and C are respectively the output of flip-flop
58, flip-flop 56, and exclusive-OR gate 68. S1 is the
representation of the switch closure. M1 is the output of the one
shot. L1 and L2 are the signals across the LEDs 72 and 74.
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With reference to Fig. 6, the signal generator includes flip-flop
58, shift registers 52-54, and 56, NOR gates 60, 62, and 64,
inverter 66 and Exclusive OR 68. The purpose of flip-flop 58 is to
divide the frequency of the oscillator. It is utilized to produce
the appropriate control of the output of the shift registers
through the exclusive OR gate 68.
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The three flip-flops, 52, 54, and 56 shift the clock signals
from the output of the oscillator 50. NOR gate 60 has one input
connected to the reset output of flip-flop 56 and the other input
is connected to the set output of flip-flop 54. A NOR gate 64 has
one input connected to the set output of the flip-flop 56 and
another input connected to the reset output of the flip-flop 54.
The NOR gates 60 and 62 have their outputs connected to one input
of a NOR gate 62 that also drives an inverter 66, forming an OR/NOR
combination. The outputs of NOR gate 62 and inverter 66 are
respectively connected to the set and reset inputs of flip-flop 52.
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The output of the signal generator is provided at the output
of flip-flop 56, otherwise indicated as signal point B. The output
at signal point B is the random width pulses indicated in Fig. 7.
Other random pulse variations can be achieved by changing the
number of flip-flop circuits of the shift register and the input of
the gate circuits connected in the feedback loop thereof. The
output of the shift register at point B is then Exclusive OR'd with
the output of flip-flop 58 so as to produce the signal at point C
which is the random width pulse stream. An inverter 70 is used to
invert this stream between LEDs 72 and 74 so that the lights can
flash at opposite times. Random width circuits are known in the
art and are usually used for data synchronization applications.
See, e.g., U.S. Patent No. 3,890,265 to Hara. No applications to
apparel are known.
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As mentioned, once the switch closes, the output of the one
shot is activated and removes the reset signal from the input of
the oscillator 50 and the frequency divider 58. Thus, the shift
register continues to shift whatever random series of pulses have
been loaded by the feedback loop. As soon as the one shot ends its
duration, the shift register stops shifting and is frozen until the
next switch closure.
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The duration of the signals coming out of the shift register
is controlled by oscillator 50. As mentioned, this can be two
back-to-back one shots, so that the frequency can be controlled
with an exterior resistor/capacitor combination. The length of
time which the random sequence occurs is set by the
resistor/capacitor combination on the one shot 44.
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As can be seen, the foregoing circuit provides an easily
programmable random width series of pulses to light the LEDs 72 and
74. Of course, one skilled in the art would readily appreciate
that numerous other modifications and/or additions can be made to
the above-discussed features of the present invention without
departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. In
particular, the circuit can be made in integrated form or as an
application specific integrated circuit. It is intended that the
present invention encompass all such modifications.