GB2330441A

GB2330441A - An electrically operated assembly

Info

Publication number: GB2330441A
Application number: GB9721764A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Terence Henry Leather
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1997-10-15
Filing date: 1997-10-15
Publication date: 1999-04-21
Also published as: GB9721764D0

Abstract

An electrically operated assembly comprises an electrically powered article (2) mounted on, and making electrical contact with, a base (1) which provides a housing (3) for one or more electric batteries. The article (2) is separable from the base (1) such that it may be interchanged with an alternative electrically powered article to thereby vary the configuration of the assembly. The article may be illuminated and may include sound-emitting means. The article may include a scrolling electronic display, produced by, for instance, light emitting diodes. The assembly may be provided with a ground penetrating stake (4).

Description

AN ELECTRICALLY OPERATED ASSEMBLY The present invention relates to an electrically operated assembly.

Particularly, but not exclusively. the invention relates to an ornamental assembly for outdoor location.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided an electrically operated assembly, comprising an electrically powered article mounted on, and making electrical contact with. a base which provides a housing for one or more electric batteries, wherein the article is separable from the base such that it may be interchanged with an alternative electrically powered article to thereby vary the configuration of the assembly.

The invention therefore provides a base housing an electrical power supply. which is adapted to provide a common support mounting for different electrically operated articles which may have a variety of different configurations. Since the assembly includes means for housing its own electrical power source there is no need to connect the assembly to a mains power supply. which would otherwise impose a limitation on the utility of the article.

The article may be an ornamental article or a display article. The article thus preferably includes one or more electrically powered ornamental andior display features.

For instance, at least parts of said article may be illuminated. Similarly at least a part of said article may be an electrical powered moving feature. and/or the article may include electrically powered means for producing sound.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the assembly is adapted as an ornamental assembly for location in a garden or other suitable grounds. The or each article may thus be an ornamental article of one of a v variety of designs which might be located in a garden or the like. For instance. the article may be an illuminated statue or other figure or object. For example. for use in the Christmas season the article may have a design appropriate to Christmas, for instance the article may be designed as a Christmas Tree, Reindeer. Santa Clause etc. The article may include illuminated and/or moving and/or audible features. For instance, the article may be a stylised Christmas Tree and incorporate a number of flashing light elements simulating fairy lights.

Articles having designs appropriate to other seasons or festivals. or non season specific designs. could be provided.

The article may include an electronic text display. such as a dot matrix scrolling display produced by, for instance. an array of light emitting diodes.

In one embodiment of the invention the article comprises a body at least a portion of which is transparent. an illuminated and/or moving feature being visible through said transparent portion. Said feature may. for instance. comprise a plurality of light emitting elements which flash on and off in a predetermined or random manner.

Preferably the base includes a ground penetrating portion so that the assembly may be located by inserting said ground penetrating portion of the base into the ground.

With this embodiment. the assembly can be located at any location where the ground is sufficiently soft to enable insertion of the ground penetrating portion of the base. such as in a garden. and may be readily relocated as and when desired. The assembly is preferably readily portable to enable manageable location and location Although the invention is primarily directed at relatively large articles adapted for outdoor locations. the invention may also be applied to much small articles adapted for indoor use. For instance, the assembly could be of a suitable size for location in an indoor flower pot. or on a mantelpiece etc.

The assembly may include on'off power switching. which may be remote; controlled. For instance anq conventional remote control system. such as infra red, light sensing and radio control may be used.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided an portable ornamental article comprising one or more electrically powered ornamental features, a housing for an electric battery for powering the or each ornamental feature. and a support member including a ground penetrating portion which is adapted for insertion in the ground.

According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a portable display device. comprising an electrically powered display portion, a housing for an electric battery. and a support member including a ground penetrating portion adapted for insertion in the ground.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided an electrically powered assembly, comprising a base which provides a housing for an electric battery, and two or more interchangeable electricalln powered articles each adapted for releasably mounting on the base in electrical contact therewith.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described. by u-ae of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. in which: Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the fulls assembled embodiment of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a front view of a modification of the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

Referring to the drawings. the illustrated assembly comprises a base 1 which provides a support for an ornamental article 2.

The base 1 comprises a hollow cylindrical pillar 3 which provides a housing for conventional electric batteries (not shown). At its lower end. the base portion 1 terminates with a ground penetrating spike 4 which enables the base 1 to be located in the ground. An annular flange 5 extends radially from the base portion 1 between the spike 4 and pillar 3 and limits the depth to which the base 1 can be inserted into the ground (see Figs. 2 and 3). The upper end of the pillar 3 terminates in a screw threaded portion 3a. The base 1 could readily be manufactured as a single moulded plastics component.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention. the ornamental article 2 is a stylised Christmas Tree design comprising front and rear plastics mouldings 6 and 7 which together form a housing for a correspondingly profiled printed circuit board 8.

The front and rear mouldings are identical in shape but the front moulding 6 is transparent whereas the rear moulding 7 is opaque. The printed circuit board 8 supports a plurality of light elements 9 (which may be simple filament bulbs or light emitting diodes) and circuitry necessary for their operation. The front and rear mouldings 6 and 7 include screw receiving bosses 1 0 (only those located in the rear moulding 7 are illustrated) by uas of which the two mouldings may be screwed together. The printed circuit board 8 includes screw holes 11 for receiving screws which pass between corresponding bosses 10 in the front and rear mouldings so that the printed circuit board is securely trapped therebetween.

Each moulding 6 and 7 has at its bottom edge half of an internally screw threaded socket 12 When the tuo mouldings 6 and 7 are screu-ed together the socket 12 provides a screw threaded mounting for mounting the article 2 to the base pillar 3.

The article includes appropriate electrical contact means (not shown) for making electrical contact between the batteries housed in the base I and the printed circuit board 8. The electric contact means is not illustrated but can take ann appropriate form. For instance, the contact could be provided by a corresponding plug and socket arrangement or by simple bare metal contacts such as are provided between the battery housing and bulb housing of a conventional torch. The contact members are preferably located as to engage by the simple action of screwing the article 2 onto the base 1, but as an alternative there may. for instance. be an external electrical cable for connecting the base to the article provided with appropriate plug socket fixings.

Fig. 2 illustrates the embodiment of Figure 1 when fully assembled. From Fig.

2 it will be appreciated that the lights 9 supported on the printed circuit board are visible through the front transparent moulding 6. With the ornamental Christmas Tree 2 screwed onto the support base 1. electrical contact is made and the lights are illuminated. The printed circuit board incorporates circuitry which may provide for flashing the lights in a random or predetermined manner if desired.

In a simple assembly. there mav be permanent electrical contact between the base 1 and article 2 once the article 2 has been screwed onto the base 1. Alternatively. an on/off power switch may be incorporated in the base and/or article so that the electric feature may be selectively switched on or off. The on/off switching may incorporate a remote control facility such that the assembly can be switched on or off from a remote control unit. For instance, any conventional remote control system could be incorporated, such as infra red light sensing. or selective radio frequency control systems.

A slight modification of the assembly illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 is shoun in Fig. 3. Fig. 3 illustrates the assembly with the base 1 located in the ground 13. The modification comprises a scrolling text'' display screen 14. This comprises an LED array which operates under the control of a simple micro processor chip (not shown) to display a message. In the illustrated example an appropriate message would. for instance, be "Merry Christmas" The chip and associated electric circuitry may readily be designed to provide for the display of a plurality of alternative messages.

Moreover, in more sophisticated designs means may be included for inputting a personalised message. Such scrolling display devices. and associated circuitry. are well known and will not be described in detail here.

It will be appreciated that with the present invention the assembly can be readily located (and re-located) at any desired location and in particular does not need to be located near to a mains power source since the assembly includes its own power source. In addition. location of the assembly comprises the straight forward procedure of inserting the spike 4 into the ground 13. Moreover. a single base 1 can serve as a common base for a plurality of interchangeable articles 2. For instance. the Christmas Tree design could be replaced by articles of other designs appropriate to different times of year. For instance, a suitable fanciful Easter design (such as an Easter bunny etc.) could be fitted to the base portion 1 at Easter time. Indeed, the article may be of any desirable configuration and could. for instance. be an article which is not specific to any particular season. For instance. the article may be of any design typically found in a household garden. such as a mushroom. a garden animal. a gnome etc.

In addition to. or as an alternative to. an illuminated feature. the article 2 may incorporate a moving or audible feature. For instance. an alternative Christmas article could be an illuminated Santa Clause figure which rocks back and forth and omits a 'ho ho ho'' sound. Any suitable sound generation means could be included for this purpose, such as a voice synthesiser or a simple tape or solid state recorded message.

Alternatively, the article could emit an electronically produced. or recorded, musical tune, for instance a tune of a Christmas carol.

Although assemblies according to the present invention are particularly suited for adaptation as ornamental assemblies. which may for instance be used as garden ornaments, the invention encompasses non-ornamental embodiments. For instance, the article 2 mounted to the base 1 could be a informational display article. This could either be for instance an illuminated sign or an electronic text display panel.

The article could for instance be an emergency road sign. or a sign that might be used at outdoor festivals and similar functions. or the article could be designed for advertising. Indeed. the article could be any article having at least one electrically powered visual or audible feature.

It will be appreciated that manv other modifications could be made to the illustrated embodiment of the invention For instance. the screw threaded mounting arrangement could be replaced by any suitable inter engaging arrangement such as a simple resilient catch or a spring loaded "bayonet" type engagement. In addition. the base need not be provided with a spike for insertion in the ground but could be intended to simply sit upon the ground. The base itself may include ornamental features and ma',- for instance be designed as an ornamental pedestal. Ornamental features on the base may include electricallv powered features. such as lights or sound generating means. In other embodiments of the invention. the article 2 may not be separable from the base 1 but rather the base and ornamental/display article they may be secured together in a permanent manner. or even formed as a single integral component.

Other possible modifications and embodiments will be apparent to the skilled reader.

Claims

CLAIMS An electrically operated assembly, comprising an electrically powered article mounted on, and making electrical contact with. a base which provides a housing for one or more electric batteries, wherein the article is separable from the base such that it may be interchanged with an alternative electrically powered article to there vary the configuration of the assembly.

An An assembly according to claim 1 wherein said article is an ornamental article.

3. An assembly according to claim 1. wherein said article is a display article.

4. An assembly according to any preceding claim. wherein said article includes one or more electrically powered ornamental and/or display features.

An An assembly according to any preceding claim. wherein at least parts of said article are illuminated.

6. An assembly according to any preceding claim. wherein at least a part of said article is an electrical powered moving feature.

7. An assembly according to any preceding claim. wherein the article includes electrically powered means for producing sound.

8. An assembly according to any preceding claim. wherein said article includes an electronic text display'.

9. An assembly according to claim 8. wherein said electronic text display is a dot matrix scrolling display produced by. for instance. an array of light emitting diodes.

10. An assembly according to any preceding claim. wherein the article comprises a body at least a portion of which is transparent, and an illuminated and/or moving feature which is visible through said transparent portion.

11. An assembly according to claim 1 0. wherein said illuminated feature comprises a plurality of light emitting elements.

12. An assembly according to claim 11. wherein said light emitting elements flash on and off in a predetermined or random manner.

13. An assembly according to claim 11 or claim 12. wherein said light emitting elements are light emitting diodes mounted on a printed circuit board.

17. An assembly according to any preceding claim. wherein said base includes a ground penetrating portion so that the assembly may be located by inserting said ground penetrating portion of the base into the ground.

18. An assembly according to claim 17. wherein at least said portion of the base is configured as a stake for insertion in suitably soft ground.

19. An assembly according to any preceding claim. wherein the assembly is portable.

20. An assembly according to anv preceding claim. wherein the base also includes one or more electrically powered features.

21. An assembly according to any preceding claim. wherein the assembly includes on/off power switching means.

22. An assembly according to claim 21. 1 wherein the power switching means includes a remote control facility.

23. A portable ornamental article comprising one or more electrically powered ornamental features, a housing for an electric battery for powering the or each ornamental feature, and a support member including a ground penetrating portion which is adapted for insertion in the ground.

24. A portable display device. comprising an electrically powered display' portion. a housing for an electric battery, and a support member including a ground penetrating portion adapted for insertion in the ground.

25. An electricallv powered assembly. comprising a base which provides a housing for an electric battery. and two or more interchangeable electrically powered articles each adapted for releasably mounting on the base in electrical contact therewith.

26. An electrically powered assembly. substantially as hereinbefore described. with reference to the accompanying drawings.