Illumination – Light fiber – rod – or pipe – Ornamental or decorative
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-06
2001-10-09
Cariaso, Alan (Department: 2875)
Illumination
Light fiber, rod, or pipe
Ornamental or decorative
C362S123000, C362S284000, C362S293000, C362S324000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06299339
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a light generating base, more particularly to one for decorating a tree, such as a Christmas tree.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to
FIGS. 1 and 2
, a conventional Christmas tree
10
has a stand
12
at the bottom of a trunk
11
. The trunk
11
is provided with a plurality of branches
13
, and a plurality of light diffusing caps
14
disposed on the branches
13
. To enable light emission via the light diffusing caps
14
, a light generating base
20
is disposed at one side of the stand
12
. The light generating base
20
includes a motor
21
, a lamp unit
24
, a color filter disk
23
, and an optical fiber bundle
28
. The motor
21
has a motor shaft
211
. The color filter disk
23
is connected to the motor shaft
211
to permit rotation thereof about the axis of the motor shaft
211
. The lamp unit
24
is disposed on one side of the motor
21
, and radiates light upwardly so that different colors of light rays can be generated as the color filter disk
23
rotates. The optical fiber bundle
28
has a lower portion secured above the color filter disk
23
, and includes a core
27
and a plurality of optical fiber strands
29
. As such, the light rays through the color filter disk
23
can pass along the optical fiber strands
29
. The optical fiber strands
29
extend along the branches
13
, and are connected to the light diffusing caps
14
.
Because the light generating base
20
is disposed at one side of the stand
12
, the aesthetic effect of the tree
10
is affected adversely. In addition, a great deal of inconvenience is encountered when moving the tree
10
because the light generating base
20
is formed as a component that is separate from the stand
12
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a light generating base for decorating a tree that does not result in inconvenience when transporting the tree and that does not affect adversely the appearance of the tree.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a tree that incorporates a light generating base which is convenient to transport and which has a neat appearance.
According to one aspect of the invention, a light generating base includes a stand, a motor, a lamp unit, an upright filter supporting member, a color filter disk, an upright fiber supporting member and an optical fiber bundle.
The motor includes a motor body and a motor shaft mounted on the motor body. The motor shaft has upper and lower portions that project upwardly and downwardly from the motor body. The lower portion of the motor shaft is secured to the stand such that the motor body is rotatable relative to the stand about a vertical axis. The lamp unit is mounted on the upper portion of the motor shaft, and is operable so as to radiate light upwardly. The upright filter supporting member has a lower portion that is secured to the motor body to permit rotation of the filter supporting member with the motor body relative to the stand, and an upper portion that projects upwardly beyond the lamp unit. The color filter disk is mounted on the upper portion of the filter supporting member so as to be co-rotatable therewith, and is disposed above the lamp unit and transverse to a light radiating direction of the lamp unit. The color filter disk is formed with a plurality of differently colored angularly displaced light filtering regions. The upright fiber supporting member has a lower portion that is secured to the stand, and an upper portion that projects upwardly beyond the color filter disk. The optical fiber bundle includes a plurality of optical fiber strands, and has a lower end secured to the upper portion of the fiber supporting member such that light passing through the color filter disk can be received by the optical fiber strands for transmission therealong.
According to another aspect of the invention, a tree includes a hollow trunk, a plurality of branches mounted on the trunk, and a light generating base. The light generating base includes a stand, a motor, a lamp unit, an upright filter supporting member, a color filter disk, an upright fiber supporting member, and an optical fiber bundle. The motor includes a motor body and a motor shaft mounted on the motor body. The motor shaft has upper and lower portions that project upwardly and downwardly from the motor body. The lower portion of the motor shaft is secured to the stand such that the motor body is rotatable relative to the stand about a vertical axis. The lamp unit is mounted on the upper portion of the motor shaft, and is operable so as to radiate light upwardly. The upright filter supporting member has a lower portion that is secured to the motor body to permit rotation of the filter supporting member with the motor body relative to the stand, and an upper portion that projects upwardly beyond the lamp unit. The color filter disk is mounted on the upper portion of the filter supporting member so as to be co-rotatable therewith, and is disposed above the lamp unit and transverse to a light radiating direction of the lamp unit. The color filter disk is formed with a plurality of differently colored angularly displaced light filtering regions. The upright fiber supporting member has a lower portion that is secured to the stand, and an upper portion that projects upwardly beyond the color filter disk. The optical fiber bundle includes a plurality of optical fiber strands, and has a lower end secured to the upper portion of the fiber supporting member such that light passing through the color filter disk can be received by the optical fiber strands for transmission therealong. The optical fiber bundle extends into the hollow trunk. The optical fiber strands extend outwardly of the hollow trunk and along the branches.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3766376 (1973-10-01), Sadacca et al.
patent: 4858086 (1989-08-01), Pietrantonio et al.
patent: 5226709 (1993-07-01), Labranche
patent: 5442524 (1995-08-01), Farmer
patent: 5513083 (1996-04-01), Chang
patent: 5702170 (1997-12-01), Broderick
patent: 5758955 (1998-06-01), Belliveau
Cariaso Alan
Ladas & Parry
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