Amusement devices: toys – Rolling or tumbling – Including illumination means
Reexamination Certificate
1997-10-16
2001-05-15
Nguyen, Kien T. (Department: 3712)
Amusement devices: toys
Rolling or tumbling
Including illumination means
C362S479000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06231421
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
FIELD OF INVENTION
This invention relates to low power illumination systems and, more particularly, to a low power lighting apparatus for illuminating the interior of model railroad cars and other scale models.
Lighting systems for illuminating model railroad cars and other toy models are well known to those skilled in the art. For example, model railroad enthusiasts are familiar with the frosted window material including painted silhouettes utilized in the windows of model railroad passenger cars which are internally illuminated.
Such lighting systems for model railroad cars typically utilize high temperature bulbs having a screw or bayonet connector at the base which produce a hot spot within the railroad car. For example, such an internal lighting system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,779,133.
While such high temperature bulbs are acceptable in the classic metal-bodied Lionel and American Flyer railroad cars of the past, they are unsuitable for use in the modern plastic models because they tend to warp or melt the model they are illuminating.
In recent years, there has been a trend to constructing model railroad cars with clear windows and detailed, realistic interiors. In order to accomplish this it is desirable to mount the lighting system on the internal roof of the model so as not to be visible from the exterior. Thus, there is a need for a miniature, low power lighting system that will produce even illumination of the interior of such models without warpage or melting.
DESCRIPTION OF RELATED PRIOR ART
U.S. Pat. No. 2,779,133 to Moses Zion discloses a toy observation car used in model railroads including incandescent light bulbs installed on the interior thereof for illumination.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,140 to Hiroshi Oshino discloses a sub-miniature lamp in which a lamp body having a filament and an envelope is covered with a soft silicon rubber cap of a predetermined color having an opening at one end to a predetermined length of wire leads extending from the lamp body.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,352,147 to Dietmar Nagel discloses a toy vehicle including a vehicle body having a transparent portion wherein a pluralilty of illuminating devices are disposed such that the emitted light is transmitted through the transparent portion for viewing from the exterior of the body.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,720 to John Vandermaas discloses a flying disc toy of the FRISBEE® type having an internal lighting system used in conjunction with a glow-in-the-dark body.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,222,799 to Lawrence A. Sears et al. discloses a lighting strip for supplying low level lighting in stair cases.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,024 to Richard D. Lerner discloses an edge-lighted display including a transparent acrylic plate having openings to receive illumination sources. Incandescent sub-miniature lamps are mounted to a circuit board and are closely coupled to the openings in the plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,521,799 to Kevin M. VerKamp discloses an illuminated display assembly having a plurality of lighting devices for illuminating an indicia plate carried in the available license plate mounting area of a vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,025 to Perry P. Bohlool et al. discloses an outlet cover plate incorporating a night light including a series string of low-voltage lamps.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 3,526,054 to Kizhanatham R. Raman is considered of general interest in that it discloses a prefabricated wall construction with electrical power supply and appliance installations.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
After much research and study of the above mentioned problems, the low power lighting system of the present invention has been developed to provide even illumination of the interior compartment of model railroad cars and other toy models.
The present invention utilizes a plurality of miniature bulbs that include a glass envelope and bare wire leads rather than a conventional socket base which are soldered directly to a printed circuit board configured for a particular application. The miniature bulbs are arranged in a series or parallel arrangement depending upon the operating voltage and light requirements.
More particularly, the bulbs are disposed in series strings of 6 to 8 bulbs each which are wired in parallel and interleaved so that if one of these strings has a failure, the remaining will carry a lower level of evenly distributed light over the length of the circuit board.
The printed circuit board provides a low cost lighting assembly and also acts as a heat absorbing shield to protect the roof structure of the model railroad car whereon it is to be installed, and it is not at all visible to a person looking into the model from the exterior.
The resulting lighting is extremely even over any interior configuration for a model railroad car or other model application.
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a low power, low heat intensity lighting system to provide even illumination of an interior compartment of a model railroad car or other toy model.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a low heat intensity lighting system suitable for use with model railroad cars of plastic construction to prevent warpage and melting thereof.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a low power lighting system including a plurality of miniature bulbs having wire leads which are soldered directly to a printed circuit board without the use of standard socket bases to reduce the cost of manufacturing.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a low power lighting system wherein a plurality of miniature bulbs are arranged in series strings wherein each of the series strings are wired in parallel and interleaved such that if one of the strings has a failure, the remaining series strings will carry a lower level of even illumination over the length of the printed circuit board.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2779133 (1957-01-01), Zion
patent: 3526054 (1970-09-01), Raman
patent: 5221140 (1993-06-01), Oshino
patent: 5222799 (1993-06-01), Sears et al.
patent: 5352147 (1994-10-01), Nagel et al.
patent: 5433024 (1995-07-01), Lerner
patent: 5521799 (1996-05-01), VerKamp
patent: 5544025 (1996-08-01), Bohlool et al.
patent: 5611720 (1997-03-01), Vandermaas
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