Electroluminescent lamp-based greeting cards
OwnerMing-Yuan Yehinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An illuminated card device formed from sheet stock, for use as a greeting card or the like. One or more EL lamps are attached either flat against the card or mounted as pop-up elements. Two wires lead out from the EL lamps to a high voltage driver circuitry that converts a low voltage signal into an AC high voltage signal (approximately 40V to 300V peak to peak.) This circuitry is mounted on a PCB, hidden from view. A sliding tab in the shape of a ‘t’ slides through two slits in the card. Metal elements are mounted to the tab and between the two slits. When the card is opened, the two metal elements make contact, creating an electrical short to allow the battery to supply current to the high voltage conversion circuit. The high voltage driver circuit provides signals to illuminate the EL lamps.
Claims9
An illuminated card comprising:
- an electroluminescent (EL) lamp for providing illumination;
- a card made from paper/plastic sheet stock;
- a power supply for energizing the lamp or display;
- a driver circuit to convert the voltage from said power supply into a higher voltage AC signal to drive said electroluminescent lamp;
- a switch closing a circuit to illuminate said electroluminescent lamp.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.