Illuminated pole-suspended flag and method of illuminating
OwnerKarl S. Schroederinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
To enable legal twenty-four hour national flag display, to permit night display of vehicle-mounted school and team flags, and to do either with minimal increase in night sky light pollution, I mount a light source immediately adjacent a flag and direct the light essentially directly toward the flag, rather than upwardly into the sky. Preferably, the light source is provided within a transparent portion of the flag-mounting pole, and is ideally focused directly toward the flag by a reflector which is adapted to shift positions with changes in flag positions due to directional changes of air flow across the flag.
Claims14
A device for illuminating a flag under low-light conditions, comprising:
- a. a generally tubular pole at least a portion of which is light-transmitting:
- b. a light source mounted internally of said pole;
- c. a flag having a suspended end adjacent said transparent portion and a free end remote from the suspended end, said flag being freely movable generally circumferentially about said pole;
- d. a rotatable element for mounting at least a portion of the suspended end;
- and
- e. said flag extending essentially in a radial direction toward a downwind side of said pole in response to air flow across said pole.
The method of illuminating an airflow-affected flag having a free end and a suspended end during low light conditions, said method comprising the steps of:
- supporting said suspended end from a pole and from a member that is mounted for rotation about an axis parallel to the pole and said suspended end;
- utilizing air flow in line with said flag to rotate said member whereby to maintain a predetermined relationship of said member with said flag in response to directional changes in air flow;
- providing a light source essentially along the axis to illuminate the suspended end for essentially the length thereof;
- focusing light from said light source toward said flag;
- and
- maintaining illumination focus toward the flag free end whenever rotation of the flag-supporting member is caused by changes in air flow direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.