Hand held activating light sources for photo-chromic toys

A light pen set comprising:

• a housing to hold one or more batteries,
• an ultraviolet light emitting diode (UVLED) mounted at an end of the housing, the UVLED to selectively apply an activation light to a photo-chromic surface,
• a switch mounted in the housing, the switch to switch ON and OFF power from the one or more batteries to the UVLED, and
• a plurality of nozzles to couple to an end of the housing over the UVLED, each of the plurality of nozzles having an opening to allow the activation light to pass out from the nozzle.

A light spray can comprising:

• a housing having a spray can like shape, the housing to hold one or more batteries together to provide power;
• a nozzle slidingly coupled to the housing;
• one or more ultraviolet light emitting diodes (UVLEDs) mounted in the nozzle having an optical axis, the one or more UVLEDs to generate an activating light for a photo-chromic surface;
• optics mounted in the nozzle and optically coupled to the one or more UVLEDs along the optical axis, the optics to receive the activating light and provide a spray effect;
• an electrical switch located in the housing coupled to the nozzle, the electrical switch to supply power from the one or more batteries to the one or more UVLEDs to generate the activating light in response to the nozzle being pressed and slid into the housing.

A method comprising:

• turning on a ultraviolet light emitting diode (UVLED) in a light pen to generate an activating light;
• contacting a ball lens of the light pen to a layer of photo-chromic material on a substrate;
• rolling the ball lens of the light pen over the layer of photo-chromic material to focus the activating light in a narrow region;
• and
• wherein the narrow region of photo-chromic material is temporarily transformed from a first color to a second color for a period of time before gradually decaying back to the first color.

A hand held flash activator comprising:

• a housing to hold one or more batteries;
• an energy storage device mounted in the housing;
• a charge circuit mounted in the housing, the charge circuit to selectively charge up the energy storage device;
• a first switch mounted in the housing and coupled to the charge circuit, the first switch to selectively couple the one or more batteries to the charge circuit to charge up the energy storage device;
• a flash bulb mounted in the housing, the flash bulb to generate an activating light to activate a photo-chromic material;
• a second switch mounted in the housing, the second switch to couple the charge stored on the energy storage device into the flash bulb to generate the activating light;
• and
• a concave reflector coupled to the housing around the flash bulb, the concave reflector to reflect the activating light out from the hand held flash activator.

A method comprising:

• providing a substrate with one or more layers of photo-chromic material applied thereto;
• selectively flashing a hand held activating light source towards the photo-chromic material, the hand held activating light source to activate a wide region of the photo-chromic material;
• temporarily transforming the wide region of the photo-chromic material from a first color to a second color for a period of time in response to the selective flashing of the hand held activating light source;
• and
• decaying the second color of the wide region of the photo-chromic material back to the first color of the photo-chromic material.

A light pen comprising:

• a housing having an end and a hemispherical opening near the end, the housing to hold one or more batteries to provide power;
• an ultraviolet light emitting diode (UVLED) mounted near the end of the housing, the UVLED to selectively apply a point source activation light to the photo-chromic surface;
• a ball lens in the hemispherical opening of the housing,
• a cap coupled to the end of the housing, the cap to retain the ball lens within the hemispherical opening of the housing, and
• a switch mounted in the housing, the switch to switch ON and OFF the power supplied by the one or more batteries to the UVLED,
• wherein a portion of the ball lens protrudes through the cap, the ball lens to roll on the photo-chromic surface within the hemispherical opening retained by the cap roll to activate a narrow region of photo-chromic material.