Wind chimes with sound-activated lighting elements
AssigneeEvergreen Enterprises, Inc.
InventorJames XU
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A wind-driven sound and light device has at least one resonant element, a striker configured to strike the at least one resonant element in response to wind, thereby producing a ringing event. A lighting element comprising an illuminator is associated with each resonant element. The device also has a power source, a ring event sensor, and an illumination processing system. The ring event sensor produces a data signal in response to a ring effect The illumination processing system is configured to receive the data signal from the ring event sensor and, in response to the data signal, cause the circuit arrangement to activate the illuminator of at least one of the at least one lighting element by connecting it to the power source.
Claims26
A wind-driven sound and light device comprising:
- at least one resonant element configured to produce a ringing sound when struck;
- a striker configured and positioned to strike at least one of the at least one resonant element in response to ambient air motion, thereby producing a ringing event;
- at least one lighting element comprising an illuminator, each of the at least one lighting element being associated with one of the at least one resonant element;
- a power source;
- a ring event sensor configured to produce and transmit a data signal in response to a ring effect produced by the ringing event;
- and
- an illumination processing system in communication with the ring event sensor and a circuit arrangement comprising the power source and each of the at least one lighting element, the illumination processing system being configured to
- receive the data signal from the ring event sensor, and
- in response to the data signal, cause the circuit arrangement to activate the illuminator of at least one of the at least one lighting element by connecting it to the power source.
A wind-driven sound and light device comprising:
- at least one resonant element configured to produce a ringing sound when struck;
- a striker configured and positioned to strike at least one of the at least one resonant element in response to ambient air motion, thereby producing a ringing event;
- at least one lighting element comprising an illuminator, each of the at least one lighting element being associated with one of the at least one resonant element;
- a power source;
- an acoustic sensor configured and positioned to receive sound waves produced by the ringing event, transform the soundwaves into an analog signal, and transmit the analog signal;
- and
- an illumination processing system in communication with the acoustic sensor and a circuit arrangement comprising the power source and each of the at least one lighting element, the illumination processing system being configured to
- receive the analog signal for the ringing event from the acoustic sensor,
- convert the analog signal to a digital signal,
- determine from the digital signal whether illumination criteria have been met, and
- responsive to a determination that illumination criteria have been met, cause the circuit arrangement to activate the illuminator of at least one of the at least one lighting element by connecting it to the power source.
A wind-driven sound and light device comprising:
- a suspension body comprising a housing having a housing wall defining an interior space;
- a plurality of tubular chimes suspended vertically lengthwise from the suspension body by chime strands, each tubular chime being sized and configured to produce a ringing sound with different sound characteristics when struck;
- a striker suspended from the suspension body by a non-conductive main strand, the striker being configured and positioned to strike one or more of the resonant elements as the result of a swinging motion produced by ambient air motion, each strike of a resonant element producing a ringing event;
- a plurality of lighting elements, each lighting element being associated with one of the resonant elements and having an illuminator;
- a power source disposed within the interior space;
- an illumination circuit arrangement configured for selectively connecting each lighting element to the power source to activate the illuminator of each said lighting element;
- an acoustic sensor configured and positioned to receive sound waves produced by ringing events, transform the soundwaves into analog signals, and transmit the analog signals;
- an illumination processing system disposed within the interior space of the housing, the illumination processing system being in communication with the acoustic sensor and the circuit arrangement and being configured to receive and process signals received from the acoustic sensor and to cause the circuit arrangement to activate one or more illuminators in response to the processed signals.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.