Patent ID: 6116763
Filing Date: 2000-09-12
Classification: B60Q

Abstract:
An apparatus for providing illumination on a hubcap of a rotatable wheel, the apparatus including:an alternator coil wound onto a shaft, the alternator having output leads;a magnet support housing shaped so as to surround the coil;a plurality of magnets arranged radially around the coil arranged so that magnetic fields associated with the magnets induce electrical currents in the windings of the coil when moved in relation thereof, wherein the shaft is held substantially in fixed relation to the rotatable wheel and the shaft has an axis coincident with an axis of rotation of the wheel;one or more illumination means and associated circuitry, located on the hubcap or other support structure wherein the current produced by the rotating magnets is supplied to the circuit; anda weight attached to the magnet housing and located so that magnet housing has a tendency to remain in fixed orientation in space and wherein the shaft is held in fixed relation to the hubcap and located so that when the hubcap is fixed to a wheel, rotation of the wheel causes the shaft and hence coil to rotate and the magnet housing remains substantially fixed in space thus causing a current to be induced in the coil; whereby the attachment means is adapted to allow the weight to be displaced radially with respect to the magnet in a constrained manner to provide vibration damping.