Lamp apparatus for generating sequential flashes

A xenon lamp apparatus for generating sequential flashes comprises a plurality of sets of lamp units which are connected in series with one another by a socket and a plug which are mounted at either end of each lamp unit. A driving circuit device is preferably provided to actuate an ignition circuit device mounted on a PCB (printed circuit board) within the lamp unit to and send out flashes by control of the driving circuit device. Various flash patterns can be obtained depending on the design of the circuit device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a lamp apparatus, and more particularly to 
an apparatus consisting of a plurality of series of arranged flash devices 
that can generate sequential flashes. 
Conventional commercial advertisement lamps are usually made of a plurality 
of bulbs or Neon tubes electrically connected together to emit light in 
changeable patterns. The lamps are usually controlled by a central 
controller to trigger the bulbs in a predetermined sequence. It is found 
that the electric circuit in a conventional advertisement lamp is very 
complex due to the large number of bulbs or Neon tubes. Besides, the 
central controller, which is usually a combination of electrical voltage 
distributors, which easily malfunctions. It is also noted that known 
advertisement lamps cannot provide flashes of sufficient strength to 
attract the attention of passers-by. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is therefore the principle object of the present invention to provide a 
lamp apparatus which can send out very strong flashes in a predetermined 
time sequence to attract the attention of people for advertisement 
purposes. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a lamp apparatus 
which can generate sequential flashes under the control of an electrical 
circuit device which is simple in structure and maintenance. 
An important feature of the lamp apparatus according to the present 
invention is that each lamp unit has a socket and a plug formed on either 
end thereof enabling connection between adjacent lamp units. 
Another feature of the lamp apparatus according to the present invention is 
that a seat member is provided to stabilize the whole lamp apparatus. 
A further feature of the lamp apparatus according to the present invention 
is that an ignition circuit device is provided in each lamp unit for 
starting the flashes of a plurality of Xenon tubes within the each lamp 
unit. 
Yet another feature of the lamp apparatus according to the present 
invention is that a main driving circuit device is provided for 
controlling the flash sequence of the Xenon tubes in the different lamp 
units. 
Accordingly, the lamp apparatus of the present invention comprises a 
plurality of lamp units each having a plug and a socket formed on the 
respective ends thereof and a plurality of flash tubes installed therein, 
ignition circuit devices provided in the lamp unit for starting the flash 
of said flash tubes, and a main driving circuit device for controlling the 
sequence of flashes of said lamp units.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to FIG. 1, a perspective view of the lamp apparatus according to 
the present invention wherein the lamp apparatus includes a plurality of 
lamp units 1 shown in a disassembled condition. Each lamp unit 1 has plug 
12 and a socket 13 formed on the respective opposite ends thereof. The 
lamp unit 1 is made of polycarbonate material with the outer cover thereof 
formed into a desired shape, such as a cylinder. There are protruded 
stripes 10 formed on the outer cover of the lamp unit 1 for enhancing 
reflection of the flashes generated by the lamp unit 1. 
Referring to FIG. 2 which shows a front view of the plug 12 and the socket 
13 of the lamp unit 1, a positioning rim 101 is fixed in the outer cover 
of the lamp unit 1 at a position close to one end of the lamp unit 1 
having a pair of stoppers 102 formed at opposing sides of the rim 101. The 
socket 13 at one end of the lamp unit 1 includes a cylindrical base 133 
having an outer diameter conforming to the inner diameter of the outer 
cover of the lamp unit 1, a pair of recesses 134 formed on the base 133 
for matching the stoppers 102 of the positioning rim 101, a reduced 
annular portion 132 also formed on the base 133 with a rubber ring 135 
sleeved thereon, and a pair of flexible hook members 131 extending 
radially from said base 133, with each of said hook members 131 having 
engaging recesses 136 opposing and facing each other. The socket 13 is 
inserted into the outer cover of the lamp unit 1 at the end thereof, with 
the positioning rim 101, by aligning the two recesses 134 of the base 133 
thereof with the stoppers 102. After insertion, the socket 13 is turned a 
certain degree. The socket 13 will be connected to the lamp unit 1 due to 
the flexible nature of the material forming the lamp unit 1 and will also 
not be released from the lamp unit 1 due to the existence of the stoppers 
102 on the positioning rim 101. 
The plug 12 has a body 121 which includes an annular flange 122 formed at a 
central portion thereof and provided with a rubber ring 123 sleeved 
thereon, a pair of hook members 124 extending axially and surrounding the 
body 121, and an adaptor 125 which can have outer threads formed thereon. 
The plug 12 can be connected to one end of the lamp unit 1 with the 
adaptor 125 thereof in engagement with a pre-installed engaging member 
within the lamp unit 1. The plug 12 also has a bore 126 formed in the body 
121 thereof for the passing through of electric leading wires and an 
elongated bar 127 extending from the adaptor 125 for the winding of the 
electric wires and the equipment of the flash units that will be detailed 
hereinbelow. 
A seat member 15 for the installation of the lamp apparatus according to 
the present invention is shown in FIG. 3. The seat member 15 is preferably 
made of flexible material and comprises a pair of clamp members 151 with 
curved surfaces 1511 that face each other for the purpose of holding the 
lamp unit 1, and a base member 154 having holes 152 formed thereon for the 
passing of fixing elements, such as screws, and also a hole 153 formed 
thereon for the passing of a fixing rope. The curved surface 1511 of each 
clamp members 151 has a plurality of slots 1512 formed thereon for 
engaging the protruded stripes 10 on the outer cover of the lamp unit 1. 
Within each lamp unit 1 of the lamp apparatus according to the present 
invention, there are provided a plurality of flash devices, such as Xenon 
tubes and ignition circuit devices, for controlling the ignition of the 
flash device. In a preferred embodiment of the lamp apparatus of the 
invention, each lamp unit 1 contains four Xenon tubes equipped therein as 
the flash device. 
The block diagram of the ignition circuit device in the lamp unit for 
igniting the xenon tubes is shown in FIG. 4, and an embodiment of an 
electric circuit of the lamp unit corresponding to FIG. 4 is shown in FIG. 
5 (a). As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 (a), an AC power source provides an 
electric power to a power supply 31. The power supply 31 is composed of a 
diode D9, a resistor R2 in series with said diode D9, and then again in 
series connection to a pair of zener diodes ZD1, ZD2, each being in 
parallel to capacitors C1, C2 respectively. The first output of the power 
supply 31 is coupled to an amplifier 37 which substantially includes two 
resistors R10, R11 electrically connected with a pair of transistors Q3, 
Q4. The second output of the power supply 31 is connected to a counter 33 
so as to count the number of pulse signals and is also electrically 
connected to a differential circuit 35. In addition, the third output of 
the power supply 31 is applied to a voltage separation circuit 34. Because 
the power supply 31 may supply a DC power of 12 or 24 volts, by means of 
the function of the voltage separation circuit 34 which includes a zener 
diode ZD1, resistors R1, R2, and a capacitor C3, a DC power of 12 V is 
delivered to a differential circuit 35, and a DC power of 24 v is 
delivered to a wave reforming circuit 32. The input terminal referred to 
as DAIN of the voltage separation circuit 34 can be obtained from the 
outputs of a driving circuit device which will be detailed hereinbelow 
with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7 or from the preceeding lamp unit. The 
outputs of voltage separation circuit 34 are respectively coupled to the 
wave reforming circuit 32 and the differential circuit 35. 
The wave reforming circuit 32 includes a resistor R3 in series with a pair 
of Schmitt trigger inverter Q1, Q2 so as to reform the input waveform into 
a stable waveform, because the original waveform of the pulse signal is 
easily distorted and shifted due to long distance transmission and 
electric magnetic disturbance. The output signal of the wave reforming 
circuit 32 is delivered to pin 14 of the counter 33, and the output of the 
differential circuit 35 is also delivered to the counter 33. The counter 
33 starts to count the number of pulse signals, and generates four sets of 
output signals coupled to the input of the differential circuit 44 needed 
for a lamp unit 1. It should be noted that the counter 33 must receive a 
DC 24 v power for actuating the same to start counting the number of pulse 
signals. Generally, the lamp apparatus is maintained at a DC 12 v level 
rather than at DC 24 v which is the level for creating a flashing lamp 
pattern. A differential circuit 36 receives the output signal of the 
differential circuit 35, and also the signals of from pin 13 and 10 of the 
counter 33. The differential circuit 35 includes resistors R4, R7, R8, 
inverters Q1, Q2, capacitors C4, C5, and a diode D1. The pin 15 of the 
counter 33 is connected to the electric line between the differential 
circuits 35, 36. The differential circuit 36 includes resistor R9, 
capacitor C8, and diodes D2, D4. An amplifier 37 receives the output 
signal of the differential circuit 36 and the power supply 31 so as to 
amplify the signal. Then, the signal is delivered to a mixer 38 to mix the 
signals from the wave reforming circuit 32 and the counter 33. The mixer 
38 includes two diodes D3, D5. The voltage multiplying circuit 41 receives 
the signal from the mixer 38 and sends the signal out to a xenon tube 
circuit 42. The voltage multiplying circuit 41 can offer a desired voltage 
for allowing the actuation of the xenon tube circuit 42. In the mean time, 
the lamp unit accepts the input signal from a driving circuit device which 
will be described in detail hereinafter. The signal is delivered to the 
xenon tube circuit 42, passing through a differential circuit 44 and a 
trigger circuit 43. 
Referring now to FIG. 5 (b), an electric circuit diagram of an ignition 
circuit 4 is illustrated. According to this invention, a lamp unit 
includes four bulbs each having an ignition circuit as shown in FIG. 5 
(b). Referring also to FIG. 4, the ignition circuit 4 comprises a voltage 
multiplying circuit 41, a xenon tube circuit 42, a trigger circuit 43, and 
a differential circuit 44. When the voltage is applied to the voltage 
multiplying circuit 41 including diodes D6, D8, and capacitors C8, C10, 
the voltage is enhanced to 308 v from 110 v so as to actuate the ignition 
circuit. It should be noted that the diode D6 and capacitor C8 may be 
removed when the input voltage is an AC power of 220 v. The differential 
circuit 44, including resistors R12, R14, R15 and capacitors C7, can form 
the waveform needed for the trigger circuit 43. The xenon tube circuit 42 
includes resistors R16, R17, C9 and a transformer PT. The secondary 
voltage of the transformer may deliver a power of 4.2 kv. The primary 
voltage of the transformer is connected to a discharge capacitor C9 so as 
to obtain the discharge current of the capacitor C9. The trigger circuit 
43 comprises two capacitors C9, C7 and a transistor Q5. When transistor Q5 
is on, the xenon tube is ignited to send out a flash. In such a way, four 
bulbs within each lamp apparatus according to this invention will be 
sequentially ignited according to the waveform of (f) to (i) in FIG. 8. 
Thus, the output waveform of each lamp unit is presented as the waveform 
of (j) in FIG. 8. When a flash of light is released from the xenon tube, a 
reverse voltage is applied to transistor Q5 cutting off the same. It is 
clear that the transformable speed of the pulse signal is very fast. 
Consequently, the design of various flashing patterns can be achieved by a 
connection in series of several sets of lamp units. 
Referring to FIG. 6, a driving circuit device for the lamp apparatus is 
illustrated. The driving circuit device 2 is arranged on the front end of 
the aforesaid lamp apparatus for driving said lamp apparatus. Referring 
also to FIG. 8, through a waveform diagram of the voltage output in 
various points, the conditions of the driving circuit and the ignition 
circuit in the lamp apparatus are presented. When an AC voltage is applied 
to a voltage generator 20, a DC power of 12 V or 24 V will be generated 
and supplied into the driving circuit device 3. In this way, an oscillator 
21 receives a DC voltage of 12 v to generate a sequence of square waves as 
in the designated waveform of the (a) condition in FIG. 8. This figure 
shows that the waveform of (a) condition is a continuous square wave with 
a peak value of 12 v. Likewise, in another path, an oscillator 22 also 
receives a DC lower of voltage 12 v to generate a signal having a waveform 
shown as (b) condition waveform in FIG. 8. The output signal of the 
oscillator is delivered to a differential circuit 23 resulting in a pulse 
waveform which is the designated waveform of the (c) condition in FIG. 8. 
This pulse signal is a 12 volts signal . After that, the pulse signal is 
delivered to an amplifier 24 to which a DC 24 v is also being applied so 
as to result in the waveform of the (d) condition in FIG. 8. Except when 
the level of the signal raised to DC 24 v, the waveform of the (d) 
condition is same as that of the (c) condition. Finally, a mixer 25 
receives the pulse signals from both the oscillators 21 and the amplifier 
24 to generate the waveform which is the designated waveform of the (e) 
condition in FIG. 8 to serve as a trigger signal of the lamp apparatus of 
this invention. 
Referring still to FIGS. 6 and 7, the voltage generator 20 include a diode 
D3, a resistor R19, a pair of zener diodes ZD1, ZD2, and a pair of 
capacitors C4, C5. When an AC voltage of 110 or 220 is applied to the 
input of the voltage generator 20, a DC 12 v or DC 24 v power is generated 
due to the rectification effect of the diode D3. The oscillator 21 
generally comprises resistors R1, R2, R11, R13, R17, variable resistor 15, 
a transistor Q1 and a comparator CP1. The oscillator 21 will generate a 
waveform of the (a) condition of FIG. 8 when a DC power of 12 v is applied 
to the input of the oscillator 21 causing the actuation of the comparator 
CP1 and transistor Q1. The oscillator 22 includes resistors R5, R6, R12, 
R14, a variable resistor R16, a capacitor C2 and an operational amplifier 
OP1. The oscillator 22 generates the waveform of the (b) condition of FIG. 
8 due to the function of the operation amplifier. The differential circuit 
23 comprising resistors R7, R8, R18, capacitor C3 and diode D4, is 
differentiated by the operational amplifier OP1 to generate the waveform 
of the (c) condition of FIG. 8. Also, the amplifying circuit 24 includes 
resistors R9, R10, and transistors Q2, Q3. Through the amplification of 
transistors Q2, Q3 as well as the input of a DC voltage of 24, it is 
certain that the signal pulse is enhanced to 24 v level as designated by 
the waveform in the (d) condition of FIG. 8. The mixer 25 including diodes 
D1, D2, will generate the waveform designated in the (e) condition of FIG. 
8 when receiving signals both from the amplifying circuit 24 and the 
osillator 21. 
While certain preferred embodiments have been described above, it will be 
readily apparent to those skilled in the art that a number of other 
modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of 
the invention.