Abstract:
A toy comprising a housing, a turbine-generator, and a light source. An inlet directs water into the housing and one or more outlets allow the water to exit as a stream or a spray or as a combination of the two. A turbine within the housing rotates in response to the force of the flowing water as it comes in contact with turbine vanes causing the turbine to rotate. The rotation of the turbine operates a generator to create electrical energy to light a light source. The light source will preferably be one or more light emitting diodes that respond to a control signal generated by a controller in an assembly carrying the light source. The control signal causes the lights to flash or to change color in accordance with the movement of the water or any other desired pattern.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]     This application claims priority from co-pending provisional application Ser. No. 60/690,849, which was filed on Jun. 15, 2005, and which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION.  
       [0002]     This invention relates to water activated toys and, more specifically, to a toy which includes a water-driven turbine serving to generate electrical power to energize a light source.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     Water toys that encompass sprinklers and fountains are well known in the toy industry. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,599,164 B1, Gerwitz describes a toy fountain that uses an ordinary garden hose to suspend a ball in the air on the exiting water stream. This patent was an improvement on U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,164, which used a fountain to suspend a ball in air as part of a baseball-like game. Other toy applications have used fountains as sprinklers for cooling off children on warm summer days.  
         [0004]     However, the use of lights with fountain toys has not been prevalent since water used in combination with an electrical circuit of any type presents an electrical shock hazard. Still further to this problem, the supply of electricity to power such lights was traditionally by battery. Use of a battery meant that a special compartment had to be created in the toy to keep the battery and its associated circuitry dry. This presented a design problem, because the larger housing meant additional features would be needed to support the battery and safety features would be required to prevent access to the light circuit by children. This created the disadvantage of increased material costs for the manufacturer.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     The present invention advantageously overcomes these problems by comprising a toy that uses a water-driven turbine, rather than a battery, to power a light source. The result provides both light for entertainment and decorative purposes. The toy comprises three principal components: a housing, a turbine assembly, and a light assembly. An inlet allows water to enter the housing and at least one outlet is adapted for allowing water to exit the housing. A turbine assembly comprises a plurality of vanes about a turbine shaft so that the turbine is coupled in fluid communication with the water flowing between the inlet and an outlet. The flowing water presses on a vane positioned on the turbine shaft and moves the vane in the direction of the flowing water. Each subsequent vane on the turbine shaft is moved by the moving water causing the turbine to rotate about an axis along its shaft in response to the force applied by the water. As a result, the spinning turbine shaft creates mechanical energy, which may then be converted into electrical energy by means of an electromechanical generator. The electrical energy thus created can be used to power a light source. A light source is one component of a light assembly, which further comprises a controller for generating a control signal, and an integrated circuit for delivering the electrical energy to the various components of the light source assembly. The light source may be a lamp, an LED or a plurality of LEDs of different colors. The controller may be used to vary the color or the pattern of the light emitted. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0006]     Some of the features, advantages, and benefits of the present invention having been stated, others will become apparent as the description proceeds when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, presented solely for exemplary purposes and not with intent to limit the invention thereto, and in which:  
         [0007]      FIG. 1  is a side view of the present invention showing the turbine and generator as well as a light assembly operating on the principle of the water-driven turbine for producing a water fountain and electrical power for one or more LEDs;  
         [0008]      FIG. 2  shows an embodiment of the toy as a fountain that can be used in the bathtub toy;  
         [0009]      FIG. 3  depicts a hose for connecting to a faucet, shower or other source of water pressure, wherein the toy is connected to a faucet for operation;  
         [0010]      FIG. 4  shows a view where multiple water-driven turbines may be connected in series to produce small fountains gushing water which the turbine uses to generate electrical power to light up each fountain with a predetermined color or combination of colors;  
         [0011]      FIG. 5  shows another embodiment of the present invention, wherein a faucet provides the motivating water flow for the water-driven turbine to generate power and which then, in turn, lights up LED light sources; and  
         [0012]      FIG. 6  is an exploded view showing the details of a turbine, a generator and a light source assembly in the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 5 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0013]     The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter, in which description preferred embodiments of the invention are discussed. Unless otherwise defined, technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains. Although methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the present invention, suitable methods and materials are described below. In addition, the materials, methods and examples given are illustrative in nature only and not intended to be limiting. Accordingly, this invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the illustrated embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these illustrated embodiments are provided solely for exemplary purposes so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, and from the claims.  
         [0000]     General Overview  
         [0014]     As noted above in the descriptions of  FIGS. 1-6 , the present invention may be variously embodied but relies on a water-driven turbine which rotates in response to water flow. The turbine powers a small generator that when coupled with appropriate electrical components as known in art, produces an electrical current sufficient to power one or more light sources, preferably light emitting diodes (LEDs). The combination of light and water effects produces amusement and may be adapted for use in a bathtub or shower, as well as an outdoor location such as a yard or garden.  
         [0000]     Structural Detail  
         [0015]     As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , a housing  20  is the first of the three major components of the lighted water toy. The housing  20  may be made of any opaque or transparent, waterproof material. In certain applications, a transparent material may be preferred so that the workings of the inner components of the toy are visible and, thus, contribute to the amusement provided by the toy. The housing  20  may have an essentially flat bottom  21  for sitting the lighted water toy on the ground. Alternatively, the toy may have a hull bottom  23 , like that of a buoy or a boat, for use as a bathtub or swimming pool toy as depicted in  FIG. 2 . The housing  20  has an inlet  22  that allows water to enter and at least one outlet  24  adapted for allowing water to exit most preferably under a slight increase in pressure. The inlet  22  has a connector  26  which can be a threaded connector for attaching the toy to a hose or outside faucet, or which may have another design that would be suitable for attaching the toy to a bathtub faucet or a shower nozzle as shown in  FIG. 3 . The housing  20  will also have at least one outlet  24  to permit the water entering the housing to exit the housing as either a stream or a spray or as a combination of both.  
         [0016]     One embodiment of the present invention is a lighted water fountain  10 , as shown in  FIG. 1 . The lighted water fountain  10  differs from related inventions, not only by its use of lights, but also by adding a controller for generating a control signal to vary the color, frequency or pattern of those lights.  FIG. 4  illustrates how a group of these fountains might be joined in series. A conduit  28 , such as a pipe or a garden hose, may be used to connect an outlet  24  of a first fountain to an inlet  22  of a second fountain, so that water entering one fountain passes to the next fountain, and then to a third fountain and so on. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the number of fountains that can be linked in this manner is limited only by the initial water pressure originating from a water source.  
         [0017]     The second major component, shown in  FIG. 1 , is a turbine assembly  30 . The turbine assembly  30  comprises an impulse type water-turbine  32 , which operates as a stream of water entering the housing comes in contact with a vane or bucket  34 , attached to a turbine shaft  36 . The water-turbine  32  in fluid communication with the stream of water turns in the direction of a force exerted a by the water on each successive vane  34 . The rotation of the water-turbine  32  creates mechanical energy that may be transferred to a generator  38 . The generator  38  operates by converting the mechanical energy to electrical energy that can be used by a light source  42 . The generator  38  can be of any type that is suitable for this purpose such as a simple magnetic coil, a magneto or an alternator. The skilled will recognize that the generator  38  preferably generates direct current.  
         [0018]     The third component of the invention is a light source assembly  40 . The light source assembly comprises a light source  42 , such as a lamp or one or more LEDs; a controller  44  for generating a control signal  46 ; and an electric circuit  48  for carrying electrical energy to the various components of the light source. The light source  42  is generally one or more LEDs that may emit light as white light in the full range of the visible spectrum, as a single color, or as multiple colors. The controller  44  may be used to send a control signal to the light  42  to vary the color or the pattern of the light emitted. The controller  44  can be used to vary the colors and sequence as a function of water flow or of time with the result that different optical effects may be perceived. Examples of such optical effects include but are not limited to those known in the art as, “solid on”, “blinking”, “chasing” or “fading”.  
         [0019]     Still further light effects may be obtained through the use of ultraviolet or near-ultraviolet LEDs, known in the vernacular as “black lights”. The skilled will recognize that the effect of the ultraviolet range may extend into some forms of blue light that are still considered to be within the visible spectrum. Those skilled in the art will also recognize that for particular applications, the use of such “black lights” may be enhanced by including fluorescent or phosphorescent materials or portions of such materials in the housing material to create enhanced lighting effects that would be responsive to ultraviolet light. By way of non-limiting examples, such materials may include calcofluor white, which produces a bright yellow color; rhodamine, which produces a red color, and fluorescein isothiocyanate, which produces a yellow-green color. As used herein, the term “fluorescent” will be used to encompass both fluorescent and phosphorescent materials, although technically the term “fluorescent” applies to materials that glow or fluoresce in the presence of ultraviolet light only, whereas the term “phosphorescent” applies to materials that continue to emit light for a time after the ultraviolet light source is removed.  
         [0000]     An Alternate Configuration  
         [0020]     One specific embodiment of the invention that comprises the same elements arranged in a slightly different manner is a toy water nozzle  50  shown in  FIG. 5 . The toy water nozzle  50  comprises a nozzle housing  52  that ends in a taper  60  having the shape of a truncated cone having a water inlet  54  at the wider, base end and an outlet  56  at the opposite end to create a channel  58  for water flowing therebetween. The taper  60  of the housing causes a slight increase the pressure of the water stream exiting the nozzle. The inlet  54  has a connector  62  associated with the inlet  54  so that the nozzle  50  may be connected to a pressurized water source, such as a hose, a faucet, a pipe or any other water conduit. The nozzle housing  52  also incorporates a foam grip  64  on its exterior, which is used to hold the nozzle while it is in use.  
         [0021]     In this embodiment, a water-turbine  66  is positioned within a chamber  68  attached to the exterior of the nozzle housing  52  so that it is at least partially in the channel  58  in order to contact the flow of water. The chamber may be made from a transparent material so that the working of the turbine may be seen. When the water entering the nozzle inlet  54  contacts a vane  70  on the water-turbine shaft  72 , the vane  70  is moved in the direction of the flow, causing the water-turbine shaft  72  to rotate, thereby converting the kinetic energy of the flowing water stream to mechanical energy as shown in  FIG. 6 . To convert the mechanical energy to electrical energy, an electromechanical generator  74  is used. The resulting electric current from the electromechanical generator  74  is used to power a light source  76 . The light source assembly  78  comprises one or more light sources  76 , which are preferably LEDs; a controller  44  for generating a control signal  46 , and an electric circuit  48  for carrying electrical energy to the various components of the light source assembly  78 . As presently contemplated, the light source  76  may be configured as a band of lights encircling the nozzle  50 , as LEDs located in the exterior chamber  68 , as lights positioned elsewhere on the nozzle housing  52 , or as any combination of these configurations.  
         [0022]     Accordingly, in the specification there have been disclosed typical preferred embodiments of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, the terms are used in a descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. The invention has been described in some detail, but it will be apparent that various modifications and changes can be made within the spirit and scope of the invention as described in the foregoing specification and as defined in the appended claims.