Patent Publication Number: US-2021178280-A1

Title: Lighting module of assemblable toy

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a lighting module, especially to a lighting module of an assemblable toy. 
     2. Description of the Prior Arts 
     Conventional LEGO® sets or plastic assemblable toys can be assembled in different ways to form different models or patterns according to creativity of a user, and the user can modify color of an assembled model as well. However, most of the LEGO® sets or the plastic assemblable toys lack decorative lighting. Decorative lighting can only be found on high-end assemblable toys, such as assemblable car models or robot models. An exclusive lighting module is further integrated into the high-end assemblable toy to generate decorative lighting which improves visual effect for the assembled toy. Besides, the LEGO® set or the plastic assemblable toy without exclusive lighting module can be modified by a skilled user to integrate wires and lighting components to provide decorative lighting. 
     However, taking the LEGO® set for example, said exclusive lighting module can only be installed in the high-end LEGO® set which has dedicated wiring space and mounting space reserved for the lighting module, and hence cannot be installed properly in a standard LEGO® set due to lack of wiring space. Integrating the exclusive lighting module into the standard Logo is either impossible or creates excessive gaps on the assembled model, which causes inconvenience to the user and affects external appearance of the products. 
     Although the standard LEGO® set can be modified by the skilled user to integrate the wires and the lighting components to provide decorative lighting, it is a highly time-consuming task. Besides, the wires often break during the assembling process, and quality of soldering is also unstable. 
     To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a lighting module of an assemblable toy to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The main objective of the present invention is to provide a lighting module of an assemblable toy, wherein an illuminating piece of the lighting module has a flexible flat cable which is able to pass through clearance between adjacent bricks of an assembled standard LEGO® set or that of an assembled standard plastic assemblable toy. Therefore, the illuminating piece can be integrated into most of the standard LEGO® sets and the standard plastic assemblable toys to provide decorative lighting while maintaining ease of assembly and proper external appearance of the products. 
     The lighting module of an assemblable toy has a main base and an illuminating piece. The main base has a top surface, a bottom surface, multiple light connectors and a power supply. The light connectors are mounted on the top surface of the main base, and each one of the light connectors has a socket. A power supply unit is mounted on the bottom surface of the main base and electrically connected to the light connectors. The illuminating piece is selectively connected to one of the light connectors, and has a flexible flat cable, a plug and an illuminating portion. The flexible flat cable is a flexible printed circuit. The plug is mounted on one of two ends of the flexible flat cable, engaged with the socket of the corresponding light connector, and electrically connected to the corresponding light connector. The illuminating portion is electrically connected to the other end of the flexible flat cable and is capable of emitting light. 
     The advantage of the present invention is that the illuminating piece has the flexible flat cable which is able to pass through the clearance between the adjacent bricks of the assembled standard LEGO® set or that of the assembled standard plastic assemblable toy. Therefore, the illuminating piece can be integrated into most of the standard LEGO® sets and the standard plastic assemblable toys to provide decorative lighting while maintaining ease of assembly and proper external appearance of the products. 
     The lighting module of an assemblable toy further comprises a power connecting unit adapted to be electrically connected to an external power source and the light connectors. Because the present invention can be powered by the external power source using the power connecting unit, the present invention can provide continuous light exhibition as long as the external power source continuously supplies electricity. 
     Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a lighting module of an assemblable toy in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the lighting module of an assemblable toy in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of a second embodiment of a lighting module of an assemblable toy in accordance with the present invention; and 
         FIG. 4  is a top view of the lighting module of an assemblable toy in  FIG. 1  installed in a LEGO® car. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     With reference to  FIG. 1 , a lighting module of an assemblable toy in accordance with the present invention comprises a main base  10  and an illuminating piece  20 , and in a preferred embodiment, the lighting module further comprises a power connecting unit  30 . 
     With reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the main base  10  is a printed circuit board (PCB) having electric circuit for conducting electricity. The main base  10  has a top surface  11 , a bottom surface  12 , multiple light connectors  13 , and a power supply unit  14 . The light connectors  13  are mounted on the top surface  11  of the base. Each one of the light connectors  13  has a socket  131 . An end of each one of the sockets  131  is electrically connected to the electric circuit of the main base  10 . In a preferred embodiment, an opening of the socket  131  of each one of the light connectors  13  is toward a direction away from a center of the main base  10 , but the direction of the openings of the sockets  131  is not limited thereto, and can be modified according to the need of a user. 
     The power supply unit  14  is mounted on the bottom surface  12  of the main base  10 . The power supply unit  14  has a battery mount  141 . The battery mount  141  is adapted to clamp and electrically connect to a battery (not shown in figures). The battery mount  141  is electrically connected to the electric circuit of the main base  10  to conduct electricity of said battery to each light connector  13 . 
     The illuminating piece  20  is selectively connected to one of the light connectors  13 , and has a flexible flat cable  21 , a plug  22 , and an illuminating portion  23 . The flexible flat cable  21  is a flexible printed circuit (FPC) with a thickness smaller than a clearance of any two adjacent LEGO® blocks or any two adjacent blocks of a plastic assemblable toy (not shown in figures). The plug  22  is mounted on one of two ends of the flexible flat cable  21 , engaged with the socket  131  of the corresponding light connector  13 , and electrically connected to the corresponding light connector  13  via the socket  131 . 
     The illuminating portion  23  is a light emitting diode (LED), and is electrically connected to the other end of the flexible flat cable  21 . The illuminating portion  23  is powered by the power supply unit  14  via the socket  131  and generates light. With reference to  FIG. 3 , in another preferred embodiment, there can be multiple illuminating pieces  20 A. Each one of the illuminating pieces  20 A is connected to a respective one of the light connectors  13 A to light up multiple all illuminating portions  23 A at the same time. 
     The power connecting unit  30  comprises a connecting base  31  and a connecting cord  32 . The connecting base  31  is a printed circuit board (PCB) having electric circuit for conducting electricity. Multiple power connectors  311  are mounted on one side of the connecting base  31 . The power connectors  311  are electrically connected with each other via the electric circuit of the connecting base  31 . One of the power connectors  311  is adapted to electrically connect to an external power source (not shown in figures) to conduct electricity of said external power source to the power connectors  311 . Another one of the power connectors  311  is electrically connected to the connecting cord  32 . 
     Two ends of the connecting cord  32  are electrically connected to the power supply unit  14  and said power connector  311  respectively. As a result, the illuminating portion  23  can be powered alternatively by the external power source via the power connector  311  and the connecting cord  32  of the power connecting unit  30 . In the preferred embodiment, a number of the power connectors  311  is three, meaning that the power connecting unit  30  is capable of connecting the illuminating portion  23  with two external batteries simultaneously to increase operating time. 
     With reference to  FIG. 4 , the present invention can be installed in a LEGO® car  40 . The LEGO® car  40  has a driving seat  41  and a headlight  42 . 
     To power up the present invention with the battery, the user inserts the battery into the battery mount  141 , and then inserts the plug  22  of the illuminating piece  20  into the socket  131  of one of the light connectors  13  that is in the most suitable location for the plug  22 . The main base  10  can be mounted in a space of the driving seat  41 . The flexible flat cable  21  passes through clearance between adjacent bricks and extend to an inner space of the headlight  42 . Finally, the illuminating portion  23  is mounted inside the headlight. 
     To power up the present invention with the external power source, leave the battery uninstalled, and electrically connect the external power source to one of the power connectors  311  of the power connecting unit  30 . Finally, electrically connect the power connecting unit  30  to the power supply unit  14  using the connecting cord  32  to conduct the electricity of the external power source to the power supply unit  14 . 
     In summary, the illuminating piece  20  has a flexible flat cable  21  which is able to pass through the clearance between adjacent bricks, thereby maintaining ease of assembly and proper external appearance of the products. As a result, the illuminating piece  20  can be integrated into most of the standard LEGO® sets and the standard plastic assemblable toys to provide decorative lighting while maintaining ease of assembly and proper external appearance of the products. 
     Additionally, because a plurality of the light connectors  13  are mounted on the main base  10 , multiple said main bases  10  can be electrically connected together using the light connectors  13 , thereby increasing total amount of the light connectors  13  on the main bases  10 . As a result, an amount of the illuminating pieces  20  that the present invention can connect is increased. A capacity of the present invention can be expanded thereby. 
     Besides, because the present invention can be powered by an external power source using power connecting unit  30 , the present invention can provide continuous light exhibition as long as the external power source continuously supplies electricity. 
     Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and features of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.