Patent Publication Number: US-2003234514-A1

Title: Light and sound producing structure for wheeled traveling case assembly

Description:
[0001] This application is a continuation in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/177,959 filed on Jun. 20, 2002. 
    
    
     
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002] The present invention relates to a light and sound producing structure for wheeled traveling case assembly. When two wheels of the traveling case assembly rotate, a mini generator thereon is caused to produce currents, which are supplied to light-emitting and sound-reproducing elements provided on handle grip and traveling case of the traveling case assembly, so that the light-emitting and sound-reproducing elements give light and sound, respectively.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003] Consumers tend to select durable, multi-functional, and attractive products. Products meeting these conditions are particularly welcomed among children, teenagers, and adults who are still retaining child&#39;s innocence.  
       [0004] The design idea of wheeled traveling case assembly has also been employed in satchels. Schoolchildren may now pull a wheeled satchel while walking easily without the need of laboriously carrying heavy books on backs.  
       [0005] The reduced visibility in the night prevents people from quickly perceiving objects within a short time. That is why most accidents occur in the night. However, people are sensitive to light in the dark. That is, people have the ability of quickly and clearly noticing a light source in the night. Since children are not aware of and do not respond to suddenly occurred dangers quickly, shoes with light emitting device are developed for children for them to wear and walk in the night safely. When a wearer walks, such shoes emit light as a warning to car drivers to avoid accidents. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,848,009; 5,477,435; 5,303,485; and 5,758,946 all disclose shoes with light emitting device.  
       [0006] It is very frequent that a user pulls or pushes a wheeled traveling case assembly along or across a road in the night. The heavily loaded wheeled traveling case would usually distract the user when he or she crosses the road at inevitably slowed speed. An accident occurs if a car rushed by and did not notice someone is walking along or across the road.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007] It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a light and sound producing structure for wheeled traveling case assembly, so that currents are generated by a mini generator when wheels of the traveling case assembly rotate. The generated currents are supplied to light-emitting and sound-reproducing elements mounted on the wheeled traveling case assembly for them to give light and sound, respectively. The wheeled traveling case assembly is therefore more attractive for use and helpful in ensuring the user&#39;s safety when he or she moves along or across a road in the night.  
       [0008] In an embodiment of the present invention, the mini generator is provided adjacent to one of two wheels of the traveling case assembly and has a frictional wheel connected to an outer end of a rotary shaft thereof to frictionally contact with an outer surface of the adjacent wheel. When the wheels rotate, the frictional wheel and the rotary shaft are brought to rotate for the mini generator to generate and output currents.  
       [0009] In another embodiment of the present invention, the mini generator is provided adjacent to one of two wheels of the traveling case assembly, and two gears are fixedly mounted on an axle of the adjacent wheel and a rotary shaft of the mini generator, respectively, to mesh with each other. When the wheels rotate, the rotary shaft of the mini generator is brought to rotate. via the meshed gears for the mini generator to generate and output currents.  
       [0010] In the light and sound producing structure for wheeled traveling case assembly according to the present invention, the light-emitting elements provided on the handle grip and the traveling case of the wheeled traveling case assembly are coated with a transparent waterproof material that does not hinder transmission of light emitted from the light-emitting elements. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0011] The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein  
     [0012]FIG. 1 is a rear perspective view of a wheeled traveling case assembly incorporating a light and sound producing structure of the present invention;  
     [0013]FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view showing a position of a wheel-driven mini generator of the light and sound producing structure relative to a wheel of the wheeled traveling case assembly of FIG. 1;  
     [0014]FIG. 3 is a side view of FIG. 2;  
     [0015]FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectioned view showing a handle grip for the wheeled traveling case assembly of FIG. 1;  
     [0016]FIG. 5 is a fragmentary plan view showing another driving structure for the wheel of the wheeled traveling case assembly of FIG. 1 to drive the mini generator;  
     [0017]FIG. 6 shows conducting wires are provided in a pull handle of the wheeled traveling case assembly of FIG. 1; and  
     [0018]FIG. 7 shows light-emitting elements are provided on the traveling case of the wheeled traveling case assembly of FIG. 1. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
     [0019] Please refer to FIG. 1 that is a rear perspective view of a wheeled traveling case assembly  10  incorporating a light and sound producing structure of the present invention. As shown, the wheeled traveling case assembly  10  mainly includes left and right wheels  11 , an extendable pull handle  20  connected at two lower outer ends to the two wheels  11 , two front supporting legs  12  forward extended from a lower front of the pull handle  20  to enable the wheeled traveling case assembly  10  to stand stably, and a traveling case  13  connected to the pull handle  20  and located above the two front supporting legs  12 . The pull handle  20  includes left and right metal supporting bars  22  and  23 , respectively, and a handle grip  21  transversely connected to upper ends of the two supporting bars  22 ,  23 .  
     [0020] Please refer to FIGS.  1  to  4  at the same time. The light and sound producing structure of the present invention mainly includes a circuit board  30 , a plurality of light-emitting elements  31 , and a sound-reproducing element  28  internally provided in the handle grip  21  (see FIG. 4); and a mini generator  40  provided near one lower outer end of the pull handle  20  and adjacent to one wheel  11 , which is the left wheel in the illustrated drawings. As can be best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the mini generator  40  includes a rotary shaft  41 , an outer end of which has a frictional wheel  42  connected thereto to frictionally contact with an outer surface of the adjacent wheel  11 . While a positive and a negative conducting wire  43  and  44 , respectively, of the mini generator  40  are separately connected to the left and right metal supporting bars  22 ,  23  of the pull handle  20 , another two conducting wires  24 ,  25  are connected to the circuit board  30  in the handle grip  21 , as shown in FIG. 4.  
     [0021] When the wheels  11  rotate, the frictional wheel  42  and accordingly, the rotary shaft  41  of the mini generator  40 , to which the frictional wheel  42  is connected, are brought by the corresponding adjacent wheel  11  to rotate as a result of friction transmission, so that the mini generator  40  generates and outputs electric currents. The electric currents output from the mini generator  40  are supplied via the left and the right metal supporting bars  22 ,  23  of the pull handle  20  and the conducting wires  24 ,  25  to the light-emitting elements  31  and the sound-reproducing element  28  in the handle grip  21  for them to emit light and reproduce sound, respectively.  
     [0022] The wheeled traveling case assembly  10  equipped with wheels  11  is usually pulled forward with the wheels  11  rolling on a ground surface. Currents needed by the light-emitting elements  31  and the sound-reproducing element  28  on the handle grip  21  to emit light and reproduce sound are output from the mini generator  40  driven by the rolling wheels  11 . Therefore, it is possible for the wheeled traveling case assembly  10  to emit light and sound simply by pulling it in a general manner of use without the need of any battery or other power source. The light and sound producing structure of the present invention for a wheeled traveling case assembly is therefore an economical and environmentally friendly design.  
     [0023] The light-emitting elements  31  on the handle grip  21  are coated with a waterproof transparent material  26  that allows light emitted by the light-emitting elements  31  to pass therethrough. The circuit board  30  in the handle grip  21  may be provided with a chip (not shown) to control the light-emitting elements  31  to emit light in different modes. For example, the light-emitting elements  31  may be caused to flash simultaneously or alternately. Since such circuit design is a prior art, it is not discussed in details herein. In different embodiments of the present invention, the light-emitting elements  31  may be light-emitting diodes or small bulbs. Moreover, the sound-reproducing element  28  may reproduce one or more preset pieces of music or other sounds when it is electrically made.  
     [0024] Please refer to FIG. 5 that shows another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the wheel  11  drives the rotary shaft  41  of the mini generator  40  via two meshed gears  15  and  45  fixedly mounted on an axle  14  of the wheel  11  and the rotary shaft  41  of the mini generator  40 , respectively. When the wheel  11  rotates, it drives the rotary shaft  41  of the mini generator  40  to rotate at the same, so that the mini generator generates and outputs currents that are supplied to the handle grip  21  for the light-emitting elements  31  and the sound-reproducing element  28  to give light and sound, respectively.  
     [0025] Please refer to FIG. 6. The mini generator  40  may be otherwise connected to the circuit board  30  in the handle grip  21  via spiral wires  27  concealed in the supporting bar  22  of the pull handle  20 . When the extendable pull handle  20  is extended or telescoped, the spiral wires  27  are adapted to stretch or compress correspondingly.  
     [0026] Please refer to FIG. 7. A circuit board  131 , and light-emitting elements  132 ,  133  and a sound-reproducing element  134  connected to the circuit board  131  may be provided on the traveling case  13 . The circuit board  131  is electrically connected via a concealed conducting wire  135  to the mini generator  40  at one side of the wheel  11 . When the wheels  11  rotate and the mini generator  40  outputs currents, the light-emitting elements  132 ,  133  and the sound-reproducing element  134  on the traveling case  13  are supplied with power via the conducting wire  135  to emit light and reproduce sound, respectively. The light-emitting elements  132 ,  133  may be light-emitting diodes or lighting tubes.  
     [0027] The light and sound producing structure for wheeled traveling case assembly according to the present invention enables light to emit from the handle grip and the traveling case on the wheeled traveling case assembly when a user moves the latter in a most natural and ordinary manner, making the wheeled traveling case assembly not only a highly interesting and attractive product, but also a product highly effective in helping the user to safely move along or across a road in the night.