Patent Publication Number: US-2003234516-A1

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

Description:
[0001] This application is a continuation in part of U.S. Pat. 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, induced currents are generated and 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 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 the light and sound producing structure for wheeled traveling case assembly according to the present invention, at least one of the two wheels of the traveling case assembly is provided at an inner side with an annular recess for a ring-shaped magnetic rotor to fixedly mounted on an inner circumferential surface thereof to rotate along with the wheel, and a stator coil is fixedly mounted on a base of the traveling case assembly to surround the ring-shaped magnetic rotor. Thus, when the wheels rotate, induced currents are generated on the stator coil and supplied to the light-emitting and sound-reproducing elements mounted on the wheeled traveling case assembly for them to give light and sound, respectively.  
       [0009] In the light and sound producing structure for wheeled traveling case assembly according to the present invention, the light-emitting and sound-reproducing elements may be provided on a handle grip of a pull handle and/or an outer surface of a traveling case of the wheeled traveling case assembly.  
       [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 sectional view showing the connection of a wheel to a base of the wheeled traveling case assembly of FIG. 1;  
     [0014]FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectioned view showing a handle grip for the wheeled traveling case assembly of FIG. 1;  
     [0015]FIG. 4 shows conducting wires are provided in a pull handle of the wheeled traveling case assembly of FIG. 1; and  
     [0016]FIG. 5 shows light-emitting and sound-reproducing elements are provided on a traveling case of the wheeled traveling case assembly of FIG. 1. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
     [0017] 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  includes a base  16  and a traveling case  13 . To the base  16 , left and right wheels  11 , an extendable pull handle  20 , and two front supporting legs  12  are connected. The front supporting legs  12  forward extend from a lower front of the pull handle  20  to enable the wheeled traveling case assembly  10  to stand stably, and the traveling case  13  is located on 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 .  
     [0018] Please refer to FIGS.  1  to  5  at the same time. A circuit board  30 , a plurality of light-emitting elements  31 , and a sound-reproducing element  28  are internally provided in the handle grip  21  (see FIG. 3). At least one of the left and right wheels  11 , which is the left wheel in the illustrated drawings, has a ring-shaped magnetic rotor  17  fixedly mounted on an axle  15  thereof, and a stator coil  14  is fixedly mounted on the base  16  to surround the ring-shaped magnetic rotor  17  (see FIG. 2). The stator coil  14  includes a coil  141  and a magnetic conducting element  142 . When the wheels  11  rotate, the ring-shaped magnetic rotor  17  mounted on the at least one of the two wheels  11  synchronously rotates in the center of the stator coil  14 , resulting in the generation of induced currents on the coil  141 . The induced currents are supplied to the handle grip  21  for the light-emitting elements  31  and the sound-reproducing element  28  to emit light and reproduce sound, respectively.  
     [0019] Positive and negative electrodes of the coil  141  are connected to left and right metal supporting bars  22  and  23 , respectively, of the pull handle  20  via conducting wire  40  and  41 , and the two metal supporting bars  22  and  23  are further electrically connected to the circuit board  30  in the handle grip  21  via another two conducting wires  24 ,  25 , as shown in FIG. 3.  
     [0020] When the wheels  11  rotate, induced currents are generated on the coil  141 , as explained in the above paragraphs. The induced currents 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.  
     [0021] As can be seen from FIG. 2, the wheel  11  is provided at an inner side with an annular recess  111 . The ring-shaped magnetic rotor  17  is fixedly mounted on an inner circumferential surface of the annular recess  111 , such that the ring-shaped magnetic rotor  17  and the wheel  11  rotate synchronously. The stator coil  14  fixed on the base  16  sideward extends into the annular recess  111  to surround the ring-shaped magnetic rotor  17 . These arrangements allow providing of current generating means on the wheeled traveling case assembly of the present invention without increasing a space between the wheel  11  and the base  16 .  
     [0022] The wheeled traveling case assembly  10  equipped with wheels  11  is usually pulled forward with the wheels  11  rolling on a ground surface. Therefore, the rolling wheel  11  functions like a generator to generate induced currents. That is, 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 can be supplied 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 an embodiment of the present invention, the light-emitting elements  31  are small bulbs.  
     [0024] Please refer to FIG. 4. The coil  141  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. Moreover, the sound-reproducing element  28  may reproduce one or more preset pieces of music or other types of sounds when it is electrically made.  
     [0025] Please refer to FIG. 5. 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 positive and negative electrodes of the coil  141 . And, the light-emitting elements  132 ,  133  may be small bulbs lighting tubes.  
     [0026] The light and sound producing structure for wheeled traveling case assembly according to the present invention enables light and sound 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.