Abstract:
An item of furniture, especially a headboard of a bed, is personalized, e.g., with a user&#39;s name, and is backlit, thereby serving as a night light.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]     This application claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/855,803, filed Nov. 1, 2006. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     This invention generally relates to furniture, especially a headboard of a bed, and, more particularly, to a headboard that is personalized, e.g., with a user&#39;s name, and that is illuminated, thereby serving as a night light.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Prior Art  
         [0005]     Conventional night lights are releasably plugged into electrical wall outlets. Accordingly, they provide a dim light in the immediate vicinity of the wall outlet. If a user needs lighting at a different part of the room, for example, in a bed, that need cannot be fulfilled by a conventional night light.  
         [0006]     Conventional headboards may be plain or ornate. They do not identify the user. A lamp may be clipped onto an edge of the headboard to direct illumination onto the bed. However, the illumination of the lamp may be too bright to serve as a night light and may prevent the user from going to sleep.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     The long-standing but heretofore unfulfilled need for an item of furniture that is both personalized and illuminated to serve as a night light is now met by a new, useful, and non-obvious invention.  
         [0008]     In the preferred embodiment, the furniture is a headboard for a bed, but could equally well be a chair, a table, a dresser, etc., especially furniture intended to be used by children. The headboard may be made of wood, plastic, or other solid material. The headboard is personalized by cutting the user&#39;s name, nickname, logo, or any other customized indicia all the way through the thickness of the headboard. These cutouts can be made by automated cutting machinery.  
         [0009]     A light source in a housing may be positioned at any location on the rear of the headboard. The housing may be attached by screws, or preferably by Velcro™ strips on the housing and the headboard. The light source may be an incandescent lamp or preferably is a plurality of light emitting diodes. Electrical power is supplied by on-board batteries, or by a power cable connected to an electrical plug for insertion into an electrical wall outlet.  
         [0010]     The illumination of the light source is directed toward a room wall behind the headboard and is reflected forwardly through the cutouts of the customized indicia. The indicia are thus backlit, thereby emphasizing their presence. The reflected light passing through the cutouts serve as a night light to illuminate the surrounding area on the bed.  
         [0011]     The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]     For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0013]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a bed having a personalized headboard with a night light according to this invention; and  
         [0014]      FIG. 2  is a rear elevational view of the headboard of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0015]     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , reference numeral  10  generally identifies a bed having a headboard  12 , especially a bed intended to be used by children. The headboard  12  may be made of wood, plastic, or other solid material. The headboard  12  is personalized by cutting the user&#39;s name, nickname, logo, or any other customized indicia  14  all the way through the thickness of the headboard  12 . These cutouts  14  can be made by automated cutting machinery.  
         [0016]     A light source in a housing  16  may be positioned at any location on the rear of the headboard  12 . The housing  16  may be attached by screws, or preferably by Velcro™ strips on the housing  16  and the headboard  12 . The light source may be an incandescent lamp or preferably is a plurality of light emitting diodes for emitting light of one or more colors. Electrical power is supplied by on-board batteries, or by a power cable  18  connected to an electrical plug  20  for insertion into an electrical wall outlet.  
         [0017]     The illumination of the light source is directed toward a room wall behind the headboard and is reflected forwardly through the cutouts  14  of the customized indicia. The indicia are thus backlit, thereby emphasizing their presence. The reflected light passing through the cutouts  14  serve as a night light to illuminate the surrounding area on the bed. The bed is well-illuminated over a wide area.  
         [0018]     It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, also may find a useful application in other types of constructions differing from the types described above.  
         [0019]     While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a personalized headboard with nightlight, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.  
         [0020]     Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.  
         [0021]     What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims.