WO1985003561A1

WO1985003561A1 - Mechanism for candle-light imitations with easy movable mounted bulbs

Info

Publication number: WO1985003561A1
Application number: PCT/SE1985/000044
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hans Wiklund
Original assignee: Beckman, Bengt, Erling
Priority date: 1984-01-31
Filing date: 1985-01-30
Publication date: 1985-08-15
Also published as: EP0169879A1; SE435420B; SE8400476D0

Abstract

Mechanism being an integrated part of electric imitations of candles with movable mounted candle-flamelike electric bulbs giving these bulbs a motion like "living" candle flames which are exposed to air draught. The device consists of a permanent magnet (4) attached to the free end of a bimetal spring (6) which magnet (4) is brought to pass rapidly below a pendulum (2) placed in the extension of the holders (10) of said bulbs (1). The pendulum (2) is performed in a material influenced magnetically or provided with a permanent magnet (3).

Description

Mechanism for candle-light imitations with easy movable mounted bulbs.

This invention refers to a mechanism including such electric imitations of candles, which are provided with easy movable candle-flamelike electric bulbs. The purpose is to bring about that motion of these bulbs which characterizes candlelight imitations of this sort.

Corresponding arrangements which up to now are formed in these imitations are relatively complicated and expensive to manufacture, in some cases not quite reliable and more over in addition they take up a great deal of space, which in many cases brings about difficulties as is the case for instance in modern fittings when you wish imitations as short as possible. The arrangement described below is simple, cheap to fabricate, reliable and does not take up much space.

A device of the present invention is described below with reference to the attached drawings, where figs. 1-3 are showing the mechanism itself and fig. 4 is a circuit diagram.

As appears from figs. 1 and 2 the mechanism is placed below the pendulum 2 which forms an extension of the socket 10 of the electric light bulb 1 previously mentioned and which is provided with a permanent magnet 3 mounted in this socket or is manufactured in a material easily influenced magnetically.

The mechanism consists of a straight or helical bimetal spring showed in figs. 1-3 in helical design - in the free end of which, near the pendulum 2 a permanent magnet 4 is placed. One of the poles of the magnet 4 last mentioned is to be directed against the other one of the magnet 3 situated in the pendulum 2 in such a way that N-pole is directed against N- pole or inversely S-pole against S-pole. When the magnet 4 applied at the free end of the bimetal spring 6 passes the pendulum 2, the pendulum 2 is beginning to move owing to that the magnet 3 of the pendulum is repelled of the magnet 4. In this way the candle-flamelike bulb 1 is set in a motion which gives the illusion of a "living" candleflame affected by air draught.

The free end of the bimetal spring 6 fitted with magnet 4 is brought in motion owing to that the spring 6 sometimes is heated and sometimes is cooled down. This happens by means of a resistor 8 placed in the spiral-shaped resp. on the straight bimetal spring 6 and connected to a circuit, fig. 4, which is closed or switched off.

The circuit is closed and switched off, as in fig. 1 and 4, by heating or cooling of the spring 6, which in that way is altering its shape and passes from and towards a contact spring 7 connected to the circuit, fig. 4.

For the purpose of getting the magnet 4 of the spring 6 to pass the magnet 3 of the pendulum 2 rapidly, which is desire- able to give the bulb 1 a short and intermittent oscillation "in a natural manner" the magnet 4 of the spring 6 is remained in each of the outer positions by getting the magnet 4 of the spring 6 to rest close to an iron wire 5 or sheet in these positions which release the magnet 4 when the attraction of the bimetal spring exceeds the attraction of the magnet 4 to the iron wire 5 or sheet as a consequence of the temperature-change.

In this way a snap-in effect is caused, that is: the magnet 4 of the spring 6 passes the magnet 3 of the pendulum rapidly.

To soften the noise which can make trouble and can arise when the magnet 4 and the bimetal spring 6 reaches its utter position the iron wire 5 (or sheet) and the magnet 4 too can be provided with a cover of plastic or other soft material and the resilience of the contact spring 7 can be adapted (suit- ed) so that the contact with the bimetal spring 6 is to be good at the same time as the touch of the magnet 4 against the iron- wire (or sheet) is moderated. A similar spring 9, the latter not being connected to the circuit, ought to be applied vis-a-vis the contact spring for the same moderating purpose.

The magnet 3 built into the pendulum 2 can be replaced with a cheaper iron piece but at such a replacing the motion of the candle is to be shorter if the magnet 4 of the bimetal spring 6 has not been choosed stronger. Both poles of the magnets 3 and 4 can also be directed North pole towards South pole.

Claims

1. Mechanism which has reference to candle-imitations with easily movable mounted candleflamelike bulbs (1), comprising a pendulum (2) existing in a wicklike prolongation of an electric bulb socket (10) and provided with a permanent magnet or fabricated of magnetically easy influenced material and in which the pendulum is arranged to be influenced by an other permanent magnet (4) mounted at the free end of a straight or helical shaped bimetal spring (6) and which rapidly and/or in a snap-in like way is brought to pass past the pendulum when this one is put in oscillation to give the bulb the candleflamelike motion.

2. Mechanism as defined in claim 1, in which said permanent magnet (4) fixed at the bimetal spring (6) is brought to move through an electric resistor (8), situated into or outside the bimetal spring (6), which resistor is switched on or off in an electric circuit. In such a way the bimetal spring (6) sometimes is heated and sometimes is cooled down and the free end by change of form will be removed or brought into contact with a contact spring in the circuit.

3. Mechanism as defined in claims 1 and 2, in which the magnet (4) fixed to the bimetal spring passes the pendulum in a shap-in like manner. In such a way said magnet (4) is to be heldin the utter positions of the bimetal spring until the attraction at temperature changes of the bimetal spring overcomes the attraction to those pieces of magnetic influenced material situated at the utter positions.

4. Mechanism as defined in claims 1 - 3, in which the pieces of magnetic influenced material situated at the utter positions of the bimetal spring and/or the magnet (4) fixed to the bimetal spring is provided with a soft coating of plastic or the like to soften that noise which arises when said magnet is touching the substances at the utter positions of the bimetal spring, which can make trouble.

5. Mechanism as defined in claims 1 - 4, in which the resilience of the contact spring (7) is adjusted to make good electric contact simultaneously as the touch against the magnetic influenced material pieces (5) of the magnet (4) fixed to the bimetal spring at the utter positions is softened and in such a way another softened effect is reached.

6. Mechanism as defined in claims 1 - 5, in which a spring (3) as that one said in claim 2 (7), carrying no electric current is situated just opposite the said spring (7) making the softening effect in the both utter positions of the bimetal spring (6).