CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of the Chinese Patent Applications No. CN202010804516.7 filed on Aug. 11, 2020, No. CN 202021525136.1 filed on Jul. 28, 2020, and No. CN 202021664133.6 filed on Aug. 11, 2020, which are hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a lighting device configured to be dynamic or generate a dynamic lighting effect, and more particularly to lighting device that provides a dynamic lighting effect that simulates the appearance of a small swarm of flying fireflies, wherein the dynamic lighting device may be powered by solar energy.

2. Description of Related Art

Dynamic lighting devices for decorative purposes are useful in adding romantic vibes by, for example, simulating fireflies flying at nighttime to give the twinkle. Firefly colored lamps arise because fireflies are known to be fairies of light in the nature. However, in view that it is difficult to artificially breed fireflies for decorative use, there are lighting devices designed to provide visual effects simulating flying fireflies on the market.

CN211059977U discloses an air-driven firefly light, whose boom has one end fixed to an immovable object and an opposite end connected to a hanging rope. The hanging rope has one end connected to the boom and an opposite end connected to a balance rod. The balance rod has one end provided with at least one LED lamp and an opposite end provided with a weight box. The balance rod has a joint connecting it to the lower end of the hanging rope. The balance rod is maintained at an angled balance against the joint due to the gravity, so that when affected by wind, the balance rod wiggles about the lower end of the hanging rope. The weight box includes a battery and a photoresistor connected to a controller IC while the LED lamp is wired to the battery. In darkness, the light provides a decorative lighting effect resembling fireflies flying up and down with twinkles. Nevertheless, the known firefly light cannot provide the intended flying-firefly visual effect without blowing wind, making its decorative performance less reliable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides dynamic lighting device, comprising at least two lamps and a base, being characterized in that each of the at least two lamps is connected to a respective paired flexible stalk configured to be able to rotate with respect to the base, so that when the flexible stalks rotate with respect to the base, due to dynamic bending deformation of the flexible stalks, the at least two lamps have random movement in an upright direction while performing random wiggles against a pivotal point that is a joint between the flexible stalks and the base.

According to a preferred mode, the present invention further provides a dynamic lighting device, comprising at least two lamps and a base, being characterized in that each of the at least two lamps is connected to one end of a respective paired flexible stalk, while opposite ends of the flexible stalks are rotatably retained by the base together, so that each of the at least two lamps can perform circumferential movements along circumferences of dynamically changing radiuses of the lamps with the corresponding flexible stalks rotating about the base but not moving in their respective axial directions. The flexible stalks when rotated, due to the dynamically changing resultant force of the combination of the dynamic centrifugal force, the gravity of the lamps and their own gravity, can at least make the lamps perform irregular wiggles in the radial direction of the lighting device in response to the radial horizontal component. That is, the radial displacements of the lamps with respect to the pivotal point are dynamically changing. However, due to the support from the flexible stalks, the radial displacements changes of the lamps are much smaller than their circumferential displacements changes. When the lamps illuminate, at least the irregular small wiggles of the lamps in the radial direction of the lighting device form a dynamically changing ambience effect with the help of merely a little hardware. In an embodiment where plural flexible stalks are grouped into bundles with different lengths and rotatably retained by the same rotating member, the resulting ambience effect is further more dynamic and vivid, yet the lighting device is easy to wire and store.

According to a preferred mode, the present invention further provides a dynamic lighting device, comprising at least two lamps and a base, being characterized in that each of the at least two lamps is connected to one end of a respective paired flexible stalk, and opposite ends of the flexible stalks are rotatably connected to the base, so that as the two flexible stalks are retained by and rotate with respect to the base, at least two projected images of the at least two lamps in an upright direction do not fully coincide with each other, and the at least two projected images have circumferential movement components defined against a pivotal point that is a joint between the flexible stalks and the base. When rotating with respect to the base, the flexible stalks are subject to the gravity of the lamps, their own gravity and the centrifugal force, and consequently perform dynamic bending deformations and random movements. Specifically, the random movements at least involve two aspects. Firstly, the flexible stalk rotates around the circumference of the base, thereby making the lamp perform circumferential wiggles (or sways) against a pivotal point that is actually the joint between the flexible stalk and the base. Secondly, due to the resultant force and the dynamic deformation of the flexible stalk, the lamp moves randomly in the upright direction (bouncing or somehow like floating). Since the flexible stalks are retained in the upright direction, the displacements of the lamps in the upright direction are much smaller than their circumferential displacements. When the lamps illuminate, at least the irregular small wiggles of the lamps in the radial direction of the lighting device can form dynamically changing ambience effect with the help of merely a little hardware. In an embodiment where plural flexible stalks are grouped into bundles that are retained by the same rotating member with the lamps arranged at different altitudes, the resulting ambience effect is dynamic in more dimensions, yet the lighting device is easy to wire and store.

According to a preferred mode, the present invention further provides a lighting device providing a dynamic lighting effect, comprising at least one lamp, the lighting device being characterized in that the lamp is connected to one end of a flexible stalk, and the flexible stalk has an opposite end such retained that when the flexible stalk rotates, a projected image of the lamp in an upright direction does not fully coincide with a projected image of the flexible stalk in the upright direction for at least a period of time, so the at least one lamp exhibits circumferential wiggles. The flexible stalk when rotated, due to the changing resultant force coming from the combination of the dynamic centrifugal force, the gravity of the lamp and its own, can at least have the lamp wiggling irregularly along the circumference of the light in response to the circumferential horizontal component. In addition, when the lamp illuminates, at least the irregular wiggles of the lamp along the circumference of the light can provide a dynamically changing ambiance effect with the help of a little hardware. In an embodiment where plural flexible stalks are bundled together and rotatably retained by the same rotating member, the resulting ambience effect is even more dynamic and vivid, yet the lighting device is easy to wire and store.

According to a preferred mode, the flexible stalks are connected to the lamps that are point light sources in a manner that the flexible stalks are opaque. Preferably, the flexible stalks are such formed that they are opaque and non-reflective. Preferably, the base is such formed that it is opaque and non-reflective. In this way, when the lamps illuminate at night, their movements form tracks of point light sources, thereby preventing appearance of line light that could otherwise be caused by illuminating or reflective flexible stalks. Thus irregular movement of line light sources will not occur.

According to a preferred mode, the at least two lamps the at least two lamps are point light sources that are separated from the joint by different lateral distances and/or upright distances.

According to a preferred mode, the present invention further provides a dynamic lighting device, comprising a base and a lamp, being characterized in that the lamp is connected to one end of a flexible stalk, wherein the flexible stalk is connected to a rotating shaft that is installed inside the base in a manner that the flexible stalk juts out of at least one surface of the base and the rotating shaft serves to wiggle the flexible stalk, while the rotating shaft is connected to a rotating mechanism in a manner that the flexible stalk is restricted to wiggle in a predetermined range.

According to a preferred mode, the rotating mechanism comprises a rotating arm and a driving arm, in which the driving arm has a sliding guide configured to form a sliding pair with a sliding block provided on the rotating arm; and the driving arm has a through hole configured to fittingly receive the rotating shaft.

According to a preferred mode, the sliding guide has a length such sized that the rotating shaft is restricted to rotate in an acute-angle range.

According to a preferred mode, the present invention further provides a solar energy lighting device comprising at least two lamps and a base, the at least two lamps being connected to one ends of their respective flexible stalk, wherein the base is atop provided with a solar panel and the solar panel is electrically connected to a power storage assembly through a mainboard. The selection of solar energy is based on some reasons. Firstly, the lighting device of the present invention is relatively less power-consuming and the lighting device only has to continuously work for a few hours, such as 3 or 4 hours, so the use of solar energy eliminates the hassle of external wiring. Secondly, the lighting device is designed to be used mostly in outdoor environments where solar energy is highly availably and accessible, and the use of solar energy makes the disclosed lighting device meet the requirements of environmental protection and energy preservation. Thirdly, for giving an adequate amount of the decorative effect in outdoor environments, it is desirable to have multiple lighting devices used together. In this case, with the use of solar energy, these lighting devices can just be left outdoors without the hassle to move them into houses for battery charging, which saves human labor and enables the lighting device to heighten atmosphere with natural resources at night.

In the modes described previously, when rotating with respect to the base, the gravity of both the lamps and the flexible stalks and the resilience of the flexible stalk change randomly with the rotation of the stalks, thereby making the stalks carrying the lamps move randomly. That is, by merely using flexible stalks of different lengths, the at least two lamps can be subject to different centrifugal forces under the same rotation speed.

In the modes described previously, not only do the flexible stalk have different lengths, but also the lamps have different weights. Herein, the different lengths and the different weights can both cause different centrifugal forces. Herein, flexible stalks made of different materials can show flexibility and resilience differently with the same length. With the foregoing measures, different combination of centrifugal forces and flexibility or resilience can be achieved, so as to present ever changing random movements of the lamps by making the flexible stalks rotate at a uniform speed. After the rotation of flexible stalk with respect to the base stops, the random movements will continue due to the resultant force of the gravity and the resilience for a while before the lamps gradually come to still.

In the modes described previously, movements of the base, such as rotation or a combination of different kinds of motions, may also be used to lead to movements of the lamps. Briefly, interaction among the weight of the lamps, the weight and resilience of the flexible stalks and the movement features could bring about significantly different effects.

In the modes described previously, the lamps are held in place by and powered through their respective flexible stalks. Therein, the flexible stalks are connected to the movement mechanism through a connecting portion built in the base, so that the flexible stalks carrying the lamps can be driven to rotate. Preferably, the pivotal point of the flexible stalk(s) is defined by the flexible stalk(s) and the base, so as to enable circumferential rotation, circumferential wiggles and/or circumferential and axial sways. Herein, due to the resultant force of the gravity and the resilient restoration, the plural lamps perform irregular and diverse movements in the circumferential direction and in the upright direction, so as to give a dynamic visual effect in all observation directions around the lighting device. Thereby, in the night, when the plural lamps illuminate and the flexible stalks rotate with respect to the base, a simulated scene of a swarm fireflies flying in the night sky that is true to nature can be created to reproduce the tracks of swirling fireflies (with circumferential wiggles and vertical jerks). In practice, several lighting devices such built can be used together to create a simulated scene of a swarm fireflies flying in the night sky.

