Invented by Kennith R. Moore, Scott Blaise Tylicki, Leeman Elliot Stevens, Amer Salihovic, John Colvin Deaton, Stephen Brett Thompson, Heathco LLC

The market for portable decorative lanterns has seen significant growth in recent years, driven by the increasing demand for unique and aesthetically pleasing lighting options. These lanterns offer a versatile and portable lighting solution that can be used both indoors and outdoors, making them a popular choice for various occasions and settings. One of the key factors driving the market for portable decorative lanterns is the growing trend of outdoor living spaces. As more people seek to create cozy and inviting outdoor areas, the demand for decorative lighting options has increased. Portable lanterns provide an easy and convenient way to add a touch of ambiance to any outdoor space, whether it’s a backyard patio, a balcony, or a camping site. Furthermore, the rise of social media platforms has also contributed to the popularity of portable decorative lanterns. People are increasingly sharing their experiences and aesthetics on platforms like Instagram and Pinterest, showcasing beautifully decorated spaces and inspiring others to do the same. As a result, there is a growing desire among consumers to create visually appealing environments, and portable lanterns offer a simple and effective way to achieve this. In terms of methods used to create these portable decorative lanterns, there are several approaches that manufacturers employ. One common method is the use of LED lights, which provide a long-lasting and energy-efficient lighting solution. LED lights are often incorporated into lantern designs, allowing for a wide range of colors and effects. This versatility appeals to consumers who want to customize their lighting experience and create different moods. Another method used in the production of portable decorative lanterns is the use of different materials and designs. Lanterns can be made from various materials such as metal, glass, or fabric, each offering a unique aesthetic appeal. Some lanterns feature intricate patterns or cutouts, allowing the light to create beautiful shadows and patterns when illuminated. These design elements add an extra layer of visual interest and make the lanterns stand out. Additionally, manufacturers are also incorporating innovative features into portable decorative lanterns to enhance their functionality. For example, some lanterns are equipped with rechargeable batteries, allowing for wireless operation and eliminating the need for constant replacement of disposable batteries. Others may have built-in Bluetooth speakers or USB ports, allowing users to play music or charge their devices while enjoying the soft glow of the lantern. In conclusion, the market for portable decorative lanterns is experiencing steady growth due to the increasing demand for unique and visually appealing lighting options. The rise of outdoor living spaces and the influence of social media have contributed to the popularity of these lanterns. Manufacturers employ various methods, such as LED lights, different materials, and innovative features, to create lanterns that cater to consumers’ preferences and needs. As the market continues to evolve, we can expect to see even more creative and functional designs in the portable decorative lantern industry.

The Heathco LLC invention works as follows

The invention relates to “methods and apparatus” for a decorative lamp with a portable light and cradle. The portable lantern as well as the cradle can include a source of light. The mounted cradle has a power source that can recharge and/or power the portable lantern while docked. When the portable lantern is taken out of the cradle, the light source may still be illuminated.

Background for Portable decorative Lantern and Related Methods

Wall mounted luminaires of this type are commonly used in outdoor environments. These luminaires tend to be fixed and don’t allow the user to move a portable part to another area or a remote location.

The present disclosure relates to a decorative lamp with a removable portable lantern and associated methods, as well as a decorative lamp control. The various inventive methods disclosed herein are aimed at providing a portable lamp apparatus with a mounted and portable mode. The various methods and devices disclosed herein also relate to changing the intensity, color or other characteristics of the portable lamp in relation to the cradle.

In some implementations, the decorative lamp and methods described herein can also change the illumination and/or colors from a first intensity or color light output to another intensity or color light output depending on the proximity or movement detected of an object, person, or other trigger event, such as the location of the portable light in relation to the cradle. In some implementations a user may be able to change the aesthetic lighting or bug deterrent by changing the color and/or brightness when the portable lantern is removed from the cradle. In some embodiments, removing the lantern from its cradle may cause the controller to increase the brightness and/or color temperature. In other implementations however, removing the portable lantern may change the color or light intensity.

In some implementations, a decorative lantern, or portions thereof, may provide a first variable intensity light output or a secondary variable intensity light output upon detection or proximity to unit, or whether the lantern in portable mode or wall mounted mode. The portable lantern or cradle can provide color and/or brightness illumination, or another characteristic when the cradle is on and/or removed.

As an example, some decorative lanterns may include one or more lights, a decorative controller, light sensors, rechargeable batteries and/or motion/proximity sensors. The decorative lantern controller can control the output of one or more lights based on signals detected by the docking sensor, one or multiple motion/proximity sensors such as PIR, and other sensor inputs, such as light sensors such as photocell sensors.

In some aspects, the LED is the source of illumination and the controller for the decorative lantern includes an LED driver. The LEDs can be positioned in various ways on the decorative lantern. The LEDs can be placed on a cradle or portable lantern. The decorative lantern controller may also energize all, some or segments of LEDs within each decorative lantern. The decorative lantern controller may also modulate light in order to change the color, temperature, and brightness of the LEDs.

It is desirable to be able to control one or more of the light sources in lighting units, such as those with LED-based sources. It may be desirable, for example, to control the illumination of one of more light sources/LEDs and/or control one or several lighting parameters. It may be desirable, for example, to control the color, color temperature and intensity of light provided by LED-based lights of an LED lighting unit. This control is implemented by the different aspects of this invention.

As used in the present disclosure for the purposes of this term, ‘LED’ should be understood to include any electroluminescent diode or other type of carrier injection/junction-based system that is capable generating radiation in response to an electric signal and/or acting as a photodiode. should be understood to include any electroluminescent diode or other type of carrier injection/junction-based system that is capable of generating radiation in response to an electric signal and/or acting as a photodiode. The term LED is used to describe a variety of semiconductor-based structures which emit light when current flows through them, including light emitting polymers and organic light emitting devices (OLEDs). It also includes electroluminescent stripes, as well as other similar products. The term LED is used to refer to all light emitting devices (including organic and semi-conductor light emitting Diodes), which can be configured to emit radiation in the infrared, ultraviolet, or visible spectrums (generally including wavelengths between 400 nanometers and 700 nanometers). Some LEDs are, but not limited to: infrared, ultraviolet, red, blue, green, yellow, amber, orange, and white (discussed below). “It should also be understood that LEDs can be configured or controlled to produce radiation with various bandwidths, e.g. full widths at the half maximum (FWHM), for a spectrum (e.g. narrow bandwidth, wide bandwidth), as well as a variety dominant wavelengths in a general color category.

For example, an implementation of an LED that generates essentially white lights (e.g. a white LED), may include a variety of dies, each emitting different spectrums of electroluminescence, which, when combined, produce essentially a white light. In another implementation, an LED that emits white light may be connected to a phosphor which converts electroluminescence with a first spectral range into a second spectrum. In an example of this implementation electroluminescence with a narrow bandwidth and relatively short wavelength spectrum “pump” The phosphor material emits a longer wavelength of radiation with a broader spectrum.

It should be noted that the term LED is not limited to the type of physical or electrical package for an LED. As discussed above, the term LED can refer to a light-emitting device with multiple dies, each of which is configured to emit a different spectrum of radiation. A phosphor may also be considered an integral component of an LED (e.g. some types of white ones). The term LED can be used to refer to packaged LEDs or non-packaged LEDs. It may also include surface-mount LEDs (chip-on-board), T-package LEDs and power-package LEDs.

The term “light source” is used to describe a light source. or ?illumination source? should be understood to refer to any one or more of a variety of radiation sources, including, but not limited to, LED-based sources (including one or more LEDs as defined above), incandescent sources (e.g., filament lamps, halogen lamps), fluorescent sources, phosphorescent sources, high-intensity discharge sources (e.g., sodium vapor, mercury vapor, and metal halide lamps), lasers, other types of electroluminescent sources, pyro-luminescent sources (e.g., flames), candle-luminescent sources (e.g., gas mantles, carbon arc radiation sources), photo-luminescent sources (e.g., gaseous discharge sources), cathode luminescent sources using electronic satiation, galvano-luminescent sources, crystallo-luminescent sources, kine-luminescent sources, thermo-luminescent sources, triboluminescent sources, sonoluminescent sources, radioluminescent sources, and luminescent polymers.

A light source can be configured to produce electromagnetic radiation in the visible spectrum or outside of the visible spectrum. Or it may combine both. The terms “light” and “radiation?” are derived from this. The terms ‘light’ and ‘radiation” are used interchangeably here. Herein, the terms “radiation” and “light source” are interchangeable. A light source can also include one or more lenses, filters (e.g. color filters), or other optical components as integral components. It is important to understand that light sources can be designed for various applications including but not limited display, illumination, or indication. An ?illumination source? A light source is one that is specifically configured to emit radiation with a high enough intensity to illuminate an interior space or an exterior space. In this context, “sufficient intensity” is used. In this context,’sufficient intensity’ refers to the radiant power generated by the space or the environment in the visible spectrum (the unit of?lumens” is often used to represent the total light output from a light source in all directions in terms of radiant power or?luminous flux?). The unit ‘lumens’ is often used to describe the total output of a light source from all directions in terms radiant power (or?luminous flux?). Ambient illumination is “light that can be perceived indirectly, and may, for example be reflected from one or more surfaces before it is perceived in full or part.

The term “spectrum” should be understood to refer to any one or more frequencies (or wavelengths) of radiation produced by one or more light sources. The term “spectrum” should be understood as referring to one or more wavelengths (or frequencies) of radiation produced from one or multiple light sources. The term “spectrum” is used to describe this. The term “spectrum” refers not only to visible frequencies, but also wavelengths in infrared and ultraviolet. A spectrum can have a narrow bandwidth, for example, with a FWHM that has a few wavelength or frequency components, or a wide bandwidth, which includes several wavelength or frequency components of varying relative strength. A spectrum can also result from a mixture of several other spectra.

The term “color” is used interchangeably with the term “spectrum” for this disclosure. The term “spectrum” is interchangeable with the word “color.” The term “color” is used interchangeably with the term “spectrum. The term ‘color’ is generally used to describe a radiation property that can be perceived by an observer. The terms “different colors” are used to describe this. The term ‘colors’ refers to multiple spectrums with different wavelength components or bandwidths. Also, it is important to note that “color” can be used in both white and non-white light. “White light” and non-white lights can both be referred to as “color”.

The term “lighting fixture” is used to describe a variety of lighting fixtures. or ?decorative lantern? Herein, the term is used to describe an arrangement or implementation of one or several lighting units into a specific form factor, assembly or package. The term “decorative lantern” is used herein. The term “decorative lantern” is used to describe an apparatus that includes one or more lights of the same type or different types. A unit can have a wide range of mounting arrangements, enclosure/housing shapes and arrangements, electrical and mechanical connections configurations. A given unit may also be associated (e.g. include, be coupled with and/or packaged with) other components (e.g. control circuitry) that relate to the operation the light source(s). An ?LED-based decorative lantern? Refers to a light unit that contains one or more LED light sources, as discussed above. This can be used alone or with other light sources not based on LEDs. A “multi-channel” A?multi-channel? lighting unit is an LED-based or non LED-based unit that contains at least two sources of light configured to generate different wavelengths of radiation. Each source spectrum can be referred as a “channel” Multi-channel Lighting Unit

The term “controller” is used herein to describe various apparatus relating to the operation of one or more light sources. The term “controller” is used in this document to refer to various apparatus that are related to the operation one or more lights sources. The controller can be implemented many ways, including with dedicated hardware. A “processor” One example of a controllable that uses one or more microprocessors, which can be programmed with software (e.g. microcode), to perform the various functions discussed in this document. A controller can be implemented either with or without a processor. It may also be implemented using a combination dedicated hardware for some functions, and a programmed processor (e.g. one or more microprocessors, associated circuitry, etc.) for other functions. “Controller components that can be used in different embodiments of this disclosure include conventional microprocessors as well as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), FPGAs and discrete logic.

In different implementations, a controller or processor may be linked to one or more storage mediums (hereafter referred as’memory’). For example, volatile and/or non-volatile memory, such as RAM and PROM, EPROM and EEPROM; floppy disks and compact disks; optical disks and magnetic tapes. In some implementations the storage media can be encoded with programs that when executed by one or multiple processors or controllers perform at least some functions described herein. The storage media can be either fixed to a controller or processor, or portable. This allows the programs that are stored on the storage media to be loaded onto a controller or processor in order for the invention to be implemented. The terms “program” and “computer program” are used interchangeably. The terms?computer program’ or?program? “computer program” is used in this document to refer to any computer code (e.g. software or microcode) which can be employed to programme one or more controllers or processors.

It should be understood that all combinations between the concepts above and the additional concepts discussed below in more detail (provided they are not mutually contradictory) are considered to be part of the inventive matter disclosed herein. All combinations of claimed matter appearing at this disclosure’s end are considered to be part of the inventive matter disclosed herein. The terminology used herein, which may also appear in any disclosures incorporated by references, should be given a meaning that is most consistent with the concepts disclosed herein.

The present disclosure provides various design implementations of a decorative luminaire lantern that can provide illumination at the wall mounting location, and includes a removable portable lantern portion. The removable lantern can be charged in the wall mount, and then moved to a remote location where standard line voltage is not available. In some implementations, the portable lamp may include a battery-powered electrical supply that can be charged at the wall mounting station. Both the portable and wall mount portions may also have separately controllable lighting sources to provide specialized lighting characteristics for the specific environments of the wall mounted location and the removable lantern. The portable lanterns or portions thereof disclosed may have motion or proximity sensors to detect motion. Upon detection of movement, the lighting controller can activate illumination sources at the base in order to illuminate the area surrounding the base. In some embodiments, the decorative lantern, or portions thereof, may include a light detector, such as a camera, that detects ambient lighting. The one or more lights sources will then be activated upon detection of night or dusk. Lighting controllers can receive the output of the light sensor to determine ambient lighting and adjust the luminaire output intensity accordingly. In other embodiments, the docking sensor can detect whether the portable lamp is in the charging cradle, or mounted on the wall. Then, the light source will be illuminated when the portable lantern is detected to be placed therein.

The wall mount can be used to charge the batteries of the portable lamp by using one or more cradles. By returning the portable lantern to the cradle or stowed position/configuration, the cradle can be used to recharge the rechargeable battery system of the portable lantern.

The decorative lanterns and base units can be equipped with LEDs to provide illumination in various ways due to the lower power requirements, high output of illumination and other driving characteristics.

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