Rotating wheel electronic display apparatus

摘要

A light display is mounted on the spokes of a rotating bicycle wheel. The display includes a plurality of individual arrays of lights forming a set. The set of arrays are attached together into a single rigid light display apparatus attached to a spoke of the wheel at the tip of each array of lights. At least one sensors on the apparatus, senses the angular velocity and angular position of the rotating wheel. A microprocessor, is mounted on one of the arrays of lights and connected to the sensor, and is further connected to a shared electrical bus which traverses every array of lights. The shared electrical bus is formed by the electrical connection of all the arrays of lights in a line or loop topology. Each array of lights has at most two connection points to the shared electrical bus. The microprocessor modulates the plurality of arrays of lights via the shared electrical bus and without a direct connection to every array of lights. The arrays of lights are modulated according to a selected one of a plurality of display patterns and the sensed angular velocity and position of the rotating wheel, to form a stabilized, upright, forward-reading image on both sides of the wheel using persistence of vision of a viewer.

主权项

1. A light display apparatus for mounting on a wheel, said apparatus comprising:
a set of at least two individual elongated light arrays, at least one of the elongated light arrays being a master light array; wherein the elongated light arrays have two ends and at least one row of lights; wherein the elongated light arrays have mechanical connections proximate one of the ends to mechanically connect adjacent ones of the elongated light arrays and electrical connections proximate the mechanical connections to electrically connect adjacent ones of the elongated light arrays; wherein the set of individual elongated light arrays when connected mechanically at the mechanical connections form a single rigid assembly, the single rigid assembly being adapted to be attached to the wheel as a unit; wherein the set of elongated light arrays when connected electrically at the electrical connections form an electrically conductive pathway traversing each of the elongated light arrays in the set; wherein the electrically conductive pathway provides a single electrical bus by which electrical power and electronic data can be shared between all of the elongated light arrays, and by which electronic data can be transmitted from the master array to each of the other elongated light arrays without an individual direct electrical connection; at least one sensor mounted on the apparatus for determining angular velocity and position of the wheel; and a microprocessor mounted on the master light array and including a memory storing at least one of a display pattern and a display pattern generation computer code, the microprocessor modulating the rows of lights according to the display pattern or the display pattern generation computer code and sensed velocity and position of the wheel to form an image using persistence of vision of a viewer.