Retractable Holiday Lights with Motorized Spool and Removable Brackets
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional outdoor holiday lights require significant labor and risk for installation and removal, can cause damage to surfaces, and are prone to tangling and damage when stored.
Innovation Solution
A self-contained retractable lighting system housed in a box with a moveable frame and motorized cable spool allows lights to extend and retract easily, with remote control functionality and integrated displays and speakers, enabling safe and efficient installation, use, and storage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional light strings are hung using nails and screws, then the lights can be securely attached to exterior surfaces, but this causes direct damage to walls and roofs requiring repairs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a removable mounting bracket as an intermediary component between the light string and the building surface. The bracket is attached to the surface using fasteners, while the light string connects to the bracket without direct contact to the surface. This mediator allows secure attachment while preventing direct damage to walls and roofs.
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting bracket is designed to be removable and reusable. After the holiday season, the bracket can be detached from the building surface and reused the following year, eliminating the need for new fasteners and reducing cumulative damage to surfaces.
2Ease of operation
If light strings are left hanging during storage, then they are easily accessible, but they become tangled and damaged and not useable down the road
Solution Approach 1:
The light string is stored inside a storage box that is attached to the mounting bracket. This nested arrangement allows the light string to be kept organized and protected within the bracket assembly, preventing tangling and damage while remaining easily accessible during the holiday season.
Solution Approach 2:
The light string is pre-coiled and stored in an organized manner within the storage box before each holiday season. This preliminary preparation ensures the lights are ready for quick installation without tangling or damage.
3Productivity
If light strings are rehung each year, then they can be reused, but this repeats the same installation and removal problems
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting bracket is pre-installed on the building surface before the holiday season begins. This preliminary action eliminates the need to install fasteners each year, reducing installation time and minimizing repeated damage to surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The system is designed so that the mounting bracket remains permanently installed and serves itself by providing a ready-made attachment point for the light string. The lightweight bracket can be easily repositioned or adjusted without requiring new installation work each year.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system simplifies the installation and removal of holiday lights, reduces damage to surfaces, and allows for easy storage by providing a safe, efficient, and remotely controlled lighting solution with integrated displays and speakers.
Implementation Method 1
a motor inside of the box, a cable spool mounted inside of the box, a cable having an inner end wound about the spool and at least one outer end attached to the moveable frame, and a motor mounted inside the box for rotating the spool to wind the cable about the spool or unwind the at least one outer end of the cable from the spool
Implementation Method 2
The bottom panel can include a hinge for dropping the bottom panel downward away from the front panel when the plurality of the lights is being lowered to the extended position
Data Source
AI summary
Self-contained devices, systems and methods for housing holiday lights in the form of icicles, and the like, in self-contained boxes that can easily be mounted and removed around house windows and eaves. The lights can be retractable and extendable from the boxes, and the lights can be remotely controlled by smart phones and the like. The boxes can have displays for holiday messages as well as speakers for playing music and messages.