Background Art A Light Emitting Diode (LED) is a semiconductor light emitting element, and is advantageous in that it operates on low power at high efficiency and has low heat radiation.

Due to the advantages of the LED, research on the using of LEDs as the light sources of various existing lighting apparatuses as which fluorescent lamps or incandescent bulbs have been used has been carried out worldwide. As a result, a variety of LED products are currently replacing fluorescent lamp and incandescent bulb products.

In practice, for example, an LED signal lamp of 10 W tend to be used in place of an incandescent signal lamp. This tendency is caused based on the recognition in which LEDs can be solutions to an illumination problem in view of- the development of alternative energy and energy conservation to cope with the exhaustion of petroleum energy.

In the meantime, existing simple bedtime lamps use fluorescent lamps or incandescent bulbs as light sources, and function as simple lighting means without great differences except for those in the design of the appearance and the use of the colors of light sources.

In the case of a fluorescent lamp and an incandescent bulb, since power consumption thereof is relatively great, the installation thereof in individual rooms is a burden. Additionally, the fluorescent lamp and the incandescent bulb generate such great heat that a user is likely to be burned when coming in contact with the fluorescent or the incandescent bulb. Accordingly, it is dangerous to use the fluorescent lamp and incandescent bulb in a baby's room or the like in which a bedtime lamp is chiefly used. Furthermore, great heat generated by the fluorescent lamp and incandescent bulb may discolor items around the fluorescent lamp and incandescent bulb, thus deteriorating the beauty of decorations in a room around the fluorescent lamp and incandescent bulb.

Furthermore, existing bedtime lamps are manufactured in standing lamp forms, or are additionally mounted on lamps installed on a ceiling. Therefore, the places of installation and user are greatly limited.

Accordingly, the present inventor leads to the development of an illuminator, which can be sufficiently used as a close range lighting means, such as a bedtime lamp, allow LEDs to replace an existing fluorescent lamp or incandescent bulb, and provide the effect of anion discharge.

Disclosure of the Invention Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide an illuminator, in which a fluorescent lamp or incandescent bulb is replaced by LEDs, so that power consumption can be reduced, the life span of light sources can be extended and the maintenance costs of the illuminator can be reduced.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an illuminator, which can provide anion discharge as well as illumination, and which can allow discharge plates related to the anion discharge to be easily attached to or detected from an illuminator body, so that the maintenance of the discharge plates can be easily carried out.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an illuminator, in which, when the illuminator is applied to a bedtime lamp, LEDs are operated based on the automatic detection of the brightness of the surroundings, so that the convenience of use can be achieved and the effect of anion discharge can be enjoyed.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an illuminator, which can improve the atmosphere of a room by allowing the kinds of colors and number of LEDs mounted on a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) and the amount of voltage applied to the LEDs to be controlled.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an illuminator, which can be manufactured into small, lightweight products to be installed and used without regard to places.

In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides an illuminator, comprising an illuminator body provided with one or more slots, the slots being formed through the illuminator body to allow inside and outside thereof to communicate with each other; a PCB located in the illuminator body and provided with one or more LEDs; one or more negative electrode plates provided at locations near the slots to generate anions; one or more discharge plates provided to be inserted into and removed from the illuminator body through the slots and to generate the anions in conjunction with the negative electrode plates; and one or more anion discharge holes formed through the illuminator body at locations near the slots to discharge generated anions to an outside of the illuminator.

The slots, the negative electrode plates and the discharge plates are provided in pairs, two ones of each pair being provided on both sides of a length of the illuminator body, respectively.

Each of the negative electrode plates has pointed exposed ends, and the exposed ends are spaced apart from each of the discharge plates inserted into the illuminator body through each of the slots by a certain distance.

The discharge plates each comprise an injected body part, and a positive electrode plate part connected to the injected body part to lead in electrons from each of the negative electrode plates and generate the anions.

The positive electrode plate parts are made of titanium and each of the positive electrode plate parts is provided with one or more through holes.

The injected body part is provided with a grip projected from a surface thereof at a portion thereof.

The illuminator body in which the discharge plates are arranged is provided with one or more recesses on one surface of the illuminator body to be recessed to a certain depth.

The illuminator body is formed of a pair of body pieces to allow the body pieces to be attached to and detached from each other, and one of the body pieces is provided with terminals to apply power to the PCB.

The second body piece of the illuminator body is provided with a sensor cover, and the PCB is provided with a sensor that is inserted into the sensor cover, detects a brightness of the surroundings around the illuminator body and transmits a detection signal to the PCB.

The PCB controls on/off operations of the LEDs based on the detection signal of the sensor.

The illuminator further includes a light transmission cover, and the light transmission cover is combined with the illuminator body to transmit light radiated from the LEDs to the outside of the illuminator.

Brief Description of the Drawings The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of an illuminator according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the illuminator of FIG. 1; FIGS. 3a and 3b are partially enlarged views of FIG. 2 showing the attachment of a discharge plate to an illuminator body; and FIG. 4 is a rear perspective view of the illuminator of FIG. 1.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention The illuminator of the present invention is described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings below.

Under a tendency toward the development of air purifiers to fulfill desires for fresh air in view of a serious air pollution problem, an illuminator according to the present invention is a multi-functional item that not only can produce fresh air at inexpensive costs but also can function as a lighting means.

In particular, in a residential area that becomes urbanized more and more, there are many places requiring fresh air. Basically, most of places in a metropolitan area, such as private residences, apartments, classrooms, libraries, amusement shops, karaoke shops and personal computer amusement shops, are sealed. Of the sealed places, there are many places requiring illumination for allowing users to identify objects as well as air supply for supplying fresh air.

Around us, there are many such places requiring both illumination for allowing users to identify objects and anion generation. However, it requires excessive costs to purchase and install both a lighting means and an anion generator.

When an anion generator requiring electricity is separately installed in a place that is so dark that illumination for allow user to identify objects is required, it is difficult to operate the anion generator because it is difficult for a user to identify the anion generator, the anion generator occupies an excessive space, and the anion generator is dangerous to persons who do not know that the anion generator is installed in that place. In brief, it is ineffective to separately install a bedtime lamp and the anion generator in the place requiring both the bedtime lamp and the anion generator.

Accordingly, the above-described problems can be completely overcome by additionally attaching a structure for generating anions to a lighting means having a simple and convenient structure.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the illuminator of the present invention includes an illuminator body 10 provided with a plurality of LEDs 22, and a light transmission cover 50 coupled to the illuminator body 10 to diffuse light radiated from the LEDs 22 and transmit the diffused light to the outside of the illuminator.

The illuminator body 10 is the main part of the illuminator that includes a variety of electric circuits required for the control of the illuminator, and is formed of a pair of pieces that is easily attached to and detached from each other in view of the assembly and maintenance thereof.

Referring to FIG. 2, the first and second body pieces 11 and 12 of the illuminator body 10 can be attached to and detached from each other using bosses 11 la and lib formed on the first and second body pieces 11 and 12, respectively, and screws (not shown).

In the illuminator body 10, a PCB 20 on which various electric circuits and a microprocessor are mounted is longitudinally placed inside of the first body 11 in the longitudinal direction of the illuminator, and terminals 24 are projected to the outside of the first body piece 11 to apply power to the PCB 20.

A sensor 21 is protruded from the center of the PCB 20 to be inserted into the sensor cover 13 of the second body piece 12, detect the brightness of the surroundings around the illuminator body 10 and transmit a detection signal to the PCB 20. In this case, the sensor 21 means an illumination sensor.

The sensor cover 13 is mounted on the center of the second body piece 12 detachably attached to the first body piece 11, to receive the sensor 21 provided on the PCB 20. The sensor cover 13 is made of a transparent material to allow the sensor to further correctly detect the brightness of the surroundings around the illuminator body 10.

A plurality of LEDs 22 are arranged on the PCB 20. The LEDs 22 may be monochromatic or polychromatic LEDs 22 as occasion demands, and the number of the LEDs 22 may be appropriately adjusted.

Referring to FIG. 2 of the present invention, ten LEDs 22 are provided, and radiate light of one of red R, green G, blue B and yellow Y, or light of a mixed color in which two or more of them are mixed with each other.

Accordingly, as long as all of the LEDs 22 do not break down, there are no cases where the illuminator does not operate.

For example, when the sensor 21 detects the brightness of the surroundings around the illuminator 10 and transmits a detection signal to the PCB, the PCB 20 determined whether to turn on any one of the LEDs 22, to turn on two or more of them, or to select and operate some of them.

As a result, the sensor 21 functions as a switch for turning on and off the individual or combined operations of the LEDs 22. Accordingly, the illuminator of the present invention is less inconvenient than the conventional illuminator that the user must manually turn on and off. Furthermore, even though the user mistakenly plugs the illuminator into an outlet in the daytime, the LEDs are not turned on in response to the signal of the sensor 21, so that excessive energy consumption can be reduced.

Two negative electrode plates 16 are provided on both sides of the lower region of the PCB 20 to generate anions in conjunction with discharge plates 30 that can be selectively inserted into and removed from the illuminator body 10 through a slot 25. The negative electrode plates 26 can be electrically and safely separated from the other parts of the PCB 20 by safety partitions 27.

The negative electrode plates 16 are formed of metallic plates. As shown in FIG. 3a, the exposed ends of the negative electrode plates 16 are pointed to quickly emit a large amount of anions. Furthermore, the exposed ends of the negative electrode plates 16 are spaced apart from the discharge plates 30 by certain distances, respectively.

In the meantime, as shown in FIGS. 3a, 3b and 4, each of the discharge plates 30 provided to be inserted into and removed from the illuminator body 10 includes an injected body part 32 made of plastic material and a positive electrode plate part 34 connected to the injected body part 32 to function as an earth terminal for leading in electrons from each of the negative plates 26.

In the present invention, the durability of the positive electrode plate parts 34 can be guaranteed by forming the positive electrode plate parts 34 using titanium so that the positive electrode plate parts 34 can be used semi- permanently. By forming a plurality of through holes 34a in the positive electrode plate parts 34, spaces through which anions pass are provided and, thus, the generation of anions is increased.

A grip 32a is formed on each of the injected body part 32 to be projected from the surface of the injected body part 32. The grip 32a is a part used when a user separates the discharge plate 30 from the illuminator while gripping the discharge plate 30. In order to allow the user to easily hold the grip 32a, recesses 38 are preferably formed on a surface of the illuminator body 10 to be recessed to a certain depth, as shown in FIG. 4.

In order to use the illuminator having the construction described above, the positive electrode plate parts 34 of the discharge plates 30 are inserted into the slots 25 formed on both sides of the back surface of the illuminator body 10 and the terminals 24 formed on the illuminator body 10 are inserted into an outlet (not shown).

Then, the sensor 21 located inside of the sensor cover 13 starts to detect the brightness of the surroundings around the illuminator body 10. When it becomes dark and the sensor 21 detects that the surroundings of the illuminator body 10 are dark, a detection signal is transmitted to the PCB 20.

The PCB 20 having received the detection signal determines whether to turn on any of the plurality of LEDs 22, to turn on two or more of the plurality of LEDs 22 together, or to select and sequentially turn on some of the plurality of LEDs 22, and operates the LEDs 22.

In general, the LEDs 22 are operated according to initial setting. When one, two or all LEDs 22 are operated and light is generated, the generated light is transmitted to the outside of the illuminator through the light transmission cover 50, thus implementing illumination. Accordingly, the illuminator of the present invention can be used as a bedtime lamp or guide lamp.

While the LEDs are operated and radiate light, relatively high voltage is applied to the negative electrode plates 26 supplied with power from the PCB 20 due to the supplied power, so that anions are generated, departs from the pointed ends of the negative electrode plates 26 and are discharged to the positive electrode plate parts 34 of the discharge plates 30.

While the anions are discharged and moved, air flowing into the illuminator body 10 through air inlets 28 reacts with the generated anions and is converted into anions (the number of anions is increased). During the repeated performance of the operation, lots of anions are generated in the air surrounding the positive electrode plate parts 34 of the discharge plates 30. The generated anions are discharged through anion discharge holes 29 under the discharge plates 30, so that the illuminator functions to discharge anions as well as to perform illumination.

For reference, in general, the negatively charged elements of atoms make persons feel refreshed in forest, falls and a hot spring are anions. When an atom loses an electron, it becomes a cation, while when an atom obtains an electron, it becomes an anion.

When a person inhales such anions, there occur the effects of promoting the metabolism of cells, purifying blood, tranquilizing nerves, relieving fatigue and promoting appetite, so that the anions are called air vitamin. Under fresh natural conditions, it is known that the number of anions per 1 cc is 800-2, 000 in forest, a hot spring, falls and a seashore area.

As found up to now, the anions have the effects of purifying blood, activating cells, increasing immunity, controlling the autonomic nervous system, removing toxic materials generated by electromagnetic waves, eliminating dust and bacteria, adjusting humidity and removing odor.

While the anions are generated by the operation of the illuminator, lots of impurities adhere to the positive electrode plate parts 34 of the discharge plates 30. The method of generating the anions is a so-called corona discharge method. Accordingly, when anions generated at a negative potential are moved to the discharge plates 30 that have a zero potential and function as earths, the anions take and adsorb dust, odor and bacteria to the positive electrode plate parts 34 of the discharge plates 30.

When such an operation is repeated, lots of impurities adhere to the surfaces of the positive electrode plate parts 34 and prevent the illuminator from functioning as an anion generator. Therefore, to continuously and effectively utilize the anion generation effect of the illuminator, it is necessary to prevent the adhesion of impurities to the positive electrode plate parts 34 of the discharge plates 30 or to continuously wash away the impurities from the positive electrode plate parts 34. If such a measure is not taken, the illuminator cannot function as the anion generator.

In the present invention, in view of the fact that it is actually impossible to prevent the adhesion of impurities to the positive electrode plate parts 34 of the discharge plates 30, the discharge plates 30 are constructed to be detached from the illuminator body 10 so that any body can easily wash the positive electrode plate parts 34 of the discharge plates 30 anytime.

Accordingly, when impurities adhere to the positive electrode plate parts 34 of the discharge plates 30 as time elapses, the user takes the discharge plates 30 from the slots 25 while holding the grips 32a of the discharge plates 30.

Thereafter, by washing away the impurities from the discharge plates 30 and putting the discharge plates 30 into the slots 25, the discharge plates 30 can be kept clean, so that the radiation of anions can be continuously and stably maintained.

As described above, in accordance with the illuminator of the present invention, power consumption can be reduced, the life span of component lamps can be lengthened and the costs of maintenance can be reduced by replacing an existing lamp or incandescent bulb used as light sources with the LEDs 22. If such an illuminator can be used as a bedtime lamp, the brightness of the surroundings around the illuminator can be automatically detected and the LEDs are operated based on the detection of the brightness, so that the convenience of the illuminator is improved.

Furthermore, by controlling the kinds and number of colors of the LEDs 20 to be mounted on the PCB 20 and the amount of voltage applied to the LEDs 20, the atmosphere of a room caused by the light of the illuminator can be improved.

Furthermore, the illuminator of the present invention can be manufactured in the shapes illustrated in the drawings. The illuminator of the present invention may be manufactured in a miniaturized, lightweight illuminator of a shape similar to or identical with the illustrated shapes, so that the places of installation and use of the illuminator are not limited.

In particular, the illuminator of the present invention has an additional advantage in that it can provide the effect of anion discharge as well as the effect of illumination. Furthermore, the discharge plates 30 related to the anion discharge may be easily attached to and detected from the illuminator body 10, so that the maintenance of the discharge plates 30 can be easily and conveniently carried out.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the attached drawings, the present invention is not limited to that shown in the attached drawings.

Although rod-type terminals for 110 V have been illustrated in FIG. 4, prong-type terminals for 220 V can be employed without any hindrance.

Referring to the above-described embodiment, the negative electrode plates are integrated with the PCB, but the negative electrode plates may be provided to be separated from the PCB.

Round through holes are formed through the discharge plates in the above-described embodiment, but the round shape of the through holes may be changed to a slot shape.

Industrial Applicability As described above, the present invention provides the illuminator, in which a fluorescent lamp or incandescent bulb is replaced by the LEDs, so that power consumption can be reduced, the life span of light sources can be extended and the maintenance costs of the illuminator can be reduced.

Additionally, in accordance with the present invention, the illuminator of the present invention can provide multiple effects, including anion discharge as well as illumination. The discharge plates related to the anion discharge can be easily attached to or detected from the illuminator body, so that the maintenance of the discharge plates can be easily carried out.

Additionally, when the illuminator of the present invention is applied to a bedtime lamp, LEDs are operated based on the automatic detection of the brightness of the surroundings, so that the convenience of use can be achieved and the effect of anion discharge can be enjoyed.

Additionally, the illuminator of the present invention can improve the atmosphere of a room by allowing the kinds of colors and number of LEDs mounted on a PCB and the amount of voltage applied to the LEDs to be controlled.

Additionally, the illuminator of the present invention can be manufactured into small, lightweight products to be installed and used without regard to places.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.