BACKGROUND ART Generally, the jump rope has a configuration that a pair of handle s is installed at both ends of a rope, which is made by cutting a material extruded longitudinally with a flexible synthetic resin such as PVC.

A jump rope sport such as the rope skipping is an all-weather spo rt that people can easily play at any place with an area sufficient for tur ning the rope around a human body. Such jump rope sport has been b roadly popularized as an ideal life athletic, which may give enough athle tic effects within only ten minutes.

However, as computers and various games are developed and spr ead wide recently, the youth tend to be absorbed in indoor game or Inter net in a game center or an Internet café instead of outdoor exercises. S o, it is required to lead the youth to the balanced growth through physic

al exercises such as the rope skipping.

Therefore, the jump rope should be developed as a means to satisf y various desires of the youth, not only for exercise but also for play. S o, it is required to draw interests from the youth with more various atte mpts.

In such a point, many jump ropes have been developed until now.

The Korean Utility Registration No. 1999-8308 discloses a luminous j ump rope, which contains luminous materials. The luminous jump ro pe therefore generates hazy light for the user to easily check the rope po sition and to satisfy curiosity and possessiveness of the user. However, the luminous jump rope is not so successful in the market because of 1 ower brightness of the rope and expensive luminous material. In additi on, the luminous jump rope is limited in use because it is effective only in a dark circumstance. Moreover, because it is impossible to adjust th e light level as desired, the prior jump rope does not provide enough ple asure to the user.

Recently, a LED jump rope, which is designed to emit light from t he rope by insertion of LEDs, is filed in KIPO with Utility Filing No. 1999 - 22333. Such a LED jump rope includes about 40 LEDs in the rope, al 1 of which are connected to a power source through conductive syntheti c resins.

This LED jump rope might be shown to overcome drawbacks of th e luminous jump rope, in somewhat degrees. But, due to too many par

ts and their complexity, increase of the manufacturing cost of the LED j ump is inevitable. In addition, because the jump rope contains the LE Ds in the rope, the LEDs and lines for them may be easily damaged in t he fact that the rope continuously collides with the ground during rope skipping. Moreover, because the LEDs are installed in the rope, it is ac tually impossible to repair the LEDs and their lines, when any of them i s broke down or disconnected.

Besides, the jump rope using LEDs cannot give continuous light b ecause the LEDs are positioned at certain points.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION The present invention is designed to overcome the problems and d rawbacks of the prior art. Therefore, an object of the invention is to pro vide a light-emitting jump rope, which has a linear light-emitting memb er such as an electro-luminescent wire (EL wire) or a lateral light-emitti ng optic fiber to be inserted in the rope so as to generate linear light dur ing rope skipping, so eventually giving visual amusement to the user.

In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention pro vides a light-emitting jump rope having a pair of handles and a rope, wh ich includes a linear light-emitting member mounted inside the rope to generate light when power is applied thereto, and a power source for dri ving the linear light-emitting member, Preferably, the linear light-emitting member may be mounted to ei

ther all or a part of the length of the rope.

Also, the linear light-emitting member can be an electro-luminesc ent wire (EL wire), and the jump rope may further include an inverter u nit for controlling voltage and current of the power source to be suitable for the EL wire.

In such a case, the power source and the inverter unit can be inst alled in the handle, or mounted to the rope, or to the handle and the ro pe respectively.

The power source and the inverter unit, when installed to the rope , are preferably received in a character-shaped case.

Also, the power source and the inverter, when installed to the rop e, may be rotatably connected to the handle, more preferably at a center of gravity.

In another case, the linear light-emitting member can be a lateral light-emitting optic fiber, and the jump rope may further include a light source for supplying light to the lateral light-emitting optic fiber.

At this time, the lateral light-emitting optic fiber may include a co re for providing a path through which light passes and a clad surroundi ng the core, and a series of grooves is preferably formed at the clad to ex pose light from the core.

Preferably, a centrifugal switch can be provided for turning on an d cutting off an electric current from the power source to the linear light -emitting member.

Also, the light-emitting jump rope may further include a control ci rcuit for controlling a flashing mode and brightness of the linear light-e mitting member, and a mode switch for manipulating the control circuit In addition, the light-emitting jump rope may further include a le ngth-adjusting unit for adjusting the length of the rope.

In this case, it is preferable that the power source is installed to o ne handle and the length-adjusting means is installed to the other hand le.

Also preferably, the rope may include a portion in which the linea r light-emitting member is installed and a portion in which the linear lig ht-emitting member is not installed, and both portions can be detachabl y connected.

In addition, the light-emitting jump rope may further include a te nsion-reinforcing member mounted in the rope to prevent tension from being directly applied from the rope to the linear light-emitting member when the rope moves.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other features, aspects, and advantages of preferred e mbodiments of the present invention will be more fully described in the following detailed description, taken accompanying drawings. In the dr awings:

FIG. 1 shows overall configurations of a light-emitting jump rope according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a section view of the light-emitting jump rope using an el ectro-luminescent wire (EL wire) as an example, taken along the line I-I ; FIG. 3 is a section view of the light-emitting jump rope using a lat eral light-emitting optic fiber as another example; FIGs. 4a to 4c show various modifications depending on installati on positions of a power source and an inverter unit in the light-emitting jump rope of the present invention; FIGs. 5a and 5b show other modifications of the light-emitting ju mp rope according to the present invention ; FIGs. 6a to 6c show various modifications of the inverter unit inst alled to the light-emitting jump rope of the present invention; FIG. 7 is a front view showing a length-adjusting unit employed in the light-emitting jump rope of the present invention; and FIG. 8 shows another modification of the light-emitting jump rope according to the present invention.

BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will b e described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows overall configurations of a light-emitting jump rope using an electro-luminescent wire (EL wire) according to the present inv

ention. Referring to FIG. 1, the light-emitting jump rope of the present invention generally includes a pair of handles 12 grasped by a user, and a rope 30 connected to both handles 12. In the rope 30, inserted is a 1 inear light-emitting member for generating light through the rope.

Here, the linear light-emitting member means a linear member, w hich is inserted into the rope to generate light, but not disconnected. In the specification, the EL wire and a lateral light-emitting optic fiber are selected as preferable examples.

FIG. 2 is a section view showing the rope 30, taken along I-I line o f FIG. 1. In FIG. 2, the EL wire is used in the rope 30, as a linear light- emitting member.

Referring to FIG. 2, a certain type of EL wire is inserted into the ro pe 30. The EL wire includes, in brief, a core electrode 2, a dielectric lay er 3 around the core electrode 2, a semiconductor or EL layer 4, a trans parent electrode 5 having thin lines therein and a barrier layer 6, and a transparent PVC layer 7 in the most outer wall. When AC current is ap plied to anode and cathode of the thin lines in the transparent electrode 5 and the core electrode 2, the EL layer 4 positioned between both ano de and cathode generates light to be scattered around the wire. The ba rrier layer 6 plays a role of blocking ultraviolet rays and preventing pene tration of moisture.

Such an EL wire emits light all directions around all length of wir e without light disconnection. Furthermore, because of not generating

heat, the EL wire has advantages that it is electrically stable and not th e cause of fire. In addition, because the EL wire is durable, flexible and not heavy, it does not hurt any peculiar characteristic of the rope when being inserted into the rope. Moreover, the EL wire is sufficiently oper able with a portable power source such as a dry cell owing to small cons umption of electric power. Therefore, the EL wire is a very suitable one for the jump rope, which should be used without regard to a place.

The EL wire is covered with an outer layer 9 of the jump rope 30.

The outer layer 9 is preferably made of transparent materials, which m ay easily pass light from the EL wire. Also, the jump rope may addition ally include a tension-reinforcing member 8 between the EL wire and th e outer layer 9 to prevent tension-driven deformation of the rope 30 fro m being affected on the EL wire. At this time, the tension-reinforcing member 8 is installed between the rope and the EL wire, so playing a rol e of preventing tension, applied to the rope 30 during rope skipping, fro m being directly applied to the EL wire.

The rope can be deformed due to rotation force or temperature ch ange because it is made of PVC materials having excellent flexibility. T herefore, the tension-reinforcing member 8 is preferably made of a mate rial, which is very flexible but not easily deformed. Preferably, a fishing line or other fibers can be used as the tension-reinforcing member 8.

Instead of the EL wire, an optic fiber can be used to generate light through the rope 30, as described above. The jump rope using the opt

ic fiber is well shown in FIG. 3.

The optic fiber generally includes a core 18 for giving path of light, and a clad 19 surrounding the core 18. The optic fiber is well known t o transfer light from one position to other position without loss. In the present invention, however, a series of grooves 19'is formed at the clad 19 so that the light passing through the core 18 may escape through th e groove 19'in a small quantity. At this time, the groove 19'may have any shape, but preferably configured to be narrow at a contact position with the core 18 and gradually broadened outward. Such shape helps the light exposed through the groove 19'of the clad 19 to be scattered to a wider range so as to form nearly linear light.

Instead of forming grooves at the clad of the optic fiber, other type s of optic fiber may be used. When the optic fiber is bent less than an allowable flexion radius, the optic fiber generally experiences minute fle xion spectrum phenomenon that light leaks through the clad. Therefor e, if several optic fibers are twisted to have a flexion radius less than the allowable value, the optic fibers may release light at their sides. Or else , the lateral light emitting of the optic fiber can be obtained by physicall y or chemically eliminating the clad of the optic fiber. In this case, the clad may also be erased with laser beam or by rubbing and stripping off the clad with a grinder or other cutting devices.

In the present invention, all types of optic fibers, which may emit 1 ight at their sides, are commonly called as a lateral light-emitting optic f

iber.

Now, units used to operate the linear light-emitting optic fiber ins talled in the rope 30 are described, particularly for the EL wire as an ex ample.

In order to operate the EL wire inserted in the rope 30 for light em itting of the rope 30, required are a power source 16 and an inverter uni t 20. The power source 16 and the inverter unit 20 mounted to the ligh t-emitting jump rope of the present invention are well shown in FIGs. 4a to 4c.

FIGs. 4a to 4c show various examples according to installation ty pes of the power source 16 and the inverter unit 20 of the light-emitting jump rope according to the present invention. The power source 16 a nd the inverter unit 20 may be installed in the handle 12, or else they m ay be installed to the rope 30 so as to move together with the rope 30.

Referring to FIG. 4a first, the power source 16 is mounted in the handle 12 and the inverter unit 20 is installed to the rope 30.

In detail, the power source 16 is inserted into the handle 12, whic h has an openable lid 14 for easy installation and exchange of the powe r source 16. Also, the handle lid 14 has a conductive spring 15, which plays a role of the cathode contact of the power source 16. In addition, the handle 12 has a receiving portion 13 with a shape corresponding to the power source 16 so'as to guide insertion of the power source 16.

The inverter unit 20 acts for adapting voltage to be suitable for th

e EL wire and converting DC current, to AC current. Because the EL wi re generally has a condenser structure, it emits light only with the AC c urrent and requires a suitable voltage level for light emitting. So, the i nverter unit 20 is indispensable for use of the EL wire.

In FIG. 4a, the inverter unit 20 is shown to be mounted to the rop e 30. The rope 30 contains the EL wire therein and the inverter unit 20 supplies suitably-converted power to the core electrode 2 and the trans parent electrode 5 of the EL wire. Also, the inverter unit 20 is electrical ly connected to the power source 16 through connection units 31,32.

At this time, a line, which provides electric connection through the conn ection units 31,32, is indicated with the reference number 34.

The connection units 31,32 are for connection between the handl e 12 and the rope 30. The connection units 31,32 have structures for facilitating natural movement of the rope 30 during rope skipping. In t his embodiment, as an example, a protrusion 31 is formed at the handl e 12 and a groove 32 surrounding the protrusion 31 is formed at the ro pe 30. The protrusion 31 and the groove 32 are connected by a sliding pin 33 to ensure pivot movement thereof. In such a configuration, the rope 30 may freely rotate about the pin 33, which facilitates the rope 30 to move smooth during rotation without interfering with the handle. S tructure and shape of the connection units are, however, not limited to such an example, but there may be various modifications, of course.

FIG. 4b shows that both the power source 16 and the inverter uni

t 20 are installed in the handle 12. This example is generally similar to that of FIG. 4a, except the facts that the power source 16 is electrically directly connected to the inverter unit 20 and the inverter unit 20 is ele ctrically connected to the EL wire through a line 34'passing through th e connection units 31,32.

In another example shown in FIG. 4c, the power source 16 and th e inverter unit 20 are all mounted to the rope 30. In this example, the handle does not contain any electric unit, but all units for light emitting are mounted to the rope 30. Therefore, in the example of FIG. 4c, the power source 16, the inverter unit 20 and the EL wire are all electrically directly connected. In addition, the power source 16 is preferably sele cted as a small and not heavy one like a mercury cell or N-type cell beca use it is mounted in the rope 30.

When any or all of the power source 16 and the inverter unit 20 is mounted to the rope, they are preferably mounted in a case with a pre determined shape for protection against outside impacts. Also, in the c onsideration that the jump rope of the present invention is designed to i ncrease pleasure of users, the case containing units preferably has a sh ape like a character, which gives good feeling to the users.

When a part or parts such as the power source 16 and the inverte r unit 20 is mounted to the rope 30, they may be mounted at a midway of the rope 30 to be spaced apart from the handle 12. Or else, the part s may be mounted to an end of the rope 30 so to be directly connected t

o the handle 12. FIGs. 5a and 5b show examples that each part is inte grally mounted to the connection unit when any or all of the power sour ce 16 and the inverter unit 20 is mounted at an end of the rope 30.

Referring to FIG. 5, the case 36 containing parts such as the powe r source and the inverter unit is rotatably connected to the handle 12 wi th use of a connection member 35. The connection member 35 may ha ve any shape that ensures rotation of the case 66. In addition, in FIG.

5a, there is exemplarily shown that the power source 16 is mounted in t he handle 12 and the inverter unit 20 is received in the case 36.

In addition, the rope 30 is connected to a side of the case 36, and the rope 30 is extended perpendicular to the handle 12 in this example.

When turning the jump rope, the rope 30 rotates at a substantially right angle to the handle 12. Therefore, the above configuration helps smoo th rotation of the rope during rope skipping.

Also, the inverter 20 in the case 36 is electrically connected to the EL wire inserted in the rope 30.

Except the example of FIG. 5a, there may be other modifications.

For example, the power source 16 and the inverter unit 20 are all cont ained in the case 36.

Furthermore, it is also preferable that the case 36 is rotatably co mbined to the handle 12 at its center of gravity so as to reduce the rotat ion radius of parts contained in the case 36. This modification is well s hown in FIG. 5b.

FIGs. 6a to 6c show various modifications of the inverter unit 20 i nstalled to the light-emitting jump rope of the present invention.

The EL wire generally emits light with the AC current and require s 80 to 120V in a single wire type and 150 to 220V in a double wire type . Therefore, the inverter unit 20 includes a DC/AC converter 22 for co nverting DC current to AC current and a booster 24 for boosting voltage of the power source to a suitable level. Arrangement of the DC/AC co nverter 22 and the booster 24 can be changed as required.

The inverter unit 20 may include a control circuit 26 for diverse li ghting modes of the EL wire. The control circuit 26 plays a role of cont rolling the flashing manner and brightness of the EL wire, That is, the control circuit 26 controls various lighting modes such as continuous li ghting, flashing, sequential flashing, brightness level, etc. The control circuit 26 may also be connected to a mode switch 28 so that the user may manipulate the control circuit 26 with the mode switch 28. At thi s time, the control circuit 26 may include a flashing circuit for the flashi ng control and a variable resistor for adjusting the brightness. All part s for such functions are preferably accumulated in a board.

Because the lighting mode is controllable, the user may select a d esired mode during rope skipping, which makes the user enjoy the rope skipping for a long time without feeling repugnance. The lighting mode can be also automatically adjusted by the control circuit in considerati on of the number of rope skipping, the number of rotation of the rope, e

tc.

The light-emitting jump rope may additionally include a power swi tch 17. The power switch 17 plays an act of turning on and cutting off an electric current from the power source 16 to the EL wire. The power switch 17 may be positioned at any place, which gives convenience to t he user.

Also, as a power switch, a centrifugal switch may be used. For e xample, in the case that the power source 16 and/or the inverter unit 2 0 is installed to the rope to rotate together with the rope 20, a power swi tch operated by a centrifugal force is preferably mounted to such units so that the centrifugal switch may allow provision of the electric current to the EL wire only when the rope and other units are moving because of, for example, rope skipping. Of course, there may be many other mo difications.

As described above, there are indispensably required the power so urce and the inverter unit for operating the EL wire. However, the inve rter unit can be omitted when employing the lateral light-emitting optic fiber instead of the EL wire. And, the lateral light-emitting optic fiber n eeds a light source such as a light element or a luminous element for su pplying light to the optic fiber. Any kind of light element may be select ed if it might emanate light with the electric current from the power sou rce. Overall configuration and operational principle of the jump rope e mploying the lateral light-emitting optic fiber are substantially similar to

that of the EL wire, except that it needs the light source instead of the i nverter unit.

The light-emitting jump rope of the present invention may also inc lude a length-adjusting unit for adjusting the length of the rope 20. An y kind of commonly-used length-adjusting unit can be used, and one ex ample of the length-adjusting unit is shown in FIG. 7.

Referring to FIG. 7, the length-adjusting unit of the rope 30 inclu des, as an example, a reel 38 rotatably installed to the handle 12', and o ne end of the rope 30 is wound around the reel 38. Therefore, the user may adjust the length of the rope 30 by winding the rope 30 around th e reel 38 and then fixes the rope 30 to the reel 38 at a desired length.

The length-adjusting unit may be installed to both handles, but p referably installed to one handle. Referring to FIG. 8, among a pair of t he handles 12, 12', units for operating the EL wire or the optic fiber suc h as the power source 16 or the inverter unit 20 are installed to one han dle 12, while the length-adjusting unit such as the reel 38 is mounted t o the other handle 12'. In such a configuration, many units and parts may be divided into two groups for each handle so as to prevent weight of them from being overloaded to one handle.

Referring to FIG. 8 again, the EL wire may be inserted into a part of the rope 30, not all length thereof. That is, the rope of FIG. 8 is divid ed into a portion 42 containing the EL wire and a portion 40 not contain ing the EL wire, and a connection unit 44 is also included for connectin

g each portion 40,42. At this time, the portion 40 in which the EL wire is not installed contains an electric line to electrically connect the EL w ire and the inverter unit 20.

In the figure, the portion containing the EL wire is shown to be a central portion of the rope. However, it is not limited to that case, but t he portion containing the EL wire can be positioned near the handles. O r else, it is also possible to install the portion containing the EL wire an d the portion not containing, the EL wire in turn. Of course, other chan ges may be possible.

Preferably, the portion 42 containing the EL wire and the portion 40 not containing the EL wire may be detachably combined. Such a co nfiguration is more practical because the rope may be partially changed or repaired when the EL wire is damaged or worn out.

Though not shown in the figures, a buffer may be added to the ro pe in order to absorb an impact applied to the rope during rope skippin g. The buffer may have a coil spring shape, which may freely move alo ng the rope. Or else, the leather may be put over a portion of the rope, which often contacts with the ground. Of course, other changes are als o possible and recommended.

As described above, the light-emitting jump rope may make the ro pe bright with use of the EL wire, which gives visual amusement to the user and other persons around the user.

The light-emitting jump rope according to the present invention h

as been described in detail. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred e mbodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the in vention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detaile d description.