Induction rechargeable electronic candle system

Abstract

A large plurality of artificial, battery-operated, electronic candles are arranged to be simultaneously recharged upon placement on a series of interconnected charging trays that include a transformer primary winding at defined locations thereon. The primary windings are driven by an AC signal whose duty cycle is controlled by a pulse width modulator IC to induce a voltage across secondary windings contained within the candle housing. This induced signal is rectified to produce the battery charging current and the delivery of the charging current to the rechargeable batteries is controlled by a microprocessor IC.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 - 16 . (canceled) 
     
     
         17 . An electronic candle charging tray comprising:
 a housing defining a plurality of candle charging sockets, each dimensioned to electrically couple with an artificial, electronic candle; and   a plug and a socket, each integral with the housing and electrically coupled with one another, at least one of the plug and socket also being electrically coupled with a charging circuit, the charging circuit at least partially housed within the housing and electrically coupleable with one or more artificial, electronic candles via the plurality of candle charging sockets in order to recharge the one or more artificial, electronic candles;   wherein at least one of the plug and socket is shaped and dimensioned to mechanically and electrically mate with a socket or plug, respectively, of a compatible electronic candle charging tray.   
     
     
         18 . The electronic candle charging tray of  claim 17 , wherein power supplied to the charging circuit via the plug or socket is also routed to the other of the plug or socket through the electrical coupling between the plug and socket. 
     
     
         19 . The electronic candle charging tray of  claim 17 , wherein the plug is a male adapter and the socket is a female adapter. 
     
     
         20 . The electronic candle charging tray of  claim 17 , wherein each of the plug and socket are provided at a location of the housing such that either the plug or socket mates with a socket or plug, respectively, of a compatible electronic candle charging tray, so as to laterally concatenate the housing with a housing of the compatible electronic candle charging tray. 
     
     
         21 . The electronic candle charging tray of  claim 17 , wherein the charging circuit is inductively coupleable with one or more artificial, electronic candles via the plurality of candle charging sockets in order to recharge the one or more artificial, electronic candles via electromagnetic induction. 
     
     
         22 . An electronic candle charging system comprising:
 a plurality of charging trays, each tray comprising:
 a housing defining a plurality of candle charging sockets, each dimensioned to electrically couple with an artificial, electronic candle; and 
 a plug and a socket, each integral with the housing and electrically coupled with one another, at least one of the plug and socket also being electrically coupled with a charging circuit, the charging circuit at least partially housed within the housing and selectively electrically coupleable with one or more artificial, electronic candles via the plurality of candle charging sockets in order to recharge the one or more artificial, electronic candles; 
   wherein the plug of each charging tray is configured to mate with the socket of another of the charging trays, and the socket of each charging tray is configured to mate with the plug of another of the charging trays.   
     
     
         23 . The electronic candle charging system of  claim 22 , wherein the plurality of charging trays are concatenated via one or more mating plug and socket interconnections. 
     
     
         24 . The electronic candle charging system of  claim 23 , wherein power supplied to one of the plurality of charging trays is routed to other concatenated charging trays via the one or more plug and socket interconnections. 
     
     
         25 . The electronic candle charging system of  claim 24 , further comprising a plurality of artificial, electronic candles, each one configured to mechanically and electrically mate with a candle charging socket of the plurality of interconnected charging trays for simultaneous charging of the artificial, electronic candles. 
     
     
         26 . The electronic candle charging system of  claim 25 , wherein the charging circuit of at least one charging tray is inductively coupleable with one or more artificial, electronic candles via the plurality of candle charging sockets in order to recharge the one or more artificial, electronic candles via electromagnetic induction. 
     
     
         27 . An electronic candle charging system comprising:
 a plurality of charging trays, each tray comprising a housing defining a plurality of candle charging sockets, each candle charging socket dimensioned to electrically couple with an artificial, electronic candle;   wherein the charging trays are configured to electrically and mechanically couple with one another, forming a concatenated chain of charging trays.   
     
     
         28 . The electronic candle charging system of  claim 27 , wherein each charging tray further comprises an electrical plug member and an electrical socket member, the electrical plug member configured to receive the electrical socket member of an adjacent charging tray so as to electrically couple adjacent charging trays. 
     
     
         29 . The electronic candle charging system of  claim 27 , wherein power supplied to one of the plurality of charging trays is routed to other concatenated charging trays via the electrical coupling between the charging trays. 
     
     
         30 . The electronic candle charging system of  claim 29 , further comprising a plurality of artificial, electronic candles, each one configured to mechanically and electrically mate with a candle charging socket of the plurality of concatenated charging trays for simultaneous charging of the artificial, electronic candles. 
     
     
         31 . A method for simultaneously recharging a plurality of artificial votive candles, the method comprising:
 adjacently and electrically interconnecting two or more artificial candle charging trays, each artificial candle charging tray comprising:
 a housing defining a plurality of candle charging sockets, each dimensioned to electrically couple with an artificial votive candle; and 
 a plug and a socket, each integral with the housing and electrically coupled with one another, at least one of the plug and socket also being electrically coupled with a charging circuit, the charging circuit at least partially housed within the housing and electrically coupleable with one or more artificial votive candles via the plurality of candle charging sockets in order to recharge the one or more artificial votive candles; 
 wherein at least one of the plug or socket is shaped and dimensioned to mechanically and electrically mate with a socket or plug, respectively, of another of the charging trays; and 
   positioning a plurality of artificial votive candles on the plurality of interconnected charging trays for simultaneous charging by positioning each artificial votive candle in a candle charging socket of the interconnected charging trays.   
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the plurality of charging trays interconnect laterally. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein power supplied to one of the plurality of charging trays is routed to other interconnected charging trays via corresponding plug and socket interconnections between the charging trays. 
     
     
         34 . An electronic candle system comprising:
 a rechargeable electronic candle comprising:
 a candle housing; 
 a LED light source; 
 a rechargeable DC battery for energizing the LED light source; and 
 a secondary winding provided within the candle housing and electrically connected with the rechargeable DC battery; and 
   a charging tray comprising a primary winding configured to align with the secondary winding of the rechargeable electronic candle when the rechargeable electronic candle is coupled with the charging tray, thereby inductively coupling the primary and secondary windings, so as to provide a charging current to the DC battery when power is supplied to the charging tray.   
     
     
         35 . The electronic candle system of  claim 34 , wherein the rechargeable electronic candle further comprises a transistor designed to cut off a charging current to the DC battery when the battery reaches a predetermined charge. 
     
     
         36 . The electronic candle system of  claim 34 , wherein the rechargeable electronic candle further comprises a microprocessor configured to vary the on/off state of a transistor operably connected with the LED light source so as to cause the LED light source to flicker.