Multi colours device illumination
View Patent ↗A portable device having within it a multicolour illumination arrangement comprising: a surface; a plurality of light sources, at least one of the plurality of light sources being capable of generating two or more emission colors; and drive means for causing the emission color of the at least one light source to vary; whereby the illumination arrangement can produce a varying illumination through at least part of the surface.
1. A portable device comprising:
a casing; and
a multicolour illumination arrangement comprising
a plurality of light sources, at least one of the plurality of light sources being capable of generating two or more emission colours;
drive means for causing the emission colour of the at least one light source to vary; and
a diffuser arranged for blending light generated by the plurality of light sources,
wherein the illumination arrangement can produce a varying illumination through at least part of the casing in response to operation of a user input mechanism.
2. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the user input mechanism is a rotatable control member, and wherein rotation of the control member by a user constitutes operation of the user input mechanism.
3. A device as claimed in claim 2 wherein the illumination produced by the multicolour illumination arrangement varies in dependence upon a speed of rotation of the control member.
4. A device as claimed in claim 2 wherein the illumination produced by the multicolour illumination arrangement is dependent upon an orientation of the control member.
5. A device as claimed in claim 2 wherein the multicolour illumination arrangement is located around the control member.
6. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the user input mechanism is a keypad.
7. A device as claimed in claim 6 wherein the multicolour illumination arrangement is located beneath the keypad.
8. A device as claimed in claim 1 arranged to receive communications, and further arranged to vary the illumination produced by the multicolour illumination arrangement on receipt by the device of a communication.
9. A device as claimed in claim 8 wherein the communications receivable by the device include at least one of: telephone calls; SMS messages; video messages; photo messages; audio messages; and emails.
10. A device as claimed in claim 8 wherein the illumination produced by the multicolour illumination arrangement is dependent upon a source of a received communication.
11. A device as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a calendar application for identifying a current date or time, and wherein the device is arranged such that the illumination produced by the multicolour illumination arrangement varies in dependence upon the current date or time.
12. A device as claimed in claim 1 further comprising one or more sensors for sensing ambient conditions, and wherein the device is arranged such that the illumination produced by the multicolour illumination arrangement varies in dependence upon sensed ambient conditions.
13. A device as claimed in claim 12 wherein the ambient conditions include one or more of temperature and light intensity.
14. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the illumination produced by the multicolour illumination arrangement is dependent upon a current operational mode of the device.
15. A device as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a memory for storing one or more predefined illumination patterns, wherein a user can select a predefined pattern to be activated by the device.
16. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the diffuser comprises translucent plastic.
17. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the device is a radio telephone.
18. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said varying illumination is a graduated multicolour illumination.
19. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the at least one of the plurality of light sources is a multicolour light emitting diode.
20. An illumination arrangement comprising:
a plurality of light sources, at least one of the plurality of light sources being capable of generating two or more emission colours;
a sensor responsive to one or more external stimuli for generating a signal;
drive means for causing an emission colour of the at least one light source to vary in response to the signal;
a user input mechanism capable of varying illumination produced by the illumination arrangement; and
a diffuser arranged for blending light generated by the plurality of light sources.
21. An illumination arrangement as claimed in claim 20 wherein one of the external stimuli is ambient temperature.
22. An illumination arrangement as claimed in claim 20 wherein one of the external stimuli is ambient light.
23. An illumination arrangement as claimed in claim 20 wherein one of the external stimuli is electromagnetic waves.
24. An illumination arrangement as claimed in claim 23 wherein the said electromagnetic waves are electromagnetic waves that have interacted with a user input key.
25. A method for producing a varying illumination through at least part of a surface of a portable device, the device comprising a plurality of light sources, at least one of the plurality of light sources being capable of generating two or more emission colours, the method comprising driving the at least one light source such that its emission colour varies.
26. A method as claimed in claim 25 wherein the driving step is responsive to operation of a user input mechanism of the device.
27. A method as claimed in claim 26 wherein the user input mechanism is a rotatable control member.
28. A method as claimed in claim 27 wherein the driving is responsive to a speed of rotation of the control member.
29. A method as claimed in claim 27 wherein the driving is responsive to an orientation of the control member.
30. A method as claimed in claim 25 further comprising receiving at the device a communication, and the driving is responsive to the receiving step.
31. A method as claimed in claim 30 wherein the communication is at least one of: a telephone call; an SMS message; a video message; a photo message; and an audio message; an email.
32. A method as claimed in claim 30 wherein the driving is responsive to a source of the received communication.
33. A method as claimed in claim 25 wherein the device further comprises a calendar application for identifying a current date or time, and wherein the driving is responsive to the current date or time.
34. A method as claimed in claim 25 wherein the device further comprises one or more sensors and the method further comprises sensing ambient conditions, and wherein the driving is responsive to the sensed ambient conditions.
35. A method as claimed in claim 34 wherein the ambient conditions include one or more of temperature and light intensity.
36. A method as claimed in claim 25 wherein the driving is responsive to a current operational mode of the device.
37. A method as claimed in claim 25 wherein the device further comprises a memory for storing one or more predefined illumination patterns and the method further comprises receiving from a user an input indicating one of the predefined illumination patterns, and wherein the driving is responsive to the user input for activating the indicated predefined pattern.
38. A method as claimed in claim 25 wherein the varying illumination is a graduated multicolour illumination.