0001
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`Santa's Best and Polygroup
`Exhibit 1005
`IPR2016-01066
`U.S. Pat. No. 6,285,140
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`U.S. Patent
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`Jun. 23,1937.
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`in Christmas decorations and the like. Again, if a single
`bulb bums out, the entire string is often lost. Therefore,
`parallel connections for multiple strings is used resulting
`in many awkward and unsightly pairs of wires. Addi-
`tionally, the miniature light bulb strings are extremely
`difficult to run or wind down the trunk of the tree since
`bending often causes electrical shorts or breaks in the
`wire, they are difficult to assemble on the branches
`since they turn in all directions, usually upside down on
`the limbs.
`Again the length of the strings is limited for a given
`power input without a loss of intensity down the string;
`and connections are made through standard plug and
`socket connections which are large, unsightly, difficult
`to make, and cause the inner end portion of the strings
`to sag down and be readily visible from outside the tree.
`The bases of the incandescent bulbs are adapted to posi-
`tion the bulb leads downward for connection to the
`wire so that the bulbs are positioned in all directions
`depending on the particular twist in the wire at the
`location in which the bulb is placed. Additionally, since
`the wire is usually pulled out to position the bulb away
`from the axis of the wire, the bulb rotates from its own
`weight and sags down rather than up as desired on
`typical Christmas tree applications.
`The present invention provides an improved light-
`emitting diode bulb assembly and various light string
`and wiring configurations and control circuitry there-
`fore for solving substantially all of the problems of the
`prior art and providing many unique advantages there-
`over.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention
`to provide a light bulb assembly or construction which
`has a relatively long life; which does not readily burn
`out, break, short circuit, or come apart from the base;
`which comes in both mono-color and bi-color light
`sources; which generates very little heat to greatly re-
`duce burn injury to person or property; which con-
`sumes very little power for high energy efficiency;
`which has greatly enhanced light-conduction and dis-
`persion characteristics; which can be made significantly
`smaller than any miniature incandescent lamp of the
`prior art for decorative purposes and the like; which
`substantially eliminates any potential fire hazard and the
`like from excessive heat or short circuits; which enables
`light strings to be made considerably longer without
`loss of intensity along the string; which is truly asthetic
`rather than unsightly; which can be driven from AC
`sources, DC power supplies or batteries; which can be
`switched extremely fast due to the solid state nature of
`the light-emitting diodes for operation in the blinking
`mode, switching mode, or any of various types of se-
`quencing modes.
`It is another object of the present invention to pro-
`vide a miniature light bulb assembly utilizing a light-
`emitting diode as a light source and having an envelope
`about the diode for resembling the recognizable appear-
`ance of the miniature incandesct tree light or any
`other desired Christmas light bulb shape.
`It is a further object of the present invention to place
`light-conducting glass or plastic optical spheres or balls,
`or even relatively uniform crystal-like configurations or
`geometric shapes, within the envelope of light bulbs to
`increase the light transmission and dispersion character-
`istics thereof and improve the visibility of the bulb.
`
`LIGHT-EMTITING DIODE ASSEMBLIES AND
`SYSTEMS THEREFORE
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`5
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`1. Field of the Invention
`The present invention relates generally to lighting
`systems and more particularly to light bulb assembli
`incorporating either mono-color or bi-color light-eIttit-
`ting diodes and having improved light-conducting and
`dispersion characteristics and to various wiring ar-
`rangements,
`light-emitting diode light strings, orna-
`ments, decorations and control circuitry therefore.
`2. Description of the Prior Art
`Many types of fighting systems are commercially l5
`available in the prior art and have been since the time of
`Edison. The primary light bulb in use today is the stan-
`dard incandescent light bulb which comes in a variety
`of sizes and shapes and is adapted for many different and
`diverse uses. The primary shortcomings of the standard
`incandescent light bulb include the fact that it consumes
`very significant amounts of electrical power; it has a
`relatively short life due to frequent burnout, breakage,
`and the like; it dissipates a tremendous amount of heat
`which can burn a persons hands or otherwise injure
`person, pets or property. The incandescent light bulbs
`in use today present significant fire hazards in many
`uses, both from heat and from short circuits. Addition-
`ally, these bulbs have very slow switching speeds; they
`come in white only; and they break quite easily causing
`frequent replacement even for those bulbs placed in
`hard-to-reach areas where replacement
`is extremely
`time consuming and results in greatly increased ex-
`pense.
`For the last two decades, since the first miniature
`Christmas tree light came over from Italy, miniature
`Christmas tree bulbs and strings of such bulbs have been
`available commercially, particularly during the Chris-
`tmas season. While these miniature light bulbs represent
`a significant improvement over the standard or larger
`incandescent light bulbs, they are subject to ihe same
`problems although usually to a lesser extent. While less
`power is consumed, less heat generated. and less of a
`fire hazard presented; but the power problem, and the
`heat and fire hazards are still very significant. Further- 45
`more, even the miniature light bulbs or mini-lights have
`reduced switching times and come in white only. To
`obtain colors for decorative purposes and the like tinted
`bulbs are used over the incandescent light source. These
`bulbs break quite easily and are generally poorly con-
`structed so that continued movement of the light strings
`during assembly, disassembly, storing etc. often results
`in the light bulb portion being separated or broken from
`the base, bulb breakage, or broken lead wires and sock-
`ets. They‘re relatively unreliable and since they are
`often wired in series, the loss of a single bulb through
`burnout or breakage results in loss of the entire string or
`string series segment. Such bulbs have been configured
`to light in a blinking or on-off manner or to light sequen-
`tially over a few colors but only relatively short strings
`can be used efliciently and DC power supplies and
`batteries which lend portability and the like cannot be
`readily used without significant loss of intensity down
`the string.
`Since the light strings using miniature incandescent
`Christmas tree bulbs are usually single piece strings or
`string segments wired in series they must be connected
`end to end to reach around a Christmas tree or for use
`
`SD
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`It is still another object of the present invention to
`provide different types, materials, sizes, and configura-
`tions of optical spheres within the various envelopes for
`various improved dispersion characteristics.
`It is yet another object of the present invention to
`provide at least one of a light-conducting epoxy means
`or the like, a light-conducting liquid, and a light-con-
`ducting gas within the envelope and sealed therein for
`further increasing the light-conducting, light-dispersion
`and appearance or aesthetic characteristics of the bulb.
`It is still another object of the present invention to
`provide relatively long or short light strings having any
`reasonable desired number of light-emitting diodes
`therealong without loss of intensity of the light down
`the string.
`It is a further object of the present invention to pro-
`vide single color or multi-color light strings wherein the
`colors may be alternated, blinked, sequenced in any
`desired manner, or the like.
`It is still a further object of the present invention to
`provide a base construction for the light-emitting diode
`bulb assemblies wherein the diode leads are disposed
`approximately perpendicular to the axis of the bulb and
`through or adjacent to the base for stabilizing the bulb
`and permitting it to remain upright on the Christmas
`tree branches for decorative purposes.
`It is another object of the present invention to pro-
`vide a further decreased hazard of fire due to the ex-
`_tremely low voltage used to power the light-emitting
`diode strings since fire due to defective wiring is elimi-
`nated and due to excessive heat generated by the bulbs.
`It is still a further object to provide extremely low
`energy consumption which is normally at least l/10 of
`that of the conventional miniature incandescent Chris-
`tmas tree bulbs making the bulbs virtually impossible to
`turn out so that they hardly ever need replacement and
`greatly increasing the life of the light-emitting diode
`light sets or strings and enabling the useful life to be
`measured in terms of multiple years rather than hours as
`with current light sets.
`It is still another object of the present invention to
`provide an improved Christmas tree light set which
`presents substantially no danger from electricity or heat
`dissipation to infants, toddlers, children or pets playing
`with or otherwise contacting the bulbs or wires.
`It is a further object to provide a light string assembly
`having no readily visible or unsightly wires or plugs
`showing.
`It is still a further object of the present invention to
`provide a unique series-parallel light string arrangement
`involving the use of a master trunk line and a plurality
`oflimb line sets which can be physically and electrically
`connected at predetermined vertical locations along the
`master trunk line to enable the easy connecting and
`disconnecting of relatively horizontal
`limb lines for
`quick and easy assembly, maintenance, replacement,
`and the like while insuring that all lights have a substan-
`tially equal intensity at any position along the strings.
`It is yet a further object of the present invention to
`provide an improved light string which can be operated
`with greatly reduced power while insuring uniform
`light intensity along the string and while minimizing the
`need for replacing string segments due to burnout or the
`like.
`It is a further object of the present invention to pro-
`vide an improved light string wherein the master trunk
`line lays against or around the trunk of the tree and the
`individual lights of the limb lines lie relatively flat on
`
`55
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`the branches with LED‘s erect rather than in a random
`or upside-down direction as in the prior art.
`It is another object of the present invention to pro-
`vide an increased brightness, greater visibility, and en-
`hance light dispersion from the LED bulbs due to the
`use of super bright light-emitting diodes and/or to the
`use of the spherical glass balls or other geometric shapes
`within the bulbs and due to the epoxy, liquid or gas,
`alone or surrounding the balls.
`It is a further object of this invention to provide a
`light string of any desired reasonable length which can
`be used both indoors or outdoors since it is totally wa-
`terproof and presents no shock hazard.
`It is still another object of the present invention to
`provide an improved LED light string which may be
`constantly illuminated due to its low energy consump-
`tion while presenting no danger of fires and the like
`thereby making burglars and the like think that some-
`body is home at all times.
`It is a further object of this invention to provide bi-
`color or other multi-color light-emitting diodes that can
`be used with simple low cost switching circuits so that
`each bulb can produce three separate and distinct char-
`acteristic colors in various switching and sequencing
`arrangements.
`'
`It is yet another object of the present invention to
`provide an improved light string which enables differ-
`ent colors and different strings to be phased or se-
`quenced to simulate different colors or sequces mov-
`ing around the tree along the branches, or the like.
`It is still a further object of this invention to provide
`a unique snap-on or plug-in branch string or light limb
`arrangement wherein the limbs are removeably con-
`nected and unconnected to the main trunk line to allow
`' greater freedom in positioning lights, in putting lights
`up and taking them down, and replacing individual
`branch lines and the like.
`It is another object of this invention to provide light
`strings which can be used with AC, rectified AC,
`pulsed current, simple DC power supplies or batteries
`for power so that relatively small table top trees or
`decorations can be illuminated without electrical plugs,
`adapters, etc. and relatively long lines for large trees or
`outside decorations can also be used with equal ease.
`It is a further object of the present invention to pro-
`vide trunk wraps and snap-on limb lines which make
`setting up and taking down the tree extremely fast,
`simple, and trouble free; and a system wherein lights
`may be left on artificial trees during storage without
`damage, breakage, or blown out bulbs, as desired.
`These and -other objects and advantages of the pres-
`ent invention will be further described with respect to
`the brief summary of the invention presented hereinbe-
`low.
`The present invention provides a miniature light bulb
`apparatus or bulb construction for individual use or
`decorative purposes, for Christmas decorations, for
`light strings, for decorator light strings, or strings of
`Christmas tree lights, and the like. The miniature light
`bulb construction includes a light-emitting diode, either
`mono-color, bi-color, or other multi-color operably
`disposed within a substantially elongated, hollow, light-
`conducting envelope. A plurality of light-conducting
`glass or plastic optical spheres or balls, or even rela-
`tively uniform glass or plastic crystal-like particles or
`geometric shapes, are placed within the envelope for
`transmitting and diffusing the light emitted from the
`
`0014
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`

`
`5
`light-emitting diode for improved visibility from the
`side of the bulb.
`Furthermore, a light transmitting epoxy means or the
`like, light-transmitting liquid, or light-transmitting gas is
`operably disposed within the envelope and about the
`spheres and sealed therein for maintaining the bulb
`configuration and aiding in the light-conduction, trans-
`mission and dispersion within and through the envelope
`with light striking the spheres being refracted at ap-
`proximately 90° to produce a "halo“ or ring of light
`emminating from the side of the sphere which passes
`out of the bulb for improved brightness and visibility.
`In the preferred embodiment of the present invention,
`the individual miniature light bulb constructions are
`such that the envelope and optical spheres may include
`either glass or plastic. The spheres may be substantially
`optically perfect and may include balls of different sizes
`or balls having a uniform diameter. The spheres may
`include relatively large balls having a diameter slightly
`less than the inside diameter of the envelope to enable
`the balls to be stacked one upon the other along the axis
`of the envelope for light-transmission and dispersion
`characteristics. Lastly, glass or plastic fragments having
`a relatively uniform crystal-like structure or geometric
`shape or out—of-spherical beads can also be used al-
`though intensity, brightness. and visibility may suffer.
`Furthermore, the optical spheres may be tinted but
`are preferably clear; and the spheres may be translucent
`but are preferably transparent. The envelope may be
`made in any desired shape including the shape of the
`conventional miniature Christmas tree bulb, any con-
`ventional full-sized Christmas tree light bulb, or that of
`a right cylinder, sphere, other geometric shapes or the
`like and may include a hook on the top portion thereof
`for hanging the bulb on a tree branch and the like. The
`spheres may be densely or loosely packed within the
`envelope or may be centrifuged to the outside surface
`with the center devoid of balls for further improved
`dispersion characteristics; or settled on one surface
`portion, on the opposite surface portion, or on both
`surface portions.
`"
`Alternately, the envelope may be devoid of balls and
`have a scar;-ed, scored, scratched, or etched surface or
`it may include a fresnal-type surface for improved light
`dispersion from the bulb. These envelopes may be filled
`with a similar epoxy, liquid or gas and may also include
`balls, etc., if desired.
`The invention also contemplates a method of manu-
`facturing a miniature light-emitting diode light bulb
`comprising the steps of‘ molding an envelope with at
`least one partially opened end, feeding light-conducting
`optical spheres into the envelope, adding epoxy, liquid,
`or air, if desired, (or alternately, mixing the spheres with
`the epoxy and then filling the envelope with the mix-
`ture) inserting the light-emitting diode into the opening
`and sealing the envelope with the diode leads protrud-
`ing therefrom.
`The present invention also contemplates a bi-color or
`tristate light-emitting diode apparatus which includes
`first and second light—emitting diode portions mounted
`proximate one another and each having a ground sur-
`face operatively disposed against the ground surface of
`the other for establishing a predetermined focal angle
`for giving the optimum appearance of a single light
`source or a first and second LED in a single diode
`package, as commercially, available,
`for producing
`three colors from two LED‘s. The first and second
`
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`light-emitting diode portions or LED's each have its
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`0015
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`4,675,575
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`6
`own different and distinct characteristic color so that
`two colors can be produced by alternately energizing
`first one and then the other of the light—emitting diode
`portions. Furthermore,
`the two light-emitting diode
`portions can be energized rapidly and alternatively to
`produce a combined third different and distinct charac-
`teristic color as a combination or mixture of the visible
`light.
`Similarly, the tri-color light—emitting diode apparatus
`generally includes an envelope which may be filled
`either loosely or tightly with a plurality of optical
`spheres or the like. Both the envelope and the spheres
`may be glass or plastic and the spheres may be hollow
`or solid, uniform size or mixed size, clear or tinted,
`translucent or transparent, optically perfect or not, and
`may be relatively large having a diameter slightly less
`than the inside diameter of‘ the envelope for stacking
`one upon the other. Furthermore, the balls may be
`centrifuged or otherwise disposed along the entire in-
`side surface of the envelope walls with the portion
`along the central axis of the hollow cavity devoid of
`spheres for increased light transmission and dispersion
`properties or settled to one side or opposite sides of the
`envelope.
`Additionally, the envelope may be filled with epoxy,
`liquid or air and sealed; and various color combinations
`may be used. For example, if a red light-emitting diode
`portion and a green light-emitting diode portion are
`used. the color red, the color green, and the resulting
`mixture or combination color yellow may be produced
`by the bulb of the present system. The combinations or
`resulting third colors follow conventional color combi-
`nation properties and will not be described in detail
`herein.
`
`The present invention provides a light string system
`having a first and second electrical conductor and a
`plurality of either mono-color, bi-color or multi-color
`light-emitting diodes electrically connected between
`the first and second conductors. The plurality of light-
`emitting diodes is operatable for extremely long periods
`of time without burning out, require an extremely low
`amount of electrical power for energyvefficient opera-
`tion, produce substantially no heat thereby eliminating
`burn and fire hazards, and enable relatively long strings
`of fights to be used without loss of intensity down the
`string, and provide a means for supplying electrical
`power to the conductors.
`The light string system of the present invention in-
`cludes a unique envelope filled with optical spheres etc,
`and, if desired, light-conducting epoxy, liquid, or gas as
`described hereinabove. Furthermore, relatively long or
`short strings can be provided and using AC, DC, batter-
`ies, rectified AC, or pulses can be used for driving and
`illuminating the light-emitting diodes.
`Various types of control circuits are provided for
`driving the light-emitting diodes or light strings to pro-
`vide sufficient drive, to provide switching and the like
`so that a wide variety of sequencing including blinking,
`alternating between two colors, sequencing between
`two, three or more colors, sequentially stepping along a
`string or around the tree and the like, are possible.
`The control circuitry may simply utilize stepped-
`down AC waveform with the positive portion of the
`waveform driving one set of light-emitting diodes and
`the negative portion of the AC waveform driving the
`oppositely poled or reverse polarity configured light-
`emitting diodes. Furthermore, a control system may be
`provided which includes timing means for providing
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`7
`clock pulses at a desired sequencing rate, means for
`generating switching signals and means responsive to
`the switching signals for sequentially selecting first,
`second and third colors to be produced and for driving
`the circuit output for providing the proper illumination.
`A variable duty cycle control circuit may be added
`between the switching circuit output and the drivers for
`selectively controlling the pulse rate. and the duty cycle
`for providing different pulse durations, as desired, for
`enabling even very long strings to be driven with even
`less power by reduced duty cycles. and for enabling the
`use of higher frequency drive or switching signals.
`The present invention also provides a Christmas tree
`light system, Christmas tree wiring system, or light
`string set comprising a master trunk line electrical con-
`nector adapted to be operatively disposed substantially
`vertically down the trunk of the Christmas tree. The
`master trunk line may include an upper trunk line por-
`tion electrically connected in series with the lower
`trunk line portion. The system further includes a plural-
`ity of modular limb line sets adapted to be operably
`disposed substantially horizontally along the limbs of
`the Christmas tree extending outwardly from the master
`trunk line. The plurality of modular limb lines or limb
`line sets includes individual modular sets of light limbs
`and a plurality of light-emitting diodes, either mono-
`color, bi-color, or multi-color, and either ground and
`constructed or purchased OEM, with or without epoxy
`-and with or without spheres or the like operably dis-
`posed along the length ofthe light limbs and electrically
`connected thereto in a series path at predetermined
`selected intervals therealong.
`A source of electrical power is provided, and means
`for removeably electrically connecting the upper and
`lower trunk portions to the source of electrical power
`for lighting the LED’s is also provided. Means for selec-
`tively removeably connecting and unconnecting indi-
`vidual ones of the sets of light limbs to the upper and
`lower master trunk line portions are provided so that
`the light limbs may he quickly and easily assembled,
`disassembled, replaced, added to and the like; and the
`individual sets of light limbs are in parallel with each
`other.
`The resulting series-parallel master trunk line-light
`limb arrangement provides a unique Christmas tree
`light system wherein individual light limb sctscmay be
`quickly and easily assembled, disassembled and changed
`for replacement or the like; wherein if a single light
`burns out, only a given light limb must be changed, and
`wherein the unique series-parallel combination allows
`significantly less energy to be used for illuminating
`relatively long strings of lights covering any normal
`sized Christmas tree without loss of intensity anywhere
`in the system. Furthermore, the light-emitting diode: of
`the Christmas tree light system of the present invention
`may include the envelope construction, optical spheres
`and light-conducting epoxy, liquid or air as described
`hereinabove. Additionally, various control circuits are
`provided to enable any desired sequencing or switching
`of the light-emitting diodes to produce the efiects previ-
`ously described.
`Still further, relatively short series-parallel arrange-
`ments using the master trunk line/limb line configura-
`tion may be used for miniature or table top Christmas
`trees can be driven by batteries so that no wires are
`needed for making the miniature Christmas tree porta-
`ble and the like.
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`10
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`45
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`8
`Still further, a base is contemplated for attachment to
`the bottom of the envelope and the LED leads extend in
`opposite directions either through or adjacent to the
`base and substantially perpendicular to the axis of the
`envelope for attaching to the light limb conductors in
`such a manner as to provide increased stability so that
`the individual
`light bulbs substantially always stand
`upright on the limbs rather than falling down or turning
`upside down as in the prior art. Lastly, various timing
`circuits, drive circuits. polarity reversing circuits, vari-
`able duty cycle control circuits, transformer circuits.
`and the like are provided for driving either indoor or
`outdoor lights, are provided for driving the light strings
`of different lengths and including various numbers of
`light-emitting diodes, including extremely long sets of
`lights, and are provided for producing any desired num-
`ber of switching signals for sequencing control signals
`to enable blinking, alternating lights, sequencing three
`lights. Any desired sequence can be affected using the
`control systems described herein or various modifica-
`tions thereto.
`Other advantages and meritorious features of the
`present invention may be more fully understood from
`the following description of the drawings of the pre-
`ferred embodiment, tlte appended claims and the draw-
`ings which are described hereinbelow:
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`FIG. 1 is a sectional side view of the light bulb appa-
`ratus of the present invention;
`FIG. 2 is a sectional side view of one embodiment of
`the light bulb apparatus of the present invention;
`FIG. 3 is an alternate embodiment of the light bulb
`apparatus of FIG. 1 of the the present invention;
`FIG. 4 is still another embodiment of the light bulb
`apparatus of FIG. 1 of the present invention;
`FIG. 5 is a sectional side view of a spherical light bulb
`apparatus;
`FIG. 6 is a sectional side view of a light-emitting
`diode;
`FIG. 7 is an alternate embodiment of the light bulb
`apparatus of FIG. 1 of the present invention wherein
`the surface of the envelope is scarred or provided with
`a fresnal lens pattern or the like;
`FIG. 8 is still another embodiment of the light bulb
`apparatus of FIG. 1 of the present inventon;
`FIG. 9 is yet another embodiment of the light bulb
`apparatus of FIG. I of the present invention;
`FIG. 1|] is a directional pattern for standard light-
`emitting diodes;
`FIG. 11 is a directional pattern for light-emitting
`diodes provided with the modifications of the present
`invention;
`FIG. 12 is a diagramatic illustration of reflection,
`refraction, and interference from irregular glass frag-
`ments and the resulting variation of intensity with dis-
`131106:
`FIG. 13 is a similar diagram showing the improved
`variation of intensity with distance utilizing the light
`bulb apparatus of the present invention;
`FIG. 14 is a schematic representation of internal re-
`flection set within an ordinary bulb or tube;
`FIG. 15 illustrates internal transmission, reflection,
`refraction, and dispersion in one embodiment of the
`light bulb apparatus of the present invention;
`FIG. 16 is a sectional side view of a portion of the
`light-emitting diode bulb apparatus including a base;
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`FIG. 17 is an alternate embodiment of the light appa-
`ratus of FIG. 16 including a modified base;
`FIG. 18 is another embodiment of the light bulb appa-
`ratus of FIG. 16 with still another base;
`FIG. 19 is yet another modified base assembly for a
`light-emitting diode bulb assembly;
`FIG. 20 is an electrical schematic diagram of an AC
`power source for driving alternate, polarity reversed,
`light-emitting diodes connected in string fashion;
`FIG. 21 is a sectional side view of a bi-color or two
`LED light bulb assembly;
`FIG. 21A is a blown-up view of the bi-color LED
`portion of the bulb ‘assembly of FIG. 2!;
`FIG. 22 is a sectional side view of another two LED
`bulb assembly;
`FIG. 23 illustrates a conventional, reverse polarity-
`connected bi-color LED;
`FIG. 24 shows an alternate representation of a bi-
`color LED which employs a third electrical connector;
`FIG. 25 is a schematic representation of the series-
`parallel master trunk line/limb line wiring configuration
`for Christmas tree light sets;
`FIG. 26 is a plan view of a connector apparatus useful
`in master trunk line connections or limb line;
`FIG. 27 is an example ofa conventional tie fastener
`used for mechanically securing the master trunk line to
`the tree;
`FIG. 28 is a schematic representation of male and
`female snap fasteners for securing the individual light
`limbs to the master trunk line;
`FIG. 29 is a sectional side view of the female snap
`connector portion of the assembly of FIG. 28;
`FIG. St} is a sectional side view of the male snap
`member of the assembly of FIG. 28;
`FIG. 31 is an alternate embodiment of the connector
`apparatus of FIG. 28;
`FIG. 32 is a miniature series/parallel master trunk
`line/limb line circuit for miniature or table top Chris-
`tmas trees and the like;
`FIG. 33 is an electrical schematic diagram of an AC
`power supply system for driving oppositely-poled or
`reverse polarity LED combinations;
`FIG. 34 is a block diagram representing a typical
`control system for operating the light strings of the
`present invention;
`FIG. 35 is an electrical