LED inserts

[Ballz2Wallz]

So are you doing a 1 piece design like 1 piece for brake, turn signal, reverse, or like a 3 piece design? I have some 99-03 full clears w/ red reflectors, I just smoked them grayish, not black, and it looks so sick, but I don't know how incandescents will work, my guess is not so well. I assume you are using some bad ass red leds for the brake lights? If it is possible, I dont need you to install the lights in my housings, I dont even need the turn or reverse signals, all i need are the brake light led units w/ plugs and I can do the rest. Is it plug and play like those on that website? Man that would be so sick, let me know and I'm in too, btw this thread is great action.

[GMSMALLBLOCKGUY]

The design has just begun. I aim to fill as much area as possible but there is some trial and testing to do as of yet. So far I have only tested the circuit & power configuration and located a good supply of very bright LEDs.

This could go several ways but I am first planning on working with the 95-99 tails and attempting to make a kit that will "plug&play" however doing so will require some cutting on the backside.

I still have many options to test.
I will however attempt to make them connect to the OEM harness or circuitboard.

I haven't even had a set of NBS tails in my hands yet but they are on the way.

To make the setup "plug and play" for the OBS I think it will end up being sepperate pannels that plug into the circuit board which will serve several functions like power distrobution, vibration isolation, and securing point.

[46and2aheadofme]

sweet man, thanks for keeping us updated! i'll hold off on all my questions for now and just let do what ya do

[Guido]

Originally posted by GMSMALLBLOCKGUY
That could be the cuircuit board, have you checked it out? They usually need dielectric grease in the bulb socket to prevent the socket from burning up.

yeah it is the circuit board, thats what I meant.

It seems that three boards of leds to plug into the circuit board will be the easiest, though I wouldnt mind one big board that plugs directly into the harness. How bright are these things? I would hate to blind people behind me lol
Also, are you just making one design or will you be able to change the lighting pattern for each set you sell? I hate to add on to the list of people telling you how to make it but the more I see how the caddilac lights have a strip all the way on the outter part of the light that stays on for a driving light, and the entire thing lights up for brake and blinker, the more I want it.

[46and2aheadofme]

Originally posted by Guido
the more I see how the caddilac lights have a strip all the way on the outter part of the light that stays on for a driving light, and the entire thing lights up for brake and blinker, the more I want it.

(alright i know i promised no more bothering gmsmallblockguy but just had to echo guido! i'll be quiet now and wait patiently... )












ok just one last thing I'M PSYCHED about this... but yall already knew that...

[BLWright]

Originally posted by Chuggernaut
Glad to see this topic came up

and i'm glad i could help out with a link for mr. lambert. please keep us informed of the progress!

[GMSMALLBLOCKGUY]

Originally posted by Guido

It seems that three boards of leds to plug into the circuit board will be the easiest, though I wouldnt mind one big board that plugs directly into the harness. How bright are these things? I would hate to blind people behind me lol
Also, are you just making one design or will you be able to change the lighting pattern for each set you sell? I hate to add on to the list of people telling you how to make it but the more I see how the caddilac lights have a strip all the way on the outter part of the light that stays on for a driving light, and the entire thing lights up for brake and blinker, the more I want it.

Ok I am very close to having a prototype ready for pictures etc...

As far as how bright they will be goes I am actively looking into motor vehicle statutes, SAE regulations and certification processes. I do know however that some states have lighting statutes that make anything but oem illegal so they will have to be sold with a "May not be legal in some states" disclaimer.

Tomorrow I will begin testing brightness and comparing it to OEM with a simple CDS cell and meter for brightness.

I was doing a few tests with an OBS OEM lens yesterday and the full flat pannel idea along with the 3 pannels and you cut off the back a bit might be a wash. The bumps in the outer cover do a decent job of getting the light to show from all angles. That is a GOOD thing as many of the super bright LEDs have a rather narrow 10 degree beam. I could modify the LED beam easily but it is a meticulous process and not worth the effort because it would be nearly impossible to do consistantly. The diffusion effect however makes it nearly impossible to tell the difference between LEDs and regular incandescent bulbs, If the LEDs are more than 1/2" away from it. Mounting them close to or in direct contact with the outer lens is the best appearance wise. The full pannel is still a possibility but the 3 pannels Idea is deffinately out.

Tomorrow I am off from work and I hope to get a final LED count, enough resistors, and a basic prototype somewhat 1/2@55ed together. I am simply going to use a crystal clear epoxy resin to glue the parking light portion of the LEDs directly to the back side of the outer cover. Of course I will not use this method for the final product as I plan to build the final to meet or exceed any standard set by the SAE or anyone. I hope to get that completed well enough to get a few pictures of what the final product will look like while in operation.

[Tahoekid]

Thanks for doing this. I am looking forward to seeing how your prototype turns out.

Chris.

[DjLunchbox]

ya da man GMSBG. you get an E for effort

[Cavalry]

i can fall out of the loop sometimes (lots of road trips) someone send me a PM when they go into production. I would be intresed in a set

[texasblueline]

Man, this is getting me all excited. It sounds like it's moving along great, it's very cool of you to put all this work into it and we really appreciate it. Can't wait to see the pics of how the prototypes come out, even though they're just the OBS ones so far (I've got a NBS).

[Guido]

cant the nbs guys just throw in escalade tail lights?

[official_style]

i want these for obs as soon as they are available!!!

[GMSMALLBLOCKGUY]

Sorry for the delay between updates here.

A little progress report with pictures is sure to come within a week.

More supplies are on order.
Enough free time to dedicate more time to this project is also in the very near future.
I am lacking only a few resistors and some plastic (due in today)
In order to complete a prototype.
:)

[idbl_Fanatic]

Any update??

[GMSMALLBLOCKGUY]

Heh yeah but nothing great.

I have had a few dilemas recently but rest assured this project is nowhere near the back burner. I am so close to complete that I am negotiating with suppliers as I post this.

While working on this I spoke with very few people about it. My father in law happens to have played a role in complicated production machine development and as he holds at least 6 patents and knows Autocad. He will be drawing my final products and applying for my patent (for a fee of course)

I have had a few new developments as I was designing and I feel there could be many applications for the method I developed to build the conversion as a DIY kit anyone who can run a dremmel moto tool or simmilar could install in under 30 minutes.
I don't want to put the details up on the web till I have the Patent pending. I will be putting in about 18 man hours to get the prototype done this Friday - Sunday.

I will still post up the pictures of them as prommised as the (secerete) part is invisible once installed.

For those dying for details.
I have all of the materials I need to build one tail light and they have all been tested. The only thing left to collect materials and test will be the method of connecting the wires. I have four different methods on paper in order of preference but lack some supplies to test the top 3. Thanks to several trips to get several different types of resistors and materials to choose the best materials and circuit specifics. I have been able to put a few hundered hours into research and development. I have also sorted through 14 different vendors for the actual LEDs and now have it down to 3.

I ran tests on a breadboard driving them at 110% - 80% power in 1% increments in groups of 3 with clear plastic covering them to simulate the Tail housing's lack of air flow. All the Leds running 110%-105% Lost significant brightness within 1 minute to 3 hrs and then failed to have the rated output and 100% specified power level. I sliced the tops off the failures with a jewlers saw to examine the failures. They all actually got hot enough internally to blacken the reflector embedded under the actual pinpoint light source element.

Those running 99%-104% lost some brightness in a range from 16 hrs to 7 days (the 104% ones lost birghtness durring a gap in measurements I have been checking every 10 hrs at least otherwise) They had no signs of visible damage internally and I suspect the output loss was due to an actual physical change in properties of the light source from the bombardement of electrons in exsess, rather than a heat related failure as none reached over 114F and the materials are manufactured at over 190F.

Now of course the rated current for an LED is under Ideal conditions and many brighter LEDs require a heatsink and or constant airflow to operate for more time than a quick blink.
Using that type would put the cost to high for normal production but may still be considered for custom orders.

A sample of the LEDs I am using have been running constantly at 98% power in a tight group of 30 with no fresh air for 2 weeks and 4 days that's 432 hours continious as of 5pm eastern time today. They have had 0 loss of brightness at this power level.

To sum up. I am working on it a lot and because of the cheezy LED replacements out there giving them a bad name, I am making sure that My product will be better, more reliable, durrable, brighter, and not look anything like what is out there now!
I am also making sure I will be able to have flexible and reliable suppliers of HIGH QUALITY materials.

Now I could have had a sample mock up good enough for a picture a coupple weeks ago but it would not have been an accurate representation of what I have designed. Also I had a few days lost due to urgent interruptions.

Now I have to end this update as I still have about 10 emails to prospective suppliers to write or respond to.

Rest assured that I am working long hrs even bringing parts to work to test between calls and setting up a shop area at home dedicated to this project. All just to make sure that what I make will not only be something I would buy, but something I would add to my wish list. My priorities on this are in order and I will produce a killer product as fast as any one person with a full time job could be expected to.

[DjLunchbox]

GD i'm proud to know you, even though i don't

good job man, i was gonna tell you to get a patent on them earler today. DON"T post anything that anyone could get ahold of until you get one. all your hard work and R&D would be for nothing.


keep up the good work

[46and2aheadofme]

Originally posted by DjLunchbox
GD i'm proud to know you, even though i don't

good job man, i was gonna tell you to get a patent on them earler today. DON"T post anything that anyone could get ahold of until you get one. all your hard work and R&D would be for nothing.


keep up the good work

I'm still with ya here, bro

Patent law is my focus right now in law school, so hope you don't mind if i add a few details. You really need a patent attorney to do the research necessary for a patent and to file it. Otherwise it is very unlikely that the patent will succeed.

A few more things:
Your litigation rights are OK once you've produced a working model. Also, keep a dated journal (and digi pics if possible) while working on the product. This is because if, say, you and person X are in court arguing who was first, what matters most is the "point of conception". That is, the point at which you either had a working model or drawings/designs allowing anyone reasonably skilled in the pertinent art to make the product. After this point, your rights are established and you can start selling. This point doesn't have to be the same as your finished product, but it should contain whatever new and novel changes your product contains (what makes it different from past similar products). There's also a very good chance that by making the product you may be infringing on an existing patent, in which case you'll have to work out a licensing fee with that patentee. Additionally, say person Y made a similar product but didn't file for a patent. He may get no patent, but he does start the clock running for you - you only have 1 year after Y's start of sales to file your application - it's called the "on sale" bar. There's similar 1 year bars for other issues, such as products which are in "public use" (Y's friend puts them on his vehicle, not for experimental purposes but because he just wants a set). All these issues are only the tip of the proverbial iceberg - the point being that if you're serious about getting a patent (and I think you have an excellent product for one), you really need to retain a patent attorney and do it quickly. Any questions feel free to hit me up bro, if I can't answer them I'll either look up the answer or ask my Patent Law professor.

Best Regards,
46

[GMSMALLBLOCKGUY]

Thanx for your input 46and2aheadofme. That is about where I am right now.
I can finish, test, and photograph my design faster than I can measure and draw it. That is where my father in laws skills come in to play. He's just recently got 2 patents and is quite knowledgeable about the whole process. He even has a small library dedicated to it. Once he has the application and drawings finalized and dated I can start showing the product to the world and taking orders with "pat. Pend." all over it :).
For me that is as good as it'll get for now as I mean to produce quickly and if demand warrants mass produce by years end.
Still there are other entities to deal with before I can mass produce such as SAE.

PS: The only reason I didn't become a lawyer was the cost of law school. I have had my several days in court, dealing with lawyers out of court, and done very well. I will proceed for now with out the cost of a patent lawyer. If the patent goes through as such then I have good corporate lawyers as personal friends.

If the patent does not go through I will still be prepared to produce to meet demand faster than anyone else I know of.

[46and2aheadofme]

great bro, sounds like you got it all under control... i just saw an opportunity to point some things out to other people that might go through the same process... i hate to see people get screwed because they either didn't apply for a patent or overlooked some small detail. I haven't done a complete legal search, but the way I see it, you're looking at a real nice patent here.