SprinkLites, sprinkle lights?

SprinkLites, sprinkle lights?

Published September 1, 2008

Well it was not a brilliant Idea, no inspirational light bulbs or flashes going off. Sprinklites™ evolved by solving a series of problems with innovative solutions. Starting with a very simple landscape concept, lining a walkway with a series of potted plants, it did not take long to realize the existing sprinkler system did not place the water into the pots and the spray was being blocked. The solution, install a drip irrigation system with the tubes and nozzles going into each pot. The problem with the drip system, the nozzles are hard to see and easily damaged by the mailman taking a shortcut or the entire system ripped out in a matter of seconds by the gardener with his string trimmer. The solution, make the nozzle a bright fluorescent color or stick ugly flags next to the heads, neither being compatible with the front entry landscaping objectives. The little plastic stakes for holding the lines in place were practically useless. The support stakes stick straight up with the water spraying out away from the stake, the semi rigid tube needed to be heated and formed to spray down but they were too short for the pots and the area between the pots was drying out.

When a National Hardware chain closed I bought several of the brass lawn ornaments with 3’ supports. I wrapped the ¼” tubing around the stakes and mounted the sprayers to the ornaments. Now, above the potted plants water sprayed into the pots and the areas between, highly visible and attractive the damage stopped and the rigid supports protected the lines. Best of all, neighbors asked where they could get the sprinklers.

What about the lights? If I placed a series of path lights along the walk, the area would start to appear cluttered. Hanging lights from the ornaments would block the spray, being the front yard, I felt solar lights could walk away. After a lot of searching I stood at the front door looking down the path wondering what it would look like if the lights were inside the ornaments. Thinking fiber optics was a good solution I was very surprised by the energy requirements and limitations for the length of the runs, someone suggested LED’s.

Calling on some latent artistic talent, I sculpted some Butterflies, Dragonflies, and Hummingbirds, made some rubber molds and cast the sculptures in clear polyester resin. After much trial and error creating a hole through the sculpture for the water I finally had something that worked. When I mounted the LED and applied the power I was blown away. The effect was amazing, here was this glowing sculpture with incredibly intense color, the fabulous SprinkLites™ were born.

Very quickly other applications popped into my head, these beautiful lighted functional lighted ornaments could be used in Restaurants, Clubs and Hotels as decoration and plant care, The stainless steel support can be bent and shaped to conform to esthetics or function placing the water exactly where needed for efficiency and conservation. The lights can be mounted to trees poles umbrellas, posts or poles. Designed to operate using a transformer the current version operates at a very low energy conserving 4.5VDC a small system of 18 lights operate from a 500ma transformer and there is a 12vac adapter that will let SprinkLites™ use existing low voltage systems.

Imagine the outside of a building, a walkway, or an arbor with hundreds of color changing butterflies for illumination. In dry areas these ornaments would beautify the misting systems adding a touch of color the cooling mist and illuminating the area. By using the mounting slots in the base Dragonfly Misters can be placed in trees along a path next to the golf course. We were able to add a color changing feature to the SprinkLites™ but unlike most color changing lights, ours just change color and not intensity, slowly morphing from ruby red through shades of violet to an intense sapphire blue before going into an Aqua or Cyan merging into an emerald green that creates a warm yellow when mixed with red and starting the cycle about 30 seconds later. Much safer than going briefly dark, the slow color cycle is very subtle and soothing almost mesmerizing.

Custom designs can be created incorporating the Patented “TubeOLite™” illumination system. It is what makes SprinkLites™ sculptures so bright. The photons from the LED strike the tube for the water and are distorted like a funhouse mirror, spreading along the length of the tube and radiating outward into the hundreds of facets designed into the bottom of the wings. The hundreds of tiny points of light are magnified by the sculptures smooth contoured upper surfaces, logo’s can be incorporated into the process and themes for specific locations can be created. Hundreds of applications and unique design flexibility permit unlimited uses.

I have created unique lighted floral bouquets with clusters of butterflies mixed in with flowers, perfect for lobby arrangements or unique restaurant table centerpieces. The lights can be battery powered or rechargeable temporary or permanently installed and operating from a small energy efficient transformer. When connected to a recirculation pump, SprinkLites™ can be used as spectacular lighted spitting displays for water features and fountains. Dragonflies look wonderful in a cluster of bamboo or hovering over a water lily spitting a small stream of water. Small table top fountains or an unbelievable 10’ fountain display with clusters of hummingbirds high above dancing butterflies and Dragonflies close to the water surface amongst the lilies and cattails of a beautiful pond. By modifying the existing nozzles I should be able to illuminate the water emitting from the mouth.

We have broken the tradition of traditional illumination and transformed clear sculptured objects into brightly illuminated sculptured creations. The patented TubeOLite™ inside our sculptures helps create a unique lighting quality un-matched using a single LED.

Not Just a new lighting concept but a totally new paradigm in ornamental lighting for Atriums, eye catching Lobby Bouquets, Sprinklers, Outdoor Misters, Spitters, Sprayers, Plant Care, and Beautiful Energy Saving Lights for any environment.