FLASHING BLINKY LIGHTS: August 2011

USES OF FLASHING BLINKY LIGHTS
Most often Flashing Blinky lights are used for amusement at raves, parties and night time events. But they can have other uses as well such as:

* Blinkies imprinted with company logos at conventions.
* Safety lights for children during Halloween, or night time events.
* Fun and safety during camping trips.
* Emergency flashers for disabled automobiles or lost hikers (most blinkies have over a 1 mile visibility range at night).
* The term Flashing Blinky is often used for bicycle lights which flash. In some countries blinkies can be used as a primary light on a bicycle.
* Flashing Blinkies also can be attached to mobiles (cell phones). When the mobile turns on, make a call, receive a call and during calls the blinky will keep flashing.
* "Winky blinkies" can refer to stage and film props which display lighting effects, or "gags," during a dramatic production

CONSTRUCTION OF FLASHING BLINKY LIGHTS

Flashing blinky lights Body

A typical flashing blinky lights is a small metal cylinder that has threads on one end and a very small etched circuit board on the other. The threaded end is open to accept small button cell batteries, and another cylinder that screws on to hold them in place. The circuit board can be round and inside the cylinder, or larger, shaped, and glued to the outside of the cylinder end. Common designs have a rubber gasket inside the front (between the batteries and circuit board). Tightening the base causes the gasket to flatten and allows the batteries to complete the circuit with the back of the circuit board.

Flashing blinky lights Back
The most common designs use a set of strong magnets, one at the back of the Body Light, and another that can be removed. This allows the Body Light to be easily attached to clothes, or stuck on any magnetic metal such as buttons or belt buckles. Clips are often used to make earrings, a loop can make a pendant, or a ring can be welded to the back to make a finger ring. Double sided adhesive pads are sometimes used to stick the blinky directly to the body, most often in the navel.

Flashing blinky lights Circuit board

The circuit board typically has anywhere from 2 to as many as 25 micro-LEDs. Current LED technology allows for every colour of the rainbow, even infra-red (for military/police), and ultra-violet (black light). Blue, white, violet, and ultra-violet LEDs often need 2 or more batteries because of their high voltage requirements. Because it is an etched circuit board the front can be constructed to flash in a variety of ways, especially where there are multiple LEDs in multiple colours. A clear plastic material such as silicone, acrylic or epoxy protects the fragile LEDs on the front (outside) of the board. Shaped boards have literally hundreds of variations combined with imprinting. Common shapes (besides the classic small round) are stars, hearts, flowers, flags, animals, holiday symbols (like Halloween jack-o-lanterns), and sports team logos.