An LED umbrella is a device that functions like any other type of umbrella, and may be collapsible depending on its design, which features light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in its construction. These LEDs create areas of light on the umbrella itself, require only a small power source, and will continue to provide lighting for a relatively long time. One of the most common types of umbrellas that utilize LEDs is one with LEDs running along the canopy of the umbrella itself, often around the outer edge. An LED umbrella can also utilize LEDs on the shaft of the inner tube of the umbrella itself.
LEDs are lights that are typically quite small and function in a way that is different from incandescent lights, though they can produce just as much illumination. An LED consists of a semiconductor that can have a charge introduced to it, which causes electrons to shift from one orbit down to a lower orbit around the nuclei of various particles. As this shift occurs, energy is released, and by controlling how far the electrons drop in orbit, different spectrums and colors of light can be produced. When LEDs are used on an LED umbrella, they are typically included in one of two basic ways, either around the canopy or on the shaft and handle.
An LED umbrella that features LEDs around the canopy of the umbrella itself will typically have numerous individual LEDs running along the outer edge and ribbing of the umbrella canopy. This can be done for a number of reasons, though in general this type of LED umbrella is designed to make a person with such an umbrella more visible at night or in conditions of poor visibility. Though the lights on an LED umbrella can be just about any color, bright white or yellow is often used to help increase visibility.
The other common type of LED umbrella uses LEDs within the shaft and handle of the umbrella itself, rather than on the canopy. This type of umbrella is often created to improve visibility of others, and to make the umbrella itself more aesthetically interesting. Umbrellas with illuminated shafts were designed for and used in the film Blade Runner, so they are often called “Blade Runner style umbrellas.” Since the actual shaft of the umbrella itself is illuminated in this type of LED umbrella, the light used is typically white or blue.