US3717759A

US3717759A - Flashlight

Info

Publication number: US3717759A
Application number: US00136131A
Authority: US
Inventors: J Rousseau
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1970-04-27
Filing date: 1971-04-21
Publication date: 1973-02-20
Anticipated expiration: 1990-02-20
Also published as: FR2088850A5

Abstract

Pocket battery-operated flashlight comprises casing and lens mounting unit longitudinally slidable and rotatable in said casing, together with means for latching the unit in an inner lighted position and a second unlit position.

Description

United States Patent 1 [111 I 3,717,759

Rousseau [4 1 Feb. 20, 1973 [54] FLASHLIGHT 2,483,665 /1949 Phillips ..240/l0.68 2,797,309 6/1957 Dulberg ..240/l0.68 [76] Inventor: Jean-Pierre Rousseau, 4 Andersen Jone de Sena", 9] Drave, 2,912,567 11/1959 Dulberg ..240/10.68 France FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [22] Filed: April 21,1971 604,807 7/1948 Great Britain ..240/l0.68 pp No.: 136,131 645,049 10/1950 Great Brltaln ..240/l0.68

, Primary Examiner-Louis R. Prince Foreign Application Priority Data Assistant Examiner-Joseph W. Roskos April 27, 1970 France ..'.........70l5346 l Br'sebo's 52 us. Cl. ..240/l0.66, 200/60, 240/1068 [57] ABSTRACT [51] Int. Cl. ..F2ll5/00,F21l 15/00 Pocket battery-operated flashlight comprises casing [58] Field of Search ..240/ 10.66, and lens mounting unit longitudinally slidable and 10.68,200/60, 167 A, 200/169 PB rotatable in said casing, together with means forlatching the unit in an inner lighted position and a I second unlit position. [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures 1,778,039 10 !930 Roggc 240/1066 5 36\\\&\\\ 1\ A\\\\\\\\T 2 4 I, J/AV/IY/ I Y I! 3 f i f 41 I \K\\ 7\K\ "PATENTEUFEBZOW 3,117,159. SHEET em 2- FLASHLIGHT SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to battery operated flashlights. Flashlights ordinarily comprise a casing, frequently made in several parts, and a transparent lens,- and usually include a number of other components such as the switch, contacts, and electrical conductors. However, simplified flashlights are known which are directly lit by pushing on the lens to force it axially into the casing. The light is then extinguished by lateral pressure which permits the lens to return to its initial position.

The object of the present invention is to provide a flashlight which is also lighted by pushing in the lens, but is extinguished by a second pressure against the same lens, and which is unusually simple in constructron.

The invention consists in providing for the lens to be retained at two different depressed positions in the casing and providing the lens mountwith a flexible lateral flap which terminates in a tongue having preferably a lozenge of diagonal shape, with two sharp edges on the outside, and two blunt edges on the inside. A recess is provided in the inner surface of the casing which has a particular shape defining a set of ramps on three levels for first catching and then releasing the tongue of the flap.

The flashlight also comprises resilient means biassing the bulb in the lens, and the lens itself, outwardly of the casing, while providing electric current for the bulb in the most depressed position of the lens and cutting off the current in the other position.

In order that the object of the invention be better understood, one embodiment thereof will now be described, purely by way of illustration and example,

with reference to the accompanying drawings on which:

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of the flashlight;

FIG. 2 is an axial sectional view through the flashlight;

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective exploded view showing the retaining means;

FIGS. 4, 5, 6 and 7 are partial sectional views on a larger scale showing the retaining means in its various stages of operation.

The flashlight shown in the drawings comprises a casing 1 which is elongated and substantially cylindrical. This casin'g has a closed bottom 2 at one end, and the other end is closed by a lens unit 3 made of a molded transparent material, and comprising lens proper 4 at the front end together with a cylindrical wall 5 constituting the sides. This lens unit is adapted to slide longitudinally and turn in the casing l. A flexible tongue 6 molded integrally with the unit 3 and ending in a finger 7 having the shape shownon FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 projects from this wall. This finger has, when seen from above, the shape of a lozenge or a hexagon with the front two sharp edges 8 converging toward an edge 9 perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 4 and two converging chamfers 10 at its rear end forming an oblique angle with the top of the finger.

This finger 7 cooperates with a recess in the inner wall of the casing, which is preferably made of a molded plastic material. The recess is formed by stepped surfaces on three cylindrical levels, one of these levels being constituted by the inner bore 11 of the casing 1, whereas the deepest level 12 forms the bottom of the recess and the intermediate surface 13 forms a ramp between the two previously mentioned levels. The front end of the recess 12 is defined by an assymetric V-shaped edge having the two

sides

14 and 15 and, near the middle of the recess, the level 11 defines an inwardly directed projection 16 limited at its rear end by another assymetric V-shaped surface formed by the two

sides

17 and 18 embracing the ramp 13, and limited at the front by an irregular line formed by the three

sides

19, 20 and 21. Along its sides the recess is limited by three

straight sides

22, 23 and 24. Finally, the rear part of the recess is limited by a surface 25 of any suitable shape, which may be straight.

The lens unit is constantly biassed with respect to the casing in the direction of the arrow-26 by means of a resilient device which will be hereinafter described, and the casing 1 comprises an internal stop consisting, for example, of the end 27 of an inner ridge 28 which the inner edge 29 of the lens unit 3 strikes at the end of its path of travel.

When the lens unit occupies its outermost position, as shown in FIG. 4, its finger 7 is centered in the bottom of the V-shaped notch fon'ned by the

sides

14 and 15. If it is then moved in the direction opposite to that indicated by the arrow 26 until the edge 29 encounters the part 27 of the ridge, the chamfers l0 permit the finger 7 to pass by the projection 16 while flexing the tongue 6. Then this tongue 6 falls into the position shown in FIG. 5, once the edge 17 has been passed, and comes to rest on the ramp 13 at the intermediate level. This is true even if the lens unit is rotated slightly in one direction 'or the other during this movement. In effect, the edge 9 is substantially in the middle of the ramp 13 which makes it possible for it to pass over the edge 17 but not the other edge 30 of the ramp 13 with a certain lateral tolerance, the edge 23 being for this purpose spaced to the left of FIG. 5 with respect to the edge 22.

When the pressure against the lens unit is relaxed, it comes out again in response to the force exerted by the resilient means and its edge 9 slides along the ramp 17 until it comes to rest caught in the V-shaped notch formed by the

sides

17 and 18. It then stops in its rearmost latched position shown on FIG. 6. In the course of this return the lens unit has thus rotated slightly about its axis.

If pressure is again exerted on the lens unit 3 axial movement thereof again results until it strikes the stop 27 but, due to the preceding rotation, the edge 9 and the corresponding edge 8 at this time escapes the edge 30 and the finger 7 then falls to the level 12 so that, when the manual pressure is released, the front edge 9 of the finger 7 slides along the edge 30, which permits it to escape the projection 16 by following the path shown in broken lineson FIG. 7. At the end of its path of travel this finger slides along the edge 15 and returns to its initial position.

To resiliently return the lens unit 3 to its forward position and conduct the current to the bulb, the arrangement shown on FIG. 2 may be used. This comprises a conductive strip 31 in the form of a yoke placed around the battery 32 and provided at its end with hooks 33, inside of which the first coil of a conical spring 34 is caught. The smaller end of this spring screws onto the base 35 of the bulb 36, leaving the central contact 37 thereof at a certain distance from the central contact 38 of the battery. A spring 39 between the bottom of the battery and the bottom of the yoke 31 urges the. battery 32 against the hooks 33. Another spring 40 in alignment with the spring 39 bears against the bottom of the casing 1 and permits resilient depression of the yoke assembly.

When at rest, all the components are in the position shown in FIG. 2. When the lens unit 3 is depressed the contact 37 comes into contact with the terminal 39 so that the bulb is lighted. Then, during the portion of the path of travel of the unit 3 which brings it into abutment against the end 27 of the ridge 28 the spring 40 compresses, as does possibly the spring 39, so as to subsequently expand when the unit returns to its rearmost latched position shown on FIG. 6. In this position, the spring 40, which is stronger then the spring 34, holds the battery in contact with the bulb which therefore remains lighted. When it is desired to extinguish the bulb its suffices to again press the unit 3 to return it to its initial position as has been seen, which position corresponds to the extinguished position of the bulb.

The resilient inner means which has just been described may naturally be made in several different ways. In particular, when batteries are used which have a zinc casing which projects at the end carrying the terminal 38, the largest turn of the spring 34 may be directly mounted on this projecting edge, thus eliminating the yoke 31 as well as the spring 39. In another embodiment the spring 34 may be eliminated and the yoke 31 replaced by a simple bent strip, the front end of which occupies the position of the hooks 33 caught over the edge of the battery. The contact 37 is then constantly in contact with the terminal 38 and the depression of the unit 3 simultaneously moves both the bulb and the battery by compressing the spring 39, which is longer than in the illustrated embodiment, until the front end of the strip encounters the base of the bulb, after which the spring 40 is in turn compressed as in the previous example.

All these embodiment, as well as others, not indicated have the common characteristic that they are provided with resilient means to absorb the movement of the unit 3 from the front latched position to the rear latched position as well as the additional movement which brings the unit into abutment with the stop 27 and, on the other hand, that they close the electric circuit to the bulb in its rear latched position and interrupt it when the unit is in the front latched position.

.In order to prevent the flashlight from becoming inadvertently lighted in the pocket or in the package in which it is transported, the front edge 41 of the casing is preferably inclined, as shown in particular on FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, which permits it to be manually depressed, but does not permit it to be depressed by striking a surface perpendicular to its axis.

This flashlight is exceedingly inexpensive to manufacture because, apart from the battery and the bulb, it comprises only the two molded parts 1 and 3, one or two springs and a yoke or a strip. Moreover, in certain cases some of these may be eliminated, as has been seen. On the other hand, the lamp is extremely easy to put together because it suffices to introduce battery 32 with its yoke, springs and bulb into the casing and then mount the lens unit 3 and manually depress it until the finger 7 snaps into the recess 12. When the spring 34 is eliminated, the bulb 35 is simply introduced into the lens unit before it is placed in position. In order to take it apart, so as to change the battery 32 or the bulb 36, it suffices to depress the latch unit 3 partially until the finger 7 passes over the projection 16, and then turn the lens unit 3 in the counterclockwise direction so that the finger 7 continues to slide on the level 11 and escapes at the left side of FIGS. 4 and 7, after which, on releasing this unit, the springs expand and force it out of the casing.

It will of course be appreciated that the device which has been described has been given purely by way of example, and' may be modified as to detail without thereby departing from the basic principles of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a battery-operated flashlight comprising an elongated casing having an open end, a lens unit made of a transparent material, and resilient means for biassing said lens unit toward said open end, the improvement according to which said lens unit is adapted to be latched in either of two different latched positions within said casing, in the longitudinally innermost of which a bulb within said unit is lit an in the longitudinally outermost of which said bulb is extinguished,

said flashlight comprising a flexible tongue attached to the lateral wall of the lens unit and terminating in a finger which projects radially outward, the longitudinally outermost end of said finger being defined by two intersecting radial edges and the longitudinally innermost end of said finger being defined by gently sloping edges, said finger being positioned to project radially into a recess in the inner surface of the casing,

said recess having radial edges which define first and second V-shaped assymmetric notches spaced both longitudinally and circumferentially of said casing, the first of said notches being locatedto engage said finger to retain said lens in said innermost latched position and the second to engage said finger to retain said lens unit in said outermost latched position,

the bottom of said recess comprising a radially outermost surface adjacent said second notch and an intermediate surface at a level intermediate that of said outermost surface and the innermost surface of said casing and adjacent said first notch,

said intermediate surface being separated from each of the other surfaces by an edge positioned at an angle to the longitudinal axis of said lens member, and

stop means positioned to terminate longitudinally inward movement of said lens unit from said outermost position with said finger on said intermediate surface, whereby said finger is urged by said resilient means along said intermediate surface and one of said angularly positioned edges into said first notch when longitudinally inward pressure on said lens member is released, thus rotating said lens member, but when said lens member has been moved longitudinally inward from its innermost latched position, said finger is brought into contact with said radially outermost surface and then urged by said resilient means along the other of said angularly positioned edges toward a path leading to said second V-shaped notch.

2. Flashlight as claimed in claim 1 characterized by the fact that the finger is molded in one piece with the lens unit and connected thereto by said flexible tongue.

3. Flashlight as claimed in claim 1 in which the casing at the lens end terminates in a surface which is inclined with respect to the longitudinal axis of the flashlight.

4. Flashlight as claimed in claim 1 in which the resilient means comprises a mounting for a bulb in the form of a yoke embracing the bottom end of the battery and terminating in two hooks at the end of said battery carrying its central terminal, a spring being positioned with one part between the bottom of the yoke and the bottom of the battery and another part between the bottom of the yoke and the closed bottom of the casing, while another spring has one end hooked in the two hooks of the yoke and the other end screwed onto the base of the bulb.

5. Pocket flashlight as claimed in claim 1 for use with batteries having zinc casing which is uninsulated at the end carrying the central terminal, characterized by the fact that the resilient mounting comprises a spring positioned between the flat bottom of the battery and the t bottom of the casing and another spring mounted on the conductive end of the casing of the battery and screwed onto the base of the bulb.

6. Pocket flashlight according to claim 1 in which said resilient means comprises a mounting for a battery and bulb including a bent strip at the bottom which is terminated at the top by a hook, said bulb being simply positioned inside the lens unit with its central contact in contact with the central terminal of the battery and a spring being'positioned with part between the rear part of the strip and the flat bottom of the battery and another part between the same rear part and the closed bottom of the casing, the first part being sufficiently long to permit the hook to encounter the base of the bulb.

Claims

1. In a battery-operated flashlight comprising an elongated casing having an open end, a lens unit made of a transparent material, and resilient means for biassing said lens unit towaRd said open end, the improvement according to which said lens unit is adapted to be latched in either of two different latched positions within said casing, in the longitudinally innermost of which a bulb within said unit is lit an in the longitudinally outermost of which said bulb is extinguished, said flashlight comprising a flexible tongue attached to the lateral wall of the lens unit and terminating in a finger which projects radially outward, the longitudinally outermost end of said finger being defined by two intersecting radial edges and the longitudinally innermost end of said finger being defined by gently sloping edges, said finger being positioned to project radially into a recess in the inner surface of the casing, said recess having radial edges which define first and second V-shaped assymmetric notches spaced both longitudinally and circumferentially of said casing, the first of said notches being located to engage said finger to retain said lens in said innermost latched position and the second to engage said finger to retain said lens unit in said outermost latched position, the bottom of said recess comprising a radially outermost surface adjacent said second notch and an intermediate surface at a level intermediate that of said outermost surface and the innermost surface of said casing and adjacent said first notch, said intermediate surface being separated from each of the other surfaces by an edge positioned at an angle to the longitudinal axis of said lens member, and stop means positioned to terminate longitudinally inward movement of said lens unit from said outermost position with said finger on said intermediate surface, whereby said finger is urged by said resilient means along said intermediate surface and one of said angularly positioned edges into said first notch when longitudinally inward pressure on said lens member is released, thus rotating said lens member, but when said lens member has been moved longitudinally inward from its innermost latched position, said finger is brought into contact with said radially outermost surface and then urged by said resilient means along the other of said angularly positioned edges toward a path leading to said second V-shaped notch.

1. In a battery-operated flashlight comprising an elongated casing having an open end, a lens unit made of a transparent material, and resilient means for biassing said lens unit towaRd said open end, the improvement according to which said lens unit is adapted to be latched in either of two different latched positions within said casing, in the longitudinally innermost of which a bulb within said unit is lit an in the longitudinally outermost of which said bulb is extinguished, said flashlight comprising a flexible tongue attached to the lateral wall of the lens unit and terminating in a finger which projects radially outward, the longitudinally outermost end of said finger being defined by two intersecting radial edges and the longitudinally innermost end of said finger being defined by gently sloping edges, said finger being positioned to project radially into a recess in the inner surface of the casing, said recess having radial edges which define first and second Vshaped assymmetric notches spaced both longitudinally and circumferentially of said casing, the first of said notches being located to engage said finger to retain said lens in said innermost latched position and the second to engage said finger to retain said lens unit in said outermost latched position, the bottom of said recess comprising a radially outermost surface adjacent said second notch and an intermediate surface at a level intermediate that of said outermost surface and the innermost surface of said casing and adjacent said first notch, said intermediate surface being separated from each of the other surfaces by an edge positioned at an angle to the longitudinal axis of said lens member, and stop means positioned to terminate longitudinally inward movement of said lens unit from said outermost position with said finger on said intermediate surface, whereby said finger is urged by said resilient means along said intermediate surface and one of said angularly positioned edges into said first notch when longitudinally inward pressure on said lens member is released, thus rotating said lens member, but when said lens member has been moved longitudinally inward from its innermost latched position, said finger is brought into contact with said radially outermost surface and then urged by said resilient means along the other of said angularly positioned edges toward a path leading to said second V-shaped notch.

5. Pocket flashlight as claimed in claim 1 for use with batteries having zinc casing which is uninsulated at the end carrying the central terminal, characterized by the fact that the resilient mounting comprises a spring positioned between the flat bottom of the battery and the bottom of the casing and another spring mounted on the conductive end of the casing of the battery and screwed onto the base of the bulb.