DE2335866A1 - FLASHLIGHT - Google Patents

Description

07/12/73 (11086/87) L / Br

Dl PL.-I NG. R. LEMCKE Patent attorney,

75 Karlsruhe 1

P. R. MALLORY & CO. INC., A company based on the Delaware State Laws, 3029 East Washington Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46206, United States from America

flashlight

The invention relates to a flashlight with an elongated, hollow cylindrical housing, one in its Front end arranged, electric light source and at least one battery seated in the housing, the

309885/1121

(11086/87) - 2 -

with a pole of one polarity a contact surface of the light source is supplied with electrical voltage. In particular is a "disposable task lamp" with a writing implement comparable dimensions that has a clip that serves both to carry the lamp in a pocket and as a manually operable Switching element to turn on the lamp is to serve, with which the lamp is not only for permanent Burning, but can also be switched on intermittently by hand.

There are a large number of applications in which such a small, portable flashlight is more limited Lifespan is desirable, which on the other hand is cheap enough to last after being used, in particular to be able to throw away after exhaustion of the battery contained in it.

In order to achieve low production costs for such a flashlight, so that it can be used without significant loss can be thrown away, this should be a simple and cheap to manufacture and design Have plastic housing, in one end of which sits a small, cheap light source and that contains a single electrical element or one or more small batteries and has a clip, which also serves as a switch for the lamp - the clip should be a movable element, which can be easily assembled with the housing,

309885/1 121

such that it is in the longitudinal direction of the housing over a certain distance between a switched-off position on outer end of its displacement path to two switch-on positions in the direction of the inner end of its displacement path is movable, one of which is used as a thumb-operated switch for the time being Closing the circuit can be used for the light source and the other can use this circuit is tightly closed.

In order to keep the production costs for such a flashlight, which can be thrown away after being used, low to hold, it should be able to be built or put together in a few, simple operations, whereby the individual components hold or support each other during the manufacturing process Or record, so that additional holding devices od. The like. Are not required, which are usually require a considerable amount of manual labor to use them.

In summary, it is the object of the invention to provide a disposable flashlight, the individual Components can be put together simply and easily in such a way to the finished product that during of the manufacturing process special devices are superfluous to the individual parts in the required to keep mutual relative position. In particular, it should be possible to

309885/1 121

parts immediately in the position that they finally assume in the finished product by can initially be brought into two separate halves of the housing, which are hollow, semi-cylindrical Shells serve as a carrier or the inclusion of the items during manufacture, so that the final Product can be produced by joining and closing the housing halves in one operation is.

Based on a flashlight of the type mentioned at the outset, this object is achieved according to the invention by that an electrically conductive strip with one end to the second contact surface of the light source is related that the strip extends backwards along the inner wall of the housing until substantially to its central area that extends a clip with the battery for dissipating the voltage the second polarity is in engagement and that the clip is movable as a switch and thereby with the conductor strip can be brought into contact to the power supply of the light source by connecting the conductor strip to effect with the second polarity.

It is useful that the housing consists of two hollow, semi-cylindrical housing halves, the mutually engage with webs in corresponding recesses. Here the housing can consist of a

309885/1121

2335366

lower, hollow, semi-cylindrical housing half for Holds the battery, the light source and the conductor strip with the lamp assembled and an upper one, consist of hollow, semi-cylindrical housing halves with an elongated slot near the rear end, the clip can furthermore have an outer, self-supporting clamping part and an inner holding part and extend through the slot and it can be the holding part of the supports for the clamping part.

Furthermore, the upper half of the housing can have a window opening have in the central region of the housing and it can be manually depressible the free end of the clamping part and with an exposed part of the conductor strip to complete the circuit between the battery and light source can be brought into contact.

The clip is expediently displaceable in the longitudinal direction over the length of the slot and has a locking projection or a nose for positioning the clip in one of the various switching positions of his possible displacement path to which a plurality of depressions of the upper housing half are assigned is, which are arranged at a distance over the displacement path of the clip to receive the nose and latched to secure the clip against unintentional displacement.

The inner holding part of the clip can be at least one pair

3 09885/1121

have guide tongues which are guided against the inner surface of the upper housing part. On the other hand, however, the holding part of the clip can also have at least one pair of guide fingers which enclose the battery and can be displaced on it, so that the battery serves as an inner guide for the clip.

According to the invention, the flashlight has an elongated, hollow housing which originally consists of two separate, semi-cylindrical shells in which the individual components of the flashlight can be brought together. One of the half-shells serves as a receptacle for the light source and, for example, two coaxially arranged batteries, along which a conductor strip extends insulated from the batteries, one end of which is in contact with a lateral contact surface of the light source, while an axially facing contact surface of the light source with an axial one End of the battery or one of the batteries. In addition, the flashlight according to the invention has a clip as a preferably U-shaped metal part, which is arranged so that one of its arms protrudes outward through an opening in the other housing half and that the second arm is provided with sliding guides for sliding engagement with a battery to be, which is arranged in the first-mentioned housing half. After such a meeting

309885/1121

When the parts are placed, the two halves of the housing are inserted into one another, which is facilitated by suitable guide webs, whereupon the two housing halves finally be firmly connected to each other.

The subject matter of the invention is explained in more detail below using an exemplary embodiment that is shown in FIG the drawing is shown. In the drawing show:

Pig. 1 is a side view of the flashlight according to the invention, partially in section;

Fig. 1A is a perspective view of the in

the flashlight on a battery slidable clip;

2 shows a plan view of the flashlight with the housing partially broken away;

3 shows a plan view of the lower housing half;

Fig. 4 is a partially sectioned side view of the housing half according to the section line 4-4 in Fig. 3 »

Fig. 5 is an interior view of the upper housing half;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 in Fig. 5;

7 is an enlarged front view of the lower housing half according to 7-7 in FIG. 4;

309885/1121

Fig. 8 is an enlarged front view of the upper half casing according to 8-8 in Pig. 6 and

Fig. 9 is an enlarged front view of the flashlight in finished state.

The flashlight 10 has an elongated housing 12 made of electrically insulating plastic, which contains two batteries 14 and 16, through which a flashlight bulb 18 is supplied with electrical energy when the circuit between the two batteries and the bulb 18 is closed by an electrical switch , which can be actuated by a clip 20 which, on the one hand, is part of the switch and, on the other hand, is used to carry the flashlight in a pocket.

The clip can be displaced with respect to the housing over a short path 22 that passes through a window slot is defined in the upper housing half 12A. The clip 20 is made of metal and is therefore electrical conductive and is essentially a U-shaped bent part that has an outer arm 20A and an internal, displaceably guided arm 2OB forms, the latter being carried by two pairs of guide tongues 2OC and 2OD for longitudinal displacement and secured against tilting during this shifting movement is, which include the battery H and sit on her easily slidable.

309885/1121

The inner arm 2OB of the clip forms a rounded nose 2020E at its free end, which acts as a lock is used to hold the clip 20 in a certain position, including in one of the three selectable Recesses 26-1, 26-2 or 26-3 engages, which are spaced from the inner wall of the upper Housing half 12A are formed and can be seen in more detail in FIG.

The flashlight is designed so that the clip either when activated by the user can serve as a switching element for intermittent switching on or as a permanently closed switch, in the latter case the lamp is switched on remains without the user having to apply pressure to the clip. To achieve this, one serves electrically conductive strip 30, the front end 30-1 of which is in contact with the lateral contact surface 18A of the Has pear 18 and which extends backwards up to and into the locking recess 26-3, where the rear End 30-2 of the strip is bent in a semi-cylindrical shape to fit snugly in recess 26-3. the Wall of the upper G-ehäuseheil 12A has an elongated Window opening 12A-1, under which the strip 30 is guided and thus in engagement with the after downward enlarged head end 20-1 of the clip 20 can come, but this is only possible if the nose 2OE is engaged in the recess 26-2.

30988 5/1121

The three switching positions, in which the clip is "movable, are shown in Fig. 1 are designated by the numerals 1, 2 and 3, the position with the recesses 26-1 and 26-3 26-2 _r matches. A respectively corresponding shift position also occupies the head end 20-1 of the clip 20, the switching positions with ascending digits being "off", "intermittent" and "on".

It is essential for the circuit for supplying the bulb 18 that the shells HA and 1-6A of the two batteries are made of metal and are a good electrical conductor. As a result, the metal guide tongues 20C and 2OD ensure good metallic contact and a good electrical connection starting from the shell 14A via the tongues 20C and 2OD to the inner arm 20B of the clip 20 and from there to the outer clip arm 20A and its head end 20-1 _<r soft latter can be pressed in the middle shift position 2 due to its cantilevered mounting on the clip slightly downwards, whereby the tip end 20-1 pass through the window opening 12A / I, and can come into contact with the conductor strip 30th The circuit then continues over the conductor strip 30 to its front end 30-1 and to the contact surface 18A of the pear, over the contact surface 18B of the pear to the central pole 16-1 of the battery 16 and then back through this battery to its rear pole 16 ^ 2 and from there to the central one

30988 5/1121

Pol 14-1 of the battery H with which the circuit is ßchlosßen overall.

In order to insulate the metal conductor strip 30 from the batteries 14 and 16, a thin layer 32 of insulating paper is inserted between it and the two covers HA and 16A of the batteries.

When the clip is in switch position 2, in which its head end can be pushed down and brought into contact with the conductor strip 30 to complete the circuit, the elasticity inherent in the clip normally ensures that the head end does not touch with the conductor strip 30 , so that the circuit can only be completed if this is intentionally brought about by the user by appropriately depressing the outer arm 20A.

If, however, the flashlight is to burn continuously, so that the user does not have to constantly depress the outer arm 20A of the clip, the clip can be transferred to switch position 3 in which its nose 20E engages the bent end 30-2 of the conductor strip 30 is located, whereby the clip is secured against unintentional displacement at the same time.

If the lamp is to be switched off, the clip within the pen slot 24 is pushed completely into the rear

309885/1 121

wärtige switching position 1 moved back, in which the web 20-2 of the clip is in contact with the rear side edge 24-1 of the opening 24, which thus serves as a stop to limit the movement of the clip 20. This position also corresponds to the uppermost position of the clip when the flashlight is plugged into a pocket of the user, whereby an unintentional switching on or continued burning of the lamp is largely prevented.

3 to 6 show in detail the structure of the two halves of the housing 12 which are used during manufacture the flashlight also serve as a frame to hold the individual parts together, and the afterwards at the final completion the housing of the flashlight will result.

As can be seen from Fig. 3, the lower half of the housing 12B essentially an elongated, hollow half-cylinder, which is closed at the rear end 40 except for a connecting step 40-1, next to the one Guide strip 40-2 runs, with the help of which the upper housing half 12A exactly on the lower housing half can be put on. As will also be understood in connection with Fig. 1, the pairs of guide tabs 2OC and 2OD must necessarily include the battery 14 protrude radially. To give them sufficient longitudinal displacement within the housing in view of this to enable, the lower housing half 12B

309885/1121

■ - 13 -

two opposing depressions 42-1 and 42-2 on. Similarly, there are two Depressions 62-1 and 62-2 in the side walls of the upper housing half 12A, as shown in FIG. 5 and 6 can be seen, with opposing depressions being aligned with one another, namely 42-1 with 62-1 and 42-2 with 62-2.

The reason for these depressions 41 and 42 is made with regard to Pig. 1A once again particularly clear. Since the space for the batteries 14 and 16 is dimensioned so that they sit relatively firmly in the housing 12, consequently, some recessed space is required for the movement of the tongues 2OC and 2OD when the clip is moved axially into one of the three switching positions.

In FIGS. 5 and 6, the upper housing half 12A is shown in two views. She is like the one below Housing half is an elongated, hollow half cylinder which is closed at its rear end 60 and an outer connecting protrusion 60-1 for attachment to the connecting step 40-1 of the lower housing half 12B. In addition, the upper half of the housing is provided with a shoulder 60-2, which on the guide strip 40-2 of the lower housing half comes to sit.

In or on each of these housing halves, the

309885/1121

further components are set, which together form the flashlight. The two batteries 14 and 16 are placed together with the bulb 18 and the conductor strip 50 in the lower housing half 12B. Of the Clip 20, however, is inserted into the window slot 24 of the upper half of the housing. The two housing halves placed on top of each other and along their mutual contact surfaces by a suitable Gowns or some other fastening process connected to one another, such as high-frequency heating.

When the two housing halves are assembled in this way, the guide tongues 20C and 20D are downward pressed over the sides of the battery 14 as seen in Figure 1A and the recess 26-3 is pressed down onto the conductor strip 30 in such a way that that its curved end 30-2 comes to sit in this recess.

The lamp is now ready for use in accordance with the switching position into which the clip 20 is moved. Like from the Pig. 3 and 4 and in particular from the Pig. 1 and 2, the front end is the lower one Housing half 12B provided with a semicircular opening 12B-1, which is preferably a substantially has parabolic reflection surface 12B-2, leading to a corresponding reflection surface

3 0 9 8 8 5/1121

the upper housing half 12A fits, so that overall a substantially parabolic reflective surface for the light source forming filament of the bulb 18 is created to determine the direction and focus of the light beam. 7 and 8 show the front ends of the two housing halves before the flashlight is assembled. On the other hand, FIG. 9 shows the two housing halves in the assembled state with the receiving opening 12B-T for the bulb, which is surrounded by a parabolic surface 12B-2 for deflecting the light emitted by the bulb.

It is clear that the production of the flashlight is as economical as possible can achieve, namely when the two halves of the housing at the same time as a transport frame for the individual components of the flashlight serve in their final arrangement, so that with the assembly of the two halves of the housing to form the complete lamp housing, all parts are at the same time in their working position, the assembly of the housing thus forms the last step in the manufacture of the flashlight.

Since all the necessary parts are relatively cheap, the flashlight can be thrown away without much loss when the batteries are empty.

309885/1121

Claims (13)

Claims Flashlight with an elongated, hollow cylindrical housing, an electrical light source arranged in its front end and at least one battery located in the housing, which supplies a contact surface of the light source with electrical voltage with one pole of one polarity,
characterized, that an electrically conductive strip (30) with its one end (30-1) with the second contact surface (18A) and the light source (18) communicates that the strip extends backwards along the inner wall dee Housing (12) "extends to substantially its central area that a clip (20) with the battery (H) is engaged to derive the voltage of the second polarity and that the glip acts as a switch can be moved and thereby brought into contact with the conductor strip in order to supply power to the light source by connecting the conductor strip to the second polarity. 2. Flashlight according to claim 1, characterized in that that the housing (12) consists of two hollow, semi-cylindrical housing halves (12A, 12B), which for Form a tightly closed housing mutually 309885/1121 with guide webs (40-2, 60-1) in corresponding Engage wells (40-1, 60-2). 3. Flashlight according to claim 2, characterized in that the housing \ 2) consists of a lower, hollow, semi-cylindrical housing half (12B) for receiving the battery (14, 16), the light source (18) and the conductor strip (30) assembled arrangement and an upper, hollow, semi-cylindrical housing half (12A) with an elongated slot (24) near the rear end that the clip (20) is a. outer, self-supporting clamping part (20A) and an inner holding part (20B) and extending through the slot and that the holding part is the carrier for the clamping part. 4. Flashlight according to claim 3, characterized in that that the upper housing half (12A) has a window opening (12A-1) in the central area of the housing (12) and that the free end (20-1) of the clamping part (20A) -, manually depressible and with a exposed part of the "conductor strip (30) at the end of the circuit between the battery (14, 16) and the light source (18) can be brought into contact. 5. Flashlight according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that that the clip (20) in the longitudinal direction of the lamp in the slot (24) of the upper housing half (12B) 3 09885/1121 - ιε is displaceable that the clip has a locking projection or a nose (20E) for its optional positioning has in one of the different switching positions in the range of its possible displacement movement and that the upper housing half (12B) over the Yerschiebeweg distributes several depressions (26-1, 26-2, 26-3) for snapping up the nose against unintentional Contains moving the clip. 6. Flashlight according to claim 5, characterized in that the inner holding part (20B) of the clip (20) has at least one pair of guide tongues (20C, 20D) formed on the inner surface of the upper half of the housing (12A) are performed. 7. Flashlight according to claim 5, characterized in that the inner holding part (20B) of the clip (20) has at least one pair of guide tongues (20C, 20D) which enclose the battery (14) and on it are displaceable so as to serve as an inner, adjustable carrier for the clip. 8. Flashlight according to claim 7, characterized in that the clip (20) and the guide tongues (2OC, 2OD) are made of metal and are electrically conductive in such a way that the circuit between the battery (14, f6) and ladder strips (30) to stow the Switch-on state for the light source can be closed. 309885/1121 9. Flashlight according to claim 6, 7 or 8, characterized in that the upper housing half (12A) its inner surface with a recess (62-1, 62-2) extending in the longitudinal direction of the lamp leading recording, which is provided with tongues (2OC, 20D), in which the tongue. n over the displacement path of the clip (20) are movable. 10. Flashlight according to one of claims 5 "to 9, characterized in - that the upper housing half (12A) the locking recesses (26-1, 26-2, 26-3) in the form of transversely to the direction of displacement of the clip (20) arcuate extending slots on the inner surface having. 11. Flashlight according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the clip (20) is manual "can be moved into one of three predetermined switching positions, namely an off position (T), a Intermediate position (2) for manual, intermittent switch-on of the lamp and a fixed switch-on position (3). 12. Flashlight according to claim 10 and 11, characterized in that the light source (18) facing away The end (30-2) of the conductor strip (30) is molded into the recess for the third switching position. 309885/1121 13. Flashlight according to claim 1, characterized in that means on the housing (12) for locking Hold the displaceable clip in one of several predetermined switching positions and that electrically connected to the conductor strip means are provided such that they are with a Part of the clip (20) can be brought into contact at the end of the circuit for the light source (18). ΤΠ988 5/1 121