US1384548A - Ernest alschttler - Google Patents

Description

E. ALSCHU LER.

HAND LAMP SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 9, I917- Patented July 12, 1921.

III villi/4d, I l

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ERNEST ALscHuLEn, or ST. LOUIS, mrssormr, ASSIGNOR, BY MEsNE ASSIGNMENTS, mo'NA'rIoNAL CARBON COMPANY INC., E CLE ELAND, OHIO, A CORIORATION OF NEw YORK.

- To all whom it may concern:

I 'Beit known that I,

ERNEST -ALSCHIULERY, a citizen of the United States, residin at St. Louis, in the county of St. Louis, tate of Missouri, have invented certain new and use-' tric. circuits and more particularly to switches adapted for use on battery. hand lamps. I

Intheuse of portable lamps of this character many occasions arise where it is convenient to leave thelamp lighted indefinitely andindependent of any hand manipulation. At othertimes it is convenient to have a switch adapted ;to be controlled directly by the thumb or finger of the-userso that an intermittent lighting of the lamp may be had. The switch last referred to should be of such a' construction that it will automatically .openwhenever the hand of the user is removed.

' provide a device meeting the above requirei mum amount of space on the exterlor of the i 1 connect the latter to the shield. Upon the ments and Nvhich. at the same time is simple in construction, reliable in operation, of

rugged construction and occupying a mimhand lamp .casing.- I I Other objects and advantages of the device will be apparent from a description of one embodiment thereof, as illustrated in the I accompanyingdrawi of whichverse section along the line 3 -3 of Fi 2;

Figure 1 is a view 0 a battery hand lamp showing the casing and switch in section; Fig. 2 is an enlargedsectional view of the mechanism of the switch; Fig. 3 is a trans- Fig. 4 is a view of the under side 0 the shield within which the switch contacts are mounted; Fi' '5 is a detail view of one of Referring to the drawings, in which similar reference characters denote similarparts l throughout the several views thereof, 10 represents a tubular" casing. preferably con,- Structed of insulating mater al, such a h d Specification of Letters Patent.

HAND-LAMP SWITCH.

Patented July 12, 1921.

Application filed June 9, 1917. Serial No. 173,690.

fiber. Surrounding the forward end of the end to end and mounted in a carton within,

the casing. Conducting strip 20 attached to the inside of the casing 10 has its outer end in contact with the sleeve 11 and hence forms a part of the lamp circuit and extends back to the switch mechanism. A similar conducting strip 21 within the casing, extends to i the other end thereof where it 1s connected to a sleeve 22 which is screw-threaded to re: celve a cap 23 which, by means'of a spring 24:, holds the battery in. place andalso serves as a. portion of the circuit leadin from'the other pole of the battery. All 0 the parts above described are of usual form and ar-' e p v rangement and may be varied inmany ways; It is an objectof the present invention to The switch mechanism of the present 1nvention comprises a shield 25 having curved wing portions 26 adapted to be attached to the outside of casing 10 by means of rivets 27, one of which passes through the end of conducting strip 21 (Fig. 3) to electrically same by motion of the thumbpiece.

Contact element 31 has a downwardly extending end portion 33 adapted to engage the end of a rivet 34 which attaches the ine ner end of conducting strip 20 to casing 10. Contactelement 31 is also provided wlth a small projection 35.

A second contact element 36 is held in place between "the first contact element 31 and the top of the shield. This second contact element is of resilient metal and is provided, with recesses 37 on its edges through which the tangs 29 of the thumb piece extend. The recesses on contact element 36 are somewhat longer than those on contact element 31 in order to permit motion of the latter with respect to the shield. The free end of contact element 36 has attached to it a push button 38 which, when the contact element is in its normal position, extends through an opening'in the top of the shield. A contact point 39 may be attached to the under side of contact element 36 in a position to engage the contact stud or rivet 34. when this contact element is actuated. This same contact element 36 is also provided with dents or depressions 40 within which the projection 35 on contact member 31 is adapted to fit in either of two positions. The tangs 29 hold contact element 31 firmly against contact element 36 and also hold the latter against the inside of shield 25, thus putting all of these parts inelectrical connection.

hen the members of the switch occupy the position shown in the drawings the lamp circuit will be open, as both of the contact elements are out of engagement with the stud or rivet 34: forming one terminal of the battery circuit. hen it is desired to light the lamp and retain control of the latter under the thumb or fingers of the user, the button 38 is depressed, bringing contact point 39 into engagement with the rivet 3a and thus completing the lamp circuit "from conducting strip 20 through contact element 36, shield 25, one of the rivets 27 and conducting strip 21. As long as the button is held depressed the lamp circuit will be closed, but as soon as released the contact element will spring back to its normal position, thus opening the lamp circuit.

If it is desired that the lamp shall burn continually without the necessity of holding the button 38 in depressed position, thumbpiece 28 is slid along the shield and carries with it contact element 31 bringing the end 33 thereof in engagement with rivet 34. Contact element 36 does not, however, partake of the sliding motion of the other contact element, since the button 38 extending through the top of the shield prevents any considerable longitudinal motion. The extent of movement permitted to the contact element 31 is just sufficient to cause the projection 35 to pass from one of the depressions a'O into the other one, thus tending to hold the contact element in engagement with rivet 34 until it is forcibly restored by being actuated in a reverse direction. hen in its normal, open position the projection 35 rests within one of the depressions L0, as shown in Fig. 2, to hold the circuit open.

While the two contact fingers or elements are adapted to be actuated independently of each other they are retained in place against the inside of the shield by a single means and they also enga e a single contact stud.

The device is thus of simple construction and embodies only a few elements. While it has been shown as applied to one particular form of hand lamp it is obvious that it may of the battery, a depressible contact mounted I within the housing and adapted to contact with the contact upon the casing, and a sliding contact also mounted within the housing and adapted to be moved under the depressible contact, into contact with the contact mounted upon the casing.

2. In a device of the kind described, a casing of insulating material, a battery therein, a lamp in contact with one pole of the battery, a contact connected with the pole of the battery through the lamp, a metallic housing connected to the opposite pole of the battery, and alternative means for connecting the housing with the contact, comprising a de pressible spring contact normally out of contact with the contact upon the casing,

operating means therefor extending through the casing, a sliding contact and operating means therefor outside of the housing, both of said contacts being electrically connected to the housing, and the sliding contact being adapted to be moved between the depressible contact and the contact upon the casing.

3. Contact mechanism for battery hand lamps, comprising in combination, a conductor, a resilient contact strip mounted to swing into engagement with said conductor, a push button on said contact strip, a contact element mounted to slide beneath said contact strip into and out of engagement with said conductor,.and a thumbpiece for actuating said contact element and securing said strip and element in position; substantially as described.

4. Contact mechanism for a battery hand lamp, comprising, in combination, a conductor, acontact element mounted to swing into engagement with said conductor to complete the circuit therethrough, a contact member mounted to slide along the under face of said contact element into and out of engagement with said conductor, and means whereby the sliding contact member may be actuated.

5. Contact mechanism for a battery hand lamp, comprising in combination, a conductor, a contact element mounted to swing into engagement with the conductor, a contact member mounted to slide along said element into and out of engagement with said conducengagement with the conductor, a contact member mounted to slide along said element into and out of engagement with said conductor, a housing, and a thumbpiece mounted to slide on said housing and operatively connected to retain the contact element and the contact member in place in said housing and when actuated to cause said sliding contact member to engage said conductor.

7 Contact mechanism for a battery hand lamp, comprising in combination, a flat resilient contact strip mounted to swing into engagement with a conductor to complete circuit therethrough, said striphaying recessed edges, a pushbutton on said strip, a sliding contact element mounted beneath said contact strip and having recessed edges, and means for operating said sliding contact element comprising a pair of depending members adapted to fit within the recesses in the edges of said sliding contact element and passing through the recessesin the edges of said contact strip whereby they may be moved with respect to the latter to cause motion of said sliding contact element with respect to said contact strip.

8. A switch for battery hand lamps, comprising a shield, a contact within the shield, a plurality of spring contact fingers attached to the interior of saidshield and adapted to engage said contact, means associated with one of said fingers and extending throu h an aperture in the shield whereby this nger may be actuated, and means mounted upon the outside of said shield and operatively connected to the other of said contact fingers whereby the latter ma be actuated to engage said contact, an a rojection upon said second contact finger a apted to engage recesses in said first contact finger in order to retain said second contact finger in either of two positions.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

ERNEST ALSCHULER.

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