US3462593A

US3462593A - Sleeve socket construction for receiving unitary separable light assembly

Info

Publication number: US3462593A
Application number: US643111A
Authority: US
Inventors: Roberto L Bustamante
Original assignee: ROBERTO L BUSTAMANTE
Current assignee: ROBERTO L BUSTAMANTE
Priority date: 1967-06-02
Filing date: 1967-06-02
Publication date: 1969-08-19
Anticipated expiration: 1986-08-19

Description

R. L. BUSTAMANTE Aug. 19, 1969 I 3,462,593

SLEEVE SOCKET CONSTRUCTION FOR RECEIVING UNITARY SEPARABLE' LIGHT ASSEMBLY Flled June 2 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR flifwjiasr4xr4n rf R. L. BUSTAMANTE Aug. 19, 1969 3,462,593

SLEEVE SOCKET CONSTRUCTION FOR RECEIVING UNI'I'ARY SEPARABLE LIGHT ASSEMBLY Filed June 2 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 z z 4% 4. v1

mvsmozz @554??? L 5207759 14406 A g- 1969 a. BUSTAMANTE 3,462,593

SLEEVE SOCKET CONSTRUCTION FOR RECEIVING UNITARY SEPARABLE LIGHT ASSEMBLY Filed June 2, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,462,593 SLEEVE SOCKET CONSTRUCTION FOR RECEIV- IN G UNITARY SEPARABLE LIGHT ASSEMBLY Roberto L. Bustamante, 4a Calle Poniente N0. 40, Santa Ana, El Salvador Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 404,324, Oct. 16, 1964. This application June 2, 1967, Ser. No. 643,111

Int. Cl. F211 7/00, /00

US. Cl. 240-l1.2 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A sleeve socket having two electrical contacts and a separable light assembly having two electrical contacts. The separable light assembly is contained within the sleeve socket in such a way that electrical contact is made between the respective electrical contact elements. The electrical contacts in the sleeve socket are in the shape of interior rings which have conducting wires leading from the rings to an electrical energy source. The electrical contacts onthe separable light assembly are in the shape of two external conducting rings. The separable light assembly has a cross-sectional shape complementary to the interior of the sleeve socket and can be readily inserted into and removed from the sleeve socket. A witch is provided for selectively actuating the separable light assembly when it is within the sleeve socket.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Ser. No. 404,324, filed Oct. 16, 1964, which in turn is a continuation-in-part of my application Ser. No. 324,810, filed Nov. 19, 1963, and now Patent No. 3,226,538, issued Dec. 28, 1965, and the subject matter of both applications is incorporated herein by reference.

This invention relates to an electrical sleeve socket assembly and separable light assembly and more specifically, to an electrical sleeve socket assembly, which receives the unitary separable light assemblies of my Patent No. 3,226,538, issued Dec. 28, 1965, and application Serv No. 404,324, filed Oct. 16, 1964, or an improved version of the unitary separable light assembly disclosed in the present application.

Conventionally, electrical illumination is provided through an electrical socket assembly in which the light bulb is threaded within or in direct association with a socket that receives electricity through a lead wire or extension cord which is secured directly to the socket. Consequently, the light bulb, the socket and lead wires extending from the source of electrical energy constitute an integral unit. In such an assembly, if it is desired to change a light bulb, in most instances, the lamp shade covering the bulb must be removed which, in some locations, can be difficult and time consuming. When this type of socket and bulb assembly is located, where the bulb cannot be reached, that is in a place where only the rear portion of the socket is accessible, the entire socket assembly, including the lead wires, must be removed to gain access to the bulb or the lead wires must be removed from the socket prior to gaining access to the bulb. Therefore, while the socket and bulb assemblies of the prior art are suitable for most normal uses, there are situations wherein the need for a new electrical socket and bulb assembly is clearly demonstrated.

The electrical sleeve socket assembly comprises a hollow cylinder prepared from any convenient plastic or other suitable insulating material and is provided with a peripheral lip portion at one end, which serves as a stop or limiting member, that rests on the surface of a casing adjacent an opening through which the electrical sleeve socket assembly is installed. Primary and secondary interior electrical contact elements are located on the inner surface of the hollow member. The contact elements are insulated from and axially spaced from one another with the elements being located to coincide with the respective primary and secondary contact rings on a unitary separable light assembly. The primary and secondary contact elements on the hollow member are connected by means of conducting leads, which extend outwardly through the side wall of the cylinder and are connected with a source of electrical energy.

The unitary separable light assembly, which is received within the electrical sleeve socket assembly, may be the same as or similar to the unitary separable light assemblies disclosed in my Patent No. 3,226,538, issued Dec. 28, 1965, and application Ser. No. 404,324, filed Oct. 16, 1964, or the improved unitary separable light assembly of the present invention.

In the improved unitary separable light assembly, one of the contact rings of the light assemblies disclosed in Patent No. 3,226,538 or application Ser. No. 404,324, filed Oct. 16, 1964, is replaced by a novel contact ring having alternate conducting and nonconducting portions, which are engaged by a resilient conductor contact element, provided on a modified version of the electrical sleeve socket assembly. With this arrangement, by turning the interior unitary separable light assembly a few degrees within the electrical sleeve socket assembly, a conducting or nonconducting portion of the contact ring is aligned with the resilient contact and the separable light assembly can be switched on or 01f, thus eliminating the need for a separate switch assembly, although such a switch assembly may also be provided when desired.

With the electrical sleeve socket and separable light assembly of the present invention, the lead wires or extension cords, which supply the electricity for the illuminating means, are no longer an integral part of the bulb socket. This, of course, enables the unitary separable light assembly to be removed from the electrical sleeve socket assembly without having to worry about disconnecting the light assembly from the lead wires. In using the assembly of the present invention, there is no longer any need to remove a lamp shade to gain access to the light bulb. Further, such an assembly is very useful in places where you can only reach the rear portion of the assembly. In such places, the unitary separable light assembly can be quickly removed from the electrical sleeve socket assembly and a new bulb placed in the light assembly, or a different light assembly can be placed into the sleeve socket assembly, if desired, without having to worry about disconnecting the lead Wires from the socket assembly. While it is seen that such an assembly is readily adaptable for use a a lateral light assembly in a flashlight, it is clear that the assembly has other important uses in places where the front of the assembly is inaccessible or where the need for rapid replacement of the light assembly is necessitated.

Accordingly, it is one object of the present invention to provide an electrical sleeve socket assembly for receiving a unitary separable light assembly such as the one disclosed in my Patent No. 3,226,538, issued Dec. 28, 1965, and application Ser. No. 404,324, filed Oct. 16, 1964, or in the present application.

Another object of the present invention is to have a separable light assembly, which is separated from the wire or extension cord, which supplies electricity to the assembly whereby the separable light assembly may be removed from the electrical socket assembly both easily and quickly without having to disconnect the lead wires.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive electrical socket and unitary separable light assembly which permits a light bulb to be placed in a narrow place which is not readily accessible. A further object of the present invention is to enable the replacement of a bulb in this inaccessible place in a quick and eflieient manner when the front of the assembly is inaccessible, or when it is undesirable or impractical to remove the lamp shade from the front assembly. A still further object of the present invention is to provide an uncomplicated, inexpensive and effective means for activating and deactivating the unitary separable light assembly.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description taken in combination with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the electrical sleeve socket assembly showing a separable light assembly in phantom line within the socket assembly;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an exploded view of the electrical socket assembly of the present invention and a unitary separable light assembly;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view of the flashlight incorporating the electrical sleeve socket assembly and a unitary separable light assembly;

FIGURE 6 is a cross-sectional view of a modified form of the electrical sleeve socket assembly shown in combination with a modified form of the unitary separable light assembly;

FIGURE 7 is an exploded view of the modified unitary separable light assembly;

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of a first form of a modified contact ring used on the unitary separable light assembly of FIGURES 6 and 7;

FIGURE 9 is a perspective of a second form of a modified contact ring used on the unitary separable light assembly of FIGURES 6 and 7; and

FIGURE 10 is a perspective of a third form of a modified contact ring used in the unitary separable light assembly of FIGURES 6 and 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION As shown in FIGURES 1 through 5, the electrical sleeve socket assembly 10, of the present invention, comprises a generally hollow cylindrical-shaped sleeve 11 made of plastic, rubber or other similar insulating materials. Of course, the hollow cylindrical sleeve is merely the preferred form of the invention and other cross-sectional configurations may also be used when desired or necessitated to adapt the sleeve 11 for certain uses.

In the preferred form, one end of the cylindrical sleeve 11 is provided with an out-turned lip or flange 12, which is adapted to engage either a wall of the receptacle within which the sleeve is contained, as shown in FIGURE 5, or a lip portion 14 of a unitary separable light assembly 15 and the exterior surface of the wall when flange 12 is received between the wall and lip portion 14. The other end of the sleeve 11 may be provided with retaining means such as external threads 16, which are threadedly received in a retaining portion of the receptacle, or within the shade and lens assembly 17 provided for the bulb of the unitary light assembly 15. The sleeve 11 is also provided at this end with an internal means such as threaded portion 18 for retaining the threaded portion 20 of the unitary separable light assembly 15.

Within the sleeve 11 are primary and secondary internal contact elements such as conducting

metallic rings

22 and 24, respectively, which are molded or otherwise suitably secured to the interior surface of sleeve 11. The

rings

22 and 24 are insulated from one another by a portion of sleeve 11 and axially spaced from one another within the sleeve 11, so that they contact the respective primary and

secondary rings

26 and 28 of the unitary separable light assembly, which are shown in FIGURE 4 as being of the type disclosed in my Patent No. 3,226,538, issued Dec. 28, 1965, or application Ser. No. 404,324, filed Oct. 16, 1964. A positive electrical contact between the

respective contact elements

22, 24 of the sleeve assembly and 26, 28 of the unitary light assembly is assured by a friction fit between the

internal contact elements

22, 24 of sleeve assembly 11 and the exterior contact rings 26, 28 of the unitary light assembly 15. This frictional or sliding fit may be accomplished by various methods. However, by making the sleeve 11 of the socket assembly resilient and the outer diameter of

rings

26, 28 substantially equal to the internal diameter of

rings

22, 24, a good electrical connection between the rings is insured. If necessitated, rings 22, 24 can be split to permit the

rings

22, 24 to expand more easily when the rings of the light assembly 15 are inserted within

rings

22, 24.

As shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, suitable electrical leads such as primary and

secondary leads

30 and 32, respectively, are provided in sleeve 11, which lead from the respective electrical contact rings 22, 24 to a suitable source of energy. These leads are insulated from one another and are soldered or otherwise suitably secured to

rings

22, 24.

FIGURE 4 shows an exploded view of the electrical sleeve socket and unitary light assembly of FIGURES 1 through 3. As can readily be seen from the figure, the unitary separable light assembly 15 is of the type disclosed in my Patent No. 3,226,538, issued Dec. 28, 1965, and application Ser. No. 404,324, filed Oct. 16, 1964. The sleeve 34 of the unitary separable light assembly is provided with external threads 20 at one end, which are threaded into the internal threads 18 of the electrical sleeve socket assembly 10 and a flange or lip portion 14, which rests against flange or lip portion 12 of the electrical sleeve socket assembly or the wall of the device wherein the assembly is located which, in this case, as shown in FIGURE 5 is a flashlight 36. The electrical sleeve socket assembly 10, in turn, is provided with external threads 16 at one end which are received within the threaded lens or shade portion 17 of the lateral light assembly.

Referring to FIGURE 5, an ordinary flashlight, within which the electrical sleeve socket assembly 10 and the unitary separable light assembly 15 are received, may comprise a tubular casing indicated generally by the reference numeral 40. The casing may be made of or provided with any suitable electrical conducting material, for example, a strip, coil or cylinder of sheet metal, which is held together by, or covered with an exterior insulating casing, when desired or found necessary for protection from the effects of moisture and mechanical shock. As shown, the flashlight is provided with two dry cell batteries 42, a rear closure 44, flexible contact spring 46 and interrupter type switch assembly generally indicated at 48 and a headlamp portion 50 having front closure 52, a socket assembly comprising button 54, insulating footing 56 and socket member 58, reflector 60, bulb 62, lens 64 and an insulating ring 66 for insulating the reflector from a front portion of closure 52. One electrode in the bottom of bulb 62 is in contact with button 54, while the other electrode of bulb 62 is in contact with socket 58, member 58 and button 54 being insulated from one another by insulating footing 56 in a manner well known in the art. Socket 58 may be of the screw thread or bayonet slot type, depending upon the configuration of bulb 62.

According to this invention, flashlight casing 40 is provided with two casing openings 41, 41' for receiving the electrical sleeve socket assembly 10 and the unitary separable light assembly 15 which is within the sleeve socket assembly. According to a preferred embodiment of this invention, electrical sleeve socket assembly 10 provides electrical connection from contact button 54 to batteries 42 by means of lead wire 68 which is directly connected between batteries 42, internal contact element 22 and the button 54. The electrical circuit to the head lamp socket of the primary or parent flashlight assembly is, of course, completed through batteries 42, spring 46, closure 44, casing 40, switch arm 49, reflector 60, socket 58 and bulb 62.

The electrical circuit of the lateral lamp assembly also operates through batteries 42 and lead wire 68 which is connected to primary contact ring 22 of sleeve 11 by lead wire 30. The lateral lamp exterior electrical circuit is completed through auxiliary switch assembly 72 by connection of batteries 42 to secondary contact ring 24 of sleeve 11 through spring 46, closure 44, casing 40, switch arm 74, contact point 76, contact button 78 and wire lead 32.

FIGURE 6 discloses a modified form of the electrical sleeve socket assembly generally indicated by reference character 80 and a modified form of the unitary separable light assembly 82. This modified version of the socket and light assemblies eliminates the need for an auxiliary switch such as 72 and enables the unitary separable light assembly to be actuated merely by twisting the upper cap portion 83 of the unitary separable light assembly. The assemblies are shown within a receptacle 84 having

walls

85, 86 with openings 87, 88 within which the electrical sleeve socket assembly 80 is received. This receptacle may be a flashlight or any appropriate receptacle where an auxiliary light source is required.

The electrical sleeve socket assembly 80 in its modified form comprises a hollow, cylindrical sleeve 81, which is made from a suitable resilient plastic or rubber insulating material. Of course, while this is the preferred form, other configurations may be utilized where desired or necessitated. The sleeve socket member has an outwardly extending flange -or lip portion 89 at one end, which is provided with a groove 90 which extends around the periphery of flange 89. Groove 90, or other suitable retaining elements, serve as a retaining means for the unitary separable light assembly, as will be explained hereinafter.

The other end of the sleeve socket assembly 80 is provided with an externally threaded portion 91 which is received within the threaded shade member 92. The shade member is provided with a lip portion 93, which engages the outer surface of wall 86 at openings 88, while the lip portion 89, on the sleeve member, engages the outer surface of wall 85 adjacent the opening 88 in the flashlight or receptacle, thereby retaining the electrical sleeve socket assembly 80 within the receptacle 84.

The electrical sleeve socket assembly 80 is provided with primary and secondary electrical contact elements, which are insulated from one another by a portion of sleeve 81 and axially spaced from one another within the sleeve 81 so as to coincide with respective primary and secondary contact rings on the unitary separable light assembly 82.

In the preferred embodiment, the primary contact element is a ring conductor 94 located on the interior surface of sleeve 81. Ring conductor 94 is molded into or otherwise appropriately secured to resilient insulating sleeve 81 and is connected to a source of electrical energy (not shown) by a conducting lead wire 95, which is secured to ring 94 by soldering or other suitable means.

The secondary electrical contact element is a resilient conductor 96 also located on the interior surface of sleeve 81. Resilient conductor 96 is connected to a source of electrical energy (not shown) through a lead wire 97 which is soldered or otherwise suitably secured to conductor 96.

The resilient conductor can be a resilient tab or similar metallic spring means. However, in the preferred form of the invention, the resilient conductor 96 comprises a metallic ball 98 biased by a spring 99 which engages the ball 98 at one end and engages a metal plug 100 at the other end. The conductor 96 is contained in a hole 101 which passes through sleeve 81 from a boss 102 located on the interior surface of sleeve 81 to the outer surface of the sleeve. Opening 103 at the inner surface of boss 102 has a smaller diameter than the diameter of ball 98, which protrudes through the opening. The other end of hole 101 is closed by the metal plug 100 which is wedged or threaded into hole 101 and is connected to lead 97.

The modified form of the unitary separable light assembly 82, as shown in FIGURES 6 and 7, is generally cylindrical in form and is provided with a circular cap 83 at one end having an inturned flange 104. The cylindrical sleeve 105 and cap 83 are preferably made of a resilient insulating material and the inturned flange 104 of cap 83 is snap-fitted into groove 90 on the electrical sleeve socket assembly 80, whereby the unitary separable light assembly is retained within the socket assembly, but is capable of being turned relative to the electrical sleeve socket assembly 80. While the above means for retaining the light assembly in the socket is preferred, it is contemplated that other suitable means for retaining the light assembly 82 could also be used.

The unitary separable light assembly 82 is provided with two electrical contact rings 106 and 120. Conducting ring 106 is provided with a diametrically extending bridge 108 which is integral with the rest of the ring. The bridge is received within and frictionally held by slot 109 of sleeve 105 and makes electrical contact with one electrode of light bulb 110, as shown in FIGURE 6. The outer diameter of conducting ring 106 is substantially equal to the inner diameter of conducting ring 94 on resilient sleeve 81 and the frictional or sliding fit between ring 94, which may be split if necessitated, and ring 106 insures that one electrode of bulb 110 is continuously connected with the source of electrical energy. Of course, while ring 106 will depress ball 98, when it is inserted within or withdrawn from sleeve 81, the ring will be of such a diameter that it will be capable of sliding past boss 102.

Ring is a modified form of the electrical contact rings previously used in the unitary separable light assemblies which is adapted to make selective electrical contact with the resilient contact 96 on the electrical sleeve socket assembly 80. Ring 120 is molded into or retained in sleeve 105 by other suitable means which prevents both axial as well as rotational movement of the ring relative to sleeve 105. The ring 120 is also provided with a pair of slots on the

interior surface

121, 122, as shown in FIGURE 8, which receive the terminal portions of

electrical conductors

112, 113 and insure a positive electrical contact between the ring 120 and

electrical conductors

112, 113.

Conductors

112, 113 are oriented with respect to bridge 108, as shown in FIGURE 7, so that the conductors, which form an integral part of the socket element 114, and the bridge 108 do not come into electrical contact. Socket element 114 retains bulb 110 and is in electrical contact with one of the electrodes of bulb 110.

As shown in FIGURE 8, the conductor 120 is made entirely from a metallic conducting material and has an undulating outer surface 123 with the axially extending raised portions 124 of the surface projecting outwardly to such an extent that ball 98 is partially depressed, when they are aligned, thereby insuring electrical contact between the ring and the ball. The axially extending depressions 125 in the surface 123 extend inwardly to such an extent that the ball 98 does not engage the ring when aligned with a depression, thereby breaking the electrical contact. Thus it can be seen that by rotating cap 83 of the unitary separable light assembly, the electrical circuit between the bulb 124 and the source of electrical energy can be alternately made and broken. Detents 126 may be provided in the raised surface of the undulating outer surface of the electrical conductor ring to prevent the unitary separable light assembly from accidentally turning, with respect to the electrical sleeve socket assembly,

and breaking the contact between ring 120 and ball 98. The frictional engagement of flange 104 in groove 90 would also retard the rotation of assembly 82 relative to socket 80.

FIGURE 9 discloses another modified form of the electrical contact ring, 130; wherein ring 130 is made of a suitable conducting material and is provided with a series of axially extending slots 131 on the outer circumferential surface 132. The slotted portions of the conducting ring element are filled with insulating material 133, which is adhered to the electrical conducting ring element, whereby the exterior surface of the conducting ring is a series of alternate conducting strips 132 and nonconducting strips 133 which extend outwardly to such an extent that they depress the spring biased ball 98 of the electrical contact provided in the electrical sleeve socket assembly 80.

Detents

134 and 135 may be provided in insulating material 133 and surface 132, respectively, to retain the light assembly 82 against accidental rotation and

internal slots

136, 137 are provided to receive the terminal portions of

conductors

112, 113.

FIGURE 10 is another modified form of the electrical contact ring wherein the ring 140 is made of a suitable conducting material and is provided with a series of holes 141 and a series of holes 142 spaced around the circumferential outer surface. Alternate holes 141 have a smaller diameter than the ball 93 wherein the ball makes electrical contact with the side of holes 141 when they are aligned. The other holes 142 have larger diameters than the ball 98 and are filled with insulating material 143. The insulating material, in turn, has holes 144 therein for retaining the ball out of electrical contact with the conducting part of the ring member. As in the other embodiments, ring 140 has internal slots 145, 146 for receiving the terminal portions of

conductors

112, 113.

Although, as shown in FIGURES 6 and 7, the modified ring element has been substituted for the upper ring of the unitary separable light assembly, it is contemplated that the ring could just as easily be substituted for the lower ring element of the unitary separable light assembly. Likewise, the resilient electrical contact and the ring contact on the electrical sleeve socket assembly could also be reversed, if desired. Also both the upper and lower ring elements on the unitary separable light assembly could be of a modified form with both the upper and L lower electrical contacts on the electrical sleeve socket assembly being of a suitable resilient form.

While the preferred form of the invention has been shown and described, it is to be understood that all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to which fall within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. A sleeve socket and separable light assembly comprising:

a sleeve socket means, said sleeve socket means comprising a nonconducting sleeve provided with a first interior electrically conducting contact ring and a second interior electrically conducting contact ring axially spaced and insulated from said first interior electrically conducting contact ring, first and second electrically conducting lead wire means for connecting said first and second interior electrically conducting contact rings to an external source of electrical energy, said first and second electrically conducting lead wire means being connected to said first and second electrically conducting contact rings respectively;

a separable light assembly means mounted within said sleeve socket means and having a transverse crosssectional configuration complementary to the interior transverse cross-sectional configuration of said sleeve socket means whereby said separable light assembly means can be readily inserted into and removed from said sleeve socket means, said separable light assembly means having first and second axially spaced,

electrically conducting external rings thereon with an outer circumferential surface of said first electrically conducting contact ring of the separable light assembly means contacting an inner circumferential surface of said first interior electrically conducting contact ring on said sleeve socket means and with said second electrically conducting contact ring of said separate light assembly means having an outer circumferential surface contacting said second interior electrically conducting contact ring of said sleeve socket means when said separable light assembly means is contained within said sleeve socket means.

2 A sleeve socket and separable light assembly comprising:

a sleeve socket means, said sleeve socket means comprising a nonconducting sleeve provided with a first interior electrically conducting contact means and a second interior electrically conducting contact means axially spaced and insulated from said first interior electrically conducting contact means, first and second electrically conducting lead wire means for connecting said first and second interior electrically conducting contact means with an external source of electrical energy, said first and second electrically conducting lead wire means being connected to said first and second electrically conducting contact means respectively;

a separable light assembly means mounted within said sleeve socket means and having a transverse crosssectional configuration complementary to the interior transverse cross-sectional configuration of said sleeve socket means whereby said separable light assembly means can be readily inserted into and removed from said sleeve socket means, said separable light assembly means having first and second axially spaced, electrically conducting external contact rings thereon, said first electrically conducting contact ring having a plurality of circumferentially spaced conducting contact portions on its outer circumferential surface for making selective contact with said first interior electrically conducting contact means of said sleeve socket means and said second electrically conducting contact ring of said separable light assembly means contacting said second interior electrically conducting contact means of said sleeve socket means whereby rotational movement of said separable light assembly means relative to said sleeve socket means effects the selective contact between said contact portions of said first ring of said separable light assembly means and said first interior electrically conducting contact means of said sleeve socket to complete or interrupt the combined electrical circuit of said sleeve socket means and said separable light assembly means.

3. In the assembly of claim 2, said first interior electrically conducting contact means of said sleeve socket being a resilient conductor and said second interior electrically conducting contact means being a ring.

4. In the assembly of claim 3, said resilient conductor comprising a conducting ball element biased by and in electrical contact with a conducting spring element which is in electrical contact with said first electrically conducting lead wire means.

5. In the assembly of claim 2, said first electrically conducting contact ring of said separable light assembly means having an undulating outer circumferential surface with alternate projecting and recessed portions.

6. In the assembly of claim 2, said first electrically conducting contact ring having a plurality of circumferentially spaced slots with insulating material therein.

7. In the assembly of claim 2, said first electrically conducting contact ring having a first set of holes circumferentially spaced on its outer surface and a second set of holes with insulating material therein and having larger diameters than said first set of holes circumferentially spaced on its outer surface with holes of said second set of holes being located intermediate holes of said first set of holes.

8. A sleeve socket and separable light assembly, said separable light assembly contained within said sleeve socket and having first and second conducting contact rings, said first conducting contact ring having a plurality of circumferentially spaced conducting contact portions on its outer surface, said circumferentially spaced conducting contact portions being separated by circumferenti'a'lly spaced slots in the outer surface of said first ring, said slots having insulating material retained therein;

said sleeve socket comprising a nonconducting sleeve provided with an interior resilient conductor means and an interior conducting contact ring axially spaced and insulated from said interior resilient conductor means, a first conducting lead wire connected to said interior resilient conductor means and a second conducting lead wire connected to said interior conducting contact ring, said interior resilient conductor means of said sleeve socket making selective contact with said conducting contact portions of said first conducting ring of said separable light assembly by relative rotation of said separable light assembly and said sleeve socket, and said interior conducting contact ring of said sleeve socket making contact with said second conducting contact ring of said separable light assembly.

9. A sleeve socket and separable light assembly, said separable light assembly contained within said sleeve socket and having first and second conducting contact rings, said first conducting contact ring having a first set of holes circumferentially spaced on its outer surface and a second set of holes having a larger diameter than said first set of holes circumferentially spaced on its outer surface with holes of said second set of holes being located intermediate holes of said first set of holes, said second set of holes having insulating material retained therein;

said sleeve socket comprising a noneonducting sleeve provided with an interior resilient conductor means and an interior conducting contact ring axially spaced and insulated from said interior resilient conductor means, a first conducting lead wire connected to said interior resilient conductor means and a second conducting lead wire connected to said interior conducting contact ring, said interior resilient conductor means of said sleeve socket making selective contact with said first conducting ring of said separable light assembly about the peripheries of said first set of holes by relative rotation of said separable light assembly and said sleeve socket, and said interior conducting contact ring of said sleeve socket making contact with said second conducting contact ring of said separable light assembly.

5 10. A unitary separable light assembly comprising:

a nonconducting sleeve, a socket mounted within said sleeve comprising a bulb retaining portion and a bridge portion, a first ring having a plurality of circumferentially spaced conducting contact portions and a plurality of circumferentially spaced slots on its outer surface, said circumferentially spaced slots having insulating material retained therein, said first ring mounted on the outer surface of said sleeve and connected to said socket, a second ring axially spaced from said first ring, said second ring mounted on the outer surface of said sleeve and connected to said socket.

11. The unitary separable light assembly comprising:

a. nonconducting sleeve, a socket mounted within said sleeve comprising a bulb retaining portion and a bridge portion, a first ring having a first set of holes circumferentially spaced on its outer surface and a second set of holes having a larger diameter than said first set of holes circumferentially spaced on said outer surface with holes of said second set of holes being located intermediate holes of said first set of holes, said second set of holes having insulating material retained therein, said first ring being mounted on the outer surface of said sleeve and connected to said socket, a second ring axially spaced from said first ring, said second ring mounted on said outer surfaceof said sleeve and connected to said socket.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,491,914 12/1949 Anderson 200- XR 2,503,287 4/ 1950 Moore 200- XR 40 2,519,215 8/1950 Appleton et a1. 200-157 XR FOREIGN PATENTS 1,233,493 2/1967 Germany.

5 NORTON ANSHER, Primary Examiner ROBERT P. GREINER, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.