Illumination – Self powered lamp – With movable focusing element
Reexamination Certificate
2001-10-12
2003-07-22
O'Shea, Sandra (Department: 2875)
Illumination
Self powered lamp
With movable focusing element
C362S488000, C362S489000, C362S490000, C362S544000, C362S545000, C362S237000, C362S240000, C362S241000, C362S244000, C362S246000, C362S247000, C362S249070
Reexamination Certificate
active
06595656
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cabin lamp and more particularly to a cabin lamp that has a longer useful life, generates less heat and is suitable as a reading lamp for airplanes and automobiles.
2. Prior Art
FIG. 5
shows one example of a conventional cabin lamp. The cabin lamp
1
is, for example, a reading lamp for an airplane.
The cabin lamp
1
is supported by a panel
2
so as to be rotatable in a predetermined angle range about its axis.
A lamp housing
3
of the cabin lamp
1
has a spherical external side surface and is rotatably supported by the panel
2
. A reflector
4
is installed in the lamp housing
3
. A lamp socket
5
is detachably mounted to the rear end portion of the lamp housing
3
, and an incandescent bulb
6
is detachably mounted to the lamp socket
5
.
The incandescent bulb
6
is of a type in which a cylindrical cap
9
is mounted to one end of a glass bulb
8
having a filament
7
sealed therein. Connector pins
11
(only one pin is shown in
FIG. 5
) protrude from the side surface of a cylindrical element
10
of the cap
9
made of conductive metal, and a feeder terminal
12
insulated with respect to the cylindrical element is disposed at one end of the cylindrical element
10
.
A cylindrical holder
13
made of conductive metal is disposed inside the lamp socket
5
, and the so-called J-shaped slots
14
(only one slot is shown) are formed in the holder
13
. Further, a flexible feeder contact
15
is disposed on the lamp socket
5
. The feeder contact
15
is connected to the power source through a switch
16
provided in the panel
2
. The holder
13
is grounded.
The connector pins
11
of the cap
9
of the incandescent bulb
6
are guided along the J-shaped slots
14
of the holder
13
of the lamp socket
5
and received in the holder
13
; and when the connector pins
11
are rotated along the bent portions of the J-shaped slots
14
, the feeder contact
15
of the lamp socket
5
elastically contacts the feeder terminal
12
, causing the connector pins
11
to be supported by the bent portions of the J-shaped slots
14
. The incandescent bulb
6
is thus held in the lamp socket
5
.
Furthermore, an annular bezel
17
is detachably fitted to the front end of the lamp housing
3
of the cabin lamp
1
. A lens
19
having minute fisheye steps
18
formed on its inner surface is fitted to the bezel
17
.
In the structure above, when the switch
16
is switched to the ON side, the feeder terminal
12
of the incandescent bulb
6
is connected to the power source through the switch
16
and the feeder contact
15
of the lamp socket
5
. Further, since the cylindrical element
10
of the cap
9
is grounded through the connector pins
11
and the holder
13
of the lamp socket
5
, electricity is supplied to the filament
7
and the lamp is lit.
In the above-described cabin lamp
1
, the light source is an incandescent bulb and the internal volume is small. Accordingly, temperatures of the lamp housing
3
and bezel
17
tend to become high. This would raise the cabin temperature or give a user a burn when he/she touches the bezel
17
for adjustment of the illumination position.
Also, the life of incandescent bulbs is relatively short; and as a result, it is necessary to replace the incandescent bulb
6
frequently.
FIG. 6
shows a cabin lamp
20
that uses a light emitting diode (LED) as the light source. This type of lamp is proposed for the purpose of solving the problem that occurs when incandescent bulbs are used as the light source as described above.
The cabin lamp
20
is also for a reading lamp of an airplane, and it is supported by a panel (not shown) so as to be rotatable in a predetermined angle range.
A printed circuit board
23
with a plurality of LEDs
22
mounted thereon is installed in a lamp housing
21
that is rotatably supported by the panel. A heat sink
24
is also installed in the lamp housing
21
. The heat sink
24
is installed on the backside of the printed circuit board
23
. A heat radiation rubber
25
is laminated on the surface of the heat sink
24
that faces the printed circuit board
23
.
An annular bezel
26
is detachably mounted to the front end of the lamp housing
21
. A lens
28
having minute fisheye steps
27
formed on the inner surface thereof is fitted to the bezel
26
.
In the above cabin lamp
20
, generated heat is small because the light source is the LED
22
. Accordingly, the problem of temperature inside the cabin becoming high or the problem of a user getting burn is solved. Further, since the life of LEDs is longer than incandescent bulbs, there is an advantage to use LEDs that the light source does not need to be replaced frequently.
However, with the above-described cabin lamp
20
, since the printed circuit board
23
having the LEDs
22
thereon is fitted to the lamp housing
21
, the entire lamp including the lamp housing
21
needs to be replaced when a cabin lamp having an incandescent bulb as the light source is to be replaced with a cabin lamp having the LEDs
22
as the light source. This presents a cost problem.
Further, the new cabin lamp
20
with LEDs must be installed in the panel
2
after the old cabin lamp
1
with an incandescent bulb is removed from the panel
2
. The problem is that the replacement work takes time and man power.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new cabin lamp that has a longer useful life and generates a small amount of heat by using an LED as the light source.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a cabin lamp that has a good interchangeability with a cabin lamp that has an incandescent bulb as the light source.
The above objects are accomplished by a unique structure for a cabin lamp of the present invention, wherein an LED module, in which a printed circuit board on which a plurality of LEDs are disposed and a plurality of reflectors that surround the LEDs separately so as to reflect the light from the LED substantially forward are mounted to a frame-shaped bezel, is detachably attached to a front end portion of a lamp housing, and wherein the LED module is connected through a connector to a feeder element provided in the lamp housing.
The thus structured cabin lamp of the invention has a longer useful life and small heat generation because the LED is used as the light source.
Further, in the present invention, the light source portion is modularized. Accordingly, when changing the light source from the incandescent bulb to LED, only the bezel of the cabin lamp having the incandescent bulb needs to be removed, and then the LED module is instead installed. Accordingly, the replacement can be done easily and quickly.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4550967 (1985-11-01), Riches et al.
patent: 4733335 (1988-03-01), Serizawa et al.
patent: 5548498 (1996-08-01), Murakami
patent: 5580156 (1996-12-01), Suzuki et al.
patent: 5797672 (1998-08-01), Dobert
patent: 6435691 (2002-08-01), Macey et al.
Koda & Androlia
Koito Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
O'Shea Sandra
Tsidulko Mark
LandOfFree
Cabin lamp does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Cabin lamp, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Cabin lamp will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3004210