Illumination – Self powered lamp – Cylindrical flashlight casing
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-11
2002-05-14
O'Shea, Sandra (Department: 2875)
Illumination
Self powered lamp
Cylindrical flashlight casing
C362S203000, C362S204000, C362S206000, C362S208000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06386732
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a flashlight, more particularly to a flashlight with a lamp base module mounted fixedly in a barrel thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to
FIGS. 1 and 2
, a flashlight
1
according to U.S. Pat. No. 4,942,505 is shown to include a conductive barrel
11
which defines a battery receiving space therein, a head assembly
15
mounted on an upper end of the barrel
11
, a lamp base module mounted in the barrel
11
proximate to the upper end thereof, and a tail assembly
14
mounted removably on a lower end of the barrel
11
and provided with a biasing spring
141
for biasing a battery unit
2
toward the lamp base module.
As illustrated, the lamp base module includes a first insulator base member
12
inserted into the barrel
11
from the lower end thereof, a second insulator base member
13
inserted into the barrel
11
from the upper end thereof, a first conductor
16
, a second conductor
17
, and a lamp
3
. The first insulator base member
12
has top and bottom sides, and first and second conductor receiving holes which extend through the top and bottom sides. The first conductor
16
is mounted in the first conductor receiving hole in the first insulator base member
12
, and has an end portion that extends radially and along the top side of the first insulator base member
12
for abutting electrically against an annular inward flange
110
of the barrel
11
. The second conductor
17
is mounted in the second conductor receiving hole in the first insulator base member
12
, and has an end portion that extends radially and along the bottom side of the first insulator base member
12
for abutting electrically against the battery unit
2
disposed in the barrel
11
. The second insulator base member
13
includes an annular plate
130
which abuts against the flange
110
of the barrel
11
and which is formed with two terminal extension holes
131
respectively aligned with the conductor receiving holes in the first insulator base member
12
. The second insulator base member
13
further has a pair of spaced apart retention claws
132
extending integrally from the plate
130
and through the flange
110
of the barrel
11
into two claw holes
121
in the first insulator base member
12
. Two lamp terminals
31
,
32
of the lamp
3
extend through the terminal extension holes
131
in the second insulator base member
13
and the conductor receiving holes in the first insulator base member
12
to contact electrically the first and second conductors
16
,
17
. Under such a condition, rotation of the head assembly
15
relative to the barrel
11
will result in contact or non-contact between the flange
110
of the barrel
11
and the first conductor
16
, thereby controlling illumination or non-illumination of the lamp
3
.
Some of the disadvantages of the aforesaid conventional flashlight are as follows:
(1) The first and second insulator base members
12
,
13
are separately inserted into the barrel
11
from the upper and lower ends thereof prior to mounting of the head and tail assemblies
15
,
14
, thereby resulting in inconvenience during assembly of the lamp base module into the barrel
11
.
(2) The production process of the conventional flashlight
1
is complicated, because an insulated coating on an inner wall surface of the barrel
11
must be manually etched in order to permit an end portion of the first conductor
16
to contact electrically the inward flange
110
of the barrel
11
.
(3) The production cost is high, because a special mold is required for making the barrel
11
with the inward flange
110
.
Referring to
FIGS. 3 and 4
, another conventional flashlight
4
is shown to include a lamp base module
42
disposed in a conductive barrel
41
prior to the mounting of tail and head assemblies
44
,
43
on two opposite ends of the barrel
41
.
As illustrated, the lamp base module
42
includes a first insulator base member
421
formed with two conductor receiving holes
4210
within which first and second conductors
4212
,
4213
are disposed. The first conductor
4212
has a bent portion in electrical contact with the barrel
41
. A second insulator base member
422
has a pair of coupling arms
4222
which extend slidably through two coupling extension holes
4211
in the first insulator base member
421
to abut against a reflector
440
of the head assembly
44
, and a base plate formed with a conductive seat
4221
that is in electrical contact with a battery unit
2
disposed in the barrel
41
and the second conductor
4213
in the first insulator base member
421
. A lamp
45
is mounted on the top side of the first insulator base member
421
, and has two terminals
451
,
452
extending into the conductor receiving holes
4210
in the first insulator base member
421
to connect electrically with the first and second conductors
4212
,
4213
. Under such a condition, rotation of the head assembly
44
relative to the barrel
41
will result in movement of the second insulator base member
422
relative to the first insulator base member
421
to control contact or non-contact between the conductive seat
4221
of the second insulator base member
422
and the second conductor
4213
.
Some drawbacks of the aforesaid conventional flashlight
4
are as follows:
(1) After the lamp base module
42
is disposed in the upper end of the barrel
41
, the latter is punched inwardly and radially from an exterior thereof so as to form an inward flange that engages the first insulator base member
421
, thereby preventing axial movement of the lamp base module
42
in the barrel
41
. This somewhat inconveniences the production of the conventional flashlight
4
. In addition, in case the strength of punching is excessively strong, the second insulator base member
422
might be hindered from moving relative to the first insulator base member
421
. This can affect proper operation of the flashlight
4
.
(2) An insulated coating on an inner wall surface of the barrel
41
must be manually etched in order to permit the bent portion of the first conductor
4212
to contact electrically the barrel
41
. Such a process further increases the manufacturing cost of the conventional flashlight
4
.
In order to eliminate the aforesaid drawbacks, another conventional flashlight has been proposed, as best shown in
FIG. 5
, which includes a lamp base module
9
mounted in a conductive barrel
90
proximate to an upper end thereof. The lamp base module
9
includes a first insulator base member
91
having first and second conductor receiving holes
910
within which first and second conductors
913
,
914
are disposed. A hollow conductive seat
93
is sleeved on the first insulator base member
91
, and has an upright wall
931
in electrical contact with the barrel
90
and the first conductor
913
. A second insulator base member
92
has two coupling arms
920
that extends through the conductive seat
93
and two coupling extension holes
911
in the first insulator base member
91
. A lamp
94
is mounted on a top side of the first insulator base member
91
, and has two lamp terminals
940
extending into the conductor receiving holes
910
to connect electrically with the first and second conductors
913
,
914
. A battery unit disposed in the barrel
90
can connect electrically with the second conductor
914
via a conductive contact
921
on the second insulator base member
92
.
The conductive seat
93
is provided with a pair of outwardly and radially extending claws
932
such that during insertion into the barrel
90
, an insulated coating of the barrel
90
will be scratched off so as to establish electrical contact between the conductive seat
93
and the barrel
90
. However, the following disadvantages are present in this conventional flashlight:
(1) The conductive seat
93
may disengage from the barrel
90
since there is no positioning device provided between the barrel
90
and the conductive seat
93
.
(2) In case, the hollow conductive seat
93
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