Illumination – Self powered lamp – Cylindrical flashlight casing
Reexamination Certificate
2002-09-09
2003-09-09
Tso, Laura K. (Department: 2875)
Illumination
Self powered lamp
Cylindrical flashlight casing
C362S207000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06616297
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flashlight and, more specifically, to the pushbutton and rear cap mounting arrangement for flashlight.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 1 and 2
show an aluminum alloy flashlight constructed according to the prior art. According to this design, the flashlight comprises a barrel
70
holding a set of battery cells on the inside and a lamp assembly on the front side, a hollow cylindrical pushbutton
10
mounted in the rear open chamber of the barrel
70
, the pushbutton
10
has an outward flange
101
extended around the periphery of the front side, a conical spring
60
supported between the negative terminal of the set of battery cells inside the barrel
70
and the front side of the pushbutton
10
, an electrically insulating sleeve
20
sleeved onto the pushbutton
10
, the insulating sleeve
20
having an outward flange
201
extended around the periphery of the front side and supported on the outward flange
101
of the pushbutton
10
, a hollow rear cap
40
threaded into the rear open side of the barrel
70
, and a compression spring
30
sleeved onto the sleeve
20
and stopped between the outward flange
201
of the sleeve
20
and the front side of the rear cap
40
. Further, the pushbutton
10
is a hollow structure having an inside space for holding a spare lamp bulb
50
. When assembled, the rear cap
40
is fastened tight, and the pushbutton
10
partially extends out of the rear cap
40
for operation. The spring force of the conical spring
60
surpasses the spring force of the compression spring
30
. Therefore, the conical spring
60
imparts a backward pressure to the pushbutton
10
, keeping the pushbutton
10
away from the step
701
of the barrel
70
, and therefore the circuit of the flashlight is off (see FIG.
2
). When the user pressed the pushbutton
10
to conquer the spring force of the conical spring
60
, the outward flange
101
of the pushbutton
10
is forced into contact with the step
701
of the barrel
70
to close the circuit, and therefore the flashlight is turned on (see FIG.
3
). When the user loosened the rear cap
40
as shown in
FIG. 4
, the pushbutton
10
is hidden in the rear cap
40
, preventing triggering of the pushbutton
10
accidentally.
This design of flashlight is still not satisfactory in function. Because the springs
30
and
60
are constantly maintained against each other, they wear quickly with use. When the springs
30
and
60
start to wear, the electric contact becomes unstable, and the lamp bulb may flash abnormally. When keeping the lamp bulb electrically connected, the user must keep the pushbutton
10
depressed.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a flashlight that eliminates the aforesaid drawbacks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been accomplished to provide a pushbutton and rear cap mounting arrangement for flashlight, which eliminates the aforesaid drawbacks. It is the main object of the present invention to provide a pushbutton and rear cap mounting arrangement for flashlight, which keeps the lamp bulb of the flashlight constantly electrically connected when the rear cap fastened tight. It is another object of the present invention to provide a pushbutton and rear cap mounting arrangement for flashlight, which enables the pushbutton to be moved between two positions to turn on/off the flashlight when the rear cap loosened. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a pushbutton and rear cap mounting arrangement for flashlight, which is durable in use. According to the present invention, the pushbutton and rear cap mounting arrangement is comprised of an electrically conducting barrel holding a series of battery cells and a lamp holder on the front side of the battery cells, the barrel having a rear open chamber and a stepped inside wall in the rear open chamber, an electrically conducting pushbutton supported on an electrically conducting conical spring at the negative terminal of the battery cells, the pushbutton having an annular contact flange extended around the periphery of the front side thereof and adapted to contact the stepped inside wall of the barrel in the rear open chamber, an electrically insulating sleeve sleeved onto the pushbutton, the sleeve having an annular flange extended around the periphery of the front side thereof and supported on the annular contact flange of the pushbutton, and an electrically conducting hollow rear cap threaded into the rear open chamber of the barrel around the sleeve and rotated forwards/backwards between a first position where the pushbutton is locked in “on” position to close the circuit of the flashlight, and a second position where the pushbutton is unlocked and supported in “off” position to open the circuit of the flashlight and the user can push the pushbutton with the thumb to “on” position to turn on the flashlight when desired.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5642932 (1997-07-01), Matthews
patent: 5722765 (1998-03-01), Maglica
patent: 6386732 (2002-05-01), Shiau
Pro-Techtor Inter-national Services
Tso Laura K.
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