Illumination – Self powered lamp – Cylindrical flashlight casing
Reexamination Certificate
1997-02-05
2004-10-26
Quach-Lee, Y. My (Department: 2875)
Illumination
Self powered lamp
Cylindrical flashlight casing
C362S186000, C362S336000, C362S401000, C362S399000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06808291
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a hazard/safety warning device for indicating the presence of a hazard and/or the location of a person or object, particularly, though not exclusively, in abnormal situations.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Hazard/safety warning devices are used in a multitude of applications to indicate the location of a hazard such as a toxic or an inflammable spillage on a roadway; to warn drivers of a disabled vehicle on a roadway; to warn of a fires hazard; to illuminate a desired path such as an airport runway (particularly in remote areas); the indication of a safe landing zone for medical and/or emergency evacuation helicopters; to indicate the location of people or objects in situations of reduced visibility, and other similar uses.
A commonly used hazard/safety warning device is a pyrotechnic flare. These flares glow very brightly but have numerous disadvantages. Some of these disadvantages include their very short operational life following ignition, and their comparatively short shelf life. They are also hazardous to use in certain situations such as in or near combustible materials, or in or near woods or parklands, where the risk of accidental fires is always present. They can also harm a user or other persons due to their high temperatures, sparks, and toxic and/or noxious fumes given off when burning. Other disadvantages of such devices include their susceptibility to damp, their comparative ineffectiveness in very wet conditions, their need to be held or supported by a user in order to be effective, the time and personnel required to ignite them and place them in position, and the fact that once ignited they can be used only once. They can also be difficult to extinguish if it becomes desirable to do so.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,562,994 discloses a form of lamp similar to the many varied and well-known bed lamps. It has a clamp adapted to be secured to a device such as a bedhead, as well as a short arm with pivotal connections at each end. It is not portable nor capable of resting on a surface. Furthermore, the lamp portion is not separable from the base and capable of independent operation.
Another commonly used hazard/warning device is known in U.S. Pat. No. 4,447,802. This shows a flashing orange light located within a metallic or plastic housing such as has been used by local councils and road repairers for many years. These are relatively bulky, heavy, and expensive. Because of their weight and bulk, these devices are not suitable to be carried by a user as a safety location device. They are also intended to be stood on a flat base and are, therefore, quite easily knocked over, which reduces their effectiveness (particularly on uneven terrain). They are also designed to have new or recharged batteries replaced upon discharge of the current batteries. As a consequence, there is an element of ongoing maintenance in their use, along with an element of unreliability due to connection defects between the battery terminals and the conductors supplying the lamp device.
Non-illuminating devices are also often used as hazard/safety warning devices. Such devices include reflective strips, reflective triangles and the like. These devices are adapted to reflect incident light such as that emitted from the headlight of a vehicle. The usefulness of such devices at night in the absence of any illuminating light is minimal.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,453,204 shows a holder for a lamp and has a base, an elongate body, and claims to enable the assembly to be attached to an arm of an elective lamp supplied from a normal power supply. The arrangement is more to hold a conventional lamp above a table rather than a hazard/safety warning device. The base is not adapted for pivotal movement, nor is the lamp capable of separate, independent operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,741 shows a holder for torches or flashlights and which has an elongate body, and an illumination means located at one end of the elongate body. It is intended for holding a flashlight down a manhole and could not be used for the purposes of the present invention.
The disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,389 is directed to a portable light for night fishing from a boat or from the shore. It is not useable as a hazard/safety warning device and has no self-righting feature. The light cannot be operated independently of the base.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,447 relates to a stick for supporting an outdoor lighting fixtures. It uses as an exposed bulb and electrical wires which are adapted to pass through the stick but still allow for connection to the light bulb. It is not directed towards the same object of the present invention. It has no self-righting feature, and the light cannot be operated independently of the stick.
A panel illuminating module is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,201 and which has an upper part with several light emitting diodes and a lower part which fits into a standard panel circuit. The two are joined by a bayonet fitting. It is not a hazard/safety warning light, and the light cannot be used separately from the base. There is no self-righting feature.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,122,781 to Saubolle discloses a hazard warning device incorporating a stemlike body having a strut assembly similar to an umbrella frame which is able to be deployed between a folded condition and a deployed condition in which the struts form a tripod support for the device. Mounted on top of the stem-like body is a lens containing a light emitting diode. This device overcomes many of the above problems in relation to pyrotechnic flares in that it does not operate by means of combustion. Both the shelf life and the operational life of such a device are also greater than those of pyrotechnic flares. However, this device does have several limitations. The device is supported by the tripod which needs to be deployed by moving the struts from the folded condition to the deployed condition and carefully placed on the ground so that it stands upright. This can be time-consuming, especially where a large number of the devices need to be laid out. There is nothing enabling the device to re-orientate itself in the upright position if it tips over whilst is being placed in position. In conditions of high wind or running water, there is nothing to enable the device to be secured in position, nor is the device sealed which limits its useability in abnormal situations.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,752 has a G-clamp at one end of an elongate, flexible body, there being a torch-receiving platform at the other end of the body. There is no rigidity in the body nor is the device capable of anything other than attachment to a bench or the like. The torch/flashlight is not integral with the body.
A distress signal lamp is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,278,735. The lamp has a rather flat base with suction cups thereon to enable the lamp to be releasably attached to a surface of a vehicle from within the vehicle, and a clamp to enable attachment to the top of a vehicle window. Its casing is releasably attached to the base, with the casing having upper and lower sections. To the upper section is attached a lamp bead by means of a toggle joint. The nature of the base is vastly different to that of the present invention, and the product is directed to a different object.
Another safety device may be found in GP Patent 2,238,107 which relates to a safety light for attachment to a rail of a waste skip. It is a hazard/safety warning device but it does not have an elongate body. It has an engagement means on an end of the body distant from the illumination means and being adapted to releasingly engage a supportive means for supporting the device in a desired position.
GP Patent 1,603,824 relates to a self-righting hazard warning device used on roadways, as obstruction markers, or the like. It has a body. An illumination device is located at the other end of the body. The illumination means is a light source located within a fresnal lens but it is not intended the parts can be separated and used independently.
Australian Patent 20561/92 relates to a light which is pivota
Aylward David R.
Bullock Graeme
Flynn Daphne
Hunter William Samuel
Elfare Corporation Pty Ltd.
Merchant & Gould P.C.
Neils Peggy A
Quach-Lee Y. My
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