DE9004271U1 - Portable light, especially flashlight - Google Patents

Description

Dipl. -Phys. M. Beaker i · ^: ;; 11 I

Patent Attorney Telephone wu]&bgr;&ogr;&ogr;&igr;&ogr;&bgr;

March 12, 1990
A 4321 - v-str

Witte & Sutor GiTr

Steinberger Sc?sse 2
7157 Murrhardt

Portable light, especially flashlight

The invention relates to a portable lamp, in particular a flashlight, the housing of which contains at least one power source and carries a reflector, in the center of which a light bulb is arranged which is held in a socket provided with connection contacts, said light bulb and the reflector being continuously adjustable relative to one another in their axial direction between two stop positions.

The continuous adjustability of the light bulb and reflector to each other to change the light cone has long been known in portable lamps, especially flashlights, although this cannot be proven in printed documents.

For this purpose, the reflector is arranged with a cylindrical neck on a similar end piece of the lamp housing, so that it can be rotated and moved axially. The wall of the reflector neck is penetrated by a slot that runs spirally along its length. A guide pin protrudes radially from the circumference of the cylindrical housing end piece and engages with the slot.

To focus the light beam, the reflector must be rotated accordingly, which inevitably means that it is also adjusted axially. Both hands are required for this.

The invention is based on the object of simplifying the handling of such lights for bundling the light rays.

This object is achieved according to the invention in that the socket of the light bulb is arranged on a slider which is provided in the housing so as to be displaceable in the axial direction of the reflector and which is assigned an opening in the wall of the housing.

The construction according to the invention thus enables a variation of the opening angle of the light cone with the hand holding the lamp, by using the thumb to move the slider carrying the light bulb holder relative to the housing. This also makes it possible to manufacture the housing, including the housing part that holds the reflector, in one piece, in particular from plastic. The housing is advantageously formed by two axially symmetrical housing halves that can be detachably connected to one another.

On Sch i &igr;; It can be in the housing t. &igr; ef lying &pgr;&eegr; gen r rJnet; in this case, for example, the thumb can be used to reach into the housing opening to operate the slide. In this case, it is advantageous to insert a seal in the form of a flexible membrane into the housing opening, which is also firmly connected to the slide and thus creates a dirt-tight closure of the housing opening.

In a preferred embodiment, the slide is elongated and has on its opposite long sides a longitudinal groove extending in the direction of advance, with which one of the opposite longitudinal edge parts of the housing opening is engaged. In this case, the slide protrudes over the housing wall part having the housing opening and is therefore particularly easy to handle, and it can be designed with respect to the housing opening in such a way that a dirt-tight housing closure is also ensured.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the socket is arranged on a retaining web extending away from the slide part inside the housing, with a guide web extending away from the socket diametrically to the retaining web and engaging in a guide groove inside the housing. This ensures that the bulb socket is also reliably supported and guided in the housing transversely to the direction of displacement.

A further advantageous embodiment of the invention provides that a connection contact is provided on both sides of the socket, transverse to the holding bar and guide bar.

The socket, together with the holding and guide rails, as well as the slide and support arms, can be advantageously molded as a one-piece molded part made of plastic in one operation. The connection contacts can advantageously be attached to the associated support arm using a plug-in snap-in connection, whereby it is particularly possible to carry out their assembly cost-effectively using a suitable assembly device.

The drawing shows an embodiment of the invention. It shows:

Fig. 1 a side view of a light,

Fig. 2 a front view of the luminaire in the direction
of arrow A in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 a view of the luminaire in the direction
of arrow B of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 a longitudinal section through the reflector

side end piece of the lamp, in larger
Scale as Fig. 1 and

Fig. 5 a cross section along the line 5-5
of Fig . 4 .

The portable lamp shown in the drawing has a housing, designated as a whole by 10, which is formed from two housing halves 12 and 14 that are symmetrical to one another. One housing end part 16 is preferably hemispherical and accommodates a reflector 18.

replaceable, which is covered at its open end by a disk 22 held in a ring-shaped holder 20. The reflector holder 20 can be attached to the front end of the hemispherical housing end part 16, for example, using snap hook-like holding elements 24 (see Fig. 4).

A preferably rechargeable power source and a LED part are housed in the housing 10, which is not shown in detail. At the end of the housing opposite the reflector 18, a charging socket 26 and a mains Euro plug connector 28 are provided for the charging part. On one long side of the housing there is an LCD display 30 to display the capacity of the rechargeable power source and, preferably on the same side of the housing, a slider 32 for focusing the light cone, while on the upper long side of the housing as shown in Fig. 1 there is a switch 34 for switching the light on and off. On the same long side of the housing there are also carrying strap holders 36 and 38.

The reflector 18 has an opening 40 in the center through which a light bulb 42 protrudes into the reflector 18. This is held with its threaded base 44 in a socket 46, which is connected to the slide 32 via a radial holding web 48, whereby diametrically to the holding web 48 the socket 46 carries a guide web 50 which engages between two guide ribs 52 and 54 fixed to the housing in the axial direction of the light bulb 42 and is supported by the latter in the lateral direction.

In Fig. 5, the housing 32 is shown in front view. It has two longitudinal grooves 60 and 62 machined into its long sides 56 and 58, into which edge parts 64 and 66 of a slot-shaped housing opening 68 engage (Fig. 1 and 5).

As Fig. 5 shows, two support arms 70 and 72 protrude from the socket 46 diametrically and transversely to the holding web 48 and guide web 50, each of which carries a connection contact 74 or 76 to which electrical conductors 78 and 80 are connected. The tongue-shaped connection contacts 74 and 76 are each attached to the associated support arm 70 or 72 by means of a plug-in snap-in connection, which is not shown in more detail. These can be designed in a variety of ways.

The slide 32 rests with its housing-outside slide section 32' on the housing outside 10' and rliirrhnrpi ft pinp rlpn hslhliiinpl fnrminpn Rphänqppnrit.pi 1 Ifi —'-&agr;- ·■— ■■ ·· - zj ... _ -^ _ .. — .. — ___. __ __

recess 82 passing through it. The slider section 32' is equipped with a transverse groove 32" in order to be able to place the thumb on the slider 32 in a non-slip manner for the axial adjustment of the light bulb 42. To focus the light cone, the slider 32 is moved to the left" * . as shown in Fig. 4, whereby the maximum displacement distance is limited, for example, by hitting the light bulb holder 46 on the reflector 18.

Claims (8)

'..'..!I '. 7000 Stuttgart 70 ft ..'"..' Auf dem Haigst 29 Patent Attorney' "" Telephone<07ii>&ohgr;&ogr;&zgr;&ogr;&bgr; 12.March 1990 A 4321 - v-str Witte & Sutor GmbH Steinberger Strasse 2 Murrhardt Protection claims 1. Portable lamp, in particular a flashlight, the housing of which contains at least one power source and carries a reflector, in the centre of which is arranged a light bulb held in a socket provided with connection contacts, whereby this and the reflector are continuously adjustable in their axial direction between two stop positions relative to each other, characterized, that the socket of the light bulb (42) is arranged on a slide (32) which is provided in the housing (10) so as to be displaceable in the axial direction of the reflector (18), to which an opening (68) is assigned in the wall of the housing (10). 2. Lamp according to claim 1, characterized in that the slide (32) is elongated and has on its opposite longitudinal sides (56 and 58) a respective longitudinal groove (ßO h?w. 6?) extending in the direction of displacement, with which - in each case one of the π &igr; π &eegr; π &eegr; d π r cj r &igr; cj t >�eegr; ü over 1 i �eegr; (JG �eegr; d G �eegr; I inqirandtfiiJe (64 and Mj) of the (iohriu seo ff riurui (fjB) is in I jnqriff.. 3. Lamp according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the socket (46) is arranged on a retaining web (48) extending away from the inner slide part. 4. U-hte according to claim 3, characterized in that a guide web (50) engaging in a housing-formed guide groove extends from the socket (46) diametrically to the holding web (48). 5. Lamp according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that a support arm (70 or 72) carrying a connection contact (74 or 76) protrudes from the socket (46) on both sides, transversely to the holding web (48) and guide web (50). 6. Luminaire according to claim 5, characterized in that b the connection contacts (74 or 76) are each connected by means of g a plug-in locking connection to the associated support arm (70 or 72). ^ 7. Luminaire according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the slider (32) and socket ( 46 ) together with webs (48 and 50) and support arms (70 and 72) form a one-piece molded part made of plastic. 8. Lamp according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the reflector (18) is arranged in a partially, in particular hemispherical, housing end part (16), replaceably, and that it is flush ' ■ · i · &ogr; to the housing opening (68) receiving the slide (32), the wall of this housing end part (16) is perforated for the positive engagement of the slide part (32") overlapping the longitudinal edge parts (64 and 66) of the housing opening (68) by 3us?.°n.