US1576983A - Electric flash light - Google Patents

Description

Patented Mar. i6, T1926.

TTS

VJOSEPH MAZZEO, F BROOKLYN, YORK.

ELECTRIC FLASH LIGHT.

Y.applicaamn filed october ie, 1923. serialI N. 669,518.

To aU whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH lVlAzzno, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Flash Lights, ,of which the following is a specification.

. This invention relates to improvements in 19 electric hand lamps and more particularly to those of a portable characterpf the flash light type.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a self contained electric lamp having the general appearance and characteristics of a battery generated lamp, but which is actuated by purely mechanical means.

Another purpose is to produce a lamp in which the current is produced by a, generator actuated by the stored energy contained in a spring so that the light is immediately available upon demand, the spring being rewound as occasion requires.

A further aim is in the provision of means for controlling the action of the lamp at will, and for regulating the speed of the generator to prevent waste of energy.

These and other aims and objects, which 0 will become apparent as the specification progresses, are accomplished by the novel design, construction and combination of lparts hereinafter described and shown in the accompanying drawing, constituting an essential part of this disclosure, and in which:-

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an embodiment of the invention, certain parts being in side elevation and broken away to show the interior.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the same taken ina plane at a right angle to Figure 1, the casing being partially removed to exhibit interior elements. L.,

Referring more indetail to the drawing, the outercylindrical shell or casing, desig-V nated b the numeral 10, is provided with screw t reads 11 and 12 at its respective ends, the forward end 11 having an inturned annular flange 13. Seated on this ange is the corresponding outturned ange 14 of a concave reflector 15 and resting in turn on the ange 14 is the edge of a lens 16, clamped by the conical Vring 17, said ring having an enlarged knurled central portion 18 from Which'exbein that often employed as a governing or speed A spindle 24 extends axially t rough thes disc and has fixed upon its extending end a knob 25,. partially protected by the cap 22 and easily accessiblefor operation.

Mounted on the spindle 24 within the. casing 1s a splrally coiled fiat spring 26 operative in a drum 27 provided with a ratchet and pawl 28 and 29 respectively, by means of which the spring can be wound by the knob 25. Fixed on the opposite side of the drum 26 1s another spindle 3() rigidly connected to the bottom 31 of a hollow annulus 32 havlng gear teeth 33 on the outer edge, there being an intermediate cylinder 34 interposed between'the periphery ofthe annulus and the casing 10 to which it is aliixed.

E xtending from the cylinder` 34, on op poslte sldes of the casing, are arms respectively 35 and 36, the latter being of greater length and having a right angled projection 37 the purpose of which will be further described.

A bracket 38, fixed to the arm 35 presents an inreaching element 39 forming a bearing for one end of a pinion rod 40, the other end of which is j ournalled in the cylinder 34.

Said pinion rod is in mesh Withthe teeth 33 being thus rotated by the annulus 32 when driven bythe spring. Fixed on the pinion rod 40 is a spur gear 41 meshing with another pinion rod 42, mounted to rotate in the Vbracket 38 at one end and at the other end in a projection 43 of an arm 44 formed on a bracket attached at its respective ends to the arms 35 and 36,

the main portion 45 of the bracket extending horizontally therebetween.

A spindle 46, extending from the pinion rod 42, has on it a'fixed collar 47 and a sliding collar 48 connected by thin spring strips 49, carrying at their centers weights 50, and' fixed .to-V the sliding collar 48 is a disc 51 adapted to make frictional contact with a cushioned stop 52, should the sped of the device cause the weights to 'move outwardly by centrifugal force, the arrangement controlling devlce.

The disc 31 and its associated mechanism may be prevented from rotation by an offset clip 53 fixed on the inner end of a pin 54, operable through a'slot 55 in the arm 36 and casing 10, the extending head .56 of the pin is adapted for manual operation and held from involuntary movement by springs 37 arranged Within an outstanding guide 58 fixed on the casing l0. A

Rigidly mounted on the pinion rod 42 is a toothed crown-wheel 60 meshing with a pinion 61 fixed on the end of a spindle 62, Journalled axially of the casing in the bracket 45.

Carried by the spindle 62 is a hub 63 formed on the end of a magnet 64 and which, due to the gear trains and controllable spring motor as described, can be rotated at a high rate of speed.

Opera-tively suspended within the hollow` magnet 64 is a plurally wound, stationary armature 65, supported by a spindle 66, the same passing through an insulating bushing 67 fixed in the arm 37.

One of the poles 68 of the armature is attached to a spring contact 69, engageable by the socket of the electric bulb 70 said bulb extending through an aperture in the reflector 15, adjacent the lens 16, and the other pole 71 of the armature makes electrical connection with the arm 37.

In operation the driving spring is wound by twirling the knob 25 until sufcient energy has been stored, rotation of the parts being prevented by placing the sliding knob 56 in the position shown in Fig. l.

When a light is desired, the knob 56 is moved to release the disc 5l whereupon the magnet will be rotated about the armature engendering an electric current sufiicient to energize the lamp and produce light.

Although I have described my improve ments with considerable detail and with rcspect to certain particular forms of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to such details since many changes and modifications may well be made Without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention in its broadest aspect.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A portable lamp comprising a cylindrical casing, a spring motor therein, a hollow crown gear driven by said motor, a pair of parallel pinion rods one of which is in cooperative engagement vwith said hollow crown gear while the second of which is in meshing engagement with a spur gear fixed to said first rod, a second crowngear fixed for rotatable movement with one of said pinion rods, a governor carried by the latter, a pinion in meshing engagement with the said second crown gear, a hollow magnet fixed for rotatable movement with said pinion and an armature suspended within the hollow rotatable magnet, an incandescent lamp, electric connections between the lamp and the armature, and exterior means to supply energy to the spring motor.

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York this 15th day of October A. D. 1923.

JOSEPH MAZZEO.

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