HK1059300B - Flashlight - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a flashlight with a head containing at least one, preferably white, LED as the light source, which is connected to at least one battery as the power source, by means of an electrical connection between the light source and the power supply by means of the interconnection of a connector, and which corresponds at least in substance to a lamp body, preferably a halogen lamp.

Such a flashlight is known from EP 1 136 746 A1. However, the head is firmly attached to the shaft, so that this solution does not provide any indication of the subsequent upgrading of existing flashlights with the advantageous LED technology.

For this purpose, a lamp insert with a plug pin is known from DE 34 30 540 A1.

Furthermore, it is known from US 6.190.020 B1 to connect at least one LED incorporated in a suitable headlamp, by means of an electrical and mechanical interface, to a shaft of a flashlight.

In recent years, due to the development of a blue LED, it has subsequently become possible to produce white LEDs as well. The robustness and lower energy consumption of white LEDs compared to traditional incandescent or halogen lamps have led to an increased use of white or blue LEDs in flashlights. Such LEDs usually have different external dimensions and connection formats than the previously common flashlight bulbs. This results in the need to develop new housings for the use of white LEDs and, if necessary, to purchase a new flashlight from each other.

Another problem which has not yet been solved in the upgrading of flashlights is that to achieve a comparable light output, as with the previous lamp, several LEDs are usually required.

The purpose of the invention is therefore to create a flashlight that offers the possibility of retrofitting LEDs or, if necessary, using conventional or novel LEDs as lighting sources and achieving a light output comparable to existing models without LED technology.

This task is solved by a flashlight with the characteristics of claim 1.

The fact that a white LED with the characteristics of claim 1 has a connector between the luminaire and the power supply which is at least essentially equivalent to a lamp holder has for the first time created an adapter element which makes it possible to use a headlamp with integrated LEDs in conjunction with a headlamp previously used in conjunction with conventional luminaires. The batteries normally inseparably connected to such a headlamp can therefore be used in conjunction with the new luminaire in future. When a completely new light bulb is purchased, the customer has the possibility to connect some of the materials already available to the headlamp as a number of alternating LEDs. The headlamp is used to prevent the headlamp from being blocked by the lamp. This is particularly important in the case of the use of a transparent lens, which is difficult to prevent from entering the headlamp.

The lamp head is fitted with a connecting device which essentially consists of a coaxial ring electrode, the structure of which is essentially the same as that of a conventional lamp holder.

This connector is connected to the light source (s) by means of a circuit board containing two electrically isolated areas.

In addition, the head has several white LEDs, which are concentrically arranged along an imaginary central axis.

The white LEDs are mounted on a light carrier, and ideally the LEDs are directly cast from this light carrier platform, giving a robust light holder that is far superior in durability and insensitivity to conventional lamp holders.

The lenses are inclined towards each other in a cluster direction, so that the axes of the lenses are clustered.

Ideally, the inclination of the lenses is chosen according to the distance of the luminaires from the lenses or their focal plane.

The preferably multi-cell nickel-metal hydride battery is integrated within the shaft housing to supply the luminaires with voltage.

A charging plug is provided on the front of the housing facing away from the lamp head to recharge the battery incorporated in the housing and the battery can be charged in a conventional household outlet by means of the plug on this side.

The charging plug can be closed with a closing cap, which prevents damage to the connectors and improves the lighting handling.

The shaft housing of the flashlight has a basically rectangular cross-section with rounded corners, which is gradually converted into a square cross-section in the area of the headlamp.

The narrow sides of the rectangular section mentioned above are provided with an external ribbing which improves the haptic appearance of the flashlight.

The headlamp shall be connected to the shaft housing by means of a dissolvable shock-form.

The invention described above is explained in more detail below by means of an example of an embodiment which is only schematically shown in the drawing.

It shows: Figure 1: a flashlight in a side view and Figure 2 the headlamp of the flashlight in the cross section.

The flashlight 1 shown in Fig. 1 can be divided into three sections: the head 2 and the attached shaft 3 which passes into a cap 4 on the side opposite the head 4 and the cap 4 covers a charging plug 5 which is attached directly to the shaft 3 and which is used to charge a nickel metal hydride battery not shown in the figure to supply a voltage to a light source incorporated in the head 2.

The nickel-metal hydride battery is a four-cell battery that provides an operating voltage of 4,8 V.

The closing cap 4 has an internal ripple, not shown in the figure, to form a clamping fit, so that the closing cap 4 can be easily fitted to the charging plug 5 and removed.

The shaft part 3 and the cap 4 have a basically rectangular cross-section with rounded corners. On both narrow sides of the rectangular cross-section, a notch 7 is placed on the outside to provide an improved haptic effect for the flashlight 1.

The cross-section of the flashlight 1 is translated into an essentially square cross-section in the area of the headlamp 2 so that the headlamp 2 is at least two sides wider than the rest of the shaft 3.

A fixture 11 of headlamp 2 shall be fitted internally in the area adjacent to the shaft 3 with a shock-outline or with corresponding recesses which can be locked in a final position by means of the rest buttons of the shaft 3.

In the middle of the width of the shaft 3 there is a slide switch 10 for switching on and off the luminaires placed in the headlamp 2. A corresponding slide switch can also be used to turn on and off a flashing light in a familiar way.

The head 2 consists essentially of a plastic support 11 which provides a transparent plexiglass cover 12 on the front side of the head, as shown in the non-scale cut-out and detail view in Fig. 2.

These transparent plexiglass lenses 12 are enclosed by biconvex lenses 13 which are arranged at an angle to the plane formed by the surface of the transparent plexiglass lining 12 so that the beams of the lenses 13 converge in a central point of illumination.

The number of lenses 13 corresponds to the number of light sources integrated in the lamp head.

The light sources are so-called white LEDs 14 in the lamp head 2. Instead of the white LEDs 14 of course, LEDs 14 could also be arranged in another color spectrum, for example in blue. It is a circular plexiglass panel fixed by means of a spacer 16 at a defined distance from the transparent cover 12.

The LEDs 16 are also made of plexiglass, so that the transparent cover 12 can be made in one piece together with the light source 15 and the light sources 16.

In the present example, the luminaire 15 carries four white LEDs 14, which are arranged on a given circumference concentrically to a given axial centre axis of the flashlight 1 on the luminaire 15. The lenses 13 are arranged in the beam path of the LEDs 14. This shows that the number of lenses 13 corresponds to the number of LEDs 14 used. The distance of the luminaire 15 or the LEDs 14 from the lenses 13 is in a predetermined relation to the angle of inclination of the lenses 13 or their radial axis to a given surface of the transparent cover 12. In the present example, the lenses are oriented at an angle of approximately 2 degrees to the transparent cover surface, or to a different plane.

Radially inside, the luminaire carrier encloses a connector 17 also cast with the luminaire carrier, which consists essentially of a ring electrode arrangement with a central pin electrode 20 and a coaxial ring electrode 21.

The connector 17 is essentially the same as a conventional lamp holder, such as a halogen lamp, as is commonly used in flashlights 1. This allows the connector 17 to be used with LEDs 14 in conjunction with a shaft 3 and its integrated battery, which has been used with conventional lamps. The new type of lamp holder 2 with the integrated LEDs 14 can therefore be retrofitted with existing shaft 3 or existing shaft 3 already used as an interchangeable battery for the new type of lamp holder 2. This is particularly advantageous because the LED's lifetime is far superior to the previous one and the halogen beam.

Another advantage is the lower energy consumption of white LEDs compared to traditional halogen lamps.

The pin electrode 20 is connected to a connection to the voltage supply in shaft 3. A ring electrode 21 of the connector 17 forms the electrode array's mass pole. Below the luminaire support 15 is a conductor plate 23 held by a fixing piece 22 for parallel connection of the LEDs 14. The conductor plate 23 is a rectangular conductor plate with an adjacent bore placed away from the connector 17 inside the luminaire support 15. The conductor plate 23 comprises two electrically insulated areas, one of which is connected to the pin pin electrode 20 and one to the ring electrode 21.

The contacts of the LEDs 14 are connected to the circuit board 23 with one voltage contact and one mass contact each.

The above-mentioned lamp head 2 can be connected easily to a conventional lamp shaft 3 because of the structure of the connecting device 17, as already mentioned, and thus a flashlight 1 with a lamp head 2 to retrofit existing lamp shafts 3 is described above, which has a lower energy consumption with a higher light output.

The Commission shall adopt implementing acts laying down the rules for the application of this Regulation.

1 flashlight2 headlamp3 shaft 4 cap 5 charging connector7 external fitting10 slide switch11 insert 12 transparent cover13 lens14 LED15 light carrier16 spacer17 connector20 pin electrode21 ring electrode22 mounting 23 conductor plates

Claims (12)

1. Torch with a torch head (2) which encloses at least one, preferably white, LED (14) as light-emitting means and which is connectible with a shank member (3) enclosing at least one battery as voltage supply, wherein an electrical connection of the light-emitting means with the voltage supply is formed by means of the interposition of a connecting member (17) and that connecting member (17) corresponds at least substantially with a lamp holder, preferably a halogen lamp, characterised in that the lamp head is detachably connected with the shank member and that several, preferably four, white LEDs (14) are arranged in this lamp head (2) concentrically with a notional central axis of the torch (1) and the lamp head (2) is closed on the end face, which is remote from the shank member (3), by a transparent cover (12), preferably of Plexiglas, and a number, which corresponds with the number of LEDs (14) used, of preferably biconvex lenses (13) is formed in this transparent cover (12) as an integral constituent.
2. Torch according to claim 1, characterised in that the connecting member (17) is a coaxial ring electrode arrangement, wherein the radially outwardly disposed ring electrode (21) is connected with the ground pole and a concentric inwardly disposed pin electrode (20) is connected with the voltage supply of the torch (1).
3. Torch according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the ring electrode arrangement of the connecting member (17) is electrically connected with a circuitboard (23) concentrically surrounding this ring electrode (21), wherein this circuitboard (23) has two electrically insulated regions, of which one region is electrically connected with the ring electrode (21) and the other region is electrically connected with the pin electrode (20) of the connecting member (17).
4. Torch according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the LEDs (14) are connected, preferably fixedly cast, with an electrically non-conductive light-emitting means carrier (15).
5. Torch according to claim 4, characterised in that the lenses (13) are formed in the transparent cover (12) in such a manner that the axes of the lenses are inclined towards one another relative to a notional surface plane of the transparent cover (12) for generation of a beam.
6. Torch according to claim 5, characterised in that the angle of inclination of the lenses (13) is selected in dependence on the spacing of the lenses (13) from the transparent cover (12).
7. Torch according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the battery integrated in the shank member is constructed from four nickel-metal-hydride cells.
8. Torch according to claim 7, characterised in that the shank member (3) opens on the side remote from the lamp head (2) into a charging plug (5) for connection with a domestic socket.
9. Torch according to claim 8, characterised in that charging plug (5) is closable by means of a closure cap (4) which is detachably fastened by means of a clamping fit and which terminates flushly with the shank member (3).
10. Torch according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the torch (1) has a substantially rectangular cross-section with respectively rounded corners, wherein the rectangular cross-section of the shank member (3) transfers steplessly in the region of the lamp head (2) into a square cross-section with similarly rounded corners.
11. Torch according claim 10, characterised in that the shank member (3) and the closure cap (4) are provided at each of their narrow sides with an external ribbing (7).
12. Torch according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the lamp head (2) is detachably connected with the shank member (3) by means of a corresponding detent contour, wherein at least two detenting flanges of the shank member (3) detent in the assembled position with corresponding undercuts of the lamp head (2).