US2013080A - Battery lighting system - Google Patents

Description

ept, l3 A. N. SMITH BATTERY LIGHTING SYSTEM Filed Aug. 15, 1933 THE JCCDY LJINE @CDAC INVENTOR Anrhong N. Smhh ATTORNEYS v out of sheet metal.

Patented Sept. 3, 1935 UNITED stares BATTERY LEGHTING sYsTEM Anthony N. Smith, Girard, ;P a., assignor to, 'jThe Girard Model Works Inc Girard, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application August 15, 1933, Serial No. 685,218

solaims. (01. 46-48.)

This invention relates to a battery lighting system and more particularly to such a system adapted for lighting the interior of a toy vehicle such as a railway coach. I

The primary and general object of the present invention resides in the provision of a compact,

simple and inexpensive battery lighting system for lighting the interior of toy bodies, particularly vehicle toy bodies such as toy railway cars.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objects as will hereinafter appear, my invention consists in battery lighting elements and their relation one to the other, as hereinafter are more particularly described in the specification and sought to be defined in the claims. The specification is accompanied by a drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an inexpensive type of toy railway coach embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan View thereof with the top removed;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section inf'the plane of theline 3-4 of Fig.2; and j v Fig. 4 is an enlarged section in [the plane of the line '4-4of Fig. 2. s Z

,Referring to the drawing,the lighting system of my invention is shown applied to an exceedingly' simple and inexpensive form of toy railway coach andjone of the advantages of the present system is the fact that because of its simplicity it maybe made at a minimum of expense commensurate" with the toys of this character.

The coach comprises a bottom plate l2, side walls l4, and a top Hi, all of which are pressed The bottom plate has appropriate bearings Ill and side flanges 20 bent downwardly at theside edgfiesthereof, and additional flanges 22 bentdownwardly .at the ends thereof. The bearings 13 carry axles 24 with appropriate The end portions, of bottom plate l2 are slotted at 2.8 to receive the inner ends 3!] of appropriate coupling means 32 for connecting the coach in the train, the coupling ing slots in the end flanges 22.

."Ihe side walls E i are appropriately stamped andapertured in simulation of doors and windows and are secured to the bottom plate IZby convenmeans 32 passing through appropriate supporttional tongue and slot construction as is indicated at '34 in Fig. 3,. The top edges of walls M are flared outwardly as shown at 36 in Figs. 1 and 2. The top or roof it may be pressed out of'a single piece of sheet metal and is provided'with in- ,turned edges 38 which mate with and encompass the outwardly flared edges 36. The top is, in this manner, made detachable from the body of the coach, thus giving access'to the lighting system next to be described.

The lighting system comprises a metallic plate which, in the present case, is the main bottom plate :2 of the coach. This metallic plate is provided with appropriate means for holding a pair of slender cylindrical dry cells 68 and 42 in place. In the-present case, the plate is bent .downwardly to-form troughs l iextending in spaced parallel relation near the side edges of the car. The troughs 4 3 are substantially shorter than the battery cellsand the metal from plate l2 at each end of the troughs is struck upwardly to form resilient retaining fingers or clamps it. In the present'case, the sidewalls it of the coach also actto help retain thecells ill and 42 in place. it will'thus be seen that the cells may be pressed downwardly through the open top of the coach into troughs M3 and are there frictionally held by fingers 46; It will be noted that the bat teries are placed in reverse polarity, that is, the positive poles 5'0. andiiz of cells it and 412 pointingtoward oppositeends of the coach. It may also be mentioned that for a small 'toy coach of the sorthere disclosed, the cells' it and 52 may be of the type used in flash-lights of the fountain pen type, these being small in diameter and fitting readily in a small space.

'The cells 46 and 62 are spaced apart in order to provide room therebetween for a lamp socket 54. The lighting .system further preferably includes a single strip of insulation 55 resting on metallic plate I? between the cells to and #12. q

The "battery cells are connected in series at one end by a generally T-shaped connector 58 formed of a single piece of sheet metal, the stem portion of which is insulated from the car body and riveted to the insulation strip 56 by a rivet or eyelet 60. It will be noted from an inspection of Fig. 4 4.0 that bottom plate 12 is cut away at '62 in order to prevent contact, between connector 58 and the car body or ground. The cross portion of connector 58 is bent upwardly and extends between the base 64 of cell and the pole 52 of cell 42 (or vice versa, that is, the batteries may be turned around so long as the relative reversal of (polarity is maintained).

Socket 5G" comprises a threaded sleeve or shell 66 acting as one terminal of the socket and a rivet or eyelet fifl acting as the other terminal of the socket, the said eyelet passing through an insulation washer l0 occupying the bottom of shell -66. It will be noted that eyelet 68 bears directly against metallic plate l2 and thus grounds the center terminal of the socket. The base of shell 86 rests in a preferably slightly cupped end 12 of the generally L-shaped connector 14. The bottom apertures of both the shell 66 and connector end l2, best shown in Fig. 3, are made sufliciently large to prevent contact with the eyelet 68, despite the fact that the riveting of eyelet 68 may be made sufficiently tight to act as sufficient holding means for connector 14. The end of connector 14 is bent upwardly and extends to one side for contact with pole 5B of cell 46, as is most clearly shown in Fig. 2.

The circuit is completed by a manually operable switch 16 pivoted directly on bottom plate l2 at E8 and provided with an outwardly projecting control arm 86. The side wall of the coach is recessed or cut away at 82 to provide clearance for movement of the control arm 80. The end switch member is of course struck out of a single piece of sheet metal. Oscillation of the switch 16 from the full line position to the broken line position shown in Fig. 2 causes the end of the switch to bear against the base 84 of cell 42, thus completing the battery circuit.

An appropriate flashlight bulb or lamp 86 is screwed into socket 54 in the usual manner and contacts through the side wall of the lamp base with the shell 66 of the socket and through its bottom or center terminal with the grounded eyelet 68 of the socket. It will be understood that the circuit runs from the socket shell 68 through connector 14 to positive pole 50 of cell 49, thence to base 64 of cell 40 and through T- shaped connector 58 to the positive pole 52 of cell 42, thence to the base 84 of cell 42 through switch T6 to ground, and from ground to the center contact or eyelet 68 of the lamp socket.

It should be noted that while the cells are held in proper position by the spring pressure of holding fingers 46, good end contact with the cells is insured regardless of this holding pressure, for pressure and movement developed by switch 16 and applied to one end of cell 42 is transmitted to the opposite end of cell 42 and thence to the base 64 of cell 40 and finally to the positive pole 50 of cell 40, that is, the contact pressure of switch 16 is applied entirely around the battery circuit.

It will be understood that the lighting system assembly comprises an appropriate metallic plate l2 with the battery supporting means, the lamp socket and the connector means including the switch but it is not essential that the said metallic plate l2 be the bottom of a toy railway coach. The entire lighting system may, for example, be applied to the roof of a toy automobile, the bulb then hanging downwardly from the roof instead of standing upwardly from the bottom as here shown.

It will therefore be apparent that while I have shown and described my invention in-preferred form, many changes and modifications may be made in the structure disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention, defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A battery and lamp assembly to light the interior of a toy, said assembly comprising. a metallic plate, said plate being formed with spaced parallel troughs and having portions thereof struck up in opposite direction to form resilient holding fingers at said troughs, all adapted to receive and hold a pair of flash light cells in spaced parallel relation, a strip of insulation mounted on said plate between said batteries, a

lamp socket mounted between said batteries, the center contact of said socket passing through the insulation strip and metallic plate and securing the socket to said plate, means secured to said insulation strip alone and extending across and connecting the batteries at one end, means interposed between the base of the socket and the insulation strip at one end and contacting at its other end with the free end of one of the batteries, and a switch member mounted on the metallic plate and movable into engagement with the free end of the other battery.

2. A battery and lamp assembly to light the interior of a toy vehicle body, said assembly comprising a metallic plate forming a part of the toy body, said plate being struck downwardly to form spaced parallel troughs and having portions thereof struck upwardly to form resilient holding fingers at said troughs, all adapted to receive and hold a pair of cylindrical flash light batteries in spaced parallel relation, a strip of insulation mounted on said plate between said batteries, a lamp socket mounted between said batteries, the center contact of said socket passing through the insulation strip and metallic plate and securing the socket to said plate, a generally T-shaped resilient piece of metal secured to said insulation strip and extending across and connecting the batteries at one end, a generally L- iaped piece of metal interposed between the base oi the socket and the insulation strip at one end and contacting at its other end with the free end of one of the batteries, and a switch member made of a single piece of sheet metal pivotally mounted on the metallic plate and movable into engagemznt with the free end of the other battery, thereby completing a series circuit through the batteries, the metallic plate and the lamp socket.

3. A toy railway coach comprising a coach body having a bottom plate and a removable top, said bottom plate being struck downwardly to form spaced parallel troughs and having portions thereof struck upwardly to form resilient holding fingers at said troughs, all adapted to receive and hold a pair of cylindrical fiash light batteries in spaced parallel relation, a piece of insulation mounted on said plate between said batteries, a lamp socket mounted between said batteries, the center contact of said socket passing through the insulation strip and metallic plate and securing the socket to said plate, means secured to said insulation strip and extending across and connecting the batteries at one end, means interposed between the base of the socket and the insulation strip at one end and contacting at its other end with the free end of one of the batteries, and a switch member mounted on the metallic plate and movable into engagement with the free end of the other battery.

4. A toy railway coach comprising a coach body having a bottom plate and a removable top,'

said bottom plate being struck downwardly to form spaced parallel troughs and having portions thereof struck upwardly to form resilient holding fingers at said troughs, all adapted to receive and hold a pair of cylindrical flash light batteries in spaced relation, a piece of insulation mounted on said plate between said batteries, a lamp socket mountedbetween said batteries, the center contact of said socket passing through the insulation strip and metallic plate and securing the socket to said plate, a generally T-shaped resilient piece of metal secured to said insulation strip and extending across and connecting the batteries at one end, a generally L-shaped piece of metal interposed between the base of the socket and the insulation strip at one end and contacting at its other end with the free end of one of the batteries, and a switch member made of a single piece of sheet metal pivotally mounted on the metallic plate and movable into engagement with the free end. of the other battery, thereby completing a series circuit through the batteries, the metallic plate, and the lamp socket.

5. A battery and lamp assembly for a toy comprising a metallic plate forming a. part of the toy, means to support a battery on one side of the plate, and a lamp socket mounted on the same side of the plate, a piece of insulation between the plate and socket base, the center contact of the socket passing through the insulation and plate and being riveted in place to secure said socket in place and ground the center contact to paid plate, means interposed between the socket base and insulation and connected to one battery pole, and a metallic switch mounted on the plate and movable into contact with the other battery pole.

6. A battery and lamp assembly devoid of wiring, for lighting the interior of a toy, said assembly comprising a metallic plate forming a part of the toy, means on said plate to support a flash light battery thereon and within the toy, a piece of insulation overlying said plate within the toy,

a lamp socket mounted on said insulation and plate within the toy and adjacent said battery, the center contact of said socket passing through the insulation and grounding on said plate and securing the socket on the plate, a metal strip interposed between the base of the socket and the insulation and connecting the base of the socket to one pole of the battery, and a metallic switch element grounded and movably mounted directly on said plate for movement toward and from the other pole of thebattery, whereby said switch completes a series circuit through the battery, the

metallic plate, and the socket mounted thereon.

7. A toy railway coach comprising a coach body having a bottom plate and a removable top, said bottom plate having means to receive and hold a pair of cylindrical flash light batteries within said body in spaced parallel relation at the sides of the body, a strip of insulation on said plate between said batteries, a lamp socket mounted within said body between said batteries, the center contact of said socket passing through said insulation and plate and being grounded on and riveted to said plate to secure said socket in place, a sheet metal connector secured to said insulation and extending across and connecting the batteries at one end, means interposed between the socket base and the insulation and connecting the socket base to the free end of one of the batteries, and a switch member mounted and grounded directly on the coach body for movement into engagement with the free end of the other battery.

8. A toy railway coach comprising a coach body having a bottom plate and a removable top, said bottom plate having means to receive and hold a pair of cylidrical flash light batteries within said body in spaced parallel relation at the sides of the body, a strip of insulation on said plate between said batteries, a lamp socket mounted within said body between said batteries, the center contact of said socket passing through said insulation and plate and being ground and riveted to said plate to secure said socket in place, a sheet metal connector secured to said insulation and extending across and connecting the batteries at one end, means interposed between the socket base and the insulation and connecting the socket base to the free end of one of the batteries, and an L-shaped switch member made of a single piece of sheet metal pivotally mounted and grounded directly on the bottom plate, one arm of said switch member projecting through the side wall of the coach body, and the other arm being movable into engagement with the free end of the other battery.

ANTHONY N. SMITH.

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