Patent Application
20080253109
The present invention relates to automotive work lights which allow convenient and variable aiming of light, while also allowing the two hands of the user to perform a task under illumination.
The performance of various tasks under poor lighting conditions and potentially dangerous situations, such as those encountered in automotive applications presents special challenges. For example, it is not uncommon for an automobile to fail while being driven on a highway late at night in an area where the road lighting is nonexistent or poor. Under such circumstances, a fan belt may snap and need to be replaced, a leak in steering fluid may require refilling the steering fluid reservoir as a temporary fix to allow enough drive time to reach a service station where a proper repair can be made, or some other minor, or perhaps not so minor, matter may need to be addressed on the road.
During such an occurrence, a driver may need to leave his car and address the problem. Usually, this will involve some inspection of the mechanical equipment and perhaps the making of a permanent or temporary fix. However, inspection of the problem requires good visibility of the mechanical systems causing the problem and, accordingly, good lighting conditions. In the context of automotive situations, good lighting is particularly important, because poor lighting may cause problems which cause the individual making a repair to be overly focused on the particular mechanical system under inspection and fail to adequately monitor traffic conditions and the dangers they pose.
Typically, the issue of illumination of automotive systems on the road is addressed by a common flashlight/head-mounted light. Such flashlight/head-mounted lights, while capable of providing proper light, under the best conditions, often fail to perform with ease and reliability.
More particularly, automotive lights must be held and aimed. This means that at least one hand of the user must be occupied holding the flashlight. While this is generally sufficient for purposes of inspection of, for example, an automotive system, the solution is not practical in the context of servicing a system. More particularly, in order to service most systems, it is desirable to have two hands free to work. Accordingly, in order to achieve this result, it is not unusual for an individual to put the flashlight/head-mounted light down on a surface at a position selected to illuminate the situs of the work or inspection. While, perhaps, this is better than the situation where an individual has only one hand free to do some work, the result is seldom satisfactory from the standpoint of the quality of lighting achieved.
In an attempt to address this situation, various alternatives have been proposed. For example, attachment of a strap to a flashlight/head-mounted light and hanging the same from, for example, an open automobile hood or a convenient object, such as a tree, will provide some degree of control of position. However, such approaches are far from satisfactory and are also difficult to implement.
Moreover, even if such an approach can provide adequate lighting and freedom for the hands to work, a flashlight/head-mounted light stored in the trunk of a car, for example, may suffer from a number of problems. For example, the battery may be dead. Moreover, it is not practical to use a conventional rechargeable flashlight/head-mounted light which would be plugged into, for example, the electrical mains of a house, ready for use because no such ready source of electricity is available. Worse, the conventional flashlight/head-mounted light battery may be deteriorated to the point where it has begun to leak and ooze battery acid, resulting in potentially serious damage to the floor of the trunk, glove compartment or other area where it is stored and/or damage to objects located proximate to the position of storage of the flashlight/head-mounted light.
It is an objective of the present invention to address these problems by providing a reliable light source which does not pose a threat of potential damage, is always ready to be used, and is easy to operate, while at the same time allows for hands-free operation. The objects satisfied by the invention also include a compact one-piece package, not dissimilar to a conventional flashlight, and an overall system configuration which reduces the likelihood of worn or missing parts.
In accordance with the invention, the above objects are achieved through the provision of a work light which comprises a light housing member and a generator housing member configured and dimensioned to be mechanically attached to the light housing member in a first closed light emitting apparatus configuration. The generator housing member defines a cavity. A strap assembly is configured to extend around the head of a user. The strap assembly is attached to the light housing member. A rechargeable battery is mechanically associated with the light housing member. An electrically driven light source is mechanically associated with the light housing member. The light source is positioned to output light from the light housing member. A generator is mechanically associated with the generator housing member. A crank is mechanically coupled to the generator. A generator housing member electrical connector is electrically coupled to the generator. A light housing member electrical connector is electrically coupled to the electrically driven light source. The light housing member electrical connector mates with and electrically couples to the generator housing member electrical connector when the light housing member and the generator housing member are mechanically attached to each other.
The electrically driven light source is coupled to the light housing member electrical connector by an on off switch. The crank conforms generally to the outside surface of an overall housing shape defined by the light housing member and the generator housing member.
The crank is mechanically coupled to the generator by an elongated gear train extending along the length of an overall housing defined by the light housing member and the generator housing member. The overall housing is elongated in shape.
The operation, features and use of the invention will be understood from the description which appears below, taken together with the following drawings showing only one exemplary embodiment of the invention, and in which:
Referring to
Light housing 12 and charger housing 14 may be made to mechanically join to each other using a conventional snap fit, a friction fit or more elaborate configuration incorporating, for example, a locking screw, latch (such as those used to secure removable members in laptop computers) or the like. When charger housing 14 and light housing 12 are joined to each other, they can be used as an ordinary one-piece flashlight. In addition to this, light housing 12 and charger housing 14 may be separated from each other to expose a strap for mounting light housing 12 against the forehead of a user for use as a headmounted light, as more fully appears below.
Light housing 12 includes an off switch 16 which may be used to turn the flashlight/head-mounted light on and off in a manner typical of the prior art, and/or to vary the number of lights which are turned on. For example, one depression, in the direction of arrow 18 (
Light is produced by a group of three light emitting diodes and output from flashlight/head-mounted light 10 through a plurality of lenses 22, 24 and 26, as illustrated most clearly in
Generally, light housing 12 houses mechanics of electrical switch 16, the light emitting diodes, a storage battery and a reflective light assembly such as is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,959,999 of Wen Sung Lee. Charger housing 14 houses a generator 32 (
The forward portion of charger housing 14 defines a cavity 34 (
Referring to
Charging of a rechargeable battery located in light housing 12 is provided by generator 32 which is coupled to crank handle 46 by a conventional gear train 33, as disclosed above. As illustrated in
In accordance with the present invention, the raw output of generator 32 may be coupled by an output electrical coupling 52 to an input electrical coupling 54. Coupling 54 may be coupled to a circuit board which contains the necessary electronics to convert the output of generator 32 to a dc waveform for charging a storage battery in light housing 12. When cranking has been completed and the battery satisfactorily charged, crank handle 46 may be returned to the position illustrated in
Alternatively, the charger circuit may be housed in light housing 12 and the raw alternating current output of charger 32 coupled by couplings 52 and 54 to the circuit, which is, in turn, coupled to the rechargeable battery when flashlight/head-mounted light 10 is in the position illustrated in
Preferring to
Opening the lid as illustrated in
While an illustrative embodiment of the invention has been described, it is understood that various modifications will be obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art. Such modifications are within the spirit and scope of the invention which is limited and defined only by the appended claims.
