The present invention relates to the field of portable illumination and more particularly relates to a work light convertible from a work light with a stand to a pocket-sized flashlight.
Portable illumination has become a necessity of modern life. This is especially true in work situations, where relocating a light source can be necessary for effective viewing of a work area, such as inside a furnace, in a crawl-space or other tight situation. Commensurate with the need of relocation, is the need to statically hold a light source in a desired position. To this end, lighting systems using various forms of stands and clamps have been developed to secure light sources of various types in freestanding and supported configurations. Support means have included magnets for ferrous/magnetic surfaces.
One recent innovation has been to provide a work light with a collapsible stand such that it may then be used as a flashlight, with the stand becoming the handle of the flashlight. Until now, any convertible work lights that utilize the same basic principals use complex locking and deployment mechanisms, or independent legs which form a less stable tripod.
The present invention is a convertible work light that presents a tripod base which, when stowed, become the entire grasping portion of a handle for a flashlight configuration. The work light is structured for ease of use with a key structure to secure the head when stowed and for rapid and stable deployment.
The present invention represents a departure from the prior art in that the work light of the present invention allows for rapid and efficient deployment with simple and secure stowage. It also provides additional stability and fastening options and significant extension of the stand portion of the work light when deployed and efficient use when in a stowed, flashlight, configuration.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of work lights, this invention provides a convertible work light with increased support when deployed and a smaller profile when in a stowed, flashlight, configuration. As such, the present invention's general purpose is to provide a new and improved extendable work light that is easily deployed, stable, easily stowed and usable when in a stowed configuration. The work light of the present invention also provides complete range of direction for directing an emitted light beam.
To accomplish these objectives, the work light comprises a head portion, containing the light and power sources, and a body portion, containing the legs and support structure, being connected by an extendable neck. The legs are spring biased to maintain an open, work stand, configuration while the head itself serves to hold the legs against the spring bias to maintain a stowed, flashlight, configuration. A twisting switch configuration is utilized to turn the light on and off. A keying structure is provided to lock a lower portion of the head against the body assembly and/or tripod legs when the work light is stowed for ease of activating the light. Magnets may be provided to anchor the work light on ferrous surfaces, such magnets being sufficient to secure the work light upside down against gravity. The work light may also act as an extendable pickup tool for dropped metal parts and tools.
The more important features of the invention have thus been outlined in order that the more detailed description that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may better be appreciated. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter and will form the subject matter of the claims that follow.
Many objects of this invention will appear from the following description and appended claims, reference being made to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.
Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
a is a perspective view of the head of the work light of
b is a front elevation of the head of the work light in a position different than that of
With reference now to the drawings, the preferred embodiment of the work light is herein described. It should be noted that the articles “a”, “an”, and “the”, as used in this specification, include plural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise.
With reference to
The head 10 is a generally cylindrical construction with a light source, preferably one or more LED's with an adequate battery. These components of the light source are located in chambers 12a and 12b of the head 10, shown in
The head 10 is connected to the body 24 by an extendable neck 18. Neck 18 allows the head 10 to be elevated with respect to the body 24 when it is in either the deployed or stowed states. When stowed, the neck is stored in a bore of the body 24, shown in
Since the preferred switch is a twisting mechanism, a keying structure to lock the lower portion 16 of the head 10 relative to the body 24 is desirable. This is best shown in
Preferred construction of most of the work light's parts is from extruded aluminum. The referred light source is a matrix of at least one LED, the head 10 and body 24 then providing an excellent heat sink. Three legs 22 are preferred, though more may be used. Any fractioning pattern or design and overall cross-sectional shape may be used on the legs 22 to provide a positive gripping surface.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, numerous modifications and variations can be made and still the result will come within the scope of the invention. No limitation with respect to the specific embodiments disclosed herein is intended or should be inferred.