Patent Application
20070014121
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
1. Field of the Invention
This invention is an illuminating device. More specifically, the present invention is a light. This light is located in the interior of a vehicle.
2. Prior Art
The electrical interior light for vehicles was developed after the two basic inventions which became the standard in the vehicle the accumulator and the alternator. Those devices allow the vehicle to use electrical gadgets in the interiors. The accumulator provides electrical energy when the vehicle is not running and also provides the electrical energy required to start the engine (combustion engines), and the alternator provides electrical energy when the engine is running.
So almost all vehicles have a source of electrical energy. This source provides the occupants of the vehicle the use of electrical gadgets, and the interior light is one of these gadgets. The basic design of this light consist of three main systems: Light chassis, Light bulb and Three Position Switch (On, Door, Off).
Currently the lights in vehicle interiors are fixed to the roof and only able to illuminate the surrounding area. This makes it difficult to illuminate other places inside the vehicle. With the fixed light the user is not able to illuminate other specific points inside the vehicle, where it is needed, like under the chair, near the feet or even outside the vehicle. This problem has been partially solved by placing lamps in other places where light is typically needed, or giving the light side-to-side or rotational mobility, but the light is still in its original place and is not sufficiently versatile.
Another improvement is related to the switch. Originally, interior lights had an exterior independent switch, generally located next to the light but also sometimes located in the driver instrument panel.
Nowadays the switch is the light itself. You move the illuminating surface back or forward or you can also activate just pushing the light, “according to the design” to turn on or off the light. Generally this is a three position switch. The first position is called “on” and in this position, the light remains on. The second position is called “door”, and in this position the lamp turns on if at least one of the doors of the vehicle is open. The third position is called “off” and in this position the lamp remains off regardless of whether the door is open.
Besides the objects and advantages of the detachable light for vehicle interiors described in my above patent, several objects and advantages of the present invention are:
(a) the occupants of the vehicle are able to extract the interior light from its chassis and illuminate any places inside the vehicle using the interior light that the other standard lamp was not able to illuminate.
(b) the occupants of the vehicle are able to extract the interior light from its chassis and illuminate any places outside the vehicle using the interior light that the other fixed lamp was not able to illuminate.
(c) the light provides the same features as the regular interior light, fixed light, three positions switch (on, door, off) etc.
(d) the energy used for illuminating is provided by the vehicle, and passes to the light by a cord or its used to feed batteries inside the extractable light.
(e) the detachable light after removal can be momentarily fixed to ball-axle-rail a mechanism, whose purpose is to support the lamp and allow the user to direct the light in different directions, in different places where the mechanism is installed. It is a hands free set.
One of the improvements in this invention is that previously the occupants of the vehicle did not have the option of directing this light to certain areas in the vehicle; the light was fixed in the interior of the vehicle. With this improvement the occupants can use the interior light of the vehicle like a hand light, which gives the option of extracting the light from its chassis and directing the light to any place in the interior or exterior around the vehicle. This design also has other accessories and mechanisms that help the user to hold and direct the light's lamp.
In accordance with the present invention, an extractable light for vehicle interiors consists of two main parts: the chassis and an extractable light.
This device is general located on the roof of the vehicle interior. The extractable light has the object of providing light to any place where it is needed when you use a vehicle provided with this device. When it is powered by a cord, the user is limited in distance by the length of the cord; when is powered by rechargeable batteries, there are no distance limitations, but it is limited by the life of the battery.
Referring now to
In addition the main body 21 shown in
The electrical cord 32 has a retractable mechanism 55 as shown in
Detachable light 23 shown in
Cord lock system 25 is located inside the main body 21 as shown in
The electrical switch system 27 is located inside the main body 21 as shown in
Hands free set 117 shown in
Operation—
The manner of using the detachable light for vehicle interiors is identical to that for interior lights in present use. Namely, when the electrical switch system 27 is off, the light is permanently off as shown in
The detachable light 23A can be extracted from the main body 21A as shown in
The detailed operation of the electrical system: The positive current comes to the main body 21 through the positive cable feed connection 108 as shown in
The negative current is connected to the three position switch so there are different ways to the negative current to come in to the detachable light 23A. The door position as shown in
The on position as shown in
The off position is when electrical connector 72 connects the insulated chassis electrical switch support 78 with door electrical connector 74 so no negative current flows through spool pin electrical connector 80 and there is no way for any negative current to come to detachable light system 23A as shown in
The cord 32 is totally rolled up on the spool when the detachable light is placed in the detachable lamp hole 50 on top of cover 20 as shown in
When someone puts a finger in finger hole 30 and stars to pull out the detachable light the holder mechanism 27 starts to release the detachable light 23A as shown in
The detachable light 23A is pulled and rolls out of the spool 56, which starts to release electrical cord 32. The spool is placed in the chassis axle of spool 58 shown in
The task of cord lock system 25 is to cancel the force provided from the helix spring 100 to spool 56. The cord lock system 25 has two positions. When it is free, shown in
Another accessory for this invention is the hands free set 117 which is composed of rail 122, the hands free set axle, and rotating ball 118 as shown in
The axle base 130 is designed to slide along rail 122. The top of the axle 120 has a double side chamfers and axle cut as is shown in
An additional design is the detachable light system powered by batteries 23B so the system turns into a detachable cordless light 23B as shown in
The rechargeable battery system (not shown) is also located in the interior of the main body 21B and receives the vehicle current and fits it to the requirements of the batteries installed in the detachable light 23B. The main body 23B and the detachable light 23B are electrically connected by an electrical independent positive and negative non-permanent connection, which is connected only when the detachable light is placed in the main body 21B. This non permanent connection is preferably located in the place where the cable hole 40B in the detachable light 23A and 40A in the main body 21A in the corded version are located because this feature makes it impossible to place the detachable light 23B in main body 21B in the wrong positions because the only way to place it is the way the non permanent electrical connection is connected. The entire electrical system located in the main body 23B and the way the batteries work is prior art and consequently is not explained in detail.
Main body 21A is similar, except that the electrical switch system 27 is located on the vehicle instrument front panel. In this design the switch connections are similar and the main body positive current comes though the same cable feed connection 108, but the switch system is outside so the negative current comes from the switch system by negative cable which is electrically connected to spool pin connector 80. The fixer screw 60 R in this case is totally isolated from negative current and has no electrical connections.
Main body 21A is similar, except that the electrical switch is located in the detachable light and is activated by pushing translucent part 24C against the detachable light 36C as shown in
A similar main body 21A but with the electrical switch located in the detachable light and activated by moving the translucent part 24D side to side in reference to detachable light chassis 36D is shown in
In the last two systems in which the electrical switch system is located in the corded detachable light, there are 3 cables on cord 32: one for positive current, one for negative current from the doors and one for negative current for permanent on position. The third cable should have an independent similar dynamic connection as is described before, between the spool 56 and the rounded part of spool pin electrical connector 80 which is located and attached to the chassis 22.
For the batteries version, a push up or side to side electrical switch can be implemented. It has to have a third connection at the non permanent connection as mentioned before between the detachable light 23B and main body 21B which is the negative connection from the doors. In this version the door system only works when the lamp is placed in the main body. The other two positions work in the same way no matter whether the light is placed or not, so at the non permanent connection there are three connections the negative connection from permanent on, the negative connection from the door and the positive connection.
The detachable light chassis 36A and 36E shapes are specially conceived to increase the detachable light performance in two aspects. The first aspect is related to the shape, in which it becomes easy to place the lamp 23 in the main chassis 21, because when someone tries to place the light 23 in the main body 21, a perfect correspondence between the hole 50 and the lamp chassis 36 is not necessary. This is because the shapes of the lamp 36 and hole 50 force the correspondence. It is only necessary to push the detachable lamp against the main body 21. The second characteristic is related to the increased performance when the detachable light is installed in the hands free set. The shape 36 is designed to not interfere with the rotational movement. Rather, the movement is generated by the rotating ball 118.
Conclusion, Ramifications, and Scope
The reader will see that the detachable light for vehicle interiors is a versatile version of the regular vehicle interior light. It provides features that the old fixed light does not have. It can be used to illuminate any area the user wants. It is easy to detach and to ease back to place again because of its design. The light also can be used with the hands free set previously installed in certain places in the vehicle.
Although the description above contains many specifications, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention.
For example, there are multiple variations in the design of the detachable light for vehicle interiors. These variations are related to the designer preferences. Some are related to how the power comes into the detachable light, while others refer to internal functions like the cable look system and electrical switch systems. Others are related to the main body and detachable light shape. Finally, there are variations about whether the system is placed, if is built-in or is placed on the surface where it is installed.
Thus the scope of this invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalent, rather than by the examples given.
