Patent Application
20100165609
The present invention relates to a portable lighting apparatus, such as a flashlight or a lantern, and, more particularly, to a portable lighting apparatus, which can change the color of radiated illumination light to various colors using color filters having various colors, and can also be more easily charged by an external power source.
Generally, the term ‘lighting apparatus’ refers to a light using electricity. Of such lighting apparatuses, a portable lighting apparatus, which can be conveniently carried by a user, is used as an emergency light in the home when a power failure occurs, or is used to ensure night vision during leisure activities such as fishing or mountain climbing. Furthermore, the portable lighting apparatus is supplied with power using dry cells, rechargeable batteries, or separate batteries.
Examples of the portable lighting apparatus include a searchlight, a pocket light, and a flashlight. An example of the searchlight includes a light the focus of which can be freely adjusted to shine a long distance, which is called ‘focusing.’ Furthermore, a waterproof portable light is used as a general home light, as a rescue light, or as an underwater light, which is used when disaster strikes at sea, or as a fish-luring light, which is easy to use. For a special purpose, there is a signal light for indicating danger using a flashing yellow or red light, and a three-color signal light for enabling the color of light to change into three colors.
In the above-described portable lighting apparatus, the battery thereof is discharged when the usage time has elapsed, and thus usage is inconvenient because the battery must be replaced with a new battery. Accordingly, with the recent trend, various products, that is, various types of portable lighting apparatuses, in which a self generation structure is provided, are being marketed.
Meanwhile, when a conventional portable lighting apparatus is used for a military purpose or to send a rescue signal, color filters having various colors are mounted in a portion that emits light radiated from a light source for use thereof. These color filters are separately carried, or are configured to be stored in a storing part, which is provided in one side portion of the portable lighting apparatus.
Accordingly, the conventional portable lighting apparatus is disadvantageous in that, in the case where color illumination is necessary, it cannot be easily used because there is the risk of loss of or damage to the color filters.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a portable lighting apparatus, which enables color filters to be more easily used when needed without the risk of loss or damage to the color filters.
Furthermore, another object of the present invention is to provide a portable lighting apparatus, which facilitates the input of external power, so that it can be very easily charged by an external power source.
In order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides a portable lighting apparatus, including: a main body comprising a light source; one or more color filters, provided so as to be moved to the light emission region of the light source; and an input jack and an output jack, connected to a charging unit, which is provided in the main body.
It is preferred that the color filters move along guide paths, which are formed in respective side portions of the main body, thus covering the light emission region of the light source.
It is preferred that the color filters are hinged to respective side portions of the main body so as to be rotated, thus covering the light emission region of the light source.
The main body may further include a self-generation unit for internally generating power, the self-generation unit being connected with the charging unit of the main body.
The characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Prior to reading the detailed description of the present invention, it must be understood that the terms or words used in the specification and claims of the present invention should not necessarily be understood according to their general meanings or dictionary definitions, but should be understood to have meanings and to represent concepts conforming to the technical spirit of the present invention, on the basis of the principle by which inventors can define the concept of terms properly to explain their invention in the best way.
The lighting apparatus of the present invention is configured such that the color filters are hinged to the main body so as to slide or rotate to thus cover the light emission region of the light source, which enables the color filters to be more easily used when needed, without the risk of loss of or damage to color filters.
Furthermore, in the present invention, the charging jack, which is connected to the generator of a self-generation unit, is provided on one side surface of the main body so as to be exposed to the outside, so that the present invention is advantageous in that the power charging of other portable electronic products, such as mobile phones, as well as the self-charging of the portable lighting apparatus can be facilitated.
10: main body
11: light source
12: color filters
20,30: self-generation units
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description.
A lighting apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings below.
First, it should be noted that the same reference numerals are used throughout the different drawings to designate the same or similar components. In the description of the present invention, descriptions of related well-known functions or constructions are omitted so as not to make the gist of the present invention unclear.
As shown in the drawings, the portable lighting apparatus of the present invention includes a main body 10, which includes a light source 11, at least one color filter 12, which is configured to cover the light emission region of the light source 11, and an input jack 25a and an output jack 25b, which are connected to a charging unit 40, which is provided in the main body 10.
The main body 10 includes the light source 11 in one end thereof. The light source 11 includes at least one light emitting element 11a, such as a Light Emitting Diode (LED) and a filament bulb. A light emission lens 11b is provided in front of the light emitting element 11a. The light emission lens 11b is made of transparent or semi-transparent material, and is disposed close to the light emission region of the light emitting elements 11a. Furthermore, the light emission lens 11b may be implemented using various types of lenses, such as convex lenses, having various types of curved surfaces, and lenses having structures formed of combinations of convex lenses and concave lenses. The above-described light emission lens 11b may emit the light radiated from the light emitting element 11a over a widened light emission range, or may condense and emit the light radiated from the light emitting element 11a within a narrow range.
Furthermore, an On/Off switch 10a for turning on and off the light source 11 is provided on one side surface of the main body 10.
The at least one color filter 12, as shown in
Color filters 12 and 12′ may have various colors, such as red, blue and yellow, may have high light transmissivity, and may be made of flexible material having favorable heat- and light-resisting characteristics.
As shown in
Meanwhile, as shown in
Furthermore, the color filters 12 and 12,′ having different colors, may be configured to overlap each other and to slide.
As shown in
Furthermore, the main body 10 has mounting grooves 17 and 17,′ which are formed in one side portion of the main body 10 or in respective side portions of the main body 10. The color filters 42 and 42,′ which can be rotated toward the main body 10, are mounted in the respective mounting grooves 17 and 17.′ Accordingly, the color filters 42 and 42′ can be prevented from being exposed to the outside.
The color filters 42 and 42′ have respective free ends. The free ends are provided with one or more engaging protrusions 42a, 42c, 42a′ and 42c.' Engaging depressions 42b, 42d, 42b′ and 42d′ are formed in the main body 10 to correspond to the engaging protrusions 42a, 42c, 42a′ and 42c.′ Accordingly, when the color filters 42 and 42′ are rotated toward the mounting grooves 17 and 17′ or toward the light emission region of the light source 11, the engaging protrusions 42a, 42c, 42a′ and 42c′ are engaged with and locked to the engaging depressions 42b, 42d, 42b′ and 42d,′ thus the rotation of the color filters 42 and 42′ can be restricted.
The charging unit 40, which is charged by an external or internal power source, is provided in the main body 10. The input jack 25a, which is connected to the cigarette lighter jack of a vehicle or other external power source for power charging, is provided in the charging unit 40. The above-described input jack 25a may be formed to have various structures, such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port structure, a peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) port structure, and a cigarette lighter jack structure. Accordingly, the present invention is advantageous in that it can receive power from various external power devices via the input jack 25a, and can be charged by the received power.
Furthermore, the output jack 25b may be connected to the charging unit 40. This output jack 25b may be formed to have various structures, such as a USB port structure and a PCI port structure. Accordingly, the present invention is advantageous in that it can greatly increase the convenience of use thereof, because mobile phones or portable audio and/or video devices can be easily charged via the output jack 25b.
That is, the present invention is advantageous in that it can achieve convenient power charging by causing the charging unit 40 to receive external power via the input jack 25a, and in that it can charge an external electronic product by outputting the charged power of the charging unit 40 to the external electronic product via the output jack 25b.
Furthermore, the lighting apparatus of the present invention may further include a self-generation unit 20 or 30, which can charge the charging unit 40 by internally generating power.
An example of the above-described self-generation unit 20 is illustrated in
Furthermore, gear trains 26 are connected to the generator 21. A rotary shaft 24 is connected to the gear trains 26. A rotary lever 22 is coupled to the rotary shaft 24 so as to be rotated using a hinge 22a. A handle 23 is provided in the free end of the rotary shaft 24.
Furthermore, a mounting groove 18 for holding the rotary lever 22 and the handle 23 is formed in one side portion of the main body 10. Accordingly, when the rotary lever 22 is rotates around the hinge 22a toward the main body 10, the rotary lever 22 and the handle 23 according to the present invention may be mounted in the one side portion of the main body 10 so as to be hidden.
In the above-described construction of the self-generation unit 20, when the rotary lever 22 is rotated in the direction of the arrow B and is thereafter rotated in the direction of the arrow C or in the direction opposite that of the arrow C while the handle 23 is gripped, the rotary shaft 24 is rotated, and thus rotational force is transmitted to the generator 21 via the gear trains 26. Accordingly, the generator 21 generates a predetermined amount of electrical energy and transmits the generated electrical energy to the charging unit 40, thus performing charging.
Meanwhile, an example of the self-generation unit 30 is illustrated in
In the above-described construction of the self-generation units 30, when the handle 33 is pulled out in the direction of the arrow D and is then released as shown in
The self-generation units 20 and 30 of the present invention, described above, are not limited to the structures illustrated in
The present invention is not defined by the above-described embodiments and the accompanying drawings, and it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations are possible within the range that does not depart from the technical spirit of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that the modifications or variations described above are included in the accompanying claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2007-0010451 | Feb 2007 | KR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/KR08/00622 | 2/1/2008 | WO | 00 | 2/3/2010 |
