Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6499859
-
Patent Number
6,499,859
-
Date Filed
Tuesday, May 22, 200123 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, December 31, 200221 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
- O'Shea; Sandra
- Tsidulko; Marc
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 362 184
- 362 183
- 362 190
- 362 191
- 362 235
- 362 249
- 362 800
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
A portable lighting lamp comprises a housing containing a lighting module with light-emitting diodes, an electric power source by means of batteries, and a switch for control of lighting of the light-emitting diodes. The housing comprises an intermediate support made of insulating plastic material which is equipped with a securing device on the front wall for fitting of the lighting module, positioning means imbricated on the two opposite sides between contacts in electrical connection with the light-emitting diodes and the batteries, and recesses on the rear wall for housing the batteries between the contacts.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a portable lighting lamp comprising a housing containing a lighting module with light-emitting diodes LED, an electrical power source, notably by means of batteries, rechargeable or not, and a switch to control lighting of the light-emitting diodes LED.
STATE OF THE TECHNIQUE
Light-emitting diodes generally have a longer lifetime than that of filament bulbs and have a high electrical efficiency.
The documents DE 2,971,229, DE 3,916,875 and DE 3,929,125 describe lighting devices making use of light-emitting diodes. Assembly of these devices is complicated and requires a large amount of space.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to achieve a lighting lamp with light-emitting diodes having a structure making for quick assembly and compact dimensions.
The lighting lamp according to the invention is characterized in that the housing comprises an intermediate insulating support equipped with:
a securing means on the front wall for fitting of the lighting module,
positioning means imbricated on the two opposite sides between contacts in electrical connection with the light-emitting diodes and the power supply batteries,
and recesses on the rear wall for housing the batteries between the contacts.
According to a preferred embodiment, the positioning means are arranged to enable the intermediate support to be clipped onto a dish-shaped base and onto a front enclosure so as to confine a first compartment housing the lighting module and a second compartment accommodating the batteries. The lighting module comprises an insulating base-part having a series of recesses for housing the light-emitting diodes, one of the sides of said base-part enabling parallel connection of the wires whereas the other side acts as support for the switch having a flexible contact blade operating in conjunction with a fixed conductor. The contact blade is actuated by a control button accessible in a groove of the enclosure. The control button is secured to a mobile slide urging the contact blade to the closed position or the open position of the switch.
According to one feature of the invention, a reflector is provided with circular holes for passage of the light-emitting diodes, said reflector being arranged in the first compartment between the lighting module and a glass pane of the front enclosure.
According to another feature of the invention, the intermediate support is joined to the base by hinges formed by a pair of flexible plastic tabs clipped onto studs of the base.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other advantages and features will become more clearly apparent from the following description of an embodiment of the invention, given as a non-restrictive example only and represented in the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1
is a perspective view of the lighting lamp according to the invention, the housing being shown in the assembled position;
FIG. 2
represents a perspective view of the lamp when the base of the housing is open;
FIG. 3
shows a perspective view of the lighting module fitted on the intermediate support of the housing;
FIG. 4
is a transverse sectional view along the line
4
—
4
of
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 5
is a vertical sectional view along the line
5
—
5
of
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 6
shows an enlarged scale view of a detail of
FIG. 5
;
FIG. 7
represents the wiring diagram of the lighting module;
FIGS. 8 and 9
are cross-sectional views of the switch, respectively in the closed position and in the open position.
DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
With reference to
FIGS. 1
to
9
, a portable electric lamp
10
comprises a housing
12
made of molded plastic material containing a lighting module
14
with light-emitting diodes LED
16
, and a DC power source by means of batteries
18
or rechargeable batteries.
The housing
12
is formed by assembly of a dish-shaped base
20
, a front enclosure
22
, and an intermediate support
24
, which is joined to the base
20
by a pair of hinges
26
,
28
with flexible tabs.
Assembly of the three elements constituting the housing
12
is achieved by clipping, the intermediate support
24
subdividing the inside of the housing
12
into a first compartment
30
housing the lighting module
14
and a second compartment
32
accommodating the cylindrical batteries
18
. The front enclosure
22
is provided with a front window
34
sealed by a transparent glass pane
36
letting the light beam emitted by the light-emitting diodes LED
16
pass. A reflector
38
is arranged in the first compartment
30
between the lighting module
14
and the glass pane
36
and is provided with circular holes
40
to enable the light-emitting diodes to pass.
The two opposite sides of the intermediate support
24
are each equipped with positioning means
42
imbricated between contacts
44
a
,
44
b
;
45
a
,
45
b
, the latter being electrically connected to the batteries
18
and the lighting module
14
. The rear wall of the intermediate support
24
presents an alveolar structure designed to support the batteries
18
, each recess
46
having the form of a cylindrical sector extending transversely between the contacts
44
a
,
44
b
;
45
a
,
45
b
. The front wall of the intermediate support
24
comprises a securing means
48
for fitting the lighting module
14
. The securing means
48
can be formed by a straight slide or a clip.
The lighting module
14
comprises a base-part
50
made of insulating material, which is provided with a series of blind recesses
52
for housing the light-emitting diodes
16
. Two holes are drilled in the bottom of each recess
52
and pass through the base-part
50
for the two wires
54
,
56
of the corresponding light-emitting diode
16
to pass through. The three wires
54
of the same polarity are connected to a first connection point
58
which is at the potential of one of the poles of the DC power source. The other three wires
56
of opposite polarities are connected to a second common point
60
electrically connected to the other pole by means of a resistor
62
and a switch
64
.
The switch
64
comprises a flexible contact blade
65
actuated by a control button
66
against a fixed conductor
68
. The button
66
is accessible in a groove
70
of the enclosure
22
and drives a mobile slide
72
to move the contact blade
65
to the closed position (
FIG. 8
) or the open position (
FIG. 9
) of the switch
64
. The fixed conductor
68
of the switch
64
is connected to the resistor
62
opposite the second common point
60
.
The three light-emitting diodes
16
are aligned transversely on the base-part
50
of the lighting module
14
, but the arrangement and number of light-emitting diodes
16
can naturally be modified.
Closing of the switch
64
causes power supply of the light-emitting diodes
16
in parallel by flow of a direct current the intensity of which depends on the value of the resistor
62
. An electronic circuit can be used to adjust the lighting of the diodes.
Assembly of the portable lamp
10
according to the invention is performed in the following manner:
The lighting module
14
is first of all pre-assembled with its components, and is then housed in the slide
48
arranged in the front wall of the insulating support
24
. The enclosure
22
is equipped with the control button
66
and the slide
72
. The contacts
44
a
,
44
b
;
45
a
,
45
b
are fitted on the two opposite sides of the intermediate support
24
imbricating them between the positioning means
42
.
The flexible tabs of the hinges
26
,
28
and the reflector
38
are fitted on the sub-assembly of the lighting module
14
and the support
24
, followed by insertion in the enclosure
22
. The flexible hinges
26
,
28
are clipped onto clipping studs
74
,
76
of the base
20
(
FIG. 2
) and the batteries
18
are inserted in the recesses
46
of the support
24
. Final fitting of the enclosure
22
and base
20
to one another is performed on the positioning means
42
of the support (
FIGS. 1
,
4
and
5
). The switch
64
becomes operational as soon as the case
12
has been assembled.
Claims
- 1. A portable lighting lamp comprising a housing containing a lighting module with light-emitting diodes LED, an electrical power source comprising batteries, rechargeable or not, and a switch to control lighting of the light-emitting diodes LED, and comprising an intermediate support made of insulating plastic material, so as to confine in the housing a first compartment to house the lighting module and a second compartment accommodating the batteries, the intermediate support being equipped with:positioning means imbricated on two opposite sides between contacts in electrical connection with the light-emitting diodes and the power supply batteries to align and clip the intermediate support onto a dish-shaped base and onto a front enclosure; and recesses on the rear wall for housing the batteries between the contacts.
- 2. The portable lighting lamp according to claim 1, wherein the lighting module comprises an insulating base-part having a series of recesses for housing the light-emitting diodes, one of the sides of said base-part enabling parallel connection of the wires whereas the other side acts as support for the switch having a flexible contact blade operating in conjunction with a fixed conductor.
- 3. The portable lighting lamp according to claim 2, wherein the contact blade is actuated by a control button accessible in a groove of the enclosure.
- 4. The portable lighting lamp according to claim 3, wherein the control button is secured to a mobile slide urging the contact blade to the closed position or the open position of the switch.
- 5. The portable lighting lamp according to claim 1, wherein a reflector is provided with circular holes for passage of the light-emitting diodes, said reflector being arranged in the first compartment between the lighting module and a glass pane of the front enclosure.
- 6. The portable lighting lamp according to claim 1, wherein the intermediate support is joined to the base by hinges formed by a pair of flexible plastic tabs clipped onto studs of the base.
- 7. The portable lighting lamp according to claim 1, wherein the intermediate support has a front wall equipped with a securing means for fitting of the lighting module.
- 8. The portable lighting lamp according to claim 7, wherein the securing means is formed by a slide or a clip.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
00 07173 |
Jun 2000 |
FR |
|
US Referenced Citations (4)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
3714411 |
Waters et al. |
Jan 1973 |
A |
4772990 |
Linehan et al. |
Sep 1988 |
A |
5446345 |
Halabi et al. |
Aug 1995 |
A |
5446441 |
Su |
Aug 1995 |
A |
Foreign Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Date |
Country |
39 29 125 |
Mar 1990 |
DE |
39 16875 |
Dec 1990 |
DE |
WO 9806975 |
Feb 1998 |
WO |