Patent ID: 6183106
Filing Date: 2001-02-06
Classification: F21L,F21V,F41G

Abstract:
A shock-absorbent flashlight assembly, comprising:a flashlight bulb having a cylindrical body and having a base through which pass a pair of lead-pins;a cylindrical bulb chassis having a front surface and a rear surface, the bulb chassis having a pair of pin-sockets for receiving respective ones of the pair of lead-pins of the bulb near the front end of the bulb chassis, the pin-sockets having lead contacts which extend through the bulb chassis and out of the rear surface of the bulb chassis and which are adapted to provide electrical connection of the lead-pins of the bulb to opposite terminals of a battery source;wherein the bulb chassis has the lead-pins of the light bulb mounted to the pin-sockets at the front surface of the bulb chassis such that the base of the light bulb is adjacent to and spaced apart from the front surface of the bulb chassis to provide clearance beneath the base of the bulb;a layer of resilient silicone material which is positioned between the spaced-apart base of the light bulb and the front surface of the bulb chassis to adhere the bulb to the bulb chassis and to provide cushioning for axial movement of the light bulb;a cylindrical flashlight reflector housing having a cylindrical body with a large axial bore formed therein for slideably receiving the cylindrical bulb chassis at its back end. the cylindrical flashlight reflector housing having a radially symmetric concave internal reflective surface formed in its front end around the central axis, a central axial bore is formed in the flashlight reflector housing to provide clearance for the light bulb and to accommodate movement of the light bulb along the central axis and radially away from the central axis:a helical spring contained in the large axial bore of the cylindrical flashlight reflector housing for biasing the bulb chassis out of the cylindrical flashlight reflector housing;a heat resistant resilient O-ring which is inserted in an enlarged rear portion of the central bore of the reflector housing, wherein the O-ring has an internal surface which engages the cylindrical body of the light bulb such that the O-ring cushions the light bulb for radial movements of the light bulb with respect to the central axis of the reflector housing and so that the light bulb remains aligned along the central axis; anda cylindrical battery housing which has external threads formed in one end for engagement with internal threads formed near the back end of the reflector housing where the cylindrical battery housing contains one or more batteries and which is part of an electrical circuit from a battery contact ring to one terminal of the batteries, where the other terminal of the batteries is connected to a battery contact coil spring.