Abstract:
A 9-volt battery mounted flashlight including a lower housing fixedly mounted on the battery and an upper housing carrying an LED that pivots or rocks on the lower housing to turn the flashlight on and off. The upper housing has a pair of integral pivot bosses that mount in horizontal pivot bores in the lower housing so the upper housing rocks between on and off positions.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     9-volt battery supported LED flashlights have been marketed for about the last seven years. The principal advantage of these flashlights is because they are supported on and atop the 9 volt battery, they eliminate the need for a flashlight body holding the batteries, they eliminate the need for a removable bulb holding assembly, they eliminate the need for a light reflector and they eliminate the need for a lens and lens bezel. 
     The companies currently manufacturing battery mounted flashlights have not optimized the market for these products because: (1) their product design is not cost sensitive; (2) their product design is not durable; and (3) they have not designed and promoted the product in its optimal markets. 
     The first technical entry into the battery supported flashlight market is shown in the Puppo, U.S. Pat. No. 6,137,398, filed on Oct. 15, 1999, entitled “Miniature Battery Powered Beacon”. This device includes a base  12  carrying terminals  26  and  28  and a top mounted LED  14  covered by a cap  30 . There is no switch in the Puppo device and the only way to shut the Puppo “Beacon” off is to remove the flashlight from the battery. Besides the cumbersome maneuver of snapping the flashlight on and off the battery just to shut the light off, because the flashlight is so small, when it is off the battery it is frequently misplaced or lost. This is not a good design. 
     Benjamin Victor Duane Henry, in his U.S. Pat. No. 6,511,202 entitled “Light Emitting Diode 9-volt Battery Snap Flashlight”, came up with the idea of adding a switch to the Puppo design, but the incremental cost of the switch itself makes Henry&#39;s design non-competitive in the marketplace. 
     Then came John Collins (U.S. Pat. No. 6,695,459, entitled “Portable Lighting Product, Portable Lighting Product Circuitry, and Method for Switching Portable Lighting Product Circuitry), in 2002 and devised a switchless battery mounted flashlight that pivots on one of the battery terminals to engage the other battery terminal to turn the flashlight on and off. The base  40 , as seen in  FIG. 8 , carries a terminal  56  that clamps on and pivots with respect to the battery terminal  22 . The wire  47  clips on the other battery terminal selectively to turn the flashlight on and off as the base pivots on a vertical, not horizontal, axis. 
     The biggest problem with the Collins design is stability. When the switch is off as depicted in  FIG. 8 , the base  40  is solely supported on one battery contact, contact  22 , and the base is swung perpendicular to and overhanging the battery. It cannot be carried in that position because it will easily snap off the battery and damage the base terminal connection. 
     Furthermore, when in use the Collins device feels and appears flimsy and of low quality. 
     It is a primary object of the present invention to ameliorate the problems noted above in battery mounted flashlights. 
     SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
     In accordance with the present invention, a 9-volt battery mounted flashlight is provided including a lower housing fixedly mounted on the battery and an upper housing carrying an LED that pivots or rocks on the lower housing to turn the flashlight on and off. The upper housing has a pair of integral pivot bosses that mount in horizontal pivot bores in the lower housing so the upper housing rocks between on and off positions. 
     The principal advantages of the present invention are low cost and stability. The low cost is provided by the one-piece upper and lower housings and the elimination of a self-standing switch. The rocking motion of the upper housing provides the switching function at a lower cost. The stability is provided by the lower housing which snaps onto both positive and negative terminals of the battery to lock the lower housing on the battery without relative movement therebetween such as in the Collins portable lighting product discussed above. Further stability is provided by the recess in the top of the lower housing that receives and guides the upper housing as it rocks from on to off positions in the lower housing. 
     This flashlight has many uses such as a home emergency light, a camping light, or with red flashing LEDs, a vehicle warning light. One ideal marketing of this product is with of 9-volt batteries at the point of sale of the batteries, either inside or outside of the battery packaging. 
     This flashlight, properly made and designed, can be manufactured at a cost of approximately $0.30 at a given labor rate, by far cutting the cost of currently marketed battery mounted flashlights. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the present light assembly shown snapped onto the contacts of a standard 9-volt battery; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the light assembly and battery illustrated in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a longitudinal section through the light assembly and battery showing the light assembly in its “off” position; 
         FIG. 4  is a longitudinal section of the light assembly and battery according to the present invention illustrated in the “on” position; 
         FIG. 5  is a circuit illustrating the LEDs, switch, and 9-volt battery and resistor in series configuration; 
         FIG. 6  is a lower perspective of the top housing assembly; 
         FIG. 7  is a bottom perspective of the bottom housing assembly, and; 
         FIG. 8  is a top perspective of the bottom housing assembly. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to the drawings and particularly  FIGS. 1 to 4 , the present light assembly is generally designated by the reference numeral  10 , and as illustrated in  FIG. 1  is releasably snapped to the top contacts of a standard 9-volt battery  11 . 
     As seen more clearly in the exploded view of  FIG. 2 , the light assembly  10  includes a stationary bottom housing  12  carrying a positive contact or terminal  14  and a negative contact or terminal  15  that snap respectively onto positive battery contact or terminal  16  and negative battery contact or terminal  17 . 
     Also seen in  FIG. 2  a “J” contact  27  is provided that selectively engages the negative contact  15  to turn the light assembly on and off, a resistor  28  provides the necessary voltage drop to the LEDs  19  and  21 , and a conductive wire  30  provides electrical contact between the positive contact  14  and one of the leads of resistor  28 . A coil spring may be an alternative to “J” contact  27 . 
     An upper housing  18  carries LEDs  19  and  21  and is pivotally mounted in lower housing apertures  23  by integral opposed circular mounting bosses  25 . The pivotal movement of the upper housing  18  within the lower housing  12  is what causes actuation and deactuation of the LEDs  19  and  21 . 
     The light assembly  10  is illustrated in  FIG. 3  in its “off” position, with “J” contact  27  apart from the negative light assembly contact  15 . 
     As seen in  FIGS. 3 ,  7 , and  8 , the lower housing  12  is a one-piece plastic molding that is generally rectangular in construction having an upper rectangular recess  32  that pivotally receives and guides the upper housing  18 . As seen in  FIG. 8 , the lower housing has a transverse wall  34  with a pair of through bores therethrough  35  and  36 , that receive the stems  39  and  40  of contacts  14  and  15  respectively. The contacts are riveted in bores  35  and  36 . As seen more clearly in  FIG. 7 , positive contact  14  is hexagonal in configuration and has a bore  38  therein that snaps over battery positive terminal  16 , while contact  15  is a male member that fits within negative battery terminal  17 , as seen clearly in the sectional views of  FIGS. 3 and 4 . 
     As seen more clearly in  FIGS. 3 ,  4 , and  6 , the upper housing  18  is also generally rectangular in construction and is sized to fit closely within recess  32  of the lower housing  12  so the upper housing is guided by and stable in the lower housing. The upper surface of the housing  18  has a pair of circular bosses  38  and  39  on transverse wall  40  that each have a pair of holes therein that receive the leads of the LEDs  19  and  21 . The LEDs  19  and  21  are glued in the recesses formed by the bosses  38  and  39 . 
     As seen more clearly in  FIG. 6 , the bottom of the upper housing  18  has a rectangular recess  42  therein and has a vertical adjacent slot  43  into which the “J” contact  27  is press-fitted. Resistor  28  is glued to the bottom surface of the transverse wall  40 . 
     One end of the wire  30  is soldered to the right end of the resistor  28  as illustrated in  FIG. 6 , while the second lead of resistor  28  is soldered to the first lead of LED  19 . The second lead of LED  19  is soldered to the right lead of LED  21 . The second lead of LED  21  is soldered to the top of the “J” contact  27 . This circuit configuration is illustrated in  FIG. 5  showing the LEDs  19  and  21  in series with each other, in series with the resistor  28 , and in series with “J” contact switch  27  and 9-volt battery  11 . 
     It should be noted that the lower end of wire  30  is soldered to the contact  14  prior to assembly of the upper housing  18  into the lower housing  12 . 
     As seen in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the upper housing  18  is maintained in its on and off positions by a detent mechanism  46  that includes a pair of integral rigid prongs  47  and  48  integral with and downwardly depending from the lower reach of the upper housing  18 . The lower end of one of the prongs  47  and  48  engages and passes over a spring detent  50  formed integrally with the lower housing  12 . 
     As seen in  FIG. 8 , the spring detent includes an upper arcuate projection  51  that is cantilevered on lower portion side wall  54  by spring portion  52  in a recess or opening  55  in lower housing transverse wall  34 . Thus, as one of the prongs  47  and  48  engages the detent projection  51 , the detent projection  51  springs downwardly and then back upwardly as the prong passes thereover securely holding the upper housing  18  in its “off” position in  FIG. 3  where upper housing  18  engages the lower housing against the upper housing recess at point  58  to lock the upper housing in its “off” position. 
     Similarly, as the light assembly is switched or rocked to its “on” position in  FIG. 4 , the detent assembly  46  locks the upper housing against the lower housing recess at point  60  thereby locking the upper housing  18  in its “on” position. 
     The user shifts the light assembly from its “off” position shown in  FIG. 3 , to its “on” position by hand-grasping and placing the thumb against the upper reaches of the upper housing  18  adjacent the LED  21  and pushing downwardly, rotating the upper housing  18  from a position shown in  FIG. 3  to the “on” position shown in  FIG. 4 . Conversely, the light assembly  10  is switched from the “on” position of  FIG. 4  to the “off” position of  FIG. 3  by hand-grasping the battery  11  and light assembly  10  pushing downwardly with one&#39;s thumb on the upper housing adjacent the LED  19  and pushing downwardly rotating the housing assembly  18  clockwise from the position shown in  FIG. 4  to the position shown in  FIG. 3 .