A nightlight is revealed. The nightlight includes a support, a plug, a housing, a bent tube, at least one light emitting diode (LED) and a wire. The bent tube consists of an upper segment, a lower segment and a middle segment connected to each other and having a central axis. A reflective lens is arranged at the middle segment and a LED slot is disposed on an opening of the lower segment for mounting the LED. At least one pattern plate and a projection lens set are mounted in the bent tube. Light emitted from the LED is moved along the central axis of the bent tube and passed through the projection lens set, the pattern plate and the reflective lens to be projected outward. Thus the light with the pattern is projected at an angle by rotating the housing of the nightlight.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a nightlight, especially to a nightlight that includes a bent tube built-in with at least one pattern plate and at least one LED for projecting light with specific patterns.

There are many adorable nightlights on the market nowadays and consumers care about product appearance or light function. Refer to U.S. Pat. No. 7,871,192 “LED NIGHT LIGHT HAS PROJECTION OR IMAGE FEATURE”, an LED night light for night time or dark area is revealed. A rotatable slides-disc (3g) with a plurality of slides (3k),(3k′), (3k″) is revealed inFIG. 3and at least one telescoping optics-means4cis combined with the LED4dand slides (not shown) and other components to form a tube that is mounted on a rotatable sealing housing. Openings (4e) on the tube are disposed with a projection lens element that is at one end of the sealed housing and the LED is at another end of the sealed housing. However, as shown inFIG. 4, a circuit means (4b), (4f), (4g), (4h), (4i) such as a circuit board, conductive means, etc., is arranged to work with the LED4dfor providing light functions. The circuit means is extended into a bottom end inside the rotatable sealed housing through a plug. The rotatable sealed housing is often rotated while the nightlight is in use. Thus the circuit means (4b), (4f), (4g), (4h), (4i)/conductive means are easy to be pulled and damaged. Moreover, the length of the tube with the telescoping optics-means4cis equal to the largest internal diameter of the sealing housing. Thus the shape of the light shade is restricted. This affects consumer purchase intention and operation cost in manufacturing. There is room for improvement and there is a need to provide a novel nightlight.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a nightlight in which light emitted is passed through at least one pattern plate and then is projected outward. Thus the light projected out is with specific pattern. The light function of the nightlight is improved and the cost is reduced.

In order to achieve the above object, a nightlight according to the present invention includes a support, a plug, a housing, a bent tube, at least one light emitting diode (LED) and a wire. The support is formed by two symmetrical axle seats each of which is disposed with an axial hole and arranged at an upper part of the support. The plug is set on a lower part of the support for connection to an external power source. The housing is composed of a chamber and two symmetrical shafts each of which is mounted on the axle seat of the support. Thus the housing can be rotated slantingly with respect to the support. The shaft is set with a shaft hole. The bent tube is mounted in the chamber of the housing and having an upper segment, a lower segment and a middle segment located between the upper segment and the lower segment. Thus the bent tube is having an angle of bending and a central axis formed therein. An opening of the upper segment is fixed on the top surface of the housing while an opening of the lower segment is disposed with a LED slot. A lens slot is arranged at the middle segment for mounting a reflective lens. At least one pattern plate and a projection lens set are mounted in the bent tube. The LED is set on the LED slot of the bent tube. Light emitted from the LED is moved along the central axis of the bent tube and passed through the projection lens set, the pattern plate and the reflective lens to be projected out. One end of the wire is connected to the plug while the other end thereof is passed through the axial hole on the axle seat of the support and the shaft hole on the shaft of the housing and entered into the chamber of the housing for connecting and providing power to the LED. Thus the nightlight can project the light with specific patterns at a certain angle. The light function of the nightlight is improved and the cost is down.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Refer toFIG. 1,FIG. 3,FIG. 5andFIG. 7, a nightlight1of the present invention includes a support10, a plug20, a housing30, a bent tube40, at least one light emitting diode (LED)60and a wire70.

The support10consists of two symmetrical axle seats11on an upper part thereof, and an axial hole12disposed on each axle seat11. The plug20is arranged at a lower part of the support10for connection to an external power source and is able to be a USB (Universal Serial Bus) plug20a(as shown inFIG. 1-3,FIG. 5-7,FIG. 9, andFIG. 11), a US plug20b(as shown inFIG. 12andFIG. 13) or an EU plug20c(as shown inFIG. 14andFIG. 15), but not limited. The US plug20acan be a standard size (shown inFIG. 1-3andFIG. 5-7) or miniature size (shown inFIG. 9andFIG. 11). Thus the nightlight can be used in different areas and countries. When the plug20is a USB plug, the plug20can be rotated within 90 degrees between the vertical and horizontal directions, as the arrow C inFIG. 1AandFIG. 5Aindicates. Thus the nightlight1can be used for different space.

The housing30is composed of a chamber31, two symmetrical shafts32and two shaft holes33set on the shafts32respectively. Each shaft32is mounted on the axle seat11of the support10correspondingly so that the housing30can be rotated slantingly with respect to the support10, as the arrow A inFIG. 2andFIG. 6indicates. The shape of the housing30is not limited. The housing30can be a rectangular housing30a(as shown inFIG. 1-3,FIG. 9,FIG. 12, andFIG. 14) or a spherical housing30b(as shown inFIG. 5-7,FIG. 11,FIG. 13andFIG. 15). Thus users have more options owing to different shapes of the nightlight1.

The bent tube40is mounted in the chamber31of the housing30and including an upper segment41, a lower segment43and a middle segment42located between the upper segment41and the lower segment43as shown inFIG. 3BandFIG. 3C. Thus the bent tube40is having an angle of bending (as the arrow C inFIG. 3BandFIG. 7Aindicates) and a central axis (as the Z axis inFIG. 3andFIG. 7indicates) formed therein. An opening of the upper segment41is fixed on the top surface of the housing30while a lens slot44is arranged at the middle segment42and used for mounting a reflective lens45, as shown inFIG. 3AandFIG. 3B. An opening of the lower segment43is disposed with a LED slot46. The angle of bending formed among the upper segment41, the middle segment42and the lower segment43can be, but not limited to, 90 degrees. The design of the bent tube40minimized the space the bent tube40occupied in the chamber31of the housing30. The less the shape of the housing30is limited, the greater variability the design of the housing30exhibits.

As shown inFIG. 3BandFIG. 4, at least one pattern plate50and a projection lens set47are mounted in the bent tube40. The projection lens set47includes at least one lens48that is able to be arranged at the upper segment41and the lower segment43, as shown inFIG. 3CandFIG. 7Brespectively.

The LED60is set on the LED slot46of the bent tube40, as shown inFIG. 3BandFIG. 7A. Light emitted from the LED60is moved along the central axis of the bent tube40(the Z axis inFIG. 3andFIG. 7), and passed through the projection lens set47, the pattern plate50and the reflective lens45to be projected outward, as the arrow B inFIG. 1,FIG. 2,FIG. 3B,FIG. 5,FIG. 6, andFIG. 7Aindicates. The pattern plate50is a transparency film printed with patterns, able to be mass-produced and used for image enhancement.

The color of light the LED60emits is not limited, able to be R (red), G (green), B (blue), or others of the mixed light such as yellow, white, etc. Users can choose what they need.

One end of the wire70is connected to the plug20while the other end thereof is passed through the axial hole12on the axle seat11of the support10and the shaft hole33on the shaft32of the housing30and entered into the chamber31of the housing30for connecting and providing power to the LED60. The LED60is rotated coaxially with the axial hole12and the shaft hole33so that the wire70will not be rotated along with the housing30and damaged easily while users rotate the housing30. Thus the service life of the nightlight1is extended.

Refer toFIG. 1,FIG. 2andFIG. 3, the housing30is further disposed with an outer radial slot34that is perpendicular to the central axis (the Z axis inFIG. 3andFIG. 7) of the upper segment41of the bent tube40while the bent tube40in the housing30is arranged with an inner radial slot49corresponding to the outer radial slot34(as shown inFIG. 3AandFIG. 3C). The inner radial slot49is located on the lower segment43of the bent tube40and having two vertical lugs491outside thereof. The vertical lugs491are parallel to each other and set with a base492respectively.

As shown inFIG. 1-3,FIG. 9andFIG. 10, the nightlight1further includes a rotary disc80that is composed of a cover part81, a base part82, a left shaft83, a right shaft84and a plurality of through holes85. The rotary disc80is moveably mounted into the outer radial slot34of the housing30and the inner radial slot49of the bent tube40while the left shaft83and the right shaft84of the rotary disc80are stopped on the bases492of the bent tube40respectively. Thus the rotary disc80is rotating on the lugs491. About a half part of the rotary disc80is exposed outside the outer radial slot34of the housing30for being rotated by users.

Refer toFIG. 1-4andFIG. 9, the pattern plate50is disposed with a plurality of patterns51arranged circularly and corresponding to the through holes85of the rotary disc80respectively. The patterns61are aligned with the central shaft of the bent tube40when the rotary disc80is rotated. The pattern plate50is disposed between the cover part81and the base part82of the rotary disc80so that the pattern plate50is enclosed by the cover part81and the base part82, without falling off easily.

Refer toFIG. 1,FIG. 2,FIG. 5, andFIG. 6, the user can change the angle of the light being projected (as the arrow A in the figures indicates) by rotating the housing30. Thus the light with one of the patterns51(as shown inFIG. 4andFIG. 8) is projected to different places such as the ceiling, the whiteboard, the blackboard, the ground, etc. While adjusting the angle of the light projected, the user can also rotate the rotary disc80to select the pattern51they need and project the light with different patterns51once the nightlight1is disposed with the rotary disc80. Refer toFIG. 9, the rotary disc80can be mounted into or removed from the nightlight1freely. Thus manufactures or users can replace or select the rotary disc80with different patterns51easily according to their needs. Thus the users have more options on the patterns51of the light the nightlight1emits. The light function of the nightlight1is further enhanced.