Trouble light

A trouble light is provided which has an insulating housing and male prongs extending from one end of the housing and shielded by an extension of the housing. There is no conventional wired-in drop cord on the trouble light. Instead, an extension cord has a female socket and the aforesaid prongs on the housing are plugged into the extension cord female socket. A flexible retainer strap interconnects with the extension and is anchored on projections on the housing to prevent inadvertent disconnection of the extension cord from the trouble light.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Trouble lights are well known, and are used particularly in the automobile 
repair business. Such lights comprise a handle fixed to the end of an 
extension cord, and having a lamp socket at one end, usually with a 
reflector and shield or guard across the reflector and protecting the 
light bulb from damage. The long cord extending from the trouble light 
adds considerably to the cost, and makes it often prohibative for use in 
the home or by the home mechanic. Furthermore, it is usually the light 
itself, rather than the long cord, that limits the useful life of the 
trouble light. Unfortunately, using current practices it is necessary to 
throw the cord away with the remainder of the trouble light. It is not 
economically feasible to recycle the cord with a new light. 
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
It is an object of the present invention to provide a trouble light with a 
separable drop cord or extension core so that the lamp portion of the 
trouble light can be replaced simply on a plug-in basis with the drop cord 
or extension cord. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide a trouble light 
with a separable drop cord or extension cord which is readily attached and 
detached from the lamp portion of the trouble light, yet which will not 
come loose accidentally. 
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a trouble 
light as in the preceeding objects which meets recognized standards of 
electrical safety. 
In carrying out the foregoing and other objects of the present invention I 
provide a trouble light comprising a standard, grounded extension cord 
which may be provided as a portion of the trouble light, or which may be 
an extension cord the user already possesses. The trouble light includes a 
lamp portion having a handle which at one end carries a lamp socket and a 
switch and preferably a reflector and guard for a light bulb. At the other 
end the lamp portion is provided with standard male connecting pins or 
prongs which are shielded against accidental touching. The shielding 
portion is recessed to allow a thumb and finger to grasp the female socket 
of the extension cord for plugging in. Although the socket is readily 
assembled with or disassembled from the lamp portion a retainer strap 
prevents accidental disengagement thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring first to FIGS. 1-4, there is shown a trouble light or hand lamp 
12. The trouble light includes a central handle or band gripping portion 
14. The trouble light is molded of a suitable insulating resinous plastic 
material, and includes a right half 16 and a left half 18, the two halfs 
being substantially mirror images of one another. The central or hand grip 
portion 14 is a cylinder of uniform diameter, and the two halves are 
provided with two pairs of confronting bosses 20 and 22, each having axial 
bores. Screws 24 and 26 extend through the bosses on the right half 16 and 
are threaded into the bosses 20 and 22 on the left hand to hold the halves 
of the trouble light together. 
At the front end (the right end in the drawings) the trouble light is 
provided with a radially enlarged section 26 which is cylindrical in 
nature, and which is joined to the handle portion 14 by a tapered shoulder 
26. At the front end of the enlarged section a right angled shoulder or 
flange 30 returns the trouble light to a projecting forward cylindrical 
portion 32 of the same diameter as the handle 14. A circumferential 
internal recess 34 in the enlarged portion 26 is disposed immediately 
adjacent the shoulder 30. Aligned apertures 36 are formed centrally in the 
enlarged portion 26, and are surrounded on the external surfaces by 
dimples 38. 
An electrical socket and switch assembly 40 is shown in FIG. 5, and 
includes a cylindrical metallic open screw threaded sleeve 42 for receipt 
of a light bulb base to be screwed therein as needed. The sleeve or screw 
section or socket 42 is of conventional construction, and is secured by 
means such as screws or rivets to an insulating base 44 including and 
on-off switch operated by a switch operating cross member having 
cylindrical button portions 46 which extend through the holes 36, the 
dimples 38 providing finger access room for turning the light off and on. 
Electrical connectors 48 and 50 including screw fasteners are secured to 
the insulating base portion 44 and are internally connected to the screw 
threaded shell 42 and to a central contact (walls not shown, but of 
conventional nature). A third contact 52 is provided for a grounding wire 
52. 
A standard molded sleeve 54 is received over the threaded shell 42, the end 
56 of the threaded shell or socket being substantially short of the outer 
end of the insulating sleeve 54 as an electrical safety measure. The 
sleeve 54 is secured to the threaded shell or socket 42 by having internal 
means for threading into the socket, or simply by being molded in the 
socket. The left or inner end of the sleeve is provided with an integral 
circumferential narrow flange 58 for receipt in the circumferential slot 
34 to retain the sleeve, and hence the threaded shell in proper position. 
The outer end of the sleeve 54 is provided with a circumferential flange 
60 which is of larger dimension, both axially and radially, as compared 
with the flange 58. 
As may be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 the flange 60 is spaced axially from the 
end 62 of the enlarged portion 26 to define an arcuate or circumferential 
groove 64, the base of which is the outer surface of the extending end 
portion 32. This arcuate groove forms a mounting section or base for the 
usual guard (not shown) for the light bulb. Such guard conventionally 
includes a reflector half to concentrate the light where wanted, and a 
lattice-like or mesh confronting portion guarding the light bulb against 
physical damage, but permitting light to shine forth. 
The rear end of the trouble light is provided with a substantially 
cylindrical enlargement 66 joined to the handle 14 by a tapered shoulder 
68. An inwardly directed circumferential flange 70 cooperates with the 
inner portion of the shoulder 68 and the rear end of the handle 14 to form 
an inwardly opening circumferential groove 72. On opposite sides, i.e., 
centrally disposed in the two halves 16 and 10 the enlargement is provided 
with rearwardly opening access slots 74 which are substantially V-shaped, 
but with rounded or somewhat less than semicircle spices 76, and rounder 
outer edges 78. An outwardly projecting axially elongated flange 80 
encircles the outer end of the enlargement 66 and extends inwardly along 
the edge of each of the V shaped openings or slots 74. Two pairs of 
complimentary projections from the enlargement 66 cooperate to form a pair 
of buttons 82 joined to the enlarged portion 66 by studs 84, the buttons 
and studs comprising retainers as will be seen shortly. 
A plug unit 86 (FIGS. 3 and 5) includes an insulating disk-like base 88 
having a relatively small diameter portion 90 and a radially extending 
flange 92 integral therewith. As best may be seen in FIG. 3 the flange 92 
is received in the groove 72 of the body shell with the inwardly directed 
flange 70 engaging the periphery of the smaller diameter portion 90 of the 
disk 88. A pair of flat electrical contact prongs 94 of conventional 
construction extend (to the left in the drawings) from the disk 86 and 
extend through the disk to electrical contacts 96. There is also a 
grounding prong 98 of U shape cross section mounted on the disk 88 and 
extending therethrough to an electrical contact 100. The three prongs 94 
and 98 are of conventional construction. A pair of insulated electric 
wires 102 and 104 connect the connectors 96 respectively to the connectors 
48 and 50 of the socket-switch arrangement 40, while a similar insulated 
electric wire 106 connects the grounding prong 98 connector 100 to the 
grounding connector 52 on the socket-switch unit. As will be understood 
the disk 86 and the socket-switch unit are assembled with one of the 
halves 16 and 18. The other half then is brought into engagement with the 
first half, and the screws 24 and 26 are threaded in to complete the 
construction of the trouble light. 
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the trouble light is provided with a molded 
rubber retainer strap that is readily flexible, but only slightly 
stretchable. The strap is generally U-shaped, and is provided with a pair 
of legs 110 which are parallel to one another, and which have elongated 
slots 112 near the ends of the legs with circular openings 114 adjacent 
the centers of the slots and located in enlargements 116 of the strap 
legs. The interconnecting bight 118 of the strap is provided with an 
enlarged central circular portion 120 having a circular hole 122 in the 
center thereof connected by an edge opening slot 124 to the edge of the 
enlargement 120. 
The trouble light 14 is assembled with a conventional grounded three wire 
extension cord 124 having a standard female socket 126 thereon by gripping 
the socket 126 in the fingers as shown with the phantom hand 128 in FIG. 
1, and inserting it into the cavity formed by the enlargement 66. As will 
be seen this enlargement 66 acts as a prong guard to prevent accidental 
engagement of the fingers with the prongs when the female socket 126 is 
only partially associated with the prongs, whereby the prongs may be 
electrically live. 
When the socket 126 has been fully inserted over the prongs into the recess 
formed by the prong guard 66 the retainer strap is associated with the 
socket and trouble light as shown FIGS. 1 and 2. Preferably, the openings 
112, 114 of the retainer strap are associated with the retainers 82, 84, 
following which the slot 124 is passed over the extension cord 124 to 
anchor the extension cord in the opening 122. Preferably, the dimensions 
are such that the bight 118 abuts the rear end of the socket 126, whereby 
to secure the socket against accidental removal or partial retraction. 
There are many advantages to having a separable extension cord rather than 
a permanent drop cord on the trouble light. An extension cord of suitable 
length may be chosen. For some uses, a relatively short extension cord is 
desirable, and it is not desired to have a long length of drop cord 
dangling where it may be in the way. For other uses a rather long 
extension cord may be desired or something of an inbetween length. In 
addition, if the trouble light should be damaged physically, or if it 
should simply be worn out, it can be replaced and the same extension cord 
or cords may be used. It will be appreciated, in commercial use, such as 
an automobile garage, there may be instances in which the work site may be 
at varying distances from an electrical outlet. Thus, a single trouble 
light may be used with a selection of extension cords of different length. 
A modification of the invention is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. Most of the 
parts are as previously described, and similar parts are identified by 
like numerals with the additional of the suffix a. The handle 14a is 
provided with longitudinal grooves 126 for enhanced grippability. The 
right band enlargement 26a is longer to provide for a receptacle or socket 
for an extension cord, comprising a pair of flat receptacle openings 126, 
and a D-shaped opening 128 for receipt of a grounding prong. The 
electrical connections will be readily understood to those skilled in the 
art. The on-off pushbuttons 36a with the surrounding dimples 38a are 
retained as in the previous form of the invention. 
The prong guard 66a is elongated to be of substantially the same length as 
the enlargement 26a and molded plastic sleeve 54a, and yet devoid of the 
side recesses. This provides further electrical isolation and safety, and 
also provides a visual balance with the outer end of the trouble light. 
Yet another modification of the invention is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. This 
is nearly identical with the original showing, and similar parts again are 
identified with like numerals, this time with the addition of the suffix 
b. Significant distinction in the embodiment of FIGS. 8 and 9 is that the 
retainers comprising the buttons 82b and underlying (not shown) are moved 
90.degree. about the periphery of the trouble light, and the retainer 
strap 108b is wider so as largely to cover the V-shaped recesses or slots 
74b, and thus completely to guard the prongs 94b and 98b if the extension 
cord should be forceably partially retracted, leaving the prongs not fully 
inserted in the socket. 
It will now be apparent that I have fully disclosed a trouble light having 
a separable extension cord rather than the usual attached drop cord with 
many advantages including those heretofore enumerated. This specific 
embodiments of the invention as herein shown and described will be 
understood as being exemplary only. Changes will no doubt occur to those 
skilled in the art, and will be understood as forming a part of the 
present invention insofar as they fall within the spirit and scope of the 
appended claims.