Abstract:
A recharger device for the battery includes a device with a first slot for a first device, such as a flashlight for recharging. A second slot in relationship to the first slot is provided for receiving a second device for recharging. Locking means with each slot such is moveable to permit release one or other device after moving the locking member between a closed position to an open position. The flashlight includes a battery pack to act as a closure of an opening to a battery housing. The closure is in the tailpiece and is mounted in the battery housing. The closure is connected integral with a rechargeable battery such that when the batteries are located in position in the battery housing the battery housing is closed.

Description:
This is a division of Application No. 09/565,934, filed May 5, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,350,040. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a flashlight, a charger and a rechargeable battery pack. 
     Many flashlights, chargers and rechargeable battery packs are known. Different configurations and arrangements of these devices exist. 
     Some of these devices, for instance, chargers, have different requirements for different uses, for example, recharging other devices. For instance in the safety area, for example, in fire fighting, flashlights need to be particularly rugged in their construction and also be capable of remaining charged for long periods of time. They need to be available for emergency use and to be operable for long periods of time under tough conditions. Chargers also should be capable of a novel function acting in a positive manner with the devices for recharging, and rechargeable battery packs used to be streamlined to operate effectively with the device using the batteries and with the recharger. 
     This invention is directed to providing a flashlight, a charging system and a rechargeable battery pack which overcomes disadvantages of existing devices and systems and provides novel characteristics. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to the invention a recharger device for the battery includes a device with a first slot for a first device, such as a flashlight for recharging. A second slot in relationship to the first slot is provided for receiving a second device for recharging. There are electrical means for connecting the contacts to a recharging current to flow through the contacts to the two devices being recharged. 
     Preferably there are locking means associated with each slot such that the locking member is moveable to permit release one or other device after moving the locking member between a closed position to an open position. 
     The flashlight, for use preferably with the recharging means described, includes a battery pack to act as a closure of an opening to a battery housing. The closure is in the tailpiece of the flashlight and is mounted in the battery housing for the flashlight. The closure is connected integrally with a rechargeable battery pack. When the batteries are located in position in the battery housing the battery housing is closed. 
     There is also an aperture in the battery housing. The aperture is for receiving a button element corrected with the battery pack or an extension to the battery pack. The button element is spring loaded such that when the battery pack is correctly located in the battery housing, the button element fits in the aperture and locks the battery pack in position in the battery housing. 
     The rechargeable battery pack including batteries in relative side-by-side relationship. An extension from the battery permits the batteries to be connected in the battery housing in an operative manner. There are contact means for the batteries of the battery pack which permits the recharging of the batteries by a recharger. 
     The button element is preferably mounted on the extension. This permits the release of the battery pack from the battery housing. Also on the extension there are electrical contacts and circuits for connecting a flash bulb of the flashlight electrically to the battery pack. 
     The invention is now described with reference to the accompanying drawings which are only illustrative of the invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a rear perspective view of a flashlight in accordance with the invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of a flashlight in accordance with the invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a different frontal perspective view of a flashlight in accordance with the invention. 
     FIG. 4 is a rear view of the flashlight in accordance with the invention. 
     FIG. 5 is side view of a flashlight in accordance with the invention. 
     FIG. 6 is a front view of the flashlight in accordance with the invention. 
     FIG. 7 is a bottom view of a flashlight in accordance with the invention. 
     FIG. 8 is a top view of a flashlight in accordance with the invention. 
     FIG. 9 is a side perspective view along line B—B of the flashlight in accordance with the invention. 
     FIG. 10 is a sectional view along line F—F of a flashlight in accordance with the invention. 
     FIG. 11 is a sectional view along line D—D of a flashlight in accordance with the invention. 
     FIG. 12 is a sectional view along line E—E of a flashlight in accordance with the invention. 
     FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a recharger with a first recharging device being a flashlight and a second recharging device being a battery pack. 
     FIG. 14 is a sectional view of a recharging device. 
     FIG. 15 is a side view of a recharging device. 
     FIG. 16 is an underview of the recharging device. 
     FIG. 17 is a front view of a recharging device. 
     FIG. 18 is a front perspective view of a flashlight and a rechargeable battery pack in a recharger device. 
     FIG. 19 is a side view of a recharger device with a flashlight in front and a rechargeable battery pack at the back. 
     FIG. 20 is a top view of two recharges in an adjacent relationship with flashlight in the front slot of each of the recharging devices. 
     FIG. 21 is a front view of two recharges with flashlight in position. 
     FIG. 22 is a side view of a recharger with a flashlight in the front slot and a rechargeable battery in the second slot. 
     FIG. 23 is a view of a recharger in accordance with the invention. 
     FIG. 24 is an exploded view of components for attachment to the rechargeable battery pack. 
     FIG. 25 is an assembled view of components for attachment to the rechargeable battery pack. 
     FIG. 26 is a top view of the extension components for attachment to the rechargeable battery pack. 
     FIG. 27 is a side view of the extension components for attachment to the rechargeable battery pack. 
     FIG. 28 is a front view of the extension member for attachment to the rechargeable battery pack. 
     FIG. 29 is a bottom view of the extension member. 
     FIG. 30 is a perspective view of the rechargeable battery pack. 
     FIG. 31 is a front view of the rechargeable battery pack. 
     FIG. 32 is a side view of the rechargeable battery pack. 
     FIG. 33 is a top view of the rechargeable battery pack. 
     FIG. 34 is a front view of the rechargeable battery pack. 
     FIG. 35 is a bottom view of the rechargeable battery pack. 
     FIG. 36 is a perspective view of the latch for use with the battery extension assembly in the battery casing. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     In FIG. 1 there is shown a right angular flashlight. There is a battery casing  10  connected with a right angular housing  11  in which is mounted a lens assembly. This right angular flashlight is further illustrated in several of the other figures. There is a lens  12  and a lens shroud  13 . Behind the lens shroud  12 , as shown in FIG. 3, there is a lamp or bulb  14  which is mounted with a reflector  15 . 
     In the exploded view of FIG. 3 there is also shown a boot actuator  16  which fits in the aperture  17  in the rear face of the battery casing  10 . On the side wall of the casing  10  there is a boot actuator  18 . The boot actuator  18  is for switching the flashlight on and off in a conventional operative manner. The switch boot is pushed in under finger pressure and forced out under spring pressure relative to an aperture in the side of the casing  10 . On the rear wall of the battery casing  10  there is a clip  19  which is mounted with two screw keepers on latches  20  to secure the clip  19  to the rear of the casing  10 . 
     The clip  19  facilitates use by a user such as clipping the flashlight onto clothing. There is a split ring  21  which is affixed to the configuration so that the rear of the flashlight can be effectively suspended from a support as required. 
     There is also a bracket extension assembly  22  which operates together with a rechargeable battery pack  23 . The battery pack  23  includes a pair of batteries  24  and  25  in side-by-side relationship mounted in a casing or holder  26 . The base  27  of the holder  26  forms part of the base of the battery casing  10 . For suitable configurations contacts extends through the base  27  to permit for recharging of the batteries  24  and  25  of the rechargeable battery pack  23  as described below. As such, the base  27  would be located adjacent to the foot or tail cap  28  of the battery casing  10 . The front of the battery casing  10  is fitted with a label element  29  which can be metallic or a plastic transfer suitably put in position. The battery casing  10  also has two rubberized grips around the harder steel for the casing  10 . The grips are adhere to the casing. The grips are two separable grip sleeves located at opposite sides of the battery housing. 
     As shown in FIGS. 13,  33  and other figures there is a recharger assembly which includes a housing  100  which is a relatively trapezoidal shape when viewed from the side. There is a front top face  101  with a first slot  102  in the front and a rear slot  103  in the back. The slot  102  is for receiving, for example, a flashlight as illustrated. This flashlight would include the battery casing  10  which would fit in the slot  102 . The rear slot  103  is for receiving a rechargeable battery pack  23  without the flashlight. 
     The recharger includes a base  104  which is substantially rectangular in configuration with slightly cutoff corners. The base  104  fits within the perimeter defined by the outside of the housing. Mounted on the base there are two wall-like structure  105  and  106  which in part define the perimeter of each of the respective slots  102  and  103 . There is also a vertical wall configuration  107  which is located between the two slots and under which there are two longitudinal supporting members or bars  108  and  109 . At the end of each of these horizontal bars  108  and  109  there is mounted a helical spring  110  for constituting the contact with the base of respectively the flashlight and rechargeable battery pack. There are indicator lights  111  which fit within the apertures  112  in the top face  101  of the housing. 
     On the front wall of the housing there is a label  113  to the charger. There are also two locking levers  114  and  115 , respectively. Lever  114  is to operate as the locking lever for the first slot and lever  115  is to operate the locking lever for the second slot  103 . This permits the flashlight to be locked and released from the slot  102  and the battery pack in slot  103  to be locked and released from that respective slot. Each of these respective levers  114  and  115  has a respective cap like element  114   a  and  115   a  respectively. 
     The locking levers  114  and  115  are respectively biased with spring members  310  and  311 . Each of these spring members urge the respective locking members  114  and  115  into a position where the tip ends  303  and  304 , respectively are urged towards the respective open slots  102  and  103 . The tip ends  303  and  304  of the levers, respectively, are anchored with the slot  305  in the battery casing  10  of the flashlight, and the slot  306  in the case of the battery pack  300 . Each of the slots  305  and  306 , respectively, run transversely across the battery casing  10  and the battery pack  300 . This causes the flashlight to be locked in position in a slot  102 , and the battery holder to be locked in a position in the second slot  103  of the recharger. The operation of each with the levers  114  and  115  is effected by manual pressure on the caps  114   a  and  115   a , respectively. The manual pressure is in the direction pushing the levers  114  and  115  towards the rear of the recharger. This levering action forces the ends  303  and  304  forwardly, respectively and the flashlight and the battery housing can be removed from the recharger. The respective weights of the flashlight and the rechargeable batteries respectively make contact with the spring contacts  110  in the base of the recharger. The springs  110  make contact with the feet  205  in the flashlight. The springs  301  and  302  in the battery pack  300  make contact with springs  110 . When used in the recharger the battery pack  300  is turned upside down relative to its position in the battery casing  10 . 
     As illustrated in FIGS. 24 through 29 and other figures, there are details of the bracket for holding the rechargeable battery pack. The extension bracket  22  is located above the battery pack  23 . This bracket includes a pair of helical springs  200  mounted below the bracket  22  and which are for engagement with eyelets  201 , which hold the springs relatively in position on the base of the bracket  22 . Eyelets  202  likewise facilitate the location of the springs in position on the base of the extension bracket  22 . 
     There is a latch  117  which operates with the boot  16  to release the battery pack. There are two charger contacts  204  which extend from the base of the bracket downward to the base of the charger  23 , and each contact strip  204  ends in contact feet  255 . Each one of these contacts  204  is operable with the respective batteries  24  and  25 . 
     The top of the bracket is shown in FIG.  26  and the underneath of the bracket is illustrated in FIG.  29 . 
     Inside the battery casing  10  there is a battery pack  300 . At the top  320  of the pack  300  there are slots  321  and  322  respectively. These slots are for receiving, respectively, the contact springs  200  at the base of the bracket  22 . This permits the continuous contact to be made between the battery pack and the battery extension through the switch operable by switch button  18  to the bulb  14 . 
     The battery pack  23  can be moved in and out of the battery casing by operating the latch  117  which fits into the aperture  17 . An actuator  16  fits around the stem  324  which protrudes from the aperture  17  and is covered by the boot actuator  16 . The top face  325  with a rail  326  defines the slot  327  which rides in a slot  328  in the bracket extension  22 . The latch element is spring-loaded such that when the battery pack is correctly located in the battery housing, the element fits in an aperture. 
     Each of the batteries  24  and  25  is contained in a battery pack  300  as shown in FIG.  30  and other figures. The base of the battery pack mounts, respectively, a spring  301  and  302  with the respective batteries  24  and  25 . The buttons are located between the springs  301  and  302  and the top  303  of the pack  300 . The base of the contacts  204 , respectively, have feet  205 . Each of the feet protrude from the base or tail of the battery casing  10  and the ends are upturned so that the feet  205  essentially grip the wall of the battery casing  10 . The feet  205  make contact with the respective contact springs  110  in the front slot  102  of the recharger. The top of each of the batteries  24  and  25  makes contact with the springs  200  at the top of the battery pack  300  for the batteries. In this manner the battery pack  300  is located with the extendable member  22  in a conductive manner and can be suitably located in the flashlight casing. 
     Many other forms of the invention exist, each differing from others in matters of detail only. 
     In some forms of the invention instead of a right angular flashlight there could be a conventional straight line flashlight for use in the recharger. In other forms of the invention there could be other devices, for instance, vacuum units, pumps and motor devices which are rechargeable and not flashlights which can be used in the system. The recharger can be used for a flashlight and a rechargeable device, or for two flashlights if the two slots are suitably profiled. The system can use multiple rechargers and the ribbed side walls of the housing of each of the rechargers can be constructed so that they can accommodated next to each other in a useful manner. This is illustrated in FIG.  20 . 
     The invention is to be determined solely in terms of the claims set out below.