Abstract:
A wireless remote-controlled searchlight comprises a detachable junction box capable of being mounted onto or separated from the searchlight based on a user&#39;s own attempt, which detachable junction box comprises a PCB having a microcontroller and a RF receiver to input received RF signals transmitted from a wireless transmitter to the PCB; the searchlight is workable only if the detachable junction box mounted onto and electrically connected with the searchlight, but the searchlight is not workable and provides with function of anti-theft if the detachable junction box separated from the searchlight, and particularly the detachable junction box is portable so that the searchlight further provides with function of ease of maintenance or repair if the PCB or the RF receiver is out of order.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Present Invention 
         [0002]    The invention relates to a wireless remote-controlled searchlight, and more particularly to a wireless remote-controlled searchlight with a detachable junction box for anti-theft and ease of maintenance or repair. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Prior Art 
         [0004]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , a prior used RF (radio frequency) wireless remote-controlled searchlight  10  is capable of changing the illumination angle in vertical and horizontal direction, which at least comprises a lamp seat  11  for illumination or lighting, a base seat  12  pivotally connected to the bottom side of the lamp seat  11 , a RF receiver  13  installed outside to receive identification codes and RF signals transmitted from a wireless transmitter  90 , a controlled PCB (printed circuit board, not shown in drawings) installed inside the base seat  12  to control the searchlight to be lighten and changed illumination angle and a power cord  75  for power supply. 
         [0005]    Through the RF receiver  13  inputs the received RF signals transmitted from a wireless transmitter  90  to the controlled PCB, a user can turn on or turn off the searchlight  10  by pushing the lamp power switch SW 5  designed on the wireless transmitter  90  or adjust the illumination angle of lighting emitted from the searchlight  10  by pushing the direction control switch SW 1 , SW 2 , SW 3  and SW 4  designed on the wireless transmitter  90 . 
         [0006]    However, due to the controlled PCB or the RF receiver  13  not portable or detachable from the searchlight  10 , prior used RF wireless remote-controlled searchlight  10  is not provided with function of anti-theft, And, under harsh climate the controlled PCB of the searchlight  10  is apt to out of order due to moisture and particularly the searchlight  10  is also hard to maintenance or repair since the controlled PCB is not easily detachable from the searchlight  10 . 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to disclose a wireless remote-controlled searchlight provided with a detachable junction box capable of being mounted onto or separated from the searchlight based on a user&#39;s own attempt for anti-theft and ease of maintenance or repair. 
         [0008]    The wireless remote-controlled searchlight in addition to the detachable junction box further comprises a lamp housing provided with a cable connector for electrical connection or disconnection with the detachable junction box, a lamp means pivotally mounted on the lamp housing, a base means securely mounted with a stationary gear and pivotally mounted with the lamp housing; a vertical drive means mounted on the lamp housing for vertically driving the lamp means moved in tilt movement, and a horizontal drive means mounted on the lamp housing for horizontally driving the lamp means and the lamp housing rotated in pan movement. 
         [0009]    The detachable junction box is a drawer-like box having a connector means extended outside for electrical connection with the cable connector of the lamp housing and a printed circuit board (PCB) installed inside, wherein the connector means is a socket or a plug which contains a power terminal for 12-volt DC power input, a lamp-power terminal for 12-volt DC power output, a tilt-driven power terminal for 12-volt DC power output, and a pan-driven power terminal for 12-volt DC power output, and wherein the PCB comprises a RF receiver to receive identification codes and RF signals transmitted from a separated wireless transmitter; a MCU to output a power on/off controlling signal, a tilting controlled signal or a panning controlled signal according to the corresponding received RF signals input from the RF receiver; a current voltage regulator in parallel electrically connected with the power terminal of the connector means to convert an input 12-volt DC power into a 5-volt DC power required by the MCU and the RF receiver; a relay actuated circuit normally kept in open circuit which input end in parallel electrically connected with the power terminal of the connector means and the output end electrically connected with the lamp-power terminal of the connector means, and the relay actuated circuit becomes in close circuit only if a related power on/off controlling signal had output from the MCU to control the relay actuated circuit; and a motor actuated circuit normally kept in open circuit comprising an input end in parallel electrically connected with the power terminal of the connector means and two separated output ends one independently connected with the tilt-driven power terminal and the other one independently connected with the pan-driven power terminal of the connector means, and one or both of the two separated output ends become in close circuit only if a related tilting controlled signal or/and a panning controlled signal had output from the MCU to control the motor actuated circuit. 
         [0010]    The searchlight is workable only if the detachable junction box mounted onto and electrically connected with the cable connector of the lamp housing of the searchlight, but the searchlight is not workable and provides with function of anti-theft if the detachable junction box separated from the searchlight, and particularly the detachable junction box is portable so that the searchlight further provides with function of ease of maintenance or repair if the PCB or the RF receiver is out of order. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]      FIG. 1  is a schematic drawing of a prior used RF wireless remote-controlled searchlight; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is a partial cross sectional view of the invented searchlight according to the present invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is an illustrating drawing to illustrate the invented searchlight according to the present invention provides with a detachable junction box for the purpose of anti-theft and ease of maintenance or repair; 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  is a partially exploded view of the invented searchlight according to the present invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 5  is a schematic drawing viewed from top of the invented searchlight according to the present invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 6  is a schematic circuit diagram of the detachable junction box electrical connection with a cable connector shown in  FIG. 2  and a separated portable wireless transmitter according to the present invention for depicting the relation between components and the position of each component. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0017]    Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the preferred embodiment of a wireless remote-controlled searchlight  20  of the present invention is permanently positioned on the roof of a vehicle or the deck of a boat, which comprises a lamp housing  30 , a base means  40 , a lamp means  50 , a vertical drive means  60 , a horizontal drive means  70 , a detachable junction box  80  with a RF receiver  84  assembled inside, and a separated portable wireless transmitter  90 . 
         [0018]    Referring to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the lamp housing  30  is constituted by an upper housing  31  and a lower housing  32 . The upper housing  31  has a first groove  33   a  formed on rear end, and the lower housing  32  has a second groove  33   b  formed on rear end and corresponded to the first groove  33   a , so that the lamp housing  30  after completely assembled has a slot  38  constituted by the first groove  33   a  and the second groove  33   b . Accordingly, the detachable junction box  80  is capably mounted onto or separated from the lamp housing  30  through the slot  28 . 
         [0019]    The lower housing  32  further has a partition plate  35  securely amounted within the interior of the lower housing  32 . The partition plate  35  comprises a vertical part  35   a  and a horizontal part  35   b , wherein the vertical part  35   a  is to partition off part of the spaces of the lower housing  32  as a lamp-room for pivotally mounted the lamp means  50  as well as to provide for the vertical drive means  60  fixedly mounted thereon, and wherein the horizontal part  35   b  is to provide with a cable connector  36  as well as the horizontal means  70  fixedly mounted thereon. In addition, the horizontal part  35   b  may further have a pair of parallel guide-plates  37   a  and  37   b  mutually formed in front of the cable connector  36  as a guided channel which is opposite to the above-mentioned slot  28  of lamp housing  30  for sake of accurate assembly or disassembly of the detachable junction box  80 . 
         [0020]    Referred to from  FIG. 2  to  FIG. 6 , the cable connector  36  is designed for electrical connection or disconnection with the detachable junction box  80 . The cable connector  36  has a socket (or plug)  36   a  provided with four separated sets of male (or female) terminals including one set of power terminal connected with a 12-volt DC current leads  45  for power supply and three sets of current output terminals wherein one is a lamp-power terminal provided for electrical connection with the lamp means  50  through current leads  45   a , the other one is a tilt-driven power terminal provided for electrical connection with the vertical drive means  60  through current leads  46  and another one is a pan-driven power terminal provided for electrical connection with the horizontal drive means  70  through current leads  47  respectively. 
         [0021]    Further referring to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the lamp means  50  includes a bulb housing  51  with a bearing means  52  pivotally mounted in the lamp housing  30  for vertical tilt movement, the bulb housing  51  further has a vertical gear member  53  integrally formed on back of the bulb housing  51 . The lamp means  50  has a bulb  55  installed thereon to let the bulb  55  through the current leads  45   a  be electrically connected to the lamp-power terminal of the cable connector  36  of lamp housing  30 . 
         [0022]    The vertical drive means  60  is mounted on the vertical part  35   a  of the partition plate  35  of the lamp housing  30  for vertically driving the lamp means  50  pivotally rotated in tilt movement, which includes a reversible gear motor  61  having an output shaft with a pinion means  62  for engaging with the vertical gear member  53  of the lamp means  50 . And, the reversible gear motor  61  is connected with leads  46  which are electrically connected to the tilt-driven power terminal of the cable connector  36  of lamp housing  30 . 
         [0023]    As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 5 , when the vertical drive means  60  is driven with electricity through leads  46 , the lamp means  50  is pivotally rotated in tilt movement. 
         [0024]    The base means  40  securely mounted with a stationary gear  41  is pivotally mounted with the lamp housing  30  and allows the stationary gear  41  engaged with the horizontal drive means  70  which is fixedly mounted on the horizontal part  35   b  of the partition plate  35  of the lamp housing  30 . 
         [0025]    The base means  40  is fastened onto an auxiliary part (not shown in drawings) which has a flange extended from its bottom and plural fasten holes formed on the flange applied for permanently mounting the base means  40  by means of screws to the roof of a vehicle or the deck of a boat. 
         [0026]    The horizontal drive means  70  is mounted on the horizontal part  35   b  of the partition plate  35  of the lamp housing  30  for horizontally driving the lamp means  50  and the lamp housing  30  rotated in pan movement, which includes a reversible gear motor  71  having an output shaft with a pinion means  72  for engaging with the stationary gear  41  of the base means  40 . And, the reversible gear motor  71  is connected with leads  47  which are electrically connected to the pan-driven power terminal of the cable connector  36  of lamp housing  30 . 
         [0027]    As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 5 , when the horizontal drive means  70  is driven with electricity through leads  47 , the lamp means  50  and lamp housing  30  are together rotated in horizontal pan movement less than 360 degrees. 
         [0028]    Referred to from  FIG. 2  to  FIG. 6 , the detachable junction box  80  is a drawer-like box having a plug (or socket)  81  designed for electrical connection or disconnection with the socket (or plug)  36   a  of the cable connector  36 . Accordingly, the plug  81  of the detachable junction box  80  has four separated sets of female (or male) terminals, namely, a power terminal, a lamp-power terminal, a tilt-driven power terminal and a pan-driven power terminal, each is correspondingly related to that of male (or female) terminals of the socket  36   a  of the cable connector  36  for electrical connection. 
         [0029]    The detachable junction box  80  further has a printed circuit board (PCB) which comprises a current voltage regulator  82 , a microcontroller (MCU)  83  with ROM or EEPROM, a RF receiver  84 , a relay actuated circuit  85  and a motor actuated circuit  86  formed thereon. 
         [0030]    The current voltage regulator  82  which is in parallel electrically connected with the power terminal of the plug  81  is adapted to convert 12-volt DC power source current supplied from the current leads  45  into a 5-volt DC current power which is required by the MCU  83 , the ROM or EEPROM and the RF receiver  84 . 
         [0031]    The RF receiver  84  is installed on the PCB inside the detachable junction box  80 , which function is to receive the identification code and the RF signal transmitted from a wireless transmitter  90  and subsequently send the received identification code and RF signal to the input port of the MCU  83 . 
         [0032]    The MCU  83  is an IC component that independently carries out specific control functions and integrates related circuits for the central processing unit (CPU), read-on memory (ROM) or electrically erasable programmable read-on memory (EEPROM), random access memory, I/O control circuit and CTC timer on a single chip. 
         [0033]    Since the ROM or EEPROM of the MCU  83  contains the information of the identification code and the corresponding decoding for the received RF control signals transmitted from the wireless transmitter  90 , therefore, after the identification code received by the receiver  84  is confirmed, the MCU  83  will base on the input corresponding received RF signals and the decoded corresponding control signals to output a corresponding controlling signal to the relay actuated circuit  85  or the motor actuated circuit  86 , or both. 
         [0034]    The relay actuated circuit  85  is one end in parallel electrically connected with the power terminal of the plug  81  and the other end electrically connected with the lamp-power terminal of the plug  81 . The relay actuated circuit  85  is to become either in open circuit or in close circuit only if a related power on/off controlling signal had output from the MCU  83  to control the relay actuated circuit  85 . 
         [0035]    Since the relay actuated circuit  85  is functioned to normally keep in open circuit, the 12-volt DC power source current if supplied from the current leads  45  still can not be reached to the lamp-power terminal of the plug  81 . 
         [0036]    Similarly, the motor actuated circuit  86  is one end in parallel electrically connected with the power terminal of the plug  81  and has two separated outputs one independently connected with the tilt-driven power terminal and the other one independently connected with the pan-driven power terminal of the plug  81 . One or both of the two separated outputs of the motor actuated circuit  86  is to become either in open circuit or in close circuit only if a related tilting controlled signal or/and a rotating controlled signal had output from the MCU  83  to control the motor actuated circuit  86 . 
         [0037]    Since the motor actuated circuit  86  is functioned to normally keep in open circuit, the 12-volt DC power source current if supplied from the current leads  45  still can not be reached to the tilt-driven power terminal or/and the pan-driven power terminal of the plug  81 . 
         [0038]    It is known the wireless remote-controlled searchlight  20  of the present invention is not workable if the detachable junction box  80  is separated from the lamp housing  30  for electrical disconnection with the cable connector  36  of the lamp housing  30 . Accordingly, when a user takes the detachable junction box  80  away from the wireless remote-controlled searchlight  20  of the present invention, the wireless remote-controlled searchlight  20  is therefore provided with function of anti-theft. 
         [0039]    Moreover, the wireless remote-controlled searchlight  20  of the present invention is, if detachably taken away the detachable junction box  80 , almost no more PCB or electronic components fixedly installed inside, so that in the harsh climate the wireless remote-controlled searchlight  20  of the present invention is provided with function of prevention from PCB or electronic components out of order due to moisture. 
         [0040]    And, since it is so freely and easily maintainable or repairable to the PCB of the detachable junction box  80 , the wireless remote-controlled searchlight  20  of the present invention if the PCB is failed is provided with function of easy maintenance or repair. 
         [0041]    As shown in  FIG. 6 , the separated portable wireless transmitter  90  includes a four-way directional control switch SW 1 , SW 2 , SW 3  and SW 4 , an on/off switch SW 5 , an encoder  91  and a signal transmitting unit  92 , and the power for the wireless transmitter  90  is supplied by a replaceable internal power supply, e.g. a 9-volt battery. 
         [0042]    When any one of switches of SW 1 , SW 2 , SW 3 , SW 4  and SW 5  of the wireless transmitter  90  is pressed, an identification code with corresponding RF (radio frequency) signal information is generated from the encoder  91  and further transmitted out through the signal transmitting unit  92  by surface acoustic waves (SAW). It is meant the wireless transmitter  90  is capable of sending out the RF control signals including a Power On/Off controlled RF signal by pressing the switch SW 5 , a lamp tilting in vertical direction controlled RF signal by pressing the switch SW 3  or SW 4 , and a lamp rotating in a horizontal direction controlled RF signal by pressing the switch SW 1  or SW 2 . 
         [0043]    Referred to  FIGS. 3 and 5 , when a user wants to use the wireless remote-controlled searchlight  20  of the present invention, the user inserts the detachable junction box  80  owned by the user into the lamp housing  30  through the slot  38  thereof, and then the detachable junction box  80  is guided with the guide-plates  37   a  and  37   b  of the lamp housing  30  to have the plug  81  of the detachable junction box  80  precisely jointed with the socket  36   a  of the cable connector  36  of the lamp housing  30  for electrical connection. 
         [0044]    As shown in  FIG. 6 , by wireless remotely control, while the receiver  84  of the detachable junction box  80  is received the Power On/Off controlled RF signal transmitted from the wireless transmitter  90  controlled by the user, the relay actuated circuit  85  of the detachable junction box  80  if controlled by the MCU  83  thereof is in close circuit, a 12-volt DC power source current supplied from the current leads  45  is input to the power terminal of the plug  81  and reached to the lamp-power terminal of the plug  81  and further to the cable connector  36  of lamp housing  30  to illuminate the bulb  55  of the lamp means  50  through the current leads  45   a  for searchlight. Otherwise, the bulb  55  of the lamp means  50  is not illuminated when the relay actuated circuit  85  is further controlled by the MCU  83  to be in open circuit. 
         [0045]    Further, while the receiver  84  is received the lamp tilting in vertical direction or rotating in a horizontal direction controlled RF signal transmitted from the wireless transmitter  90  by wireless remotely control, it is meant either the reversible gear motor  61  of vertical drive means  60  shall be actuated for vertically driving the lamp means  50  or the reversible gear motor  71  of horizontal drive means  60  shall be actuated for horizontally driving both the lamp housing  30  and the lamp means  50 , according to the fact if the motor actuated circuit  86  is to have the input 12-volt DC power supplied from the leads  45  to be controllably reached to the tilt-driven power terminal or/and the pan-driven power terminal of the plug  81  and output to the corresponding tilt-driven power terminal or/and the pan-driven power terminal of the cable connector  36 . Therefore, if the output 12-volt DC power is controllably though the leads  46  reached to the reversible gear motor  61  of vertical drive means  60 , the lamp means  50  is tilted in vertical direction, or if the output 12-volt DC power is controllably though the leads  47  reached to the reversible gear motor  71  of horizontal drive means  70 , the lamp means  50  is panned in horizontal direction. 
         [0046]    Accordingly, while the vehicle or the boat is parked, the user may have the detachable junction box  80  mounted onto the lamp housing  30  for searchlight by wireless remotely control or separated from the lamp housing  30  and portably taken away for anti-theft, maintenance of repair.