Patent Publication Number: US-2009237913-A1

Title: Switch cover plate with lighting mechanism

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a switch cover plate with lighting mechanism, and more particularly to a lighting mechanism that can be easily assembled to and removed from a cover plate for use as night lighting, emergency lighting, and a mobile lighting device. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Generally, an indoor light switch is equipped with a light emitter, which forms a light spot for a user to easily locate and turn on the light switch in a dark environment. However, the light emitter only emits weak light sufficient for a user to locate the light switch, and therefore can hardly serve as a lighting fixture. An additional mini lamp is usually required for night lighting. 
     On the other hand, an emergency light is normally provided in a general building for lighting in an unexpected power failure. Light emitters in the emergency light are off when the public power supply is normal, and a battery of the emergency light is charged. In the event of a power failure, an internal switch of the emergency light switches on the battery for the same to supply power to the light emitters, so that the emergency light keeps lighting. However, the emergency light is usually fixedly mounted to a relatively high place in the building. Therefore, the emergency light could not be inconveniently checked or tested. Moreover, once the emergency light is mounted, it is unmovable. This limits the emergency light to illuminate only a small area from a fixed angle. Furthermore, the existing emergency light has a considerable large volume and it is often necessary to drill holes on a wall for installing the emergency light. Such procedure is quite troublesome and complicated. Therefore, people rarely install such emergency light in general family houses. Instead, a flashlight is often used as a domestic emergency lighting device in a power failure. However, while the flashlight has a small volume and is easily portable, it is frequently positioned by a user at different places and can not be quickly located for use in a sudden power failure. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a switch cover plate with lighting mechanism, which includes a lighting mechanism that can be easily assembled to and removed from the switch cover plate for use as night lighting, emergency lighting, and a mobile lighting device. 
     According to the above object, the switch cover plate with lighting mechanism of the present invention includes a cover plate having a receiving section arranged on at least one edge of the cover plate and a lighting mechanism removably assembled to the cover plate at the receiving section. The lighting mechanism includes an enclosure, a retaining section provided on at least one side of the enclosure for detachably connecting to the receiving section of the cover plate, a control unit provided in the enclosure, and at least one light-emitting unit provided on the enclosure at predetermined positions and electrically connected to the control unit. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an assembled perspective view of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a partially sectioned side view of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view showing the present invention in use; and 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view showing the lighting mechanism of the present invention is separated from the cover plate for use alone as a mobile lighting device. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 1 and 2  that are exploded and assembled perspective views, respectively, of a switch cover plate with lighting mechanism according to the present invention. As shown, the switch cover plate of the present invention includes a cover plate  1  and a lighting mechanism  2 . The lighting mechanism  2  can be easily assembled to and disassembled from the cover plate  1  for use as night lighting, emergency lighting, and a mobile lighting device. 
     The cover plate  1  is arranged on at least one edge with a receiving section  11 , which may be an insertion channel. Multiple locating holes  12  are formed on a wall of the receiving section  11 . In addition, a conductive section  13  is provided on a wall of the receiving section  11  for electrically connecting to an external power supply. 
     The lighting mechanism  2  is removably assembled to the cover plate  1 , and includes an enclosure  21 , a retaining section  22  formed on at least one side of the enclosure  21  for detachably connecting to the receiving section  11 , a control unit  23  arranged in the enclosure  21 , and at least one light-emitting unit  24  provided on the enclosure  21 . In a preferred embodiment, the retaining section  22  is a guide slide slidably engaged with the receiving section  11 . In addition, multiple locating leaf springs  25  are arranged on the retaining section  22  for interfering with the locating holes  12  of the receiving section  11 . The control unit  23  includes at least one control circuit  231  and a power supply  232  disposed in the enclosure  21  and electrically connected to the control circuit  231 . The control unit  23  further includes a power input  233  arranged on the retaining section  22  for electrically contacting with the conductive section  13 , an ON/OFF switch  234  positioned on the enclosure  21 , a test switch  235 , and a light-detecting element  236 . The light-emitting unit  24  is composed of multiple light emitters  241  electrically connected to the control circuit  231 . In the illustrated preferred embodiment, the light emitters  241  are separately arranged at an end and along a lateral side of the enclosure  21 . 
       FIG. 3  is a partially sectioned side view of the present invention, and  FIGS. 5 and 6  show two different manners of using the present invention. Please refer to  FIG. 1  and  FIGS. 3 to 5  at the same time. To use the present invention, the cover plate  1  is mounted to an outer side of a general indoor light switch  3  or an electric socket to replace an original cover plate of the light switch  3 . Also, when the cover plate  1  is mounted to the light switch  3 , the conductive section  13  of the cover plate  1  is electrically connected to an external power supply to the light switch  3 , so that the external power supply may be transmitted to the lighting mechanism  2  via the conductive section  13 . 
     To assemble the lighting mechanism  2  to the cover plate  1 , simply slide the retaining section  22  of the enclosure  21  into the receiving section  11  of the cover plate  1 , so that the lighting mechanism  2  is associated with the cover plate  1 . At the same time, the locating leaf springs  25  interfere with the locating holes  12  to fix the lighting mechanism  2  to the cover plate  1 . Under this condition, the power input  233  of the control unit  23  electrically contacts with the conductive section  13  for charging the power supply  232  as well as providing working power for the control unit  23  and the light-emitting unit  24 . 
     After the lighting mechanism  2  has been associated with the cover plate  1 , the light-detecting element  236  is able to sense an ambient light source. In the event the ambient light source is sufficient, via the control circuit  231 , the light-detecting element  236  shuts off the light-emitting unit  24 . On the contrary, in the event the ambient light source is weak or there is not any ambient light source, via the control circuit  231 , the light-detecting element  236  cooperates with the power supply  232  to turn on the light-emitting unit  24  for the same to emit light for use as night lighting and emergency lighting. With the above arrangements, the light-emitting unit  24  is turned on/off according to the ambient light source sensed by the light-detecting element  236 . However, in the present invention, the control circuit  231  may also be so designed that it is triggered at a power interruption. Thus, in the event the external power supplied to the conductive section  13  is cut off, the control circuit  231  is triggered to directly switch on the power supply  232 . At this point, the power supply  232  replaces the external power to immediately supply power to the light-emitting unit  24 . Accordingly, the light-emitting unit  24  keeps emitting light to serve as night lighting and emergency lighting. 
     when the lighting mechanism  2  has been associated with the cover plate  1  over a long time, a user can push the test switch  235 , so that the control circuit  231  drives the power supply  232  to supply power to the light-emitting unit  24  for the same to emit light. In this manner, it is able to test whether the control unit  23  and the light-emitting unit  24  function normally or not. 
     As can be seen from  FIG. 5 , the lighting mechanism  2  of the present invention can be alternatively used alone as a mobile lighting device. To do so, simply transversely push the lighting mechanism  2  to one side, so that the retaining section  22  of the enclosure  21  is slid off the receiving section  11  to easily release the lighting mechanism  2  from the cover plate  1 . Thereafter, a user may hold the lighting mechanism  2  and switch the on/off switch  234  to turn on or off the light-emitting unit  24 . When the lighting mechanism  2  is not in use or when it is necessary to recharge the lighting mechanism  2 , simply reassemble the lighting mechanism  2  to the cover plate  1  in the aforesaid manner. 
     The present invention has been described with a preferred embodiment thereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications in the described embodiment can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.