Patent Publication Number: US-6336733-B1

Title: Lamp shade for a Christmas light

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates the Christmas light and more particularly to a lamp shade for a Christmas light which improves the brightness of the Christmas light and makes the Christmas light colorful to achieve its decoration effect. 
     Typical Christmas light as previously discovered by my U.S. Pat. No. 5,669,707 which has a flexible hooked projection on an outer circumference of the socket and a group of cords passed through the bottom thereof. Each group of cords are passing through several sockets of the kind. One of the first group of cords is passed into the flexible hooked projection of the sockets linked by other group of cords such that the sockets are combined to have various patterns for decorational purpose. However, people recently provide a colorful lamp shade on the Christmas light to obtain more cosmetic effect. If a colorful lamp shade made in corporation with my previous disclosure, the group of the Christmas lights could be looked more brightness and more colorful. 
     SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
     The present invention has a main object to provide a lamp shade connected to a Christmas light which lamp shade not only improves the brightness and decoration effect for the light but also prevents the electrical wire from broken off the flexible hooks of the light. 
     Accordingly, the shade for a Christmas light comprises generally a pair of flexible hooks formed on opposing outer circumferences of the light and a pair of snap projections on the opposing outer circumferences alternate with the hooks and a lamp shade which has an olives-shaped body and a circular extension on the bottom thereof. The extension has a pair of openings in opposing circumferences engageable with the flexible hooks a damper end define on one side of the openings and a pair elongate slots in opposing circumferential walls of the extension alternate with the openings. When the lamp shade connects to the top of the Christmas light, the elongate slots will be engaged with the snap projections in a snap fitting, the openings will be engaged with the flexible hooks and the damper ends will block the opening end of the hooks to prevent the electrical wires from breaking off the hooks. 
     The present invention will become more fully understood by reference to the following detailed description thereof when read in conjunction with the attached drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view to show the lamp shade for a Christmas light of the preferred embodiment according to the present invention, 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view to show an assembly of FIG. 1, 
     FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line  2 — 2  of FIG. 2, 
     FIG. 4 is an elevational view of FIG. 2, and 
     FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line  2 ′— 2 ′ of FIG.  2 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     With reference to FIG. 1 of the drawings, the lamp shade for a Christmas light of the present invention comprises generally a Christmas light  10  and a colored lamp shade  20 . 
     The Christmas light  10  has a socket  11 , a lamp  12  engaged with the top of the socket  11 , a pair of flexible hooks  13  projected outward from the opposing circumferences of the socket  11  for engaging a pair of electrical wires  14  therein and a pair of snap projections  15  projected outward from the opposing outer circumferences alternate with the hooks  13 . The snap projections  15  has an arcuate outer surface  151  and a plane bottom  152 . 
     The colored lamp shade  20  made of transparent material has an olives-shaped body and a flexible circular extension extending downward from the body engageable with the socket  11  of the light  10 . The extension has a pair of rectangular openings  21  in the opposing circumferential walls made engageable with the hooks  13  of the light  10 , a pair of elongate slots  22  in the circumferential walls alternate with the openings  21  made engageable with the snap projections  15  of the socket  11  and a damper end  211  defined by each of the openings  21 . elongate slots  22  in the circumferential walls alternate with the openings  21  made engageable with the snap projections  15  of the socket  11  and a damper end defined by each of the openings  21 . 
     When assembling, engage the lamp shade  20  on the top of the Christmas light  10  with the openings  21  respectively engaged with the flexible hooks  13 , the snap projections  15  will be automatically slid into the elongate slots  22  on a slight pressure because of the arucate outer surface  151  of the snap projections  15  and the slot  22  will not be broken off because of the plane bottom  152  of the snap projections either. Then make a slight rotation of the lamp shade  20  laterally, the damper ends  211  of the openings  21  will block the opening ends of the hooks  13  such that the electrical wires will not break off the hooks  13  (as shown in FIGS. 2,  3 ,  4  and  5 ). 
     The above discussed structure of the lamp shade  20  not only improves the brightness and the decoration effect of the Christmas light but also prevents the electrical wires  14  from breaking off in cooperation with the flexible hooks  13  of the socket  11 . Further, the lamp shade  20  has a function of waterproof. 
     The specification relating to the above embodiment should be construed as exemplary rather than as limitative of the present invention, with many variations and modifications being readily attainable by a person of average skill in the art without departing from the spirit or scope thereof as defined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.