Patent Publication Number: US-6669353-B2

Title: Flashlight

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a flashlight and associated apparatuses for supporting it. The present invention also relates to a flashlight support assembly for securing, stabilizing, and removing a flashlight from a device which can support the flashlight in a variety of directions and positions. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a “third hand” for a flashlight or the like, particularly for adjustably holding the flashlight in a selected one of a plurality of positions and orientations, relieving the hands of the user. 
     Mechanics, installers, repairpersons and the like commonly have the need to apply portable lighting to their work and, particularly, to aim a beam of light, such as from a flashlight, on a particular portion of the work while the hands remain free to perform operations on the work or to hold tools. It is therefore often desired to adjustably and temporarily fix the flashlight or other light source in space at a particular location and orientation. However, the light must be attached to or rest upon something if it is not held by the worker&#39;s hand, and it is not generally the case that the work or site has a specialized provision for this purpose. 
     A common, but convenient, solution to this problem is for the worker to hold the butt of the flashlight in his or her mouth. A variation of this concept is exemplified by Sedlock, U.S. Pat. No. 3,418,461, wherein a bracket is provided on the flashlight having a mouthpiece for clenching between the user&#39;s teeth. 
     Bacevius, U.S. Pat. No. 4,399,498, provides a clamp housing, one end of which is adapted to receive a flashlight or lantern and the other end of which defines a clamping jaw, and a complementary movable jaw biased with a spring means. The span opening or distance between the gripping jaws can be adjusted for clamping onto surfaces having variable cross sectional shapes. While it is asserted that a wide range of jaw opening is provided, the range of suitable supports remains limited. Moreover, angular adjustment of the direction of the light is also limited in range as well as being limited to one axis. 
     Thul, U.S. Pat. No. 4,897,768, provides an arcuate track that is mountable with suction cups to a supporting surface. A flashlight is strapped to the track at a selected location and, therefore, inclination. A drawback of the device is that varying the inclination requires two hands for manipulating the strap. Another drawback is that, without removing the suction cups from the support surface, the inclination is adjustable only about one axis. Yet another drawback is that a support surface sufficiently flat and large to receive widely spaced-apart suction cups is required. Van Gennep, U.S. Pat No. 5,573,329, provides a clamping pliers carrying a ball and socket joint for a flashlight holder. A disadvantage of clamping pliers is that they are generally limited to clamping onto objects that can be gripped with a relatively small jaw opening and may cause damage to some of objects, particularly if misadjusted. 
     Accordingly, there is a need for a flashlight support assembly that provides for attachment to, or stabilization upon, a wide variety and range of support objects and surfaces, and provides a wide range of positional and directional adjustability obtained with a minimum of repositioning. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention solves the aforementioned problems and meets the aforementioned needs by providing a flashlight and support assembly which can support the position of the flashlight in a number of environments. 
     The present invention solves the aforementioned problems by providing a set of interchangeable attachments which can be conveniently coupled to a flashlight to support a variety of flashlight positions in a hands free environment. The flashlight and support assembly includes, a support member coupled to an attachment, and a receiving slot. The support member and the receiving slot have mutually engaging devices to serve as a locking mechanism. When the support member is disposed of inside the receiving slot, the mutually engaging devices engage, to prevent the support member from unintentionally sliding out of the receiving slot. The flashlight and support assembly also allow the attachments to be easily detached from the flashlight when the attachments are not needed. 
     The interchangeable attachments for the flashlight are used in conjunction with a variety of applications. One attachment used is a tripod. The tripod can be used to aim the flashlight in a desired direction for an extended period of time without having to readjust the position of the flashlight. The tripod gives the flashlight the ability to have pitch movements so that the direction of the light beam can be adjusted. Additionally, the legs of the tripod can be folded so as to minimize the size of the tripod, when space is a limitation. 
     The magnetic block is another interchangeable attachment which is used. The magnetic block, like the tripod, can be used to aim the flashlight in a desired direction for an extended period of time without having to readjust the position of the flashlight. However, unlike the tripod, the magnetic block allows use of the flashlight without having to support the flashlight on the ground. The magnetic block allows the flashlight for example, to be attached to a magnetic object in free space, or attached to a magnetic object on a wall. 
     The belt clip is another interchangeable attachment used in conjunction with the flashlight. The belt clip can be used to attach the flashlight to an object, which can at least partially fit between the belt clip. As a result the belt clip can be used to support the flashlight by attaching it to objects in free space, or objects that are on the ground. 
     All of the interchangeable attachments aforementioned can easily be changed when a flashlight is being used. By allowing an operator to quickly and easily change attachments, the operator can quickly adapt to changes in the environment in which the flashlight is being used. 
     The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention, taken in conjunction with the following drawings. Also, the attachments do not need to be used in conjunction with specialized equipment. They are all adaptable to common situations that are encountered when using a flashlight. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the flashlight according to a first embodiment. 
     FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the receiving slot. 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the receiving slot. 
     FIG. 4 a  is a perspective view of the support member according to one aspect of this invention. 
     FIG. 4 b  is a cross sectional view of the tripod. 
     FIG. 4 c  is a perspective of the tripod according to an alternate embodiment. 
     FIG. 4 d  is a bottom view of the sphere of the tripod. 
     FIG. 4 e  is a cross sectional view of the sphere and the flashlight. 
     FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the support member being inserted in the receiving slot. 
     FIG. 6 a  is a perspective view of the flashlight according to an alternate embodiment of this invention. 
     FIG. 6 b  is a perspective view of the flashlight according to an alternate embodiment of this invention. 
     FIG. 6 c  is a perspective view of the flashlight according to an alternate embodiment of this invention. 
     FIG. 6 d  is a perspective view of the flashlight according to an alternate embodiment of this invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. 
     A flashlight and support assembly for supporting the flashlight using interchangeable attachments is described with reference to FIGS. 1-6. Shown in these figures is a flashlight and support assembly that consists of a flashlight, a receiving slot, a support member, and several interchangeable attachments connected to the support member. The support member preferably contains a protruberance. When the support member is disposed inside the receiving slot, the protruberance prevents the support member from unintentionally sliding out of the receiving slot. However, when an operator wants to remove the interchangeable attachment from the flashlight, the attachment can easily be disengaged from the flashlight. 
     The flashlight and support assembly according to a first embodiment will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1-5. FIG. 1 shows the flashlight and support assembly according to the first embodiment of this invention. The flashlight and support assembly for a flashlight  1  includes a receiving slot  3  located on the flashlight  1  and a support member  5  attached to a tripod attachment  7 , the support member  5  engaging with the receiving slot when the flashlight is supported. The receiving slot  3 , shown in FIG. 2 includes a first surface  4 , and a parallel second surface  6  opposing, but spaced equally from the first surface  4 . A portion of the first surface  4  preferably has an indentation formed in it so as to define a detent  8 . The detent  8  is comprised of a first surface  4   a , a first wall  12 , extending between the first surface  4   a  and the second surface  6 , and a second wall  14 , extending between the first surface  4   a , and the first surface  4 . FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the receiving slot  3 , which shows the first and second sidewalls  16 ,  18 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 4 a - 4   b , the tripod  7  comprises a sphere  34 , the aforementioned support member  5 , and a plurality of legs  38 . The support member  5  preferably comprises a first surface  20 , a second surface  22 , first and second sidewalls  24 ,  26 , a front face  28 , and a protruberance  30 . The support member  5  is preferably attached to the sphere  34  with a rigid joint  32 . The support member  5  also includes a support beam  35  mounted longitudinally on the bottom surface  22  of the support member  5  and connected to the rigid joint  32  to help support the weight of flashlight  1 . 
     The plurality of legs  38  are mounted to a central column  40  via hinges  42 , which allow the plurality of legs  38  to project outwards, as well as retract, forming a circular surface as seen in FIG. 4 c . When the plurality of legs  38  project outwards, they are preferably spaced apart equally. An arm  44  is used to attach the central column  40  to sphere  34 . As shown in FIGS. 4 d - 4   e,  the sphere  34  contains a cavity  46 , wherein the arm  44  is engaged about a pin  48 . The arm  44  engaged in the sphere  34  about the pin  48  allows the sphere  34  to have pitch movement about the engaged arm  44  as shown in FIG. 4 e  due to the presence of cavity  46  in sphere  34  (See FIG. 4 d ). 
     The support member  5  may be detachably disposed in the receiving slot as shown in FIG.  5 . When the support member  5  is disposed inside the receiving slot  3 , the first surface  20  of the support member  5  contacts the first surface  4  of the receiving slot  3 . The second surface  22  of the support member  5  contacts the second surface  6  of the receiving slot  3 , and the first and second sidewalls  24 ,  26  of the support member  5  contact the first and second sidewalls  16 , 18  of the receiving slot  3 . Also, the protruberance  30  is disposed inside the detent  8  to prevent the unintentional release of the support member  5  from the receiving slot  3 . 
     According to another embodiment, a magnetic block attachment  9  or belt clip attachment  11  is used, as shown in FIGS. 6 a - 6   d.  The magnetic block attachment  9  consists of a support member  13  and a magnetic block  15 . The magnetic block  15  and the support member  13  are attached with a rigid joint  17 . Similarly, the belt clip attachment  11  consists of a belt clip  19  mounted to a support member  21 . The support member  13  of the magnetic block and the support member  21  of the belt clip are both disposed inside the receiving slot  5  on the flashlight  1 . The flashlight  1  can be conveniently packaged with a tripod attachment  7 , a magnetic block attachment  9 , and/or a belt clip  11 . The flashlight  1  can be supported by any one of the attachments  7 ,  9 ,  11  or it may be handheld in a convenient position. 
     Let it be understood that the foregoing description is only illustrative of the invention. Various alternatives and modifications can be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the present invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications, and variances which fall within the scope of the appended claims.