Abstract:
A carabiner includes a carabiner with a shank which has a housing chamber formed therein to house an elastic element and a battery assembly. A lamp socket is coupled with an opening of the housing chamber and may be turned and moved into the shank in different distances to turn on or off a light bulb so that the carabiner has illuminating function and becomes a portable and handy tool more useful to people.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a carabiner that has a shank with a housing chamber formed therein to house a conductive and elastic element, battery assembly and a lamp socket to provide illumination. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Conventional carabiners such as the one shown in FIG. 1 are widely used in people&#39;s life. For instance, they may be used on rock climbing, key chains, etc. They mostly are designed for a single purpose of fastening articles, and are rarely used for other functions. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     To overcome the limitation of single function of the conventional carabiners, the invention aims at providing a carabiner that has a housing chamber located in a shank of the carabiner to house a conductive and. elastic element and a battery assembly in the shank and to couple with a lamp socket so that besides for fastening the carabiner may also provide illumination to become a portable and more useful tool. 
     The carabiner of the invention has a shank which has a housing chamber formed therein to house an elastic element and a battery assembly. The conductive and elastic element has one end pressing the bottom side of the housing chamber and another end in contact with the negative pole of the battery assembly. There is a lamp socket coupling on the opening of the housing chamber. The lamp socket may be turned and moved into the shank to a first position to turn off the light and to a second position to turn on the light for illuminating. 
     To achieve the foregoing object, the carabiner of the invention includes a ring, a conductive and elastic element, a battery assembly and a lamp socket. The carabiner has a shank which has a conductive housing chamber. The shank has one end formed an opening and a coupling section. The conductive and elastic element is located at the lowest portion of the housing chamber. The battery assembly is located in the housing chamber above the conductive and elastic element. The lamp socket includes a light bulb which has two legs connecting respectively to a first conductive section and a second conductive section. The lamp socket further has a fastening section engageable with the coupling section of the carabiner so that the first conductive section may press against the battery assembly and the conductive and elastic element. The lamp socket may be moved between the first position and the second position. The second conductive section is spaced from the opening of the housing chamber for a selected distance and in contact therewith. 
     The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional carabiner. 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a first embodiment of the carabiner of the invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the carabiner shown in FIG. 2 with the lamp socket at the first position and the light bulb turned off. 
     FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of the carabiner shown in FIG. 2 with the lamp socket at the second position and the light bulb turned on. 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the invention. 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the invention. 
     FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of the invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Refer to FIG. 2 for a first embodiment of the carabiner of the invention. The carabiner includes a carabiner  20 , a metal spring  21  (conductive and elastic element), a battery assembly  22  and a lamp socket  23 . 
     The carabiner  20  is made from a conductive material (such as aluminum, copper and the like) in this embodiment. In includes a shank  200  and two arched rods  201  and  202  extending sideward from two ends of the shank and integrally formed therewith. The two arched rods  201  and  202  are spaced by a gap  203 . The arched rod  201  has one end pivotally engaged with a latch member  204  which has another end fastenable to one end  2020  of another arched rod  202  to close the gap  203 . Such a construction is known in the art and forms no part of the invention, details are omitted. The shank  200  has one end remote from the arched rod  201  with an indented housing chamber  205  formed therein. The housing chamber  205  has a bottom side  2050  normal to the inner side wall  2051  and an opening  2052 . The external peripheral surface of the shank  200  around the opening  2052  forms external screw threads  2053  (coupling section). 
     The metal spring  21  has a cross section slightly smaller than the opening  2052  of the housing chamber  205  so that it may pass through the opening and be inserted into the housing chamber  205  with one end pressing the bottom side  2050  of the housing chamber  205 . 
     The battery assembly  22  includes an insulation sleeve  220  and at least one battery  221  (four batteries are included in the embodiment). The insulation sleeve  220  has an aperture  2201  to receive the battery  221  into the insulation sleeve  220  in a series manner. 
     The lamp socket  23  includes a hollow shell  230 , a coupling pad  231  and a light bulb  232 . The hollow shell  230  is a hollow and conical member with a larger size at one end and a smaller size at another end. It has an inner wall surface  2300  with one end adjacent to the shank  200  and forming internal screw threads  2301  (fastening section) to enable the hollow shell  230  to screw and couple with the external screw threads  2053  of the shank. The hollow shell  230  above the internal screw threads  2301  has an annular groove  2302 . The coupling pad  231  is engaged with the annular groove  2302  and has a size larger than the opening  2052  of the housing chamber  205 . The coupling pad  231  has one side formed a metal bump  2310  in the center thereof (first conductive section) and a metal ring  2311  (second conductive section). The light bulb  232  is mounted onto another side of the coupling pad  231 . The light bulb has two poles (not shown in the drawings) connecting respectively to the metal bump  2310  and the metal ring  2311 . 
     For assembly, first, insert the metal spring  21  into the housing chamber  205  of the shank  200  to make the bottom end of the metal spring  21  in contact with the bottom side  2050  of the housing chamber  205 . Next, dispose the battery  221  into the insulation sleeve  220  through the aperture  2201 , then place the insulation sleeve  220  through the aperture  2201 , then dispose the insulation sleeve into the housing chamber  205  to make the negative pole of the battery  221  located at the bottom end of the insulation sleeve  220  to contact the top end of the metal spring  21 . Finally, screw the lamp socket  23  into the shank  200  by coupling the internal screw threads  2301  with the external screw threads  2053  to complete the assembly as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. 
     FIG. 3 illustrates the lamp socket  23  being coupled with the front end of the external screw threads  2053  of the shank  200 , and with the lamp socket  23  located on the first position and the light bulb  23  not generating light. The battery assembly  22  is pushed upwards by the metal spring  21  with the positive pole  2210  of the battery  221  at the top end in contact with the metal bump  2310  of the coupling pad  231 . However, the metal ring  2311  of the coupling pad  231  is spaced from the opening  2052  of the shank  200  for a distance W, and the negative pole  2211  of the battery assembly  22  at the lower side is not in contact with the metal ring  2311  of the lamp socket  23 . The positive and the negative poles do not connect, thus the light bulb  232  does not generate light. 
     FIG. 4 illustrates the lamp socket  23  being turned and moved downwards to the second position to enable the light bulb  232  to generate light. The metal ring  2311  of the coupling pad  231  of the lamp socket  23  is moved to the top opening  2052  of the inner side wall  2051  of the shank  200 , the inner side wall  2051  of the shank  200  contacts the metal spring  21 , and through the bottom side  2050  connects to the negative pole  2211  of the battery  221  located at the bottom end of the battery assembly  22  to establish electric connection. The positive pole  2210  is in contact with the metal bump  2310  of the coupling pad  231  through the pushing of the metal spring  21 . Therefore the positive and the negative poles are connected and the light bulb  232  generates light. 
     Refer to FIG. 5 for a second embodiment of the invention. The construction of the carabiner  20 ′, conductive and elastic element, battery assembly (not shown in the drawing) and lamp socket  23 ′ is substantially same as the first embodiment set forth above, thus details are omitted. The main feature of this embodiment is that the carabiner  20 ′ has a recess plane  3  formed on the outer peripheral surface. The recess plane  3  has a jutting or indented trace texture  30  which may be characters, patterns or the like. Jutting patterns are formed on the trace texture in this embodiment. 
     Refer to FIG. 6 for a third embodiment of the invention. The construction of the carabiner  4 , conductive and elastic element, battery assembly (not shown in the drawing) is substantially same as the previous embodiment set forth above, thus details are omitted. The main feature of this embodiment is that the shell  40  of the lamp socket is formed like a cylinder, and the carabiner  4  has a recess plane  41  formed on the outer peripheral surface. The recess plane  41  has a jutting or indented trace texture  410  which may be characters, patterns or the like. Jutting patterns are formed on the trace texture in this embodiment. 
     Refer to FIG. 7 for a fourth embodiment of the invention. The construction of the carabiner  5 , conductive and elastic element, battery assembly (not shown in the drawing) is substantially same as the previous embodiment set forth above, thus details are omitted. The main feature of this embodiment is that the shell  50  of the lamp socket is an ellipsoidal shell with a tapered front end, and the carabiner  5  has two recess planes  51  formed on the outer peripheral surface. Each recess plane  51  has a jutting or indented trace texture  510  which may be characters, patterns or the like. Jutting patterns are formed on the trace texture in this embodiment. 
     Based on previous discussion, it is clear that the carabiner of the invention has a housing chamber formed in the shank to house a conductive and elastic element and a battery assembly, and an opening to couple with a lamp socket to enable the carabiner to have illuminating capability. Thus, besides providing fastening function as the conventional carabiners do, it offers illuminating function and is ready for use wherever users go and whenever needed, such as during climbing rocks at night. 
     While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been set forth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosed embodiments of the invention as well as other embodiment thereof may occur to those skilled in the art. For instance, the trace texture on the shank may be other characters or patterns besides the jutting patterns. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to cover all embodiments which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention.