Patent ID: 6964510

Claim:
A flashlight comprising: a housing; a light source within said housing; a power source within said housing; a switch base in electrical communication with said light source and said power source; an array of magnetic field effect sensors arranged on a surface of said base, each of said sensors having a first operational state when said sensor is within a magnetic field and a second operational state when said sensor is not within a magnetic field; an actuator including at least one magnet, said at least one magnet generating a magnetic field, said actuator being selectively movable relative to said base such that said at least one magnet travels along a predetermined path adjacent said array of magnetic field effect sensors, said at least one magnet being selectively positionable in a plurality of predetermined positions within said predetermined path such that said magnetic field of said at least one magnet selectively determines said operational state of selected ones of said array of sensors; and a control circuit in electrical communication with each of said sensors, said control circuit being configured to monitor said operational state of each of said sensors and to selectively energize said light source using a predetermined instruction responsive to the combined operational states of said sensors.