Patent ID: 7311417

Claim:
A waterproof flashlight, comprising: a forward housing portion having an electrically driven illumination source, an electronic drive coupled to the illumination source and a power source therein; a rear housing portion removably attached to the forward portion by complementary threaded sections of the rear and forward portions to form a single waterproof chamber for at least said electronic drive and power source; and an activation switch located within a section of the waterproof chamber formed by the rear housing portion and a user-activated switch actuator for the activation switch located on the exterior of the rear portion, said activation switch comprising a mechanically-operated switch and an electronic switch coupled to the mechanically-operated switch for coupling the power source to the electronic drive, the mechanically-operated switch energizing the electronic switch when closed, the electronic switch being continuously powered by the power supply irrespective of the electrical condition of the activation switch and carrying load current for the electronic drive without said load current passing through the mechanically-operated switch, the activation switch being electrically coupled to the electronic drive irrespective of the relative angular orientation of the rear portion relative to the front portion when the rear and front portions are attached by the respective threaded sections to form the waterproof chamber.