Patent ID: 7400112

Claim:
An autoilluminating rechargeable lamp system providing comparatively high luminosity in a manner that is portable and suitable for indoor and outdoor use, comprising: a charger module adapted to mate with and receive a lantern module, including a first circuit coupled to said received lantern module operative in response to supplied AC power to provide a charge signal to the lantern module received thereby; and a lantern module rotatable about its axis of extension that is received by said charger module, the lantern module including at least one light emitting element connected to a rechargeable battery pack via a second circuit operative in one mode to charge said rechargeable battery pack and to de-light said at least one light emitting element in response to receipt of the lantern module on the charger module and to activate said at least one light emitting element in response to removal of the lantern module from said charger module and operative in another mode to controllably alter the light emitting characteristics of the at least one light emitting element in response to rotation of the lantern module about its axis of extension.