Patent Document

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is related to and claims priority from earlier filed provisional patent application No. 60/306,517, filed Jul. 19, 2001. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The instant invention relates generally to multi-purpose utility tools, and more particularly the present invention relates to a flashlight having a compartment for removably storing a standard pocket knife within the handle thereof. 
     Folding pocket knives with miniature flashlights incorporated into the handle have been known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Design Pat. Nos. D412,355 and D408,256 both disclose designs for a folding pocket knife having a small LED light element incorporated into the casing of the knife. Likewise, flashlights having foldable knife blades hingably mounted to the housing of the flashlight have also been known in the prior art. For example, the U.S. Design Pat. Nos. D353,011 and D350,271 each disclose such a flashlight. 
     The common feature of the prior art is that the handle of the primary tool also serves as the handle for the secondary tool. For the most part, these designs require a specifically designed housing, and more often than not, the design favors the functionality of the primary tool over the secondary tool, making the secondary tool difficult to use in some circumstances. In addition, the primary and secondary tools are not separable and therefore both tools could not be used contemporaneously by different persons. 
     There is therefore a need for a unique flashlight design that combines a storage compartment that can receive a standard pocket knife as an integral part of the device handle allowing for storage and for easy removal and use. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In this regard, the present invention provides for a novel flashlight having a high intensity light source and including an integral storage capacity for receiving a standard construction folding pocket knife, as is well known in the art. The flashlight preferably includes a high intensity light source such as a light emitting diode (LED), a power source and a switching mechanism to selectively energize the light source, all contained within a housing. The flashlight housing is configured to have a docking compartment that slidably receives a standard folding pocket knife therein and a latching mechanism for retaining the knife within the compartment. In the preferred embodiments, the compartment is designed as a channel within in the handle of the flashlight, wherein the two sides and bottom of the channel are formed by the handle of the flashlight and the top side of the channel is essentially open. In this manner, when the knife is inserted into the channel from the end of the flashlight, one of the side casings of the knife is exposed and is retained in such a manner that the casing of the knife fills the open side of the channel flush with the handle of the flashlight handle. This provides an integrated look and feel to the overall product while also providing a quick visual and tactile means for determining whether the knife has been replaced in the channel compartment after use. Further, by positioning the pocket knife in this fashion, with one side casing being visible in the side of the flashlight handle, the indicia that may be printed on the casing of the knife are visible and appear to be integral to the flashlight as well. This separable design provides a significant advantage in marketing and advertising specialty channels wherein pocket knife manufacturers can private label brands, and/or print specialty advertising logos on the side casing of their pocket knives and bundle the knife with an added value flashlight. 
     Accordingly, one of the objects of the present invention is the provision of a small, lightweight, low cost flashlight having a superior brightness level and an integral means for removably storing a conventional pocketknife. Another object of the present invention is the provision of a flashlight having a handle that is formed to receive and store a conventional pocketknife wherein one of the side casing surfaces of the pocket knife is visible and appears integrated with the handle of the flashlight. A further object of the present invention is the provision of a flashlight having a high intensity light source and a handle that is capable of receiving a standard construction pocket knife and wherein the flashlight and the pocket knife can be used entirely independently when the pocket knife is not docked within the storage compartment. 
     Other objects, features and advantages of the invention shall become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     In the drawings which illustrate the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the present invention: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the miniature flashlight of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a top plan view thereof; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view from the rear thereof with the storage cover in the open position; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view from the rear thereof with the storage cover in the open position and the pocketknife partially removed; 
     FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view thereof as taken along line  5 — 5  of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram generally illustrating the operational circuitry of the flashlight portion of the present invention; and 
     FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring now to the drawings, the combination flashlight and pocket knife tool of the present invention is illustrated and generally indicated at  10  in FIGS. 1-7. The pocket knife is generally indicated at  12 , while the flashlight is generally indicated at  14 . 
     As will hereinafter be more fully described, the handle of the flashlight  14  is configured with a docking channel for removably receiving and holding the folding pocket knife  12 . In operation, the pocket knife  12  can be completely separated from the flashlight  14  for use. The present invention therefore provides a convenient and economical combination tool  10  that has not been previously available in the prior art. 
     Turning to FIGS. 1 and 2, it can be seen that the flashlight  14  includes an outer tubular housing  15 . The flashlight  14  further includes an operational light assembly generally indicated at  16 , enclosed within one end of the housing  15 , and an elongated, flattened display surface  18  adjacent the opposite end of the housing  15 . The light assembly  16  is conventional in the art and will be further described below. The flattened surface  18  near the back of the housing  15  provides a flat area for a docking channel  20  into which the pocket knife  12  is received. The flashlight housing  15  further includes a retaining clip  30  at the back end of the housing  15  for selectively providing access to the open rear end of the docking channel  20 , and for retaining the pocket knife  12  within the docking channel  20 . 
     The retaining clip  30  in the preferred embodiment is shown to be pivotably mounted to the back of the flashlight housing  15 . Once the knife  12  is inserted into the channel  20 , the retaining clip  30  is pivoted into an engaged position to retain the knife  12 . The retaining clip  30  has a positive latching mechanism such as raised pins  32  that engage small grooves  34  in the sides of the channel  20 . The retaining clip  30  is shaped to smoothly integrate and match the shape of the housing  15  when it is received in the engaged position, thus appearing to smoothly integrate with the outer shape of the housing  15 . While a pivoting clip  30  is shown, it should be appreciated that a number of other configurations where the clip slides, turns, rotates or is removed plainly also fall within the intent and scope of the present invention. 
     It can be seen in the preferred embodiment of the present invention  10  that a conventional 2-blade folding pocketknife  12  is illustrated. Smaller 2-blade pocket knives are known to be relatively thin in top to bottom thickness, and are thus preferred for integration into the present device over thicker multi-blade/multi-tool folding pocket knives including 4 or more tools. However, it is to be understood that larger folding pocket knives are contemplated within the scope of the invention in the context of larger flashlights. For aesthetic reasons, the pocket knife  12  may occupy only so much area of the housing  15  of the flashlight  14  before it detracts for the overall ornamental appearance of the construction. Larger pocket knives could be used. However, the housing  15  of the flashlight  14  would have to be proportionally larger. 
     The pocket knife  12  generally comprises a metal frame  13  having two blades  26  mounted to the frame  13 . The blades  26  may be attached to the frame  13  by a pivot mechanism or by other sliding mechanisms as desired. The pocket knife  12  as illustrated contains pivoting blades  26 . The blades  26  pivot from opposing ends of the frame  13  as is conventional in the pocket knife art. In the closed positions, the outer (non-cutting) edges of the blades  26  extend beyond the peripheral edge of the frame  35  to provide a gripping point for opening of the blades  26 . This feature, as will be explained hereinafter, is important in retaining the pocket knife  12  within the docking channel  20 . The opposing side surfaces of the metal frame  13  are covered with contoured decorative covers  22 . The decorative covers  22  may be formed from plastic, or any other desirable material. Preferably, the covers  22  are suitable for engraving or printing of branding, advertising or marketing information. In particular, it is contemplated that the covers  22  will be molded from plastic. It is also contemplated that the pocket knife  12  may have a construction wherein the frame  13  and covers  22  are formed as a single piece, and therefore the covers  22  are not separate elements per se, but rather, are simply decorative surfaces on the sides of the frame  13 . 
     The housing  15  of the flashlight  14  may also be molded from plastic or machined from a metallic material such as aluminum or stainless steel. The material of the housing  15 , or for that matter, the knife frame  13 , or the covers  22 , is not particularly important to any of the patentable features of the invention. Although, it is preferred that the materials used for both the pocket knife casings  22  and the flashlight housing  15  are either the same or at least complementary in appearance. 
     Turning to FIGS. 3 and 4, the channel opening  20  in the surface of the flashlight housing  15  is preferably configured to interfittingly mate with the size and shape of the side covers  22  of the pocket knife  12 . The channel  20  is configured with a bottom wall  28 , two parallel side edges and a radiused inner end forming a side wall of the channel  20 . In this manner, when the pocket knife  12  is slidably received into the channel  20  of the flashlight housing  15 , one of the side covers  22  of the knife  12  is positioned in flush relation with the flat surface  18  in the housing  15  and thus appears to be an integral component of the flashlight housing  15 . This mating design provides an integrated look and feel to the overall device  10 . In addition, by allowing one side of the knife casing  22  to be exposed through the top of the channel  20 , any indicia printed on the knife cover  22  is visible and appears to be printed on the side of the flashlight housing  15 . This feature is desirable to both the pocket knife  12  manufacturer by allowing the indicia printed on the knife casing  22  to be displayed as well as to an organization that purchases the flashlight  14  for bundling with a pocket knife  12  on which they can print a personalized message. 
     Still referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the operation of the combination tool  10  of the present invention is illustrated. It can be seen in these two figures that two distinct features cooperate to receive and retain the pocket knife  12  within the channel  20 . First, a groove  24  is provided in the sidewalls of the channel  20 . These grooves  24  are an important feature of the present invention  10 . As previously discussed and as can be seen in FIG. 4, the retractable blades  26  on the pocketknife  12  protrude slightly from the peripheral edges of the pocketknife  12  in their retracted position. The grooves  24  are located in such a manner that they receive these retracted blades  26  as the knife  12  is pushed into the channel  20  and engage the blades  26  to retain the knife  12  within the channel  20 . The cooperative engagement of the grooves  24  and the blades  26  prevent the knife  12  from movement out of the open top of the channel  20 . The relationship between the pocket knife  12 , the housing  15 , channel  20  and the grooves  24  is best illustrated in FIG.  5 . The retracted blades  26  are shown engaged in the grooves  24  in the side wall of the channel  20  and the side casing  22  of the knife  12  can be seen to be received flush with the surface  18  of the housing  14 . 
     The second feature that operates to retain the pocket knife  12  in the channel  20  is the pivoting retaining clip  30  provided at the back end of the housing  15 . Once the knife  12  is inserted into the channel  20 , the retaining clip  30  is pivoted into an engaged position to retain the knife  12 . As indicated above, the retaining clip  30  has a positive latching mechanism such as raised pins  32  that engage small grooves  34  in the sides of the channel  20 . 
     The channel configuration as described hereinabove provides an immediate visual confirmation to the user to verify whether the pocket knife  12  is assembled with the housing  15 . Further, since the channel  20  is open, an operator of the present invention  10  can manually verify whether the knife  12  is in place without looking at the housing  15  by simply feeling the housing  15  of the flashlight  10 . If the pocket knife  12  is in place, the channel  20  will be closed providing immediate tactile confirmation of the knife&#39;s  12  presence. 
     The present invention  10  represents a further improvement over the prior art in that the pocket knife  12  is completely removable from the channel  20  of the housing  15  wherein each element is operational independent of the other. The flashlight  16  is completely self-contained and the pocket knife  12  does not depend on the flashlight to serve as its own handle. In this manner, each of the tools is more versatile and functional in a more conventional manner as compared to an integrated combination tools of the prior art. 
     Turning now to FIG. 6, and in conjunction with FIG. 1, a schematic view of the flashlight component  16  of the present invention  10  is shown. The flashlight component  16  includes a light source  36 , a power source  38  and an actuator  40 . The light source  36  may be any form of light producing element such as a filament containing light bulb, or in the preferred embodiment, a light emitting diode (LED). If an LED light source  36  is used, the circuitry in the flashlight  16  may also include conventional control electronics  42 . While the general configuration of the flashlight  16  is described herein, it is not intended to be limiting as the flashlight component  16  is well known to any person skilled in the art and is intended to encompass any variation of flashlight configuration previously known. In addition, a lens or optical element may be placed in front of the light source to refine or focus the beam of light as desired. 
     FIG. 7 shows an alternate embodiment of the present invention  100  where all of the features are identical to those of the preferred embodiment except that the light source  36  is shown as an array of LED elements  102 . In this manner, the present invention  100  may use a single light source  36  or any array of several light sources  102  in conjunction to form a single light source. Further, as described above, a control circuit  42  may be provided whereby a variety of different light configurations can be produced using the array of LED&#39;s  102 . 
     It can therefore be seen that the present invention provides a small, lightweight, low cost tool  10  that provides an independent flashlight  14 , and a pocket knife  12  that can be stored within the flashlight in a compact integrated structure. Further, the present invention can be modified to accommodate a number of standard pocketknife configurations to create a useful and novel flashlight. For these reasons, the instant invention is believed to represent a significant advancement in the art, which has substantial commercial merit. 
     While there is shown and described herein certain specific structure embodying the invention, it will be manifest to those skilled in the art that various modifications and rearrangements of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the underlying inventive concept and that the same is not limited to the particular forms herein shown and described except insofar as indicated by the scope of the appended claims.

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