Portable lighting devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11149909-B2
Application number	US-201916248710-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 15, 2019
Priority date	Jan 16, 2009
Publication date	Oct 19, 2021
Grant date	Oct 19, 2021

Abstract

A flashlight or portable light source has a battery power source, a light source, a circuit powered by the battery power source which causes the light source to emit light in an on state, a switch which causes the circuit to alternate between the on state and an off state in which the light source does not emit light when the switch is actuated by a user, a controller for causing light emitted from the light source to emit at two or more modes other than the off state, and an automatic dimmer residing within the flashlight which causes light emitted from the light source to dim without any activation of the switch after a first preselected amount of time.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A portable lighting product, comprising:
a battery power source;
a light source which emits light along a principal axis of projection from the light source;
a circuit powered by the battery power source which causes the light source to emit light in an on state;
a user-actuated switch operable to turn the portable lighting product on and off; and
a controller operable to control a night light mode of operation of the portable lighting product in response to a user actuation of said night light mode;
wherein during the night light mode of operation, the portable lighting product operates as follows:
a first mode in which the light source emits light along the principal axis of projection from the light source in a bright light mode of light emission for a timed amount of time as long as the user-actuated switch is not used to turn the portable lighting product off and then, when the timed amount of time has expired,
a second mode in which the light source changes to a lower light mode of light emission along the principal axis of projection from the light source for a first preselected amount of time, and
while in the second mode, when movement of the portable lighting product is detected, operation of the portable lighting product is reset and begins again with the first mode; and
wherein the first preselected amount of time will be reset and operation of the portable lighting product will begin again with the second mode if no movement of the portable lighting product is detected during the first preselected amount of time.

2. The portable lighting product of claim 1 , wherein power drain on the battery power source in the lower light mode of light emission is approximately 10% or less of power drain on the battery power source in the bright light mode of light emission.

3. The portable lighting product of claim 1 , wherein the portable lighting product is comprised of a flashlight.

4. The portable lighting product of claim 1 , wherein the night light mode is not actuated by movement of the user-actuated switch.

5. The portable lighting product of claim 1 , wherein the night light mode is actuated by a different operation of the user-actuated switch than a movement of the user-actuated switch which causes the portable lighting product to switch between on and off.

6. A method for operating a portable lighting product, comprising the steps of:
causing the portable lighting product to change from an off mode to an on mode in response to actuation of a user activated switch by a user; and
causing the portable lighting product to operate in a night light mode of operation in response to a user actuation of said night light mode;
wherein during the night light mode of operation, the portable lighting product operates as follows:
a first mode in which a light source emits light along a principal axis of projection from the light source in a bright light mode of light emission for a timed amount of time as long as a user-actuated switch is not used to turn the portable lighting product off and then, when the timed amount of time has expired,
a second mode in which the light source changes to a lower light mode of light emission along the principal axis of projection from the light source for a first preselected amount of time, and
while in the second mode, when movement of the portable lighting product is detected, operation of the portable lighting product is reset and begins again with the first mode.

7. The method for operating a portable lighting product of claim 6 , wherein power drain on the battery power source in the lower light mode of light emission is approximately 10% or less of power drain on the battery power source in the bright light mode of light emission.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the night light mode is not actuated by movement of the user-actuated switch.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the night light mode is actuated by a different operation of the user-actuated switch than a movement of the user-actuated switch which causes the portable lighting product to switch between on and off.

10. A portable lighting product, comprising:
a battery power source;
a light source which emits light along a principal axis of projection from the light source;
a circuit powered by the battery power source which causes the light source to emit light in an on state;
a user-actuated switch operable to turn the portable lighting product on and off; and
a controller operable to control a night light mode of operation of the portable lighting product in response to a user actuation of said night light mode;
wherein during the night light mode of operation, the portable lighting product operates as follows:
a first mode in which the light source emits light along the principal axis of projection from the light source in a bright light mode of light emission for a timed amount of time as long as the user-actuated switch is not used to turn the portable lighting product off and then, when the timed amount of time has expired,
a second mode in which the light source changes to a lower light mode of light emission along the principal axis of projection from the light source until movement of the portable lighting product is detected, and then operation of the portable lighting product is reset and begins again with the first mode.

11. The portable lighting product of claim 10 , wherein power drain on the battery power source in the lower light mode of light emission is approximately 10% or less of power drain on the battery power source in the bright light mode of light emission.

12. The portable lighting product of claim 10 , wherein the night light mode is not actuated by movement of the user-actuated switch.

13. The portable lighting product of claim 10 , wherein the night light mode is actuated by a different operation of the user-actuated switch than a movement of the user-actuated switch which causes the portable lighting product to switch between on and off.

14. A method for operating a portable lighting product, comprising the steps of:
causing the portable lighting product to change from an off mode to an on mode in response to actuation of a user activated switch by a user; and
causing the portable lighting product to operate in a night light mode of operation in response to a user actuation of said night light mode;
wherein during the night light mode of operation, the portable lighting product operates as follows:
a first mode in which a light source emits light along a principal axis of projection from the light source in a bright light mode of light emission for a timed amount of time as long as a user-actuated switch is not used to turn the portable lighting product off and then, when the timed amount of time has expired,
a second mode in which the light source changes to a lower light mode of light emission along the principal axis of projection from the light source until movement of the portable lighting product is detected, and then operation of the portable lighting product is reset and begins again with the first mode.

15. The method for operating a portable lighting product of claim 14 , wherein power drain on the battery power source in the lower light mode of light emission is approximately 10% or less of power drain on the battery power source in the bright light mode of light emission.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the night light mode is not actuated by movement of the user-actuated switch.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the night light mode is actuated by a different operation of the

Assignees

• Mag Instr Inc

Inventors

• Maglica Anthony
• West Stacey H

Classifications

• H02J7/751

  concerning the insertion or the connection of the batteries · CPC title

• H02J7/90

  Regulation of charging or discharging current or voltage · CPC title

• H05B45/50

  responsive to malfunctions or undesirable behaviour of LEDs; responsive to LED life; Protective circuits · CPC title

• F21V23/0421

  the switch being part of, or disposed on the tail cap portion thereof · CPC title

• Y02B20/40

  Control techniques providing energy savings, e.g. smart controller or presence detection · CPC title