US20070019398A1

US20070019398A1 - Illuminating caution light apparatus that combines a nightstick, a flashlight, and a baton

Info

Publication number: US20070019398A1
Application number: US11/373,965
Authority: US
Inventors: Cheng-Hsi Chen; Gu-Wei Chang
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: CHANG GU-WEI
Priority date: 2005-07-25
Filing date: 2006-03-14
Publication date: 2007-01-25
Also published as: TWM281251U; DE202006004684U1; JP3123535U

Abstract

An illuminating caution light apparatus that combines a nightstick, a flashlight, and a baton, is constituted by a handle. The handle contains a circuit control board, an illuminating component, and a battery chamber therein. A light-guiding member, consists of a plurality of strings of optical fiber, and an end part of with an end seat is located at a front end of the handle and is provided with an LED illuminating component capable of guiding a light onto the strings of optical fiber to serve as an illuminating baton. The flashlight illuminating member includes a lamp holder located inside a connection ring and locked at a rear end of the handle. The baton can be latched at a center of top end of an illuminating foot stand to form into a tripod of caution light that illuminates when a vehicle is malfunctioning.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an illuminating caution light apparatus that combines a nightstick, a flashlight, and a baton, and more particularly to a transparent rod that can direct a bright and uniform light, that is provided with a robust structure to serve as a defensive nightstick, that is provided with an illuminating member at a bottom end thereof to serve as a flashlight for illuminating, and that can be formed into a stand of emergency caution light to illuminate for warning, upon being assembled with a tripod which is put upright.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
A baton is very commonly used in a current living environment; it is needed when a policeman is on duty, or a guard or an engineer is conducting traffic, and is especially a necessary apparatus in a night not having a good vision. However, there are a variety of batons in the market, mostly with a design including a handle, an interior of which is provided with a set of batteries, and an outer edge of which is installed with a control switch connected to an interior circuit control device, wherein the batteries can provide a necessary power and the control switch can manipulate an on/off state of light source. In addition, a bottom cap is locked at a tail end of the handle, and a hollow light pipe is assembled at a front end of the handle, wherein the hollow light pipe is provided with a plurality of illuminating components, such as LED (Light Emitting Diode) lights or lamp bulbs, and light refracting plates, which are assembled with the circuit controller, and light from the illuminating components is refracted by the light refracting plates and transmitted through the hollow light pipe for illuminating. Accordingly, the structure of this kind of baton can generate a bright alerting effect. However, as the hollow light pipe is installed with many illuminating components, the power consumed in usage will be larger; therefore, a frequent replacement of the batteries is required. Moreover, as a large quantity of illuminating components, such as the LED lights or the lamp bulbs, is used, a probability of failure is increased correspondingly, which results in a more frequent replacement and an increase of maintenance cost.
In the design of aforementioned conventional baton, the light pipe is a hollow thin-shell tube made by a light-transmitting material. As it cannot sustain with an impact of external force, the outer shell can be frequently ruptured and damaged due to an unexpected collision. Therefore, the baton cannot certainly serve as a defensive nightstick. On the other hand, when a controlling staff is on duty at night, he or she may often need to inspect an identification of specific person; however, as all the conventional batons cannot provide a sufficient illumination for this purpose, the controlling staff will need to carry another flashlight to provide the illumination, which will cause an inconvenience in performing the duty.
In addition, a conventional caution sign to be used when a vehicle is malfunctioning, is mostly a triangular light-reflecting stand composed of a plurality of flat pieces, which is very easy to be fallen, tilted over, or drifted away due to a passing-by of another vehicle in a high speed, and is easy to hurt people by drifting away. On the other hand, the conventional caution sign for vehicle malfunctioning, can be only identified from a front side without being able to be easily aware of within a 360-degree of viewing angle, and cannot either illuminate actively, except to use a reflection effect resulting from an illumination of a coming vehicle, which is not perfect.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the primary object of the present invention is to provide an illuminating caution light apparatus that combines a nightstick, a flashlight, and a baton, which is provided with a robust rod structure, is able to sustain with an impact from external force without being easily damaged, and is provided with an illuminating structure at a rear end thereof, so as to have a dual function of both serving as a nightstick and a flashlight.
Another primary object of the present invention is to provide an illuminating caution light apparatus that combines a nightstick, a flashlight, and a baton, wherein an illuminating baton can be assembled with a foot stand, to form into an emergency illuminating caution light under an emergency condition.
Accordingly, the present invention is primarily composed of a handle, an interior of which is installed with an inner sleeve having a circuit control board, and an outer edge of which is installed with two control buttons. An illuminating component and a battery chamber are located at two ends of the inner sleeve respectively, a conductive spring is located inside the battery chamber, and the illuminating component and the conductive spring are electronically connected to the circuit control board. Two longitudinal slots in an opposite direction are installed at two sides of an outer rim of the inner sleeve, and are respectively provided with a spring switch and a power cord which are connected to the circuit control board. A battery seat is installed inside the battery chamber to provide a power source. A light-guiding member is a transparent cylinder, an interior of which is emplaced with a plurality of strings of optical fiber, and an end of which is sheathed with an end seat and a plurality of O-rings, and is sheathed to an engaging member and locked to a front end of the handle. An illuminating member includes a lamp holder which is located inside a connection ring, is provided with a conductive plate at a bottom thereof and a sheath ring at an end thereof, and is locked to a lamp shade having a lens, with the other end thereof being locked at an rear end of the handle, such that contact points on the conductive plate can be connected to the battery seat and the spring switch, thereby enabling the baton to have a robust rod structure and an illuminating equipment to achieve a dual effect of serving as a nightstick and a flashlight. In the mean time, the illuminating baton of present invention can be latched and assembled with a foot stand, enabling the entire structure to become a caution light which can illuminate in an emergency condition.
To enable a further understanding of the said objectives and the technological methods of the invention herein, the brief description of the drawings below is followed by the detailed description of the preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of an appearance of the present invention.
FIG. 3 shows a longitudinal cutaway view of the present invention.
FIG. 4 shows a horizontal cutaway view of a transparent cylinder of the present invention.
FIG. 5 shows an exploded view of an illuminating member of the present invention.
FIG. 6 shows a schematic view of an example of using the present invention as a baton and a nightstick.
FIG. 7 shows a local exploded view of a foot stand of the present invention.
FIG. 8 shows a cutaway view of a foot stand of the present invention.
FIG. 9 shows a schematic view of rotating a foot stand of the present invention.
FIG. 10 shows an exploded view of a rod of a foot stand of the present invention.
FIG. 11 shows a perspective view of a foot stand of the present invention.
FIG. 12 shows a horizontal cutaway view of a transparent cylinder of another embodient of the present invention.
FIG. 13 shows an exploded view of a foot stand of another embodient of the present invention.
FIG. 14 shows a schematic view of a foot stand of an embodient of FIG. 13 of the present invention.
FIG. 15 shows an exploded view of a foot stand of yet another embodient of the present invention.
FIG. 16 shows a schematic view of a foot stand of an embodient of FIG. 15 of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, a baton 1 of the present invention comprises a handle 10, a light-guiding member 20, an engaging member 30, an inner sleeve 40, and an illuminating member 50.
The handle 10 is a hollow cylinder, an interior of which is provided with a chamber 11 filled with the inner sleeve 40, an outer rim of which is provided with two holes 12 installed with control buttons 13, and outer rims of two ends of which are installed with male threads 14, 15 respectively. A bottom of the male thread 14 at the front end of handle 10 is provided with a ring of groove 16, an interior of which is sheathed with a ring of water-proof gasket 17.
The light-guiding member 20 is a solid transparent cylinder 21 which can be made by an acryl material, and is emplaced with a plurality of strings of optical fiber (referring to FIG. 4). An end of the transparent cylinder 21 is sheathed with an end seat 23, a front end and an outer rim of which are sheathed with at least one O-ring 24, respectively (as shown in FIG. 3).
A top surface of the engaging member 30 is provided with a through-hole 31, an inner rim of bottom end of which is formed with an female thread 32 (as shown in FIG. 3), such that the female thread 32 can be screwed with the male thread 14 of handle 10, correspondingly.
An interior of the inner sleeve 40 is installed with a circuit control board 41 on which is provided with two switches 42 corresponding to the control buttons 13 of handle 10. An end of the inner sleeve 40 is provided with an illuminating component 43 (LED light), whereas the other end is provided with a battery chamber 44 which contains a conductive spring 45 (as shown in FIG. 3). The illuminating component 43 (LED light) and the conductive spring 45 are electronically connected to the circuit control board 41, and two sides of an outer rim of the inner sleeve 40 are installed with longitudinal slots 401, 402 which are respectively provided with a spring switch 46 and a power cord 47 to be connected to the circuit control board 41. An interior of the battery chamber 44 is installed with a battery seat 48 which is provided with a plurality of batteries 49 for providing a power source.
The illuminating member 50 is composed of a lamp holder 51, a connection ring 52, a sheath ring 53, a lens 54, and a lamp shade 55. A bottom surface of the lamp holder 51 is installed with a conductive plate 511 on which is provided with two contact points a, b. The contact point a is electronically conducted with a first electrode 512 of the lamp holder 51, and the contact point b is electronically conducted with a second electrode 513 of the lamp holder 51 (as shown in FIG. 3). The lamp holder 51 is installed inside the connection ring 52, and the first electrode 512 of lamp holder 51 is also electronically conducted with the connection ring 52. An outer rim of the connection ring 52 at the lamp holder 51 end is provided with a male thread 521, whereas an inner rim at the other end is provided with a female thread 522, such that the female thread 522 can be screwed with the male thread 15 at a rear end of the handle 10, correspondingly. An outer rim of the sheath ring 53 is installed with a projection piece 531 on which is provided with a through-hole 532. The sheath ring 53 is sheathed at the female thread 521 end of the connection ring 52, the lens 54 is installed inside the lamp shade 55, and an female thread 551 is formed at an inner rim of the lamp shade 55, and is screwed with the male thread 521 of connection ring 52.
Referring to FIG. 1, 3, and 5, upon assembling, the inner sleeve 40 is sheathed into the chamber 11 with the switches 42 corresponding to the control buttons 13 of handle 10, the power cord 47 is conducted with the handle 10, and the spring switch 46 of inner sleeve 40 is protruded at a rear surface of the handle 10 (as shown in FIG. 5). The light-guiding member 20 is sheathed into the through-hole 31 of engaging member 30, the end seat 23 is stuck to an outer rim at a tail end of the solid transparent cylinder 21, and each O-ring 24 is filled in a front end and an outer rim of the end seat 23, such that the end seat 23 is latched to an inner surface of the engaging member 30. Next, the engaging member 30 is screwed on the male thread 14 at a front end of the handle 10, the connection ring 52 of illuminating member 50 is screwed on the male thread 15 at a rear end of the handle 10, the contact point a on the conductive plate 511 inside the illuminating member 50 is conducted with a projection point c at a center of the battery seat 48, and the contact point b is also conducted with the spring switch 46, so as to constitute the baton 1 which can serve as a nightstick and a flashlight.
Referring to FIG. 2 and 6, an interior of the through-hole 532 of the sheath ring 53 is transfixed with a rope 533 which can be wrapped around a user's wrist to avoid a falling off when the baton 1 is used as the defensive nightstick.
Referring to FIGS. 7 to 10, a top end of a foot stand 2 is provided with a pivot seat 60, an interior of which is installed with a pivot hole 61, and outer rims of which are protruded with three pivot ears 62. Three pivot shafts 63 are located below the pivot ears 62 respectively, and a top part of each of three rods 70 is provided with a connector 71 having a shaft hole 72 at a top end thereof to be latched with the pivot shaft 63 of pivot seat 60, correspondingly. In addition, a top surface of the connector 71 is provided with an abutting surface 73 and a limiting block 74, and a lower end of each connector 71 is assembled with a short section of transparent plastic rod 75. Moreover, a lower end of the transparent plastic rod 75 is assembled with an illuminating foot rod 76 (as shown in FIG. 10), so as to constitute the foot stand 2 (as shown in FIG. 11). Referring to FIG. 10 and 11, upper ends of the three rods 70 of foot stand 2 of present invention are provided with the transparent plastic rods 75, and lower ends are provided with the illuminating foot rods 76, whereas a single opening at a top end of each foot rod 76 is formed with a graded slot 761. After a water-proof O-ring 77 is sheathed on a graded part at a bottom end of the transparent plastic rod 75, the transparent plastic rod 75 is latched into the graded slot 761. An illuminating component 762 (LED light), a conductive metal plate 763, a battery 764, and an end cap 765 are located inside the illuminating foot rod 76. After the end cap 765 is tightly screwed, whether the internal illuminating component 762 is illuminating can be controlled, and a light source can be illuminating through the transparent plastic rod 75, after emitting the light. When using the present invention, each rod 70 is opened outward such that the abutting surface 73 of connector 72 is abutted on a bottom surface of the pivot ear 62 (as shown in FIG. 9), and the limiting block 74 is stopped at an outer rim of the pivot ear 62 to firmly set up the foot stand 2 on a ground. Following that, the baton 1 of present invention is inserted into the pivot hole 61 for fixing; thereby enabling an assembly of the baton 1 and the foot stand 2 to serve as a stand of caution light to be used when a vehicle is malfunctioning.
Referring to FIG. 12, the light-guiding member 20 of present invention is a thick-wall hollow transparent cylinder 25 which can be made by a PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) plastic material, with a thicker inner wall being emplaced with a plurality of strings of optical fiber 22, an end part being sheathed with the end seat 23, and a front end being provided with a slot hole 26 such that a cap 27 can be latched into the slot hole 26 to prevent a rain from flowing into the hollow transparent cylinder 25. As the hollow transparent cylinder 25 is made by the PVC plastic material, it is provided with a better endurance to an impact.
Referring to FIG. 13 and 14, the upper ends of rods 70 of foot stand 2 of present invention are provided with the transparent plastic rods 75, and the lower ends are provided with the illuminating foot rods 76, whereas a double opening at a top end of each foot rod 76 is formed with the graded slot 761 at one opening, and a graded slot 766 at the other opening. Another illuminating component 767 (LED light) can be installed on a circuit board at a rear side of the graded slot 766. Therefore, after a water-proof O-ring 77 is sheathed on a graded part at a bottom end of transparent plastic rod 75 a, the transparent plastic rod 75 a is latched into the graded slot 767. Referring to FIG. 14, when using this embodient of present invention, each rod 70 is opened outward, such that the transparent plastic rod 75 a can be connected to the illuminating foot rods 76 a at two side, thereby enabling an assembly of the baton 1 and the foot stand 2 to form into an illuminating triangular rack along a specific direction to serve as a stand of caution light to be used when a vehicle is malfunctioning.
Referring to FIG. 15 and 16, the rod 70 of foot stand 2 of present invention is provided with a transversal plastic rod 75 b, two ends of which are installed with clipping heads 75 c, and an outer surface of which is installed with a light reflecting plate or is coated with a light reflecting material, such that the clipping heads 75 c at two ends are latched on the transparent plastic rod 75 c of rod 70, after each rod 70 is opened outward, thereby enabling an assembly of the baton 1 and the foot stand 2 to form into a triangular rack which can illuminate and is provided with a reflecting effect after being illuminated by a vehicle, along a specific direction, to serve as a stand of caution light to be used when a vehicle is malfunctioning.
It is of course to be understood that the embodiments described herein is merely illustrative of the principles of the invention and that a wide variety of modifications thereto may be effected by persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An illuminating caution light apparatus that combines a nightstick, a flashlight, and a baton, comprising a handle, a light-guiding member, an engaging member, an inner sleeve, and an illuminating member; the handle being a hollow cylinder, outer rims of two ends of which are formed with male threads, an interior of which is provided with a chamber for emplacing the inner sleeve, and an outer rim of which is provided with two holes for installing control buttons; the light-guiding member being a transparent cylinder, an interior of which is emplaced with a plurality of strings of optical fiber, a tail end of which is sheathed with an end seat with at least one O-ring being sheathed at a front end and an outer rim of the end seat respectively; the engaging member, a top surface of which is provided with a through-hole, and an inner rim at a bottom end of which is provided with a female thread; the light-guiding member being sheathed on the engaging member of handle and thus being locked at a front end of the handle; the inner sleeve, an interior of which is installed with a circuit control board on which is provided with two switches, and two ends of which are installed with an illuminating component and a battery chamber having a conductive spring, with the illuminating component and the conductive spring being electronically connected to the circuit control board; two sides at an outer rim of the inner sleeve being provided with longitudinal slots which are respectively provided with a spring switch and a power cord to be connected to the circuit control board; an interior of the battery chamber being installed with a battery seat with a battery, and the inner sleeve being sheathed into the chamber of handle; the illuminating member being provided with a lamp holder inside a connection ring, and a bottom part of the lamp holder being provided with a conductive plate on which is provided with two contact points; an end of the lamp holder being locked with a lamp shade having a lens, and the other end of the lamp holder being locked at a rear end of the handle, such that the contact points installed on the conductive plate can be connected with the battery seat and the spring switch.

2. The illuminating caution light apparatus that combines a nightstick, a flashlight, and a baton, according to claim 1, wherein a loop with a rope can be sheathed between the connection ring and the lamp shade of illuminating member of baton.

3. The illuminating caution light apparatus that combines a nightstick, a flashlight, and a baton, according to claim 1, wherein the baton can be latched into a foot stand, to serve as a stand of caution light.

4. The illuminating caution light apparatus that combines a nightstick, a flashlight, and a baton, according to claim 1, wherein the light-guiding member is a solid transparent cylinder which can be made by an acryl material.

5. The illuminating caution light apparatus that combines a nightstick, a flashlight, and a baton, according to claim 1, wherein the light-guiding member is a thick-wall hollow transparent cylinder which can be made by a PVC plastic material.

6. The illuminating caution light apparatus that combines a nightstick, a flashlight, and a baton, according to claim 3, wherein the aforementioned foot stand is provided with a pivot seat, an interior of which is installed with a pivot hole, and outer rims of which are protruded with three pivot ears; a pivot shaft being located below the pivot ear, and a connector being located at a top end of each of three rods; a shaft hole being located at a top end of the connector for latching with the pivot shaft, correspondingly; a lower end of each connector being assembled with the rod and a top surface of each connector being provided with an abutting surface and a limiting block.

7. The illuminating caution light apparatus that combines a nightstick, a flashlight, and a baton, according to claim 6, wherein a lower end of each connector of the foot stand being assembled with a short section of transparent plastic rod, a bottom end of which is assembled with an illuminating foot rod containing an illuminating component (LED light), a conductive metal plate, a battery, and an end cap; a light being able to be emitted through the transparent plastic rod.

8. The illuminating caution light apparatus that combines a nightstick, a flashlight, and a baton, according to claim 7, wherein an upper end of the aforementioned foot stand is provided with the transparent plastic rod, and a lower end is provided with the illuminating foot rod; a top end of the foot rod being provided with a double opening, with a graded slot being located at one opening, such that a bottom end of the transparent plastic rod can be latched into each graded slot, with one transparent plastic rod being connected to the illuminating foot rods at two sides.

9. The illuminating caution light apparatus that combines a nightstick, a flashlight, and a baton, according to claim 7, wherein an upper end of the aforementioned foot stand is provided with the transparent plastic rod, and a lower end is provided with the illuminating foot rod; a top end of the foot rod being provided with a single opening, such that a bottom end of the transparent plastic rod can be latched into the graded slot; two ends of a transversal plastic rod being provided with clipping heads, and an outer surface of the transversal plastic rod being provided with a light reflecting plate or being coated with a light reflecting material, such that the clipping heads at two ends of the transversal plastic rod can be latched on the transparent plastic rod which is connected to the illuminating foot rods at two sides.