US2275299A - Spot lamp attachment - Google Patents

Description

March 3, 1942. R H, Q 'ME 2,275,299

SPOT LAMP ATTACHMENT Filed Oct. 17, 1940 Patented Mar. 3, 1942 SPOT LAMP ATTACHMENT Robert H. Hummert, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to The S. H. Thomson Manufacturing Company, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application October 17, 1940, Serial No. 361,624

2 Claims.

This invention relates to portable spotlamps and more particularly to an attachment therefor by means of which the spotlamp may be carried or supported.

One object of the invention is the provision of a portable spotlamp and an attachment which may serve for the support of the lamp ina protecting inoperative position and which is also adapted to carry the lamp in an operative position, the attachment being of simple and cheap In the drawing, in which the same reference numerals have been applied to the same parts in the several views,

Fig. 1 is a perspective View, with a portion shown in section, showing the spotlamp attachment embodying the present invention and illustrating the manner in which the spotlamp is carried by its suspending hook Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the spotlamp and its attachment, the latter shown in central vertical section, and illustrating the manner in which the spotlamp is carried by its depending post; and

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the attachment.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, in which the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated as a spotlamp attachment adapted for cooperation with a suspending hook and also with a depending post of a portable spotlamp so that the latter can be carried in a plurality of quite different positions, In designates a portable spotlamp, having a handle H which may be readily grasped by the user and which serves as a convenient means for aiming or pointing the spotlamp in a desired direction. The handle depends downwardly from a body portion I2, in a direction generally transverse of the direction in which the light beams are projected. The body portion [2 includes a bowl-like reflector housing having a front lens or glass M and enclosing an electric lamp bulb I5. The latter is energized, under the control of a switch button Hi, from any suitable source of electrical current to which the spotlamp may be connected by the cable connection l7.

At the .top of the body 12 is a suspending hook l9, secured in place and extending upwardly, then curving forwardly and downwardly as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Projecting downwardly from the lower portion of the body I2 is a depending post 20, preferably of circular cross section and preferably made as an integral part of the body itself. The body is also preferably molded integral with the hand grip H, from suitable thermoplastic material such as Tenite or Bakelite, so that the spotlamp is quite light in weight although capable of projecting a high power beam of light.

The spotlamp attachment, by means of which the spotlamp itself may be carried in a plurality of different positions, is a rubber cup 22 having an attaching side 23 which is deformable for attachment to a smooth surface such as the window of an automobile or any other smooth and comparatively flat surface on which it is desired to fasten the cup. The peripheral portion 24 of the cup is thin and normally extends in a curved form as shown in Fig. 3, so that the suction created when the cup is pressed against a smooth surface will hold the cup securely in place. Projecting from the body portion of the cup is a boss 25 having a blind axial passage 26 of the same diameter as the post 20 of the spotlamp. When the cup is fastened on a member 27 extending in a general horizontal direction, the passage 26 has its axis approximately vertical and receives the post 20 for the support of the spotlamp in a position for use. In this position the spotlamp is held at a point substantially below its center of gravity, and the lamp is positioned to direct thebeams of light in a generally horizontal position. The post 20 has a snug fit in the passage 26, and is applied merely by moving the post downwardly into position, but the fit is such that r the spotlamp can be readily separated from the cup, merely by pulling the lamp upwardly. The connection between the post and the cup is such that the spotlamp can be readily turned about a vertical axis, by manipulating the grip ll, so as to direct the beams of light in a desired generally horizontal direction, and the flexibility of the boss 25 permits a limited tilting of the lamp so that the beams of light can be directed upwardly or downwardly While the lamp is in position on the cup.

The boss 26 is also provided with a comparatively small diameter transversely extending passage 28, at one side of the passage 26, this passage 28 being so arranged in the boss as to conveniently receive the suspending hook l9 of the spotlamp and carry the spotlamp in the manner illustrated in Fig. l of the drawing. Thus when the cup is applied to a carrying wall or glass 29 extending in a generally vertical direction, the boss 25 projects laterally, the passage 28 being arranged on the upper side of the boss. The outer diameter of the boss 25 is approximately the same as the vertical distance between the end 30 of the hook and the upper point 3| of the body 12 so that the upper end of the body 12 is closely adjacent the outer part of the cup 22, preventing the spotlamp from swinging or striking the glass 29, and thus protecting the glass or lens 14 of the spotlamp when the latter is held in an inoperative protected attitude as illustrated in Fig. 1. As will be seen from that figure, the hook is extends down into the passage 23 far enough so that the lamp cannot be readily loosened from the cup except by swinging the lamp about the terminal end of the hook, in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1, to thus move the upper portion 3| of the lamp body from beneath the boss 25. After this has been done, an upward movement of the lamp separates the hook from the boss. Since the hook is arranged somewhat towards the front of the lamp from a point above the center of gravity of the lamp, the latter will be held yieldingly in its desired suspended position when hanging on the boss of the cup.

When separating the lamp from the cup, since the diameter of the passage 28 is only slightly in excess of the diameter of the wire from which the hook is made, a slight deformation is required in the boss, but this may take place readily, since the composition of the cup is of a sufficiently yielding character for the desired yielding movement to occur in either attaching or detaching the hook and the boss.

As will now be apparent, the spotlamp is adapted to be carried in a protected inoperative suspended position as illustrated in Fig. 1, when the suspending hook is held to the laterally projecting boss of the suction cup and the latter is applied to a vertical or generally upright surface. In this position the spotlamp can not be readily jarred loose, as it requires an intentional manipulation of the lamp to remove it from the cup. The lamp and the cup are very readily and quickly separated when desired. The cup is readily loosened by prying a peripheral part of the cup away from the glass or supporting wall and it may then be instantly attached to another surface and serve to carry the spotlamp in a pogenerally horizontal direction, or the lamp may be tilted to a limited extent while still connected to the cup. If it is desired to direct the light at a steeper angle to the horizontal than the cup permits, then the lamp may be instantly separated from the cup and carried and aimed entirely by the hand of the user.

While the form of apparatus herein described constitutes a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this precise form of apparatus, and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention which is sition of use, with the depending post 20 mounted in the passage 26. In this position of use, the spotlamp may be turned about the axis of the passage to direct the light beams in any desired defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A combination, a spotlamp having a body portion provided with an upwardly extending and forwardly curved hook and having a depending post projecting downwardly from the lower end of the body portion, and a rubber suction cup adapted for connection with the suspending hook or the depending post of the spotlamp, said cup having a yielding rubber boss projecting from one side thereof and provided with an axial passage for the reception and support of the spotlamp post and having a small transversely extending passage adapted to receive and support the spotlamp hook, the boss and said transversely extending passage being so coordinated with the hook and with the upper portion of the spotlamp body as to provide convenient attachment and detachment of the spotlamp only by a combined tilting and bodily movement of the spotlamp.

2. In combination, a spotlamp having a body portion provided at the top thereof with an upwardly extending and forwardly curved suspending hook and having a depending post projecting downwardly from the bottom thereof, and a rubber suction cup adapted for connection with the suspending hook or the depending post of the spotlamp, said cup having integral therewith an axially projecting yielding rubber boss provided with an axial passage for the reception and support of the spotlamp post and also provided with a transversely extending passage of comparatively small diameter compared to the diameter of the axial passage and adapted to receive the spotlamp hook, said hook at the top thereof having a spacing from the top of the spotlamp body which is only slightly in excess of the width of the boss, and the boss and its transversely extending passage being so coordinated with the hook and the upper portion of the spotlamp body as to cause the upper portion of the spotlamp body, when suspended by its hook from the horizontally extending boss, to abut against the suc tion cup and to provide convenient attachment and detachment of the spotlamp body only by a combined tilting and bodily movement of the spotlamp.

ROBERT H. HUMMERT.

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