Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
Sl.Z30 7 ~.2
S P E C I F I C A T I O N
(Case No. 83,752)
Title of the Invention:
LIGHTIN& DEVICE FO~ BICYCLES
Back~rollnd of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lighting device for bicycles or the like
and more particularly, to a lighting dcvice for bicycles which is equipped with
switching means for lighting and is extremely simple in construction, easy to
assemble and is relatively shock-proof.
A lighting device, which is used as a headlight for a bicycle, a motorcycle
and the like, is provided with a switching means or mechanism for on/off
switching as re~uired at night. In general, in the switching means, on/off
switching operation of electric powcr from a suitable source such as a battery, is
forcibly made by moving an actuating lever rotatably mountcd on a cas;ng of the
lighting device or slidably mounted in a slot formed in the casing. To ensure
movement, that is, switching operation of the actuating lever against continuous
large shock, sevcral restricting conditions have to be met for the mounting
mechanism including casing, actuating lever and on/off contacts, and this has
resulted in a relatively intricate construction thereof.
Summarv of the Invention
In the present invention, the lead wires and the fastening members for
components or parts thereof including electric contacts in circuit are made of
metallic spring wires, and their resiliency is utilized to mount the switch
actuating unit into the casing, whereby the overall construction may be simplified
and even if strong shocks are applied to the apparatus continuously for a long
period of time, the switching operation may be securely carried out.
According to the present invention, there is provided a lighting device for
a bicycle, comprising a dry cell receiving casing mountable on the bicycle, dry
cells in the casing, an associated cover, a lamp mounted dctachably on a front
portion of the casing, a transparent cover, and a switching means for on/off
switching over in power supply to the lamps from the dry cells, the switching
means including a through hole formed in the casing and having an arcuate
--1--
C
~2301~Z
surface at its opening end side; a dise-shaped rotor inserted into the through hole
and having on the outside an actuating claw and on the inside a space changing
member substantially in the form of an oblong shape in eross seet;on, the
actuating claw and the space changing member being formed integrally with the
disc-shaped rotor, and the disc-shaped rotor having a radially inwardly extending
groove on the opposite side to the arcuate surface; a fixing spring made of steel
wire for resiliently engaging in the groove and pressing said disc rotor into
contact with said arcuate surface and for holding coaxially and rotatably the disc-
shaped rotor; two lead wires extending from the terminals of the dry eells, the
two lead wires pressing a drum surface of the space ehanging member on both
sides and having ends freely confronted with each other; rotation of said spaee
changing member by said actuating member causing the ends of the two lead
wires to be alternately in contact or out of contaet with eaeh other.
Brief Descri~tion of the Drnwin~s
The above-mentioned and other objects and features of the present
invention will become apparent from the following detailed deseription with
referenee to the aeeompanying drawings, wherein like numerals in the various
views refer to like elements and in whieh:
FIGURE I is a perspeetive view showing an embodiment of the present
2û invention applied to a lighting deviee for bieyeles;
FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal eross seetional view of the lighting deviee
shown in Figure l;
FIGURE 3 is a bottom view thereof;
FIGURE 4 is a perspeetive view showing a primary part of the switehing
means as viewed from the inside of the easing;
FIGURE S(A) is a perspeetive view of an operatin~ position of the dise-
shaped rotor with the lead wires out of engagement;
FIGURE 5(B) is a perspeetive view of another operating position of the
dise-shaped rotor, with the lead wires in engagement;
~;~3~ 2
FIGURE 5(C) is a view of the ends of the terminals or lead wires taken in the
direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 5(B);
FIGURE 6(A) is a plan view of the dis~shaped rotor;
FIGURE 6~B) is a side elevational view of the disc-shaped rotor; and
FIGURE 6(C) is a cross sectional view of the disc-shaped rotor taken along
the line C-C shown in Figure 6(B).
Detail Description of the Preferred ~mbodiments
The invention will now be described in detail with reference to the embodi-
ment shown in the accompanying drawings. The present invention, however, will
10 not be restricted to the embodiment.
Referring now to Figures 1 and 3 inclusive, a headlight 1, mounted to a
steering handle H of the bicycle, motorcycle, or like vehicle, through a band B in a
manner well-known per se, is composed mainly of a casing 2, an associated
removable cover 3, two standard dry cells or batteries (not shown) received in the
casing, a lamp 4 detachably mounted in the casing, a reflector 5 for the lamp, a
transparent front cover 6 and a switching means 7.
As shown in Figures 4 through 6, the switching means 7 is comprised mainly
of a through hole 9 provided in casing 2 and having at its front side an arcuate
surface 8, a disc-shaped rotor 10 inserted rotatably into the arcuate surface 8 of
20 the through hole 9, a fixing spring 11 made of a single steel wire for fixing the
rotor 10, and lead wires 16 and 17 made of two steel wires, each e~tending from
different terminals 12 and 13 of the two dry cells to form an on/off contact with
their ends 14 and 15. The batteries or dry cells (not shown) each extend between
terminals 12,13 and lead wires 27, 28. Preferably, the terminals 12, 13 and lead
wires 27, 28 are coiled spring like members constructed and arranged so as to make
firm electrical contact with the ends of the dry cells. The two dry cells would be
disposed between terminal 112 and lead wire 27 and between terminal 13 and lead
wire as, respectively.
The disc-shaped rotor 10 is provided with a radially inwardly extending
30 groove 19 on a rear side of a rotor drum 18 and is provided with an actuating claw
20 on a lower surface extending outside of the casing 2 and a sphce changing
member 21, having an oblong or ellipsoidal shape in cross section, on the upper
lZ30~Z
surface extending inside of the casing 2. The actuating claw 20 is actuable by the
operator to rotate the rotor 10, as desired, to turn lamp 4 on and off as explained
more fully hereinafter.
The radi~lly inwardly extending grove 19 has planer bottom surfaces 22 and
23 which are defined at an angle of about 120 as shown in Figure 6(C). The fixing
spring 11 resiliently presses the groove 19 forwardely so that the disc-shaped rotor
10 may slidingly rotate along its arcuate surface 8. Since the inwardly extending
groove 19 has the planar bottom surfaces 22 and 23, the disc-shaped rotor 10 may
be held at on/off positions for terminal ends 14 an~ 15, by engagement of the fixing
spring 11 with one of surfaces 22 or 23. In Figure 5(A), the fixing spring 11 is
engaged with surface 22 and the terminal ends 14~ 15 are in the open or "ofr
position. In Figure 5(B), the fixing spring 11 is engaged with surface 23 and the
terminal ends 14, 15 are in the closed or "on" position.
On the other hand, the lead wires 16 and 17 are adapted to engage opposite
sides of the drum of space changing member 21 on the disc-shaped rotor 10 so that
the ends of the lead wires 16 and 17 can intersect and contact each other. Lead
wires 16, 17 are engaged between the bottom of the space changing member 21 and
top of actuating claw 20. Projections 25 on the rotor drum 18 help retain the lead
wires 16, 17 in position on the disc-shaped rotor 10. The end of wire 14 is bent in a
20 manner to slant away from the end of wire 15. Thus, the actnation (in the
directions indicated by arrows in Figure 3 and Figure 5) of the actuating claw 20
causes the space changing member 21 to rotate, thereby actuating the ends 14 and
15 into or out of contact with each other.
Furthermore, when the ends 14, 15 contact with each other, they are
somewhat slid (see ~igure 5(C), for example), whereby the contact therebetween
may be securely made even when shocks are applied to the apparatus.
To mount the disc-shaped rotor 10 and the fixing spring 11 into the casing 2,
the disc-shaped rotor 10 is inserted from below into the through hole 9 of the
casing 2 and then the fixing spring 11 is mounted from the inside of the casing 2 so
30 that the fixing spring resiliently contacts with the groove 19 in the disc-shaped
rotor 10. More specifically, both ends of fixing spring 11 are retained by posts 24
and 25 located within th¢ casing 2 (see Figure 4), and by resiliency of the fixing
--4
l230~a~z
spring 11 in groove 19, the disc-shaped rotor 10 is held rotatably on arcuate surface
8. Therefore, the lead wires 16 and 17 located in the casing 2 are resiliently held
at the space changing member 21 of the disc-shaped rotor 10 to complete the
mounting operation. Incidentally, reference numeral 26 in Figure 4 denotes a
retaining projection for retaining the lead wires 16 and 17 in the casing, and
reference numerals 27 and 28 denote lead wires to the lamp 4.
While the present invention has been explained with reference to a specific
embodiment, it is understood that the invention is not limited thereto, and many
changes Gr modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the
10 invention as defined in the appended claims.