Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02295900 2005-10-24
Lighting System with Pivoting Lens Switch
BACKGROUNG OF THE -INVENTION
The present invention relates to a lighting system
equipped and used for spotlighting (particularly as a
source for preliminary lighting) in general households, or
in a passenger compartment, a trunk room or the like of an
automobile.
In prior art lighting systems used in places as
mentioned in the foregoing, a light source including a lamp
or the like is accommodated in a housing, the front portion
of which is mounted with a lens plate for diffusing or
converging lights from 'said light source and there is
further provided a switch for turning on or off said light
source provided within said housing with a push button of
said switch being provided to extrude outward or said
switch being provided separately from the housing.
In operation of said light source, such push button of
the switch is pushed or slid such that the light sourc.e is
connected to a power source to turn on the light source
with the result that the lights from the light source are
diffused or converged by way of said lens plate.
.In the prior art described in the foregoing, the
switch for turning on and off the light source is integrally
attached to the housing or is provided separately
therefrom, thus requiring provision of two members
including a lighting member composed of the housing, the
light source and the lens; and a switch member, thus
creating a problem such as a large number of parts being
involved to raise the cost and requiring a troublesome
push button operation of the switch to turn an and off the
light source.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is aimed at solving the afore-
mentioned problems and its object is to provide a lighting
system which is capable of reducing the cost by making the
construction thereof remarkably simple because one of the
terminal plates for supplying power to the light source is
used as a moving contact member of the switch while the
rotatable lens plate is used as means for operating said
moving contact member.
The lighting system of the present invention is
aimed at realizing the above mentioned object and the
means therefor substantially comprises a housing; a first bus
bar secured to said housing; a moving contact member
swingably pivoted to said housing and having a moving
contact point; a light source including a bulb or the like
resiliently held between said first bus bar and said moving
member; a second bus bar formed with a stationary contact
point at a position in said housing opposite said moving
contact point of said moving contact member; and a lens
plate swingably pivoted to said housing such that said
moving contact member is swung by causing said lens plate
to pivot such that said moving contact point and said
stationary contact point are opened and closed.
BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a front view of the lighting system of the
invention;
Fig.2 is a right hand side elevation of Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is a bottom view of Fig. 1;
Fig. 4 is a sectional view of Fig. 1 taken along the
line A-A;
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Fig. 5a is a sectional view of Fig. 1 taken along the
line B-B, showing the lighting system take a position to
turn on the light source while Fig. 5b is a sectional view
similar to Fig. 5a in which said light source is turned off
in; and
Fig. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the
elementary portion of the present invention.
PREF ,RR .D .MBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION
Referring now to the attached drawings, one
embodiment of the present invention will be explained. In
this embodiment, the explanation will be given with
respect to the situation in which the system is adopted to
an automotive lighting system to be attached to the ceiling
portion of a trunk room of the vehicle or a compartment
thereof.
The numeral 1 denotes a housing having an open
bottom side, an open top side and a lateral side formed
with a connector receiving portion 11. Said top side of the
housing 1 is inserted into a mounting hole & (see a and b- in
Fig. 5) formed in the ceiling A of the trunk room - or the
vehicle compartment, of the vehicle, said top side of the
housing 1 being formed with a flange 12 adapted to close
said mounting hole ~. There are further provided a pair
of clamp pawls 13 to engage the underside of said ceiling A
such that an incidental separation of said housing 1 from
said mounting hole &is prevented. Further, the inside of
said housing 1 is formed with a protuberance 14 at a
portion corresponding to said connector receiving portion
11 such that a moving contact member 4 which will be
explained later is pivoted.
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The numeral 2 denotes a first bus bar of electrically
conductive material and provided substantially in a
channel form as shown in Fig. 6. Said first bus bar 2 is
composed of a vertical portion 21 formed with a hole 21& to
receive one end of a light source 5 such as a bulb which will
be explained later; a horizontal portion 22 perpendicularly
bent from said vertical portion 21; a connection piece 23
extending perpendicularly from said horizontal portion 22
to be inserted into said connector receiving portion 11 of
said housing 1; and two engagement pieces 22a
perpendicularly descending from said horizontal portion
22 to be engaged with the housing 1 when said first bus bar
2 is set in the housing 1.
The numeral 3 denotes a second bus bar provided
substantially in the_form of the letter L formed of the same
material as said first bus bar 2. Said second bus bar 3 is
composed of a horizontal portion 31 having a stationary
contact point 31& bent perpendicularly to descend
therefrom; a connection piece 32 extending
perpendicularly to said horizontal portion 31 to be
inserted into the connector receiving portion 11 of said
housing 1; and an engagement piece 31b bent
perpendicularly from said horizontal portion 31 to descend
therefrom to be engaged with the housing 1 when said
second bus bar 3 is set in the housing 1.
The numeral 4 denotes a moving contact member
made of an elastic electrically conductive metal piece
having substantially a hairpin configuration. Said
moving contact member 4 has a long leg portion 41 having
at a distal end thereof a moving contact point 41a which
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forms a switch in cooperation with said stationary contact
point 31.&. Said long leg portion 41 is formed with a
support hole 41b at an intermediate portion thereof in
which said protuberance 14 formed in said housing 1 is
axially supported. Said moving member 4 also has a short
leg portion 41 ' formed with a hole 41c at a position
opposite said support hole 41b formed in the long leg
portion 41 such that one end of the light sou:rce 5 is
inserted into said hole 41c. Further, said moving contact
member 4 has an engagement piece 42 extending from a
bent portion thereof such that said engagement piece 42
extends to come into engagement with an erected piece 62
of a lens plate 6 which will be explained later.
The numeral 5 denotes a light source such as a bulb
or the like having said one Pnd thereof inserted into said
hole 41c in the moving contact member 4 and another end
thereof inserted into the hole 21a in said vertical portion
21 of the first bus bar 2. The numeral 6 denotes a lens
plate having protuberances 61 formed in the lateral side
thereof, said protuberances 61 being pivotally supported
in holes formed in opposing inner side walls of said
housing 1. Said lens plate 6 has longitudinal sides, one of
said longitudinal sides is formed with erected piece 62
which engages the engagement piece 42 of the moving
contact member 4.
Said housing 1 has another pair of opposing inner side
walls which are formed with stops 15 and 16 (see Figs. 3 and 5)
adapted to abut against said lens 6 at a bottom face thereof
at the time of the swing of said lens plate 6 (to take an
open position or a closed position). Further, one of said
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inner walls is formed with a clicking portion 17 at a
position opposite said stationary contact point 31a of the
second bus bar 3 such that said clicking portion 17 give a
clicking feel at positions where the moving contact point
41a comes into and goes out of contact with said stationary
contact point 31a. (See Fig. 5)
Next, an explanation will be given as to the method
of assembling the lighting system of the invention by use
of the parts described in the foregoing. That is, while the
first and second bus bars 2 and 3 are being placed at an
outer periphery of the floor face side of the housing 1, said
engagement pieces 22a and 31b of the respective first and
second bus bars 2 and 3 are fixedly inserted into the flanks
of the housing 1.
Next, the protuberance 14 is inserted into the hole
41b in the moving contact member 4 by passing the rib (not
shown) formed in said protuberance 14 therethrough or by
deforming the head of said protuberance 14 through a
heating process such that the moving member is swingably
supported therein. Thereafter, the light source 5 is fitted
in the respective holes 21a and 41c in the first bus bar 2
and the moving contact member 4. Further, the
protuberances 61 in the lens plate 6 are pivotally fitted
into holes in the housing 1 while the engagement piece 42
of the moving contact member 4 is engaged with the
erected piece 62 of the lens plate 6, thus completing the
assembly work.
In the thus constructed lighting system of the
invention, the connectors of lead wires extending from
automotive accessories are connected to the connector
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receiving portion 11 while the reverse side of the housing 1
is inserted into the mounting hole &formed in the ceiling A
of the trunk room or the compartment of the vehicle, thus
locking the pawls 13 for fixation of the housing onto the
underside of the ceiling.
Next, the operation of the instant lighting system
mounted to the ceiling A of the trunk room or the
compartment will be explained.
In a state as shown in Fig. 5a in which the lens plate
6 takes a closed or horizontal position, the engagement
piece 42 of the moving contact member 4 is in engagement
with the erected piece 62 of the lens plate 6 with said
moving contact member having been swung
counterclockwise. Therefore, the moving contact point
41a of sai_d moving contact member 4 is brouglit into
contact with the stationary contact point 31a of the second
bus bar 3; that is, the switch composed of the stationary
contact point 31a and the moving contact point 41a is
turned on.
Therefore, while the ignition key takes the accessory
position, the power is supplied through a closed circuit
composed of the second bus bar 3, the stationary contact
point 31a, the moving contact point 41a, the moving
contact member 4, through the light source 5 to the first
bus bar 2 such that the light source 5 is turned on. In this
connection, the moving contact point 41a is g:iven a
clicking feel by the clicking portion 17 such that said contacting
condition is maintained. Further, with the lens plate 6 taking a closed
position, the underside of said lens plate 6 abuts against the stop 15
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formed in the housing 1 to stop the lens plate from further
swinging counterclockwise at this position.
The explanation of the switchover from the on-
position to the off-position is given as shown referring to
Fig. 5b. That is, the lens plate 6 is swung clockwise until
the underside of the lens plate 6 abuts against the stop 16
to press down the engagement piece 42 of the moving
contact member 4 in engagement of the erected piece 62
such that the moving contact member 4 per se is swung
clockwise, causing the moving contact point 41a to move
away from the stationary contact point 31a of the second
bus bar 3.
Therefore, the switch composed of the moving
contact point 41a and the stationary contact point 31a is
brought into an off-position to open said closed circuit
such that the power supply to the light source is suspended
to turn off the light. Further, upon completion of the
clockwise swing of the lens plate, the moving contact point 41a is
provided with a clicking feel by the clicking portion 17.
Now, all through during the swing action of the
moving contact member 4, the hole 41c into which one end
of the light source 5 is engaged is in an opposite positional
relationship to the hole 41b such that there is no
deflection of the light source 5 during the swing action of
the moving contact member 4, thus preventing the light
source from dropping off from the first bus bar 2 and the
moving contact member 4.
In the aforementioned embodiment, the lighting
system of the invention is explained as an automotive
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lighting system, the invention may be adopted to a general
household internal lighting lamp such as a foot lamp, a
pillow lamp, a locker lamp, a cloakroom lamp, a lamp for
lighting a keyhole of a door or a switching position of the
illumination lamp, a preliminary lamp for a stand lamp of
a household electrical appliance.
The present invention eliminates the need for a
conventionally required independent switch for turning on
or off the light source because the bus bars are secured to
the housing, a moving contact member is swingably pivoted
to the housing, a light source is resiliently held between
the housing and the moving contact member, said contact
moving member is swung by a lens plate rotatably pivoted
to said housing to bring said moving member and said
stationary contact point of the second bus bar into or out of
contact such that the light source is turned on and off. As
a result, the cost is reduced while the structure is
simplified.
Further, said moving member is adapted to override
a clicking portion at the time of closing and opening the
contact points such that the clicking feel is given while the
open or closed state may be maintained. As a result, even
if the lighting system is adopted to the automobile, a
likelihood that vibrations from the vehicle in motion cause
the open state to turn into the closed state is prevented.
Further, the lens plate is adapted to abut against the
stops formed in the housing at the time of lens swing for
turn-on and turn-off operations of the light source such
that said light source is prevented from slipping off as a
result of lens swing action caused by a strong external
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force. Further, there is no likelihood of insufficient
contact due to the moving contact point passing the
stationary contact point. There is a further effect that
the connection work to the external power source is easily
done by use of connectors since bus bars are provided as
stationary conduction members extending to the connector
receiving sections of the housing.
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