Flashlight wand attachments are often used by police officers or airport ground crews to direct motor vehicle or airplane traffic, respectively. The wand attachments usually have a truncated, generally conical shaped member. The conical shaped member is preferably fabricated from a brightly colored translucent material and has a longitudinal opening extending from a wide end to a narrow truncated end. The wide end can be operatively connected to a lamp housing of a flashlight such that a beam of light emanating from the lamp housing can be directed into the longitudinal opening to illuminate the translucent conical member.
When the conical member is illuminated, it is particularly useful for directing traffic at night. The illuminating conical member is highly visible, and the conical shape acts as a pointer with the narrow truncated end indicating the desired direction of vehicle movement.
The wand attachment can also be used for directing traffic in daylight. During the day, the lamp, if one is used, need not be turned on because the brightly colored conical member is highly visible without illumination.
Prior wand attachments of a type as disclosed by Mui, et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,228 include a conical member having an internally threaded wide end. To fasten the conical member to a lamp housing, the wide end is threaded directly over an externally threaded portion of the lamp housing. When different flashlights are used, the diameter of the threaded portion of the lamp housing or spacing of the threads may vary. Consequently, the diameter and/or threaded spacing of the wide end of the .conical member has to be able to be adapted accordingly. Consequently, for each different type of flashlight, a different conical member may have to be fabricated having threads sized to engage the threads on the lamp housing.
Another type of wand attachment includes a conical member having a wide end intended to be friction fit over a lamp housing. A metal retention ring is provided around the outside of the wide end of the conical member to provide an inwardly directed clamping force to ensure a tight friction fit.
Like the wand attachment disclosed by Mui, et al. this latter type of wand attachment is designed to fit a particular lamp housing. If a flashlight having a different lamp housing is used, a different conical member configured to fit the different lamp housing would have to fabricated. Concurrently, a different metal retention ring would also have to be used.
It is to these problems and dictates of the prior art that the present invention is directed. It is an improved wand attachment for mounting to an elongated implement such as a flashlight.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds