Small flashlights suitable for carrying in a garment pocket or in a woman's purse are available in a variety of forms and arrangement of functional parts. A very convenient and useful flashlight of this category is illustrated and described in Paul R. Chabria U.S. Pat. No. 4,419,718. It comprises an assembly of batteries mounted in a holder, a lamp, and necessary electrical connections, all contained within a casing having flexible walls by means of which an internal switch may be operated to close or leave open the electrical circuit. The circuit is normally open, of course, while the flashlight is kept in a pocket or in a purse but may be very easily activated by pressing opposite sides of the casing toward each other whereby one side is brought to bear against a spring switch arm to close the electrical circuit.
A very common use of the pocket flashlight is to locate a keyhole in a door when darkness renders it difficult to find without the light. As shown in Paul R. Chabria U.S. Pat. No. 4,628,418, a keychain for holding a door key may be attached to the flashlight. This patent also describes the inclusion of a magnet for holding the flashlight to a metal surface and also a watch. One or more of these accessories may be provided as a part of the flashlight.
To further augment the services of the flashlight unit, audio alarm or signal means have also been incorporated into flashlights. Examples of such combinations are to be found in Meyers U.S. Pat. No. 2,893,344, Gertler U.S. Pat. No. 4,314,316 and Hsieh U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,402. The flashlight of Meyers incorporates a horn which is operated by the old-fashioned rubber air bulb. When the bulb is squeezed, the horn is sounded, the air passing through the body of the flashlight. The flashlight of the Hsieh patent includes an audio alarm which is operated by the flashlight batteries and is separately activated by one of several buttons on the flashlight body. The Gertler patent shows a flashlight that is turned on by air blown into a mouthpiece. When the air is no longer blown into the device, the light turns off. A whistle is built into the unit to be sounded by the same air stream that controls the lighting circuit.
The invention described herein is a pocket flashlight of the type shown in the Paul R. Chabria patents above-identified. An audio alarm or signal service is provided as a part of the flashlight unit by incorporating a manually blowable whistle in the base of the unit which serves as the outer closure of the bottom of the flashlight, a sound cavity being formed by the inner and outer bottom closures of the flashlight. While structurally combined into a single unit, the lighting function and the whistle function are operated independently of each other.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds