US3801814A - Night-light - Google Patents

Abstract

The innovation relates to a night-light which comprises a cap having two contact pins with which the night-light can be inserted in wall socket. A glow discharge lamp is present on the cap and is covered by a curved tube of an opaque material adjoining the edge of the cap. The front of the tube is closed by a light pervious window.

Description

United States Patent 1 Arts 1 5] Apr. 2, 1974 NIGHT-LIGHT [75] Inventor: Gerardus Wilhelmus Maria Arts,

Emmasingel, Eindhoven, Netherlands [73] Assignee: U.S. Philips Corporation, New

York, NY.

[22] Filed: Jan. 22, 1973 [21] Appl. N0.: 325,851

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Feb. 11, 1972 Germany 1. 7205183 [52] U.S. Cl. 240/73 QD, 240/151 [51] Int. Cl. F21v 17/02 [58] Field of Search 240/2 R, 52 R, 52.1, 73 R,

240/73 DA, 73 OD, 108 R, 151, 152' [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,203,126 8/1965 Eliot 240/73 R X 2,075,364 3/1937 Smith 240/73 QD 2,479,258 8/1949 Raper 2,197,946 4/1940 Simpson 240/108 R X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 801,052 9/1958 Great Britain 240/73 QD Primary Examiner-Joseph F. Peters, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Frank R. Trifari 5 7] ABSTRACT The innovation relates to a night-light which comprises a cap having two contact pins with which the night-light can be inserted in wall socket. A glow discharge lamp is present on the cap and is covered by a curved tube of an opaque material adjoining the edge of the cap. The front of the tube is closed by a light pervious window.

2 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure NIGHT-LIGHT The innovation relates to a night-light comprising an electric glow-discharge lamp which is secured to a cap manufactured from an insulating material and comprising two contact pins, the glow-dischange lamp being arranged in an envelope joining the cap, at least the part of the envelope most remote from the cap being translucent.

Such night-lights are known and are used mainly in stair-wells and childrens bedrooms where they serve as a point of orientation and/or serve to distinguish the contours of objects present near the night-light. Such a night-light can be provided directly on a wall socket.

The drawback of the known night-light when used in a bedroom, however, is that the light is often experienced to be annoying because the illuminated part of the envelope of the night-light is directly observable.

The night-light according to the innovation is charac terized in that the part of the envelope extending between the translucent part of the envelope and the cap is a curved tube of an opaque material, the angle between the plane comprising the translucent part and the direction of the contact pins being smaller than 70. In a bedroom, for example, a small quantity of light can be caused to shine on the flooe without the illuminated part itself being observable.

A favourable embodiment of the night-light according to the innovation is characterized in that the tube is secured to the cap so as to be rotatable. As a result of this the night-light may also be used in a bedroom in which a wall socket is located in an unfavourable location relative to the bed because the illuminated part of the envelope can be blanked out by rotation.

The innovation will be described in greater detail with reference to the drawing which shows partly as a cross-sectional view an embodiment of the night-light. The night-light comprises an electric glow-discharge lamp which is secured to a cap 2. Said cap 2 with its contact pins 3 and a plate-shaped part4, as well as the glow discharge lamp 1 have a shape conventionally used in the known night-lights. The plate-shaped part 4 comprises an upright cylindrical edge 5 in which a groove 6 is recessed. Said groove 6 constitutes a snap fastener with an edge 8 occurring on the tube 7. Said tube 7 is of an opaque material, preferably a synthetic resin and has a bend near its center. The front of the tube is closed by a window 9 which also snaps into engagement with the tube. The window is manufactured from a translucent synthetic material and may have such a prifiled surface that a light-diffusing action is obtained. In this embodiment the tube 7 with the window 9 is rotatable relative to the cap 2. The edge 8 rotates in the groove 6.

The glow-discharge lamp may be a neon lamp emitting red light as well as a lamp emitting a green light and containing a gas and mercury and of which the wall of the envelope is covered with a fluoresent layer.

What is claimed is:

1. A night-light comprising an electric glowdischarge lamp which is secured to a cap manufactured from an insulating material and including two contact pins for connection to an electrical power source, the glow-discharge lamp being arranged in a closed envelope joining the cap, a part of the envelope most remote from the cap being translucent, and the remaining part of the envelope extending between said translucent part of theenvelope and the cap being a curved tube of an opaque material, the angle between the plane comprising the translucent part and the plane passing through the contact pins being smaller than 2. A night-light as claimed in claim 1 wherein the tube is secured to the cap so as to be rotatable.

Claims (2)

1. A night-light comprising an electric glow-discharge lamp which is secured to a cap manufactured From an insulating material and including two contact pins for connection to an electrical power source, the glow-discharge lamp being arranged in a closed envelope joining the cap, a part of the envelope most remote from the cap being translucent, and the remaining part of the envelope extending between said translucent part of the envelope and the cap being a curved tube of an opaque material, the angle between the plane comprising the translucent part and the plane passing through the contact pins being smaller than 70*.

2. A night-light as claimed in claim 1 wherein the tube is secured to the cap so as to be rotatable.

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