Light and mount assembly

Abstract

A light and mount assembly is provided which includes a light, a base plate and a mounting plate. The base plate includes a bottom surface for affixing to an object and a top surface having a cavity with a circular rim having a plurality of indents. The mounting plate has a round bottom except for a plurality of radially extending flanges. The mounting plate's round bottom and flanges are sized and position to be insertable and removable to and from the base plate's circular opening and indents. Rotation of the mounting plate locks the mounting plate to the base plate. A light is pivotally affixed to the mounting plate.

Claims

1. A light and mount assembly comprising: a base plate having a top and a bottom, said base plate including a cavity which is formed into said base plate's top, said base plate's top also including a circular rim which circumnavigates and extends partially over said cavity to form a circular opening, said rim having at least two indents which project radially outward into said rim's circular opening; a mounting plate having a top and a bottom, said mounting plate's bottom being round and having a diameter substantially the same as said base plate's circular opening and capable of projecting into said base plate's circular opening, and said mounting plate's bottom having at least two flanges which project radially outward from said mounting plate round bottom; said base plate and mounting plate being engageable and disengageable to one another wherein said mounting plate's flanges and said base plate's indents are keyed to each other so as to permit said base plate and mounting plate to convert from a disengaged condition to an engaged condition wherein said flanges are sized and positioned to as to be inserted into and travel through said indents in only one position relative to each other, and wherein said base plate cavity is sufficiently large to accept said mounting plate flanges to enter into said cavity interior of the base plate's circular rim, and once said flanges are within said base plate cavity interior of the base plate's circular rim, said mounting plate is rotatable 360 relative to said base plate to rotate said flanges below said base plate's rim so as to lock said base plate to said mounting plate, and said base plate and mounting plate disengagable only after said mounting plate has been rotated relative to said base plate so as to align said flanges to said indents in only said one position; and a light source affixed to said mounting plate.

2. The light and mount assembly of claim 1 wherein said rotation of said mounting plate relative to said base plate defines a first axis of rotation, and said mounting plate includes a hinged assembly for affixing said light source to said mounting plate, said hinged assembly allowing said light source to be rotatable about a second axis of rotation that is aligned 180 relative to said first axis of rotation.

3. The light and mount assembly of claim 1 wherein said at least two indents includes a first indent which is larger than a second indent, and said at least two flanges includes a first flange which is larger than a second flange, and first flange is aligned to insert into said first indent and said second flange is aligned to insert into said second indent so as to permit said base plate and mounting plate to convert from a disengaged condition to an engaged condition wherein said flanges are sized and positioned to as to be inserted into and travel through said indents in only one position relative to each other to create said keyed engagement and disengagement.

4. The light and mount assembly of claim 1 wherein said at least two flanges includes a first flange and a second flange, and said at least two indents includes a first indent positioned to receive said first flange and a second indent positioned to receive said second flange, and wherein said indents are not positioned at uniform increments about said base plate's circular rim, and said flanges are not positioned at uniform increments about said mounting plate's bottom so as to permit said base plate and mounting plate to convert from a disengaged condition to an engaged condition wherein said flanges are positioned to as to be inserted into and travel through said indents in only one position relative to each other to create said keyed engagement and disengagement.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a right front perspective view of a preferred light and mount assembly of the present invention;

(2) FIG. 2 is a left front exploded perspective view of a preferred light and mount assembly;

(3) FIG. 3 is a partially exploded perspective view of a preferred light and mount assembly;

(4) FIG. 4 is a left front side partially exploded perspective view of the light and mount assembly;

(5) FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view illustrating two lights being affixed to two of three mounts affixed to a helmet;

(6) FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a helmet having three mounts for affixing two lights;

(7) FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating the light and mount assemblies illustrated in FIG. 6 wherein one of the lights has been rotated;

(8) FIG. 8 is a side cutaway view illustrating a light and mount assembly;

(9) FIG. 9 is a side cutaway view of a light and mount assembly of FIG. 8 wherein the light has been pivoted relative to the base plate;

(10) FIG. 10 is a bottom plan view of the mounting plate of the light and mount assembly;

(11) FIG. 11 is a top plan view of the base plate of the light and mount assembly;

(12) FIG. 12 is a top plan view of the base plate and mounting plate of the light and mount assembly with the light removed; and

(13) FIG. 13 is a top plan view of the base plate and mounting plate illustrated in FIG. 12 wherein the mounting plate has been rotated.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(14) While the present invention is susceptible of embodiment in various forms, as shown in the drawings, hereinafter will be described the presently preferred embodiments of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the invention, and it is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated.

(15) With reference to the figures, the light and mount assembly 1 includes a traditional light 5 such as a miniature flashlight which includes one or more light sources such as incandescent bulbs or light emitting diodes. The light source 7 is positioned within the light's housing 9 and the light source may be controlled by a switch 11.

(16) The light 5 is affixed to the mounting plate 37. The mounting plate 37 has a top 39 and a bottom 41 which is round except for two or more flanges 43 which project radially outward from the mounting plate's bottom 41. The mounting plate 41 may include any number of flanges 43. However, as explained in greater detail below, preferably the mounting plate includes at least two flanges including a small flange 43a and a large flange 43b.

(17) The light 5 is affixed to the top of the mounting plate 37 by various constructions as can be determined by those skilled in the art. However, as best illustrated in FIG. 2, preferably the light 5 is pivotally attached to the mounting plate 37 by a hinge assembly 51. In a preferred hinge assembly illustrated, the mounting plate 41 includes a top which has a U-shaped construction including upwardly extending sides 53 which forms a central channel 55. Meanwhile, the light's housing 9 includes a projection 65 which extends downwardly into the central channel 55. In addition, the hinge assembly 51 includes a shaft which extends from one side 53 of the U-shaped member to the other side 53 of the U-shaped member through a hole 67 formed in the housing's projection. In a preferred embodiment, the shaft 57 is a simple bolt 57 and nut 59 combination in which the bolt extends through holes 61 formed in the U-shaped member's sides 53 and a hole 67 formed in the light's housing's projection 65. As best illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9, the light 5 is capable of pivoting about the shaft 57 which defines an axis of rotation 69. Preferably, the light's housing's projection includes teeth 47 which frictionally engage the mounting plate's top surface so as to prevent vibration or light bumps from pivoting the light when not desired.

(18) The light and mount assembly further includes a base plate 17 which affixes to underlying objects, such as the helmet 71 illustrated in the figures. The base plate 17 includes a bottom surface 19 and a top surface 21. The base plate's bottom surface 19 is preferably shaped to provide substantial surface area for engaging an underlying object. For example, as illustrated in the figures, a preferred mounting plate has a slight curvature so as to engage the slight curvature of a helmet 71. The mounting plate's bottom may be affixed to an object utilizing various fasteners. However, in the preferred embodiment illustrated in the figures, the mounting plate 37 is affixed to an object utilizing a dual sided adhesive pad 50 which possesses adhesive on both sides of the thin foam pad.

(19) The base plate's top 21 has a cavity 23. Moreover, the mounting plate's top extends partially over the cavity 23 to form a rim 25. The base plate's rim 25 is circular so as to form an opening 27 which is circular except for having two or more indents 29 sized for receiving the mounting plate's flanges 43. The rim 25 is positioned above the bottom of the cavity 23 so as to form a space 31 between the bottom of the rim 25 and the bottom of the cavity 23. The diameter of the base plate's circular opening 27 is substantially the same as the diameter of the base plate's round bottom 41, but sufficiently large to accept the mounting plate's bottom through the base plate's circular opening 27.

(20) The mounting plate's flanges 43 are sized and positioned so as to be keyed to be received within the base plate's indents 29. In the preferred embodiment illustrated in the figures, the mounting plate includes four flanges 43 including two small flanges 43a and two large flanges 43b. Similarly, the base plate's rim has four indents 29 including two small indents 29a and two large indents 29b. The mounting plate's flanges and base plate's indents are sized and positioned so that the mounting plate's small flanges 43a can pass through the base plate's small indents 29a and the mounting plate's large flanges 43b can pass through the base plate's large indents 29b when the mounting plate's bottom 41 is inserted into the base plate's circular opening 27.

(21) As illustrated in FIGS. 2-7 and 10-13, to affix the mounting plate 37 to the base plate 17, the mounting plate's bottom 41 is inserted through the base plate's circular opening 27 with the flanges 43 aligned to pass through the indents 29. The space 31 between the base plate's rim 25 and bottom of the cavity 23 is sufficiently large to allow the flanges to travel into the cavity 23 below the rim 25. Thereafter, the mounting plate 37 can be rotated relative to the base plate 17 about an axis of rotation 49 (see FIG. 5) so that the flanges 43 are rotated to be below the rim 25. Thereafter, the mounting plate 37 can be rotated relative to the base plate 17 without disengaging the mounting plate from the base plate except for the one position where the flanges 43 align with the indents 29 so as to lock the mounting plate 37 to the base plate 17. As illustrated in FIG. 4, preferably the bottom of the mounting plate includes deformable teeth which engage deformable teeth 47 formed on the top of the base plate so as to restrict rotational movement of the light and mounting plate relative to the base plate unless a sufficient predetermined manual force is exerted to rotate the mounting plate 37.

(22) Advantageously, the light 5 and mounting plate 37 can be very quickly and very easily affixed to the base plate 17 by simply inserting the mounting plate's bottom 41 into the base plate's opening 27, and rotating the mounting plate 37 slightly so that the flanges 43 are below the plate's rim 25. Removal of the light 5 and mounting plate 37 can be affected by quickly and easily reversing these steps.

(23) The light and mount assembly 1 also enables the light 5 to be affixed to an object, such as a helmet 71, and rotated about two axis wherein one axis is 90 relative to the other axis. More specifically, the light 5 and mounting plate 37 can be rotated about a first axis of rotation 49 relative to the base plate 17. In addition, the light 5 can be rotated about a second axis of rotation 69 so as to pivot the light 5 relative to the mounting plate 37 (see FIGS. 8 and 9).

(24) While several particular forms of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, it is not intended that the invention be limited except for the following claims. Having described my invention in such terms so as to enable persons skilled in the art to understand the invention, recreate the invention and practice it, and having presently identified the presently preferred embodiments thereof,