Flashlight Skirt Lock Ring and Power Management Circuit
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional portable lighting devices, such as flashlights, face issues with secure attachment of the skirt assembly, which can lead to damage during access for alignment adjustments, and suffer from power loss causing mode resets due to battery disconnection during drops or impacts, affecting user safety and functionality.
Innovation Solution
A flashlight design featuring a skirt lock ring mechanism with protuberances and indexing bumps for secure attachment and a microcontroller circuit with power management to maintain mode settings despite power interruptions, ensuring consistent operation and extended battery life through adaptive power profiles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the skirt assembly is made detachable to allow access for alignment adjustments, then the ease of operation is improved, but the reliability deteriorates as the face cap and lens become disconnected and vulnerable to damage
Solution Approach 1:
A face cap retaining member is introduced as an intermediary component between the face cap and the skirt assembly. This retaining member engages with the skirt assembly when the skirt is detached, preventing the face cap from becoming disconnected and vulnerable to damage, thus maintaining reliability while allowing ease of operation
2Ease of operation
If the skirt lock ring uses a simple compressible retaining ring for attachment, then the ease of operation is improved, but the reliability deteriorates as the skirt may unintentionally detach during drops or impacts
Solution Approach 1:
The skirt lock ring incorporates a resilient biasing mechanism that allows dynamic adjustment of the locking force. The biasing member enables the skirt to be easily attached and detached by user operation while maintaining a secure locked state during normal use, and the mechanism can withstand transient forces from drops or impacts without unintentional detachment
3Duration of action of moving object
If the flashlight provides full power output for extended battery life through adaptive power profiles, then the duration of action is improved, but the power consumption increases during high brightness modes
Solution Approach 1:
The flashlight implements multiple operating modes including high brightness, low brightness, and standby modes that periodically cycle or allow user selection. The control circuit switches between these modes based on battery state and user input, providing high power output only when needed while extending overall battery life through lower power consumption during other periods
4Reliability
If the microcontroller resets after power loss from battery disconnection, then the device returns to a known state, but the loss of information about previous mode settings occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The control circuit is designed to detect power loss conditions and automatically restore previous operating modes after power is restored. This preliminary action of detecting and recovering from power loss events prevents complete loss of operational state information, maintaining user convenience while ensuring system stability
Data Source
AI summary
A method for increasing battery life in a lighting device powered by a battery source in which an electronic circuit is caused to provide a declining power supply to a light emitting diode (“LED”) as a power profile of the battery source declines.