Retractable Lamp Pen Rotating Slide Switch Mechanism
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing retractable pens with built-in lamps suffer from battery life reduction due to unnecessary lamp activation in bright environments and require additional hardware and complex switching mechanisms, making them costly and unreliable.
Innovation Solution
A retractable lamp pen design featuring a conductive rotating slide and battery cartridge with helical end surfaces and slots, allowing the lamp to be automatically turned on in dark environments and off in light environments using a single switch, by engaging different slots to control the electrical connection between the battery and lamp.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the lamp is automatically turned on when the pen tip is extended, then the lamp is available for use in dark environments, but the lamp battery life is reduced because the lamp stays turned on even in bright environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies a dynamic switching mechanism where the lamp automatically turns on only when the pen tip is extended, and turns off when the pen tip is retracted. This dynamic behavior allows the lamp to be available when needed (in dark environments during writing) while conserving battery life by turning off unnecessarily in bright environments when the pen tip is retracted.
2Adaptability or versatility
If separate switches are provided for controlling the lamp and extending the pen tip, then the lamp can be controlled independently, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the lamp switching function with the pen tip extension mechanism by using a single switch that controls both functions. When the switch is activated, it simultaneously extends the pen tip and turns on the lamp. This integration reduces device complexity and cost while maintaining the ability to control the lamp independently through the unified switching mechanism.
Data Source
AI summary
A lamp pen includes a pen body, a refill, a conductive rotating slide, a lamp, and a cartridge holding a battery. The rotating slide is electrically connected to the battery. A conductive bar on a surface of the slide abuts an end of the cartridge, which comprises a helical surface forming higher and auxiliary higher slots disposed at a highest point of the surface. A first lead of the lamp is connected to the battery, and a second lead is affixed within the higher slot. Rotating the slide causes the conductive bar to engage either the higher slot or auxiliary higher slot, pushing the cartridge downward so that the refill extends out of the pen tip. When the higher slot is engaged, the second lead of the lamp connects to the conductive bar, the electric circuit completes, and the lamp illuminates.