1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to spotlights and other hand-held lighting devices and in particular to a spotlight having an attached handle which can be shifted between a lantern-style grip and a pistol-style grip.
Hand-held spotlights are generally available in either of two styles. In a first style, the spotlight includes a beam enclosure and a handle attached to the beam enclosure, where the handle is oriented in a direction parallel to the beam produced by the beam enclosure. This configuration, referred to as "lantern-style," allows the user to carry the spotlight with the beam enclosure below the handle in a manner similar to that of a traditional lantern. In a second style, the handle is oriented radially from the beam enclosure in a direction normal to the beam direction. Such a configuration, referred to as "pistol-style," allows the user to hold the spotlight upright in a manner similar to a pistol, facilitating aiming the beam in a desired direction.
It would be desirable to provide spotlight constructions which can assume either the lantern-style or the pistol-style configuration. One approach for achieving such a dual-configuration spotlight is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,734,832, to Moriano et al. The spotlight is provided with a pair of interchangeable handles which are separately attached to a beam enclosure. Although quite workable, the use of interchangeable handles is disadvantageous in several respects. First, the need to manufacture separate handles increases the manufacturing cost of the spotlight. Second, and more important, it is difficult to keep track of the handle which is not attached to the beam enclosure. Thus, when the time comes for a user to interchange the handles, it is often difficult or impossible to locate the second handle. Third, interchanging of the handles can be problematic.
For these reasons, it is an object of the present invention to provide hand-held spotlights which can assume either a lantern-style or pistol-style configuration. A particular object of the present invention is that the transition between the two configurations can be achieved without the interchange of separate handles. Even more particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a spotlight construction having a single handle attached to the beam enclosure, where the handle can be shifted between a lantern-style orientation and a pistol-style orientation.
2. Description of the Background Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,734,832 is discussed above. Hand-held spotlights having lantern-style grips are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,345,304; 4,339,788; and 3,794,825. Hand-held spotlights having pistol-style grips are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,535,397; 4,233,655; and 3,398,271.