Microcraft

Kenneth A Eklov

William M Brown

Ranjit D Wickremasinghe

James N Jorgensen

A lamp assembly having a gravity-actuated switch which is adapted to be mounted to the underside of a hinged cover member of a vehicle to illuminate a compartment of the vehicle when the hinged member is opened to a predetermined extent. The lamp assembly has a housing, a lamp disposed in the housing, first conductor means for electrically interconnecting a first electrical terminal with one terminal of the lamp, second conductor means for electrically interconnecting a second electrical terminal with a first contact point, and third conductor means for electrically interconnecting the other terminal of the lamp with a second contact point. The assembly has a switch for automatically turning on the lamp when the housing is moved to a first angular orientation and turning off the lamp when the housing is moved to a second angular orientation. The switch has a slidable member with a conductive portion, the slidable member being movable between a first position in which the conductive portion of the slidable member electrically interconnects the first and second contact points and a second position in which the first and second contact points are electrically isolated. The assembly may have an inverted pivot member, movable under the influence of gravity, for causing the slidable member to occupy the first position when the housing is in the first angular orientation and for causing the slidable member to occupy the second position when the housing is in the second angular orientation.

Lamp assembly with inverted pivot member

A gravity-actuated switch having a switch module with a switch housing and a lid. An electrically conductive pendulum is pivotally secured to the lid via a pivot pin so that the pendulum hangs within the housing and pivots with respect to the housing under the influence of gravity. A first electrical contact connectable to a power source abuts the pivot pin, which is electrically conductive. A second electrical contact is provided within the housing in a predetermined position such that the pendulum makes contact with it when the switch module is tilted by a predetermined amount. When the pendulum makes contact with the second electrical contact, a short circuit is provided across the pair of contacts, thus closing the switch. The switch is incorporated in a lamp assembly provided on the underside of the hood or trunk lid of an automobile to selectively provide power to a lamp so that the lamp is illuminated only when the hood or trunk lid is opened by at least a predetermined amount. A switch composed of a pivoting magnet and a magnetic switch can be used instead of the combination of the conductive pendulum and the curved electrical contact.

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Farmington Hills, MI, United States of America

Kenneth A Eklov