Combined Retractable Leash and Flashlight

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a retractable pet leash and, more particularly, to a retractable leash apparatus having an integral light device.

2. Prior Art

Numerous types of retractable pet leashes are known in the prior art. Examples of some of these leashes can be found in the following U.S. patents:

U.S. Pat. No. 2,217,323

U.S. Pat. No. 2,222,409

U.S. Pat. No. 2,250,171

U.S. Pat. No. 2,314,504

U.S. Pat. No. 2,647,703

U.S. Pat. No. 2,776,644

U.S. Pat. No. 2,919,676

U.S. Pat. No. 3,198,175

U.S. Pat. No. 3,233,591

U.S. Pat. No. 3,315,642

U.S. Pat. No. 3,318,288

U.S. Pat. No. 3,693,596

U.S. Pat. No. 3,776,198

U.S. Pat. No. 3,853,283

U.S. Pat. No. 3,937,418

U.S. Pat. No. 4,018,189

U.S. Pat. No. 4,165,713

U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,817

U.S. Pat. No. 4,202,510

U.S. Pat. No. 4,269,150

U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,230

U.S. Pat. No. 4,748,937

U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,566

U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,551

U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,626

U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,494

People who work during the day often walk their pets at night and need to light their way. This usually requires the use of a hand held flashlight. Pets, such as dogs, are usually walked with the aid of a leash and, some laws require that a leash be used when walking a dog in a public area. Thus, walking a pet at night can usually require use of both hands of the user; one hand to hold the leash and one hand to hold the flashlight.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention a retractable leash apparatus is provided comprising a housing, a leash, and a lighting section. The housing has a rotatable reel. The leash is connected to the reel such that the leash can extend and retract relative to the housing. The lighting section has a light and a battery. The battery is located inside the housing.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention a retractable leash apparatus is provided comprising a first housing section and a retractable leash section. The first housing section has a handle section and a receiving area. The retractable leash section has a second housing section*p1132Xpivotabuyted to the first housing section in the receiving area along a first axis of rotation and a reel rotatably mounted to the second housing section along a second axis of rotation. The first housing section is connected to the second housing section at two opposite ends of the second housing section. The first axis of rotation is orthogonal to the second axis of rotation.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention a retractable leash apparatus is provided having a housing, a rechargeable battery connected to the housing, a light connected to the housing, and a leash on a reel of the housing that can be extended from the housing and reeled back towards the housing.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention a retractable leash apparatus is provided comprising a housing, a battery, a leash, and a light. The housing has a rotatable reel. The battery is mounted to the housing. The leash is connected to the reel such that the leash can be extended from the housing and retracted on the reel. The light is mounted on the leash and electrically connected to the battery by an electrical conductor extending along the leash.

The foregoing aspects and other features of the present invention are explained in the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of a combined retractable leash and flashlight assembly incorporating features of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the combined retractable leash and flashlight assembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the combined retractable leash and flashlight assembly shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 attached to a battery recharging stand;

FIG. 4a is a side view of an alternate embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4b is a front view of the combined retractable leash and flashlight assembly shown in FIG. 4a;

FIG. 5 is a partial schematic perspective view of the top front of an alternate embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a partial schematic perspective view of another alternate embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a partial schematic perspective view of another alternate embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a person walking a dog with an alternate embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view of the combined retractable leash and flashlight assembly shown in FIG. 8 and its battery recharging stand.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a perspective view of an apparatus 10 incorporating features of the present invention being held by a user. Although the present invention will be described with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, it should be understood that features of the present invention could be embodied in various different forms of alternate embodiments. In addition, any suitable size, shape or type of elements or materials could be used.

The apparatus 10 includes a housing 12, a leash 14 and a lighting section 16. Referring also to FIG. 2, the housing 12 has a first housing section 18 and a retractable leash section 20. The first housing section 18 is preferably made of plastic. The first housing section 18 includes a handle section 22 and a receiving area 24. The retractable leash section 20 includes a reel or drum 28, and a coiled spring 30. The reel 28 is rotatably connected to the first housing section 18 in the receiving area 24. The spring 30 has a first end 32 connected to the first housing section 18 and a second end 34 connected to the rotatable reel 28. The leash 14 has a first end 36 attached to a clip 37 and a second end 38 that is attached to the reel 28. The leash 14 is wrapped around the reel 28 and extends out of the housing 12 at an exit flange 40. The apparatus 10 also include a leash extension brake 42. The brake 42 has a push button lever 44 pivotably connected to the first housing section 18.

A finger contact area 45 is located at the front bottom of the handle section 22 to be upwardly depressed by a user. The lever 44 is attached to a friction brake device 46 at the flange 40. When the lever 44 is actuated by a user, it moves the friction brake device 46 to exert a frictional force on the leash 14 and thereby stop the leash from extension or retraction. In alternate embodiment, any suitable type of brake devices could be used, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,423,494; 5,377,626; 4,501,230; 4,269,150; or any of the other patents identified in the prior art section above. In addition, any suitable type of retractable leash section could be provided. The housing could also have any suitable type of shape.

The lighting section 16 generally comprises a light bulb 48, a reflector 50, a cover 52, a switch 54, and a battery 56. The light bulb 48 is electrically connected to the battery 56 by the switch 54. The switch 54 is located at the top of the handle section 22 to be actuated by a user's thumb. The cover 52 is threadingly mounted to the housing 12 to keep the reflector 50 in place. In the embodiment shown, the light bulb 48 and reflector 50 are located at the top front of the housing 12. However, in an alternate embodiment they could be located at the bottom of the housing or any other suitable location on the housing 12. The lighting section 16 also includes a small circuit board 58 connected to the battery 56 and to contact terminals 60 adjacent the exterior of the housing 12. In this embodiment the battery 56 is a rechargeable battery made of a suitable material such as NiCad. The terminals 60 and printed circuit board 58 provide a means to connect the battery 56 to a suitable recharger 62 (see FIG. 3) for recharging the battery. In an alternate embodiment, the battery need not be a rechargeable battery and, suitable means would be provided to remove and replace such a non-rechargeable battery. Referring also to FIG. 3, the apparatus 10 is shown mounted in a recharger stand 62.

The stand 62 has a housing 64 that can preferably be mounted to a wall. The stand 62 has a plug-in transformer 66 that can be plugged into an electrical wall outlet to supply electricity to contacts (not shown) in the housing 64 that contact the contacts 60 of the apparatus 10. In alternate embodiments, any suitable type of recharger or recharger stand could be provided.

With the embodiment described above, the apparatus 10 can be used for both night walking of a pet or, by merely keeping the switch 54 OFF, for daylight walking of a pet. The apparatus 10 only requires a user to use one hand. This allows the user to have one hand free, such as to put in his or her pocket during cold weather, or to hold other objects. For example, the free hand could be used to carry groceries back from a store or, for a K-9 police officer, to hold a firearm. The combined tractable leash and integral flashlight apparatus 10 thus preforms two function from a single apparatus.

Referring now to FIGS. 4A and 4B, an alternate embodiment of the present invention is shown. The apparatus 70 includes a first housing section 72 with a handle section 74 and a receiving area 76. The apparatus 70 also includes a retractable leash section 78 that is located in the receiving area 76 and is pivotably connected to the first housing section 72. The handle section 74 has a battery receiving area 80 for removably receiving a battery 82. In the embodiment shown, the battery 82 is a rechargeable battery with two terminals at one end. Preferably, the battery is a VERSAPAK battery sold by Black & Decker (U.S.) Inc. VERSAPAK is a trademark of The Black & Decker Corporation of Towson, Md. However, any suitable type of battery could be used. Terminals (not shown) inside the first housing section 72 at the interior end 84 of the battery receiving area 80 are electrically connectable to light bulb 48 by the switch 86. The light bulb 48, similar to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-3, is connected to a reflector 50. The reflector 50 is connected to the first housing section 72 by the cover 52 at the front top portion of the first housing section 72.

The retractable leash section 78 includes a second housing section 88, a reel or roller 90, and a spring located in the reel 90 and having an end connected to the second housing section 88. The reel 90 is rotatably connected to the second housing section 88 for rotation about an axis A. One end of the spring is connected to the reel 90. One end of the leash 92 is connected to the reel 90, is wrapped around the reel 90, and extends out of the second housing section 88 at the outlet 94. The bottom of the second housing section 88 has a seat 96. The bottom of the first housing section 72 has a pin section 98 that projects into the receiving area 76. The pin section 98 extends into the seat 96. Similarly, the top of the second housing section 88 has a pin section 100 and the top of the first housing section 72 at the receiving area 76 has a seat 102. With this arrangement, the second housing section 88 is pivotably connected to the first housing section 72 for rotation about an axis B. The axis A is orthogonal to the axis B. Thus, the retractable leash section 78 can pivot relative to the first housing section 72. This allows a user to more easily redirect light from the lighting section of the apparatus 70 by merely turning the first housing section 72 with a reduced amount of torque on the user's hand if the user's pet is pulling on the leash 92. Although a leash break device is not shown in this embodiment, one could easily be added by extending a control through the pivot points 96, 98 and/or 100, 102 or, moving a portion of the retractable leash section 78 relative to the first housing section 72.

Referring now to FIG. 5, another alternate embodiment of the present invention is shown. In this embodiment the apparatus 110 has a lighting section 112 at a top front of the housing 114. The frame 116 of the lighting section 112 is pivotably mounted to the housing 114 to angularly move as indicated by arrow C. Thus, a user can angularly adjust the beam of light from the apparatus 110 in a horizontal plane without angularly moving the frame 114.

Referring now to FIG. 6, another alternate embodiment is shown. In this embodiment, the apparatus 120 has a lighting section 124. The frame 126 of the lighting section 122 is movably mounted to the housing 124 to angularly pivot as indicated by arrow D. Thus, a user can angularly adjust the beam of light from the apparatus 120 in a vertical direction. This may be desirable dependent upon the type of pet or the environment and visibility without the user sacrificing holding comfort of the apparatus; especially if the pet pulls a lot or needs to be pulled on a lot.

Referring now to FIG. 7, another alternate embodiment of the invention is shown. In this embodiment, the apparatus 130 has a main unit 132 and a holding frame 134. The main unit 132 is pivotably mounted on the holding frame 134. The main unit 132 includes a retractable leash section 136 and a lighting section 138 inside the housing 140. A switch 142 is provided on the housing 140 for the lighting section 138. The battery 144 for the lighting section 138 is also located in the housing 140. A button 146 on the holding frame 134 is connected to the retractable leash section 136 at a pivot point between the main unit 132 and frame 134 to control extension and retraction of the leash 137. With this embodiment, the light beam can follow the pet.

Referring now to FIGS. 8 and 9, another alternate embodiment is shown. In this embodiment the apparatus 150 has a housing 152, a hand strap 154, and a leash 156. The apparatus 150 does not include a leash retraction device. Located on the leash 156 are a plurality of light bulbs 158 electrically connected to a battery 160 in the housing 152 by an electrical conductor 162 that extends along the leash 156. The battery 160 is a rechargeable battery. The housing is sized and shaped to fit into a recharger stand 164. The stand 164 has electrical contacts 166 and a transformer 168 that is plugged into an electrical wall outlet.

In an alternate embodiment, the housing 152 could be provided with a light source 170. The electrical conductor 162 could be replaced by a light conductor, such as a fiber optic bundle or light tube. In such an alternate embodiment, the bulbs 158 need not be provided or could be replaced by lens at ends of the light conductor.

It should be understood that the foregoing description is only illustrative of the invention. Various alternatives and modifications can be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the present invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances which fall within the scope of the appended claims.