Switch for pocket torch

Claim 1

A flashlight comprising a casing, means defining an elongated slot extending through said casing, a light bulb in said casing, said bulb having a lens end having a tip surrounded by a shoulder, said tip extending into the slot from within the casing and being exposed for manual manipulation from outside the casing, and said shoulder engaging the casing at each side of the slot to retain the bulb in the casing, said bulb having a base with an end terminal and a side terminal, means defining a generally parallelepedic space in said housing for guiding said bulb between a first position and a second position, a battery in the casing, a conductive terminal in said casing engaging said end terminal of said bulb and connecting the bulb to a first terminal of the battery, resilient means for urging said terminal toward said bulb, a conductive element in said casing at one side of said space for engaging said bulb in said first position and for connecting said side terminal of the bulb to a second terminal of the battery, insulating means in said casing at the other side of said space for insulating said bulb from said second terminal in said second position of said bulb, said slot, parallelepid space, conductive terminal, and resilient means comprising means mounting said bulb for snap over center movement between said first and second positions in response to manual manipulation of said exposed tip of the bulb so that the bulb remains in its manually set position and functions as the switch of the flashlight.