Appeal No. 2004-0024
Application No. 09/249,922 Page 2
BACKGROUND
Appellants' invention relates to a flashlight equipped with
a low wattage arc lamp. The flashlight produces a concentrated
beam of light that can penetrate dense smoke or fog (page 1).
The fill gased uses to dope the lamp (primarily mercury and
indium) function to produce a color temperature in excess of
5000/ Kelvin (page 3). An understanding of the invention can be
derived from a reading of exemplary claim 1, which is reproduced
as follows:
1. A hand-held flashlight comprising:
a metal halide arc lamp wherein the lamp produces a point
source of light, said lamp producing a white light capable of
penetrating dense smoke and fog;
a reflector containing said arc lamp and providing a
collimated beam of high intensity white light; and,
circuit means for providing a high starting voltage to the
lamp and a lower operating voltage after sustaining said lamp,
said circuit means including a battery, a ballast, and a
microprocessor for monitoring said lamp and said batter, said
microprocessor providing a discernible output signal indicative
of the lamp on-time and battery voltage, said microprocessor
controlling the application of the starting voltage from said
ballast to said lamp to prevent misstarting of the lamp.
The prior art references of record relied upon by the
examiner in rejecting the appealed claims are:
Cockram 4,914,356 Apr. 3, 1990
Graham et al. 5,144,201 Sep. 1, 1992
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