136 and the engagement of the projections 83a-83c with the tabs located on the subframe 100 keeps the spring 70 fixedly in place so that the first spring arm 74 and second spring arm 78 are permitted to flex without the spring plate 72 shifting.

Referring now to FIGS. 5A-5C, the various operating positions of the switch assembly 40 will now be described in detail. In the first operating position, illustrated in FIG. 5A, the first curved foot 76 is seated in cam recess 64A and the second curved foot 80 is seated in cam recess 64D. In this position, the alignment of the buttons 135a, 135b of the circuit elements 134a, 134b within the circuit control recesses 62a,62b results in neither of the buttons 135a, 135b being depressed, thus corresponding correspond to an OFF mode where there is approximately zero current flowing through the PCB assembly 130, and therefore no light emitted through the lens 94. In this position, the first curved foot 76 is firmly engaged within cam recess 64A and the second curved foot 80 is firmly engaged within cam recess 64D, such that the cam 56 will stay in this rotational position—in this position corresponding with a “constant OFF” state—even when the user is not contacting the switch assembly 40.

In the second operating position, illustrated in FIG. 5B, the first curved foot 76 is seated in the cam recess 64B and the second curved foot 80 is seated in cam recess 64E. As can be seen in FIG. 4, the circuit control recess 62b has a greater length than the circuit control recess 62a, such that in the position shown in FIG. 5B, the button 135a engages the ramped surface 63a and is therefore depressed, while the button 135b remains within the extended portion of the circuit control recess 62b and is not depressed. This second position corresponds to an ON mode wherein a first amount of current flows through the PCB assembly 130 and a first intensity of light is emitted through the lens 94. In use, the user can engage the finger ridge 48 and rotate the wheel 42 approximately 30 degrees clockwise with respect to the orientation shown in FIG. 5A (i.e., counterclockwise with respect to the orientation shown in FIG. 1) to switch from the OFF mode to the ON mode. When the cam 56 is rotated from the position shown in FIG. 5A to the position shown in FIG. 5B, the user must overcome the spring force applied by the first curved foot 76 and the second curved foot 80 into the respective cam recess 64A,64D until the curved feet 76,80 are forced outwardly and then snap into place within the respective cam recess 64B,64E. In the position shown in FIG. 5B, the first curved foot 76 is firmly engaged within cam recess 64B and the second curved foot 80 is firmly engaged within cam recess 64E, such that the cam 56 will stay in this rotational position—in this position corresponding with a “constant ON” state—even when the user is not contacting the switch assembly 40. The user can then disengage from the finger ridge 48 and the flashlight assembly 10 will remain in the ON mode (i.e., in a constant-on state) without continued force (i.e., without an additional pressing force) applied to the wheel 42 of the switch assembly 40.

In the third operating position, illustrated in FIG. 5C, the first curved foot 76 is seated in cam recess 64C and the second curved foot 80 is seated in cam recess 64F. In this position, while button 135a remains depressed against the cam 56, the button 135b engages the ramped surface 63b and is therefore also depressed. This third position corresponds to a TURBO mode configured as a temporary surge mode in which a second, greater amount of current flows through the PCB assembly 130 and a second, higher intensity light, as compared to the ON mode, is emitted through the lens 94. In use, the user can engage the finger ridge 48 and rotate the wheel 42 approximately 30 degrees clockwise with respect to the orientation shown in FIG. 5B (counterclockwise with respect to the orientation shown in FIG. 1) to switch to TURBO mode and produce a brighter light than what is produced in the constant-ON mode position of FIG. 5B. When the cam 56 is rotated from the position shown in FIG. 5B to the position shown in FIG. 5C, the user must overcome the spring force applied by the first curved foot 76 and the second curved foot 80 into the respective cam recess 64B,64E until the curved feet 76,80 are forced outwardly and then move into place within the respective cam recess 64C,64F. In the position shown in FIG. 5C, the first curved foot 76 is loosely engaged within cam recess 64C and the second curved foot 80 is loosely engaged within cam recess 64F, such that the cam 56 will not stay in this rotational position when the user is not actively applying an additional force to the wheel 42 of the switch assembly 40, and the cam 56 will instead be biased to return the switch assembly 40 to the constant-ON position of FIG. 5B.

Whenever the user wants the benefit of the temporary TURBO mode, they can continue to actively engage the finger ridge 48 to maintain the position of the wheel 42 in the position shown in FIG. 5C. Said another way, the user must actively apply an additional pressing force of sufficient value to the wheel 42 to maintain the switch assembly 40 in its temporary TURBO mode. Correspondingly, the user can disengage from the finger ridge 48 and the cam 56 (i.e., remove the additional pressing force) and the wheel 42 will be urged to return to the position of the second operating position (i.e., the constant-ON state of FIG. 5B) under the biasing force of the first spring arm 74 and the second spring arm 78. Said another way, the design of the spring 70 and cam 56 allows for the switch assembly 40 to employ a momentary action to allow for a temporary surge light mode.

In other embodiments, other degrees and direction of rotation between an ON, OFF, and/or TURBO mode are possible. For example, the wheel can be rotated between approximately 5 degrees and 180 degrees, or between approximately 10 degrees and 60 degrees. In other embodiments, there can be other combinations of operating modes that correspond to rotational positions of the wheel 42. For example, the ON mode may correspond to the first operating position where the first curved foot 76 is seated in cam recess 64A and the second curved foot 80 is seated in cam recess 64D and likewise the OFF mode may correspond to the second operating position where the first curved foot 76 is seated in cam recess 64B and the second curved foot 80 is seated in cam recess 64E. In still further embodiments, more than three modes of the light are possible, and one or more increased light-intensity modes made be configured to be “constant-ON” capable.

Referring back to the present embodiment, the flashlight assembly 10 further includes a seal 140 having a perimeter 142. The perimeter 142 is dimensioned to engage the sealing surface 106 of the subframe 100. In one embodiment, the seal 140 is configured as a plastic membrane. The seal 140 is secured to the subframe 100 by heat-welding the perimeter 142 of the seal 140 to the sealing surface 106 of the subframe 100. The welded plastic seal between the perimeter 142 and the sealing surface 106 provides an impermeable barrier between the exterior 102 and the interior volume 104 of the subframe 100 proximate to the sealing surface 106. The use of a plastic membrane as the seal 140 that is heat-welded to the subframe 100 permits for the elimination of the use of adhesives or compression-type seals across one or more long gaps between fasteners, thus simplifying the construction of these seals, reducing costs, and allowing for effective seals to be more easily provided for non-circular shaped seal areas. The use of a plastic membrane for the seal 140 also permits for the seal 140 to have an extremely low profile (see sectional view of FIG. 7), thus saving space within the assembly of the flash light assembly 10. Still further, the seal 140 is flexible, which permits the battery 138—which in this embodiment is a lithium polymer-type battery—to swell and expand during its lifetime without destroying or reducing the effectiveness of the impermeable barrier formed by the seal 140, while also allowing for the controlled venting of the battery cavity (i.e., internal volume 104) through a properly designed V-ring vent 54, rather than disturbing the waterproof characteristic of the seal 140.

As described above, the subframe 100 is dimensioned to house a portion of the switch assembly 40, a portion of the USB assembly 120, the PCB assembly 130, and the battery 138. The seal 140, along with the V-ring 54 and the O-ring 96, provide a sealing barrier between an exterior of the subframe 100 and the components housed therein that are susceptible to damage from outside contaminants, such as for example dust or moisture, while permitting for appropriate venting of the internal volume 104 to the exterior of the flashlight assembly 10 via the V-ring 54. As illustrated in FIG. 7, the seal 140 is fully enclosed within the housing 12 and provides a low-profile sealing arrangement for the components housed within the subframe 100 that is not visible from the exterior of the housing 12 of the flashlight assembly 10.

Referring now generally to FIGS. 9-15, another embodiment of a portable lighting device in the form of a flashlight assembly 210 according to the present disclosure will be described in detail. In this embodiment, elements that are shared with—i.e., that are structurally and/or functionally identical to—elements present in the first embodiment (flashlight assembly 10) are represented by reference numerals increased by a value of 200. In the interest of brevity, some features of this embodiment that are shared with the embodiment of FIGS. 1-8 are numbered in FIGS. 9-15, but are not discussed in the specification.

In this embodiment, the fastener 284 that holds the switch assembly 240 together does not extend through the wheel 242, and is instead routed from the interior side of the switch assembly 240, where it passes through a hole 260 (which in this embodiment is not threaded) located in the center of the cam 256, through the center of the V-ring 254, and into a threaded hole 243 that is formed in the interior side of the wheel 242. As best seen in FIG. 12, the interior side of the cam 56 includes a ramped surface 257 that is complementary in shape to the head of the fastener 284, so that the head of the fastener 284 sits snugly and flush within the ramped surface 257—as seen in FIG. 14—when the switch assembly 240 is fully assembled. The threaded shaft of the fastener 284 engages with the threaded hole 243 in the wheel 242 to hold the switch assembly 240 together. In this embodiment, the interior side of the wheel 242 includes a protruding portion 241 that mates with a complementary-shaped indented portion 261 located in the cam 256 and two tabs (only tab 245 shown in the Figures) that interact with two complementary-shaped indented portions 255a,255b located interior to the indented portion 261 of the cam 256. The engagement of these parts, in addition to the friction applied thereto by the fastener 284, ensures that the cam 256 is rotationally fixed with respect to the wheel 242, such that as the wheel 242 is rotated by the user, the cam 256 changes the mode of the switch assembly 240 and, accordingly, the functional mode of the flashlight assembly 210.

Further, in this embodiment the positions in which the curved feet 276,280 of the spring 270 sit when the switch assembly 240 is in its TURBO position are not recessed into the body of the cam 256, but are instead smooth, ramped surfaces along which the curved feet 276,280 will slide such that they are returned to the two positions corresponding with the ON position (i.e., cam recesses 264B and 264E) when the user is not applying a sufficient amount of additional pressing force against the wheel 242.

In some embodiments according to the present disclosure, the subframe 100,300 may be comprised of a translucent plastic material, for example in a smoked gray color, which permits for a status light located interior to the subframe 100,300 to indicate a status of the flashlight assembly 10,210 to the user by allowing for some of the light generated by the status light (which may be located on the PCB assembly 130,330) to shine around the perimeter of the switch assembly 40,240. For example, the status light could output different colors or blink according to different patterns to indicate one or more of a battery charging, battery status, and/or mode selection status of the flashlight assembly 10,210.

The flashlight assemblies 10,210 according to the present disclosure may also incorporate a light output intensity selection feature by which the user could select a default luminance intensity for the light assembly 90,290. This light output intensity selection feature may be accessible only during an active charging state of the flashlight assembly 10,210, or in the alternative at any time. In one exemplary embodiment, the default output luminance for the ON mode may be selected by a user between low (level “A”), medium (level “B”), and high (level “C”) output intensities, with an extra-high (level “D”) output intensity—which may represent the highest-possible output intensity for the light assembly