Automatic switch lockout and automatic shut-off - 2004
World's smallest tactical LED flashlight of 60 lumens - 2004
World's smallest tactical LED flashlight of 85 lumens - 2005
Disorienting strobe, emergency strobe and SOS assignable to presets - 2006
World's smallest tactical LED flashlight of 120 lumens - 2007
1500:1 dynamic range (0.08 to 120 lumens) - 2007
3-stage twisty switch - 2007
100 lumens for 1 hour on a single CR123A battery - 2007
Fully automatic detection and protection of Li-ion batteries - 2007
Dual red/white output using single emitter - 2007
120 lumens for 1 hour on a single CR123A battery - 2008
2125:1 dynamic range (0.08 to 170 lumens) - 2008
Automatic burst to 170 lumens - 2008
140 lumens for 1 hour on a single CR123A battery - 2009
World's smallest tactical LED flashlight of 200 lumens - 2009
2500:1 dynamic range (0.08 to 200 lumens) - 2009
Networked multi-processor flashlight with advance user interface - 2010
What's next? Watch this space...
The above list provides the year we first implemented and published the feature. To be fair, the seed ideas for some of the features originated from people living all around the world - especially from the caving community. Some ideas were simply borrowed from other industries. For instance, light dimmers have been around for decades so adding a rotary dimming control to an LED flashlight was an obvious thing to do.
A simple idea is likely to occur to a large number of people in a similar situation. A simple idea for a product or feature tends to have very little initial value. Why? Because it can be a long expensive journey from having an idea to getting it into production. The closer to production it is, the more value it has.
Take using LEDs for a flashlight as an example. Anyone who thinks about the design of a flashlight will immediately understand the value of a rugged, concentrated and efficient light source. When practical LEDs became available, it was obvious to lots of people that LEDs should be used to make a flashlight. That was the simple idea. The difficult part was solving all the problems associated with LEDs in order to make practical and affordable flashlights.
The difference between a simple idea and a practical implementation is why the Patent Office requires that patents be: a) novel and b) not obvious to one skilled in the art.
HDS Systems has the honor of being the first company to manufacture and market a high brightness LED flashlight - a flashlight that could equal or exceed the light output and duration of a standard 2 D-cell incandescent flashlight. That original flashlight was fully regulated, had multiple brightness levels, automatically stepped-down in brightness to extend dying batteries while warning the user it was time to change the battery and the flashlight was housed in an aerospace aluminum case protected by military Type III hard anodize. The flashlight was powered by a single lithium battery that would drive the high brightness setting for 12 continuous hours at a constant brightness.