The present invention relates to lighting lamps, and particularly those which can be applied to the interior of pieces of furniture in order to light openable and closable compartments.

To date, the art provides for controllably lighting the interior of pieces of furniture by way of lamps powered by either a network voltage of 220 Volts or a reduced voltage via a suitable transformer. Controlling means for the activation and deactivation of said lamps merely comprise mechanically driven switches which are generally operatively coupled to opening and closing members of said compartments of a piece of furniture or, in some cases, they provide for the use of motion sensors.

In any case, the above-mentioned lighting system has to be properly wired.

From the discussion set forth above, it is apparent that current lighting systems for the interiors of pieces of furniture have several drawbacks including relatively high costs, installation complexities, unreliability in use and potential security risks to a user.

The present invention aims to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks and, to this end, it has as object a lighting device intended for mounting to openable and closable compartments of a piece of furniture, which device uses, as a lighting means, light-emitting diodes (hereinafter briefly referred to by the acronym LEDs) simply powered by a battery pack. According to the invention, the controlling means for the activation and deactivation of the LEDs includes an electronic circuit comprising a vibration sensor which can be energized and de-energized when the relevant compartment of the piece of furniture is opened and closed, respectively. Preferably, said electronic circuit includes a programmable timing component which restricts the activation period of the LEDs.

In a preferred embodiment, the lighting device according to the invention is structured in such a way as to be easily and quickly mounted to a drawer, especially to the rear wall of the same.

In this preferred embodiment, the lighting device includes a box- shaped body with a front wall having said LEDs arranged thereon and in which the battery pack and the electronic circuit are accommodated, and a mounting strip intended to be attached to the edge of the rear wall of the drawer by any suitable means, the box-shaped body and the mounting strip being coupled to each other by suitable engagement means allowing for a fast disengagement thereof.

This last structural feature allows for an easy removal of the box- shaped body, and therefore for an immediate replacement of the batteries.

These and other features of the invention, as well as the advantages resulting therefrom, will be apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the lighting device according to the invention, provided by way of an example rather than by limitation with reference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a schematic view in longitudinal vertical section of a generic drawer of a piece of furniture, to whose rear wall there is mounted a lighting device according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a front anterior view of the lighting device according to the invention;

Fig. 3 is a front rear view of the lighting device according to the invention;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view with cut-away parts of the lighting device according to the invention; Fig. 5 shows the box-shaped body and the mounting strip of the lighting device according to the invention, still as observed in a top plan view and detached from each other;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation view of the lighting device according to the invention as attached to the top of the rear wall of a drawer; and

Fig. 7 illustrates the mono-wire electrical diagram related to the lighting device according to the invention.

Fig. 1 shows a generic drawer of a piece of furniture, generally referred to by numeral 1 , which includes a front panel 101 with a grasping knob 111 , two sides 201 , a rear wall 301 and a bottom wall 401.

M denotes the front wall of whatever piece of furniture with which the drawer 1 is engaged. A lighting device according to the present invention, generally referred to by numeral 2, is mounted to the top of the rear wall 301 of the drawer 1.

Referring now to Figs. 2 to 7, the lighting device 2 according to the invention includes a box-shaped body 3, shaped as an elongated parallelepiped, which is open at the rear side and intended for bearing a plurality of LEDs 4 at its front wall 403, while its interior accommodates a battery pack 5 and an electronic circuit as a board 6.

Obviously, when the lighting device 2 is being mounted to the drawer

1 , said LEDs 4 must be faced toward the interior of the same drawer so as to light its contents.

The electronic board 6 is intended for managing the activation and deactivation of the LEDs 4 and, to this end, it includes a vibration sensor which can be energized and de-energized when the drawer 1 is opened and closed, respectively.

Preferably, said board 6 also includes a programmable timing component which restricts the activation period of the LEDs 4. This results in a considerable saving of power, especially when the drawer remains open over a long time period for whatever reason. Further, the lighting device 2 according to the invention includes a mounting strip 7 comprising a base plate 107 rearwardly bearing a perpendicular wing-shaped part 207, with both parts corresponding in size to the box-shaped body 3 in order to act as a support for the same.

Said mounting strip 7 is attached to the top of the rear wall 301 of a drawer 1 by any suitable means. In the embodiment as shown, two screws 8 engaged with corresponding bores 117 formed in the base plate 107 of the mounting strip are used for such attachment. In order to correctly position and stabilize the mounting strip 7 at the top edge of the rear wall 301 of the drawer 1 , the same mounting strip forwardly has an abutment flange 307.

The box-shaped body 3 is mounted to the mounting strip 7 through engagement means enabling for a fast and easy removal thereof in such a way that the replacement of the battery pack 5 can be carried out quickly.

In this embodiment, said engagement means includes pairs of quick- coupling members, each pair comprising a tab 103 and a corresponding pocket 217 formed at the ends of the box-shaped body 3 and mounting strip 7, respectively. This results in an extremely easy coupling operation of the box-shaped body with the mounting strip. In fact, it is sufficient to arrange the former on the latter with the coupling members 103, 217 being aligned while offset, and then longitudinally slide the box-shaped body 3 in order to engage the tabs with the pockets. It is obvious that a reverse composite movement results in the disengagement of the box-shaped body from the mounting strip.

In order to stabilize the resulting coupling of the box-shaped body with the mounting strip, a retainer system is used which includes a resilient wing 317 which resiliently engages a stop 203 when the slidable coupling of said both parts is finished, the resilient wing being formed on the wing-shaped part 207 of the strip 7 and the stop being correspondingly formed on the box- shaped body 3. It is clear that a small force applied to longitudinally slide away the box-shaped body from the strip is sufficient to disengage the wing 317 from the stop 203 and therefore to remove the box-shaped body itself. In the embodiment as shown, a spaced pair of wings 317 and stops 203 was used.

From the description set forth above, several advantages of the lighting device according to the present invention appear evident and they are listed below:

a. Construction simplicity;

b. Optimum reliability and security;

c. Installation simplicity;

d. Functioning economy.

Obviously, the invention is not limited to the above described and depicted embodiment, and various changes and modifications, especially of a constructive nature, can be made to it without departing from the informing principle of the invention itself as it results from both the above description and the claims which follow.