NightStar FAQs - Who Invented the Shake Flashlight?

NightStar was the world's first renewable energy shake flashlight. It was invented in 1997 by Steve Vetorino, founder of Applied Innovative Technologies Inc., and electrical engineer Jim Platt, who helped Vetorino create the design and prototypes. It first went into production in 1998.

NightStar was issued its first patent in 1999 (Patent #5,975,714). In 2001 it was issued its second patent (Patent #6,220,719) for the magnetic recoil charging system. Using magnetic repulsion to rebound the charging magnet is far more efficient and quieter than springs.

The Forever flashlight, EM Energy flashlight, Eternity flashlight, Everlight flashlight, Hummer flashlight, and Lifetime flashlight are all functional replicas of the first NightStar and as such still use springs and rubber bumpers. The spring rebounding system was used in the first NightStar flashlight because of cost considerations.

The Freedom flashlight uses 2 coin-size Nickel metal hydride batteries rather than a capacitor. Using batteries has the disadvantage of a significantly shorter operational lifetime and reduced performance at high and low temperatures. With the batteries however, the Freedom Flashlight will initially run the LED for two hours but will require approximately 18,000 shakes to recharge (nearly 1 hour and 40 minutes of shaking).

The EDI-T Diamond Generation Gear flashlight is a near identical copy of the current NightStar except that it uses inferior components. As a consequence, the EDI-T Diamond flashlight produces far less light, is not as durable, and requires twice the shaking time to recharge the capacitor.

More Frequently Asked Questions:

• Who invented the shake flashlight?

• How does the switch work?

• Why do NightStar, NightStar CS and NightStar RS require different amounts of shaking?

• What are the magnets made of and how are they magnetized?

• Can light output be made brighter by replacing the StarCore® LED with an incandescent bulb?

• Can batteries be included in the design to allow for a longer, brighter light output?

• Is a pacemaker sensitive to the magnetic field that surrounds NightStar?

• Can adding more LEDs increase the light output?

• How is the charging magnet reflected at either end of the flashlight?

• Why was a lens chosen for the output window?

• Why doesn't NightStar interfere with night vision?

• Why is the housing made from plastic?