Safety lighting for vehicle outside mirrors
First Claim
1. For use in conjunction with a vehicle having outside rear viewing mirrors mounted on the right and left hand sides, a device for signaling the operation of said vehicle by applying electrical lighting as a an addition to and as an integral part of the outside rear view mirror housing, comprising:
- means of attaching said signaling device, forming to said mirror housing, and indicating vehicle running, clearance, braking, hazard, and directional turning and lane changing signals, from electrical signals generated from a device on the steering mechanism of said vehicle and from the said vehicles electrical signals, and means to control functions of said signaling device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of signaling vehicle operation by using lamp assemblies on the left and right outside rear view mirror housings, to show Running, Clearance , Braking and Hazard conditions and change of steering direction. The lamp assemblies are mounted on a molded neoprene base which is also formed to provide a tubular bumper for physical protection of the lenses and to give an alarm signal. The lamps , each consist of four light emitting diodes (L.E.D.'"'"'s) in keyed plug in assemblies, are located on the rear and on the underside rearwards of the mirror housings. In the preferred form of the invention, the change in steering direction is indicated by switches mounted on the steering column and actuated by on operator on the steering wheel. The control of the indicating lamps is by solid state integrated circuitry located in a central box. The running-clearance lamp is located at the rear of each housing and lit when the vehicle ignition is on. Four directional lamps, located on the underside of each housing are controlled by the steering direction switch, the near lamp lights as the steering wheel is turned a few degrees from the straight ahead position and remains on until returned, indicating a possible lane change. Further turning lights the second followed by the third and the fourth in a timed sequence, then switches off. This repeats until reset by a vehicle turn signal in the opposite direction or over-ridden by a braking or a hazard condition or return to the straight ahead position. A braking signal will cause the lights on each mirror housing to stay on steady and a hazard condition will cause all lights to flash.
7 Citations
10 Claims
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1. For use in conjunction with a vehicle having outside rear viewing mirrors mounted on the right and left hand sides, a device for signaling the operation of said vehicle by applying electrical lighting as a an addition to and as an integral part of the outside rear view mirror housing, comprising:
- means of attaching said signaling device, forming to said mirror housing, and indicating vehicle running, clearance, braking, hazard, and directional turning and lane changing signals, from electrical signals generated from a device on the steering mechanism of said vehicle and from the said vehicles electrical signals, and means to control functions of said signaling device.
- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10)
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9. The invention as defined in claim I, wherein the running and clearance light emitting assembly is energized by the vehicle “
- ignition on”
signal.
- ignition on”
Specification