Courtesy lamp system for vehicles

• US 5,379,198 A
• Filed: 12/04/1992
• Issued: 01/03/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/1991
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Zhijie Zhang
• Original Assignee: Zhijie Zhang
• Inventors: Zhang, Zhijie
• Primary Examiner(s): Husar, Stephen F.
• Application Number:
  US07/985,664
• Time in Patent Office: 760 Days
• Field of Search: 362/83.1, 362/140, 362/143, 362/144, 340/468, 340/470, 359/872, 359/844
• US Class Current: 362/494
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/2665 on rear-view mirrors lighting devices for vehicle interior on or for rear-view mirrors B60Q3/258
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/442 visible on the front side of the vehicle, e.g. for pedestrians
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/547 for issuing requests to other traffic participants; for confirming to other traffic participants they can proceed, e.g. they can overtake
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/549 for expressing greetings, gratitude or emotions
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 3/258 Rear-view mirrors
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/1207 with lamps; with turn indicators

Abstract

Courtesy lamp system for a vehicle in which a lamp structure in a housing is associated with a rear view mirror assembly. The housing has a divider panel to divide the housing into upper and lower recesses containing light sources. A pair of green light sources are in the upper recess and at the rear of the vehicle, respectively, a red light source is in the lower recess. The green light sources are coupled by circuitry to manual switches and the vehicle brake light is coupled to a third switch. Thus, when the first manual switch is actuated, the light source in the upper recess will blink on and off. When a second switch is actuated, it will turn the green light source on and off at the rear of the vehicle. When the brake pedal is depressed, it will close the third switch which will actuate the red light source and the brake light to indicate that the brake has been applied. The mirror is coupled by universal joint to an inner end wall surface of the housing. Thus, the mirror can be adjusted in all directions relative to the housing.

Claims

1. A courtesy lamp system for a vehicle comprising:

an elongated housing having a pair of opposed ends, said housing also having a front recess;

means coupled with the housing for defining a lamp array in the recess, said lamp array including a number of lamps, and means for coupling the lamps of the array to a portion of the vehicle;

an elongated mirror having a pair of opposed ends; and

universal joint means shiftably coupling one end of the mirror to one end of the housing for movement relative to the housing so as to allow the mirror to be selectively adjusted in a plurality of directions and about a plurality of pivot axes.

2. A system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the rear edge of the housing is curved.

3. A system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the housing is hollow to present an interior space therewithin, there being a horizontal wall providing a space into an upper compartment and a lower compartment.

4. A system as set forth in claim 3, wherein said lamp array includes a light source in the upper compartment and a light source in the lower compartment and conductor leads for coupling the light sources to a manual switch and the vehicle brake pedal, respectively.

5. A system as set forth in claim 3, wherein said front end has an opening therethrough, said divider wall being intermediate the ends of the opening, there being a first filter across the space between the divider wall and the top wall of the housing and a second filter between the divider wall and the bottom wall of the housing.

6. A system as set forth in claim 1, wherein said means on said housing includes a tube for coupling the housing to an inner surface of a vehicle.

7. A system as set forth in claim 4, wherein said coupling means includes a tube for coupling the housing to the inner surface of the windshield of the vehicle.

8. A system as set forth in claim 7, wherein said tube has an upper end adopted to be coupled to the roof of the vehicle.

9. A courtesy lamp system for a vehicle comprising:

an elongated housing having a recess;

means coupled with the housing for defining a lamp array in the recess, said lamp array including a number of lamps, and means for coupling the lamps of the array to a portion of the vehicle;

an elongated mirror; and

a universal joint shiftably coupling the mirror to the housing to allow the mirror to be selectively adjusted in a plurality of directions and about a plurality of pivot axes with respect to the housing, said universal joint being coupled to the mirror at one end thereof and to said housing at a first end thereof.

10. A system as set forth in claim 9, wherein said mirror includes a hollow shell having an open rear end, a mirror across the open end, said shell having a flat end wall, said universal joint adapted to be coupled to the end wall of the shell and to an adjacent end wall of the housing.

11. A system as set forth in claim 9, wherein said lamp array includes a first front light source, a second front light source, and a rear light source, the first front light source and the rear light source being coupled in series with each other, there being a manual switch coupling the first front and rear light source to a power means, the second front light source being coupled to the brake pedal of the vehicle.

12. A system as set forth in claim 9, wherein said housing includes a first housing and a second housing, first housing containing said lamp array and second housing including the mirror, and universal joint means coupling the second housing to the first housing.

13. A system as set forth in claim 12, wherein said second housing is rearwardly of the first housing, there being a connector expanding the distance between the two housings, the rear end of the connector having said universal joint means thereon, said mounting means including a tube coupled to the top wall of the first housing and including a circuitry means for coupling the light sources in the first housing with a power source, said circuitry including a number of electrical conductors extending through the tube between the vehicle and the upper wall of the first housing.

14. A courtesy lamp system for a vehicle comprising:

a housing having a front recess;

means coupled with the housing for defining a lamp array in the recess and at the rear of said vehicle, said lamp structure having means for coupling the lamp of the array to a portion of the vehicle;

a mirror; and

universal joint means coupling the mirror to the housing to allow the mirror unit to be adjusted in a plurality of directions about a plurality of pivot axes with respect to the housing said housing is provided with an open rear end, said mirror being movable into and out of said open end.

15. A courtesy lamp system for a vehicle comprising:

a housing having a recess;

means coupled with the housing for defining a lamp array in the recess, said lamp array including a number of lamps, and means for coupling the lamps of the array to a portion of the vehicle;

a mirror; and

a universal joint shiftably coupling the mirror to the housing to allow the mirror to be selectively adjusted in a plurality of directions and about a plurality of pivot axes with respect to the housing, said universal joint being coupled to the mirror at one end thereof and to said housing, there being a hollow shell having an open rear end, a mirror across the open end, said shell having a flat end wall, said universal joint adapted to be coupled to the end wall of the shell and to an adjacent end wall of the housing, said universal joint including a plurality of segments of a sphere, means mounting the segments on said shell of the mirror unit, and a ball embraced by and frictionally engaged by the segments, said ball being coupled to the inner surface of the housing.

16. A system as set forth in claim 15, wherein said coupling means includes a shaft coupling the segments to the shell of the mirror unit.

17. A system as set forth in claim 16, wherein said shaft is externally threaded and has a plurality of resilient shaft elements normally diverging from each other, and a nut threadably mounted on the elements of the shaft for moving the segments toward and away from each other to thereby adjust the frictional contact between the segments and the ball.

18. A system as set forth in claim 16, wherein is included a number of feet on the shaft of the universal joint, a ring having a central hole therethrough, said shaft having a number of feet extending through the hole and biased outwardly with respect thereto, and means for attaching the ring to the shell of the mirror unit.

19. A system as set forth in claim 17, wherein said lamp array includes a pair of spaced lamps in the upper compartment of the first housing and a pair of spaced lamps in the lower compartment of the first housing, said conductor lead means extending from the lamps through the coupling means to a power source of the vehicle.

20. A system as set forth in claim 15, wherein the lamp array encloses a first light source of a first color in the recess, a second light source of the same color at the rear end of the vehicle, a third light source of a second color in the recess, there being first and second manual switches coupled to the first and second light sources to actuate the first and second light sources independent of each other, and a third switch coupled with the third light source and the brake pedal of the vehicle for simultaneously actuating the third light sources and the brake pedal light of the vehicle.