Light bar and method for making
First Claim
1. A vehicle light bar comprising:
- a housing, where the housing extends substantially across a roof of the vehicle, the housing (1) having a front and a back that include lenses for transmitting light from an interior of the housing and (2) containing one or more circuit boards each having a planar surface extending between the front and the back;
each of the circuit boards having patterns of keys in its surface that complement patterns of keys in two or more light beam assemblies so as to register the fastening of the two or more light beam assemblies to the circuit board at predetermined positions;
each of the patterns of keys in the circuit board are associated with electrical connections leading to one or more connectors on the circuit board so as to provide an electrical connection between the one or more connectors and one of the two or more light beam assemblies mated to the circuit board at one of the predetermined positions defined by the pattern; and
the housing including components of fasteners complementing components of fasteners in each of the circuit boards such that engagement of the complementing components registers the circuit board to the housing so that the two or more light beam assemblies fastened to the circuit board are automatically aligned with one or more lenses in the housing.
8 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A light bar is described that is of a modular construction based on one or more large circuit boards that are populated with light beam assemblies and then fastened to an interior space of the light bar housing. Keys that automatically align the light beam assemblies on each of the boards precisely control placement of the assemblies on the board. In turn, each of the boards is keyed to the interior of the light bar housing so that when the board is fastened to the housing the light beam assemblies are automatically registered into alignment with the lenses in the housing so that the beams from the assemblies are properly oriented. The light bar is inexpensive to fabricate and can be assembled quickly and reliably, yet it provides for a high degree of customization, which is a requirement in the emergency vehicle lighting industry.
113 Citations
45 Claims
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1. A vehicle light bar comprising:
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a housing, where the housing extends substantially across a roof of the vehicle, the housing (1) having a front and a back that include lenses for transmitting light from an interior of the housing and (2) containing one or more circuit boards each having a planar surface extending between the front and the back; each of the circuit boards having patterns of keys in its surface that complement patterns of keys in two or more light beam assemblies so as to register the fastening of the two or more light beam assemblies to the circuit board at predetermined positions; each of the patterns of keys in the circuit board are associated with electrical connections leading to one or more connectors on the circuit board so as to provide an electrical connection between the one or more connectors and one of the two or more light beam assemblies mated to the circuit board at one of the predetermined positions defined by the pattern; and the housing including components of fasteners complementing components of fasteners in each of the circuit boards such that engagement of the complementing components registers the circuit board to the housing so that the two or more light beam assemblies fastened to the circuit board are automatically aligned with one or more lenses in the housing. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A vehicle light bar having a housing extending substantially across a roof of the vehicle, the vehicle light bar made by the process of:
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fastening two or more emergency lights on a planar surface of a circuit board by matching a pattern of keys on each of the emergency lights to a complementary pattern of keys in the planar surface of the circuit board so as to position the two or more emergency lights at predetermined locations on the planar surface of the circuit board that (1) enable completion of electrical connections between the emergency lights and the circuit board and (2) position the emergency lights to beam light substantially along the planar surface of the circuit board; electrically connecting the two or more emergency lights to a cable connector on the circuit board by completing the electrical connections between the two or more emergency lights and the circuit board enabled by the fastening of the two or more emergency lights to the circuit board; and fastening the circuit board in the housing of the light bar for securing to a surface of the vehicle such that the planar surface of the circuit board extends longitudinally across the housing and the fastening is accomplished by longitudinally aligning complementing patterns of keys in the circuit board and the housing, resulting in the emergency lights being optically aligned with one or more lenses in the housing. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A vehicle light bar comprising:
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a housing, where the housing extends substantially across the emergency vehicle and having lenses in at least one of a front and a rear of the housing; one or more circuit boards mounted to the interior of the housing and oriented to have their planar surfaces extending longitudinally between the front and rear of the housing; each circuit board including conductive traces providing electrical connections between a connector on the circuit board and two or more sites on the circuit board for mounting emergency lights; and at least two of the sites on each of the circuit boards having keys for mating with complementary keys on the emergency lights in order to fasten the emergency lights at predetermined positions on the circuit board that align the emergency lights with the lenses of the housing and enable electrical connection between the circuit board and the emergency lights. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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Specification