Lamp with a three-dimensional injection-molded circuit carrier, in particular motor vehicle interior lamp

• US 5,947,586 A
• Filed: 02/03/1997
• Issued: 09/07/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 05/05/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: ITT Automotive Europe GmbH
• Original Assignee: ITT Automotive Europe GmbH
• Inventors: Weber, Adam
• Primary Examiner(s): Sember, Thomas M.
• Application Number:
  US08/737,054
• Time in Patent Office: 946 Days
• Field of Search: 362/217, 362/307, 362/226, 362/296, 362/341, 362/343, 362/310, 362/516, 439/239, 439/931
• US Class Current: 362/516
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 3/74 for overall compartment lighting; for overall compartment lighting in combination with specific lighting, e.g. room lamps with reading lamps general lighting mounted on specific fittings B60Q3/20; general lighting for mass transit vehicles B60Q3/43

Abstract

A motor vehicle lamp employs conductor moldings in which conductor tracks extending in three dimensions can be created in the housing. In addition, the conductor moldings enable the integration of lamp connections, switches and lamp mount, as well as reflectors and cooling surfaces directly into the housing and separately inlaid or molded-in plates for contact tracks.

Claims

1. A motor vehicle interior lamp comprising:

a lamp housing;

a reflector disposed within the lamp housing;

an injection molded conductor molding disposed in the lamp housing and having a pair of clamp brackets separated by a distance suitable for engaging contact ends of a glow lamp; and

two conductive metallized areas electrically isolated from each other with each of the conductive metallized areas disposed over one of the clamp brackets, wherein the conductive metallized areas define the reflector.

2. A lamp as claimed in claim 1, wherein the conductive metallized areas are essentially symmetrical and are electrically isolated from each other.

3. A lamp as claimed in claim 1 wherein the conductor molding is cast integral with the lamp housing and two flat parts of the conductor molding are metallized and are freely accessible from an interior of the housing with the flat parts being adjacent and electrically isolated with a movable switching element disposed in the housing being selectiveably movable to electrically connect the two flat parts.

4. A lamp as claimed in claim 1, wherein plug contacts defining a plug for the lamp are fixed to the conductor molding and the conductive metallized areas extend to the plug contacts.

5. A lamp as claimed in claim 1, wherein a second glow lamp has two connector lines electrically connected to adjacent metallized areas.

6. A lamp as claimed in claim 1, wherein metallized electric conductors are cast into one of the lamp housing and the conductor molding and ends of the conductors are connected to one of the metallized layer and a load and a switch.

7. A motor vehicle interior lamp comprising:

a lamp housing;

a reflector disposed within the lamp housing;

an injection molded conductor molding disposed in the lamp housing and having a wide surface section curved in a concave fashion on a first side and being metallized on the first side to define the reflector; and

a glow lamp disposed at least in part over the metallized first side.

8. A lamp as claimed in claim 7, wherein the reflector is conductive and the conductor molding includes a pair of metallized clamp brackets disposed on the first side and oriented to engage contact ends of the glow lamp.

9. A motor vehicle interior lamp comprising:

a lamp housing;

a conductor molding disposed within the lamp housing having a pair of opposing elastic metallized brackets projecting from the molding and electrically isolated from each other; and

a glow lamp having contacts engaged by the brackets

wherein a configuration of the metallized brackets is consistent with the use of a semiadditive method for metalizing the brackets;

wherein the conductor molding forms a reflector for the glow lamp.