GB2093969A

GB2093969A - Vehicle lamp assembly

Info

Publication number: GB2093969A
Application number: GB8105795A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Wipac Development Ltd
Current assignee: Wipac Development Ltd
Priority date: 1981-02-24
Filing date: 1981-02-24
Publication date: 1982-09-08

Abstract

A rear lamp assembly for a commercial vehicle comprises a housing consisting of a lens 10 and a moulded body 26. Within the housing, bulbs 24 are mounted on a reflector moulding 28. The moulding 28 has its edges located in grooves 40 provided in annular rubber grommets 36. The grommets 36 are pushed onto pillars 34 which are moulded integrally with the body 26 and which receive screws securing the lens 10 to the body 26. The grommets 36 are prevented from moving by fins 38 moulded on the pillars 34 and projections 44 provided on the lens. The grommets 36 act as shock absorbers to prevent excessive vibration leading to breakage of the bulb filaments. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Vehicle lamp assembly The invention relates to lamp assemblies for vehicles, especially those which are fitted to the vehicle body as a separate unit.

On commercial vehicles, frequent lamp failure is a widespread problem due to the heavy vibration and shock to which the lamp assemblies are subjected which can easily cause breakage of the lamp filaments.

An object of the present invention is to provide a lamp assembly which is less prone to early bulb failure.

In accordance with the invention there is provided a vehicle lamp assembly comprising a housing consisting of a lens and a body portion, a reflector and at least one bulb mounted in the reflector; the reflector being supported within the housing by shock-absorbing mounting means.

The bulb may be mounted in the reflector which, in turn, is mounted in the housing by means of rubber grommets which engage the housing, each grommet having a circumferential groove for receiving an edge of the reflector.

By providing the reflector and bulbs with a resilient or shock-absorbing mounting of this kind, vibrations due to the motion of the vehicle are at least partly absorbed and the risk of filament breakage is reduced.

In accordance with a second aspect of the invention is a vehicle lamp assembly comprising a housing, at least one bulb disposed within the housing and electrical conductors for electrically contacting the or each bulb; the housing having a surface for mounting against a vehicle body and being provided with least one recess formed in that surface, the ends of the conductors extending to the recess and the recess being adapted to receive means for making electrical connections to the said ends of the conductors.

The lamp assembly is. intended for sale as an accessory for a wide range of commercial vehicles and it is therefore desirable that it can be fitted easily to a number of different vehicle bodies. The lamp assembly is provided with a surface which abuts against the vehicle body and with one or more recesses in which electrical connectors can be concealed. This allows electrical connections to be made outside the vehicle body and then tucked tidily into the recess where they are hidden once the assembly is bolted to the bodywork.

An embodiment of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a rear lamp assembly in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 is a longitudinal section through the assembly of Fig. 1; Figure 3 is a transverse section along line Ill- Ill of Fig. 1; Figure 4 is a transverse section along line IV IV of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a front view broken away to show electrical contacts; and Figure 6 is an exploded fragmentary view showing the reflector mounting.

Figure 1 shows a rear lamp assembly intended for fitting to a commercial vehicle as a selfcontained unit. The part of the assembly which is normally visible to other motorists is a lens 10 which consists of areas of differently coloured plastics material. Behind the lens are five light bulbs 24, which cooperate with the areas of different coloured plastics to provide a red rear fog lamp 12, a white reversing lamp 14, a red tail lamp 16, a red stop lamp 20 and an amber rear turn indicator 22. The central region of the lens area in front of the tail lamp 16 is formed on its rear surface with a diamond-shaped pyramid pattern in the usual way to fcrm a reflex reflector 18.

As shown in Fig. 2, the bulbs 24 are mounted by means of bayonet fittings in a reflector moulding 28. Although the moulding 28 extends behind the whole lens 10 it is divided into areas of different curvature which form reflectors for the individual bulbs 24. The moulding 28 is supported inside a hollow body 26 which is secured to the vehicle bodywork by means of bolts 58.

The lens 10 is secured to the body 26 to form a housing 30 by screws 32 which pass through the lens 10 and locate in pillars 34 moulded integrally with the body 26 and extending from its rear wall 54. A rubber seal 35 is compressed between the lens 10 and the body 26 to prevent water getting into the housing 30.

The reflector moulding 28 is mounted by means of annular grommets 36 of natural or synthetic rubber or resilient plastic which are located in notches 42 formed in the edges of the moulding 28. Each grommet 36 has a circumferential groove 40 which receives the edge of the notch 42. The notches 42 are narrower at their open outer ends and have a width which is less than the diameter of the grommets at the bottom of the circumferential groove so that the grommets must be compressed in order to be inserted into the notches 42. This feature serves to retain the grommets in place during assembly.

When the reflector moulding 28 is mounted inside the housing 30, the grommets 36 are pushed onto the four pillars 34 on the longer sides of the body 26, the pillars passing through the central holes in the grommets. Movement of the grommets 36 along the pillars 34 is limited by radial fins 38 moulded on the pillars 34. When the lens 10 is in position on the body 26 the grommets 26 are gripped between semi-circular cross-section projections 44 formed on the lens 10 and the fins 38 to locate the reflector.

The remaining edge portions 46 of the reflector moulding 28 fit with clearance within the walls of the body 26.

The use of the resilient material grommets 36 to mount the reflector 28 and bulbs 24 permits at least some of the vibration of the vehicle to be absorbed before it reaches the bulbs 24. The bulbs 24 are not subjected to as much jolting as with rigid mountings and the bulb lifetime is increased.

In order to provide good electrical contact to each of the bulbs 24 without rigidly fixing them, contact is made by means of metal contact strips 48 as shown in Figs. 3. 4 and 5. The strips 48 are deformed by the central contacts 50 of the bulbs 24 so that when the bulbs 24 and reflector 28 move relative to the housing due to vibration of the housing, the natural resilience of the strips 48 causes them to absorb the vibration and remain in firm contact with the bulb portions 50. The outer contacts 51 of all five bulbs make contact with contacts 53 on the reflector 28 which are connected together by wires 55.

All connections to the contact strips 48 are made through a central point 52 on the back face 54 of the body 26. The back face 54 is provided with a recess 56 which receives a multiconnector used to attach cables from the vehicle's electrical system to the central contact point 52.

The terminal ends 57 of the contact strips 48 extend from inside the housing into the recess 56.

A sixth contact strip 59 makes contact with the contact 53 for the central bulb 24 and has a terminal end extending into the recess 56 to provide a common return for the bulbs 24. The recess 56 is large enough to accommodate the whole of the connector (not shown) so that the back face 54 of the housing can be fixed against a flat surface on the bodywork of the vehicle by means of bolts 58 with the connector located within the recess 56.

Claims

1. A vehicle lamp assembly comprising a housing consisting of a lens and body portion, a reflector and at least one bulb mounted in the reflector; the reflector being supported within the housing by shock-absorbing mounting means.

2. An assembly according to claim 1 in which the mounting means comprises at least one element composed of rubber or other elastomeric material.

3. An assembly according to claim 2 in which the mounting means comprises grommets which engage the housing and each of which has a circumferential groove for receiving an edge of the reflector.

4. An assembly according to claim 3 in which each grommet is mounted on a pillar extending from the body portion, the pillar passing through the central hole in the grommet.

5. An assembly according to claim 3 or 4 in which the housing is provided with a restraining member for preventing the movement of the grommets toward the lens.

6. An assembly according to claim 3, 4 or 5 in which the reflector has notches in its peripheral edge for receiving the grommets, each notch being narrower at its open end and having a width that is less than the diameter of the grommet at the bottom of its circumferential groove so that the grommet must be compressed in order to insert it into the notch.

7. A vehicle lamp assembly comprising a housing, at least one bulb disposed within the housing and electrical conductors for electrically contacting the or each bulb; the housing having a surface for mounting against a vehicle body and being provided with at least one recess formed in that surface, the ends of the conductors extending to the recess and the recess being adapted to receive means for making electrical connections to the said ends of the conductors.

8. An assembly as claimed in claim 7 in which the ends of all the conductors extend to a single recess formed in the mounting surface of the housing.

9. A vehicle lamp assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.