GB2154723A - Light fitting - Google Patents

Abstract

A lamp 1 for illuminating a vehicle rear licence plate includes a hollow cover 3 releasably mounted in an opening 4 in the vehicle bumper 2. The cover 3 has a head 5 in which the bulb is positioned and a neck 6 which extends rearwardly through the opening 4. The cover 3 is secured by a rigid lug 9 and a resiliently displaceable spring leg 12 each formed integrally with the neck 6 and having an inclined abutment face 11 and 14 respectively engageable with the inner marginal edge of the opening 4 to locate and retain the neck 6 in the opening 4. To fit the cover 3, the spring leg 12 is depressed to allow passage of the lug 9 and spring leg 12 through the opening 4 and, to release the cover 3, the abutment face 14 of the spring leg 12 terminates in a lip 16 which is positioned within the opening 4 and is engageable with the opening 4 on moving the head 5 to compress the spring leg 12 to permit withdrawal of the lug 9 and spring leg 12 through the opening 4. in this way the cover 3 is fitted and removed from the same side of the opening 4 without requiring any tools or access to the opposite side of the opening. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Light fitting This invention relates to light fittings and in particular, though not exclusively, vehicle light fittings.

Previously, vehicle rear licence plate lamps commonly have been releasably secured to the vehicle body, usually the bumper, by means of fixing screws. This method suffers from a number of disadvantages, for example over a period of time the screw may corrode and become "locked" in the threaded opening in the vehicle body. As a result removal of the screw is difficult and there is a risk of damage to the vehicle body due to the screwdriver slipping and striking the surrounding vehicle body. Additionally, a screwdriver matching the screw head may not be readily to hand with the result that either the screw cannot be released or any attempt to force the screw with the incorrect screwdriver damages the screw head precluding release of the screw without risk of damage to the surrounding vehicle body.

To avoid these problems it is also known to releasably secure vehicle rear licence plate lamps by spring clips which provide a snap fit and engage the vehicle body behind an opening in the vehicle body through which the clips are inserted. However, free access behind the opening is required to permit a hand or tool to be inserted to compress the clips to effect release. Where access is restricted or prevented such clips either cannot be used or it is necessary to lever out the lamp with consequential risk of damage to the lamp and surrounding vehicle body.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a light fitting which mitigates at least some of the problems and disadvantages aforementioned, and in particular, which can be mounted in an opening in a support member and released therefrom without the use of any tools or requiring access to the rear face of the support member.

According to the present invention there is provided a light fitting for releasable mounting in an opening in a support member, the fitting including a hollow cover comprising a head and a neck, the neck having a rigid first abutment and a resiliently displaceable second abutment, the first and second abutments being positioned on opposite sides of the neck and being engageable with the support member to retain the neck in the opening, and the second abutment including a formation engageable with the support member to release the neck from the opening, the arrangement being such that, in use, to mount the cover, the second abutment is resiliently displaced towards the neck to allow the abutments to pass through the opening and then away from the neck to allow the abutments to engage the support member to retain the neck in the opening and position the formation within the opening and, to remove the cover, the formation is engaged with the marginal edge of the opening to allow the second abutment to be resiliently displaced towards the neck to disengage the first abutment to release the neck.

By the provision of a resiliently displaceable abutment having a formation which is positioned within the opening, the cover can be mounted with a snap-fit action and subsequently removed from the same side of the opening by manually moving the head to displace the abutment towards the neck and disengage the rigid abutment. As a result it is possible to both mount and remove the cover without using any tools and without requiring access behind the opening.

Conveniently the second abutment comprises a spring leg having an inclined guide face and an oppositely inclined abutment face terminating in a lip defining said formation and the rigid abutment comprises a lug having an inclined ramp face and an oppositely inclined abutment face.

By this arrangement, to mount the cover, the neck is inserted into the opening, the guide face of the spring leg is engaged by the outer marginal edge of the opening causing the spring leg to be compresed thereby allowing passage of the spring leg and lug through the opening whereupon the spring leg expands to seat the inner marginal edge of the opening on the inclined abutment faces to retain the neck in the opening and position the lip within the opening.

By the use of inclined abutment faces, the inner marginal edge of the opening automati cally seats at a position which ensures the cover is mounted without looseness or free play irrespective of the thickness of the support member. As a result support members of different thicknesses can be accommodated by the same cover as can local variations in the thickness of a particular support member.

To release the cover, the neck is displaced towards the lip, the lip is engaged by the marginal edge of the opening causing the spring leg to be compressed thereby disengaging the lug which is then withdrawn through the opening by pivotting the cover about the lip. The ramp face of the lug is then engaged with the outer marginal edge of the opening and the cover pivotted about the lug to disengage the spring leg which is then withdrawn through the opening.

The cover is preferably moulded from plastics material and the abutments are formed integrally therewith.

The invention will now be described in more detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a side view of a light fitting according to the present invention in the mounted position and also showing the various operations by which the fitting is removed; and Figure 2 is a plan view of the fitting shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, there is shown a vehicle light fitting comprising a lamp 1 mounted on the rear bumper 2 of the vehicle (not shown) to illuminate the rear licence plate (not shown).

The lamp 1 includes a hollow cover 3 releasably secured in an opening 4 in the bumper 2. The cover 3 is moulded from plastics material, for example a thermoplastics polyester, polypropylene or any other suitable thermoplastics material, and comprises a head 5 in which the bulb (not shown) is positioned and a neck 6 which projects through the opening 4. The bulb and the wiring connections therefor are conventional and will not be further described herein as such details are well known to those skilled in the art and form no part of the present invention.

The neck 6 of the cover 3 is of rectangular cross-section and has formed integrally therewith diametrically opposed first and second abutments 7 and 8 respectively. The first abutment 7 comprises a rigid lug 9 of triangular section positioned adjacent to the inner end of the neck 6. The lug 9 has a ramp face 10 and an abutment face 11 inclined equally and oppositely relative to the longitudinal axis L of the neck 6. The second abutment 8 comprises a resiliently displaceable spring leg 12 attached adjacent to the outer free end of the neck 6 and extending axially towards the head 5.The spring leg 1 2 has a guide face 1 3 and a shorter abutment face 14 also inclined equally and oppositely relative to the longitudinal axis L, and the abutment face 14 terminates short of the flat base 1 5 of the head 5 in a lip 16 extending parallel to the longitudinal axis L. The distance between the apices 1 7 and 18 of the lug 9 and spring leg 1 2 respectively exceeds the corresponding dimension of the opening 4 in the unstressed condition of the spring leg 12.

To mount the cover 3, the neck 6 is inserted into the opening causing the ramp face 10 and the guide face 1 3 to engage the outer marginal edge of the opening 4. As a result the spring leg 12 is compressed towards the neck 6 by an amount sufficient to allow the apices 17, 1 8 to pass through the opening 4.

The spring leg 1 2 then expands to locate the marginal edge of the opening 4 in two opposed notches 19, 20 defined between the inclined abutment faces 11, 14 and the flat base 1 5 of the head 5 to retain the neck 6 in the opening 6 and secure the cover 3 to the bumper 2 with a snap-fit action.

In the mounted position the inner marginal edge of the opening 4 seats on the inclined abutment faces 11, 14 and the lip 1 6 is positioned within the opening 4.

To remove the cover 3, the head 5 is manually moved to displace neck 6 towards the lip 1 6 causing the lip 1 6 to engage the marginal edge of the opening 4. As a result the spring leg 1 2 is compressed by an amount sufficient to disengage the abutment face 11 and allow the lug 9 to be withdrawn through the opening 4 by pivotting the cover 3 about the lip 1 6 in the direction of arrow (a) as shown in chain dotted lines in Fig. 1. The cover 3 is then pivotted about the lug 9 through the engagement of the ramp face 10 and the outer marginal edge of the opening 4 in the direction of the arrow (b) to disengage the spring leg 1 2 which is then withdrawn through the opening 4 as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that the cover of the invented light fitting can be easily mounted in and removed from the opening from the same side without requiring any tools.

The light fitting is therefore particularly suited to the application above-described, especially with the recent trend to the use of bumpers moulded from plastics material and painted to match the colour of the vehicle.

Such bumpers are particularly susceptible to damage by screwdrivers or other tools required to release the fastening screws or spring clips of the prior art fittings aforedescribed. Furthermore, such bumpers are often enclosed so that access behind the opening to release the spring clips of the prior art fittings afore-described is precluded.

Although the invention has been described with particular reference to a vehicle rear licence plate lamp, it will be understood that the invention has application to any type of lamp in which it is desired to releasably mount a cover in an opening in a support member.

It will be appreciated that the embodiment above-described may be modified in a number of ways, for example the inclined faces of each abutment may extend at the same or different angles. Thus the abutment face of each abutment may extend normal to the longitudinal axis, but an angle of less than 90 is preferred so that the inner marginal edge of the opening seats on the abutment faces thereby allowing the cover to accomodate support members of different thicknesses as well as local variations in the thickness of a particular support member.

The neck can be of any cross-section for example, circular, elliptical, rectangular or any other polygonal shape provided the abutments are positioned on opposite sides of the neck to enable mounting and removal of the cover as above-described. The abutments may be offset relative to one another but are preferably directly opposite one another.

The front of the head may have any required profile and the base may have an annular groove or similar formation for mounting an annular seal member to provide a watertight fixing.

Finally the cover may be of any size and of any colour to suit a given application.

Claims (11)

1. A light fitting for releasable mounting in an opening in a support member, the fitting including a hollow cover comprising a head and a neck, the neck having a rigid first abutment and a resiliently displaceable second abutment, the first and second abutments being positioned on opposite sides of the neck and being engageable with the support member to retain the neck in the opening, and the second abutment including a formation engageable with the support member to release the neck from the opening, the arrangement being such that, in use, to mount the cover, the second abutment is resiliently displaced towards the neck to allow the abutments to pass through the opening and then away from the neck to allow the abutments to engage the support member to retain the neck in the opening and position the formation within the opening and, to remove the cover, the formation is engaged with the marginal edge of the opening to allow the second abutment to be resiliently displaced towards the neck to disengage the first abutment to release the neck.

2. A light fitting according to claim 1 wherein the first abutment comprises a lug and the second abutment comprises a spring leg attached at one end to the neck and extending axially towards the head.

3. A light fitting according to claim 2 wherein the lug and spring leg each have an abutment face which define with the head a pair of notches in which the marginal edge of the opening is received.

4. A light fitting according to claim 3 wherein each abutment face is inclined relative to the longitudinal axis of the neck and the inner marginal edge of the opening seats on the abutment faces.

5. A light fitting according to claim 4 wherein the spring leg has a guide face leading from said one end to the abutment face, said guide face being oppositely inclined relative to the abutment face.

6. A light fitting according to claim 4 or claim 5 wherein the abutment face of the spring leg terminates at the other end of the spring leg in a lip defining said formation, the lip extending substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the neck.

7. A light fitting according to any one of claims 4 to 6 wherein the lug has a ramp face on that side remote from the head, said ramp face being oppositely inclined relative to the abutment face.

8. A light fitting according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the first and second abutments are positioned directly opposite each other.

9. A light fitting according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the first and second abutments are formed integrally with the cover.

10. A light fitting according to any of the preceding claims wherein the cover is formed from plastics material.

11. A light fitting for releasable mounting in a support member substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.