GB624909A - Improvements in or relating to lamps - Google Patents

Abstract

624,909. Vehicle lamps. KAVANAGH, P. April 17, 1947, No. 10169. [Classes 75,(ii) and 75(iv)] A vehicle lamp comprises a housing 1 containing a reflector 4, a mask member 5 disposed at the front of the housing 1 having a plurality of light transmission passages or openings 15, 16, 17, arranged to project light at varying angles from a light source 18 within the housing 1, a reflector 20 disposed in the rear face of said mask member 5, a plate 6 of glass or the like covering said mask 5, and a ring 7 arranged to secure said mask and glass in position. The mask 5 and the glass cover 6 preferably have domed faces, and the securing ring 7 is bolted to the bottom of the housing. A parking lamp 12 is mounted on a plate 11 hinged to the top of the housing 1, the base 11a of the plate 11 being shaped to retain the top of ring 7. The light source 18 may be an electric bulb mounted in a holder 19 arranged axially at the rear of mask 5, within the auxiliary reflector 20, current being supplied to the bulb via pin connections 24 arranged to engage in terminal sockets 23 secured within the housing. The reflector 4 is slidably located on guides 2 and is mounted on a screw threaded rod 28 engaging in a correspondingly threaded sleeve 29 (Fig. 11) carried in a sleeve 30 extending through the rear of housing 1. The sleeve 29 is restrained from axial movement by grub screws 32 entering an annular groove 29a on the sleeve and is rotatable by hand control means (not shown) situated in any convenient position such as the dashboard, to advance or retract the reflector 4. The inner surface of the housing 1 exposed on the retraction of the reflector 4 is rendered reflective. The inner face of the mask 5 is made reflective but the walls of the passages 15, 16, 17 may be non-reflective, the said passages being preferably arranged to provide divergent beams of light. Fig. 9 shows a form of mask 5 wherein a licence holder is pivotally mounted within a passage 34, the licence holder being tiltable away from the passage 34, by means of a control cable operable from the dashboard, to provide an upward shaft of light for reading of signposts and the like. The lamp may be mounted on a U-shaped bracket 39 bolted to brackets 40 on the sides of the housing 1, and the brackets 40 may have spring clips 41 (Fig. 1a) engaging projections 7a on the ring 7 as an alternative ring- retaining means. The lamp may be embodied within the radiator of a motor vehicle, the housing 1 being extended to encase the reflector control mechanism, the sleeve 29 of which, in this case, is restrained from axial movement by a collar screwed thereto engaging a groove in the sleeve 30. The Provisional Specification discloses an arrangement wherein the electric bulb is situated within the adjustable reflector or, if carried by the mask, the terminal sockets in the lamp body are concealed by a hinged ornamental plate. The hinged plate may carry a parking lamp which is switched on automatically when the said plate is lifted.