Illumination – Supported by vehicle structure – Light modifier
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-12
2001-04-24
Cariaso, Alan (Department: 2875)
Illumination
Supported by vehicle structure
Light modifier
C362S374000, C362S549000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06220734
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to arrangements for attaching a headlight or a lamp, both referred to herein as a lamp, to a vehicle part in which the lamp includes a housing with a transparent cover, referred to herein as a lens, which is attachable as a structural unit to the vehicle part by fasteners which are not covered by the lens.
European Application No. 0 604 306 A1 discloses a lamp mount arrangement in which fastening devices for the housing are covered by the lens. In this arrangement, however, the housing is first attached to a vehicle part and then the lens is mounted on the housing. The fastening devices are not accessible without removing the lens.
German Patent No. 43 23 854 describes an adjusting device for a headlight which is located between a headlight and a blinker. The adjusting arrangement in this case is covered by the lens of the blinker.
Such covering of fasteners or adjusting devices is possible only if a second lamp abuts the lamp or the headlight. If a lamp or a headlight is fixed in a vehicle part without an adjacent lamp, that arrangement is not possible. Moreover, that arrangement requires a minimum gap width for introduction of an adjusting tool.
It is known in the prior art that a lamp fastening or adjusting arrangement may be covered with adjacent body parts or arranged on a rear housing wall of the lamp. Installation or actuation of such arrangements, however, is possible only if the lamp is adjacent to a removable or openable body part and accessibility is made possible by opening or removal of such a body part. If a lamp is located in the center of a body part, as for example on a fender, the fastening device cannot be covered by a hood, bumper, or the like. Furthermore, for reasons of design, it may be difficult to provide assembly-friendly access to the fastening device from the side of the fender facing the engine compartment.
It is also known that a lamp may be attached by one or more fastening devices, for example screws, which are accessible through the lens. In such arrangements, the fastening devices, in the absence of an additional covering, are recognizable when viewing the lamp from the front. Such arrangements are unacceptable in today's exacting aerodynamic and stylistic requirements.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an arrangement for attaching a lamp to a vehicle part which overcomes disadvantages of the prior art.
Another object of the invention is to provide an arrangement for mounting a lamp having a housing and a lens as a unit on a body part in which the attachment can be effected from the lens side of the unit.
A further object of the invention is to provide an arrangement for attaching a housing and a lens as a structural unit to a vehicle body while satisfying today's exacting stylistic and aerodynamic requirements.
These and other objects of the invention are attained by providing an arrangement for attaching a lamp to a vehicle body which includes a fastening element which is accessible through a lens and a cover for a fastening element which has an appearance similar to that of the lens.
Thus, according to the invention, it is possible to attach a lamp as a unit to a central region of a vehicle part from the outside. The cover for the fastening device has an appearance similar to that of the lens so that a substantially homogeneous general impression is conveyed to a viewer of the lamp.
For this purpose the cover may be made of the same material as the lens. Moreover, the homogeneous overall impression may be improved by conforming the color and/or contour of the cover to the color and/or contour of the lens.
To achieve good aerodynamics, the surface of the cover should be adapted to the adjacent surface of the lens to provide a continuous surface for the assembled cover and lens with no corners or edges.
Accessibility of the fastening element may be made possible by providing either an opening in the lens over the fastening element or a recess toward the edge of the lens, or a lens edge that does not extend to the edge of the lamp housing. The housing part with the fastening element that is not covered by the lens is then concealed by the cover. In this case, each fastening element may have a separate opening with a separate cover closing the opening. It is also possible, however, to provide a common opening for several fastening elements, and to cover several fastening elements with a single cover.
For example, a cover may be in the form of a circular annulus covering all of the fastening elements for the lamp.
Moreover, the fastening element may be molded directly to the cover.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2177968 (1939-10-01), Weiss
patent: 2245790 (1941-06-01), Koubek et al.
patent: 4532577 (1985-07-01), Shelton
patent: 4899262 (1990-02-01), Hammond et al.
patent: 4954932 (1990-09-01), Isenga
patent: 5618098 (1997-04-01), Naganawa et al.
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patent: 604306 (1994-06-01), None
patent: 2683196 (1993-05-01), None
patent: 2689945 (1993-10-01), None
patent: 2729191 (1996-07-01), None
patent: 2055421 (1981-03-01), None
Baker & Botts L.L.P.
Cariaso Alan
Volkswagen AG
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