Automotive internal light

Details Automotive internal light Automotive internal light

1999-08-31

2001-12-04

Husar, Stephen (Department: 2875)

Illumination

Supported by vehicle structure

Automobile

C362S295000, C362S394000, C362S490000, C362S375000, C362S095000, C362S395000, C362S479000, C200S549000, C200S550000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06325526

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an automotive light such as an automotive internal light which is adapted to be turned on and off by way of door open/close operations and which is capable of performing on-off controls by the operation of a slide switch, if necessary.
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Conventional automotive lights include lamp holders, connectors and fixed contacts composed of bus bars. The bus bars typically inserted into a groove formed in a housing so as to form a lamp operation circuit for purpose of turning the lame on and off.
Since the slide switch is combined with a movable contact which moves resiliently on the inserted fixed contacts, there exists the problem that the fixed contacts fail to withstand the urging force from the movable contact causing the fixed contacts to be displaced somewhat. This resultant displacement of the inserted fixed contacts caused by the movements of movable contacts is usually, however, prevented by securing a cover plate onto the portions where the fixed contacts are arranged. Furthermore, as shown in Japanese Pub. No. 8-258078, it is proposed that most of the bus bars used therein are fixed in a molding. However, there is no improvement proposed concerning the contacts on which the force from the slide switch is exerted most heavily.
Conventional automotive lights also have assembly problems since the operation to insert bus bars into grooves formed in the housing is too labor intensive and costly. There is also an impact on the integrity of the lights due to the relatively long time periods involved in shipping parts from parts factories and assembly plants and/or during the assembling process thereof into a car body which can cause the bus bars to slip out from the housing.
Further, since the fixed contacts which are part of the slide switch are fixed by means of a cover plate against the housing in order to secure the fixed contact against the resiliency of the movable contacts, the number of the parts involved increases such that even more manpower is needed thereby increasing the production costs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is aimed at solving the above mentioned problems and its object is to provide an automotive light in which fixed contacts of the slide switch for on-off control of the lamp holders, the connector terminals, the earth terminals and the light is composed of bus bars which are buried in the housing, but a part thereof is exposed. As such, the bus bars are securely fixed in the housing due to the fixed contacts being buried in the molded housing except at those portions where the fixed contacts are in contact with the movable contacts. According to the present invention, there is therefore no need for a cover plate to secure the fixed contacts to ensure that the switching operation is stabilized with the fixed contacts.
In order to attain the objects noted above, the present invention includes, a molded housing, lamp holders secured within the molded housing, and a lamp held by the lamp holder. The connector and earth terminals are secured within the molded housing. A slide switch is provided to control on-off actions of the lamp. The slide switch includes bus bars secured within the molded housing and has fixed contacts secured in an exposed state. Movable contacts are adapted to slide on the fixed contacts and are operable with the slide switch. A lens plate is detachably attached to the housing.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5051549 (1991-09-01), Takano
patent: 5775798 (1998-07-01), Yamada et al.
patent: 5951149 (1999-08-01), Lee
patent: 6076947 (2000-06-01), Miller

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Automotive internal light does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Automotive internal light, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Automotive internal light will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2559253