Illumination – Supported by vehicle structure – Plural light sources
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-13
2001-11-27
Quach-Lee, Y. My (Department: 2875)
Illumination
Supported by vehicle structure
Plural light sources
C362S541000, C362S473000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06322238
ABSTRACT:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
None
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not applicable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention generally is related to vehicle lighting systems and, more specifically, to a set of auxiliary lights which can be attached to a vehicle, particularly the rear of the vehicle, when the rear of the vehicle has its original equipment lights partially obscured, to provide highly visible lighting.
Vehicle lighting systems are well known to the art. Vehicles, such as automobiles and trucks, include original equipment taillights that render the car visible from the rear in the dark and, other times, light when the driver applies the brakes, or signals to turn. Sometimes the original vehicle lights can be obscured, particularly if the vehicle is towing a trailer or has a rack, such as a conventional bicycle carrier rack, including a bicycle, attached to the rear of the vehicle. The trailer, the carrier rack or the bicycle often blocks the taillights creating a potentially dangerous situation.
A number of attempts have been made to provide supplemental, auxiliary or additional lighting for vehicles in general. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,438,490, to Woodbury, discloses a light mount for a towed vehicle; U.S. Pat. No. 5,157,591 to Chudzik, provides an attachable auxiliary lighting system; U.S. Pat. No. 4,859,982, to Seaburg, provides for a wireless taillight system; U.S. Pat. No. 4,286,309, to Rasinski, provides for a detachable vehicle lighting fixture; U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,077, to Richard, Jr., discloses bicycle carriers for buses and the like which include taillights; and U.S. Patent to Whitley, Jr. No. 3,885,146, provides for a detachable tail light assembly for boat trailers. The known prior art expedients still suffer from significant drawbacks. For the most part they are complex, including multiple parts. Moreover, they are not necessarily adapted to mount to a bicycle rack, for example, that has bicycles already mounted thereon which obstruct the view of the lights. Furthermore, many of the prior art designs have limited utility in that they are specifically designed for one application, such as taillights only, and lack broader utility.
It would be advantageous, therefore, to have an auxiliary lighting system that can be attached to a rear mounted vehicular bicycle rack having bicycles mounted thereon to provide unobstructed taillights to improve visibility and safety. Furthermore, it would be advantageous to have such auxiliary lights which have diverse applications, such as functioning as headlights, fog lights or halogen spot lights.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is among the principal objects of the present invention to provide an auxiliary light system which can be used with a vehicle to improve visibility of the vehicles lights.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such an auxiliary light system that can be used for taillights or headlights.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide such an auxiliary light system which can be attached directly to a bicycle that is mounted on a vehicle mounted bicycle rack to provide unobstructed taillights.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide such an auxiliary light system which can be attached directly to a vehicle, a towed trailer, or the like to provide unobstructed vehicular lighting.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an auxiliary light system that is lightweight and easy to use, economical to manufacture, and well suited for its intended purposes.
In accordance with the invention, generally stated, an auxiliary light system is provided having a generally rectangular tubular frame including a horizontal elongated top frame member, an opposed and spaced apart horizontal elongated bottom frame member, a first vertical end frame member joining the first ends of the top and bottom frame members and a second vertical frame member joining the opposite ends of the top and bottom frame members. The light system includes at least one support strut between the top and bottom frame members. A first light is mounted on one end of the frame, preferably on the first vertical frame member and a second light is mounted on the opposite end of the frame, preferably on the second vertical frame member. The respective lights are electrically connected to a conventional plug which can engage an socket electrically connected to the vehicles original equipment electrical system, lights and directional signals. The wiring connected to the respective auxiliary lights can be exposed or concealed within the tubular frame members. The auxiliary light system is designed to be attached directly to a bicycle which is mounted on a vehicle-mounted bicycle carrying rack. Alternatively, the system can be attached directly to the rack, to a towed trailer or towed vehicle or to the main vehicle itself. The auxiliary light system ideally is used to provide unobstructed taillights, but can be used on the front of a vehicle to provide additional headlights, fog lights or halogen lights.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3041580 (1962-06-01), Bos
patent: 3080581 (1963-03-01), Smihal
patent: 3885146 (1975-05-01), Whitley, Jr.
patent: 4171077 (1979-10-01), Richard, Jr.
patent: 4269339 (1981-05-01), Bott
patent: 4286309 (1981-08-01), Rasinski
patent: 4711381 (1987-12-01), Felder
patent: 4857890 (1989-08-01), Solow
patent: 4859982 (1989-08-01), Seaburg
patent: 4903174 (1990-02-01), Busby
patent: 5157591 (1992-10-01), Chudzik
patent: 5438490 (1995-08-01), Woodbury
patent: 5544022 (1996-08-01), Blackard
patent: 5950891 (1999-09-01), Brungardt et al.
patent: 6095387 (2000-08-01), Lipscomb
Polster Lieder Woodruff & Lucchesi L.C.
Quach-Lee Y. My
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