Illumination – Supported by vehicle structure – Automobile
Reexamination Certificate
2001-11-13
2003-09-09
O'Shea, Sandra (Department: 2875)
Illumination
Supported by vehicle structure
Automobile
C362S487000, C362S490000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06616311
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an interior light system for vehicles to be mounted on the interior roof of a vehicle, which is turned on and off by opening and closing the door, and by switching on and off via a lens plate, and to an interior light system comprising three lamps in which one of them is able to be turned on and off in the same manner as a single lamp type, and the other two lamps are able to be turned on and off by switching via the lens plate so as to be used as a map light.
2. Description of the Related Art
An interior light system for vehicles generally used in the related art includes a single lamp type and a three lamp type that is provided with a map light. The single lamp interior light system for vehicles comprises an interior lamp that is turned on and off by a switching operation in addition to the opening and closing of the door, and the three lamp interior light system for vehicles comprises the interior lamp and two lamps (generally called map lights) disposed on both sides of the interior lamp, in which the interior lamp can be turned on and off in a manner described above, and the map lights are turned on and off only by turning the individually provided switches on and off.
In these two types of interior light systems for vehicles in the related art, the switch for turning on and off the interior lamp and the switch for turning on and off the map light are separately provided, and thus a knob for controlling the switch is required. Accordingly, it has been necessary to increase the dimensions of the enclosure.
The only way to miniaturize the enclosure was to decrease the area of the lens plate, but it causes a problem that the brightness of the lens decreases as the dimensions of the lens plate decreases. When the dimensions of the lens plate are increased to increase the brightness of the illumination, the area of the interior light system that occupies the roof of the vehicle increases, which may lead to the problem that the design freedom for the light decreases.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention is intended to solve the problems described above, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an interior light system for vehicles that can be miniaturized without decreasing the lens area and thus without lowering the brightness of illumination by utilizing the lens plate as a knob for a switching operation and that has novelty in design.
In order to achieve the object described above, a interior light system of the present invention comprises a lamp accommodated in an enclosure, a push switch for turning on and off the lamp fixed in the enclosure, and a lens plate journaled at the ends of the opening of the enclosure for a swinging motion, in which the push switch is turned on and off by pressing the lens plate, thereby turning the lamp on and off.
The interior light system of the present invention also comprises lamps each accommodated in the lamp compartments divided by at least two dividing walls in the enclosure, a push switch for turning on and off the lamp fixed in the lamp compartment, and a lens plate journaled at the ends of the opening of the lamp compartment for a swinging motion, in which the push switch corresponding to each lens is turned on and off by pressing each lamp plate so that the lamp behind the lens plate is turned on and off.
In addition, the interior light system of the present invention comprises a locking strip on the free end of the lens plate, and a hole formed on the portion of the enclosure facing toward the locking strip for preventing the lens plate from rising from the enclosure by an upward pushing force of the push switch for the lens plate, and a final control element formed on the lens plate according to the present invention is disposed at the position facing toward the final control element of the push switch so that the final control element of the push switch is pressed by the final control element by the swinging motion of the lens plate.
The lamps in the first embodiment and the lamp disposed at the center in the second embodiment are connected to the door switch, and the lamps have such a circuit construction that they are turned on when the door is opened, and the lamp compartments other than the center portion are formed with a douser so that light from the lamp is converged onto the lens portion of the lens plate.
REFERENCES:
patent: 6092917 (2000-07-01), Litke et al.
patent: 6273593 (2001-08-01), Yabata et al.
Sato Takeshi
Soga Hisashi
Kabushiki Kaisha T and T
Lee Guiyoung
O'Shea Sandra
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