Illumination – Supported by vehicle structure – Light modifier
Reexamination Certificate
2002-07-01
2004-08-03
Cariaso, Alan (Department: 2875)
Illumination
Supported by vehicle structure
Light modifier
C362S494000, C362S511000, C362S548000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06769798
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This application claims the priority of Japanese Application No. 2002-109370 filed on Apr. 11, 2002.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a side mirror cover for covering a side mirror body provided projectingly from the side of the vehicle, and a cover lamp to be used for this cover.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, a vehicle is provided with sideways projecting side mirrors on both sides of the vehicle body as well as a room mirror provided in the interior of the car for a driver to look behind for traffic. These mirrors ensure that the driver has a clear view to the rear of the vehicle without turning his/her head toward the rear. Although the room mirror and the side mirror are standardized according to the type of vehicle, the side mirror being partly responsible for the appearance of vehicle are figured to satisfy the sense of beauty. The side mirrors for passenger vehicles are mainly mounted on the doors, and figured to satisfy the sense of beauty considering the total appearance of vehicle. Further, there is a need for ornate side mirrors depending on the taste of consumers because of recent diversification of the taste of the consumers.
At the front end of the vehicle, there are provided front position lights for allowing oncoming cars and the third parties walking on the street to recognize the width of the vehicle at night as well as direction indicator lamps for indicating the turning directions of the vehicle and headlamps as an illuminating device for nigh drive. The oncoming cars and the third parties walking on the street can recognize the width of the vehicle from the front position lights and the turning direction of the vehicle from flickering of the direction indicator lamp. The oncoming cars and the third parties walking on the street ensure the safety by driving or walking while avoiding contact with the vehicle.
On the other hand, since the front position lights in the related art are provided at the front end of the vehicle, there is a problem in that the width of the vehicle body at the front end of the vehicle can be recognized, but the width of the entire vehicle including the side mirrors cannot be recognized. In other words, since the sideways projecting side mirrors are provided on the vehicle body, the width of the entire vehicle including the side mirrors is larger than the width indicated by the front position lights. Therefore, the oncoming cars or the third parties walking on the street are required to estimate the width of the entire vehicle by adding the estimated amount of projection of the side mirrors to the width indicated by the front position lights. However, since the amount of projection differs depending on the type of vehicle, it is relatively difficult to estimate. Especially, such estimation is difficult in the case of vehicles having side mirrors that project sideways significantly from the vehicle body such as heavy-duty trucks.
In order to solve these problems, a side mirror cover including a mirror cover body adapted to be capable of being mounted on the front surface of the side mirror body of the vehicle and a cover lamp mounted on the mirror cover body so as to be visible from the front of the vehicle is proposed (Japanese Patent No. 3030021). Since such side mirror covers are adapted to be attached independently on the front surface of the side mirror body, and thus the covers can be formed into complex configurations, or colored or plated in themselves, high value-added side mirror covers are obtained at a lower cost than the case of forming or processing the entire side mirror into such configurations. Furthermore, when the cover lamps mounted on the mirror cover bodies are illuminated, the positions of the side mirrors are visible from the front, and thus the width of the entire vehicle including the side mirrors can be recognized.
However, considering a case in which the cover lamp mounted on the mirror cover body is used as a direction indicator lamp, it is preferable that flickering of the cover lamp is recognized not only by the oncoming cars, but also the third parties walking by the side of the vehicle. In this case, it is conceivable to provide a separate side lamp at the laterally outer end portion of the mirror cover body (U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,169). However, there are such disadvantages that the appearance is deteriorated because the number of lamps to be mounted increases, and that the unit cost is increased due to increase in manufacturing cost and in number of components.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a relatively less expensive side mirror cover in which flickering or illumination of a cover lamp is visible also from the side of the vehicle, and a lamp to be used therefor.
It is another object of the invention to provide a side mirror cover in which flickering or illumination of a cover lamp is effectively visible from a wide range including the backside of the vehicle, and a lamp to be used therefor.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a side mirror cover that can be mounted on the mirror cover body in a relatively simple process, and a lamp to be used therefor.
As shown in
FIGS. 1
,
3
, and
4
, the first aspect of the invention is an improved side mirror cover comprising a mirror cover body
22
for covering the front surface of a side mirror body
16
of a vehicle
10
, curved out toward the front of the vehicle
10
, and formed with a thorough hole
22
b
having the outer end at the position corresponding to the widthwise extremity of the vehicle
10
, and a cover lamp
23
fitted from the backside of the mirror cover body
22
into the through hole
22
b.
The characteristic construction of the side mirror cover is that the cover lamp
23
includes a lamp housing
24
mounted on the mirror cover body
22
along the peripheral edge of the through hole
22
b
formed on the mirror cover body
22
so as to close up the through hole
22
b
and provided with a plurality of light emitting elements
27
, and a translucent lamp cover
26
mounted on either one or both of the lamp housing
24
and the mirror cover body
22
so as to cover the plurality of light emitting elements
27
, in that the lamp housing
24
includes a curved first corner section
24
a
for closing up mainly the portion of the through hole
22
b
corresponding to the widthwise extremity of the vehicle
10
and a first principal portion
24
b
continuing from the first corner section
24
a
for closing up the remainder of the through hole
22
b
, in that the lamp cover
26
includes a second corner section
26
a
opposing to the first corner section
24
a
and a second principal position
26
b
continuing from the second corner section
26
a
and opposing to the first principal portion
24
b
, and in that the plurality of light emitting elements
27
include one or more first LED or LEDs
27
a
provided on the first principal portion
24
b
for emitting light toward the front of the vehicle
10
, and one or more second LED or LEDs
27
b
for emitting light toward the side of the vehicle
10
.
The second aspect of the invention is an improved cover lamp
23
to be fitted from the backside of the mirror cover body
22
into a through hole
22
b
of the mirror cover body
22
for covering the front surface of a side mirror body
16
on the vehicle
10
, curved out toward the front of the vehicle
10
, and formed with the thorough hole
22
b
having the outer end at the position corresponding to the widthwise extremity of the vehicle
10
from the backside of the mirror cover body
22
.
The characteristic construction of the cover lamp
23
is that the cover lamp comprises a lamp housing
24
mounted on the mirror cover body
22
along the peripheral edge of the through hole
22
b
so as to close up the through hole
22
b
and provided with a plurality of light emitting elements
27
and a translucent lamp cover
26
adhered on the lamp housing
24
so as to cover the plurality of light emitting elem
Cariaso Alan
E'SAM Co.,. Ltd.
Lee Guiyoung
Reed Smith LLP
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