Illumination – Supported by vehicle structure – Plural light sources
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-18
2002-06-18
O'Shea, Sandra (Department: 2875)
Illumination
Supported by vehicle structure
Plural light sources
C362S368000, C362S548000, C362S549000, C362S543000, C362S238000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06406173
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vehicle lamp which uses light-emitting elements, such as a LED (light-emitting diode), as a light source, and more particularly to a vehicle lamp in which lead terminals of the light-emitting elements are electrically connected directly to electric cords.
2. Description of the Related Art
A lamp using light-emitting elements, such as a LED (light-emitting diode), as a light source has been used as a signal lamp of an automobile and particularly as a rear lamp such as a tail and stop lamp and a turn signal lamp. In such a lamp, a plurality of light-emitting elements are mounted on a circuit board, and the light-emitting elements are electrically connected by a circuit pattern formed on the circuit board so that the light-emitting elements can be energized to emit light. In the case where a front surface of such a lamp is required to be formed into a quadratic-curve surface or a cubic-curve surface, for example, at a corner portion of a body of an automobile, the circuit board having the light-emitting elements mounted thereon is also required to be formed into a quadratic-curve surface or a cubic-curve surface conforming to the curved front surface of the lamp. In the case of the quadratic-curve surface, this can be dealt with by curving the circuit board. However, in the case of the cubic-curve surface, it is necessary to divide the circuit board into a plurality of sections and to arrange these sections in a three-dimensional manner, and as a result the construction of the circuit board becomes complicated, so that the cost becomes high. Therefore, there has been proposed lamp such that any circuit board is not used, and instead there are provided boards each having a holder for holding a light-emitting element integrally formed thereon. Electric cords are provided and extended from the holder, and when the light-emitting element is fitted into the holder to be retained therein, sheaths of the electric cords are cut by leads of the light-emitting element, so that the leads of the light-emitting element are electrically connected to conductors of the electric cords. With this electrical connection structure, the plurality of circuit boards are not necessary, and therefore even when the lamp having a cubic-curve surface is prepared using a plurality of boards, the cost can be reduced.
However, in the lamp in which the light-emitting elements are arranged in a three-dimensional manner with a plurality of boards as described above, it is necessary to incorporate the boards into the lamp with adjusting the optical axes of the light-emitting elements mounted on the respective boards, when the plurality of boards are combined together. Therefore, the operation becomes cumbersome. Moreover, the holder for the light-emitting element is formed integrally with the board, and therefore when the light-emitting element is to be electrically connected directly to the electric cords, it is necessary first to provide and extend the electric cords over the holder and then to fit the light-emitting element into the holder. Therefore, there is encountered a problem that the degree of freedom of the assembling operation is limited, so that the efficiency of the assembling operation is low. Furthermore, the lead of the light-emitting element is formed by one metal piece, and when the light-emitting element is fitted into the holder to be retained therein, the light-emitting element tends to be tilted relative to the holder, and the posture of the light-emitting element is unstable, so that it is difficult to hold the light-emitting element in a desired optical axis direction, and besides the contact of the light-emitting element with the electric cords is liable to be unstable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide a vehicle lamp which has light-emitting elements arranged in a three-dimensional manner, and can be assembled easily and highly efficiently.
According to the present invention, there is provided a vehicle lamp comprising a lamp body and a light source unit. The lamp body defines a lamp chamber in cooperation with a lens mounted to a front opening of the lamp body. The light source unit in the lamp chamber includes a plurality of light-emitting elements, a base supporting the light-emitting elements, and at least one electric cord. Holders for the light-emitting elements of the light source unit are fit to the base of the light source unit, and the light-emitting elements are electrically connected to the electric cord by holding the electric cord between one of the holders and one of the light-emitting elements.
Moreover, it is also preferable that a vehicle lamp in which a lamp body and a lens mounted on an open front side of the lamp body jointly forms a lamp chamber, and a light source unit is housed in the lamp chamber, and the light source unit comprises a plurality of light-emitting elements, a base having the light-emitting elements mounted thereon in an arrayed condition, and electric cords electrically connected to the light-emitting elements. In the vehicle lamp, a plurality of steps are formed on the base in a stair-like manner; and holders that respectively hold the light-emitting elements are supported respectively on the plurality of steps by fitting connection; and the electric cords are held between each of the holders and the associated light-emitting element, and are electrically connected to the light-emitting element. The light-emitting element has lead terminals each of which is folded back at a region disposed generally centrally of a length thereof in a direction of a thickness, and a distal end portion and a proximal end portion of the lead terminal are fitted in the holder, and are electrically connected to the electric cord. A reflector for reflecting light emitted from the light-emitting elements is provided between the base and the lens, and the reflector is made of the same material as that of the base.
The base is formed into a stair-like configuration, and the electric cords and the light-emitting elements are mounted on the base using the holders attached respectively to the steps, and with this construction the lamp having a cubic-curve surface and the light-emitting elements mounted therein in a three-dimensional manner can be easily achieved at a low cost.
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Machida Tsutomu
Serizawa Tomoaki
Fish & Richardson P.C.
Koito Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
Negron Ismael
O'Shea Sandra
LandOfFree
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