Illumination – Supported by vehicle structure – Specific lamp mounting or retaining
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-12
2001-07-10
Quach, Y. (Department: 2875)
Illumination
Supported by vehicle structure
Specific lamp mounting or retaining
C362S368000, C362S487000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06257749
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle lamp housing. More particularly, the present invention relates to a plastic vehicle lamp housing having a primary mounting means with an integrally formed breakaway bracket incorporated therein, as well as a backup or supplemental mounting means incorporated therein, and to a method of using the housing.
2. Description of the Background Art
In the automotive industry, there has been, of late, a movement away from the use of relatively large, standardized sealed beam headlamps of a few limited shapes, such as round and rectangular. Instead, much smaller illuminating bulbs are being used, in combination with relatively large, custom-molded, one-piece housing units which are unique to a particular vehicle line, and which each house a plurality of illuminating bulbs. Such combinations advantageously permit the headlamp assemblies, and other lamps assemblies on the vehicle to play a larger role in vehicle styling, especially in an aerodynamic sense, because these custom housing units can be produced with great flexibility in size, shape, appearance, exterior surface contours, and the like, as compared to the old sealed headlamps.
Generally, these new lamp housing assemblies tend to be significantly larger and significantly more expensive than the old sealed headlamps. For purposes of cost reduction, the housing units tend to be molded of plastic, and include outwardly extending, integrally formed mounting brackets or posts or feet for retentively attaching the housing to the vehicle body.
One illustrative example of a combination lamp housing using this type of outwardly extending mounting member is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,660,456 to Shinkai et al. In the design of Shinkai et al., a plastic post or pin formed integrally with the lamp housing is used to secure the housing to a vehicle body by pressing the pin in place into a concave fastener in the vehicle body. A novel aspect of Shinkai's invention is that a plurality of upstanding reinforcement ribs are arranged radially around the base of the pin such that the pin extends indirectly from the housing through the ribs, for thereby avoiding undesirable shrinkage phenomena. Bolt insertion holes are also provided along an upper peripheral edge of the housing in this design.
Unfortunately the large, one-piece housing bodies tend to be a basis for significant repair expense. Specifically, if the outwardly extending integral mounting brackets, posts, etc. of the lamp housing are broken or snapped off in a collision or otherwise, the entire housing will generally have to be replaced even if the rest of the housing body is otherwise undamaged and the externally visible portions thereof appear normal. This is because it is not possible to reattach the broken mounting brackets or to attach replacement mounting brackets to the housing units through welding, mechanical fasteners, etc., without detrimentally affecting the integrity and/or outward appearance of the housing units. Moreover, the integral mounting brackets and other mounting portions tend to be broken even in low or moderate speed collisions, again requiring significant replacement expense. As will be understood, this is not only very expensive, but unnecessarily consumes significant resources generating the large replacement housing bodies, and adds to landfill problems in disposing of the replaced, damaged units.
From the foregoing, it will also be understood that there is a significant need in the art for a simple, low-cost alternative to replacing a molded plastic lamp housing in the event that an outwardly extending mounting portion thereof is damaged or snapped off, but the housing is otherwise undamaged.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention there is provided lamp housing for a vehicle, comprising a housing body for supportively receiving at least one bulb therein, primary mounting means comprising at least one projecting portion for being connected to a vehicle body, the projecting portion being integrally formed with said housing body and extending outwardly therefrom, and wherein said housing body further comprises supplemental mounting means formed integrally therewith for allowing said housing body to be reattached to the vehicle body subsequent to structural failure of said primary mounting means.
Preferably, the projecting portion has a weakened area formed in a base thereof, proximate the housing body, such that the projecting portion is adapted to break along the weakened area in the event that a sufficiently large force is applied to the housing body without affecting the structural integrity or exterior appearance of the housing body; while the supplemental mounting means preferably includes fastener receiving means, such as boss(es) projecting from a surface of the housing body near the primary mounting means and adapted to securely receive a fastener, again, without affecting the structural integrity and exterior appearance of the housing body.
The present invention also encompasses a lamp housing kit, including the lamp housing as describe above, an auxiliary mounting bracket and fastening means for attaching the auxiliary mounting bracket to the housing at the supplemental mounting means. Preferably, the auxiliary mounting bracket includes a projecting end shaped similarly to the projecting portion of the lamp housing, and the overall shape of the auxiliary bracket is such that when the bracket is fastened to the supplemental mounting means the projecting end of the bracket is disposed in substantially the same location as the projecting portion of the primary mounting means prior to the projecting portion being broken off.
The present invention also provides a method of reattaching a lamp housing to a vehicle body. A method in accordance with the invention includes a first step of providing a housing body with an integral fastener receiving means on a surface of the lamp housing near the primary mounting means, a second step of attaching an auxiliary bracket to a fastener receiving means on the lamp housing, the auxiliary bracket having a connecting portion for being connected to a vehicle body, and a third step of connecting the connecting portion of the auxiliary bracket to the vehicle body with fastening means.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a lamp housing for a vehicle which integrally includes means to allow for ready reattachment thereof to a vehicle body after a primary attachment means for the housing has been broken, but where the housing is otherwise undamaged.
It is another object of the invention to provide such a lamp housing in which reattachment can be readily achieved without detrimentally affecting the integrity, functionality or exterior appearance of the housing.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide such a lamp housing in which the reattachment means is very simple and low cost, both in terms of manufacturing and use of same.
It is still another object of the invention to provide such a lamp housing in which the primary mounting means is constructed to break away from the housing in the event of a collision or the like without affecting the integrity, functionality or exterior appearance of the housing.
For a more complete understanding of the present invention, including other objects, advantages and salient features thereof, the reader is referred to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof, which should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the following detailed description and in the drawings, like numbers refer to like parts.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4532578 (1985-07-01), Gaden et al.
patent: 4636921 (1987-01-01), Vollrath
patent: 5154505 (1992-10-01), Sasamoto
patent: 5660456 (1997-08-01), Shinkai et al.
Jacobs Dennis F.
Ward Adam M.
Wyatt James T.
Blackman William D.
Carrier Joseph P.
Carrier Blackman & Associates P.C.
Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Quach Y.
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