Illumination – Supported by vehicle structure – Automobile
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-05
2003-10-21
Husar, Stephen (Department: 2875)
Illumination
Supported by vehicle structure
Automobile
C362S229000, C362S391000, C362S549000, C362S496000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06634775
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a wire connecting structure of a lamp unit, and more particularly to an improvement of the wire connecting structure of the lamp unit mounted in a lamp mounting window formed in an interior wall member covering a vehicle body panel.
2. Related Art
When a lamp unit (such as an interior lamp and a courtesy lamp) is mounted on an interior wall member (such as a roof trim and a door trim) covering a vehicle body panel, the lamp unit is mounted in a lamp mounting window formed in the interior wall member.
An interior lamp
70
, shown in
FIGS. 6 and 7
, is a lamp unit mounted in a lamp mounting window
78
a
formed in a roof trim
78
covering a body roof (vehicle body panel)
77
.
The interior lamp
70
mainly comprises a lamp housing
73
, a bulb (electric bulb)
71
, and a cover lens
79
. After the bulb
71
is attached to a lamp mounting portion of the lamp housing
73
, the cover lens
79
is attached to the lamp housing
73
. A connection terminal
76
of bus bars, mounted in the lamp housing
73
, are provided on a vehicle body panel-side (upper side in the drawings) of the interior lamp
70
as a wire connection portion.
For mounting the above interior lamp
70
on the roof trim
78
, a connector
75
of a roof harness
74
, beforehand installed on the body roof
77
, is once drawn downwardly through the lamp mounting window
78
a
in the roof trim
78
, and then this connector is fitted and connected to the connection terminal portion
76
of the interior lamp
70
. Thereafter, the roof harness
74
is brought back through the lamp mounting window
78
a
, and is again located on the roof trim
78
, and then the interior lamp
70
is fixed to the lamp mounting window
78
a.
In the above related lamp unit
70
, the connection terminal portion
76
, to which the connector
75
of the roof harness
74
is adapted to be fitted and connected, are directed toward the body roof
77
.
Therefore, when dew condensation develops on an interior-side of the body roof
77
due to the temperature difference between the inside and outside of the passenger interior, there is a fear that water droplets
80
, developing on the interior-side of the body roof
77
, drop onto the connection of the connector
75
and the connection terminal portions
76
as shown in
FIG. 7
, and this invites a possibility that the water droplet
80
, having dropped on the electrically-connecting portions, causes the short-circuiting or the like.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of this invention to solve the above problem, and more specifically to provide a good wire connecting structure of a lamp unit in which wire connection portions of the lamp unit will not be short-circuited by dew condensation developing inside a body panel.
The above object of the present invention is achieved by a wire connection structure for a lamp unit mounted in a lamp mounting window formed in an interior wall member covering a vehicle body panel, wherein a wire connection portion of the lamp unit adapted to be electrically connected to wires installed on a vehicle body panel-side of said interior wall member are provided on an interior-side of said lamp unit.
In this construction, even when dew condensation develops on the interior-side of the body panel because of the temperature difference between the inside and outside of the passenger interior, so that water droplets due to the dew condensation drop from the body panel toward the interior, the water droplets will not fall on the wire connection portions of the lamp unit, thus preventing the short-circuiting due to the dew condensation, since the wire connection portions of the lamp unit are disposed on the interior-side of the lamp unit directed toward the interior.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3952209 (1976-04-01), Shaklee et al.
patent: 5558425 (1996-09-01), Pons et al.
patent: 5984495 (1999-11-01), Roberts et al.
patent: 6283621 (2001-09-01), Macri
Husar Stephen
Payne Sharon
Sughrue & Mion, PLLC
Yazaki -Corporation
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