Title of Invention

A VEHICLE TAIL LAMP UNIT

Abstract

A vehicle tail lamp unit comprising a lamp case; a bulb to be detachably attached to the interior thereof; and a lens for covering an opening of the lamp case, the imit mounted to a rear portion of a vehicle body so that the lens can be seen from the rear, and having a tail lamp function for providing red indication to the rear and a license lamp function for illuminating a license plate arranged below with while .light, characterized in that the lens is detachably secured to the lamp case from the rear with a screw and is formed with a finger hook portion on the lower surface thereof.

Full Text

FORM 2 THE PATENTS ACT, 1970 (39 of 1970) COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (See Section 10; rule 13) TITLE VEHICLE TAIL LAMP APPLICANT HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD. 1-1 Minamiaoyama 2-chome Minato-ku Tokyo Japan Nationality : Japan The following specification particularly describes the nature of this invention and the manner in which it is to be performed [Designation of Document] SPECIFICATION [Title of the Invention] VEHICLE TAIL LAMP [Technical Field] [0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle tail lamp for motorcycle or the like. [Background Art] [0002] The tail lamp in the related art is configured as a unit including a lamp case, a bulb to be detachably attached to the inside thereof, and a lens for covering an opening of the lamp case, and is mounted to a rear portion of a vehicle body so that the lens can be seen from the rear. There is a type in which the entire tail lamp must be dismounted from the vehicle body once and the bulb is replaced from the rear surface of the tail lamp in order to replace the bulb in the tail lamp as described above (see Patent Document 1). There is also a type in which only the lens is dismounted to replace the bulb from the front side in a state of being mounted to the vehicle body. In this application, the term “front side” of the tail lamp represents a lens side, which is visible, and “back side” represents an opposite side thereof, which comes to the inner side of the vehicle body and hence is invisible. Directions such as “upper”, 2 “lower”, “left”, “right”, “front” and “rear” indicate the directions with reference to the state of being mounted to the vehicle body. [Patent Document 1] JP-UM-A-61-79408 [Disclosure of the Invention] [Problems that the Invention is to Solve] [0003] Since it is troublesome to dismount the entire tail lamp from the vehicle body for replacing the bulb, it is desired to make it possible to replace the bulb by dismounting only the lens. However, in this arrangement, since the lens is not specially designed to be held, it is hard to handle with. Therefore, it is a principal object of present invention to facilitate handling of the lens and hence replacement of the bulb. [Means for Solving the Problems] [0004] In order to solve the above-described problem, the invention according to Claim 1 relating a vehicle tail lamp of the this application is a vehicle tail lamp configured as a unit including a lamp case, a bulb to be detachably attached to the interior thereof and a lens for covering an opening of the lamp case, being mounted to a rear portion of a vehicle body so that the lens can be seen from the rear, and having a tail lamp function 3 for providing a red indication to the rear and a license lamp function for illuminating a license plate arranged below with while light, characterized in that the lens is detachably secured to the lamp case from the rear with a screw and is formed with a license hook projection on the lower surface thereof. [0005] The invention according to Claim 2 is, in Claim 1, characterized in that the lens integrally includes a rear surface portion facing rearward and a lower surface portion facing downward, and the color of part of the lens on the lower surface portion is white for the license lamp function and a remaining portion of the lens including the rear surface portion is red, and in that the finger hook projection is formed into a shape of an upright wall projecting along a boundary area between the red portion and the white portion of the lens, [0006] The invention according to Claim 3 is, in Claim 2, characterized in that the finger hook portion is formed into the shape of the upright wall and extends in the lateral direction, and is overlapped at least with the upper portion of the white portion from the rear when viewing the lens from the rear. [Advantage of the Invention] 4 [0007] According to Claim 1, since the finger hook portion is provided on the surface of the lower portion of the lens, handling of the lens when dismounting and mounting the lens by holding the lower portion of the lens is facilitated. Therefore, since replacement of the bulb is achieved only by dismounting and mounting the lens, the operation of replacement of the bulb is facilitated. [0008] According to Claim 2, since the finger hook portion is formed into the shape of the upright wall projecting along the boundary area between the white portion and the red portion of the lens, when light from the bulb passes through the lens, the white light portion and the red light portion can be partitioned clearly, and hence the license lamp function for illuminating the license plate with white light and the tail lamp function for securing visibility from the rear by red light can be achieved simultaneously with the common tail lamp. Therefore, with the provision of the upright wall shaped finger hook portion, dismounting and mounting of the lens described above can be facilitated, and both of the license lamp function and the tail lamp function can be achieved. [0009] 5 According to Claim 3, since the finger hook portion is formed into the shape of the upright wall extending in the lateral direction, and is overlapped at least with the upper portion of the white portion from the rear when viewing the lens from the rear, the finger hook portion blocks white light proceeding toward the rear of the vehicle. Therefore, white light for illuminating the license plate can be prevented from leaking toward the rear of the vehicle body by the finger hook portion by itself or by combining a light-shielding structure on the vehicle body side as needed. [Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention] [0010] Referring now to the drawings, an embodiment applied to a tail lamp of a motorcycle will be described. Fig. 1 is a side cross-sectional view of a tail lamp 1 (taken along the line 1-1 in Fig. 2), showing a peripheral vehicle body structure with imaginary lines. A tail lamp opening 3 is provided at a rear end portion of a body cover 2 for covering a rear portion of a vehicle body so as to open toward the rear, and the tail lamp 1 is provided therein. [0011] The lower side of the tail lamp opening 3 is defined by a rear portion 4 of the rear fender. The rear portion 6 4 of the rear fender is mounted to a bottom of the body cover 2 while covering the tail lamp 1 from below, and is provided so as to be inclined obliquely downward toward the rear of a rear wheel (not shown), and a license plate 5 is attached to the rear surface thereof. The license plate 5 is inclined obliquely upward toward the front, and portion of the surface thereof on which a vehicle number is indicated is faced rearward and is adapted to be illuminated by the tail lamp positioned above. 10012] An upper wall 6 of the rear portion 4 of the rear fender is a gradually inclined surface extending obliquely upward toward the rear along a lower surface of the tail lamp, and a window hole 7 for illuminating the license plate is formed on a part thereof. The shape of the window hole 7 in the drawing is schematically represented for easy understanding, and is different from the actual shape to be appeared in this cross-sectional view. A rear end of the upper wall 6 is formed into a vertical flange 8 bent upward, and is overlapped with the lower portion of the rear surface of the tail lamp 1 from the rear at a slight distance. The body cover 2 and the rear portion 4 of the rear fender is formed of opaque resin, and hence does not allow light from the tail lamp 1 to be transmitted therethrough. 7 [0013] A range indicated by “a” in the drawing is a range of the lens 10 where light can be transmitted therethrough and the transmitted light in this range goes out only from the tail lamp opening 3 and the window hole 7. Light going out rearward from the tail lamp opening 3 provides a red tail lamp indication, and light going out downward from the window hole 7 is used as a license lamp illumination. [0014] The tail lamp 1 is a unit including a lens 10, a lamp case 20, and a bulb 30, and is arranged on the inner side of the rear end of the body cover 2, so that only the lens 10 is exposed from the tail lamp opening 3 and hence viewable from the rear. [0015] The lens 10 is formed of suitable colored transparent material such as plastic being colored into red over substantially the entire portion, and includes a rear surface portion 11 which is a steeply inclined surface inclined obliquely upward toward the rear and a lower surface portion 12 continued therefrom to form a gently inclined surface which is closer to the horizontal direction. Part of the lower surface portion 12 which is overlapped upward on the window hole 7 is provided with a 8 license section 13 colored into white for the license illuminating. In this application, to make it white is also referred to as "color". [0016] The license section 13 is separately formed as a white non-opaque member formed of the same material as other peripheral portions or of a different material in advance. The peripheral portion of the license section 13 is slightly thicker than other portion. By insert-molding the license section 13 with the peripheral red portion, an entire portion including the rear surface portion 11, the lower surface portion 12 and the license section 13 is integrally formed as the lens 10. [0017] An upright wall-shaped rib 15 projecting downward is formed at a boundary portion between a rear end portion of the license section 13 and a red portion which comes on the rear thereof. The rib 15 is an example of the finger hook portion formed so as to project into an shape of an upright wall in this application, and allows an operator to hook his/her finger easily for dismounting and mounting the lens 10. The rib 15, having sufficient dimensions as a light-shielding member described later, is formed integrally with the red portion of the lower surface portion 12 other than the license section 13 as 9 part of the red portion and extends longitudinally in the lateral direction along the boundary portion. [0018] The position in terms of the fore-and-aft direction of the rib 15 on the lower surface portion 12 is near a connecting portion between the lower surface portion 12 and the license section 13, and is located rearwardly of the bulb 30. The rib 15 is also positioned so as to be directed toward the window hole 7 at a position rearwardly of the opening edge of the window hole 7 on the rear side. Assuming that Mb" represents a line connecting a center 0 of a light source of the bulb 30 and an upper end of the license plate 5 and “c” represents a line connecting the same and a lower end thereof, the lower end of the rib 15 is positioned in the vicinity of the line c on the upper side so as not to interfere therewith. A slight clearance is secured also between the lower end of the rib 15 and the upper wall 6, so as not to come into contact with each other. The lower surface portion 12 of the lens opposes the upper wall 6 with a distance therebetween. [0019] A width of the window hole 7 in the fore-and-aft direction is sufficient for allowing the line b and the line c to pass through. The front end portion of the 10 license section 13 is located forwardly of the opening edge of the window hole 7 on the front side. In other wards, the width of the window hole 7 in the fore-and-aft direction is smaller than a width of the license section 13 in the fore-and-aft direction and hence the width of light from the bulb 30 passing through the license section 13 is narrowed. However, it has a sufficient width to allow the lines b and c to pass through and also a sufficient wide width in the lateral direction as described later. Therefore, by illuminating the entire surface of the license plate 5 from above with white light, the license plate illumination is achieved. Therefore, the tail lamp function and the license lamp function can be achieved with the common bulb 30. [0020] The periphery of the lens 10 is formed with an insertion edge 16 bent in the substantially horizontal direction and projected toward the front, which is fitted into a mounting groove 21 opened toward the rear of the lamp case 20 via a sealing member 17 such as a rubber packing. Positioning at the time of fitting is achieved by a rib 18 formed on the outer peripheral portion thereof so as to project therefrom. The mounting groove 21 is formed along the entire circumference of the opening of the lamp case 20. 11 [0021] The lamp case 20 is formed substantially into a container shape opening toward the rear, and is formed of a suitable material such as resin. A rear side of the surface of a bottom wall 20a is a reflector 22 of a concavely curved surface opening toward the rear of the vehicle body, and is formed into a mirror finished reflecting surface by aluminum deposition or the like, so that light from the bulb 30 is reflected rearward and downward. The reflector 22 is formed with a bulb hole 23 at a center thereof. [0022] A socket 31 is provided on the back side of the reflector 22 so as to oppose to the bulb hole 23, and the bulb 30 is inserted into the socket 31 through the bulb hole 23 from the rear side of the vehicle body, and is turned to be secured. In other words, after having dismounted the lens 10, replacement of the bulb 3 0 is performed by detaching and attaching the same from the rear of the vehicle body. [0023] An upper wall 24 of the lamp case 20 extends continuously toward the rear from the upper portion of the reflector 22 substantially in the horizontal direction, and a mounting projection 25 projects on the 12 upper side thereof substantially in parallel thereto toward the front at a distance therefrom, so that a stay 2a provided on the body cover 2 can be attached to the mounting projection 25 in a vibration-proof manner via a rubber cushion 26. The tail lamp 1, as described later, is also attached to the body cover 2 side at a portion other than this part. [0024] The lower portion of the reflector 22 continues to a lower wall 27 extending obliquely downward toward the front with respect to the vehicle body, and a mounting groove 21 on the lower side is provided at a distal end portion of the lower wall 27. In this manner, a connecting portion between the lower portion of the lamp case 20 and a front end portion of the lower surface portion 12 of the lens is arranged on the front side of the license section 13 with respect to the vehicle body. [0025] Fig. 2 is a rear view of the tail lamp 1, which is mounted to the lamp case 20 from the rear of the vehicle body with tapping screws 32 at positions on left and right sides of the lens 10 and above the bulb 30. By removing the tapping screws 32, the lens 10 can be removed to replace the bulb 30. Reference numerals 43 indicate left and right mounting positions (centers of 13 the bolts), described later, for mounting the lamp case 20 to the vehicle body side. [0026] A recessed portion 14, which protrudes upward into a substantially arcuate shape, is formed on the lower part of the rear surface portion 11, and a vertical flange 8 provided on the rear end of the upper wall 6 is overlapped thereon from the rear side of the vehicle body (see Fig. 1). The recessed portion 14 is highest at a lateral center thereof, which reaches near the center 0 of the bulb 30 and the both left and right ends continue to the both left and right end portions of the lower surface portion 12. The recessed portion 14 also serves as a release from the upper end portion of the vertical flange 8. [0027] The vertical flange 8 covers the lower portion of the rear surface portion 11 and the lower surface portion 12 over the rear side of the vehicle body, so that light transmitted through these portions is prevented from going out toward the rear of the vehicle body. The vertical flange 8 also serves as a light-shielding member on the vehicle body side with respect to the lower portion of the rear surface portion 11 of the lens 10. [0028] 14 Side portions 12b, 12b of a rear end portion of the lower surface portion 12, which correspond to both left and right side portions with the intermediary of a center portion 12a in the lateral direction, are setback toward the front of the vehicle body with respect to the center portion 12a in a stepped manner (see Fig. 4, described later). Reference numerals 12c designate boundary portions between the center portion 12a and the side portions 12b. [0029] The rib 15 is formed to extend in the lateral direction between the left and right boundary portions 12c, 12c while following an arc curved to project downwardly. The license section 13 is formed substantially into a laterally elongated rectangular shape. The rib 15 overlaps with the upper portion of the license section 13 from the rear side of the vehicle body so that the rib 15 covers substantially the entirety in the lateral direction. [0030] A line d in the drawing represents a line connecting a left end portion of an upper side of the license plate 5 and the center 0 of the light source, and a line e represents a line connecting a right end portion of the upper side of the license plate 5 and the center 0 of the 15 light source. The width of the opening of the window hole 7 (not shown) in the lateral direction is sufficient for allowing the lines d, e to pass through. The both left and right ends of the rib 15 is wider than the width between the lines d, e which intersect with the rib 15 so as to project slightly toward the outside with respect to the lines d, e. Although the lateral width of the license section 13 is wider than the rib 15, light outgoing toward the rear of the vehicle body after being transmitted through these portions is blocked by the vertical flange 8. [0031] Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-3 in Fig. 2, and the tapping screws 32 are inserted from the rear into boss holes 19 which are integrally formed on the rear surface portion 11 so as to be recessed toward the lamp case 20, and screwed into holes 28 of a mounting bosses 27 integrally formed with the lamp case 20, and then fixedly tightened. [0032] The reflector 22 is formed into a wave-shape in the lateral direction as shown in the drawing. Both left and right sides of the reflector 22 are formed into side walls 29, which have inclined surface portions 29a extending obliquely toward the front on the outsides 16 thereof, and the mounting grooves 21 are formed on rear ends thereof. [0033] Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 4-4 in Fig. 2, and shows a stepped shape of the side portions 12b, 12b of the lower surface portion 12 of the lens 10. The lower surface portion 12 is provided with stepped portions 40, 41, and is retracted toward the front of the vehicle body to a larger extent than the center portion 12a where the license section 13 shown by the imaginary line is formed. In other words, the license section 13 is provided at the center portion 12a interposed between the left and right side portion 12b, 12b. [0034] From the both left and right sides of the bulb 30 on the surface of the bottom wall 20a of the lamp case 20 on the opposite side from the reflector 22, bosses 42 projects toward the front of the vehicle body, and bolts 43 formed integrally therewith is attached to stays 2b provided on the body cover 2 in the vibration-proof manner via rubber cushions 44. [0035] Subsequently, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. When replacing the valve 30, the 17 tapping screws 32 are removed from the rear of the vehicle body and the lens 10 is dismounted toward the rear of the vehicle body. At this time, since the rib 15 is formed on the surface of the lower portion of the lower surface portion 12 so as to project therefrom and is located so as to oppose the window hole 7, when the operator inserts his/her fingertip into the window hole 7 upward, the rib 15 can be hooked by the finger. Therefore, the lens 10 can be pulled out toward the rear by pushing the rib 15 rearward with a fingertip. As shown in Fig. 1, although the vertical flange 8 is positioned on the rear of the lower portion of the rear surface portion 11, since there is a slight clearance therebetween, the lens 10 can be retracted by the clearance. [0036] When the lens 10 is retracted and an insertion edge 16 comes apart from the mounting groove 21, the entire lens 10 is inclined obliquely upward so as to push the rear surface portion 11 upward, and pulled out from the tail lamp opening 3 through above the vertical flange 8. Then, the bulb 30 is replaced. Mounting of the lens 10 can be performed in the reverse sequence. [0037] In this manner, since the rib 15 is formed on the 18 lower surface portion 12 of the lens 10 so as to project downward and is opposed to the window hole 7, the fingertip can be hooked on the rib 15 easily, and hence dismounting and mounting of the lens 10 can be achieved easily and quickly without slippage of the finger. In addition, when replacing the bulb 30, the lens 10 can be dismounted and mounted in the same direction simply by removing the tapping screws 32 from the rear of the vehicle body, good workability is realized. Furthermore, since only the lens 10 can be dismounted and mounted without removing the body cover 2 or the rare portion 4 of the rear fender with the lamp case 20 fixed to the vehicle body side, working efficiency can further be improved. [0038] The rib 15 projects downward integrally from the red portion along the boundary between the white license section 13 and the red portion which is located on the back side thereof, extends in the lateral direction in the shape of the upright wall, and overlaps with the upper portion of the license section 13 from the rear side of the vehicle body so as to cover the entirety thereof in the lateral direction. Therefore, white light transmitted through the license section 13 and red light transmitted through portion other than the license 19 section 13 can be separated. Therefore, the same bulb 30 can demonstrate the tail lamp function for securing visibility from the rear of the vehicle body and the license lamp function for illuminating the license plate located below simultaneously. [0039] In addition, the rib 15 can prevent part of white light transmitted through the license section 13 is prevented from leaking out toward the rear of the vehicle body from the clearance between the vertical flange 8 and the rear surface portion 11, and a legal provision which prohibits such leakage of white light can sufficiently complied. [0040] Various modifications or applications can be made in the present invention without being limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, when the rib 15 must simply have a function as the finger hook portion, it is not limited to the shape of the upright wall and may be formed into various types of projection and depression. When the vehicle is of a type in which the license plate is arranged below the tail lamp, it may be applied to vehicles other than motorcycles. [Brief Description of the Drawings] [0041] 20 [Fig. 1] Fig. 1 is a side cross-sectional view of a tail lamp 1 (taken along the line 1-1 in Fig. 2) . [Fig. 2] Fig. 2 shows a lens viewed from the rear of a vehicle body. [Fig. 3] Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-3 in Fig. 2. [Fig. 4] Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 4-4 in Fig. 2. [Description of Reference Numerals and Signs] [0042] 1: tail lamp, 2: body cover, 3: tail lamp opening, 4: rear portion of rear fender, 5: license plate, 6: upper wall, 7: window hole, 8: vertical flange, 10: lens, 11: rear surface portion, 12: lower surface portion, 13: license section, 15: rib (finger hook portion), 20: lamp case, 22: reflector, 30: bulb, 32: tapping screw 21

Documents:

360-CHE-2006 ABSTRACT.pdf

360-CHE-2006 CLAIMS GRANTED.pdf

360-CHE-2006 DRAWINGS.pdf

360-CHE-2006 FORM 18.pdf

360-CHE-2006 POWER OF ATTORNEY.pdf

360-che-2006- form 1.pdf

360-che-2006- form 3.pdf

360-che-2006- form 5.pdf

360-che-2006-abstract.pdf

360-che-2006-claims.pdf

360-che-2006-correspondence-others.pdf

360-che-2006-description(complete).pdf

360-che-2006-drawings.pdf

360-che-2006-prioritydocument.pdf