Vehicle lamp device to be mounted on a spoiler

A lamp device to be mounted on a spoiler of a motor vehicle, in which a housing for mounting a light source therein is integrally formed with a protective cover in a recessed manner in the front side of said protective cover. A front lens is arranged detachably at the front side of the housing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a vehicle lamp device, such as a stop 
lamp, a blinking light or a tail lamp, to be mounted on a spoiler of a 
motor vehicle. 
DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART 
Normally, a rear combination lamp device is mounted at the rear of a motor 
vehicle, and normally comprises a combination set of blinker lamps, tail 
lamps and stop lamps, etc. In addition, in order to improve prevention of 
rear-end collisions, other stop lamps are often additionally installed. 
Such additional stop lamps are mainly provided in the rear window and, 
when the brake is activated, are lighted up together with the normal stop 
lamps. The lighting of the additional window mounted stop lamps takes 
place at rather high position, thereby quickly alarming following motor 
vehicles with a higher visibility, thereby effectively preventing 
rear-collisions and other dangers. 
Such additional stop lamps may sometimes be provided on a spoiler mounted 
at the rear of a motor vehicle. Such spoiler mounted stop lamp devices 
comprise a lamp body and a protective cover. The protective cover is fixed 
on the rear face of the spoiler. The lamp body comprises a housing that 
supports a bulb and a front lens. The protective cover is generally formed 
like a box having an opening to house said lamp body. In addition, lamp 
bases are provided on both sides near the opening. 
When the lamp body and protective cover are assembled, the housing of the 
lamp body and the front lens are inserted from the opening side of the 
protective cover. Then, the housing and the front lens must be superposed 
against said lamp bases for positioning, and then fixed by screwing. 
Accordingly, the assembling work becomes laborious while increasing the 
number of parts because the housing, the front lens and the protective 
cover are separately constructed. Furthermore, parts control becomes more 
complicated. 
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
A major object of the present invention is to simplify the structure of a 
lamp device to be mounted on a spoiler of a vehicle, while reducing the 
number of parts and making assembly work easier. 
Another object of the present invention is to hide the fixing screws of the 
lamp device mounted on the spoiler, thereby presenting a lamp device for 
motor vehicles having a beautiful appearance in the mounted state. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a lamp device to be mounted on a spoiler 
of a vehicle, wherein a housing unit on which a light source is mounted is 
constructed in one body by mounting the housing in a recessed manner in 
the front side of a protective cover, and a front lens is attached in a 
detachable manner in the front of the housing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
Regarding the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-3, a protective cover 1 
(constituting a lamp device) is molded from synthetic resin in one body 
with housing unit 2 for the lamp body. The housing unit 2 is formed in a 
recessed manner at the front side of the protective cover 1. In the front 
side of the housing unit, a front lens 3 can be mounted in a detachable 
manner by means of screws 4, 5, etc. In addition, a pair of mounting bases 
or tabs 6, 7 are integrally formed on the upper edges of both sides of the 
protective cover 1, for mounting the device onto a spoiler. In addition, a 
pair of mounting hook pieces 8, 9 are integrally formed in the rear side 
of cover 1. 
In the housing 2, a bulb 11 (a light source) is fixed by a mounting means 
10 such as fixing metal piece. A wire 12, for supplying power to said 
light source 11, is wired through a hole in a wall face of housing unit 2. 
A hole is drilled through the wall face, and then a rubber bush 13 is 
engaged in said hole as a wiring bushing. 
In a thus formed lamp device, protective cover 1 is integrally formed with 
(i.e., molded with) housing unit 2 in one body, so that these are treated 
as one part. After light source 11 is mounted in housing unit 2, the 
assembling work of said lamp device can be finished only by mounting front 
lens 3. 
Where a lamp device, after being assembled in the above manner, is to be 
mounted on a spoiler 14, notched holes 15 (16) are provided beforehand in 
the spoiler 14 at the mounting position in the bottom spoiler side as 
shown in FIG. 3. First, the hook pieces 8, 9 are engaged with the 
respective notched holes 15 (16). Then the lamp device is fixed by means 
of suitable bolts 17 through said bases or tabs 6, 7. In FIG. 3, 18 
designates the body of an automobile. 
According to another embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, where a lamp device 
is mounted on a spoiler, the mounting bolt is concealed after the lamp 
device is mounted on the spoiler. Namely, the feature of the embodiment of 
FIGS. 4 and 5 is that a mounting base or tab 26 formed on both sides of 
protective cover 21 is hidden by cover 31 from the side face. Protective 
cover 21 is integrally molded with an outer frame unit 21a, corresponding 
to the height of said base 26, on the side face in the front side. In the 
rear side, a supporting unit or bearing 21b is formed in one body, in the 
corner part in the rear side. Thus, front lens 23 is fixed with screw 24, 
from the interior (see FIG. 4), in the front side of the outer frame unit 
21a. 
On the other end of cover 31, a supporting shaft 32 is mounted, which is 
engaged in the bearing unit 21b in a freely rotatable manner. A flange 33 
is provided at the root of supporting shaft 32 in order to permit quick 
rotation of the supporting shaft 32 and to determine the mounting position 
of cover 31 in the vertical direction. On the other end of cover 31, pawl 
or lock tab 35 is integrally formed via a step 34. A protrusion 36 
conforms in shape to the base 26, as seen in FIG. 4. A screwdriver 37 is 
shown in FIG. 4 engaging step 34 to open cover 31. 
As described above, cover 31 is mounted in a freely openable manner. The 
cover 31 is opened before the lamp device is mounted or removed to/from 
the spoiler. After the lamp device is mounted, the device can be 
maintained at stable covering conditions by engaging pawl or lock tab 35 
which is fixed on the other end of cover 31, with the edge of outer frame 
21a located in the front side of protective cover 21. When cover 31 is 
opened, step 34 is pushed from the outside by means of, for example, a 
screw-driver 37 for disengaging pawl or lock tab 35, thereby opening cover 
31 very easily. 
In the embodiment of FIGS. 4 and 5, mounting screws for mounting the lamp 
device onto the spoiler are effectively concealed so as to exhibit a 
beautiful exterior in the mounted condition. Also, the screws 24 for 
mounting the front lens 23 to the outer frame unit 21a are concealed by 
cover 31, as seen in FIG. 4. 
According to the principles of the present invention, a housing unit in 
which a light source is mounted is formed in the front side of a 
protective cover in a recessed manner, and the front lens is mounted at 
the front side of the housing unit in a detachable manner. In consequence, 
the housing unit can be formed simply because the housing unit is 
previously attached to the protective cover (i.e., by integral molding). 
Therefore, assembly work can be done more easily. In addition, the 
protective cover is provided with a pair of base seats or tabs to be 
mounted on a spoiler, on both sides of the cover, together with a hook 
unit at the rear side. Consequently, the hook unit is first engaged, then 
the base seats are screwed to the spoiler. Accordingly, the mounted 
condition is very stable, while allowing very easy installation 
operations. 
In addition, in the embodiment of FIGS. 4 and 5, the base seats provided at 
both sides of the protective cover are hidden by an openable cover to 
prevent the exposure of the base seats. The openable cover has a 
supporting shaft at one end and a pawl or lock tab at the other end, the 
supporting shaft being engaged rotatably in a supporting part or bearing 
part provided in the protective cover. Also, the pawl or lock tab is 
engaged in the interior of the outer frame unit of the protective cover. 
Thus, the protective cover can be stably mounted to the spoiler, and the 
openable cover hides the mounting screws or bolts for a more beautiful 
mounted appearance. Also, the openable cover hides the screws holding the 
front lens to the outer frame unit of the protective cover.