Abstract:
The subject invention relates to automotive lighting assemblies. Specifically, the subject invention relates to a device and method for retaining wires, which provide power to the light source, in the proper orientation. In an exemplary embodiment, a wire retaining cavity is formed by a molded rib on a cover and a molded retention feature with a hook portion on a light source retaining compartment. In this exemplary embodiment, the cover and retaining compartment are integrally connected to one another by a living hinge. The wire retaining cavity is formed once the cover is folded over the retaining cavity bringing the rib into close proximity of the wire retention feature and adjacent to the hook portion of the feature.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION  
       [0001]     The subject invention relates to automotive lighting assemblies. Specifically, the subject invention relates to a device and method for retaining wires, which provide power to the light source, in the proper orientation.  
         [0002]     In order for an automotive lighting assembly to be assembled into an automobile, the lighting assembly must fit within a small defined space that is specifically designed for that automobile&#39;s automotive lighting assembly. Consequently, the automotive lighting assembly must be as compact as possible. For this reason, it is important to ensure that the wires leading into the automotive lighting assembly do not occupy a significant amount of space, while still ensuring that the wires are in the proper orientation to supply power to the lighting assembly. To accomplish these goals, usually the wires are clipped or taped to the lamp housing prior to installation of the lighting assembly. The disadvantage in using a clip or tape, or other similar attachment device, is that it increases the number of parts needed to construct the lighting assembly, which in turn increases the manufacturing cost and time involved in producing these assemblies. Accordingly, what is needed is a means for retaining the wires in the proper orientation without increasing the number of parts needed to manufacture the lighting assembly.  
       BRIEF INVENTION SUMMARY  
       [0003]     There are various embodiments that fall within the scope of the subject invention. For example, one embodiment comprises an automotive lamp assembly having a light source retaining compartment. The retaining compartment has at least one access opening, at least one retention opening, and at least one integral retention feature that has at least one hook portion that extends into the retention opening. The retaining compartment is pivotally connected to a cover, so that the cover can be pivoted to cover the access opening of the retaining compartment. The cover has at least one molded rib located on the interior of the cover in a position, such that the rib is adjacent to the at least one hook portion of the retention feature when the cover is pivoted to cover the access opening. In this manner, this embodiment forms at least one wire retention cavity between the at least one rib and the at least one hook portion. This embodiment could also have the cover and retaining compartment integrally connected to one another by a living hinge, so that the cover can fold over the living hinge in order to cover the retaining compartment and form the wire retaining cavity. Further, the retaining compartment can be an LED retaining compartment that contains an LED array.  
         [0004]     In another embodiment, the molded wire retention feature for the lamp housing has a base integral with and attached to the lamp housing and a first side, a second side, a third side, a fourth side, and a top edge that are all detached from the lamp housing. The top edge of this feature is substantially parallel to and located opposite the base. The hook portion of the retaining feature is located on the first side near the top edge. Further, the second and third sides of this embodiment are located opposite each other, substantially parallel to one another and substantially perpendicular to the first side and fourth side.  
         [0005]     The retention feature also has at least one arch contour adjacent to the hook portion and located on the first side in between the base and top edge of the retention feature. This retention feature can be located on an LED retaining compartment and can be placed in close proximity to a molded rib located on the interior of the cover in order to form the wire retaining cavity. At least one wire can be placed under the hook portion into the arch contour so that the wire is held in the proper alignment in the wire retaining cavity by the arch contour, hook portion and molded rib. Moreover, the cover and LED retaining compartment of this embodiment can be pivotally and integrally attached to one another by a living hinge, so that once the cover is folded over the living hinge the molded rib will be placed in close proximity with the wire retention feature and form the wire retaining cavity.  
         [0006]     In another embodiment, the automotive lamp assembly has a light source retaining compartment with at least one wire retention feature integrally formed at one end to an interior wall of said compartment and extending into an opening through one of the walls of the retaining compartment. A hook portion is located on an edge of the retention feature opposite the end integrally formed to the interior wall. A cover is integrally and pivotally connected to the LED retaining compartment by a living hinge. At least one rib is located on the interior of the cover and positioned to form a wire retention cavity once the cover is folded over the living hinge to cover the access opening in the retaining compartment. In either of these embodiments, a retaining rib can also be molded on the fourth side of the retention feature. The fourth side is the side opposite and substantially parallel to the first side.  
         [0007]     Thus, these embodiments of the invention can reduce the number of parts and amount of time needed to retain and properly align at least one wire in the lamp assembly. During the assembly process, the wire retention cavity is formed by placing the cover over the access opening of the light source retaining compartment, so that the at least one rib is in close proximity with the hook portion of the at least one wire retention feature to form a wire retaining cavity. After the wire retaining cavity is formed, at least one wire can be inserted into the at least one wire retention cavity by sliding the at least one wire underneath the hook portion of the at least one retention feature. In this embodiment, the at least one wire retention feature pivots about its base that is integral to the lamp housing to allow the at least one wire to slide underneath the hook portion. After the at least one wire is inserted, the wire is properly aligned and retained by the retaining cavity. The wires can only be removed if the at least one retention feature is raised enough, by pivoting about the base, for the wires to be removed under the hook portion. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]     The advantages of the subject invention, the manner of obtaining them, and the invention itself will become more apparent and better understood by reference to the following description of the embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a top view of a closed lamp housing of an exemplary embodiment of the subject invention;  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  is a top view of the lamp housing of  FIG. 1  opened;  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  is an end view of the closed lamp housing of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0012]      FIG. 4   a  is a cross-sectional view of the open lamp housing along line A-A of  FIG. 2 ;  
         [0013]      FIG. 4   b  is a cross-sectional view along line A-A of  FIG. 2  of the open lamp housing being closed;  
         [0014]      FIG. 4   c  is a cross-sectional view along line A-A of  FIG. 2  of the open lamp housing utilizing a second embodiment of the wire retention feature;  
         [0015]      FIG. 4   d  is a cross-sectional view along line A-A of  FIG. 2  of the open lamp housing of  FIG. 4   c  being closed; and  
         [0016]      FIG. 5  is a bottom view of the closed lamp housing of  FIG. 1 .  
     
    
       [0017]     Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0018]      FIG. 1  shows a top view of an exemplary embodiment of the subject invention. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the exemplary embodiment comprises a light emitting diode (“LED”) automotive lamp assembly  10  for a center high-mounted stop lamp (“CHMSL”). While the subject invention is described in relation to this CHMSL lighting assembly embodiment, it will be appreciated that this is just an example and the subject invention can be utilized with any number of other lighting assemblies.  
         [0019]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , lighting assembly  10  has a mounting plate  12  and a lamp housing  14  that contains an LED array (not pictured). Lamp housing  14  has LED receiving holes  16  that allow the light emitting portion of the LED array to extend and emit light out of the lamp housing.  
         [0020]      FIG. 2  shows a top view of lamp housing  14  with its LED cover  28  opened. As shown in  FIG. 2 , lamp housing  14  comprises a cover  28  integral with and pivotally attached by a living hinge  26  to a LED retaining compartment  30  with an access opening  46 . As used herein, the term “living hinge” refers to a flexible piece of molded plastic that is molded simultaneously and is integral with two separate pieces. In this case, the living hinge  26  is molded simultaneously with the LED retaining compartment  30  and cover  28 . While the retaining compartment  30  in this embodiment is a LED retaining compartment, any type of light source retaining compartment can be used. Further, while access opening of this embodiment spans the entire length of the retaining compartment, the access does not have to provide a full opening to the retaining compartment, but rather, can be a partial opening into the retaining compartment.  
         [0021]     Living hinge  26  allows the cover  28  to fold over the living hinge so that the cover covers the access opening  46  of retaining compartment  30 . Cover  28  also has two locking tabs  18  that snap into two corresponding receiving slots  20  of compartment  30  in order to lock cover  28  in its closed position. While  FIG. 2  shows lamp assembly  10  with two locking tabs  18  and two corresponding receiving slots  20 , lamp assembly  10  can have any number of locking tabs and corresponding receiving slots.  
         [0022]     During assembly, an LED array (not pictured) is placed on the LED retaining compartment&#39;s floor  31  on top of molded support posts  32 . Cover  28  is then folded over living hinge  26  to cover the LED retaining compartment  30  and LED array. As shown in  FIG. 2 , cover  28  has a plurality of molded support ribs  25  that set on top of the LED array to hold the array in place once the locking tabs  18  lock into receiving slots  20 . The LED array is electrically connected to a power source by means well known in the art, such as plugging terminals into a wire outlet  33 . As already explained, the light emitting portions of the LED array fit through LED receiving holes  16  so that the light emitting portions can emit light out of the lamp housing  14 .  
         [0023]     Still referring to  FIG. 2 , LED retaining compartment  30  also has a wire retention feature  34 . Wire retention feature  34  is molded at the same time as lamp housing  14  and has a base  38  that is integral and attached to floor  31  of LED retaining compartment  30  and a top edge  56  located opposite the base that is not attached to anything. The remaining four sides of wire retention feature  34  are also not attached to anything, so that the retention feature can flex/pivot about its base  38 . Wire retention feature  34  extends into an opening  35  in floor  31  of retaining compartment  30 .  FIG. 3  shows an edge view of the closed lamp housing  14 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , retention feature  34  has an arch contour  37  that protrudes from LED retaining compartment  30  through opening  35 .  
         [0024]     Referring to both  FIGS. 2 and 3 , retention feature  34  has a hook portion  36  located near the retention feature&#39;s top edge  56  on its compartment facing side  60 . Further, retention feature  34  has arch contour  37  adjacent to the hook portion  36  positioned in between base  38  and hook portion  36 . By lifting up on hook portion  36 , retention feature  34  pivots and/or flexes about base  38  as the hook portion is raised. After this force is removed, the retention feature will spring back to its original position.  
         [0025]     Referring back to  FIG. 2 , retention feature  34  is aligned with a molded rib  24  on the inside of cover  28  so that when cover  28  is folded across living hinge  26  and locked into place covering compartment  30 , hook portion  36  will be in close proximity to rib  24 . Rib  24  is a molded, raised piece of plastic that is integral with cover  28 .  FIG. 4   a  shows a cross-sectional view of lamp housing  14  along line A-A of  FIG. 2 . As shown in  FIG. 4   a , rib  24  is located on cover  28  in a position that corresponds to the location of wire retention feature  34 . Once cover  28  covers retention compartment  30 , hook portion  36  will be adjacent to and in close proximity with rib  24  and will form a wire retention cavity  40 .  FIG. 4   b  shows the cross-sectional view of lamp housing  14  as cover  28  is folded over living hinge  26 . As shown in  FIG. 4   b , cover  28  folds over living hinge  26  in the direction of arrow x in order to cover and enclose compartment  30 . In cover&#39;s  28  closed position, rib  24  will be placed in close proximity to wire retention feature  34 , arch contour  37  and hook portion  36  to form wire retention cavity  40 .  
         [0026]      FIG. 5  shows a bottom view of lamp assembly  10 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , lamp assembly  10  has wires that are electrically connected to and extend from wire outlet  33 . In order to properly align the wires with the lamp housing  14 , the wires are placed underneath retention feature  34  into wire retaining cavity  40  by sliding the wires underneath hook portion  36 . By sliding the wires into wire retaining cavity  40 , the need for clips, tape, or other similar parts to hold wires  40  in place is eliminated.  
         [0027]     Thus, during the assembly process, lamp assembly  10  is molded so that it has cover  28  with molded rib  24 , LED retaining compartment  30  with wire retention feature  36  molded out the back of the retaining compartment, and living hinge  26  that connects the cover and retaining compartment together. After the lamp assembly is molded, an LED array (not pictured) is inserted into retaining compartment  30 . Cover  28  is then folded over living hinge  26  to cover the access opening  46  of the retaining compartment  30  so that rib  24  and wire retention feature  34  are placed adjacent to one another (shown in  FIG. 4   b ). This close proximity of rib  24  and wire retention feature  34  causes the hook portion  36 , arch contour  37  and rib  24  to form wire retaining cavity  40  (shown in  FIG. 4   b ). A wire outlet  33  with wires  42  electrically connected to the outlet is inserted into a receiving slot  44  in LED retaining compartment  30  (shown in  FIG. 5 ) in order to electrically connect the LED array to wire outlet  33  by means well known in the art (i.e., terminals being plugged into the outlet  33 ). Wires  42  can be slid under hook portion  36  so that the wires fit into the arch contour  37  and wire retaining cavity  40 . (shown in  FIG. 5 ).  
         [0028]     The angle of hook portion  36  and only base  38  being attached to LED retaining compartment allows for easy insertion of the wires. As the wires are slid under the hook portion  36 , the angle of the hook portion will cause the wire retention feature  34  to flex/pivot about base  38  in order to allow the wires to pass into wire retaining cavity  40 . After wires  42  are inserted into the wire retaining cavity  40 , arch contour  37 , hook portion  36  and rib  24  will prevent the wires  42  from coming loose and falling out of alignment. The wires can still be removed by physically lifting up on hook portion  36  until the wire retention feature flexes about base  38  enough to allow the wires to be removed from the retaining cavity  40 .  
         [0029]     Referring to  FIG. 5 , wires  32  are relatively long and are usually bundled together by some type of tape prior to the lamp assembly being mounted in the automobile. During this mounting process, it is customary for the assembly line workers to pull on the wires to unbundled them and rip the tape holding them together. The wire retention feature  34  ensures that stress caused by this pulling of the wires is placed on the wire retention feature and not the electrical connection between the outlet  33  and the terminals of the LED array. This ensures that the electrical connection is protected from damage by pulling on the wires.  
         [0030]      FIGS. 4   c  and  4   d  shows another embodiment of the wire retention feature  50 .  FIG. 4   c  is a cross-sectional view along line A-A of  FIG. 2  of the open lamp housing utilizing a second embodiment of the wire retention feature.  FIG. 4   d  is a cross-sectional view along line A-A of  FIG. 2  of the open lamp housing of  FIG. 4   c  being closed. As shown in  FIGS. 4   c  and  4   d , wire retention feature  50  differs from wire retention feature  34  only in that it is also molded with a reinforcing rib  52  on its side  54  facing away from retention compartment  30 . Reinforcing rib  52  stiffens the wire retention feature  50  so that it will not flex/pivot about base  38  as easily. Rib  52  will also strengthen the wire retention feature  50 . This helps ensure that the wire retention feature  50  will withstand higher levels of stress placed on the wire retention feature (i.e., when the wires are unbundled) without breaking. Moreover, reinforcing rib  52  will help ensure that the wire retention feature  50  will return to its original position after a force causes the wire retention feature to flex about base  38 . This in turn causes the hook portion  36  to remain in close proximity with rib  24 .  
         [0031]     In this embodiment, reinforcing rib  52  has a width (not shown in  FIGS. 4   c  and  4   d ) and length that is smaller than the width and length of the side  54  of wire retention feature  50 . Moreover, the height of reinforcing rib  52  does not exceed the height of wire retention feature  50 . However, reinforcing rib  52  can be any size that still allows the wire retention feature  50  to flex/pivot about base  38 .  
         [0032]     The molded rib  24 , the living hinge  26  and the retention feature  34 / 50  reduce the number of parts and amount of time needed to assemble a lamp assembly, such as the CHMSL LED lamp assembly  10  disclosed herein, by eliminating the need to use additional clips or tape to align the wires. While a lamp assembly that utilizes one wire retention feature  34  and one molded rib  24  is disclosed herein, lamp assemblies of different varieties, including the disclosed embodiment, can utilize any number of wire retention features and molded ribs to create several wire retaining cavities. Further, while  FIG. 5  shows two wires  42  being retained in wire retaining cavity  40 , any number of wires can be retained in such a cavity. Moreover, the wire retention feature can have multiple hook portions and any number of arch contour. It should be further understood that it is not necessary for cover  28  and LED retaining compartment  30  to be joined together by living hinge  26 . While the living hinge reduces the number of separate pieces and makes the assembly process simpler, it is not necessary to this invention. Further, it is not necessary for the cover  28  to cover the entire LED retaining compartment. The cover can partially cover the retaining compartment or cover the retaining compartment completely.  
         [0033]     While the subject invention has been described in considerable detail with references to particular embodiment thereof, such is offered by way of non-limiting examples of the invention as many other versions are possible. For example, the wire retention feature does not have to be utilized with an automotive lamp assembly that utilizes LEDs, but can be utilized with any other light source that would enable one to mold the wire retention feature on the lamp housing in a location to properly retain the wires. While the subject invention may be used with different lamp assemblies, it is anticipated that a variety of other modifications and changes will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art and that such modifications and changes are intended to be encompassed within the spirit and scope of the pending claims.