Patent Publication Number: US-6338647-B1

Title: LED vehicular lights and connectors therefor

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to external vehicle LED lights and electrical connectors connecting the lights to the bayonet sockets ordinarily found in the vehicles for connecting to incandescent bulbs with bayonet bases. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
     Motor vehicles have tail lights, stop lights, back-up lights, and the like. They generally have external lenses securely fastened in place. In the case of stop and tail lights, these are red. Behind the lens is mounted one or more light bulbs. These may be incandescent bulbs with one or more filaments. The bulb is held fixedly in correct operating position by its socket, which is a bayonet socket securely mounted and grounded to the vehicle. These are well known in the art. They require the bulb to be inserted forcefully by translation and then rotated. This ensures good electrical contact, correct contact registration in the case of multiple filaments, and secure holding against vibration. Incandescent bulbs have a short life and draw too much current, since much of the power is used as heat, not light. Even the light emitted is mostly wasted, since all but the desired color is removed by the lens/filter. On the other hand, light emitting diodes convert almost all of the electrical energy into light of the desired color. The labor costs of frequent bulb replacement are excessive. Furthermore, until the failed bulb is replaced, the vehicle is unsafe. U.S. Pat. No. 5,594,433 issued Jan. 14, 1997 to Terlep discloses a pair of LED&#39;s mounted on a bayonet base. The assembly must be pushed into the bayonet socket and then rotated with considerable torque. There must be sufficient clearance in the mounting space for this maneuver, and strength in the assembly to resist the torque required. Commercially available LED lamp assemblies for replacement of vehicle lights are provided by ROMA INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRIES of Miami, Fla. They all terminate in connectors that operate by simple translation. They all have molded on external lenses, by which they are held in position on the vehicle. They cannot be used to replace a bayonet base bulb without rewiring, and disposal of the original lens. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide lights that have very long lives and draw much less current for an equivalent amount of light, namely light emitting diodes (LEDS). It is another object to provide such lights that can be used with existing bayonet sockets by means of a simple socket adapter. Since each LED emits a narrow beam of light, the LED light source will be comprised of a plurality of LED&#39;s distributed in a manner to emulate the light distribution of the light being replaced. It is yet another object that the combination of LED light assembly and adapter correctly position the light to facilitate conversion from the prior incandescent bulb. It is yet another object that the LED assembly optionally incorporate the external lens as well. It is yet another object that the light assembly optionally incorporate other electrically powered elements such as blinking lights, sound generators, and the like. These and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become more apparent when the detailed description is studied in conjunction with the drawings in which like elements are designated by like reference characters in the various drawing figures. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of an adapter of the invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the adapter of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 is a top view of the adapter of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the adapter of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 5 is a front elevation view of the installation tool of the invention in combination with the adapter and the bayonet socket into which the adapter is to be installed. 
     FIG. 6 is a front elevation view of a circular LED lamp assembly of the invention. 
     FIG. 7 is top view of the lamp assembly of FIG.  6 . 
     FIG. 8 is a front elevation view of a rectangular LED lamp assembly of the invention. 
     FIG. 9 is a bottom view of the lamp assembly of FIG.  8 . 
     FIG. 10 is a top view of the lamp assembly of FIG.  8 . 
     FIG. 11 is a front elevation view of a non-planar LED lamp assembly of the invention. 
     FIG. 12 is a front elevation of an LED lamp assembly of the invention incorporating the external lens of the vehicle. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring now to the drawing FIGS. 1-5, a motor vehicle will commonly have a plurality of bayonet sockets  1  rigidly mounted to the body for holding incandescent light bulbs for stop, tail, back-up, and turn signal lights. The socket is a conductive brass shell electrically grounded to the body. Parallel slots  2  terminate in transverse arcs  28 . They are designed to receive and tightly hold opposed pins on the base of a bulb to make one contact by first translation motion followed by rotation into the arcs. One or more electrical contacts on the base of the bulb then register with electrical contacts  3  on the socket. The pins only fit the socket in one position to ensure correct registration. The multiple contacts are connected to different filaments in the bulb so that one socket and bulb may serve multiple functions. The socket positions the bulb exactly relative to the external lens of the vehicle to ensure correct light output. As best seen in FIG. 5, the socket  1  on the vehicle (not shown) is converted to receive the lamp assembly of the invention by insertion of the adapter  4 . This is simply achieved by first mounting the adapter on the installation tool  13  by translation onto the plug  18  on the second end  17  of shaft  14 . The adapter is then inserted by translation into the socket  1  and rotated by handle  16  on the first end  15  of shaft  14  so that the pins  8  of the adapter  4  run down the slots  2  and into the transverse arcs  28 . This ensures good electrical contact of the pins  8  of the adapter with the ground of the vehicle, and exact position of the lamp assembly relative to the socket  1  without rewiring. The tool  13  is removed by simply pulling it out in a straight motion. 
     As best seen in FIGS. 1-4, the adapter  4  is comprised of: 
     1) A male first portion  5 , having a cylindrical conductive outer side wall  6  and an insulated end wall  7 . Opposed conductive pins  8  extend radially from the wall  6 . At least one electrical contact  9  extends from the end  7 , adapted for contact with a corresponding at least one contact(s)  3  on the bayonet socket  1 ; 
     2) A female second portion  10 , has a plurality of female springy electrical contact tubes  11  of the type well known in the art for securely engaging a male contact to ensure good electrical contact as well as vibration resistant physical holding by simple translation. Wires  12  connect each contact tube  11  of the second portion  10  with an electrical contact  9 , or the outer side wall  6 , of the first portion  5 ; and 
     3) The second portion  10  is fitted into the first portion  5  and either fixed in position, or provided with means for adjusting and then fixing the rotary position of the two portions relative to one another, such as by the set screw  29  that is received in the threaded aperture  30 . 
     As best seen in FIGS. 8-10, the lamp assembly  19  of the invention comprises: 
     1) A housing  20 , that includes a circuit board  23 , to which are affixed a plurality of light emitting diodes (LED&#39;s)  24  so that light shines outwardly from a second face  22  of the housing; 
     2) A unitary electrical plug  25  affixed to the first face  21  of the housing and extending outwardly therefrom, the plug adapted for secure electrical connection of a plurality of contacts  26  therein by translation into the contacts  11  in the adapter  4 ; and 
     3) Electrical connections  27  between the plug  25  and the LED&#39;s. These connections may enable the assembly to illuminate certain of the LED&#39;s for one purpose, and other or all LED&#39;s for another purpose. An example would be where the assembly replaces a double filament bayonet base bulb for stop light and tail light; 
     4) As shown by the phantom lines  35 , the assembly may be potted with a resin such as epoxy to make a secure composite; and 
     5) A piezoelectric sonic element  31  may be included on the assembly, such as for use when the assembly serves as a back-up light. 
     The assembly may take a variety of configurations to serve a variety of special purposes, such as the rectangular shape of FIG. 10, the round shape of FIG. 6, and the non-planar shape of FIG.  11 . 
     As shown in FIG. 12, the assembly may incorporate the molded on external lens  32  so that the assembly may replace the vehicle&#39;s lens. In this application, it may be useful to have the plug  25 ′ attached by flexible wires  27 ′. 
     The above disclosed invention has a number of particular features which should preferably be employed in combination, although each is useful separately without departure from the scope of the invention. While I have shown and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise than as herein specifically illustrated or described, and that certain changes in form and arrangement of parts and the specific manner of practicing the invention may be made within the underlying idea or principles of the invention.