Patent Abstract:
A vehicle and associated light source that comprises a single source of light and a surrounding housing and lens arrangement that gives the visual effect of multiple light sources.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     This invention relates to a light source for a vehicle or the like and more particularly to a light source that utilizes only a single light emitting device that provides the same appearance and light output as a source having a plurality of light emitting devices.  
         [0002]     In some latest vehicles such as automobiles and motorcycles, a light device has employed one or more lamps each of which each of which employs a plurality of light emitting devices such as lamps or LEDs (light-emitting diodes) positioned in a single light source body. Such an arrangement is shown, by way of example, in published Japanese Patent Application JP-A-2004-193026. This improves not only the appearance but also the light transmission and recognition. However such an expedient is accompanied by a higher cost in relation to the number of LEDs, employed.  
         [0003]     Therefore it is a principal an object of the present invention to provide a light source for a vehicle capable of improving appearance and visibility, without a large cost increase.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     An embodiment of the invention is adapted to be embodied in a light source for a vehicle or the like and comprises a light housing defining an internal cavity between a rear reflective portion and a front light transmitting portion. A light emitting device holder is provided that is adapted to support a single emitting device source within the internal cavity. The front light transmitting portion has a plurality of highly transparent portions for transmitting light reflected from the single light emitting device by the rear reflective portion. These highly transparent portions are surrounded by less transparent portions to provide a view that emulates multiple light sources.  
         [0005]     A further feature of the invention is comprised of a vehicle having a light source as described in the preceding paragraph.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0006]      FIG. 1  is a side elevational view of a vehicle provided with a light source embodying the invention.  
         [0007]      FIG. 2  is a front elevational view of the vehicle.  
         [0008]      FIG. 3  is a rear elevational view of the vehicle.  
         [0009]      FIG. 4  is an enlarged rear elevational view looking in the same direction as  FIG. 3  showing the light source embodying the invention.  
         [0010]      FIG. 5  is a view of the structure shown in  FIG. 4  with the light covers removed.  
         [0011]      FIG. 6  is a view looking in the same direction as  FIGS. 4 and 5  but showing only the light source embodying the invention.  
         [0012]      FIG. 7  is an enlarged cross sectional view taken along the line  7 - 7  of  FIG. 6 .  
         [0013]      FIG. 8  is an enlarged cross sectional view taken along the line  8 - 8  of  FIG. 6 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0014]     Referring now in detail to the drawings and initially primarily to  FIGS. 1-3 , a vehicle embodying the invention, as an example, a motorcycle, is indicated generally by the reference numeral  21  denotes a motorcycle. The motorcycle  21  has a front fork  22  dirigibly supported at the front end of a body frame (generally hidden in the figures). A front wheel  23  is journalled at the lower end of the front fork  22 . Steering handlebars  24  are mounted at the upper end of the front fork  22  for steering of the motorcycle  11  as is well known in the art.  
         [0015]     The motorcycle  21  is powered by an engine transmission unit  25  suspended from and supported by the central portion of the body frame. This engine transmission unit  25  drives a rear wheel  26  journalled by a rear arm  27  that is pivotally supported by the central portion of the body frame and controlled by a suspension unit  28 .  
         [0016]     Positioned above the rear arm  27  is a seat  30  of tandem type to accommodate a rider and if desired a passenger two persons to straddle at its front and rear and mounted on the top rear portion of the body frame.  
         [0017]     As has been noted, the body frame is generally enclosed. To this end its front half and rear half are covered by a front cover  29  and a rear cover  31 , respectively.  
         [0018]     The steering handlebars  24  are covered by a handlebar cover  32 . The upper rear wall of the handlebar cover  32  is provided with a meter device  33  to display information to a rider and at its front wall is provided with a headlight assembly  34 .  
         [0019]     The headlight assembly  34  has a unitized configuration of a pair of left and right headlights  35  and a pair of left and right flasher lights  36  positioned laterally outward from the headlights  35 .  
         [0020]     The rear wall of the rear cover  31  at its is provided with a taillight assembly  35  that incorporates an embodiment of the present invention. The taillight assembly  35  is enclosed by an upper wall portion  35   a , left and right side wall portions  35   b , and a bottom wall portion  35   c  of the rear cover  35  without gaps. A rear fender  38  is provided below the taillight assembly  35  to cover the region above and rearward of the rear wheel  26 . Reference numeral  39  denotes a grab bar for the rider seated at the rear, which is provided along the rear edge of the seat  30 .  
         [0021]     The taillight assembly  35  has a unitized configuration consisting of a taillight portion  41  positioned laterally centrally in a taillight housing  42 , and a pair of left and right rear flasher lights  43  positioned laterally outward from the taillight portion  41 .  
         [0022]     As seen from the rear side of the vehicle, the taillight portion  41  is formed in a perfect circular shape, and the left and right rear flasher lights  43  are formed in an oval shape. The left and right flasher lights  43  each have a lamp bulb  44 . The taillight portion  41  and the left and right rear flasher lights  43  are each positioned so that their respective light axis “a” ( FIG. 1 ) is oriented slightly obliquely downward and rearward.  
         [0023]     The taillight portion  41  has as a single light source a lamp bulb  45 , mounted in a manner to be described, between an inner reflective lens  46  for reflecting light from the lamp bulb  45 , and an outer lens  47  for covering the lamp bulb  45  and the inner reflective lens  46 . The outer lens  47  is positioned opposite the inner reflective lens  46  with respect to the lamp bulb  45 , in other words, rearwardly from the lamp bulb  45 .  
         [0024]     The inner reflective lens  46  is made of resin and has a generally dome shape with a rearward facing opening. The inner surface of the inner reflective lens  46  is formed with a reflective coating such as chromium plating. As seen best in  FIG. 7 , the inner reflective lens  46  at the center of its depression  48  is formed with a bulb fitting opening  49 , in which a socket  51  is received. The lamp bulb  45  is removably mounted in the socket  51  from the rear side of the vehicle as seen in this figure. The outer lens  47  has a generally flat-plate shape and is fitted in an opening  52  ( FIG. 4 ) of the inner reflective lens  46 .  
         [0025]     It should be noted that in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the lamp bulb  45  appears to be displaced downward from the center of the taillight portion  41 . However this appears this way because the taillight portion  41  is inclined with its lower portion positioned forward and its upper portion positioned rearward. However and as shown in  FIG. 6 , the lamp bulb  45  is positioned in the center of the taillight portion  41 , as viewed along its centerline.  
         [0026]     The outer lens  47  is formed in a disc shape from red synthetic resin capable of transmitting light. The rear surface of the outer lens  47  is basically formed in the shape of a flat surface as best seen in  FIG. 7 . As seen in this figure, the central portion of the outer lens  47  that covers the lamp bulb  45  is integrally formed with a reflecting portion  53 . The reflecting portion  53  is formed in a circular shape having a diameter approximately twice as large as a maximum diameter of the lamp bulb  45 .  
         [0027]     The area of the reflecting portion  53  facing the lamp bulb  45  (toward the front side of the vehicle) is formed with a number of reflective elements  54  having a generally saw-tooth shape in section. The reflective elements  54  have lower light transmittance than the other portion of the outer lens and are adapted not to transmit light from the lamp bulb  45  to the outside. The reflective elements  54  also have a function of reflecting light incident from the rear side of the vehicle in the direction of the arrow b like a mirror. Thus as viewed from behind the motorcycle  21 , the lamp bulb  45  is covered by the reflecting portion  53  so that it cannot be seen.  
         [0028]     The outer lens  47  at its outer region and around the reflective portion  53  has a plurality of lens elements formed as protrusions (light-transmitting portions)  55  formed to be positioned on the periphery of a common circle centered on the lamp bulb  45  and at equal angular intervals. As a specific example, nine such protrusions  55  are formed at intervals of 40 degrees.  
         [0029]     The protrusions  55  are integrally formed on the outer lens  47  and project in the direction away from the lamp bulb  45 , namely, to the rear side of the vehicle. The protrusions  55  are also formed to have higher light transmittance than the surrounding peripheral region  56 . To be specific, each protrusion  55  has a generally dome shape, and its thickness t is smaller than thickness t′ of the peripheral region  56  ( FIG. 7 ).  
         [0030]     The inner reflective lens  46  has a plurality of light-collecting portions  57  one for each protrusion  55 , for collecting light in the direction of the arrow C in  FIGS. 7 and 8  from the lamp bulb  45  and directing it to its corresponding protrusion  55 . Each of the light-collecting portion  57  is made up of two lens like recesses  58  for each protrusion  55 . The recesses  58  are formed to face their corresponding protrusion  55  and extend radially outward from the lamp bulb  45 .  
         [0031]     In this embodiment, the outer lens  47  at its outer region has the rearward protrusions  55  formed at predetermined angular intervals, and the inner reflective lens  46  is formed with the light-collecting portions  57  for collecting the light from the lamp bulb  45  and directing it to their corresponding protrusions  55 . Therefore, the light from the lamp bulb  45  is collected and reflected by the recesses  58  of the light-collecting portions  57  of the inner reflective lens  46  to the protrusions  55 . This can provide appearance as if the taillight assembly  35  had nine light sources, although it has the single lamp bulb  45 , which improves its appearance. The positional relation between the protrusions  55  and the light-collecting portion  57  and the lamp bulb  45  shown in  FIG. 8  is a conceptual illustration to facilitate understanding.  
         [0032]     Thus from the foregoing description it should be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that an improvement in appearance and light transmission is possible using a simple configuration of the protrusions  55  formed on the outer lens  47  and the light-collecting portions  57  formed on the inner reflective lens  46  and only the single lamp bulb  45 . Thus cost is reduced compared to when the device has a plurality of light sources as in the prior art. Of course those skilled in the art will readily realize that the foregoing description is only that of an exemplary embodiment and various changes may be made to practice the invention. For example, the reflecting portion  53  and the protrusions  55  are integrally formed on the outer lens in the foregoing embodiment, but these may be formed as separate components from the outer lens and attached thereto by bonding, welding or the like. Also the protrusions are made thin in thickness to configure the highly light-transmitting portions. However, to configure the protrusions as the highly light-transmitting portions, they may be formed from material of higher light transmittance than the peripheral region and attached to the outer lens by bonding, welding or the like. The highly light-transmitting portions can also be realized through change in the shape of the protrusions.  
         [0033]     Further, in the specifically described embodiment, the protrusions  55  are positioned at equal angular intervals on the periphery of a common circle. However, positioning the protrusions is not limited to such manner but may be as appropriate according to needs in design or the like. For example, the protrusions may be positioned on the peripheries of two circles of different diameters or on the periphery of an ellipse, or in a square, polygonal or trapezoidal manner. Also although the light-transmitting portions are formed in protrusions they need not be formed in protrusions but may be configured in recesses, for example.  
         [0034]     Further, in the foregoing embodiment, description has been made of an example in which the present invention is applied to the taillight assembly  35  for a motorcycle. However, the light device of the present invention is also applicable to a headlamp device for any other type of vehicle. Of course those skilled in the art will readily understand that the described embodiments are only exemplary of forms that the invention may take and that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 1