Patent ID: 7461958

Claim:
A lamp holding apparatus for mounting a lamp to a lamp mounting member including a base, the lamp holding apparatus comprising: a mounting plate which is to be mounted to said base of said lamp mounting member at a first surface of said mounting plate; a plurality of lamp holding portions provided on a second surface of said mounting plate opposite to said first surface to hold at least one lamp; a gripping portion located on said second surface of said mounting plate and between said lamp holding portions, having a greater height dimension measured from said mounting plate than the lamp holding portions, and arranged to be gripped by an operator at a time of attaching and detaching the mounting plate to the base of said lamp mounting member; and a locking portion which protrudes from said first surface of said mounting plate and is inserted into a mounting hole provided in the lamp mounting member to be lockable to a peripheral edge of a rear surface of the lamp mounting member, the locking portion and the mounting plate defined by a single monolithic element and including a base portion and a pair of elastic pieces extending diagonally upward from an end of the base portion, the pair of elastic pieces arranged to engage inner surfaces of the mounting hole; wherein said locking portion and said gripping portion are disposed opposite to each other with the mounting plate disposed therebetween, and said locking portion and said gripping portion are located closer to each other in a lateral direction extending along the first and second surfaces of the mounting plate than a location of said locking portion relative to a closest one of said plurality of lamp holding portions.