Fog light device

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6641295
  • Patent Number
    6,641,295
  • Date Filed
    Friday, May 24, 2002
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, November 4, 2003
    22 years ago
Abstract
A fog light device has a base casing, a lampholder, a transparent lampshade, a photoconduction plate, an outer casing, a main bulb, and at least an auxiliary bulb. The base casing has a hollow interior to receive at least a positioning seat. The auxiliary bulb is connected to the positioning seat. The main bulb is inserted in the center through hole of the lampholder. The transparent lampshade is inserted in the annular recess of the lampholder. The photoconduction plate is inserted in the annular channel of the lampholder. The photoconduction plate has a first taper end and a second taper end to receive a light emitted by the auxiliary bulb.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates to a fog light device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a fog light device which is disposed on a vehicle.




Referring to

FIG. 5

, a conventional fog light device has a rear lampholder


10


, a front lampshade


20


engaging with the rear lampholder


10


, the rear lampholder


10


having an inner reflection mirror


101


, and a bulb


30


inserted in a center of the rear lampholder


10


. However, the conventional fog light device has a single bulb to perform a single illuminating function only.




Another conventional fog light device has a rear lampholder, a front lampshade engaging with the rear lampholder, the rear lampholder having an inner reflection mirror, a main bulb inserted in a center of the rear lampholder, and an auxiliary bulb inserted in the rear lampholder. However, the main bulb and the auxiliary bulb perform two illuminating functions only. Since the auxiliary bulb is inserted in the rear lampholder, a hole should be formed on the rear lampholder in order to receive the auxiliary bulb. Therefore, the inner reflection mirror cannot focus light effectively. Since the auxiliary bulb is inserted in the rear lampholder, an aesthetic feeling of the auxiliary bulb is ugly.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




An object of the present invention is to provide a fog light device which has a main bulb and an auxiliary bulb to perform three illuminating functions. When the main bulb emits light, an inner reflection mirror of a lampholder focuses the light effectively. When the auxiliary bulb emits light, the light enters a photoconduction plate through a first taper end and a second taper end of the photoconduction plate. When the main bulb and the auxiliary bulb emit light, two kinds of light are produced.




Another object of the present invention is to provide a fog light device which has a colorful photoconduction plate to produce a colorful light.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a perspective exploded view of a fog light device of a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention;




FIG.


1





1


is a perspective view of an inner casing of a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention;





FIGS. 1-2

is a schematic view illustrating a main bulb is inserted in a lampholder of a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention;





FIG. 2

is a sectional assembly view of a fog light device of a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention;





FIG. 3

is a front elevational view of a base rack and an inner casing of a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention;





FIG. 3-1

is a front elevational view of a U-shaped rack and an inner casing of a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention;





FIG. 4

is a perspective view of a C-shaped photoconduction plate of a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention; and





FIG. 5

is a sectional view of a conventional fog light device of the prior art.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION




Referring to

FIGS. 1

to


4


, a fog light device comprises a base casing


1


, a lampholder


2


disposed in a front portion of the base casing


1


, a transparent lampshade


3


, a photoconduction plate


4


, an outer casing


5


, a main bulb


22


, and two auxiliary bulbs


12


.




The base casing


1


has a hollow interior


15


to receive two positioning seats


11


, and a round aperture


10


to receive wires (not shown in the figures).




Each of the two auxiliary bulbs


12


is connected to the respective positioning seat


11


. A pair of connecting seats


13


are disposed on a bottom of the base casing


1


. A base rack


14


engages with the connecting seats


13


.




The lampholder


2


has a bowl-shaped shell


20


, an inner interior of the bowl-shaped shell


20


forming an inner reflection mirror


21


, a center through hole


210


formed on the bowl-shaped shell


20


to receive the main bulb


22


, an annular channel


23


formed on a front edge of the lampholder


2


, an annular recess


233


adjacent to the annular channel


23


, a plurality of arc-shaped slots


232


formed on the annular channel


23


, and a plurality of oblong through holes


231


formed on a bottom of the annular channel


23


.




The main bulb


22


is inserted in the center through hole


210


of the lampholder


2


.




The transparent lampshade


3


is inserted in the annular recess


233


of the lampholder


2


.




The photoconduction plate


4


is inserted in the annular channel


23


of the lampholder


2


.




The photoconduction plate


4


is made of a transparent material such as glass or a polycarbonate (PC).




The photoconduction plate


4


has a convex face


41


formed on a front face of the photoconduction plate


4


, an outer flange


42


formed on an outer edge of the convex face


41


, an inner flange


43


formed on an inner edge of the convex face


41


, a first taper end


44


, a second taper end


45


, and a serrated face


46


formed on a rear face of the photoconduction plate


4


.




The outer casing


5


has a C-shaped slot


52


to receive the convex face


41


of the photoconduction plate


4


.




The outer casing


5


encloses a front edge of the lampholder


2


and a front edge of the base casing


1


.




Two screws


51


fasten the outer casing


5


and the lampholder


2


together.




A colorful cover


47


covers the first taper end


44


and the second taper end


45


of the photoconduction plate


4


.




Referring to

FIG. 3-1

again, a U-shaped rack


14




a


is connected to two sides of the base casing


1


. Two bolts


48


fasten the U-shaped rack


14




a


and the base casing


1


together.




When the main bulb


22


emits a light, the inner reflection mirror


21


of the lampholder


2


focuses the light effectively. When the auxiliary bulbs


12


emit light, the light of one of the two auxiliary bulbs


12


enters the photoconduction plate


4


through the first taper end


44


and the second taper end


45


of the photoconduction plate


4


and the light of the other one of the two auxiliary bulbs


12


is directly projected on the photoconduction plate


4


as shown in FIG.


2


. When the main bulb


22


and either one of the auxiliary bulbs


12


emit light, two kinds of light are produced. Therefore, the photoconduction plate


4


will produce an auxiliary light.




A color of the colorful cover


47


can be varied.




It is an option to provide the colorful cover


47


.




A color of the auxiliary bulb


12


can be varied. A color of the photoconduction plate


4


can be varied also.




It is not necessary to provide the colorful cover


47


while a colorful auxiliary bulb


12


or a colorful photoconduction plate


4


is provided.




The present invention has the following advantages.




1. The present invention provides the fog light device which has a main bulb and an auxiliary bulb to perform three illuminating functions. When the main bulb emits light, the inner reflection mirror of the lampholder focuses the light effectively. When the auxiliary bulb emits light, the light enters the photoconduction plate through the first taper end and the second taper end of the photoconduction plate. When the main bulb and the auxiliary bulb emit light, two kinds of light are produced.




2. The auxiliary bulb is made of a tungsten or a light-emitting diode (LED).




3. Since the auxiliary bulb is disposed between the base casing and the lampholder and the photoconduction plate photoconducts the light emitted by the auxiliary bulb, the light focus function of the inner reflection mirror will not be worsened.




4. The auxiliary bulb is disposed between the base casing and the lampholder, so an aesthetic feeling of the fog light device is beautiful.




5. A color of the auxiliary bulb can be varied. A color of the photoconduction plate can be varied also.




The invention is not limited to the above embodiment but various modification thereof may be made. Further, various changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.



Claims
  • 1. A fog light device comprises:base casing, a lampholder disposed in a front portion of the base casing, a transparent lampshade, a photoconduction plate, an outer casing, a main bulb, and at least an auxiliary bulb, the photoconduction plate made of a transparent material, the base casing having a hollow interior to receive at least a positioning seat, the auxiliary bulb connected to the positioning seat, the lampholder having a center through hole to receive the main bulb, an annular channel formed in a front edge of the lampholder, and an annular recess adjacent to the annular channel, the main bulb inserted in the center through hole of the lampholder, the transparent lampshade inserted in the annular recess of the lampholder, the outer casing enclosing the front edge of the lampholder and a front edge of the base casing, the photoconduction plate inserted in the annular channel of the lampholder, and the photoconduction plate having a first taper end and a second taper end to receive a light emitted by the auxiliary bulb.
  • 2. The fog light device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the photoconduction plate has a convex face formed on a front face of the photoconduction plate, an outer flange formed on an outer edge of the convex face, and an inner flange formed on an inner edge of the convex face.
  • 3. The fog light device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a serrated face is formed on a rear face of the photoconduction plate.
  • 4. The fog light device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the auxiliary bulb is made of one of a tungsten and a light-emitting diode.
  • 5. The fog light device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a U-shaped rack is connected to the base casing and two bolts fasten the U-shaped rack and the base casing together.
  • 6. The fog light device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a colorful cover covers the first taper end and the second taper end of the photoconduction plate.
  • 7. The fog light device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the auxiliary bulb has a color.
  • 8. The fog light device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the photoconduction plate has a color.
US Referenced Citations (5)
Number Name Date Kind
2320917 Ely Jun 1943 A
2668902 Fisher Feb 1954 A
3759084 Plewka Sep 1973 A
5276594 Burkett et al. Jan 1994 A
6471368 Lin Oct 2002 B1