Light-emitting structure of an exhaust tailpipe of a motor vehicle

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6582108
  • Patent Number
    6,582,108
  • Date Filed
    Thursday, March 28, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, June 24, 2003
    21 years ago
Abstract
A light-emitting structure is mounted in the exit port of an automobile exhaust tailpipe and is formed of two rotary members, a power supply system disposed in the interior of the rotary members, and a plurality of light-emitting elements mounted on the rotary members and connected to the power supply system. The power supply system generates electric current at such time when the rotary members are driven to turn by the automobile exhaust fume current.
Description




RELATED U.S. APPLICATIONS




Not applicable.




STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT




Not applicable.




REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX




Not applicable.




FIELD OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates generally to an automobile exhaust tailpipe, and more particularly to a light-emitting structure of the automobile exhaust tailpipe.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




As shown in

FIG. 1

, an automobile exhaust tailpipe


10


is provided with a light-emitting device


11


and a wire


12


which is used to connect the light-emitting device


11


to the power source of the automobile. The light-emitting device


11


of the prior art is defective in design because the wiring is time-consuming and costly, and because the wire


12


must be insulated from the tailpipe so as to provide the wire


12


with protection against heat of the tailpipe. In addition, the light-emitting pattern of the prior art light-emitting device


11


is rather monotonous and devoid of a dynamic vision effect.




BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The primary objective of the present invention is to provide an automobile exhaust tailpipe with a light-emitting structure comprising two rotary members, one or more light-emitting elements mounted on the rotary members, and a power supply system mounted in the interior of the rotary members to provided the light-emitting elements with electricity. The rotary members are caused by the exhaust fume current to rotate. As the rotary members are driven to turn by the exhaust fume, the light-emitting elements become connected with the power supply member.











The features and the advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood upon a thoughtful deliberation of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.




BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

shows a longitudinal sectional view of a prior light-emitting structure of motor vehicle.





FIG. 2

shows a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.





FIG. 3

shows a longitudinal sectional view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.





FIG. 4

shows a perspective view of the rotary member of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.





FIG. 5

shows an exploded view of the rotary member of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION




As shown in

FIGS. 2-5

, a light-emitting structure embodied in the present invention is intended to mount on an automobile exhaust tailpipe


40


and is formed of two rotary members


30


, a plurality of light-emitting elements


20


, and a power supply system.




The rotary members


30


are symmetrical in construction to each other and are provided along the rim with a plurality of blades


31


. The rotary members


30


are further provided in the center with a through hole


38


and an annular slot


36


surrounding the through hole


38


. The rotary members


30


are mounted in the exit port of an automobile exhaust tailpipe


40


in conjunction with two bearings


39


such that the rotary members


30


are supported by a support frame


41


of the exhaust pipe


40


the rotary members


30


are driven by the exhaust fume current to rotate, thanks to the blades


31


of the rotary members


30


.




The light-emitting elements


20


are mounted on the rotary members and are provided with a positive bonding wire


21


and a negative bonding wire


22


.




The power supply system comprises a magnetic core bearing


32


and a coil member


35


. The magnetic core bearing


32


has a center through hole


37


and is received in the coil member


35


. The coil member


35


is provided with a positive pawl piece


33


and a negative pawl piece


34


. The coil member


35


is located in the annular slots


36


of the rotary members


30


such that the positive pawl piece


33


is connected with the positive bonding wires


21


, and that the negative pawl piece


34


is connected with the negative bonding wires


22


of the light-emitting elements


20


. As the rotary members


30


are driven by the exhaust fume current to turn, an electric current is generated by the coil member


35


and the magnetic core bearing


32


of the power supply system. The electric current is made available to the light-emitting element


20


.




In order to enhance the visual effect of the present invention, the light-emitting elements


20


may be colored variously.




The rotary members


30


are made of a refractory material to withstand the heat of the exhaust fume.




The power supply system of the present invention is independent of the power supply system of the motor vehicle.




The embodiment of the present invention described above is to be regarded in all respects as being illustrative and restrictive. Accordingly, the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without deviating from the spirit thereof. The present invention is therefore to be limited only by the scope of the following claims.



Claims
  • 1. A light-emitting structure mounted in the exit port of an automobile exhaust tailpipe comprising:two rotary members symmetrical in construction and comprised of a center through hole and a plurality of blades, said two rotary members being mounted rotatably in the exit port of the automobile exhaust pipe by a support frame such that said two rotary members are driven to turn by the automobile exhaust fume; a power supply system located in the interior of said rotary members; and a plurality of light-emitting elements mounted on said rotary members and connected to said power supply system whereby said light-emitting elements are provided with electric current by said power supply system at such time when said rotary members are driven to turn by the automobile exhaust fume.
  • 2. The light-emitting structure as defined in claim 1, wherein said power supply system comprises a coil member and a magnetic core bearing received in said coil member, said coil member comprised of a positive pawl piece connected with a positive bonding wire of said light-emitting elements, and a negative pawl piece connected with a negative bonding wire of said light-emitting elements whereby said coil member and said magnetic core bearing generate electric current at such time when said rotary members are driven to turn by the automobile exhaust fume current.
  • 3. The light-emitting structure as defined in claim 1, wherein said rotary members are comprised of a refractory material.
  • 4. The light-emitting structure as defined in claim 1, wherein said light-emitting elements are colored variously.
US Referenced Citations (3)
Number Name Date Kind
6386731 Cheng May 2002 B1
6471377 Stegall Oct 2002 B1
6491418 Chen Dec 2002 B1