Patent Application
20190047650
Motorcycle taillights (brake lights and running lights) and turn lights are typically external components mounted to frames or fenders. Taillights are provided as a reminder to following and nearby motorists of a motorcyclist's presence, and turn signals are provided to alert following motorists of a motorcyclist's upcoming movements. Traditionally, motorcycle taillights are mounted below the seat of the motorcycle. This placement results in an illumination that is close to the ground and often difficult to see by following motorists. Motorcycle back rests with illumination assemblies extending above the motorcycle seat have been developed. However, such assemblies provide only rearward illumination and are therefore less likely to be noticed by motorists driving alongside a motorcyclist. To this end, a need exists for a taillight assembly extending above a motorcycle seat and providing increased horizontal illumination. It is to such a taillight assembly that the inventive concepts disclosed herein are directed.
In the following detailed description of embodiments of the inventive concepts, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the inventive concepts. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the inventive concepts disclosed and claimed herein may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known features have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarily complicating the instant disclosure.
As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” “including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements or steps is not necessarily limited to only those elements or steps and may include other elements, steps, or features not expressly listed or inherently present therein.
Unless expressly stated to the contrary, “or” refers to an inclusive or and not to an exclusive or. For example, a condition A or B is satisfied by anyone of the following: A is true (or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false (or not present) and B is true (or present), and both A and B is true (or present).
In addition, use of the “a” or “an” are employed to describe elements and components of the embodiments herein. This is done merely for convenience and to give a general sense of the inventive concepts. This description should be read to include one or at least one and the singular also includes the plural unless it is obvious that it is meant otherwise.
Throughout this disclosure and the claims, the terms “about,” “approximately,” and “substantially” are intended to signify that the item being qualified is not limited to the exact value specified, but includes some slight variations or deviations therefrom, caused by measuring error, manufacturing tolerances, stress exerted on various parts, wear and tear, or combinations thereof, for example.
The use of the term “at least one” will be understood to include one as well as any quantity more than one, including but not limited to each of, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 100, and all integers there between. The term “at least one” may extend up to 100 or 1000 or more, depending on the term to which it is attached; in addition, the quantities of 100/1000 are not to be considered limiting, as higher limits may also produce satisfactory results. Singular terms shall include pluralities and plural terms shall include the singular unless indicated otherwise.
The term “or combinations thereof” as used herein refers to all permutations and/or combinations of the listed items preceding the term. For example, “A, B, C, or combinations thereof” is intended to include at least one of: A, B, C, AB, AC, BC, or ABC, and if order is important in a particular context, also BA, CA, CB, CBA, BCA, ACB, BAC, or CAB. Continuing with this example, expressly included are combinations that contain repeats of one or more item or term, such as BB, AAA, AAB, BBC, AAABCCCC, CBBAAA, CABABB, and so forth. The skilled artisan will understand that typically there is no limit on the number of items or terms in any combination, unless otherwise apparent from the context.
Finally, as used herein any reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular element, feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment, although the inventive concepts disclosed herein are intended to encompass all combinations and permutations including one or more of the features of the embodiments described herein.
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One having ordinary skill in the art should also appreciate that the light assemblies may be hard wired or plugged into to the motorcycle's existing wiring harness. For example, the light assemblies 20/24/28 may include a plurality of wires 112 and solder joints 114 for hard wiring the light sources and a plurality of resistors 116 for preventing the light sources from being overpowered by the motorcycle's power supply, such as, for example, a 12 volts direct current (12 VDC). The soldering of wires may be connected to positive and negative terminals 118. Alternatively, the light assemblies 20/24/28 may be plugged into existing female connectors that are generally included with factoring wiring. Further, the light assemblies may be connected to the motorcycle's original right turn signal, left turn signal, running lights, and brake lights. It should be appreciated by one having ordinary skill in the art that the light assemblies 20/24/28 may be powered using a variety of electrical configurations, and the example provided herein have been provided for illustrative purposes and are not intended to limit the inventive concepts.
The lens assemblies 22/26/30 may be made of a variety of materials, including but not limited to plastic. The surfaces of the lens assemblies 22/26/30 may be smooth surfaces. However, in some embodiments, the inner surfaces and/or the outer surfaces may have a textured surface(s), or at least a portion may have textured surface(s). The texturing may be random or have a regular symmetric orientation. Typically, the texturing facilitates homogeneous, uniform lighting or otherwise provides light dispersion effects. The texturing can be provided, for example, as separate pieces (e.g., a piece of plastic or the like) or a film. The texturing can also be provided, for example, by any of a number of techniques, including molding, sand blasting, bead blasting, chemical etching, embossing, and laser ablating, as well as other forming techniques that may be apparent to one skilled in the art. The right lens assembly 22 and the left lens assembly 26 may be made of an amber color, as amber is a commonly used color for turn signal lights. The upper lens assembly 30 may be made of red color, as red is a commonly used color for brake lights.
Because the light sources 62/66/70/76 are oriented to direct beams of lights rearward, leftward, and rightward, the visibility of the motorcycle 12 may be increased. For example, the right lens assembly 22 and the left lens assembly 26 may cooperate to disperse the first, second, third, and fourth beams of light 62/66/70/76 at least 270 degrees horizontally. The placement of the light supporting portion 34 extending above the motorcycle seat 14 combined with the increased horizontal illumination may make a motorcyclist more visible to following and nearby motorists. This increased visibility may in turn enhance the safety of motorcyclists and motorists on the road.
It should be appreciated, however, that it is not necessary to orient the light sources leftward and rightward in order to achieve a desired amount of illumination. In one embodiment, the right lens assembly 22 and the left lens assembly 26 cooperate to disperse a first beam of light and the second beam of light at least 210 degrees horizontally.
From the above description, it is clear that the inventive concepts disclosed and claimed herein are well adapted to carry out the objects and to attain the advantages mentioned herein, as well as those inherent in the invention. While exemplary embodiments of the inventive concepts have been described for purposes of this disclosure, it will be understood that numerous changes may be made which will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art and which are accomplished within the spirit of the inventive concepts disclosed and claimed herein.
