Taillight module for motor vehicle

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6404334
  • Patent Number
    6,404,334
  • Date Filed
    Wednesday, November 14, 2001
    22 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, June 11, 2002
    22 years ago
Abstract
A taillight module for motor vehicles attached and coupled to the license plate groove comprising a base, a casing, and a display plate. The base is coupled to the license plate groove. A plurality of lamps is disposed in the base. The lamps are coupled to the circuits of brake light, signal light, and headlight of the motor vehicle to provide an illumination source. The display plate is disposed between the housing and the base. The display plate has labels of text, graphics, and symbols on the surface of the display plate. The taillight module provides a third set of rear light structure for motor vehicles to clearly display a third brake light, signal lights, reverse light, or decorative lights through the lamps.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates to a taillight module for motor vehicles, more particularly to a taillight module installed to the license plate groove at the rear of a motor vehicle and used for warning and illumination.




2. Description of the Prior Art




While a motor vehicle is traveling at nights, it relies on the taillight module to provide warning and illumination for the following cars. The driver of a motor vehicle traveling in high speed must be able to clearly and quickly see the warning light and illumination given by the taillight module of the front motor vehicle in order to ensure the driving safety. However, the traditional taillight modules of motor vehicles used for giving warning, signals and illumination are disposed on both sides of the rear of the motor vehicle. As to a driver who needs to keep his vision straight ahead, it may cause accidents or hit the car in the front due to the deviation or unobvious vision.




Further, the traditional brake light of the taillight module is not obvious enough for night driving, and even a third brake light is added, it does not help much to the driver in the following motor vehicle due to its small area and being installed at a high location on the rear windshield. On the contrary, such unobvious brake light structure may cause misjudgment and results in traffic accidents. In addition, the traditional taillight module is restricted to an illumination of fixed configuration and indication function for a motorcade or in a car racing. It is unable to provide an illumination or identification for each motor vehicle, which substantially limits the application of the illumination function of the tailight module.




Therefore, the primary objective of the present invention is to provide a taillight module for motor vehicles, which provides a straight vision at the brake light, the signal lights, and the reverse light substantially and reduces traffic accidents due to misjudgment by the driver in the following car.




The further objective of the present invention is to provide a taillight module for motor vehicles, which provides a third brake light with a larger display area to facilitate the identification for the driver of the following motor vehicle.




Another objective of the present invention is to provide a taillight module for motor vehicles having the effects of decoration, identification, and illumination.




According to the invention, the taillight module for motor vehicles comprises a taillight module coupled to a bottom surface of a license plate groove at the rear of a motor vehicle. The taillight module has a plurality of lamps in the license plate groove, a housing and a display plate. The base is coupled to the license plate groove in which a plurality of lamps is disposed. The lamps are connected to the brake warning, signal indication, and reverse warning. The illumination control circuit of the motor vehicle provides the corresponding brake warning, signal indication, reverse warning, and the display source for the illumination. The display plate is disposed between the housing and the base, and its surface is labeled with text, labels, graphics, and symbols, thereby a third brake light, signal light, reverse light, or decoration light can be displayed by the lamps that form a third taillight module.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred. The description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of the taillight module of the present invention.





FIG. 2

is an exploded view of the taillight module of the present invention.





FIG. 3

is a side view showing the taillight module coupled to the frame of the license plate at the rear of the motor vehicle.





FIG. 4

is a partially enlarged view showing the taillight module used for decoration, identification, and illumination.





FIG. 5

is a partially enlarged view of another preferred embodiment of the present invention showing the taillight module used for decoration, identification, and illumination.











DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Please refer to

FIG. 1

to FIG.


3


. The taillight module


100


of the present invention is attached and coupled to a license plate groove


210


at the rear of a motor vehicle (as shown in FIG.


3


). The taillight module


100


comprises a base


110


which is attached to the bottom surface of the license plate groove


210


. In a preferred embodiment (not shown), the base


110


is adhesively attached to the bottom surface of the license plate groove


210


. A plurality of lamps


111


is disposed in the base


110


. The lamp


111


are connected to the brake light, signal light, and reverse light in the motor vehicle


200


by conductive lines


112


respectively in order to provides the illumination function for a corresponding brake warning, signal indication, and reverse warning.




A display plate


120


is a transparent plate and disposed at the front end of the base


110


. A plurality of labels


121


,


122


,


123


is disposed on the surface of the display plate


120


. The displayed label


121


,


122


, or


123


can be, but not limited to, a specific text, graphics, or symbols. In the embodiment shown in

FIG. 1

to

FIG. 3

, the text “STOP” is used for brake warning as shown in the display label


121


; the arrow signs “←” and “→” to stand for the left and right signals respectively as shown in the display label


122


, and a transparent rectangular block is used to represent reverse warning. The display labels


121


,


122


, and


123


can use the light source from the corresponding lamps


111


at the base


110


to display the corresponding function.




The housing


130


coupled to the base


110


is used to cover and protect the base


110


and the display plate


120


to project the corresponding display for braking warning, signal indication, and reverse warning signals to the outside.




Please refer to

FIG. 4

, which shows an application of a taillight module


100


at the license plate groove


210


at the rear of a motor vehicle


200


as shown in FIG.


1


and FIG.


2


. While the motor vehicle is traveling, the taillight module


100


provides the function of obvious straight vision for braking warning, signal indication, and reverse warning for the driver in the following car. It provides the driver a display function of the taillight with an obvious and convenient way for identification, such as the third brake light having a large display area, signal light, and reverse light. It greatly reduces the chance of visual deviation and misjudgment for the following cars.




Please refer to

FIG. 5

, which shows another embodiment of the taillight module of the present invention. The display plate


120


has a display label


124


to facilitate the identification of a motor vehicle's decoration and illumination by the following car. The lamps


111


of the base


110


can be used as the permanent illumination and identification. It can also be used as the light source for the illumination for the license plate lamp


220


originally built in the periphery of the license plate groove


210


. It can be applied to the motorcade for the identification of a motor vehicle or to a racing car in the area for its decoration and license plate number identification. It attains both purposes of decoration and identification.




From the structure of a taillight module


100


at the rear of the motor vehicle as shown in

FIG. 1

to

FIG. 5

, it is obvious that the taillight module


100


at the rear of a motor vehicle according to the present invention can make use of the different arrangements of the lamps


111


at the base


110


and the variations of the display labels


121


,


122


,


123


, and


124


of the display plate


120


to meet with different requirements for the taillight module


100


with different display contents. The taillight module


100


further extends the display function and the range of a taillight display at the rear of a motor vehicle


200


and avoids the dull display of the conventional taillight display model. It can strengthen the display function at the rear of a motor vehicle and further beautifies the appearance of the motor vehicle.



Claims
  • 1. A taillight module, comprising:a base coupled to a bottom surface of a license plate groove at the rear of a motor vehicle; a plurality of lamps disposed in the base, the lamps connected to the brake warning, signal indication, reverse warning, and the illumination control circuit of the motor vehicle to provide the corresponding brake warning, signal indication, reverse warning, and the display source for the illumination; a display plate disposed at the front end of the base, the display plate having a plurality of display labels at the surface, and the display labels representing the text, graphics, and symbols for the brake warning, signal indication, reverse warning and the decoration and illumination at the rear of the motor vehicle, and being projected by the light source from the lamp at the corresponding position of the base; and a housing being coupled to the base and the display plate, such that the display labels on the display plate can be projected outside to display the corresponding brake warning, signal indication, reverse warning or the decoration and illumination.
  • 2. The taillight module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bottom surface of the base is adhesively attached to the bottom surface of the license plate groove at the rear of the motor vehicle.
  • 3. The taillight module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the display plate is a transparent plate.
  • 4. The taillight module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lamps are connected to a control circuit of the brake warning, signal indication, reverse warning, decoration and illumination of the motor vehicle by conductive lines, respectively.
US Referenced Citations (5)
Number Name Date Kind
4255887 Murai Mar 1981 A
4857890 Solow Aug 1989 A
5642094 Marcella Jun 1997 A
5838228 Clark Nov 1998 A
5847646 Mucciacciaro Dec 1998 A