Patent Application
20050242941
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a third brake light of automobiles, and in particular to a third brake light for a small-sized truck, such as a pickup truck.
2. The Related Art
For driving safety, automobile drivers must watch the cars in front of him or her in order to take proper actions. One of the most important signs that the automobile drivers can get from the front cars is the brake light of the front car. Conventionally, two brake lights are respectively mounted on opposite sides of the tail portion of a car, which sometimes may cause the eyesight of the drivers of the following cars to shift from the straightforward direction in which the car is moving, leading to unexpected accidents.
A third brake light overcomes such a problem by being positioned at a center of the tail portion of a car. The third brake light is located at a raised position as compared to the conventional brake lights that are arranged next to the taillights of the car. However, the third brake light that is currently available is designed for passenger cars and is attached to a high position of the rear windshield of the car. This is not applicable to a truck, such as a pickup truck, for the truck does not have a rear windshield located close to the tail portion.
Thus, the present invention is aimed to provide a third brake light which meets the particular configuration of small-sized trucks so as to overcome the drawbacks of the conventional third brake light.
Thus, a primary objective of the present invention is to provide an automobile third brake light that is mounted to a rear door panel of cargo deck of a small-sized truck to give off warnings to the following cars in a traffic line so as to reduce potential risk of traffic accidents.
To achieve the above objectives, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a third brake light mountable to a rear door panel of a rear deck of a truck, such as a pickup truck, so as not to interfere with opening/closing of the door panel. The third brake light comprises a base attached to the door panel of the truck and forming an exposed surface to which a plurality of illuminators, such as light-emitting diodes, light bulbs and cold light panels, is mounted. An electrical cable electrically connects the illuminators to an electricity system of the truck. A light-transmitting cover having a size and shape corresponding to the base is attached to the exposed surface of the base for shielding and protection of the illuminators.
The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following description of preferred embodiments thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:
With reference to the drawings and in particular to
In general, the small-sized truck 10 in which the present invention is embodied is specifically a truck having a rear side deck for cargo loading. The deck is defined by two lateral sidewalls and a rear door panel 11 that can be rotated about a rear edge of the deck to open the rear end of the truck 10 for loading/unloading cargos. Latch or locking means (not shown) may be provided on an inside surface of the door panel 11 to selectively and releasably secure the door panel 11 in an upright position for preventing the cargos from sliding off the deck during transportation. This is known and no further detail is needed.
Also referring to
A cover 24, made of light transmitting material, such as transparent, and having a shape and size corresponding to the base 21 is attached to the outward surface of the base 21 to cover and shield the illuminators 22 for protection and other purposes.
In the embodiment illustrated in
An example of the illuminators 22 is light-emitting diode. Alternatively, the illuminators 22 may comprise light bulbs.
The brake light 20 is mounted to the deck door panel 11 by having the inward surface thereof positioned on and attached to the door panel 11 by means of for example adhesives and bolts.
Referring to
Referring to
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.
