A rear lamp for a wheeled vehicle, intended for use especially in passenger cars, trucks, tractors, semitrailers, trailers and flatbeds is the subject of the invention. The sources of light embedded in the lamp are used for producing direction indicator light, parking light and brake light, and preferably fog light and reversing light.

Manufacturers of lamps for wheeled vehicles in the automotive lighting sector increase the competitiveness of their products with attractive design (there are thousands of lamps registered in the domestic patent offices or EUIPO with different, individualised shapes typical of the particular manufacturer) or by implementing innovative technical solutions in the lamp construction, making them attractive from the purchasers' point of view.

The use of optical fibres propagating light along their entire length was such an innovative technical solution which improved attractiveness of a lamp. Such a solution is for instance known from the description of Polish utility model Ru.66337. The lamp according to the aforementioned solution consists of a body holding a reflective triangle, position light LED source, brake light LED source, direction indicator light LED source, reversing light LED source and fog light LED source, and the light lenses fixed to the body. An optical fibre propagating the light of light- emitting diode is located at the LED.

Another new and innovative technical solution attractive from the purchaser's point of view was to introduce projector lenses shaping the light source in the lamps. For instance, there is a multifunction rear lamp known from the description of Polish utility model Ru.66359, consisting of a body closed at the front with lens, with systems for producing each type of light in the lamp embedded in the body. The light-emitting diodes of the systems are located in several reflector searings corresponding to particular lights. Projector lenses shaping the LED light characteristics are placed in the lamp lens, opposite each reflector seating in a shape of a bevelled cone.

Another new and innovative technical solution attractive from the purchaser's point of view was to introduce in the lamps lenses made of plastic which disperses artificial light all over the lens surface. The aforementioned solution is revealed in Polish utility model W.124294. Multifunction rear lamp according to this design consists of a housing in a form of a rear body and an outer lens closing the body at the front, as well as light-emitting diodes mounted on a printed board placed in the housing. Some light-emitting diodes are guarded with an inner lens made of light- dispersing plastic, placed in the housing in front of the printed board, while other light-emitting diodes are placed under the holes made in the inner lens, whereby the light-emitting diodes placed under the holes are encased with reflectors in a form of silver-plated bell-shaped searings reaching the face of the inner lens.

Consecutively, a side marker lamp or position lamp is also known from the notification of Polish utility model W.122451, composed of a body closed with a lens at the front and a LED light source mounted in the body. The lamp lens is made of white plastic dispersing light all over its surface.

Another innovative technical solution attractive from the purchaser's point of view was to embed a device producing hologram light in the lamp. Such a solution is revealed in the Polish application of utility model W.127517 pertaining to a rear lamp for a wheeled vehicle, in which a device producing holographic image is embedded between the lens and the rear body, the device being composed of a plate, placed across the lens face, with a convex form with a graphic element shaped on the plate face, where the convex graphic element is the displayed holographic image and is surrounded with an opaque cover adjacent to the plate face. The rear surface of the plate on whose face the graphic element is created, is matched with a plate fitting made of plastic which disperses light all over its surface, with its illuminating light source placed next to it, a cover surrounding the graphic element is matched from the side of the edge closer to the rear body with a black plane placed crosswise the edge and opposite the lens, whereby the black plane is the background for the displayed holographic image, and between the cover with the graphic element and the black plane there is a glass pane oriented towards the graphic element and the black plane, positioned linearly towards them.

Consecutively, there is a headlight solution known from invention description EP 1640657 which enables obtaining a light beam with appropriate directivity. The headlight is composed of two convex (arch-shaped) reflectors with their reflective surfaces oriented towards one another, and a pin placed in the hole made in one of the reflectors, with a LED fixed on the axial end of the pin.

The typical previously known and used vehicle lamps produce light which illuminates their lens (position light, brake light, direction indicator light) or produce an oriented light stream - reversing light. In the known designs of vehicle rear lamps the lens determines the shape of the light emitted outside the lamp. None of the known designs allows for producing light images in front of the lens.

Hence the problem to be solved with this invention is to extend a standard vehicle rear lamp with a structure that will enable producing an illuminated apparent image in front of the lamp lens.

The essence of the invention was completed in the following way: in the space between the rear body and the lens a spherically concave rear mirror is placed, whose light-reflecting surface is oriented towards the lens, and in front of the rear mirror there is a spherically concave front mirror whose light-reflecting surface is oriented towards the rear mirror and which has openwork in the centre, whereby in front of the rear mirror there is a form made at least partly of light-permeable material and backlit with the LED attached to it, and the image of the form reflected in the mirrors appears in front of the lens within the openwork in the front mirror.

The LED which backlights the form is placed in the hole in the middle of the rear mirror. The LED backlights the form inwards, which means that the LED light beams penetrating into the space between the mirrors, come from the part of the form which permeates light. The described solution which involves embedding the mirrors in the lamp enables creating the effect of a new three-dimensional light in the rear lamps (a light-permeable form illuminated all over its surface), with the light turning into an image appearing in front of the lens, whereby the image shape and graphic representation depend on the form shape and design. The exact operating rule of the solution according to the invention will be presented further in the description. According to the solution, the form can be a fitting made of light-permeable material matched with a cover which is generally opaque and partly conceals the fitting surface. The fitting can be of any shape. The fitting can be transparent, semi transparent and slightly dispersing the light, opalescent or milky and strongly dispersing the light. The fitting can be colourless or coloured. If the fitting is colourless, it is backlit with colour light, e.g. red or yellow, and if the fitting is dyed, it is preferably backlit with white light. The cover can be of any shape and it can cover any part of the fitting area, whereby the cover can be featured with openwork. Preferably the form should be a cylindrical fitting/pillar made of light-permeable material, with a cover placed on its face, and with openwork in the cover creating a graphic element. Creating a form from a light-permeable element and an opaque element (cover), which partly covers the surface of the light-permeable element, allows the creation of visual effects of the displayed image - visual diversity of the hues/colours of the form image appearing in front of the lens, which are created by the cover shape and the fitting shape.

The form itself, made of light-permeable material which disperses light uniformly all over its surface, can be the fitting, then the image visualised in front of the lens will be the image of the uniform form, shining all over its surface with dispersed light. Backlighting of the form ensures good visibility of the image appearing in front of the lens. It should be mentioned, that if the form is not backlit, a spatial image of the form will also appear in front of the lens but it will be hardly visible - the form would not be illuminated.

The application of the solution according to the invention in the lamp makes it more competitive.

The subject of the invention is shown in the drawing, where Fig. 1 shows the cross-section of the lamp with a form according to the first embodiment, Fig. 2 shows an axonometric view of the dismantled lamp with a form according to the first embodiment, Fig. 3 shows an axonometric view of the form according to the first embodiment, Fig. 4 shows an axonometric view of the rear mirror with a form according to the second embodiment, Fig. 5 shows light stream arrangement on the mirrors embedded in the lamp according to the invention and Fig. 6 shows an illustration of the axonometric view of the apparent image created in front of the mirrors.

Rear lamp for a wheeled vehicle in the first embodiment according to the invention is composed of rear body 2 closed at the front with lens 1, with LEDs 3 placed in the rear body 2. The LEDs 3 are used for producing direction indicator light, parking light and brake light, and preferably fog light and reversing light. The LEDs 3 are placed on printed boards 4 mounted in the rear body 2. In the space between rear body 2 and lens 1 there are two spherical concave mirrors, i.e. rear mirror 5 and front mirror 6, facing one another. Mirrors 5 and 6 are preferably adjacent, placed coaxially according to the symmetry axis/optical axis and have an identical radius of curvature and diameter. Preferably both mirrors 5 and 6 have the same focal length, and the distance between mirrors 5 and 6 along the optical axis of the system equals the focal length - a half of the radius of curvature. Rear mirror 5 is located at rear body 2 and its reflective surface is oriented towards lens 1, while the reflective surface of front mirror 6 at lens 1 is oriented towards rear mirror 5. The optical axis of rear mirror 5 and consequently the optical axis of front mirror 6 are basically perpendicular to the plane of lens 1 in front of them. In the middle of rear mirror 5, within its optical/symmetry axis there is a hole where LED 7 is placed, whereby LED 7 is encased with form 8 placed in rear mirror 5, with the form 8 being a cylindrical fitting (column) 8a, placed within the optical axis of mirrors 5 and 6, made of fully light-permeable plastic, with cover 8b placed on the fitting 8a face (opposite lens 1), with openwork 9 in the cover 8b creating a graphic element in the image displayed in front of lens 1. Form 8 is placed on mounting plate 8c fixed to plate 2a of rear body 2. Cover 8b comes as a cap, placed on fitting 8a situated in the optical axis of rear mirror 5 and front mirror 6, with openwork 9 in the cap surface perpendicular to the optical axis of mirrors 5 and 6. Openwork 9 can have a form of an inscription or graphic image. The cap which forms cover 8b can be made of opaque plastic. Cover 8b can also come as opaque coating applied to form 8 or any other opaque or hardly permeable material. In the presented example openwork 9 represents the manufacturer's logo. Front mirror 6 is placed between rear mirror 5 and lens 1. Openwork 6a is made in the centre of front mirror 6. The symmetry axis of openwork 6a lies within the optical axis of mirrors 5 and 6. The diameter of openwork 6a is over three times smaller than the diameter of mirrors 5 and 6. In the reference solution the shape of fitting 8a and the shape of cover 8b and its position on fitting 8a determine the shape of the image displayed in front of the lens illuminated with LED 7. Therefore, essentially, the solution covers any shape of fitting 8a and cover 8b with or without openwork 9 and material used to make form 8 elements, which fulfil the solution objective. Fitting 8a of form 8 can be made for instance from the commonly available PMMA or PC. Fitting 8a can be transparent or semi-transparent, opalescent or milky. Essentially, when fitting 8a is colourless, opalescent or milky, then it is backlit with red or yellow light. Fitting 8a can also be dyed, e.g. red, and then it shall be backlit with bright light, preferably white. Cover 8b essentially has a different colour than the light passing through fitting 8a of form 8, preferably darker. The use of light-dispersing fitting 8a, for instance transparent fitting 8a with matted surface (side surface) makes fitting 8a pass less light to the sides, and consequently the image of form 8 - fitting 8a is slightly clearer - stronger. The solution according to the invention operates as follows: LED 7 illuminates form 8 placed in front of it. The light beams coming from form 8 leave from the focus of front mirror 6. They are reflected from front mirror 6 parallel to the optical axis and proceed towards rear mirror 5. Then they are reflected from rear mirror 5, towards mirror 5 focus, which is placed in the hole (openwork 6a) of front mirror 6. Consequently, an image of form 8 is created in front of openwork 6a of front mirror 6, whereby the form in the reference example is a cylinder on whose face WAS inscription is created - a graphic representation of openwork 9 in cover 8b. Opaque cover 8b in front of lens 1 will be visualised in a colour different than fitting 8a and the graphic element. LED 7 illuminating form 8 can be switched on alone or with any other light emited by lamp.

Rear lamp for a wheeled vehicle in the second embodiment according to the invention is made in the same way as in the first embodiment with the exception that form 8 comes as any fitting 8d, fully made of material which uniformly disperses light all over its surface. With regard to the fact that in the presented example there is no opaque cover 8b in front of openwork 6a of front mirror 6 an image will be created, determined by the shape of fitting 8d illuminated with LED 7 of form 8.

The solution according to the invention is a gadget which will make the rear lamps where it will be used more attractive. With regard to the above there are no clear rules as for the parameters that characterise the apparent image created by the invention solution. The only rule is that the image shall be satisfactorily visible for the user. With regard to the above, the level of form 8 light permeability, LED 7 power, the design and shape of form 8 are selected empirically through visual assessment of the effects of various combinations. Essentially, the solution always works and the apparent image is visible to a higher or lower extent. For the user the solution means a more attractive lamp but for the lamp manufacturer or entity installing the lamp in a vehicle it opens new communication opportunities, e.g. the possibility of displaying a company logo.

European Patent Attorney