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Interpretation ID: nht76-2.25

DATE: 05/11/76

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; C. A. Baker for E. T. Driver; NHTSA

TO: Thomas Kupensky

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in reply to your letter of April 8 to the Department of Transportation, regarding your CAUTION and THANK YOU signals which would flash simultaneously with the turn signal lamps on trucks and trailers.

Since such signs, flashing CAUTION or THANK YOU when actually "turn" is intended, may be confusing in many circumstances, they would be prohibited by paragraph S4.1.3 of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices and Associated Equipment," (copy enclosed), because they would appear to impair the effectiveness of the turn signals. If these signs were manually operated by the driver, separately from the turn signals, at appropriate times, whether flashing or steady burnings, they would be considered auxiliary devices which did not impair the effectiveness of the turn signals, and would be permitted by Standard No. 108. In this situation, however, they would be subject to the motor vehicle regulations of the individual States.

Sincerely,

Enclosure

ATTACH.

April 8, 1976

Department of Transportation 400 - 7th Street, S. W. Washington, DC 20590

Gentlemen:

Enclosed is a copy from my Patent Attorney of a description of Safety Signal Lights, which I would like to market. I feel these lights add safety for over the road truckers, and act as a backup system for a burned out turn signal, as explained in the attached write-up. They also indicate to the vehicle following of the drivers' intentions.

I have called on a major trailer manufacturer and found that this is creating quite an interest. But the question remains -- would these be acceptable by the Department of Transportation.

Hoping that you can advise me on the above, I thank you for your assistance and any information you might be able to forward.

Sincerely,

Thomas Kupensky

Enc.

(Graphics omitted)

VEHICLE SIGNAL LIGHT ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

A signal light system for a vehicle. A pair of auxiliary lights are mounted, preferable, on the rear of the vehicle and operate in conjunction with the vehicle turn indicator lights. Each of the lights is a (Illegible Words) enclosure having a replaceable face plate. The removable plates carry suitable logooda which are visible when the light is illuminated.

SPECIFICATION

The present invention relates to a vehicle signal system and more particularly to a system which (Illegible Word) additional information to other drivers on the road.

The continuous increase of super highway mileage and of the volume of traffic on those highways has brought (Illegible Words) systems which rapidly convey information between the vehicle and other drivers on the road. (Illegible Word) and others who do a considerable amount of high speed driving have developed (Illegible Words). The (Illegible Word) of turn signals to indicate (Illegible Word) changes and the blinking of lights by a vehicle being overtaken to indicate that the passing vehicle has cleared and can pull back into the slower speed lane (Illegible Word) among (Illegible Words). Also, a vehicle which has completed passing will blink his lights to thank the following vehicle. However, there are many people who do relatively little super highway driving and are not aware of these conventions. There is a need for a signaling system which will clearly convey the intentions of the signaling vehicle (Illegible Words) inexperienced drivers do not become confused. (Illegible Word) the practice of blinking the vehicle lights causes the vehicle driver to be momentarily distracted from his primary function, thereby increasing the risk of accident.

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a signaling system for a vehicle which will clearly alert the following vehicles even if the operators of such vehicles are not aware of the usual signaling conventions.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle signaling system which permits the vehicle operator to signal to following vehicles without being distracted from the primary function of driving the vehicle.

Yet another object of the invention in the provision of a signal system which may be easily applied to existing vehicles with a minimum of modification thereof.

The above and other objects of the invention which will become apparent in the following detailed description are achieved by providing a vehicle signal system which employs a pair of auxiliary light units mounted on the rear of the vehicle with the units operating in conjunction with the right and left turn signals, respectively, and with each light unit consisting of an enclosure having a removable face plate which is provided with information conveying markings visible when the signal is illuminated.

For a more complete understanding of the invention and the objects and advantages thereof reference should be had to the following detailed discription and the accompanying drawing wherein there is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a rear (Illegible Word) view of a trailer equipped with the signal lights of the (Illegible Word) invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one signal light unit of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the light assembly of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a schematic showing of the control circuit for the lights of the present invention.

A conventional semi-trailer 10 is shown in Fig. 1. The trailer is provided with rear brake lights 12 and left and right turn indicator lamps 14 and 16, respectively, in accordance with conventional practice. These lights are controlled from the vehicle cab in the usual manner. In order to convey additional information to motorists following the trailer two illiminated signs 18 and 20 are also provided on the rear of the trailer 10. While these signs are shown as being mounted at approximately the vertical mid-point of the trailer, it will be understood that the two units may be positioned at any convenient locations.

As will be described in greater detail below, the illuminated sign 18 operation in sequence with the left turn signal 14 while the illuminated sign 20 operates in sequences with the right turn signal 16. Any suitable wording or other indicators may be provided on the two signs 18 and 20. The two signs illustrated, "CAUTION" and "THANK YOU" are considered desirable as these indications reinforce the conventional turn signal indications. Thus, when the left turn signal is operated the word "CAUTION" is flashed simultaneously thus clearly alerting the following motorist to the fact that the vehicle is about to shift to the left lane. This is particularly advantageous when the truck in one of a line of trucks as following motorists frequently cannot see the right turn signals of such a truck and may misinterpret the flashing turn signal as a flashing brake light.

The use of the word "THANK YOU" in conjunction with the right turn signal allows the overtaking vehicle to express his consideration to the vehicle which has been passed without requiring him to perform any action except the operation of his right turn signal which is conventionally done when pulling back into the right lane.

The construction of the light assembly 18 is shown in greater detail in Figs. 2, 3, and 4. It will be understood that the unit 20 is of identical construction. Each of the light units consists of a rectangular bon-like housing 22 which is open on one face to receive a plastic face plate 24 which is provided with the desired indecia. The indecia 26 may be incorporated in any suitable arrangement such as the use of contracting colors or of opaque and translucent regions. The casing 22 has a rear wall 28, and walls 30, and top and bottom walls 32 and 34, respectively. The forward wages of the top and bottom walls are bent to form (Illegible Word) 36. These (Illegible Word) 36 define a channel in which the facing plate 24 in slidably received, the end walls 30 (Illegible Word) the engage the inner face of the plate 24. If desired and depending on the material used to form the face plate 24 a ridge 40 may be provided on the inner surfaces of the upper and lower walls 32 and 43, respectively, in spaced parallel relation to the (Illegible Word) 36 to provide for additional support to the face plate 24. Suitable gaskets 38 and 41 are provided to form a fluid tight seal between the face plate 24 and the casing 22. The wire leads 43 for the lamps within the casing are routed through a suitable grommet 45 to provide a fluid tight seal between the wires and the casing 22.

A vertically extending wall 42 is provided within the casing 22 and midway between the opposite ends 30. The wall may, for example, have a tab portion 44 which is welded or otherwise secured to the rear wall 28 of the casing 22. Affixed to opposite sides of the wall 42 are sockets 46 and 48 for receiving (Illegible Word) 50 and (Illegible Word) respectively. As is shown in Fig. 4, a number of holes or apetures 54 may be provided in the plate 52 so that light can be transmitted from either bulb or both sides of the casing. This assures that even if one bulb should fail at least partial illumination of the whole sign will still be possible.

One possible circuit for controlling the signal lamps 18 and 20 of the present invention is illustrated in Fig. 5 where the vehicle power source, such as the battery 60, is connected to the conventional turn signal switch 62 through a flasher assembly 64 which is also a conventional (Illegible Word). In a first position the turn signal switch 62 causes the left front signal lamp 661, the left rear lamp 14, and the two lamps 50 and 52 of the unit 18 to flash in unison. In the opposite position the switch 62 (Illegible Word) the right forward signal lamp 66r, the rear right signal lamp 16 and the two bulbs of the unit 20. It will be noted that the two bulbs 50 and 52 of each unit are connected in parallel to one another and in parallel to the other signal lamps on the corresponding side of the vehicle. If desired, suitable means such as the double hole signal throw switch 70 may be provided for disconnecting the signaling units 18 and 20 when desired.

While only the best known embodiment has been illustrated and described in detail herein, it will be clearly understood that the invention is not limited thereto or thereby. Reference should therefore be had to the appended claims in determining the true scope of the invention.

What is claimed is

1. An auxiliary signal system for a vehicle having a conventional turn signal system which comprises:

a pair of lamp housings, each having a removable face plate carrying a distinctive legend, the housings being mounted on the rear of the vehicle and adjacent the opposite sides thereof;

at least one lamp within each housing for illuminating the face plate thereof to make the legend visible; and circuit means connecting the lamp of each housing to the actuating circuit of the respective turn signal whereby the lamp operates in conjunction with the respective turn signal.

2. The auxiliary signal system according to Claim 1 wherein each housing comprises a bon-like member having a rectangular opening in one side thereof, the face plate covering the opening.

3. The auxiliary signal system according to Claim 2 wherein two lamps are provided within each housing, the lamps being connected in parallel and positioned so as to illuminate opposite ends of the enclosure.

4. The auxiliary signal system according to Claim 3 wherein each housing has a vertically extending center wall, the two lamps being mounted to the center wall on opposite sides thereof.

5. The auxiliary signal system according to Claim 1 wherein the legend carried by the facing plate of the left housing is "CAUTION" and the legend carried by the facing plate of the right housing is "THANK YOU".