Search Interpretations

Interpretation ID: nht74-5.7

DATE: 04/01/74

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Lawrence R. Schneider; NHTSA

TO: Charles F. Aycock

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in response to your letter of February 16, 1974, asking whether courtesy lights for trucks carry the message "clear" and "thanks" are in violation of any Federal regulations. The courtesy lights to which you refer in your letter do not violate any regulation of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. We have forwarded a copy of your letter to the Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety in the Federal Highway Administration for a response in regard to the motor carrier safety regulations.

ALDRIDGE, HARDING & AYCOCK

FEBRUARY 16, 1974

LAWRENCE SCHNEIDER -- CHIEF COUNSEL, DEPT. OF TRANSPORTATION

RE: COURTESY LIGHTS

I represent Tom Paine, of Bovina, Texas, who has developed a lighting system for large tractor-trailer vehicles and a patent is now pending on same.

During the course of developing the product we were advised to contact the American Association of Motor Vehicles to obtain their Certificate of Approval in the 47 states represented by the Association. We are now in the process of filing that application, and on this date I discussed same with Mr. Frank Bergsman, in your office of Standards and Enforcement. Mr. Bergsman suggested that we write to you regarding the legality of the use of the product insofar as any Federal regulations are concerned.

Specifically, the courtesy lights are a set of two lights, one of which is a green light with the word "clear" stamped on the lens. The other light is a blue light with the word "thanks" stamped in the lens. The green light goes on the front of the motor vehicle and when a truck passes the vehicle with the green light on the front the operator of the vehicle being passed simply turns a toggle switch which activates the green light that may readily be seen in the rear view mirrow of the passing trucker. Of course, the purpose of this light is to show the passing trucker that his trailer has cleared the vehicle he is passing. The lens which go on the back of the truck would simply be a 'thank you' device which may also be activated by a simple toggle switch.

I am enclosing a copy of the Application filed in the

2 Patent Office with the describing pictures, which I think will make the purpose of the units more clear. My client was a trucker for many years, and during the course of driving trucks noted that truckers wore out many sets of head lights and clearance lights blinking them off and on as a courtesy gesture to passing vehicles. His product simply is designed to avoid those problems.

Specifically, we cannot find anything in the motor carrier safety regulations as revised, including the amendments, that prohibits the use of said equipment. We were, however, wanting an opinion from your office as to whether or not we would be in violation of any Federal safety regulation if these products were manufactured and placed on motor carrier vehicles.

We do understand that there are certain state jurisdictions that we will have to obtain permission from before selling the product in that state. We will proceed to obtain that jurisdiction, but we want to satisfy ourselves that we were completely in compliance with any Federal statutes or regulations.

Your assistance and opinion would surely be appreciated, and we would look forward to hearing from you as quickly as possible. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

CHARLES F. AYCOCK

ENCL.

Graphics omitted)

THOMAS G. PAINE

THRU: CHARLES F. AYCOCK

COURTESY LIGHT FIXTURE

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

A visual signaling system for large trucks passing each other while traveling in the same direction, after nightfall. Each vehicle mounts a pair of signal lamps adjacent the front and rear ends which lamps are illuminated under control of the driver to signal another vehicle or acknowledge receipt of a signal.

This invention relates to signaling systems for relatively large road vehicles such as trailer trucks.

One of the hazards encountered during nighttime motor vehicle travel, is difficulty in judging distances. This problem arises in particular when one vehicle passes another while traveling in the same direction and after passing moves laterally into the right-hand lane from the left-hand passing lane. Before moving back to the right-hand lane, a driver of a passing vehicle should be certain that there is sufficient clearance between his vehicle and the vehicle just passed. Judging such clearance is particularly difficult in connection with relatively long trucks such as tractor cabs with trailers hitched thereto. It is current practice in such vehicle passing situations, for the driver of the vehicle being passed to momentarily turn on the high beams of the headlamps which are reflected in the rear view mirror of the passing vehicle in order to signify to the driver that his vehicle has cleared the front end of the vehicle being passed. It is therefore an important object of the present invention to provide a signaling system to more positively and reliably take care of the foregoing situation in which the drivers of two vehicles wish to communicate with each other.

In accordance with the present invention, large vehicles such as elongated trucks are provided with a pair of signal lamps adjacent the front and rear ends thereof, said lamps being provided with bulb covers of different colors having faces on which a message is made visible by illumination of the lamp. Illumination of the lamp adjacent the front end is effected under control of the vehicle driver within the cab in order to signal the driver of a passing vehicle that his vehicle has cleared the front end of the vehicle being passed. The lamp mounted adjacent the front end may accordingly bear the letters "Clear" that become visible to the driver in a passing vehicle through the rear view mirror when the lamp is illuminated. The rear end mounted signal lamp, on the other hand, is provided with lattering such as "Thanks" so that the driver of the passing vehicle may acknowledge receipt of the "Clear signal by illuminating the rear mounted lamp. The illumination produced by the two lamps is of different colors so that the messages may be readily distinguished from each other at a glance.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.

Figure 1 is a simplified top plan view of a pair of road vehicles in a passing situation, the vehicles being provided with the signaling system of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view illustrating one of the signal lamps associated with the system of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a perspective view illustrating the other of the lamps associated with the signaling system.

Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view through one of the lamps.

Figure 5 is a simplified electrical circuit diagram corresponding to the system of the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, Figure 1 illustrates a typical two lane road generally referred to by reference numeral 10 on which vehicles travel in the same direction. A vehicle generally referred to by reference numeral 12 traveling in the right-hand lane is accordingly shown being passed by another vehicle generally referred to by reference numeral 14 traveling in the same direction in the left-hand or passing lane. As is well known, the passing lane is only used during the passing maneuver and the passing vehicle will return to the right-hand traveling lane after passing another vehicle, with sufficient clearance. Figure 1 illustrates this passing situation wherein the passing vehicle has cleared the vehicle 12 being passed.

The system of the present invention is shown installed on relatively long vehicles which include, for example, a tractor cab 16 at the front end to which a trailer 18 is hitched. Each vehicle mounts a pair of signal lamps including a signal lamp 20 mounted adjacent the front end of the vehicle and a signal lamp 22 mounted adjacent the rear end of the vehicle. When the passing vehicle 14 has cleared the vehicle 12, as shown in Figure 1, the driver of the vehicle 12 will cause signal lamp 20 thereon to be illuminated producing illumination 24 emitted forwardly therefrom, which will be observed by the driver of the passing vehicle 14 through the rear view mirror. This signal will then be acknowledged by the driver of the vehicle 14 by causing the rear mounted signal lamp 22 to be illuminated producing illumination 26 emitted rearwardly therefrom.

Each of the signal lamps 20 and 22 is similar in construction and operation to each other except for the signaling indicia and color of it light transmitting cover 28 as shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4. Each lamp includes a relatively rigid base 30 adapted to be fixedly mounted on the vehicle. The base includes a relatively flat, rectangular reflective portion 32 from which a peripheral flange 34 extends rearwardly terminating in a seating rim 36 adapted to abut the surface of the vehicle. Extending from the front face 38 of the cover 28, is a peripheral rim 40. The rim 40 of the cover is provided with a plurality of spaced projections 42 adapted to be snapped into retainer openings 44 formed in the flange portion 34 of the base 30. A sealing gasket 46 is sandwiched between the rims 36 and 40 of the base and cover, when the cover is assembled on the base as shown in Figure 4. Ventilation holes 48 are formed in the flat reflective portion of the base so as to permit dissipation of heat generated within the space 50 enclosed by the cover.

A pair of incandescent bulb assemblies 52 are mounted on the reflective portion 32 of the base within the space 50 in order to emit illumination through the colored cover 28 on which the signal indicia is mounted as shown in Figures 2 and 3. Electrical conductors extend from the bulb assemblies 52 through a central opening in the base lined by a nonconductive grommet 54.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the indicia mounted on the cover of lamp 22 is in the form of letters spelling "Clear" in order to signify that a passing vehicle has sufficiently cleared another vehicle as shown in Figure 1. The lamp 20 on the other hand is provided with indicia on its cover which spells "Thanks" thereby acknowledging receipt of the "Clear" signal. The lamps may be selectively controlled by the driver in a vehicle from the cab by means of switches 56 and 58 as shown in Figure 5 which thereby complete parallel lighting circuits through the associated lamps connected, for example, to the vehicle battery 60.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In combination with an elongated, road vehicle having front and rear ends, a signaling system comprising, a pair of lamps respectively mounted adjacent the front and rear ends of the vehicle, and means for selectively illuminating said lamps to signal another vehicle traveling in the same direction, the lamp on the front end bearing indicin signifying clearance in the direction of travel and the lamp on the rear end bearing acknowledgment indicia.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said lamps respectively include covers of different colors.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein each of said lamps includes a relatively rigid base having a substantially flat reflective surface and a rim portion provided with retainer openings, each of said covers having a peripheral flange provided with projections received within said retainer openings, and incandescent bulb means mounted on the reflective surface enclosed within the cover.

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein each of said lamps includes a relatively rigid base having a substantially flat reflective surface and a rim portion provided with retainer openings, a cover having a peripheral flange provided with projections received within said retainer openings, and incandescent bulb means mounted on the reflective surface enclosed within the cover.

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein the cover for the lamp adjacent the front end is colored green as background for the indicin "clear", while the cover for the lamp on the rear end is colored blue as background for the indicia "thanks".

6. The combination of claim 1 wherein said lamps include light transmitting covers respectively colored green and blue, the indicia on the cover for the front end mounted lamp reading "clear" while the indicia on the cover for the rear end mounted lamp reading "thanks".