A combined clearance and marker lamp comprising a generally rectangular housing having a base wall and a peripheral wall surrounding the base wall and having side wall portions and end wall portions. Longitudinally spaced light bulbs are mounted in the housing with at least the filaments of the bulbs beneath the plane of the upper edges of the peripheral wall of the housing. A lens of transparent material is mounted on the housing and has a top wall, side walls and end walls telescoped over the side and end wall portions of the housing. The top wall of the lens has longitudinally spaced sets of arcuate ribs on the inside surface thereof. The top wall has a prism on the inside surface of the top wall adjacent each end wall of the lens for directing light from the bulbs longitudinally outwardly through the end walls. Each side wall of the lens has a second prism on the outer surface thereof to direct the light longitudinally of the lamp.
A system for illuminating two-dimensional displays on the sides of vehicle trailers includes a plurality of reflector light assemblies disposed about the perimeter of a side of a trailer. Each light assembly includes a base which is affixed to the side of the trailer and carries a light source. A housing formed of both a transparent section and semi-translucent sections is joined to the base and encloses the light source. The transparent housing section faces generally toward the center of the trailer side surface. A concave reflector in the housing together with lens portions in the transparent housing section act to focus light across the trailer side surface to illuminate the two-dimensional display thereon. A lesser quantity of light passes through the semi-translucent sections which are preferably tinted and arranged to function as the running lights commonly seen on trailers.
The present invention is a vehicular combination marker/clearance lamp for trucks and trailers using a reduced number of light-emitting diodes and an optics design using total internal reflection to produce the light intensity and angular distribution required by the Department of Transportation. The present invention accomplishes this goal by utilizing a one-piece optical system. The system possesses a collimating lens, ribbed structures, and a modified conical shape, which will concentrate and distribute the light produced by the light-emitting diodes.
