Title: Thin lamp assembly method
Abstract: The subject invention comprises a thin lamp assembly having a lens and a lamp housing heat staked and sealed together. The subject invention further comprises the method of assembling the thin lamp assembly. In one embodiment, the lens has a plurality of plastic stakes and a lens rib located around the lens' periphery. Further, the lamp housing has a plurality of receiving holes around its outer periphery and a lamp housing rib around its inner periphery. In this embodiment, a sealant is placed on the lamp housing and the plastic stakes are inserted into the receiving holes so that the lens rib and lamp housing rib form a seal channel to contain the sealant and the lens is flush with the lamp housing. A heat source is then used to heat treat the plastic stakes to form a plurality of mushroom caps that act to attach the lens to the lamp housing.
Patent Number: 6,945,683 Issued on 09/20/2005 to Gross, et al.
| Inventors:
|
Gross; Robert D. (Noblesville, IN);
Bennett; Larry R. (Shirley, IN)
|
| Assignee:
|
Guide Corporation (Pendleton, IN)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
448537 |
| Filed:
|
May 30, 2003 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
362/544; 362/158; 362/374; 362/545 |
| Intern'l Class: |
F21V 029/00 |
| Field of Search: |
362/158,240,294,373,374,375,544,545
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
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| 5673995 | Oct., 1997 | Segaud.
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| 5765940 | Jun., 1998 | Levy et al.
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| 5785418 | Jul., 1998 | Hochstein.
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| 5921652 | Jul., 1999 | Parker et al.
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| 6039466 | Mar., 2000 | Duchenne et al.
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| 6045247 | Apr., 2000 | Fukuhara.
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| 6280480 | Aug., 2001 | Tuttle et al.
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| 6299334 | Oct., 2001 | Schwanz et al.
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| 6371636 | Apr., 2002 | Wesson.
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| 6406172 | Jun., 2002 | Harbers et al.
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| 6406173 | Jun., 2002 | Serizawa et al.
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| 2002/0024822 | Feb., 2002 | Pond et al.
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| |
| 2002/0117692 | Aug., 2002 | Lin.
| |
Primary Examiner: Ward; John Anthony
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Ice Miller
Claims
1. A thin lamp assembly comprising:
a. a lamp housing and a lens heat staked together;
b. a light source positioned in between the lens and the lamp housing;
c. a plurality of plastic stakes located on the lens' back side and sporadically
around the lens' periphery;
d. a plurality of receiving holes located sporadically around the lamp housing's
outer periphery wherein each of the plurality of receiving holes contains one of
the plurality of plastic stakes; and
e. a plurality of mushroom caps that each cover one of the plurality of plastic
stakes and one of the plurality of receiving holes.
2. The thin lamp assembly of claim 1 wherein the light source comprises an LED array.
3. The thin lamp assembly of claim 1 wherein the light source comprises an LED array.
4. The thin lamp assembly of claim 1 further comprising a lens rib and a lamp
housing rib located on the lens, so that the lens rib and lamp housing rib form
a seal channel that contains a sealant.
5. The thin lamp assembly of claim 1 further comprising a lens rib and a lamp
housing rib located on the lamp housing, so that the lens rib and lamp housing
rib form a seal channel that contains a sealant.
6. The thin lamp assembly of claim 1 further comprising a lens rib located around
the lens' periphery.
7. The thin lamp assembly of claim 6 further comprising a lamp housing rib located
around the lamp housing's inner periphery, so that a seal channel is located between
the lens rib and the lamp housing rib.
8. The thin lamp assembly of claim 7 further comprising a sealant located in
the seal channel.
9. The thin lamp assembly of claim 8 wherein the sealant comprises a silicon sealant.
10. The thin lamp assembly of claim 8 wherein the sealant comprises a RTV sealant.
11. The thin lamp assembly of claim 1 further comprising a lens frame located
on the lens' back side so that the plurality of plastic stakes are located around
the lens frame's periphery, the lens frame having and a lens rib located around
the lens frame's periphery.
12. The thin lamp assembly of claim 11 further comprising a a lamp housing rib
located around the lamp housing's inner periphery so that the lamp housing rib
forms a seal channel with the lens rib.
13. The thin lamp assembly of claim 12 further comprising a sealant located in
the seal channel.
14. A method of assembling a thin lamp assembly comprising the steps of:
a. providing a lamp housing having at least one light source and a plurality
of receiving holes located sporadically around the lens' periphery;
b. providing a lens having a plurality of plastic stakes located sporadically
around the lamp housing's outer periphery;
c. providing a seal channel;
d. placing a sealant into the seal channel;
e. placing the lens on top of the lamp housing so that the light source is enclosed
by the lens and the lamp housing and the plurality of plastic stakes are inserted
into the plurality of receiving holes; and
f. heat staking each of the plurality of plastic stakes in order to heat stake
the lens and the lamp housing together.
15. The method of assembling a thin lamp assembly of claim 14, wherein the lamp
housing further comprises a lamp housing rib located around the lamp housing's
inner periphery.
16. The method of assembling a thin lamp assembly of claim 15, wherein the lens
further comprises a lens rib located around the lens' periphery.
17. The method of assembling a thin lamp assembly of claim 16, wherein the step
of placing the lens on top of the lamp housing further comprises forming the seal
channel in between the lamp housing rib and lens rib as the plurality of plastic
stakes are inserted into the plurality of receiving holes.
18. The method of assembling a thin lamp assembly of claim 17, wherein the heat
staking step comprises:
a. providing a heating device; and
b. heat treating each of the plurality of plastic stakes with the heating device
so that a plurality of mushroom caps form on the thin lamp assembly to cover each
of the plurality of plastic stakes and each of the plurality of receiving holes.
19. The method of assembling a thin lamp assembly of claim 14 wherein the seal
channel is formed by a lens rib and a lamp housing rib both located on the lamp housing.
20. The method of assembling a thin lamp assembly of claim 14 wherein the seal
channel is formed by a lens rib and a lamp housing rib both located on the lens.
21. The method of assembling a thin lamp assembly of claim 14, wherein the light
source comprises at least one LED.
22. The method of assembling a thin lamp assembly of claim 14, wherein the light
source comprises an LED array.
23. A thin lamp assembly comprising:
a. a lamp housing having
(i) a plurality of receiving holes located sporadically around the lamp housing's
outer periphery; and
(ii) a lamp housing rib located around the lamp housing's inner periphery;
b. a light source secured to the lamp housing;
c. a lens heat staked to the lamp housing, the lens having
(i) a plurality of plastic stakes located on the lens' backside and sporadically
around the lens' periphery; and
(ii) a lens rib located on the lens' backside and around the lens' periphery;
d. a seal channel located in between the lens rib and lamp housing rib;
e. a sealant located in the seal channel; and
f. a plurality of mushroom caps that each cover each of the plurality of plastic
stakes and each of the plurality of receiving holes.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A typical vehicle lamp assembly comprises a housing portion with a reflector
containing
a rear-loaded filament light bulb and a lens affixed to the open end of the housing.
This construction is rather large in size and takes up a considerable amount of
depth when housed in a vehicle. As vehicle designs have changed over the years
to create more compact vehicles with improved gas mileage, designers have sought
ways to reduce the size and space requirements for housing a lamp assembly.
In order to reduce the size of a lamp assembly, vehicle lamp designers have begun
to use light emitting diodes (LEDs) instead of filament bulbs. In a LED lamp assembly,
LEDs are mounted or placed within a lamp housing and a lens is then affixed and
sealed to the open end of the lamp housing. Because LEDs are much smaller and produce
less heat than a filament bulb, a lamp assembly containing LEDs is much smaller
(thinner) in size. Thus, LED lamp assemblies allow vehicles to be further reduced
in size, because less volume is required in the vehicle to house each of the lamp
assemblies. Unfortunately, the current method of assembling LED lamp assemblies
prevent further reduction in size of the vehicle lamp assembly because of the elements
needed to both seal and affix the lens to the lamp housing.
FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of a LED lamp assembly
2. As shown in FIG.
1, LED lamp assembly
2 comprises a lens
3 having a lens leg
4
around die periphery of the lens. Lamp housing
5 has a lens leg channel
6 located around the periphery of the lamp housing. FIG. 1
a shows
a cross-sectional view of an almost fully assembled LED lamp assembly
2
along line A—A of FIG.
1. As shown in FIG. 1
a, lens leg channel
6 is designed and of sufficient depth and width to accept lens leg
4
and the large amount of sealant required to assemble the lamp assembly. Lens leg
4 and lens leg channel
6 are of sufficient size to provide enough
surface area for a sealant to both attach and seal lens
3 to a lamp housing
5.
Further, referring back to FIG. 1, lamp assembly
2 comprises at least
one attachment means, such as two clips
8 and two notches
9 on lamp
housing
5. Clips
8 fit into notch
9 and on top of lens
3
so that the lens and lamp housing
5 are held together. The attachment means
is only used for a period of time sufficient enough to allow the sealant to cure.
An LED array
12 is mounted in lamp housing
5 and is covered by lens
3. As used herein, the term "LED array" means a plurality of LEDs arranged
on a single circuit board or a plurality of circuit boards.
FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of the steps that comprise the method of assembling
LED lamp assembly
2. As shown in step
40, LED array
12 is
mounted to lamp housing
5. Step
41 comprises placing a sealant, such
as a silicon sealant, into lens leg channel
6. In step
42, lens leg
4 is inserted into lens leg channel
6 so that lens leg
4 seats
to the bottom of lens leg channel
6. As shown in step
43, clips
8
are attached to two notches
9 on lamp housing
5 and to lens
3.
In this manner, two clips
8 hold lens
3 to lamp housing
5
until the sealant is allowed to cure. As shown in step
44, once the sealant
cures around lens leg
4 and in lens leg channel
6, the sealant will
attach and seal lens
3 to lamp housing
5 to form LED lamp assembly
2. To accomplish both the attaching and sealing purposes, it will be appreciated
by one skilled in the art that a large amount of sealant is required to be used.
Further, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that the lens leg has
to be large enough to provide enough surface area to allow the sealant to both
attach and seal the lens to the lamp housing. Moreover, the lens leg channel must
be large enough to hold the lens leg and the large amount of sealant required to
attach and seal the lens to the lamp housing. The large amount of sealant, the
length of lens leg
4 and the depth of lens leg channel
6 are required
to both seal and attach lens
3 to lamp housing
5. It is the required
amount of sealant, the size of the lens leg and the size of the lens leg channel
that prevent designers from obtaining any further reduction in the size of vehicle
lamp assemblies.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a method of assembling a thin
lamp assembly for vehicles that can further reduce the size of the vehicular lamp
assembly. In particular, it is desirable to eliminate the lens leg, eliminate the
lens leg channel and reduce the amount of sealant needed to seal and attach the
lens to the lamp housing.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The subject invention comprises a method of assembling a thin lamp assembly.
Further, the subject invention includes the thin lamp assembly produced by this
inventive method of assembly.
One embodiment of the method of producing the thin lamp assembly comprises the
steps of providing a lens with a lens rib located around the periphery of the lens
and a plurality of plastic stakes located sporadically around the periphery of
the lens. The method further provides a lamp housing with a lamp housing rib located
around its inner periphery and a plurality of receiving holes located on its outer
periphery in a location and number that correspond with the number and the location
of the plastic stakes of the lens. After a sealant is placed on the lamp housing
the lens is then placed over the lamp housing so that plastic stakes are inserted
into the receiving holes. In this manner, the lens rib and the lamp housing rib
form a seal channel to hold the sealant. A heating device is then used to heat
treat each of the plurality of plastic stakes. The heating device heats each of
the plurality of plastic stakes to form a mushroom cap that covers each of the
receiving holes of the lamp assembly. Once the mushroom caps are formed, the heating
device is withdrawn and the plastic stakes cool. Once the plastic stakes cool and
the sealant cures, the lens is attached and sealed to the lamp housing.
Thus, one embodiment of the thin lamp assembly of the subject invention comprises
a lens with a lens rib and a plurality of plastic stakes located on its periphery.
The thin lamp assembly further comprises a lamp housing attached to the lens and
a light source enclosed by the lamp housing and lens. The lamp housing has a plurality
of receiving holes that contain each of the plastic stakes and a lamp housing rib.
The thin lamp assembly further comprises a mushroom cap that covers each of the
plastic stakes and receiving holes and a sealant located in a seal channel that
is formed by the lens rib and the lamp housing rib. The thin lamp assembly further
comprises a light source enclosed by the lamp housing and lens. An alternative
embodiment of the subject invention has the plastic stakes located on the lamp
housing and the receiving holes located on the lens so that the lamp housing is
heat staked to the lens. Other embodiments can have both the lens rib and lamp
housing rib located on the lens or have both ribs located on the lamp housing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a LED lamp assembly known in the art;
FIG. 1
a is a cross-sectional view of the prior art along line A—A
of FIG. 1;
FIG. 2 is a flow chart depicting the method of assembling the LED lamp assembly
of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a front view of an exemplary embodiment of the subject invention;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the exemplary embodiment along line B—B
of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a rear view of a lens utilized in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 is a front view of a lamp housing utilized in the exemplary embodiment
of FIG. 3;
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view along line B—B of FIG. 3 of an exemplary
embodiment of the subject invention containing a lens frame;
FIG. 8 is a rear view of a lens and the lens frame utilized in the exemplary
embodiment of FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 is a front view of a lamp housing utilized in the exemplary embodiment
of FIG. 7; and
FIG. 10 is a flow chart of the method of assembling an exemplary embodiment
of the subject invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The subject invention comprises a method of assembling a thin lamp assembly that
utilizes a heat staking process. Further, the subject invention comprises the thin
lamp assembly with a lens heat staked to a lamp housing.
FIG. 3 shows a front view of an exemplary embodiment of the subject invention.
As shown in FIG. 3, one embodiment of the subject invention comprises a thin signal
lamp assembly
10 for an automobile. Thin signal lamp assembly
10
comprises a lens
11, LED array
12, and a plurality of plastic stakes
13. While thin signal lamp assembly
10 utilizes an LED array, it
will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that the subject invention can utilize
a single LED or any other low profile light source.
FIG. 4 shows a side cross-sectional view of thin signal lamp assembly
10
along line B—B of FIG.
3. As shown in FIG. 4, lens
11 is attached
to a lamp housing
14 by plurality of plastic stakes
13 and a plurality
of mushroom caps
15. It will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that
lens
11 and lamp housing
14 can be manufactured with a variety of
materials and processes known in the art.
FIG. 5 shows a rear view of lens
11. As shown in FIG. 5, plastic stakes
13 are located on lens'
11 back side
16 and are arranged sporadically
along the periphery of lens
11. Lens
11 further comprises a lens
rib
17 located around the periphery of the lens in between plastic stakes
13. While lens rib
17 is located in between plastic stakes
13
in this embodiment, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that the lens
rib can be located anywhere on the periphery of the lens as long as the lens rib
forms a seal channel
23 with a lamp housing rib
21 (shown in FIG.
4). Referring back to FIG. 4, each of the plurality of plastic stakes have
a bottom
33 that is either anchored to or integral with back side
16
of lens
11 and a top
34 that is integral with one of the plurality
of mushroom caps
15. While FIGS. 3 and 5 show lens
11 with five plastic
stakes
13, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that the subject
invention can comprise any number of plastic stakes.
Referring back to FIG. 4, lens
11 is heat staked to lamp housing
14. As used herein, the terms "heat staked" and "heat staking" refer to
a process where a heating device, such as an electric anvil, is used to heat treat
a plurality of plastic stakes located on a lens or a lamp housing so that the plurality
of plastic stakes hold the lens and the lamp housing together. The particular method
for heat staking lens
11 to lamp housing
14 for the present embodiment
is described below in relation to FIG.
10. FIG. 6 shows a front view of
lamp housing
14. As shown in FIG.
6 and in FIG. 4, lamp housing
14
comprises a flange
18 and a holding compartment
20. Flange
18
contains a plurality of receiving holes
19 located sporadically around lamp
housing's
14 outer periphery
24 and holding compartment
20
contains LED array
12 (shown in FIG.
4). The location of each of
the plurality of receiving holes
19 corresponds to the location of each
of the plurality of plastic stakes
13. While FIG. 6 shows lamp housing
14
with five receiving holes, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that
any number of receiving holes can be used with the subject invention, so long as,
the number of the receiving hole(s) equals the number of plastic stake(s). Lamp
housing rib
21 is located adjacent to flange
18 around lamp housing's
14 inner periphery
22. Lamp housing rib
21 is formed around
inner periphery
22 of lamp housing
14 so that the lamp housing rib
and lens rib
17 form seal channel
23 (shown in FIG.
4).
Referring back to FIG. 4, array of LEDs
12 is located in holding
compartment
20 of lamp housing
14. It will be appreciated by one
skilled in the art that the LED array can be attached or held to the holding compartment
of the lamp housing in a number of ways known to those skilled in the art including,
but not limited to, gluing or screwing the LED array to the lamp housing or trapping
the LED array in between the lens and the lamp housing. Further, it will be appreciated
by one skilled in the art that LED array
12 can be electrically connected
in a number of ways known to those skilled in the art including, but not limited
to, electronically connecting wires from the power source to wire leads located
on the LED array. While the present embodiment of the subject invention utilizes
an LED array as a light source, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art
that any type of light source can be used in the subject invention and the light
source may comprise a plurality of light sources that may or may not be arranged
in an array.
Referring to FIG. 4, lens
11 is heat staked to lamp housing
14
so that the lens' back side
16 interacts and interfaces with lamp housing
rib
21 and its lens rib
17 interacts and interfaces with flange
18
of lamp housing
14. A more detailed description of the heat staking process
is described below in conjunction with FIG.
10. Lamp housing rib
21
and lens rib
17 define seal channel
23 which contains a sealant
7.
It will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that the sealant
7 of the
subject invention can comprise any number of sealants including, but not limited
to, a silicon sealant, such as a room temperature vulcanization sealant (hereinafter
referred to as RTV). Sealant
7 acts to seal and attach lens
11 to
lamp housing
14. Plurality of plastic stakes
13 are each contained
by one of the corresponding plurality of receiving holes
19 and each of
the plurality plastic stakes and receiving holes are covered by one of the plurality
of mushroom caps
15. Plurality of plastic stakes
13, plurality of
mushroom caps
15 and plurality of receiving holes
19 attach lens
11 to lamp housing
14.
FIG. 7 shows a cross-sectional view of another exemplary embodiment of the subject
invention along line B—B of FIG.
3. As shown in FIG. 7, this exemplary
embodiment of the subject invention comprises a thin signal lamp assembly
25
having an outer lens
26 and a lamp housing
28. Outer lens
26
comprises a lens frame
27 located around the periphery of outer lens
26.
FIG. 8 shows a rear view of outer lens
26 and lens frame
27. As shown
in FIG. 8, lens frame
27 comprises plurality of plastic stakes
13
and lens rib
17. Plastic stakes
13 are arranged sporadically along
the periphery of lens frame
27 and lens rib
17 is located around
the periphery of lens frame
27 in between plastic stakes
13. It will
be appreciated by one skilled in the art that lens rib
17 does not have
to be located in between plastic stakes
13, but can be located anywhere
around the periphery of the lens frame as long as the lens rib forms seal channel
23 with the lamp housing rib
21. As shown in FIG. 7, each of the
plurality of plastic stakes
13 have bottom
33 that is either integral
with or anchored to lens frame
27 and top
34 that is integral with
mushroom cap
15. While FIG. 8 shows that this exemplary embodiment utilizes
five plastic stakes, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that any
number of plastic stakes can be used. In this embodiment, lens frame
27
is made of an opaque material and outer lens
26 is made of a translucent
material. However, it will be realized by one skilled in the art that many types
of materials and manufacturing processes can be used to construct the outer lens
and lens frame.
Referring back to FIG. 7, lamp housing
28 is heat staked to lens
frame
27 and is covered by outer lens
26. FIG. 9 shows a front view
of lamp housing
28. As shown in FIG. 9, lamp housing
28 comprises
lamp housing rib
21 located around inner periphery
22 and plurality
of receiving holes
19 located sporadically around outer periphery
24.
The location of each receiving hole
19 corresponds in location to the location
of each of the plurality of plastic stakes
13. While FIG. 9 shows lamp housing
28 with five receiving holes, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the
art that any number of receiving holes can be used in the subject invention, so
long as, the number of receiving holes equals the number of plastic stakes.
Referring back to FIG. 7, lamp housing
28 further comprises LED
array
12. LED array
12 is located in the center of lamp housing
28
and is encircled by lamp housing rib
21. Outer lens
26 is heat staked
to lamp housing
28 so that lens rib
17 interacts with lamp housing
28 and, so that, lens frame
27 interacts with lamp housing rib
21.
Lens rib
17 and lamp housing rib
21 define seal channel
23
that contains sealant
7. Sealant
7 acts to seal and attach lens frame
27 to lamp housing
28. Plastic stakes
13 are each contained
by one of the corresponding receiving holes
19 and each of the plurality
of receiving holes
19 and plastic stakes
13 are covered by one of
the plurality of mushroom caps. Plurality of plastic stakes
13, plurality
of receiving holes
19 and plurality of mushroom caps
15 attach outer
lens
26 and lens frame
27 to lamp housing
28.
FIG. 10 shows a flow chart of the method utilized to assemble an exemplary embodiment
of the subject invention. As shown in FIG. 10, the method comprises of the following
steps. In step
50, the LED array is secured to the lamp housing so that
the LED array is surrounded by the lamp housing rib. In step
51, a sealant
is placed on the lamp housing near the lamp housing rib. It will be appreciated
by one skilled in the art that the sealant could alternatively be placed on the
lens or lens frame adjacent the inside edge of the lens rib. During step
52,
the lens is placed over the lamp housing so that the plastic stakes fit into the
receiving holes and the lens rib and the lamp housing rib form a seal channel to
contain the sealant. In step
53, a heating device, such as an electric anvil,
is utilized to heat stake the lens to the lamp housing by heat treating each plastic
stake so that each plastic stake forms a mushroom cap that covers both the plastic
stake and corresponding receiving hole. It will be appreciated by one skilled in
the art that any number of heating devices can be utilized to heat treat the plastic
stakes. Furthermore, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that the
caps of the subject invention are not limited to the mushroom caps but rather can
be any type of structure located on the top of each of the plastic stakes that
attaches the lens to the lamp housing. Once the mushroom cap is formed, the heating
device is withdrawn and the plastic stakes are allowed to cool. In this manner,
each of the plastic stakes and mushroom caps attach the lens to the lamp housing.
In step
54, the sealant is allowed to cure and seal the lens to the lamp
housing. The lamp assembly created by this method can be inserted into the vehicle
by any number of means known to those skilled in the art.
While the subject invention has been described in considerable detail with
references to particular embodiments thereof, such is offered by way of non-limiting
examples of the invention as many other versions are possible. For example, instead
of heat staking the lens to the lamp housing, the lamp housing can comprise a plurality
of plastic stakes that are received by a plurality of receiving holes on the lens
that allow the lamp housing to be heat staked to the lens in the same manner as
already described. Further, instead of having the lens rib located on the lens
or lens frame and the lamp housing rib located on the lamp housing, the ribs can
both be located on the lamp housing or, alternatively, both be located on the lens
or lens frame. The ribs can be located in either location so long as they form
a seal channel to hold a sealant. It is anticipated that a variety of other modifications
and changes will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art and that
such modifications and changes are intended to be encompassed within the spirit
and scope of the pending claims.
*
