HEADLAMP HOUSING FOR A SADDLE TYPE VEHICLE

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates generally to a housing for a headlamp unit of an automotive vehicle, and more particularly, but not exclusively, to the headlamp housing of an automotive saddle type vehicle facing the vehicle rider.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] An automotive vehicle in the form of a saddle type vehicle with a swinging power unit is provided with a steering tube rotatably supported on a head tube through which a vehicle rider manoeuvres the vehicle. A headlamp unit is provided towards an upper end of the steering tube. To house the headlamp and to conceal the steering tube, a headlamp housing is provided rearwardly of the headlamp unit and upwardly of a rear cover. An interface space is afforded between headlamp housing and rear cover of the vehicle for rotating the handlebar operated steering tube.

[0003] However, the interface space poses a few problems. It is observed that the interface space may harm the safety of the vehicle rider in various situations that may arise while using the vehicle. For example, the rider's finger may be trapped along the edges of the interface space while operating the vehicle lock in night conditions or low visibilty conditions. A rider may just rest his fingers on the interface space. Any rotation of the headlamp housing caused due to rotation of the steering tube during such entrapment would lead to serious injuries as the front portion of the fingers may be crushed between the headlamp housing and the rear cover. Further, in a dustry terrain, small flying pebbles may enter the interface space between the headlamp housing and the rear cover. Entry and trapment of such pebbles would jam the rotation of the headlamp housing relative to the rear cover and may cause accidents. Thus, the presence of interface space causes safety and manouverability problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] It is therefore an object of the present invention to overcome the safety hazard and make the headlamp housing more rider friendly without compromising the maneuverability of the vehicle. It is also an object of the present invention to cover any undesirable space between the headlamp housing and the rear cover to prevent entrapment of human hand or pebbles for improving safety of the vehicle rider.

[0005] To this end, the present invention discloses a scooter type vehicle comprising a rear cover, a rotatable headlamp housing disposed upwardly of the rear cover, an interface space between the rear cover and the headlamp housing, a trap groove formed in the headlamp housing and accessible from the interface space wherein the headlamp housing includes a shielding member protruding from at least a portion of the headlamp housing and closing the trap groove in the handlebar rotated condition from a bottom direction. The shielding member protrudes forwardly and in vehicle width direction from an edge of the headlamp housing. According to an aspect, the shielding member is a flat structure or a ribbed structure. The shielding member closes the trap groove from the bottom direction and prevents access of human hand or pebbles to it. During the rotation of the headlamp housing, the shielding member closes the trap groove due to which the accidental access to trap groove by the fingers and pebbles is prevented and the vehicle rider is not injured when the headlamp housing is reverted to default condition.

[0006] The foregoing objectives and summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form, and is not limiting. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present subject matter as well as the subject matter itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the ensuing detailed description of the subject matter and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0007] The above and other features, aspects and advantages of the subject matter will be better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims and accompanying drawings where:

[0008] FIG. 1 shows a side elevational view of an automotive vehicle exemplified in the form of a scooter type vehicle.

[0009] FIG. 2 shows a rear view of a front portion of the vehicle.

[00010] FIG. 3 shows a bottom view of a headlamp housing of the vehicle including a shielding member.

[00011] FIG. 4 shows a sectional view of the headlamp housing along the axis A-A of FIG. 2.

[00012] FIG. 5 shows the headlamp housing in the handlebar straight condition.

[00013] FIG. 6 illustrates the headlamp housing in the handlebar rotated condition.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[00014] The present invention relates to a shielding member provided in a headlamp housing of a scooter type vehicle. It is to be noted that "front" and "rear", and "left" and "right" referred to in the ensuing description of the illustrated embodiment refer to front and rear, and left and right directions as seen in a state of being seated on a seat of the scooter type motorcycle. Furthermore, a longitudinal axis, except otherwise mentioned, refers to a front to rear axis relative to the said motorcycle, while a lateral axis, except otherwise mentioned, refers generally to a side to side, or left to right axis relative to the said motorcycle. Various other features and embodiments of the present subject matter here will be discernible from the following further description thereof, set out hereunder. The detailed explanation of the constitution of parts other than the subject matter which constitutes an essential part has been omitted at suitable places.

[00015] FIG. 1 shows a side elevation view of the scooter type motorcycle (hereinafter 'motorcycle'). The motorcycle 1 includes a frame assembly made up of several tubes welded together supporting the body of said motorcycle. A lower half of the front portion of the motorcycle 1 has a steerable front wheel 2 and a driven rear wheel 4 driven by driving force generated by a power unit 14. The front wheel 2 of the motorcycle 1 is axially supported at a lower end of a front fork 3, and the front fork 3 is pivoted in a steerable manner in a head pipe of the motorcycle frame. The head tube receives a steering tube to provide manual control over the motorcycle.

[00016] The upper half of the front portion of the motorcycle 1 comprises of a handle bar 34 attached to an upper end of the head pipe. The handle bar is connected to the steering tube. The handle bar 34 and a seat 12 are supported at opposing ends of the frame assembly and a generally open area is defined there between known as floorboard 9 which functions as a step through space. The seat 12 for a driver and a pillion is placed forward to a fuel tank and rearwardly of the floorboard 9. A utility box (not shown) is provided below the seat 12 for storing useful articles. A side trim member 13 laterally beneath the floorboard 9 is provided to cover the lower frame members from being visible. The side trim member 13 is laterally present on both sides of the motorcycle; however, only one is visible in the side view. A side stand fixed to the left side of the frame supports the motorcycle such that motorcycle can incline to the left side without falling.

[00017] In the said motorcycle, the power unit 14 is configured to drive, and is swingably supported on, the rear wheel 4. The power unit 14 is integrally formed with a forwardly inclined engine and a transmission system, and the rear wheel 4 is connected to a drive shaft at the rear of the power unit 14. In an embodiment of the present invention, the engine is a four stroke single cylinder internal combustion engine.

[00018] The vehicle frame is covered by a plurality of vehicle body covers including a front cover assembly 16, a rear cover 35, an under seat cover 10, a left side cover 11 and a right side cover. The right side cover is symmetrical to the left side cover and hence not shown. The front cover assembly 16 covers the steering tube from the front and comprises of a plurality of covers detachably connected to each other. In a preferred embodiment, the front cover assembly 16 includes an first cover 17, a second middle cover 18 and a third lower cover 19.

[00019] From the rear, the steering tube and other supported vehicular components are covered by the rear cover 35 which also faces the vehicle rider. The rear cover 35 is disposed below a headlamp unit 5, and is secured to and fixedly connected to the front cover assembly 16. The headlamp unit 5 is arranged forwardly of the handle bar 34 and towards the upper end of the steering tube. It is surrounded by a visor 6 from the front direction, and by a headlamp housing 20 from the rear direction. The headlamp housing 20 also covers the contour of the instrument cluster provided in the vehicle and faces the vehicle rider. The headlamp housing 20 is detachably secured to the visor 6 from behind the headlamp unit 5.

[00020] FIG. 2 describes the headlamp housing in detail. The headlamp housing 20 further comprises of an upwardly face portion 21 and a downwardly neck portion 22. The face portion 21 contours the instrument cluster and a rear surface of the visor 6, and has recesses for accomodating turn signal lamps. On the other hand, the neck portion 22 is disposed above the rear cover 35. A surface of the neck portion faces the vehicle rider. The rear cover 35 comprises of a spine portion 36 provided in the middle portion of the rear cover. The spine portion 36 is curved inwardly and adjoins the head tube and steering tube from the rear direction. In an embodiment, the neck portion 22 is disposed above the spine portion 36.

[00021] The headlamp housing 20 along with the headlamp unit 5 as a whole is rotatable along with the steering tube vis-a-vis the fixed rear cover 35. An interface space is provided between the neck portion 22 of the headlamp housing 20 and the spine portion 36 of the rear cover 35 to facilitate the rotation of the steering tube. FIG. 3 shows a bottom view of the headlamp housing without the rear cover 35. The bottom surface of the neck portion 22 is provided with an edge 23 running along the width of the neck portion 22. A trap groove 32 is formed in the neck portion 22 of the headlamp housing 20. In an embodiment, the trap groove 32 is an openng along the vertical axis (top to down axis) of the neck portion 22 accessible from the interface space 33 from the bottom direction.

[00022] During rotation of the steering tube, the headlamp unit 5 and the headlamp housing 20 also rotate. The steering tube may be rotated in the vehicle locked condition or to manouver the vehicle while negotiating a turn on the road. A corner edge of the neck portion 22 moves out in the rear direction and the trap groove 32 is accessible during this condition. The trap groove 32 (also shown in FIG. 4) is sufficiently wide to accidently receive at least one finger of the vehicle rider in adverse circumstances when the vehicle is in handlebar rotated condition. These adverse circumstances include low visibility conditions, night conditions and during locking of the vehicle. Hence, the neck portion 22 includes a shielding member 25 protruding from at least a portion of the edge 23 of the neck portion 22 and closing the trap groove 32 in the handlebar rotated condition from the bottom direction.

[00023] According to an embodiment, the shielding member 25 extends along the entire edge 23 of the neck portion 22 of the headlamp housing 20 when seen from the bottom view. In this way, each trap groove 32 at the corner edge of the neck portion 22 becomes inaccessible for the fingers of the vehicle rider thus ensuring his safety. According to another embodiment, the shielding member 25 covers at least a portion of the edge 23 of the neck portion 22 of the headlamp housing 20. In this embodiment, the shielding member is not provided along the entire edge. It is only provided along both the corner edges of the neck portion (as shown in FIG. 3) more prone to move out rearwardly during the rotation of the handlebar housing 20. The trap grooves 32 then become inaccessible even when the headlamp housing 20 is completely rotated with respect to the rear cover 35. This embodiment requires less material for the shielding member and is more cost friendly.

[00024] According to an embodiment, the shielding member 25 is a flange protruding forwardly and in vehicle width direction from the edge of the neck portion. The flange has a sheet like structure. The flange is placed at the lowermost edge of the neck portion and hence closes the trap groove 32. It is to be noted that at least one trap groove 32 lies laterally on each side of the neck portion and therefore the shielding member 25 covers all the trap grooves so located.

[00025] In another embodiment, the shielding member has a flange with a ribbed structure, having a plurality of ground facing spaced ribs 26 as shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 4 shows a sectional view of the headlamp housing along the axis A-A of FIG. 2. The downwardly placed ribs 26 of the shielding member 25 eliminate the bottom to top space and hence stop a finger placed in the interface space 33 from going into the trap groove 32 and getting crushed during handle bar rotation. Thus, the shielding member 25 smoothens the interface space 33 so that even when the vehicle rider accidently rests his fingers on the interface space 33, the front portion of any finger will not be received in within the trap groove 32 in the neck portion 22.

[00026] FIG. 5 shows the exploded view of the front portion of the vehicle when the handlebar is in default condition. Since the shielding member 25 is provided in the bottom of the neck portion 22, it is not visible to the vehicle rider or an onlooker. FIG. 6 shows the headlamp housing 20 in the rotated condition to negotiate a turn or during parking. During the rotation, the corner edge of the neck portion 22 moves rearwardly. However, the access to the trap groove 32 is prevented by the shielding structure 25 which is visible in a bottom view as shown by the arrow. Thus, the finger of the vehicle rider or of any other person is not injured when the headlamp housing 20 is reverted to the default condition.

[00027] According to another aspect, the shielding member is made of plastic resin or sheet metal. Thus, the flange may be made of metal and ribs from the plastic resin, or vice versa. If the shielding member is just a flange, then it may be made of either metal or plastic resin.

[00028] The present subject matter is thus described. The description is not intended to be exhaustive nor is it intended to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the disclosed embodiments may be modified in light of the above description. The embodiments described are chosen to provide an illustration of principles of the invention and its practical application to enable thereby one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. Therefore the forgoing description is to be considered exemplary, rather than limiting, and the true scope of the invention is that described in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A scooter type vehicle (1) comprising: a rear cover (35) facing the vehicle rider and fixedly secured with a front cover assembly (16), a rotatable headlamp housing (20) disposed upwardly of the rear cover (35), and having a face portion (21) and a neck portion (22), the neck portion including an edge (23), an interface space (33) between the rear cover (35) and the headlamp housing (20), a trap groove (32) formed in the neck portion (22) accessible from the interface space (33) along the vertical axis of the neck portion (22), wherein the neck portion (22) includes a shielding member (25) protruding from at least a portion of the edge (23) of the neck portion (22) and closing the trap groove (32) in the handlebar rotated condition from a bottom direction.

2. The vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shielding member (25) extends along the edge (23) of the neck portion (22) of the headlamp housing (20) when seen from a bottom view.

3. The vehicle as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the shielding member (25) protrudes forwardly and in vehicle width direction from the edge (23) of the neck portion (22).

4. The vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the neck portion (22) of headlamp housing (20) faces the vehicle rider.

5. The vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shielding member comprises of a plurality of ground facing spaced ribs (26).

6. The vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shielding member includes a sheet.

7. The vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shielding member is made of any material from a group consisting of plastic resin, sheet metal and metal alloy.